It’s a one in a million shot, but unluckily for Rory McIlroy it cost him a shot when he drove his ball into a crack in a tree during the second round of the PGA Championship. Check out the video.
It was a high tariff, 200 yard sliced bank shot off Angel Cabrera’s bag, Peter Hanson was attempting. Let’s see just how he got he on!
Brian Keogh wrote today about Michael Hoey’s decision to alert officials to a possible rules breach (he remembered at dinner!) and ultimately DQ himself from the US PGA Championship after shooting one of the rounds of the day 70.
“About 8.20 after dinner, I went straight up to the club after calling my coach and caddy to make sure I had things right,” Hoey said last night. “I was just re-living the hole as I’d sunk a really long putt for par. As soon as I realised what had happened, I went to the club.”
Probably one of the most exciting things to happen at Kiawah this week.
Loving this clip from the first round of the PGA Championship where Tiger found a novel use for his towel!
Can you guess who “RF” is? And look what he has done to his wedge. DIRTY!
On behalf of everyone in Ireland, I’d like to congratulate Katie Taylor on winning gold at London 2012. Came across the pic after which made me chuckle!
What happens if you marry a European Tour golfer? Well if your Christina Sjoholm wife or character Joel, you get to meet Rock legend Alice Cooper at the golf course! Great pic from the Swedish Toro.
Aw who wants to rehash what someone else has gone to all that trouble to do anyway? Especially when they’re employed by the PGA of America.
Here’s a snippet and link to all the main reports
Carl Pettersson –
The Unfortunate First Round Leader who from now on will have a target on his t-shirt.
Carl Pettersson had never broken 70 in seven PGA Championship appearances. Until Thursday, that is, and the 66 he shot gave him the lead at the 94th renewal of the season’s final major.
Pettersson was extremely solid in the first round, hitting all but two fairways and 15 greens in regulation. The 34-year-old Swede birdied three of his first four holes, didn’t make a bogey all day and had eight one-putts among his 28 total strokes on the green.
Rory McIlroy -
Talking about platforms or Olympic diving or something. The opening sentence could be straight from a novel.
Rory McIlroy has seen the forecast. So he knew gusty winds and thund erstorms are just on the horizon.
"It’s just something that you’re going to have to deal with and I’m just happy that I got off to a great start," the young Northern Irishman said. "I have a great platform to go from."
He does, indeed. McIlroy will likely start the second round of the 94th PGA Championship one shot off the lead held by Carl Pettersson. He was extremely steady on Thursday, hitting 10 fairways and 15 greens while making his way around the Ocean Course bogey-free.
Keegan Bradley-
Staring down a putt like Robert deNiro in Goodfellas
Keegan Bradley had an anxious moment on Tuesday as he was playing a practice round with Phil Mickelson.
He heard a ping as the two were walking down the fairway and realized part of his putter had fallen off.
"It’s a miracle it didn’t happen on Sunday," Bradley said, thinking back to his come-from-behind victory at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. “ I’m thankful that it didn’t happen on Sunday or today.
"But Odyssey made me a putter that’s exactly the same. It feels great. It’s my old shaft in there. No worries at all. It’s amazing, with my old shaft, it looks the exact same, there’s no difference."
Tiger Woods-
Lurking like a Tiger in some Wooded Area
Tiger Woods didn’t have to look far to see what he needed to do,
His playing partner, Keegan Bradley, was 3 under after playing just two holes on the Ocean Course on Thursday. With the breezes off the Atlantic likely the most gentle the players will see this week during the 94th PGA Championship the morning starters like Woods and Bradley knew they needed to take advantage.
Woods did just that, too — making six birdies, including three straight as he made the turn, and dropping just three strokes to par. So he’s three off the pace being set by Carl Pettersson – and glad to be finished as the wind finally began to blow.
"Well, I mean, geez, I’m playing with Keegan and he’s 3 under through two, and you look up on the board, some guys 4 under through six; a bunch of guys 3 under through five; a couple of them were 3 under through three," Woods recalled.
Check out Bubba and Rickie shopping for their rented house at Kiawah Island. Do you think they have enough food for the week? I hope they make the cut or there’s going to be a lot of leftovers!
Thunder, lightning, torrential rain. That’s the forecast all week at Kiawah where the changeable weather has played havoc with practice rounds. Now Kerry Haigh, the guy in charge of course set-ups for the PGA of America hinted that he might set the course up shorter than its full yardage, to compensate for the conditions.
“The rain is certainly one part of the unique characteristics of playing right on the ocean. The weather is a very important part of what we’ll be looking at all week,” Haigh said referring to the course set-up
All the weather predicting sites suggest at least a 50 percent chance of rain including thunderstorms every day of the event.
Now everybody in golf knows there’s a waiting list among the senior players to become Ryder Cup Captain with the likes of Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn and Darren Clarke all patiently waiting their turn.
![colin montgomerie funny pic[3]](http://lh6.ggpht.com/-FGVE3_q0XzU/UCIikLXrI3I/AAAAAAAAL00/zkmsp6CZqN4/s1600-h/colin%252520montgomerie%252520funny%252520pic%25255B3%25255D%25255B3%25255D.jpg "colin montgomerie funny pic[3]")
But on Tuesday in Scotland, Colin Montgomerie complicated matters by stating he would again captain the European side if asked when the Ryder Cup heads to Gleneagles in 2014.
. “If the European Tour wants me to be captain, I will be.,Monty told a UK magazine
The Scot even quoted the precedent for being Captain more than once, “If you go back to the days of Jacklin and Gallacher, yes, there’s an opportunity to do it again. And I don’t think the rules have changed.”
It’s hot and muggy at Kiawah but Rickie Fowler has found a way to cool down with a few crazy pool dives. A bit too dangerous on the eve of a Major? Maybe, but all’s well that ends well and Rickie executed the dives better than Tom Daley in the Olympics!
