Tiger Woods has joined the millions of tweeters to share his thoughts and answer fan’s questions. Who would have imagined? I just checked out his Twitter account and discovered that he had 299,999 followers and growing; within minutes that number jumped to 300,126. The number two in the world can certainly draw a crowd quickly.
Tiger setup his official Twitter account in June with one tweet, “Welcome to my new Twitter page at www.twitter.com/TigerWoods “ Based on his second tweet, he also setup a new Facebook page, www.facebook.com/Tiger . And the third announced his new website at www.TigerWoods.com . Then all went silent until November 17 when he resurfaced with a “What’s up everyone? Finally decided to try out Twitter!”
Two weeks later, Tiger surprised his followers with 23 tweets within an hour on November 30 after his on camera interview with Golf Channel’s Steve Sands where Tiger discussed the past, present and the future. After all the ups and downs of the past year, Tiger is opening up to his fans and trying to reconnect with all by answering questions for all the world to read.
Based on how quickly his base of followers is growing, he’ll be sure to bypass fellow golfer Ian Poulter’s crowd of followers (over 1 million followers) before long if the pace of new followers continues to grow by 150+ followers per half hour! Tiger already has approximately 1.5 million friends on Facebook. Are you a Tiger follower or friend?
A lot. Sunday’s viewership of the tournament held at Firestone Country Club was a 2.0 share compared to 4.3 last year. What was the difference this year? Tiger wasn’t on TV except for the highlights of his dismal performance. And last year? Well, Tiger what it all. Click here for the complete article by Darren Ravell of CNBC.
Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland claimed the victory for the 2010 US Open. McDowell finished with a 74 (+3)… just 2 putts on the 18th hole to win. This was one great tournament and certainly challenged the best. Going into the final round, Dustin Johnson was leading by 3 strokes. But the table suddenly turned when he shot a triple bogey on the second hole and a double bogey on the third hole. After that it only continued to decline for Johnson as he finished his round with an 82 and tied for 8th place.
Els, Mickelson, Woods, and Havret all struggled to work some magic on the course to take the lead. Only one player could withstand the pressure of the tournament and the challenges of the course and that was Graeme. “I can’t believe how difficult this golf course was,” McDowell said. “No matter how good you play … good golf got reward, and bad golf got punished really badly.”
This is McDowell’s first major tour win. He’s the first European to achieve the feat since Tony Jacklin did it 40 years ago at Hazeltine. McDowell turned pro in 2002. Prior to becomng a pro, McDowell won the Fred Haskins Award as the United States’ top collegiate golfer. Two weeks ago, he won his fifth title at the Celtic Manor Wales Open. McDowell has earned a five year exemption as a result of his victory should he decide to join the PGA Tour. And why wouldn’t he? It’s a golden ticket to playing both the U.S. circuit and the European Tour.
McDowell’s victory was the perfect Father’s Day gift for his dad, Kenny, who has been by his side since he began playing golf in his junior years. For those of you who watched the final shot and green’s celebration, I’m sure you all caught that “Hallmark” moment when father and son hugged in glorious celebration. Congrats to Graeme McDowell for his well-deserved US Open win!
What a difference a day makes! Phil Mickelson rallied with 5 birdies in the first 8 holes and another on #11 for a final score of 66 in Round 2, placing him one shot behind the leader, Graeme McDowell, who posted a 68. That’s a nine shot variance from Round 1 where he shot a birdie-free round of 75. Mickelson’s score of 66 is just one shot shy of the U.S. Open record lowest score at Pebble Beach. Phil’s focus is that of Bobby Jones…. “play against old man par”…. and that’s exactly what Phil did during today’s round finishing tied for second and placing him in great position for the rest of the tournament.
Tiger Woods finished at +4 with a round of 72. He had 3 birdies and 4 bogeys after his birdie-free Round 1. He’s right in the middle of the pack for the weekend. If he can rally in Round 3 like Phil did today, he’ll be right in the hunt. “ I’m right there in the championship,’’ he said. “I just need to make a few more birdies, a few more putts on the weekend and I’ll be right there.” If Phil and Tiger can get in the groove, Round 3 will prove to be exciting.
Other notable finishes: The “young gun”, Ryo Ishikawa, posted an even par 71 to maintain his second place finish for Round 2. Ernie Els posted a 68, moving him from #27 to tied for second. Dustin Johnson shot a 70 finishing tied for second.
