Let the FedEx Cup Playoffs Begin

THE FEDEX CUP PLAYOFFS get underway on Thursday with The Barclays at Plainfield Country Club in Edison, New Jersey. The four-event playoff series, which includes the Deutsche Bank Championship and BMW Championship, concludes in Atlanta with the Tour Championship.

After much criticism and formula tinkering, the FedEx Cup points race has slowly gained acceptance. No, it’s not the majors or the Ryder Cup. No, it can’t compete with football. But it’s far better than the days when everyone tuned out after the PGA Championship. With all that cash up for grabs, the top PGA Tour players surely welcome the playoffs and gladly play deep into the month of September. That’s good for core golf fans.

Above are PGATour.com’s top 10 shots from The Barclays. I remembered three of the shots. Four, actually. After seeing it again, I did recall Sergio Garcia’s putt in his 2008 playoff against Vijay Singh. Of course, I also remembered Vijay’s long one that he made on top of Sergio. And there was Matt Kuchar’s iron out of the rough to three feet. That was last year.

I think Heath Slocum got robbed, though. Slocum’s tournament-winning 20-footer in 2009—the biggest putt of his life and the one that beat Tiger Woods—is No. 6 on the list.

Really? Only No. 6?

That’s just wrong.

−The Armchair Golfer

2011 U.S. Open: Day 1 Belongs to Rory McIlroy

Editor’s note: I’m at Congressional Country Club this week covering the 2011 U.S. Open. Share your U.S. Open thoughts: Comment below or email me at armchairgolfer@gmail.com.

WHEN Y.E. YANG CAME HOME in 68 strokes earlier in the day, I thought the score might hold up for the first-round lead. But then along came Rory McIlroy who played what he termed “stress-free golf.” (I didn’t know there was such a thing at the U.S. Open.)

The supremely talented Irishman blitzed the difficult Blue Course, carding a 6-under 65 to take a three-stroke lead over Yang and Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, who also posted a 68.

Here’s what McIlroy said in a “flash” interview immediately after his round.

Q. That was spectacular, six birdies, no bogeys. Talk about your experiences in this round.

RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was a good round of golf. I didn’t really put a foot wrong. The only mistake I made was missing the green on 14, and I held a nice sort of 15 footer for par there. Apart from that it was pretty much stress free golf. It was nice. I feel like I’m driving it well. I’m hitting my iron shots good, holing a few putts. So it’s a nice combination.

Q. Is the course set up perfectly for you?

RORY McILROY: When I got here last week on Wednesday, I felt like the golf course set up good for me. It sort of worked out that way.

Q. I don’t know if you ever get comfortable on a U.S. Open golf course, but you looked comfortable, did you feel that way?

RORY McILROY: I did, yeah, I felt very comfortable. I said this in the press conference Tuesday. It doesn’t feel like a typical U.S. Open, for some reason. The golf course is going to get harder and it’s going to get firmer and it’s going to get trickier, but I still feel that it’s very playable and fair. If you don’t hit a fairway, you’ve still got a chance to hit it on the green and give yourself a chance for birdie. I like the way they’ve set up the golf course this year.

Meanwhile, McIlroy’s playing partners in the marquee grouping struggled to post a good number. Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson shot 74 and 75, respectively. With a ball in the water at the challenging par-3 10th (his first hole of the day), Mickelson’s round and 41st birthday got off to a rocky start. Lefty made a double bogey and had to steady himself the rest of the way.

The boys had a huge gallery, as you might imagine. I followed along for a few holes, but it was difficult to get a good look at the action.

In addition to McIlroy, Yang and Schwartzel, six players broke 70 in scoring conditions made easier by overcast skies and relatively cool temperatures. British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen and Sergio Garcia are among the group of players who are at 3-under par after 69s.

