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Archive for August, 2009

The FedEx Cup and The Barclays

Monday, August 31st, 2009

The FedEx Cup playoffs kicked off this past week at The Barclays and an underdog, Heath Slocum, rises to the occassion to capture the tournament title and 2,500 FedEx Cup points. His win took him from the 124th position on the FedEx Cup Points Standing to 3rd! Now, that’s quite a feat going from barely making the cut for the playoffs to only two behind Tiger Woods. Slocum trails by 1,526 points behind Tiger.

On the 18th hole, what should have been a routine six foot putt for Tiger turned out to be a two putt keeping him at 8 under for the tournament. Heath, on the otherhand, made his par save 20 foot putt to clinch the tournament title on the 72nd hole for a one-shot victory and jumped on the FedEx Cup Points board to third place with 2,855 total earned points.

Had Slocum missed the winning putt, he would have forced a playoff with quite a cast of golf greats that would have been fun to see… Tiger Woods, Steve Stricker, Ernie Els, and Padrig Harrington. But Slocum shut them all out with his spectacular long putt on the 18th.

Slocum turned pro in 1996. In 2009, he played in 24 events and made the cut in 14 with average scoring of 70.55 and earnings of $1,885,815. He’s an alumni of the University of South Alabama.

Congratulations to Heath Slocum in his big victory in the first 2009 FedEx Cup playoff!

Posted by Marilyn Harris

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How the FedEx Cup Works

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

We’ve heard a lot about the FedEx Cup over the past few years. And, we are about to begin the playoff phase of the event. So, let’s look at how the FedEx Cup point system works.

Each week during the regular PGA season, players earn points based on their finishing position in a PGA Tour event. Points are accumulative from event to event.


At the end of the regular PGA golf season, the top 125 players, based on points earned, move to the playoff phase. The playoffs consist of a series of four tournaments:

  • The Barclays – Liberty National Golf Club, New Jersey City, New Jersey ($7,500,000 Purse)
  • Deutsche Bank Championship – TPC Boston, Norton, Massachusetts ($7,500,000 Purse)
  • BMW Championship – Cog Hill Golf and Country Club, Lemont, Illinois ($7,500,000 Purse)
  • The TOUR Championship – East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia ($7,500,000 Purse)

By the way, the regular season began in January 2009 with the Mercedes Championship and ended with the Wyndham Championship the third week of August. During the regular season, players earned points based on their finishing position within each event played. For example, if a player won a tournament, they earned 500 points. At the conclusion of the regular season the top 125 players with the highest earned FedEx Points over the course of the regular season move on to the playoffs. The Barclays kicks off the first round of playoffs.

Earned points are accumulative and carry over to the playoffs. During the playoff tournaments, players earn five times the points originally earned during the regular season. For example, if a player wins in The Barclays, the player earns 2,500 points versus 500 in regular season play. After The Barclays, the top 100 players (based on earned points) move to the next playoff tournament, Deutsche Bank Championship. After the Deutsche, the top 70 players move to the next playoff tournament which is the BMW Championship at Cog Hill in Lemont, Illinois. The final playoff tournament is the Tour Championship for the top 30 players based on earned FedEx points.

Prior to the Tour Championship, the points to be earned are reset using a weighted formula allowing each player eligible to play in the final tournament the opportunity to win the overall FedEx Cup.

Based on the points earned structure, if one of the top 5 players going into the Tour Championship wins that tournament, they will have also won the FedEx Cup. On the other hand, if we look at the top 10 players that move to the Tour Championship, their chances of winning the FedEx Cup are excellent too based on the mathematical aspects of the event. But, keep in mind, it is not all about math, it’s the real talent of the players and their ability to play flawlessly with birdies, eagles, and whatever shots they can dazzle us with. So good luck to the top 125 in The Barclays!

Posted by Marilyn Harris

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Posted in FedEx Cup, PGA | No Comments »

The Solheim Cup doesn’t disappoint – US wins third straight.

Monday, August 24th, 2009

Perhaps the most poignant aspect of the Solheim Cup is that the players play for the pride of representing their country or continent and for the sheer love of the game. None of the players get paid so to see them play with such passion and heart is part of what makes the Solheim so special. Seeing the amazing talent and competitive golf of this particular bi-annual event is what made it so riveting to watch.

The US win at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, IL was a hard fought battle, with Europe leading midway through the last afternoon. There were plenty of heroes, including Juli Inkster, in getting the third straight U.S. win but perhaps none so phenomenal as Michelle Wie.

Wie, the 19 year old phenom who has not met expectations over the last several years, finally showed us why she was considered the “female Tiger Woods” several years ago. She played absolutely brilliant golf in her rookie performance at the Solheim Cup ending with a 3-0-1 record. Her performance, the best of any American player this year, is a reminder that when Wie is on, she’s on and there is no stopping her.