The U.S. Open seemed to be a challenge for the majority of the field during Round 1 at Pebble Beach. Both Woods and Mickelson shot a birdie-free round; a first in any PGA Tour round. Mickelson posted a 75; his first round in on the PGA Tour without a birdie since the first round of the 2007 U.S. Open. On the other hand, Woods posted a 74, his first birdie-free round during a PGA Tour Major since the 2003 Masters. So how do they fare in the overall standings? All in all, not too bad; both are in the top half of the field in scoring.
Only three players posted a score under 70: Shaun Micheel, 69; Paul Casey, 69; Brendon de Jonge, 69. One of the lead “young guns”, Ryo Ishikawa, posted a respectable 70. (At age 18, Ishikawa, holds seven Japan Tour championships.) Along with Ishikawa, Cabrera-Bella, Choi, Weir, Poulter, and Cejka posted a first round of 70.
The late afternoon created a challenge for all on the putting surface. The fast, bumpy poa challenged the world’s best players. Those that are teeing off in the morning for Round 2 should find a kinder course on the greens.
2010 has proven to be Ernie Els come back year. He broke his 2 year winless streak by capturing the WGC Championship in Doral in March. Ernie then followed that victory when he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill two weeks later giving him his 18th PGA Tour victory (two 2010 starts and two wins).
Back in 2006, Els put together a 3-year plan…. his goal: To challenge the his American rival…the number one player in the world….Tiger Woods. According to Els’ website, in 2007, he is quoted as saying… “I see 2007 as the start of a three-year plan where I totally re-dedicate myself to the game. I want to win more majors and start giving Tiger a run for his money. If you look at where he is at the top of the rankings, it’s a big lead so no one is going to get near him any time soon. I’ve got to give myself a three-year stretch to try to approach him and I really believe I can do it.” Needless to say, his may have become a little to aggressive in his planning process. Three years have since passed and Tiger remains number one.
However, with Tiger not in the equation the first 3 months of the 2010 golf season, Ernie reminded us of his golfing finesse. The Big Easy (nicknamed for his physical stature and effortless swing) showed his true talent that we all admired when he was on his game in the late 90’s and the early 2000 years. Despite his efforts and his knee injury of 2005, his last major win was at the 2002 Masters. That was eight years ago. Fast forward to 2010…..a year full of endless stories about Tiger’s fall from fame due to his “transgressions” resulting in his decision to take an indefinite (4 month) leave from the game of golf. With his “indefinite” leave coming to an end, Tiger has elected to return to golf at the 2010 Masters in Augusta.
This week, Tiger and Els will go head to head at the Masters. This is the first time Tiger is playing professional golf since November 2009. How will he fare? Will emotions get in the way of his true talent? Can Els give him a run for it? Els has finished as runner-up in six majors over the years. And, most notably runner-up finishes to Tiger (more than any other professional golfer). However, Els has always been described as the golfer with the right game to beat Tiger in a major.
Els is playing every shot and every hole for what it is – like he did before. Els currently leads the FedEx Cup point system and has won two of the four PGA Tour pre-Masters tournaments. The last person to win two of the four tournaments and go on to win the Masters was Tiger Woods in 2002. Can Els recreate Tiger’s 2002 tournament play record and come home with the Green Jacket this year?
Let the golf games begin…..this year’s Masters will certainly prove to be one of the most exciting tournaments of the year!
Despite the dethroning of King Tiger late last year golf has to go on. The first event of the 2010 PGA Tour season ended with a whimper on the 18th green of Kapalua’s Plantation course Sunday. A six-inch tap-in putt by Geoff Ogilvy enabled him to win the season opener for a second successive year. However, the shots leading up to the putt were not quite as tame, and just proved that there are many pros on tour playing flawless golf with determination and excellent decision making abilities. A year after winning the same tournament by six shots, Ogilvy used the above mentioned skills to make up a two-shot deficit over his last 10 holes for a 6-under 67 and a one-shot victory over Rory Sabbatini, making him only the second repeat winner at Kapalua.
U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover’s bid to become the second straight wire-to-wire winner at Kapalua ended early when he hit into the hazard on consecutive holes and lost three shots. He closed with a 76 and was 14th in the 28-man field.
Back to Ogilvy though: check out a shot that makes mere golf morals sigh and realize the difference between “us” and “them.”
When this story first broke, it was the talk of the moment. No different than Dave Letterman a couple months back. Now most of us are saying Dave who????
