Monthly Archives: July 2018
Daly flashes ’95 form, shoots 69 at Old Course
It was looking a lot like 1995 on Thursday at the Old Course – at least for a few hours.
John Daly, who won the ’95 Open Championship at St. Andrews, got off to a brilliant start in Round 1 of The Senior Open. After a bogey at the second, he made birdie at the par-4 third and then made eagle-3 at the par-5 fifth.
He continued that run with birdies on Nos. 6 and 7, and then added another at the par-3 11th.
Daly was at 5 under par and challenging for the lead. But the inward nine proved more difficult as players turned into a stiff wind.
Daly bogeyed the 12th and 15th holes and parred in for a 3-under 69. He finished the day four shots off the lead, held by Kirk Triplett.
Daly has struggled with his right knee since a freak accident in April, when a car crashed into his RV in a parking lot during Masters week. He did not compete in the U.S. Senior Open when the USGA denied him the use of a cart. He also withdrew prior to the start of last week’s Open Championship at Carnoustie.
Fransson Named to C-USA All-Freshman
Old Dominion men’s golfer Gustav Fransson has been named to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team, the league office announced on Wednesday.
Fransson capped off a stellar freshman campaign with a fourth-place finish at the C-USA Championship en route to All-Tournament Team honors.
The Sweden native led ODU in scoring average in 2017-18 with a stroke average of 73.8. Including the conference tournament, Fransson was the top-placing Monarch at each of the final two events, as he tied for 11th at the ECU Intercollegiate.
Fransson is the first-ver ODU men’s golfer to be named to the All-Freshman Team.
2017-18 Conference USA Men’s Golf Awards
Golfer Of The Year: Ian Snyman, North Texas
Freshman Of The Year: Tyler Johnson, Middle Tennessee
Coach Of The Year: Brennan Webb, Middle Tennessee
First Team
Ian Snyman, North Texas
Mitchell Meissner, Rice
R.J. Keur, UAB
Conor Purcell, Charlotte
Zander Lozano, UTSA
Second Team
Alex Weiss, Marshall
Tyler Johnson, Middle Tennessee
Mario Carmona, Rice
Charles Corner, UTEP
Billy Tom Sargent, WKU
All-Freshman Team
Tyler Johnson, Middle Tennessee
Gustav Fransson, Old Dominion
Michael Rome, UTSA
Viktor Forslund, North Texas
Vitek Novak, North Texas
The 22 Times Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods Played in The Same Major
You may not realize this, but the two greatest major champions in golf history — Jack Nicklaus with 18 and Tiger Woods with 14 — actually crossed paths in the majors on 22 occasions.
In a recent interview with Cigar Aficionado, which you can watch here, Michael Jordan — arguably the greatest basketball player in history — was asked who he believed to be the best golfer of all time.
It was no surprise that His Airness, who also happens to be a golf aficionado, wasn’t falling into that trap.
“They’re both great and I would never say one is greater than the other,” Jordan said.
Jordan also said, “Jack and Tiger never played against each other. They never played in the same tournament. They never played with the same equipment. They never played with the same length of golf course. I never played against Wilt Chamberlain. I never played against Jerry West. To now say that one is greater than the other is being a little bit unfair.”
Not all of that is entirely true, though we do understand Jordan’s point. Woods and Nicklaus actually played in many of the same events early in Tiger’s career, but at that point, the Golden Bear was well past his prime while Tiger was coming into his own.
Since the talk is always about majors when it comes to Nicklaus and Woods, we decided to breakdown the 22 occasions in which the two played in the same major.
A couple of fun stats that came out of this:
Nicklaus got the better of Woods on five of the 22 occasions, most notably his T6 to Tiger’s T8 in the 1998 Masters when Nicklaus was 58 years old.
In four of the five majors where Nicklaus bettered Woods, Woods was still an amateur.
Perhaps most remarkably of all, in the 22 majors where Woods and Nicklaus were both in the field, Woods collected seven of his 14 majors and finished in the top 10 nine times.
Dustin Johnson reclaims spot as World No. 1
Dustin Johnson emphatically reclaimed the No. 1 ranking Sunday, holing out for eagle from 170 yards on the final hole for a six-stroke victory in the St. Jude Classic.
“What a cool way to end the day,” Johnson said.
Johnson shot a 4-under 66 for his second PGA Tour victory this year and 18th of his career to take back the No. 1 ranking he held for 64 straight weeks before dropping down a month ago. He won the event for the second time, finishing with the eagle, three birdies and a bogey for a 19-under 261 total.
Andrew Putnam started the final round with a share of the lead for the first time in his career. He shot 72 and finished at 13 under.
Preparing for the U.S. Open, Johnson took the lead to himself with a par on No. 1, while Putnam double-bogeyed, and cruised to the $1.18 million winner’s check. Johnson turned in the lowest score under par by a winner here since David Toms won at 20 under in 2003, and that was before the course was redesigned with par dropped from 71 to 70 after the 2004 tournament.
Johnson, who won the U.S. Open in 2016, heads to Shinnecock Hills after stringing together four straight rounds in the 60s. He went 67, 63 and 65 before wrapping up a final round that felt almost like a practice round with the only question remaining how low Johnson would go.
At least until his dramatic walk-off eagle. Johnson was in the intermediate rough to the right of the fairway, and the ball bounced twice before rolling into the cup to bring fans to their feet.
J.B. Holmes (67) was at 9 under. Stewart Cink (72) and Richy Werenski (71) tied at 8 under. Brandt Snedeker (70) and Retief Goosen (66) tied four others at 7 under.
Phil Mickelson had a 65 and was at 6 under.
