It started raining toward the end of the first round this afternoon, and it felt like the weather was reflecting the mood of all golf fans not directly related to Lee Westwood. As Matthew correctly pointed out, all of the excitement coming into this tournament was centered on Tiger, Phil, McIlroy and Luke Donald. Here's where those guys stand now:
T14. R. McIlroy (NIR): -1
T29. T. Woods: Even
T55. P. Mickelson: +2
T64. L. Donald (ENG): +3
Mickelson and Donald are pretty much out of it, and I have no idea what Woods will do. McIlroy will be in contention -- he is the best player in the world -- but he's got some work to do.
Anyway, here's the current top 10 plus ties. Today was the Lee Westwood Story:
1. L. Westwood (ENG): -5 (67)
T2. L. Oosthuizen (RSA): -4 (68)
T2. P. Hanson (SWE): -4 (68)
T4. B. Crane: -3 (69)
T4. J. Dufner: -3 (69)
T4. B. Watson: -3 (69)
T4. P. Lawrie (SCO): -3 (69)
T4. M.A. Jimenez (ESP): -3 (69)
T10. Z. Johnson: -2 (70)
T10. J. Furyk: -2 (70)
T10. V. Singh (FIJ): -2 (70)
T10. S. Stallings: -2
A bit of a rally by the USA boys.
ReplyDeleteI'm prepared to declare right now that no American will win this event. Mark it down.
DeleteSomebody's getting nervous about Bubba Watson.
DeleteI think I'm going to start rooting for Bubba Watson.
DeleteSelf-taught player who learned the game by hitting wiffle balls around his house. "The house was probably an acre and a half yard with big trees, downtown Bagdad (FL). The house is sitting here, and I drew in the dirt driveway. I'd draw a big circle, and that would be my hole, a 5-foot circle. I'd go around it to the left and then I'd go around it to the right. So I learned to cut it. If you know about wiffle balls or plastic balls, it's hard to cut. Then I learned to hook it the other way, hit it high over limbs, hit it low under limbs. I'd say non-stop every day from 6 to 12 years old. Instead of playing with trucks out in the yard, I'd play with a ball and a club."
You're not doing him any favors by rooting for him. The closer Bubba Watson is to winning, the more dramatic his ultimate meltdown will be.
DeleteI started off the day watching the amen corner coverage and I don't know that I've ever seen so many missed greens in all of my years of watching golf, and this was the first round. That kind of play and the fact that the big four weren't showing too much today, made it a bit uninteresting to me.
ReplyDeleteIt was clearly disappointing.
DeleteYou two have no one to blame but yourselves. You both were varsity high-school golfers, and both of you let yourselves be distracted by girls, Extra Innings and MTV. If you had focused on your games, you might've been part of raising the overall bar for golf around the world.
DeletePennant fever: Lee Westwood roots for Nottingham Forest FC.
ReplyDeleteNottingham Forest are sort of the Oakland A's of soccer. They won two European Cups back in the 1970's because of a genius coach -- and are one of the smallest clubs ever to win the European Cup -- but they don't have the money these days to compete with the big boys.
DeleteInteresting about Louis Oosthuizen, who just doubled No. 2 to slide back to 2-under (T9):
ReplyDeleteA member of the Ernie Els Foundation in South Africa from 2000-02. The Ernie Els Foundation benefits families of limited resources and provides educational assistance and playing opportunities in order to produce successful young leaders and develop their playing ability to its full potential. “Getting into golf is very expensive. My dad is a farmer, and in the early years things weren't going that great on the farm. But when I was 17, I managed to become a member of Ernie's Foundation in South Africa and it was unbelievable what he did for me, helping with expenses and things like that."
Oosthuizen gets one back on No. 3, 1-under (T3).
DeleteOver, I meant. He's 1-over and tied for third.
DeleteHe's one-over for the day; he's three-under for the tournament.
DeleteAfter five holes, he's now three-over for the day and one-under for the tournament.
DeleteNo, I still go that round. And now Oosthuizen is 3-over for the day, 1-under for the tournament and tied for 12th through five holes.
DeleteThis reminds me of doing play-by-play for the PCC TV station on Heath football games when we were in high school, and I kept talking about the "53-/54-/55-yard line."
Right. What GoHeath said.
DeleteJason Dufner of Cleveland, who did not start playing golf until he was 15, is now tied with Lee "I'm Proud To Be an Englishman" Westwood for the tournament lead, at 5-under (maybe).
ReplyDeleteBack to even for the day and 3-under for the tournament for Dufner. While the Golf Channel was airing a feature on him, Dufner doubled No. 4 to slip back to a tie for fourth.
DeleteOK, now we're getting some serious action from some serious golfers. Westwood has parred the first six holes to remain in the lead at 5 under. But Rory McIlroy has just birdied 3 and 4 to move to 3 under par -- only two shots off the lead. And Peter Hanson -- another guy who will likely be celebrating when the Europeans lift the Ryder Cup later this year -- has recovered from a double-bogey on 1 by birdieing 2, 3, and 4. So he's tied with Westwood for the lead at 5 under.
ReplyDeleteDid you know that Kentucky won the national college-basketball championship? You should cheer up.
DeleteIf American golf fans were as demanding as Kentucky basketball fans, we wouldn't have lost the Ryder Cup so many times.
DeleteLeaderboard at 1 P.M. E.D.T.
ReplyDeleteT1. L. Westwood (ENG): -5 (28 holes)
T1. P. Hanson (SWE): -5 (25)
T3. B. Crane: -4 (31)
T3. S. Garcia (ESP): -4 (26)
T3. R. McIlroy (NIR): -4 (26)
This is looking much better. Some really big names up there now.
New post started.
DeleteOh, and Freddy Couples is 3-under for the day and the tournament. He just birdied 7, 8, and 9 to shoot a 33 on the front nine. How cool is that?
ReplyDelete