−The Armchair Golfer

Related:
2011 U.S. Open: ‘Big Blue’ Ready to Challenge Field of 156
2011 U.S. Open TV Schedule and Tournament Notes
2011 U.S. Open: A 16-Year-Old Player and Other Notes

U.S. Open: ‘The Mechanic’ to Tee Off With Spanish Comrades

THE THURSDAY AND FRIDAY groupings for next week’s U.S. Open are out. Miguel Angel Jimenez, nicknamed “The Mechanic” because of his interest in tinkering with sports cars (notably his red Ferrari), will tour Congressional Country Club with fellow Spanish pros Sergio Garcia and Alvaro Quiros. The trio representing golf in Spain will go off at 1:24 p.m. on Thursday and 7:44 a.m. on Friday.

(Note: There’s also an all-Italian grouping of Francesco Molinari, Matteo Manassero, and Edoardo Molinari that follows directly after the Spaniards. Two of them, of course, are brothers.)

Jimenez, an 18-time winner on the European Tour, including 11 titles since the age of 40, has had spotty results in nine U.S. Open appearances. His best finish was a tie for second in 2000 at Pebble Beach where Tiger Woods dominated the field. That was followed by a dry spell until 2008 at Torrey Pines when The Mechanic finished in a sixth-place tie. The last two years he missed the cut.

Jimenez resides in Malaga, a large coastal city on the Mediterranean Sea about 100 kilometers (62 miles) east of the Strait of Gibraltar. This glimmering stretch of coastline has become known as a golf resort destination. Golf Costa Del Sol stretches from Jimenez’s native Malaga to Sotogrande, and includes a number of top championship golf courses and resorts.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Brought to you by YourGolfTravel.com, the online destination for golf breaks uk.)

(Photo credit: Richard Carter, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

2011 HP Byron Nelson Championship TV Schedule and Tournament Notes

THE 2011 HP BYRON NELSON CHAMPIONSHIP is underway at TPC Four Seasons Resort in Irving, Texas. Five players, including Sergio Garcia, are tied for the lead after opening with 66. The first round is still in progress.

Purse: $6.5 million
Winner’s share: $1.17 million
Defending champion: Jason Day

2011 HP Byron Nelson Championship Leaderboard

Field
Course
Tee times
Interviews
Tournament overview
Tournament news
Tour report
HP Byron Nelson Championship website


TV SCHEDULE

TV coverage of the 2011 HP Byron Nelson Championship is on Golf Channel and CBS.

Thu, 5/26:
GOLF 3p - 6p ET

Fri, 5/27:
GOLF 3p - 6p ET

Sat, 5/28:
CBS 3p - 6p ET

Sun, 5/29:
CBS 3p - 6p ET

SIRIUS-XM broadcast times


−The Armchair Golfer

Sergio Garcia to Run for Office?

DONALD TRUMP MIGHT NOT BE running for president, but apparently Spanish golf star Sergio Garcia is running for mayor. He must be judging from the above banner. Would you vote for him?

OK, so Garcia is not really running for mayor. The signage was instead a friendly way for his Fort Worth fan base to say howdy and welcome to Colonial Country Club and the Crowne Plaza Invitational. The banner greeted him just outside of the club’s gates.

Maybe it pepped up Garcia’s game. On Thursday he opened with a dandy 4-under 66. Friday wasn’t as good. Sergio carded five bogeys against two birdies for a 3-over 73.

Politics can’t be that much harder than golf, can it?

−The Armchair Golfer

(Visor tip to Alan Bastable)

(Photo: Courtesy of @CrownePlazaInv)

Rory Leads, Tiger Lurks, in Dubai

Editor’s note: Brian Keogh is a golf correspondent for The Irish Sun and a contributor to The Irish Times, Golf Digest Ireland and other golf publications. The following piece from Brian’s Irish Golf Desk is used with permission.

By Brian Keogh
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

RORY MCILROY SHOT A THIRD round 75 as high winds blew the Dubai Desert Classic wide open. The 21-year old finished the day tied for the lead on eight under par with Dane Anders Hansen and South Africa’s Thomas Aiken. But there are now 30 players within five shots of the leaders with Tiger Woods lurking ominously just a stroke off the pace after a battling 72 that featured an eagle, four birdies, four bogeys and a double.

