PGA TOUR
Wyndham Championsip
Dates: Aug. 20-23
Venue: Sedgefield Country Club, Greensboro, N.C.
Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern):
Thursday 3-6 p.m. (Live) / 9:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. (Replay)
Friday 3-6 p.m. (Live) / 11:30 p.m.-2:30 a.m. (Replay)
Saturday 1-2:30 p.m. (Live) / 11 p.m.-2 a.m. (Replay)
Sunday 1-2:30 p.m. (Live) / 11 p.m.-2 a.m. (Replay)
Broadcast Notes:
Final opportunity to qualify for FedExCup Playoffs: This is the 43rd and final regular season event on the 2014-15 PGA TOUR schedule, and the final opportunity for players to move inside the top-125 in the FedExCup standings to qualify for the Playoffs. Those 125 players at week’s end will earn PGA TOUR cards for the 2015-16 season, and qualify for the first of four playoff events at The Barclays next week in New Jersey. Players finishing at 126-200 in the FedExCup standings will be eligible for the Web.com Tour Finals, a four tournament series beginning Sept. 10.
Villegas defends: Camilo Villegas finished one shot ahead of Bill Haas and Fredrik Jacobson for his fourth career PGA TOUR win.
Headlining the field: Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka, Adam Scott, Hideki Matsuyama, Branden Grace, Martin Kaymer, Billy Horschel, Paul Casey, Ernie Els, Brandt Snedeker and Bill Haas.
LPGA TOUR
Canadian Pacific Women’s Open
Dates: Aug. 20-23
Venue: The Vancouver Golf Club, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern):
Thursday 6-9 p.m. (Live) / 3:30-5:30 a.m. (Friday replay)
Friday 6-9 p.m. (Live) / 4:30-6 a.m. (Saturday replay)
Saturday 7-10 p.m. (Live) / 4-6:30 a.m. (Sunday replay)
Sunday 7-10 p.m. (Live) / 4-6 a.m. (Monday replay)
Broadcast Notes:
Elite field: Nine of the top-10 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings are in the field, including the top-3 in Inbee Park, Lydia Ko and Stacy Lewis. 17-year-old Canadian Brooke Henderson also will tee it up this week in her home country, coming off a win at the Cambia Portland Classic last week as a Monday qualifier.
Inskter joining the booth on Friday with U.S. Solheim Cup selections looming: The U.S. Solheim Cup team will be finalized following the conclusion of play on Sunday, with the top-eight on the LPGA points list and the top-two Americans in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings not already qualified receiving automatic spots on the roster. U.S. Solheim Cup captain Juli Inkster will join Golf Channel’s booth during Friday’s second round coverage to discuss her potential options for choosing her captain’s picks. The European team – which already has four automatic qualifiers from the Ladies European Tour points list – will round out its roster on Tuesday, Aug. 25, with the top-four LET members in the world rankings and four captain’s picks.
Ryu defends: So Yeon Ryu won by two strokes over Na Yeon Choi for her third career LPGA Tour victory.
Headlining the field: Inbee Park, Lydia Ko, Stacy Lewis, Brooke Henderson, Hyo Joo Kim, So Yeon Ryu, Suzann Pettersen, Shanshan Feng, Lexi Thompson, Anna Nordqvist and Amy Yang.
CHAMPIONS TOUR
Boeing Classic
Dates: Aug. 21-23
Venue: TPC Snoqualmie Ridge, Snoqualmie, Wash.
Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern):
Friday 9-11 p.m. (Tape delay) / 12:30-2:30 p.m. (Streaming on Golf Live Extra)
Saturday 5-7 p.m. (Live) / 2-4 a.m. (Sunday replay)
Sunday 5-7 p.m. (Live) / 2-4 a.m. (Monday replay)
Broadcast Notes:
Dunlap defends: Scott Dunlap defeated Mark Brooks with a birdie on the first playoff hole for his inaugural Champions Tour win.
Headlining the field: Fred Couples, Bernhard Langer, Jeff Maggert, Marco Dawson, Kevin Sutherland, Joe Durant, Lee Janzen, Esteban Toledo, Woody Austin and Billy Andrade.
EUROPEAN TOUR
Made in Denmark
Dates: Aug. 20-23
Venue: Himmerland Golf & Spa Resort (PGA Backtee Course), Aalborg, Denmark
Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern):
Thursday 5:30-7:30 a.m. / 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (Live)
Friday 5:30-7:30 a.m. / 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (Live)
Saturday 7-11 a.m. (Live)
Sunday 6:30-11 a.m. (Live)
Broadcast Notes:
Warren defends: Marc Warren finished two shots ahead of Bradley Dredge to earn his third career European Tour victory.
Headlining the field: Thomas Bjorn, Darren Clarke, Marc Warren, Thorbjorn Olesen, David Lipsky, David Horsey, Daniel Brooks, Edoardo Molinari, Nicloas Colsaerts and Peter Uihlein.
