Steve Eubanks: Interesting hints on Day 1 of practice - RyderCup.com. Phil and Tiger hung out a bit Tuesday, but were in separate groups during practice. By Steve Eubanks, PGA.com MEDINAH, Ill. -- Shades of 2008 could be seen everywhere at Medinah on Tuesday as both teams ventured out for their opening practice rounds. The Europeans did exactly what you would expect: sending the English players out together as well as the Northern Irishmen and the Continentals.
The pairing of Paul Lawrie and Sergio Garcia was the only surprise, but it made sense. But the real news lay with Team America, where Captain Davis Love III seems to have learned from the successes and failures of his predecessors. The first group gave clues as to how the teams would be paired. The same could be said of group two, which included Jason Dufner, Zach Johnson, Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar. Finally, Steve Stricker went out with Jim Furyk, Tiger Woods and Brandt Snedeker. “Everybody wants to be Tiger’s partner; everybody wants to be Dustin’s partner,” Love said. This was brilliant. Johnny Miller In Some Entertaining Golf Videos, Tips and Fun With Golf. | OnlyForeGolf.com, All About Golf. Tree and Pond on Grassy Golf Course. Bubba Watson Shows Up At the Golf Channel After Winning The Masters, Awesome | OnlyForeGolf.com, All About Golf. Michael Allen, suddenly red-hot, seeks third straight win on Champions Tour.
THE WOODLANDS, Texas -- Michael Allen studied the PGA Tour statistics last year, and one number jumped out at him. Luke Donald finished atop the money list and also led the regular tour with the lowest bogey average (2.01 per round). Webb Simpson was second on the money list and also second in fewest bogeys per round (2.08). The Insperity Championship began in 2004 as the Administaff Small Business Classic. Allen knew that was no coincidence, and focused on consistency heading into his 2012 season on the Champions Tour. He has five top-10 finishes this year, including victories in his last two starts.
He can become the first player since Fred Couples in 2010 to win three straight starts at this weekend's Insperity Championship at The Woodlands Country Club. "We all go out there and have times where we are not playing as well, and you keep making pars," Allen said. "I don't really know what it is," he said. "I like fighting out of the darkness sometimes," Faxon said. Jennifer Rosales Katie Futcher Lindsey Wright Caroline Hedwall tied for Mobile Bay LPGA Classic lead. Jennifer Rosales birdied five of the first seven holes on the back nine and finished with a 5-under 67 on Thursday in the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic for a share of the first-round lead with Katie Futcher, Lindsey Wright and Caroline Hedwall.
Rosales, the Filipino player who won the last of her two LPGA Tour titles in 2005, had a birdie and a bogey on the front nine before making her back-nine move on The Crossings Course at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail's Magnolia Grove complex. The event is her first of the year on the tour. The Mobile Bay LPGA Classic is being played on the Crossings Course at Magnolia Grove for the fourth time. "I'm doing scuba diving in the offseason," Rosales said.
"It's fun, I really love it. It's totally different from golf. That's it, that's what I've been doing back home. The 33-year-old Rosales has limited tour status after finishing 124th on the money list last year. "Actually, you know what? "I've tried everything on the golf course," Futcher said.
Valero Texas Open offers good chance to move up in FedExCup standings. Remembering the Alamo at the Valero Texas Open is easy, thanks to the giant photo backdrop behind the 18th tee. The turnout, on the other hand, is somewhat forgettable. The Texas Open was first played in 1922, when it was won by Robert MacDonald. The Texas Open has moved around on the PGA Tour calendar and has settled in at the TPC San Antonio in hopes of luring golf's bigger names. Matt Kuchar, two weeks after his near-miss at the Masters, headlines a lackluster field that Johnson Wagner called even weaker than usual. It's a disappointing truth for a tournament that is eager for a bigger profile, and will get another shot next year when the PGA Tour moves the Texas Open date for the fourth time in five years, this time to the week right before the Masters.
