Posts from the Golf Category at FanHouse

On Monday, the FanHouse had a story about Tony Romo leaving a golf tournament on the final round after just nine holes because he had to take his girlfriend, Jessica Simpson, to the airport.

The eyebrows were raised on this because Romo was playing with his father, entered the final round with a chance to actually contend for the title and the fact that he, you know, quit. Reports were brought up that Romo actually left for informal workouts with the Cowboys in Dallas, but it must have been some short lived practice, because Tony is back on the links today.

Romo is one of 17 quarterbacks in a field of more than 75 sports stars and celebrities competing in the 19th annual American Century Championship Golf Tournament.

Now I know what you're thinking, he had three days to be in Dallas practicing with his teammates, but no respectable golfer is going to play in a tournament, especially a competitive tournament like this one amongst athletes, without playing at least one practice round. With this quote, you know he isn't showing up on the first tee cold turkey.

"Anything I do, I do competitively," says Romo, who finished 11th last year. "Things like this allow you to feel what it's like to put yourself in a position where there is pressure on you. The more times you can put yourself in that position, the better you'll become at it."

Tiger Woods has dominated at Augusta National, St. Andrews Golf Links, and now his mother's basement?

Featured on PGATour.com, Tiger has started a blog and in his first installment discusses everything from the Anthony Kim win at his event and his one-legged U.S. Open victory to what he's going to miss from being a spectator the rest of the season.

The thing I'll miss most about sitting out the rest of the season is not being in the fight. Everybody knows how much I love to compete. I was really looking forward to playing in the British Open at Royal Birkdale, where I finished third in 1998, and trying to defend my title in the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills.

The best from the blog is his detailed explanation of the pain during those final days at Torrey Pines. Never one to divulge information, Tiger is fairly open about the struggle he endured that U.S. Open week.

When I walked, my knee throbbed, but it wasn't a shooting pain. Most of the pain came when I swung the club. Certain shots I couldn't lean forward -- that was the frustrating part.

I didn't really have a go-to shot because I wasn't sure where the pain was coming from. I hit a 40-yard pitch shot and felt I was going to fall over. Saturday was pretty bad, but Sunday was worse.

I've often wondered if Jean Van de Velde would've been remembered as anything more than the first Frenchman to win the British Open in 92 years had he not imploded on Carnoustie's 72nd hole in 1999. The eventual winner, Englishman Paul Lawrie, faded into obscurity shortly after his improbable victory, so it's not like winning one tournament -- even a major -- guarantees anything more than fleeting glory (Todd Hamilton agrees).

But unlike Lawrie, who most casual golf fans would struggle recognize if he walked up and kicked them in the groin, Van de Velde will forever have a place in Open Championship history. Sure, it's not Tiger at Torrey Pines-type memories, but, hey, we can't all be the best player in the world.

Van de Velde qualified for Royal Birkdale, so maybe this is the year he finally wins the thing. Okay, there's a better chance Colin Montgomerie and Sergio Garcia are declared dual champions, but among the three, I'm pulling for Jean. I'm sentimental like that.

If you're ever going to dunk a golf shot in for a one, you might as well do it when a free car is on the line.

Allan Errington of Aberdeen, Scotland made a hole-in-one during a round of golf that can best be described in the headline of the story, rubbish.

Mr Errington, originally from Peterlee, County Durham, said: "It's quite embarrassing. I have only played golf about 15 times, my clubs are pretty basic - and I had to borrow a putter."

I'm pretty sure I can speak from all the uno-less golfers around the world when I say, sigh. This guy has played maybe 15 rounds of golf in his life and he makes a hole-in-one after making 7 on his first six holes? Are you kidding me?

Normal golfers stand on the tee thinking about wind direction, the slope of the tee, distance, pin position, the smart place to miss, previous experiences, a full swing or soft, and all the other crazy things that make golf an insane sport.

Errington's thought process was this.

"I had hit seven on each hole until the 7th, then a six and an eight, so was still averaging seven.

"I got to the 9th and said I may as well use my seven iron as everything else was seven."

Yep, his "seven iron because of all the 7s" theory was an exact science, and the ace landed him a Volkswagen Golf for his effort, which he said he was giving to his father.

The best part of the entire story is Errington lost all 23 other golf balls he had in his bag that day. He's that precise.

Deadspin

Recruiting in NCAA women's golf hasn't quite reached the point where it drives the kind of frenzied message board speculation that football and basketball recruiting produce. But the women's golf team at Wake Forest has landed a big-name recruit who will have lots of golf fans talking.

The recruit is Cheyenne Woods, the daughter of Tiger Woods' half brother Earl Woods Jr. She's a two-time Arizona state high school champion, and she picked up golf from the same person who taught Tiger to play: The late Earl Woods Sr., Tiger's dad and Cheyenne's grandfather.

Cheyenne doesn't spend a lot of time with Tiger, but he has given her tips, and she says she knows that as her own golf career progresses, she'll be asked about him more often.

It has to be hard for a guy as competitive as Tiger Woods to miss out on things like the Ryder Cup.

As much as he hates to lose, the Americans have been getting trounced lately, and were one lucky Justin Leonard putt away from dropping the last six cups in an event they used to dominate in (they've still lost five of six).

It turns out, if Woods isn't competing as a teammate in the event, he'd rather steer clear of the event, even after being offered an assistant coaching position.