In my Twitter feed there are a lot of video clips from the PGA Championship. One in particular caught my attention, because someone in the press had the golf balls to ask Tiger Woods if he has lost a step. The second the video started and I heard the voice of the person asking the question, I knew who it was… Jay Flemma.
Oof. That joke did not land, Tiger pic.twitter.com/WpVFmxa6p9
— Feitelberg (@FeitsBarstool) August 11, 2015
Tiger’s answer was intended to be a joke, followed up with a big Tiger smile. Nobody got it. #crickets #illbehereallweek #trytheveal
The fourth major championship is upon us! It’s one of the greatest events in golf, the PGA Championship. Rory McIlory appears to be on the way, Jordan Spieth is vying for a 3rd major in a year, Tiger Woods “might” be on the comeback, Whistling Straits is a fantastic venue. So many great golf stories to choose from.
Good for golf? Probably not. Good for hits and clickbait? Absolutely
So what does Golf.com choose to offer its readers on the eve of this smorgasboard of great golf stories and angles? What brilliant journalistic excellence does this great golf media outlet grace its intelligent, discerning, classy readers with?
Boobs.
For the first time in my entire life, I read an Alan Shipnuck article at golf.com. The only content I’ve seen on that website previously featured Rickie Fowler’s girlfriend and Holly Saunders, so I was surprised to see an article about golf.
Alan Shipnuck’s “Heros and Zeros” article about the Open Championship was a zero.
The facts are that golf.com posts more click bait T&A photos than golf articles…
Shipnuck calls the Old Course a zero, right after listing it a hero in the previous paragraph:
“The Old Course. Sad to say, it has gotten much too short to provide a true championship test. The long hitters can reach both par-5s and up to four par-4s, and even medium-length players have flip wedges into half the holes. Speeding up the greens clearly isn’t the answer, as wind delays in the last three Opens have shown. It’s not the course’s fault the R&A has let equipment for the pros get out of control, but the Old Course is the saddest casualty.”
The Old Course is too short to provide championship golf? I disagree. Did it not expose the player who had the best all around game, short, long and with the putter? That player was most definitely Zach Johnson. Look at the leader board. Look at the players who were in the top 5-10. It’s a reflection of the best golfers in the world sans a couple who weren’t there in the final round because of injury (Rory McIlory) or not knowing/liking links golf (Bubba Watson). Many of the world’s top 15-20 players floated to the top of the leader board by the end of the tournament. The drama was high. The finish was very exciting. It was great championship golf on the world’s greatest golf stage.
I listened to the broadcasts and read the whining about how the course is too short and the bombers will eat it up all week, as Dustin Johnson held the lead for the first two rounds. Where did Dustin finish? Oh, tied for 49th. Where did Bubba Watson finish? Missed cut. How about Gary Woodland? Tied for 58th. The one bomber who was in the hunt was Jason Day, who also happens to have a great iron and short game and a knack for finishing in 2nd in majors.
If anything the stats show that the Old Course defends long driving well, and rewards accurate shotmaking and course management. Winner Zach Johnson hit 94% of his fairways.
Think about some of the shots the players were hitting. I remember playing the par-3 8th and hitting 8-iron and 9-iron. Some players were hitting 6-iron because of the conditions. One hole a player might hit a 330 yard drive but on the next hit a 150 yard 6-iron. The course required the players to think, manage, execute, avoid hazards, and putt well. The player who did all those things the best won.
What IS Championship Golf?
Maybe Shipnuck’s criteria for “championship golf” is the scores must be at or near even-par like a U.S. Open? Phooey. The Open winner finished at -15. If you recall, Jordan Spieth was at -19 in this year’s Masters Tournament with one hole left to play. With a large lead of five strokes, he safely won the tournament with an easy bogey on the 72nd hole to finish at -18. -18 eh? Does that mean Augusta National Golf Club isn’t a championship course either?
Conclusion
Golf.com should stick with its strengths, posting T&A photos of the “most beautiful women in golf.”
This morning I had fun doing an appearance on CBS Sports Talk Radio 1700 The Champ on the Jimmy B & TC Show. 1700 The Champ is based in Des Moines, Iowa. Our subject of discussion was the Open Championship and the win by Iowa native Zach Johnson. Obviously they’re super stoked about that. It was fun to talk golf over my morning coffee with Jimmy B and TC (Jim Brinson and Trent Condon). When the podcast of today’s show becomes available I’ll post a link to it.
This was the second appearance I made on the show. Last week we did an Open Championship preview which went quite well. Tooting my own horn (beep beep), I have to mention that in the preview for the Open I expressed my doubt that Tiger Woods and Bubba Watson would make the cut in the Open. They did not. A broken clock is right twice a day, assuming it isn’t a military clock. Here’s a link to the podcast of the Open preview show.
Thanks to my new pals Jimmy B and TC for the opportunity. We will be doing the same gig before and after the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.
HOGWire – Golf Industry News
