Who is to blame? According to this article….well…..everyone has a little blame.

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!

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.

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.

Mickelson’s family’s presence at the Masters helped to make his winning extra special. His wife, Amy, and their three children joined him on the 18th hole on Sunday sharing in Phil’s victory.  Amy Mickelson has been battling breast cancer for the better part of the past year and has not attended any of Phil’s tournaments since her diagnosis. “This has been a very special day and a very special week,” Mickelson said. “And to have Amy and my kids here to share it with, I can’t put into words. It just feels incredible, especially given what we’ve been through in the last year — to be able to share this kind of joy means a lot to us.” 

Going into the Masters, Mickelson had not had a victory on the 2010 PGA Tour. The last time he went to the Masters without a seasonal victory was in 2003.  This year was different. Despite all the publicity around Tiger Woods’ return to golf at the 2010 Masters, Phil did not let the Woods saga overshadow his phenominal performance during the past four days. Adored by the fans, Phil’s performance made them fall in love all over again. He’s not only personable but also a very talented golfer and the number 2 ranked golfer in the world. His 3rd Masters win was a heartfelt experience for not only Phil and his family, but also all that shared in the moment.

Micklelson has played in eighteen Masters Tournaments and has had 13 top 10 finishes. Here’s a look at Phil’s Masters performances:

Not bad for  a lefty! Congratulations to Phil for an outstanding Masters!

Posted by Marilyn Harris

So, what have we learned? I don’t know. But there are probably a few things.

Crane began the final round two shots behind Ryuji Imada of Japan but he quickly overturned that deficit with three birdies in the first five holes. A 45-foot birdie putt at the 11th helped him extend his advantage at the top of the leaderboard.

Crane, the only player among the top eight not to make a birdie over the final seven holes, closed with a 2-under 70 ending an 0-for-98 drought and sending him to the Masters. He finished at 13-under 275 and won $954,000. One of the most genuine reactions of the tournament was when Crane turned to Imada and asked, “Did I win?” in all seriousness.

In other news out of Torrey Pines, things were less exciting for Phil Mickelson who started the final round four shots behind, and on the first hole faced a tough chip up the slope. He pulled his (controversial) Ping wedge and watched it roll 30 feet by the cup, leading to the first of three straight bogeys to take himself out of the tournament.

In other tournament news, Scott McCarron, who accused Phil Mickelson of “cheating” for using the Ping-Eye 2 wedge (which is approved for play), missed the cut. In a statement released Monday, McCarron discussed his original comments to the San Francisco Chronicle regarding Mickelson and other players using Ping-Eye 2 clubs that have grooves which no longer conform to USGA and PGA Tour standards, but are still considered legal because they were grandfathered in two decades ago.

In the interest of fairness, McCarron has denied actually calling Phil a cheater. This is from his interview with the San Francisco Chronicle:
“I responded, ‘It’s cheating and I am appalled Phil has put it in play,’” McCarron stated. “I never called Phil Mickelson a cheater. That being said, I want my fans, sponsors, and most importantly, my fellow players, to know that I will not be silenced and I will continue my efforts to get the groove issue resolved.”

For its part, the PGA Tour has stepped in, issuing a statement that read, in part, “Because the use of pre-1990 Ping-Eye 2 irons is permitted for play, public comments or criticisms characterizing their use as a violation of the rules of golf as promulgated by the USGA are inappropriate at best.”

While McCarron has been the most vocal adversary of this decision, others have echoed his sentiments.

“I think cheating is not the right word to use,” Robert Allenby said. “But it’s definitely an advantage. … I just believe that even if they are legal, you shouldn’t be using them. Just because someone has a couple sitting in their garage somewhere or they’ve got them off eBay or wherever. I just don’t think that’s the integrity of the game.”

“It’s a very strong word to use, cheating. It wouldn’t be my choice to use them, but it’s obviously not against the rules or else he wouldn’t do it,” Westwood said. “I could do it more than anybody else because I’ve got thousands of Ping wedges. I have the opportunity to do it and I don’t.”

On the flip side, Mickelson isn’t the only golfer still using the Ping Eye 2 wedge; John Daley, Hunter Mahan and Dean Wilson have all used the club this season.

Square grooves no longer are allowed on the PGA Tour because of a new USGA policy effective this year that requires grooves in irons to be more a more shallow V-shape, which generate less spin.

However, the Ping-Eye 2 wedges made before April 1, 1990, are approved for competition because of a lawsuit that Ping settled with the PGA Tour and USGA some 20 years ago.

It has not been proven whether the grooves of a 20-year-old golf club — Mickelson played them in college at Arizona State and found this wedge in his garage — spin more than V-shaped grooves made with today’s technology.

So, what do you think? McCarron: looking out for the integrity of the game or sore loser?

Post by Michele Minten

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.

Submitted by Rod Snyder

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?

Post by Michele Minten