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PGA champions

Bill Sullivan — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 01:23:33 +0000

The PGA Championship is the fourth, and arguably the least prestigious, of golf’s four majors. Coming on the heels of the Masters, U.S. Open, and British Open, the last leg of the Grand Slam generally falls in the dog days of summer, often making conditions miserable for players and fans alike.

Still, winning the official championship of the Professional Golfers Association of America counts as one of the season’s big accomplishments, and it has played a major role in Tiger Woods’ pursuit of Jack Nicklaus’ all-time record for major championship wins (18). Woods has claimed four PGAs among his first 14 majors.

Otherwise, the winners list is a mixed bag of big names and one-time wonders. Here it is, highlighting the last 11 (beginning with Tiger’s first), with a little bit about what they did and where they did it:

2009 — Y. E. Yang, a 37-year-old who had gone to Q-school just a year earlier, became the first Asian-born player to win a major championship, defeating Woods by three strokes at Hazeltine. Woods previously was 14-0 when leading a major at the start of the final round.

2008 — Padraig Harrington overcome Sergio Garcia on the back nine on Sunday at Oakland Hills in Michigan to add the PGA to the British Open crown he won earlier in the summer.

2007 — Tiger Woods held off Woody Austin by two strokes at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Okla., to win for the fourth time.

2006 — Tiger Woods shot all four rounds in the 60s and finished 18 under par in Medinah, Ill.

2005 – Phil Mickelson claimed his second major with a tap-in birdie on the par-5 18th hole to win at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J.

2004 — Vijay Singh won a three-way playoff with Justin Leonard and Chris DiMarco at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisc.

2003 — Shaun Micheel held off Chad Campbell at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y. for his first career victory.

2002 — Rich Beem blew past Tiger Woods on the back nine on Sunday at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn.

2001 — David Toms finished with a 15-under 265 to set a major championship 72-hole record at the Atlanta Athletic Club.

2000 — Tiger Woods won as the PGA Championship returned to Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.

1999 — Tiger Woods held off 19-year-old Spaniard Sergio Garcia by one stroke at Medinah (Ill.) Country Club.

Buick Open winners

Bill Sullivan — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:27:02 +0000

With the industry struggling, sponsoring a PGA Tour stop is no longer in the budget for Buick. That’s why the automaker is getting out of the golf business, making this year’s Buick Open the last of its kind.

The event went out with a bang, as Tiger Woods won for the third time in eight years.

Here’s a list of winners since 1981:

1981: Hale Irwin
1982: Lanny Wadkins
1983: Wayne Levi
1984: Denis Watson
1985: Ken Green
1986: Ben Crenshaw
1987: Robert Wrenn
1988: Scott Verplank
1989: Leonard Thompson
1990: Chip Beck
1991: Brad Faxon
1992: Dan Forsman
1993: Larry Mize
1994: Fred Couples
1995: Woody Austin
1996: Justin Leonard
1997: Vijay Singh
1998: Billy Mayfair
1999: Tom Pernice, Jr.
2000: Rocco Mediate
2001: Kenny Perry
2002: Tiger Woods
2003: Jim Furyk
2004: Vijay Singh
2005: Vijay Singh
2006: Tiger Woods
2007: Brian Bateman
2008: Kenny Perry
2009: Tiger Woods

Source: PGA Tour.com

CBS Sports golf broadcast team

Bill Sullivan — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:31:23 +0000

Here’s the list of the personalities who make up the CBS Golf broadcast team:

Ian Baker-Finch
Bobby Clampett
Nick Faldo
David Feherty
Peter Kostis
Bill Macatee
Gary McCord
Jim Nantz
Peter Oosterhuis

British Open Champions

Bill Sullivan — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 22:00:39 +0000

Once the U.S. Open is in the books, the world’s best golfers turn their attention across the pond for the British Open — or, as the locals know it, simply “The Open.”

In contrast to the U.S. Open, players at the British contend with links courses and coastal conditions that can make each day a new adventure. Like the U.S., it’s an intense test of golf that produces champions both familiar (Tiger Woods, three times in the past nine years) and relatively obscure (Paul Lawrie, Todd Hamilton).

With Woods missing the cut, 59-year-old Tom Watson flirted with history in 2009, coming within an eight-foot putt of winning on the 72nd hole before losing a playoff to Stewart Cink.