Post by Michele Minten

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Posted in Solheim Cup, Women's Golf | No Comments »

U.S. Captures Junior Solheim Cup

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

As captain of the US Junior Solheim Cup team, LPGA legend, Nancy Lopez, coaches her team to victory at the 2009 Junior Solheim Cup. The team was asked to give 100 percent on the course and let their natural talents take over. And that they did! The US team won 15 1/2 to 8 1/2 over the European team during the two-day event held at the Aurora Country Club in Aurora, IL.

With four matches to go, the US team had the cup in hand and finished the last four matches 3 to 1 winning the victory. “They are great kids, a great team….our girls rallied, they really did” Lopez said during the after event celebration…poolside in full team attire!

The results of the singles matches are:

Sally Watson (Europe) defends Jane Rah, 4 and 3
Sarah Brown (USA) defends Klara Spilkova, 2 and 1
Jessica Korda (USA) defends Rosann Crepiat, 3 and 2
Ani Gulugian (USA) defends Leona Maguire, 5 and 4
Sherlyn Popelka (Europe) defends Stephanie Kim, 4 and 3
Tiffany Lua (USA) defencs Anna Arrese, 4 and 3
Ana Fernandez de Mesa (Europe) defends Alison Lee, 1-Up
Alexis Thompson (USA) defends Tonje Daffinrud, 1-Up
Kristina Wong (USA) defends Johanna Tillstrom, 3 and 1
Jennifer Johnson (USA) defends Sophia Popov, 2 and 1
Kelly Tidy (Europe) defends Alexandra Stewart, 5 and 4
Kristen Park (USA) defends Lisa Maquire, 2 and 1
USA wins 15 1/2 to 8 1/2

Congratulations to the USA Junior Solheim Cup Team!

Posted by Marilyn Harris

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Posted in LPGA, Solheim Cup, Women's Golf | No Comments »

Y.E. Yang takes PGA Championship title in Major upset

Sunday, August 16th, 2009

For the first time, Tiger Woods was beat in a major after going into the final round with the lead. Y.E. Yang of South Korea finished with an 8 under 280 partially helped by a chip-in eagle on the 14th hole to win the 91st PGA Championship.

Yang took up golf at age 19 and after spending required time in the South Korean military he traveled to New Zealand to take up golf as a career. He went pro in 1996 and joined the PGA tour in 2007. In 2008 he recorded his first PGA top 10 finish.

Tiger Woods finishes the year without a Major win for the first time in five years.

Post by Michele Minten

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Posted in PGA, Tiger Woods | No Comments »

Juli Inkster and Michelle Wie: experience and potential make up the 2009 Solheim captain’s picks

Wednesday, August 12th, 2009

USA Solheim Cup team captain Beth Daniel chose 49 year old Juli Inkster and 19 year old Michelle Wie as her two captain’s picks for this year’s Cup.

This will be Inkster’s eighth Solheim Cup appearance and she will be the oldest player to compete in the matches. With age comes experience and Inkster brings a ton of it.

Inkster had an esteemed amateur career before her rookie year with the LPGA in 1983. She captured the U.S. Women’s Amateur title from 1980-82 to become the first woman since 1934 to win three consecutive U.S. Amateur titles. She was a member of the U.S. Curtis Cup (1982) and World Cup (1980 and 1982) teams. As the winner of the 1981 California Amateur Championship, she was California’s 1981 Amateur of the Year and 1982 Bay Area Athlete of the Year. The number-one ranked amateur by Golf Digest from 1981-82, Inkster was a collegiate All-American for three years (1979, 1981-82) and also won the 1982 Broderick Award.

Since joining the LPGA in 1983 Inkster’s professional career has been no less esteemed. To date she has won 31 tournaments on the LPGA tour including seven majors, and she is currently fourth on the LPGA career money list with career earnings of over $12M.
I think Inkster is a great choice for one of the wild card spots and I can’t wait to see her perform in her ninth Solheim Cup.

Solheim rookie Michelle Wie started playing golf at age four and claims that the first time she grabbed a club she knew she would be golfing for the rest of her life. Although her professional golf career has never quite reached the stature of her amateur play and at times she has been mired with controversy her Solheim teammates have stated she has earned her spot and they are looking forward to her performance. As for Wie’s stance, she seems suitably appreciative and excited to be part of the most esteemed tournament in women’s golf. I, for one, am hoping that Solheim (and playing with golfers like Inkster) brings out all the potential that we saw in Wie years ago.

Post by Michele Minten

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Posted in LPGA, Solheim Cup | No Comments »

Is Tiger’s “fine” fair play or media fare?