For now, Wagner, ranked fifth in the FedExCup standings, sees an opportunity. "It's weaker than most of our fields out here. K.J. Jordan Spieth, the nation's top-ranked college golfer at the University of Texas and 2009 U.S. Louis Oosthuizen rebounds from Masters with big victory in Maybank Malaysian Open. South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen produced the perfect response to his playoff defeat at the Masters last Sunday by claiming the Maybank Malaysian Open title the very next week.
The 29-year-old former British Open champion, who missed out on a second major at Augusta National when he lost in sudden death to Bubba Watson, finished 17 under par at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club, three shots ahead of Scotland's Stephen Gallacher. The Maybank Malaysian Open kicks off a three-week Asian Swing in which the European Tour also will stop in China and South Korea. England's Danny Willett (71), Spain's Rafael Cabrera-Bello (71) and American David Lipsky (70) were tied for third on 12 under.
Oosthuizen admitted Saturday that the 30-hour journey from Georgia had made things tough, but he coped admirably with the jet lag this week and carded four sub-70 rounds. "I thought I was going to be a lot more tired," he said after clinching his fifth European Tour crown. "I played well. The Official Site of the PGA TOUR - PGATOUR.com. Karin Sjodin pulls even with Yani Tseng after 54 holes of windswept Kraft Nabisco. While the infamous Coachella Valley winds toppled the world's best golfers, Karin Sjodin thrived with a mix of patience and power. That same blend has kept her on the LPGA Tour through seven seasons without a win, and now she's taking it into a final-round duel with Yani Tseng in the first major of the year.
The Kraft Nabisco Championship began in 1972, and became a major in 1983. Sjodin shot a steady 4-under 68 through heavy wind while chasing down the top-ranked Tseng on Saturday, pulling even at 9 under heading into the final round of the Kraft Nabisco Championship. The dominant Tseng proved she's not unbeatable, showing visible frustration while posting a five-birdie, four-bogey 71 that was as inconsistent as the wind that buffeted Mission Hills from about the time she stepped onto the first tee. While Tseng is a five-time major champion, the long-hitting Sjodin has only four top-10 finishes in seven years -- nothing higher than 19th in a major. Rory McIlroy a No. 1 that gets no argument from those who saw him coming. Rory McIlroy made quite a first impression in America, even when he lost.
He made his pro debut on American soil in the Arizona desert at the 2009 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. As a 19-year-old, McIlroy advanced to the quarterfinals and threw everything he had at Geoff Ogilvy until losing on the 17th hole. At age 22, Rory McIlroy is the second youngest player, behind Tiger Woods, to assume the top spot in the world ranking. Ogilvy, who went on to win his third World Golf Championship that week, recalls riding back to the clubhouse with his caddie, Allistair “Squirrel” Matheson, both of them realizing that the landscape was about to change. “I played so good that day,” Ogilvy said Sunday morning from his home in California. “I birdied 15, 16 and 17 and halved all three holes. We were way under par that day. Never mind that Tiger Woods was No. 1 in the world by miles, and would go on to win seven times that year. It’s too early to call McIlroy the next Tiger.
Rory McIlroy wins the 2012 Honda Classic and takes over the world No. 1 ranking. Lindberg and Srisawang share lead in India. Sweden’s Pernilla Lindberg and Nontaya Srisawang of Thailand shot rounds of six under par 66 on Friday to share the first round lead at the Hero Women’s Indian Open. Both players had flawless rounds containing six birdies on the DLF Golf course in Gurgaon near New Delhi.
They played through cool and foggy conditions early in the morning after temperatures fell by around 10 degrees following rain overnight. Srisawang, who tied for second at the 2010 event on the same golf course, had four successive birdies from the 13th hole and picked up further shots at the first and the ninth holes. The 23-year-old LET rookie from Chiang Mai was happy to find herself in such a strong position after having, ‘a few good bounces.’
She said: “I was so lucky today. Srisawang is searching for her first victory on the LET, as is Lindberg. Lindberg revealed that she was suffering from a fever and just trying to make contact with the golf ball as she made four birdies on the back nine and two on the front.