Who preceded him? The list of the last 10 winners includes:

2009 — Stewart Cink

2008 — Padraig Harrington

2007 — Padraig Harrington

2006 — Tiger Woods

2005 — Tiger Woods

2004 — Todd Hamilton

2003 — Ben Curtis

2002 — Ernie Els

2001 — David Duval

2000 — Tiger Woods

To see the rest, visit Opengolf.com

U.S. Open golf champions

Bill Sullivan — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:24:04 +0000

Of golf’s four major championships, the U.S. Open may be the most difficult to win. Having to play an extra 19 holes on a bum knee, as Tiger Woods did in outlasting Rocco Mediate to win the 2008 Open, only adds to the challenge.

Spring weather can be a challenge at The Masters, conditions at the British Open vary wildly, and the PGA Championship often is an endurance contest in the dog days of summer. But the U.S. Open is a grind, as the United States Golf Association combines thick rough and lightning-fast greens to create a demolition derby in which even par is almost always a contending score.

For your weekend hacker, that makes The Open a bit of a guilty pleasure, as the world’s greatest players are brought to their knees by the course and the pressure to avoid the one big mistake that can take them out of the running. That often produces an unexpected winner, the long shot who conjures up just enough magic for 72 (or more) holes.

Who has done the best job of handling it all?

Your Open champions, of course. The list includes:

2009 – Lucas Glover

2008 – Tiger Woods – p

2007 – Angel Cabrera

2006 - Geoff Ogilvy

2005 – Michael Campbell

2004 – Retief Goosen

2003 – Jim Furyk

2002 – Tiger Woods

2001 – Retief Goosen

2000 – Tiger Woods

Most U.S. Open golf championships

Bill Sullivan — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:23:37 +0000

Winning the U.S. Open is one of the most difficult feats in golf, so it stands to reason that winning it more than once is particularly special.

Tiger Woods’ dramatic playoff victory over Rocco Mediate in 2008 gave Woods his third Open title. This year, at Bethpage Black, Woods is bidding to become just the fifth golfer to win the Open four times.

How difficult is this? Here’s a list of the players who have come away with the trophy at least twice since the first Open was played back in 1895:

4 — Willie Anderson (1901, 1903, 1904, 1905)
4 — a-Robert T. Jones Jr. (1923, 1926, 1929, 1930)
4 — Ben Hogan (1948, 1950, 1951, 1953)
4 — Jack Nicklaus (1962, 1967, 1972, 1980)
3 — Hale Irwin (1974, 1979, 1990)
3 — Tiger Woods (2000, 2002, 2008)
2 — Alex Smith (1906, 1910)
2 — John J. McDermott (1911, 1912)
2 — Walter Hagen (1914, 1919)
2 — Gene Sarazen (1922, 1932)
2 — Ralph Guldahl (1937, 1938)
2 — Cary Middlecoff (1949, 1956)
2 — Julius Boros (1952, 1963)
2 — Billy Casper (1959, 1966)
2 — Lee Trevino (1969, 1971)
2 — Andy North (1978, 1985)
2 — Curtis Strange (1988, 1989)
2 — Ernie Els (1994, 1997)
2 — Lee Janzen (1993, 1998)
2 — Payne Stewart (1991, 1999)
2 — Retief Goosen (2001, 2004)

a – amateur

Source: usga.usopen.com

U.S. Open leaders

Bill Sullivan — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:51:02 +0000

Can’t make it over to Bethpage Black to dodge the raindrops this weekend? Wife won’t let you watch golf on TV for eight consecutive hours?

Fear not. You can follow the leaders online and keep up with all the action while pretending to be paying the bills and researching your next great novel.

Click here. We won’t tell a soul.

Courses hosting most U.S. Opens

Bill Sullivan — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:03:42 +0000

While the United States Open is touted as something of an egalitarian affair, there’s nothing “open” about it when it comes to selecting sites. Only the best of the best play host to the U.S. national championship, and plenty of blueblood country clubs have had the honor of welcoming golf’s best on multiple occasions.