"I wouldn't do it for a couple reasons," Woods said in a written statement to fans. "No. 1: I'm not on the team. No. 2: The event should be about the competitors and the competition. The guys will have plenty on their minds and I wish them the best. I'll be cheering loudly."

FanHouse golf coach, Ryan Wilson, already touched on a few of the arguments for Woods being around for the event, but the bottom line is the guy is so competitive, watching the action from a golf cart would probably be too much to take.

Also, it might be worth holding back for a bit, especially if the match is somewhat close on Saturday night and the team needs a boost. Imagine Woods flying up, crutching it into the team room and giving them a speech to end all sports motivational speeches. Hey, I might not work for Disney, but this stuff would sell.

Tiger Woods saved professional golf in the Washington, DC area with the AT&T National, but he might take his tournament and going home after 2009. The inaugural AT&T was last July, and after next year's event, it'll need a new venue because Congressional, the current host, will use 2010 to renovate all 18 greens in preparation for the the 2011 U.S. Open.

So now what? For starters, Congressional members will soon vote on whether to keep the tournament from 2012-2017, but in the meantime, AT&T National director Greg McLaughlin has been mulling the options:

McLaughlin said yesterday that there had been some thought to playing the event in 2010 at the nearby TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm, now undergoing a $25 million course and clubhouse renovation. But PGA Commissioner Tim Finchem said last week he did not think that course would be ready for a professional event by 2010, and McLaughlin said he will turn his attention elsewhere, most likely outside of the Washington area.

It sounds like courses from Philadelphia to Oregon are under consideration, but, according to the Washington Post's Leonard Shapiro, Baltimore, St. Louis and Minneapolis probably would make the most sense.

Ultimately, I expect Tiger Woods to do what Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus did for their tournaments, Bay Hill and the Memorial: build a course and give it a permanent home.

If this year's Players Championship was the high point for Sergio Garcia, last year's British Open had to be the cellar.

Sergio opened with a 65, followed by rounds of 71-68 at arguably the toughest course in the world, Carnoustie, but faltered on Sunday, making bogeys on 15 and 18 to land in a playoff with eventual champion Padraig Harrington.

No matter the situation, Garcia's putter will always be to blame. He hits the ball like Zeus on the links, but handles the putter like an elephant giving acupuncture. It's always been his nemesis, but after last week's second place finish in the European Open, Sergio is singing a whole different jingle.

"I managed to putt really well," Garcia said. "Now I know what Tiger (Woods) feels 98 percent of the time when he gets on the greens, so it's a great feeling."

This new confidence comes from a final round 66 where he needed only 21 putts, which conveniently equates to just 1.17 strokes per green.

"It was definitely the best putting round I've ever had," he said.

It wasn't just a fluke round either, Garcia ended the week at the London Golf Club second in putts per green and 11th in putts per round.

With the British steamrolling our way in just nine days, and Woods obviously out of the field, Garcia might just be making his way to the top of the favorites list. In 1998, the last time the tournament was held at Royal Birkdale, Sergio finished in a t-29 as an amateur.

He will always be one of the best ball-strikers at any given tournament, so if that he can figure out Mr. Three Wiggle, Spain might have another champion to celebrate.

Okay, it's been less than 48 hours since Anthony Kim fired a final-round 65 and won the AT & T National, and I'm already sick of the "hey, the next Tiger Woods is here!" talk. Granted, I played my part, virtually high-fiving Kim for his performance, but good lord, Tiger didn't die, he's just out of action for a few months.

So can we temper the "changing of the guards talk" talk, already? I mean, let's all take a page from Mark O'Meara's book of sage-like wisdom. The two-time major champion and Tiger's BFF offered Kim some realistic advice last December. Instead of pumping Kim full of false hope, he was more measured in his words, but still encouraging:

"I just conveyed to Anthony, 'You've got as much talent or more than any other player I've ever seen besides Tiger.' And I believe that," O'Meara said earlier this year. "I'm not trying to put pressure on him, and I told him that. I laid it out for him. 'Unless you don't like money and you don't want to win tournaments, then maybe you continue down that other road.'

"He could win multiple tournaments a year, easily, and win major championships. That's how talented he is."

And by "down that road," O'Meara was referring to Kim's temper getting in the way playing well. Overall, though, I think O'Meara's right -- in terms of physical ability, Kim's as good as anybody (except, you know, Eldrick), but you can say that about a lot of guys on tour. The difference, for most of them, is the above the shoulders stuff. And for Kim, he seems pretty mentally tough. Of course, he's 23 -- it's way too early to start crowning asses around this place.

Darren Rovell has been all over the Tiger-Apple-Ebay scene lately, and he didn't skip a beat on the newest development: fantasy sports site RotoHog has purchased the "Monday Apple" eaten by Tiger during the U.S. Open playoff and is holding a vote to determine what they should do with the rotten scrap of fruit.

"We were looking for something that would be a good Golden Palace play," said Shane Igoe, the site's director of content and viral marketing, referring to the online casino that has generated publicity by buying weird auction items.

A la Marc Ecko, who put the Barry Bonds' No. 756 home run ball up for a public vote, the folks at Rotohog are asking the masses what they should do with the apple.

It's a pretty good move on the part of RotoHog -- our nation's collective fascination with food, celebrity and the webbie-tubes are a solid combination to market off of. Of course, unlike Ecko, RotoHog guarantees to actually follow through with whatever the public decides (and is mocking the designer/baseball-history-ruiner on the site, +1). Anyway, head over to the Tiger Apple site and get your vote on.

To keep you prepared before you do, the choices are ...