Putnam, a two-time winner on the Web.com Tour, had only one bogey through his first three rounds. He pushed his opening tee shot into the right rough and his approach in the rough left of the green. He wound up three-putting for double bogey. Johnson rolled in a 4-footer for par and a two-stroke lead at 15 under on a sizzling day with the temperature feeling like 99.
Johnson worked on keeping the ball in the fairway, hitting 3-wood off the tee on the first of the course’s two par 5s. Even with the 3-wood, Johnson had the second-longest drive of the day, hitting 333 yards on the 554-yard hole.
Even when Johnson three-putt No. 5 to drop to 15 under, Putnam also bogeyed protecting Johnson’s lead at three strokes. Putnam pulled within two strokes with a birdie on No. 7, rolling a putt 11 feet after Johnson parred the hole.
Johnson hit an iron 307 yards off the tee at No. 10. After hitting iron off the tee at No. 12 and going left of the cart path, Johnson saved par with a 16-foot putt to protect his two-stroke lead. Then Johnson hit a drive 359 yards on the par-4 No. 13, leaving him 95 yards to the pin. Johnson then hit his approach to 3 feet for his second birdie to go 16 under.
He previewed his dramatic finish on the par-5 16th. Johnson’s tee shot found the trees right of the fairway, and he threaded a shot through a couple trees to just off the green. He chipped to 5 feet and birdied for a four-stroke lead.
Tiger Woods happy with where game is despite Sunday struggles
Tiger Woods made it interesting again, but slipped from contention on the last day of a tournament.
Despite being done in by some poor putting at the Memorial, he believes there still was valuable progress.
“I keep getting a little better,” the 42-year-old Woods said after shooting an even-par 72 on Sunday at Muirfield Village. “Week in, week out, I keep getting just a little bit more fine-tuned. For instance this week, just to be able to make the slight adaptations after the first nine holes and be able to flip it around and shoot a respectable number.”
Woods started the final round five shots off the lead, the third time this year he has been within five to start the last day and couldn’t turn it into a win. Bryson DeChambeau won the event in a playoff.
Playing in the Memorial for the first time in three years, Woods birdied two of the first five holes Sunday before hitting from a fairway bunker on No. 6 to the rough in the back of the green. Still, he managed par.
He hit his approach over the green on No. 7 and settled for par again. He couldn’t make up any ground on the par-3 No. 8, either, leaving his second shot just short of the hole.
Missing a 3-foot par putt on No. 10 was a killer. He made a slick birdie on the par-5 No. 11, but missed a 7-foot birdie putt on No. 12, then hit his tee shot out of bounds on the 13th and finished with a bogey.
He bogeyed the par-3 No. 16 when he missed another short putt, an unfortunate trend for Woods in a week when he was hitting the ball well off the tee.
He now turns his attention to the U.S. Open in two weeks.
“I just need to hit better putts,” he said. “This week I didn’t really have, didn’t feel comfortable with my lines, and my feel was a little bit off. Consequently, I missed a bunch of putts. But I hit it really good this week, so that’s a positive going into Shinnecock, where ball striking is going to be a must.”
Moving up and then falling back has become a trend for Woods in his comeback bid.
He was one shot behind going into the final round at the Valspar Championship in March and finished tied for second, a shot behind winner Paul Casey. He was five back at the Arnold Palmer Invitational the next week, but couldn’t do better than a tie for fifth, eight shots behind winner Rory McIlroy.
He knows he has to improve but is happy with his game overall, especially because before back surgery in April he didn’t know if he would ever walk again, let alone play competitive golf.
“Overall, if I just keep building on this, with how I’m hitting it right now, I’m in good shape for two weeks from now,” he said.
His participation dialed up the energy level here all week, with thousands following him on the course and roaring their approval with every good shot. The crowds were supportive and respectful all week, he said, and he tried to just appreciate being here again.
“It’s incredible to be able to play golf again at this level,” he said. “Not to have any worries about being able to walk again, like I was. I was struggling there for a while, and now I’m on the other end of the spectrum.”
DeChambeau chuckled when asked whether he was hoping Woods would make a run Sunday so they could duel it out. He answered with a firm “no.”
“To be able to have this type of caliber (of players) all chasing is kind of special,” he said. “I knew I had to go out there and play well. I couldn’t make many mistakes.”
John Smoltz (yes, the Hall-of-Fame pitcher) qualifies for US Senior Open
The 51-year-old Smoltz qualified for the U.S. Senior Open on Thursday, emerging from a three-man playoff to take the final spot.
What an incredible day of golf at Planterra Ridge GC! Jack Larkin and Sonny Skinner tied for medalist honors and John Smoltz secured the third qualifying spot in a playoff! Good luck in the #USSeniorOpen!
Final Leaderboard — Georgia State Golf Association (@GSGA) June 1, 2018
Three places were up for grabs in the 18-hole qualifier at Planterra Ridge Golf Club in Peachtree City, Georgia, about 30 miles south of Atlanta. Jack Larkin and Sonny Skinner got through in regulation by shooting 4-under 68, with Smoltz and two others one stroke back.
Brian Tennyson was eliminated on the first playoff hole with a bogey. On the third extra hole, Smoltz finished off Brian Ferris despite making double bogey.
Smoltz spent most of his career with the Atlanta Braves. He finished with a record of 213-155 with 154 saves — making him the only pitcher in baseball history with 200 wins and 150 saves. He was an eight-time All-Star and captured the NL Cy Young Award in 1996.
Smoltz also was an avid golfer in his spare time, along with teammates Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux. All three were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on the first ballot.
The 2018 U.S. Senior Open will be held June 28-July 1 at The Broadmoor-East Course in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