Here’s a list of the courses that have hosted the Open most frequently, with the most recent year in parentheses:

Oakmont Country Club, Oakmont, Pa. — 8 (2007)

Baltusrol Golf Club (Lower Course), Springfield, N.J. — 7 (1993)

Oakland Hills Country Club (South Course) , Bloomfield Hills, Mich. — 6 (1996)

Winged Foot Golf Club (West Course), Mamaroneck, N.Y. — 5 (2006)

Pebble Beach Golf Links, Pebble Beach, Calif. — 4 (2000)

The Olympic Club (Lake Course), Daly City, Calif. – 4 (1998)

Merion Golf Club (East Course), Ardmore, Pa. — 4 (1981)

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, Southampton, N.Y. — 4 (2004)

Myopia Hunt Club, South Hamilton, Mass. — 4 (1908)

Inverness Club, Toledo, Ohio – 4 (1979)

Source: usga.com

U.S. Open Golf courses

Bill Sullivan — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:40:22 +0000

As the 2008 United States Open returned to a soggy Bethpage Black in New York, here’s a list of the courses that have played host to the Open since the event’s debut in 1895:

2009 – Bethpage State Park, Black Course, Farmingdale, N.Y.

2008 – Torrey Pines Golf Course, South Course, La Jolla, Calif.

2007 – Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club

2006 – Winged Foot Golf Club, Mamoroneck, N.Y.

2005 – Pinehurst Resort and Country Club, No. 2 Course, Village of Pinehurst, N.C.

2004 – Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, Southampton, N.Y.

2003 – Olympia Fields (Ill.) Country Club, North Course

2002 – Bethpage State Park, Black Course, Farmingdale, N.Y.

2001 – Southern Hills Country Club, Tulsa, Okla.

2000 – Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links

1999 – Pinehurst Resort and Country Club, No. 2 Course, Village of Pinehurst, N.C.

1998 – The Olympic Club, San Francisco

1997 – Congressional Country Club, Bethesda, Md.

1996 – Oakland Hills Country Club, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

1995 – Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, Southampton, N.Y.

1994 – Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club

1993 – Baltusrol Golf Club, Lower Course, Springfield, N.J.

1992 – Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links

1991 – Hazeltine National Golf Club, Chaska, Minn.

1990 – Medinah (Ill.) Country Club, No. 3 Course

1989 – Oak Hill Country Club, Rochester, N.Y.

1988 – The Country Club, Brookline, Mass.

1987 – The Olympic Club, San Francisco

1986 – Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, Southampton, N.Y.

1985 – Oakland Hills Country Club, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

1984 – Winged Foot Golf Club, Mamaroneck, N.Y.

1983 – Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club

1982 – Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links

1981 – Merion Golf Club, East Course, Ardmore, Pa.

1980 – Baltusrol Golf Club, Lower Course, Springfield, N.J.

1979 – Inverness Club, Toledo, Ohio

1978 – Cherry Hills Country Club, Englewood, Colo.

1977 – Southern Hills Country Club, Tulsa, Okla.

1976 – Atlanta Athletic Club, Duluth, Ga.

Masters champions

Bill Sullivan — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 00:15:37 +0000

When Angel Cabrera of Argentina endured a two-hole playoff to win the 2009 Masters, he added his name to a list including most of golf’s elite.

The annual pilgrimage to Augusta, Georgia, is the opener for golf’s “major” season, setting the table for the U.S. Open, British Open, and PGA championships that follow in the summer months. The venue, Augusta National, is one of golf’s most breathtaking, especially when the spring flowers and dogwoods are in full bloom.

Of course, a bad weather day at Augusta can be as miserable as it gets, and many a Masters weekend has offered both extremes. Whatever the conditions, Augusta has produced many of golf’s most memorable moments, humbling some of the game’s greatest players while providing more than a few surprising winners.

Here are the last 10 men to slip on the green jacket, and a little bit of what they did to earn the privilege:

2009 — Angel Cabrera: Beat Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell in a playoff to claim his first green jacket.

2008 — Trevor Immelman: Overcame a shaky final round to beat Tiger by three shots.

2007 — Zach Johnson: Edged three players, including Tiger Woods, for a two-stroke win.

2006 — Phil Mickelson: Grabbed his second green jacket in three years with a two-stroke win over Tim Clark.

2005 — Tiger Woods: Won his fourth green jacket with a 15-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a sudden death playoff, defeating Chris DiMarco.

2004 — Phil Mickelson: Made an 18-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to win his first major, beating Ernie Els by a stroke.

2003 — Mike Weir: First Canadian and first lefthander to win the Masters. Defeated Len Mattiace on the first playoff hole.

2002 — Tiger Woods: Defended his title by shooting a 66 on Saturday before cruising to a three-shot win over Retief Goosen.

2001 – Tiger Woods: Finished 16 under par, two shots better than David Duval.

2000 – Vijay Singh: Final round 69 was good enough for a three-shot win over Ernie Els.

Source: Masters.com