Golf Etail Blog

Surely you know by know by now, The Open Championship will be played at the Old Course, St Andrews from Thursday July 15th through Sunday July 18th. Tiger won that last two Open Championships played at St Andrews (2000 and 2005). Over the next few days we will be giving you bits of information and stats on the Top 10 Players today to give you some insight on who might win the Claret Jug in 2010.

Below are the players displayed in order of ranking:

1. Tiger Woods, USA
2. Phil Mickelson, USA
3. Lee Westwood, Eng
4. Steve Stricker USA
5. Jim Furyk USA
6. Ernie Els, Zaf
7. Luke Donald, Eng
8. Ian Poulter, Eng
9. Rory McIlroy, Nir
10. Paul Casey, Eng

The Place: St Andrews, Scotland

St Andrews is also known as the “Auld Grey Toon.” Etiquette suggests you do not try to imitate Sean Connery in Goldfinger when asking a native where the largest whisky distillery is in the Auld Grey Toon.

The Date: July 15^th, 2010

In most American cities, July means heat and humidity. In St Andrews, this means the pale freezing mist that occurs between spring (rain) and autumn (rain). Occasionally the British Open at St Andrews will have one day of blazing sunshine. Scots call this day summer.

The Course: The Old Course at St Andrews

A breathtaking swath of green on the east coast of Fife, the Old Course at St Andrews is a links course, the oldest kind of golf course known to man. Legend has it that golf was first played on links courses by shepherds knocking stones into rabbit holes. Until they established that shooting them was quicker.

The Par: 72

The record score for the Open Championship to date is Tiger Woods’s 19-under-par, with rounds of 67-66-67-69 and a win by eight shots in 2000. Woods is hoping to outdo this feat in 2010 by taking down Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington and 6 reporters on his way to a 15th Major.

The Yards: 7,305

Starting in the violet shadow of the clubhouse, following the route of a railway line on the back nine and finishing at the 18th, the Old Course at St Andrews is deceptive in its simplicity. Many golfers have lost their hopes in the Hell Bunker at the 14th; John Daly has yet to emerge.

Want to play along?

Come and see us over at GolfEtail.com. We may not have haggis, but we do have some of the best deals on discount golf equipment in the country, including Callaway FT-5 Drivers.

This one might make all of you golfers with odd grips take heart. Check out this young man from Scotland, a professional golfer, who also just happens to use a right-over-left grip on his club (even though he swings like a righty). He won the 2007 Scottish Amateur Championship, so he must be doing something right.

And whether you grip it like Mr. Gallagher here, or the traditional way like me, a new set of clubs can help you hit them straighter and longer, so check out our deals on golf iron sets, including an awesome deal on the TaylorMade R7 Iron Set.

Keep hitting those fairways!

A few weeks ago we delivered you the goods on Y.E. Yang’s PGA Championship victory over Tiger Woods.

(Woods wasn’t happy. But who can blame him? Nobody likes to lose. Especially on national television.)

Now, ever better goods than before – the shot that gave Yang the come-from-behind lead over Woods.

Talk about exciting – The DealTeam can’t stop watching this clip! It’s the embodiment of professional sports.

As they say, you win some, you lose some. Yang definitely deserved that one!

Think you know?

Tiger, Jack, Seve and Annika all made the cut. But who else did Golf magazine choose to round out its list of the “20 Greatest Golfers of All Time”? Take a look. And when you’re done, don’t forget to choose your all-time fave – or debate the list if you think Golf has overlooked a player worthy of the top 20 title. Players like me, Bogey Niblick – DealTeam dynamo and golf expert extraordinaire. But let’s keep that between us, shall we?

In celebration of its 50th anniversary, Golf has also compiled a list of the 50 greatest courses, complete with interactive map; its 5 best video tips; and a special section devoted to the man, the legend, Arnold Palmer.

So much great golf content, the DealTeam barely knew where to begin!

The 91st PGA Championship tees off in Chaska, Minn., tomorrow – and we all know what that means: Golf aficianados will be whipping out the greenbacks to get in on the action.

Now, we’re not condoning gambling, but if you’d like to take a peek at the odds and place your bets (toootally of your own free will), you can probably figure out how to do so right here.

Before you start spending all your lunch money, however, consider digesting this PGA Championship Preview provided by the BetUS Staff.

In other news, while you’ve got making money on your mind, renegade Tiger Woods will have to shell out a few backs after he publicly criticized a rules official after winning the Bridgestone Invitational.

After Woods and fellow golfer Padraig Harrington were put on the clock at the par-5 16th, Woods told Harrington, “I’m sorry that John got in the way of a great battle,” referring to European Tour chief referee John Paramor who told Woods and Harrington they were being timed.

Woods felt that because they were being timed, Harrington rushed three difficult shots, leading to triple bogey.

PGA Tour officials had no sympathy for Woods when they slapped him with a fine and cited section VI-D of the PGA Tour’s player handbook, which says, “It is an obligation of membership to refrain from comments to the news media that unreasonably attack or disparage tournaments, sponsors, fellow members, players, or PGA Tour.”

Unfortunately, there’s no word on how much Woods’ crash course on the PGA Tour player handbook will cost.

Yet, somehow, we think he can afford it.

Maybe the third time will be a charm for Olivia Lansing, a senior at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, who failed to advanced to today’s match play at the 109th U.S. Women’s Amateur golf championship.

During her first appeareance at the championship last year, Lansing, 21, posted a two-round score of 161 during stroke-play qualifying, missing the chance to advance into the match-play round. The Lady Bulldog came closer yesterday, with a 36-hole score of 156, but it wasn’t enough to make the cut, which came at 151.