McIlroy was simply pleased that he managed to dig deep and limit the damage after high winds caused major problems for the afternoon starters. After bogeys at the first three holes, the world No 7 did well to drop just one shot at the seventh before covering his last 11 holes in one under par.

“I just got off to a rough start but I thought I steadied the ship really well,” McIlroy said after hitting just five fairways in winds gusting over 25 mph.

A year ago, McIlroy might have lost his patience and the plot but he did well in the end to remain in the lead and he puts that down to maturity.

“There’s been a few rounds that I let get away from me, the second round at The Open last year, being a prime example, and I didn’t let that happen today, which was a positive sign,” he said.

Woods went out in 39 but started the back nine eagle-birdie and eventually came home in 33 thanks to a sliding, left to right, 15 foot birdie putt at the 18th. He punched the air after that one to earn a final-round pairing with Sergio Garcia, who led by two shots at one stage but came home in 41 for a 75 that leaves him in a seven-way share of fourth.

Asked to comment on a less than orthodox 72, Woods joked: “18 pars. I don’t know what you’re talking about.

“No, it was tough out there. I got off to a tough start there and battled back and then lost it just before the turn; and battled back again and lost it again at 16 and then battled back at 18. So, it was a tough day.”

After struggling to control his ball in windy conditions, Woods expected to finish the day several shots behind but Garcia double bogeyed the 17th when he tried to drive the green, hit a tree and ended up being forced to take a penalty drop from a bush in the desert.

Woods said: “We have a bunched leaderboard. There’s a bunch of guys with a chance to win tomorrow. Sergio and Rory didn’t pull away.”

Conditions are forecast to be similar on Sunday and McIlroy knows that he will have to be more patient than ever if he is to get his second European Tour victory.

Garcia lamented his back luck on 17 but he despite his 41 on the back nine, he knows he’s still got a fighting chance in the final round.

“I didn’t play the back nine that badly,” he claimed. “I hit a couple bad shots, but I was holding it nicely.”

Michael Hoey bogeyed the last for a 73 but at six under par he is just two shots off the pace in a share of 11th while world No 1 Lee Westwood is just three behind on five under after a 72.

“Might have a sniff at it,” Westwood said. “You never know.”

Brian Keogh covers golf for The Irish Sun and contributes to a variety of golf publications. Pay him a visit at Irish Golf Desk.

Olazabal Is Right Man for Ryder Cup Job

I’M A LONGTIME ADMIRER of Jose Maria Olazabal, who is being reported as Europe’s next Ryder Cup captain, according to various media outlets. The official announcement is expected on Tuesday at the Abu Dhabi Championship.

If Olazabal’s captaincy in any way mirrors his play in seven Ryder Cup appearances, Europe is in very capable hands. Olazabal was Seve Ballesteros’ other half of the most successful partnership in Cup history. Beginning in 1987, I watched Seve and Ollie beat the spikes off America’s best. The pair only lost twice in 15 matches. I didn’t like it one bit. But I always respected Jose Maria’s game. His driving could be suspect, but his iron game, chipping and putting were a thing of beauty. I’ve always thought of him as one of golf’s toughest competitors.

Olazabal also later formed a successful Ryder Cup partnership with Sergio Garcia. (If Garcia had Ollie’s grit, he’d have bagged a few majors by now.)

Now 44 and plagued in recent years by injuries, the two-time Masters winner is primed for the captaincy. He was a vice captain for European captains Nick Faldo and Colin Montgomerie at the last two Ryder Cups. His record as a player and experience as a vice captain have earned him a ton of respect in the locker room.

“When Jose Maria conducts a team talk or motivational talk, everyone listens,” Lee Westwood was quoted as saying by BBC Sport.

At the helm when Europe lost at Valhalla, Nick Faldo said competing on American soil presents additional challenges. (The 2012 Ryder Cup will be played at Medinah in Chicago.) Home-field advantage and course setup are huge factors.

“I think you need a big captain when you go to the States,” Faldo said.

Olazabal is the right man for the job.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Photo credit: Richard Carter, Flickr, Creative Commons license)