Tiger Woods saying all the usual stuff except a bit of jesting about Phil Mickelson buying a team.
Thanks to Jimmy Hanby for telling me about Ryan Ballangee’s story about naughty goings on at Tam O’Shanter Club in the USA.
Being a member of a country club has its benefits, but usually has nothing to do with a man’s member – that is, unless you allegedly belong to Tam O’Shanter Golf Club on Long Island.
The club has been slapped with an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint, in which a former employee accused the club of hiring prostitutes and strippers to entertain male members during a tournament, then banning staffers from telling the members’ wives about the fiasco.
Former bartender Justin Williams said the tournament would feature a different stripper on each hole, then make prostitutes available afterward for sexual activities in various parts of the clubhouse. Female employees were asked to go home before the extracurricular – and, likely, extramarital – stuff started.
Williams claims to the New York Post he was also subject to sexual harassment from a male dishwasher and asked to disguise lower-grade booze as top-shelf liquor for sale.
The club denied comment to the paper.
Now, as usual, the most important point is being completely missed here. And that is, does Tam O’Shanter accept Irish members? And what is the fee? And when exactly will the strippers etc be there?
I’m finding it hard to believe that Jason Dufner would make a spat with Rickie Fowler public, especially via the medium of Twitter. But unless Duff’s account has been hacked or he’s pre-arranged this little stunt with Rickie to increase his social media following it looks pretty damming. Here are a selection of the tweets.
@JasonDufner @RickieFowlerPGA looking for his ball in the hedge during his second round +10 over par pic.twitter.com/hfg89hHP
More on this as it emerges!
Kiawah Island Resort (Ocean), Kiawah Island, South Carolina
Purse: $8,000,000
Call me crazy but I have a feeling Charl Schwartzel could do well this week. His odds have lengthened considerably seeing as he hasn’t even scored a top 10 since Malaysia back in April and is without a win since the Masters last year. However his 28th place finish last week at the WGC was an exhibition of seven birdies and no dropped shots. Charl found something on the practice ground and I bet he’s excited about this week. If you believe in gut feelings have a flutter on this one.
Wins at the Zurich Classic and Byron Nelson backed up by a tied fourth at the US Open and another top 10 last week at the WGC make Jason Dufner one of the favourites this week. With that trademark hangdog expression, he has the temperament for Majors and this season it seems he has the game to match. The PGA Championship seems to be Duffs Major of choice too having tied fifth at Whistling Straits in 2010 and then just losing out to Keegan Bradley last year after a three hole aggregate playoff at Atlanta Athletic Club.
If Kiawah Island conditions turn out to be as wild as expected, then my go to man is Dustin Johnson. I followed his progress closely at The Open and was very impressed with his patience and ball striking stats. Has the physical ability to muscle the ball around this mammoth setup and after suffering that cruel loss in 2010 a win here would be golfing justice. DJ wont have to worry about grounding his club in a bunker here either; all sand has been declared waste areas.
Louis has been my “go-to” man in the Major’s this year and after coming second at 95/1 in The Masters, he certainly doesn’t the punters anything. Played super last week in Akron to finish fourth and traditionally when Louis plays well one week, he follows it up the following week. That’s what happened in the Malaysian Open after the Masters and at the tail end of last season where he had consecutive top-10’s.
Of the four Majors since 2010, Matt Kuchar has had a top 10 finish in all of them. Pre 2010 he only ever made one Major cut! Such is the progression of Kuch that he’s almost a banker these days to contend. Tied third at The Masters this year and won the “fifth” Major at TPC Sawgrass but the wait goes on for top honours. Showed good form last week at the WGC and I’m convinced the win will come.
Graeme McDowell 35/1
If it’s “wind” you’re after, you need one of two things, baked beans or Graeme McDowell. Discount the fact that GMac has only only top-10 from eight PGA Championship appearances and you have arguably one of the most consistent Major performers this year. Tied for second at the US Open and tied for fifth at the British, you have to believe that if GMac keeps putting himself in position the win will come.
Do not discount the US Open champion and new Dad Webb Simpson 40/1. Though he hasn’t played since the Greenbrier where incidentally he should have finished much higher than seventh, he is certainly one to watch come Friday evening and cut time.
This guy wont be having kids ever after his attempt to jump over a golf buggy resulted in the world’s biggest wedgie. Ouch!
The European Tour has had Asian events in the calendar for years but now Tim Finchem and the PGA Tour have swooped in, in some style announcing that from 
2013 the CIMB Classic held in Malaysia will become an Official Money Event on the PGA TOUR and be part of the FedEx Cup. But that’s not the best bit, the prize pot is expected to be $7 million to be played for by only 78 players.
Seven mill even divided by 78 is nearly 90,000 bucks so it’s massive money for a limited field. But it’s Asia, and that’s where the money is!
This year’s CIMB Classic will start on October 25th at the Mines Resort and golf club and feature Tiger Woods along with defending champion Bo Van Pelt.
Right after his win at the WGC Bridgestone who did Keegan Bradley thank? His coach? His caddie? His family? No, no and no.
He thanked the new Srixon Z Star Tour ball, calling it “awesome” after gaming it this week for the first time. Brad defends his PGA Championship crown at Kiawah next week and who would bet against him on this form.
The final round of the WGC Bridgestone has been moved forward today because of the threat of “bad weather” according to the PGA Tour. The leaders are now due off at 10am Eastern or 2pm GMT.
It has absolutely nothing to do with getting finished before pretty every TV viewer in the world switches over to watch the Olympic 100 Metres final takes place at London 2012.
Although come to think of it the PGA meteorologist did say there may be a BOLT of lightning!