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

It was the story that never really was a story. For a couple of hours water cooler conversations for golf fans revolved around the fine being levied against Tiger Woods for his public criticism of a rules official at the Bridgestone invitational. The only problem….the story was a fallacy. It was story brought to light by an “anonymous” PGA official and jumped on by the media. Given Tiger’s reputation as being one of the classiest sports figures of modern times it was enough to make non-golf fans notice and warranted a headline in every major internet and other type of news outlet. Makes me wonder if the “anonymous source” is a savvy PR person who saw an opportunity to keep the PGA in the news or if this poor PGA sap is now worrying about a fine of his own.
Post by Michele Minten

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Posted in PGA, Tiger Woods | No Comments »

Tiger Woods and the Number 3

Friday, August 7th, 2009

As we reflect back on Tiger’s career, seems like the number 3 has turned out to be his “lucky” number. At age 33 (double 3′s), Tiger has accomplished amazing feats in his quest to be (and remain) the number one player in golfing history. Here’s a little “Tiger” history and how the number 3 has factored into the career of the greatest golfer ever:

  • At age 3 (1979), Tiger shoots a 48 for 9 holes at the Navy Golf Club in Cypress, CA.
  • In 1988, Tiger becomes the 3 time winner of the Junior World Golf Championship (he goes on to win two more in 1989 and 1990)
  • In 1993, Tiger becomes the 3 time winner of the US Junior Amateur Championship (1991, 1992, 1993) at age 17 (the only player to win more than once)
  • In 1996, Tiger becomes the first golfer in history to win 3 consecutive US Amateur Championships (1994, 1995, 1996)
  • In 1997, Tiger wins his first major, The Masters, by twelve strokes; he goes on to win 3 more PGA events that year
  • In 2000, Tiger is the second player all time to win 3 major championships in a calendar year winning the U.S. Open, The Open Championship, and the PGA Championship
  • In 2000, at age 25, Tiger received PGA Player of the Year honors for the 3rd consecutive year
  • In 2002, Tiger wins The Masters for the 3rd time with a 3 stroke victory over Retief Goosen
  • In 2006, Tiger becomes the 3 time winner of The British Open with 18 under par for his eleventh major win
  • In 2008, Tiger wins his 3rd US Open Championship at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, CA
  • In 2008, Tiger is the second player to have won the career grand slam 3 times along with Jack Nicklaus
  • August 2, 2009, Tiger wins his 3rd Buick Open by 3 strokes with a 3 under par 69 and wins his 69th PGA Tour Championship
  • In this decade, Tiger is the 3rd all time PGA Tour winner with 69 wins in 14 years to Sam Snead (82 over 30 years) and Jack Nicklaus (73 over 25 years)
  • In this decade, Tiger is the 3rd all time European Tour winner with 36 wins to Seve Ballesteros (50 times) and Bernhard Langer (42 times)
  • In November 2009, Tiger will play in the Australian Master in Melbourne and will be paid A$3 million for his appearance and if he wins, he takes home another $270,000….the magic of the number 3

Will we see more significant 3′s in Tiger’s career? With his Buick Open win, can he win 3 weeks in a row….. this week the WGC-Bridgestone and next week the PGA Championship? Perhaps Tiger will give us the chance to add more “3″ trivia to his already impressive career!

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Posted in PGA | 1 Comment »

Buick deals a blow to the PGA – no more sponsorship

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

It’s not just the LPGA tour that is feeling the hurt of the economic downturn; the PGA is starting to feel the crunch as well. The impact of the recent court ordered General Motors restructing is not limited to the auto industry; Buick announced on Tuesday that it will end it’s 50 year history of PGA tour sponsorship.

Buick sponsors two of golf fan’s must watch tournament events on the PGA circuit: the Buick Open in Grand Blanc, Michigan and the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, California. Both are big money-makers for the PGA, due in large part to the presence of Tiger Woods, Buick’s favorite spokesperson until his official endorsement deal with the car giant ended last November at the beginning of the auto crisis. The cancellation of tournaments is not new to the troubled automaker; Buick once had its name on four PGA events: the Buick Classic in New York, the Buick Challenge in Georgia, the Buick Open and the Buick Invitational. It also took over the Buick Championship in Connecticut for three years after its Georgia event folded.

The PGA Tour now has lost four title sponsors this year — Buick’s two events, U.S. Bank in Milwaukee and Stanford Financial in Memphis, which was played in June without a sponsor.

On a good note, though, the PGA has extended contracts with Zurich, Accenture and Travelers through 2014, and found a new title sponsor in SBS , which has signed up through 2020.

At least 10 other tournaments have title sponsorships that expire after 2010. It will be interesting to see how many of those sponsors are retained.
Post by Michele Minten

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Posted in Economy, PGA, Tiger Woods | No Comments »