Lansing looked good in the second round, shooting a 5-over-par 76, including four birdies (on the first, sixth, 15th and 16th holes), cutting four strokes off Monday’s opening-round score of 80. But it wasn’t enough, as she tied for 102nd place, five points shy of advancement.

Better luck next time, O!

Depending where you’re located, the rest of your week might be bleak.

(We’re talkin’ weather-wise; personal dilemmas aren’t our deal. But if you want to know what our deal is, look here! Shameless, we know.)

In any case, courtesy of the Associated Press and InsideBayArea.com, here’s a list of this week’s tournies to help you ride out those summer storms.

Let the thunder roll…

• PGA TOUR: Buick Open, today-Sunday, Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club, Grand Blanc, Mich. TV: Golf Channel (today-Friday, noon-3 p.m. and CBS (Saturday-Sunday, noon-3 p.m.). Notes: Tiger Woods, the 2002 and 2006 winner, is in the field. After Woods won his own AT&T National for his third victory of the year, he missed the cut in the British Open. … Woods and rock ‘n’ roll legend Bob Seger headlined Wednesday’s pro-am, and their fivesome finished 8 under par. At least one member of the group paid more than $100,000 for the opportunity to play with Woods and Seger. … Defending champion Kenny Perry is skipping the tournament to stay near his cancer-stricken mother. Mildred Perry is battling blood cancer. … General Motors Co. will end its half-century run as sponsor of the Buick Open, a person briefed on the decision said Tuesday. The decision calls into question the fate of the other tour stop sponsored by GM, the Buick Invitational held in February in San Diego.
• LADIES GOLF UNION: Women’s British Open, today-Sunday, Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club, Lytham St. Annes, England. TV: TNT (today-Friday, 7-9 a.m.) and ABC (Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-noon; Sunday, 10 a.m.-noon). Notes: Last year, Jiyai Shin won her first major title, a three-shot victory over Yani Tseng at Sunningdale. … The tournament became an official LPGA Tour event in 1994 and was elevated to major status in 2001, replacing the du Maurier in Canada.
• USGA: U.S. Senior Open, today-Sunday, Crooked Stick Golf Club, Carmel, Ind. TV: ESPN (today-Friday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.) and NBC (Saturday-Sunday, noon-3 p.m.). Notes: Last year, Eduardo Romero won at the Broadmoor (Colo.), beating Fred Funk by four shots. … The Pete Dye-designed course opened in 1964. … John Daly won the 1991 PGA at Crooked Stick. … The 2010 tournament will be played at Sahalee (Wash.).
• PGA EUROPEAN TOUR: Moravia Silesia Open, today-Sunday, Prosper Golf Resort, Celadna, Czech Republic. TV: Golf Channel (today-Friday, 6-9 a.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 5:30-8 a.m.). Note: This is the inaugural event, and Miguel Angel Jiminez, the course designer, tops the field.
• NATIONWIDE TOUR: Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational, today-Sunday, Ohio State University Golf Club, Columbus. TV: Golf Channel (today-Friday, 3:30-5:30 p.m.; Saturday, 3:30-6:30 p.m.; Sunday, 4-6:30 p.m.). Note: In 2007, BYU star Daniel Summerhays won the inaugural event to become the first amateur champion in tour history.

By now you’ve heard all about 59-year-old Tom Watson’s phenomenal showing at the 2009 Open Championship.

Watson, who shot a first-round 5-under 65, just one stroke behind the leader Miguel Angel Jimenez, and tied for the lead in the second round after sinking a dazzling putt on the 18th green, became the oldest man to have the lead after any round of a major. He also became the oldest player to lead a major going into the last round.

But what should be heralded as a genuine accomplishment and a testament to one man’s athleticism is being tarnished. People are coming out of the woodwork to comment on Watson’s ultimate defeat by compatriot Stewart Cink – solely based on his age. In fact, one golf reporter – CBSSports.com’s Mike Freeman – suggested that golf shouldn’t be considered a sport “when it takes a playoff round to finally beat Watson despite Watson’s age.”

Harsh criticism from someone who stands on the sidelines, Mr. Freeman.

To add insult to injury, Watson’s said to be grieving over his loss, with his wife Hilary declaring that “her husband’s failure to par the 72nd hole to secure his sixth Open title will live with them forever,” according to Britain’s Mirror.co.uk.

Heartache or not, Mr. Watson, you’re a grand golfer – and we here at GolfEtail enjoyed every minute of your triumph. You may not think you prevailed – but we do. And it gives us great pleasure to bask in the glory of this game with you.

We look forward to seeing you give your all at the Senior British Open tomorrow!

I have to admit I was pulling pretty hard for him on Sunday and thought he would make that put on 18 to win. He had been magical with that Odyssey White Hot XG#7 putter all week. Could you believe the 30 footer on #1, the 25 footer on #9, or the 60 foot bombs on #16 & #18 all on Friday; or just when you thought he was fading how about the 40 footer on #16 on Saturday. He had done it all week, but this just wasn’t meant to be.

Paul Azinger’s comment basically stating that " … If Tom had won it again it would not have changed his life at all, but with Cink winning it is a life-changer…", I thought was dead on, and it’s the only consolation I could derive from the outcome.

Anyway, I found the entire story simply compelling. Too bad it didn’t have quite the story book ending I was hoping for. It would have been nice to see the final Open Championship Scoreboard reading "Well done Tom. See you at St Andrews 2010".