Tiger’s transgressions. So now, we have all Googled transgressions to figure out what it means. And then we put two and two together and realized, he didn’t say transgression. He said transgressions – plural.
If there was one transgression while Tiger has been married over the past five years, that was more than likely forgivable. We Americans forgive virtually anything and everything. In fact, I felt the day after the story broke, had there been only one, everything would have been the same in a couple months. Tiger would be back on the course, winning tournaments. Maybe divorced, maybe not. But it wasn’t going to affect the golf world a whole heck of a lot.
Fast forward a week or so. Now we have the plural of transgression with no end in sight.
Here is the question. What impact does this have on the golf industry? And I am talking about the economic impact. Tiger has made a lot of people very rich since he came on the scene. The total purse for the Masters Tournament in 1997 was $2.7 million. He won that year earning $486k. This year Angel Carbera won earning $1.35 mil. Do you think Angel Cabrera would have had the opportunity to earn that amount of money had it not been for Tiger Woods? I don’t. Tiger’s impact on his fellow golfer’s pocket books has been huge. What happens now? Will Tiger come back strong – mind over matter – like he always has? Or will he fade away and impact his fellow golfers in a different way? Viewership is down when Tiger is not around. Galleries are lighter when Tiger is not around. That means money flowing away from golf.
Mike Greenberg of ESPN used the word “sad” to describe the Tiger Woods situation this morning. I agree. But I can’t help to think that the business revolved around golf is going to be sad too.
Doug Barron, the 40 year old journeyman recently suspended under the PGA’s anti-doping policy, finally has a first to add to his list of accomplishments. He is the first PGA player to be suspended for violating the PGA’s performance enhancing drug policy.
Honestly, I’ve never heard of Doug Barron until the headlines about him being caught using performance enhancing drugs hit the web. Then came the story about Phil Mickelson feeling sorry for the guy. Doug Barron probably wishes Phil and any other headliners would just keep quiet so the story could die a quick death, he could serve his one year suspension, and then go back to playing in relative obscurity.
“I would like to apologize for any negative perception of the tour or its players resulting from my suspension,” Barron said in a statement released by the PGA Tour. “I want my fellow tour members and the fans to know that I did not intend to gain an unfair competitive advantage or enhance my performance while on tour.” Barron, who is currently playing the Nationwide tour on a medical exemption is said to be taking several medications, none of which are performance enhancing. “I don’t believe it,” Rod Pampling said. “Doug Barron? Look at the man. Tell him to take his shirt off and ask anyone, ‘Do you believe he’s on performance-enhancing drugs?’” (Picture below..has his shirt on but you decide whether he looks like he’s taking performance enhancing drugs).
So my question: do you think the PGA, like so many sports leagues, has a performance enhancing drug problem? Do you think there should be the ability to make a case by case decision as to what “performance enhancing drug” actually means?
The U.S. Team won The Presidents Cup with 19 1/2 points. Going into the final round on Sunday, the U.S. Team had 12 1/2 points and the International Team had 8 1/2 points. By the end of the singles matches, the U.S. Team earned 19 1/2 points and the International Team finished with 14 1/2 points. A victory for the USA with its 6th Presidents Cup win on home soil.
Prior to Sunday’s matches, the U.S. Team needed 5 points to win the Cup. Here’s how they won…
Camilo Villegas / Hunter Mahan – U.S. wins 2 and 1
Adam Scott / Stewart Cink – U.S. wins 4 and 3
Mike Weir / Justin Leonard – AS
Robert Allenby / Anthony Kim – U.S. wins 5 and 3
Geoff Ogilvy / Steve Stricker – International wins 2 and 1
Ernie Els / Sean O’Hair – U.S. wins 6 and 4
Ryo Ishikawa / Kenny Perry – International wins 2 and 1
Tim Clark / Zach Johnson – International wins 4 and 3
Y.E. Yang / Tiger Woods – U.S. wins 6 and 5
Vijay Singh / Lucas Glover – AS
Retief Goosen / Phil Mickelson – U.S. wins 2 and 1
Angel Cabrera / Jim Furyk – International wins 4 and 3
Tiger Woods’ winning point was also the winning point for the U.S. Team beoming The Presidents Cup champions. Woods had a great Cup experience with wins in all 5 of his matches during the tournament.
Legendary Michael Jordan was on hand to witness the the USA victory. Jordan served as a Presidents Cup assistant. His role was to coach the U.S. team and teach them what team play is all about. And that he did. Congratulations U.S. Team!
