August 27, 2008
The LPGA will require players to speak English starting in 2009, with players who have been LPGA members for two years facing suspension if they can’t pass an oral evaluation of English skills. There are 121 international players from 26 countries on the LPGA Tour, including 45 players from South Korea. The South Koreans were informed of the rule, however LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens has not given them - or anyone - a written explanation, Galloway said. Angela Park, born in Brazil of South Korean heritage and raised in the United States, said the policy is fair and good for the tour and its international players. read more
[Tags]lpga, players, tour, south, , english, golf[/Tags]
August 26, 2008
Kerr rolled in a downhill 20-foot birdie on the first playoff hole Sunday to beat Helen Alfredsson and Sophie Gustafson at Columbia Edgewater Country Club. Kerr, who shot a final round 7-under par 65, Alfredsson and Gustafson finished 54 regulation holes at 13-under 203. The three played 18 again and Alfredsson (69) and Gustafson (68) missed birdie putts, opening the opportunity for Kerr. Alfredsson and Gustafson, tied for the lead and one stroke ahead of Kerr, bogeyed 17 as Kerr looked over an uphill 15-foot birdie putt. read more
[Tags]kerr, gustafson, alfredsson, playoff, final, finished, golf[/Tags]
August 25, 2008
ZANDVOORT, Netherlands (AP) — Darren Clarke claimed his second victory of the season Sunday, shooting a 4-under 66 to win the KLM Open by four strokes over Paul McGinley. Clarke, who is chasing a wild card spot on the European Ryder Cup team, finished at 16-under 264. Clarke, who also won the Asian Open in April for his first title in five years, heads into the next week’s Johnnie Walker Championship in Scotland with a solid chance of earning one of captain Nick Faldo’s two wild cards. Clarke bogeyed the par-5 second hole, but then made three birdies on the next four to open up a lead against Henrik Stenson. Lee Slattery (65) and Marc Warren (68) tied for fourth at 9 under. McGinley resigned as Faldo’s assistant captain in the hopes of qualifying as a player, but looks likely to need a top performance at Gleneagles to earn a spot. read more
[Tags]clarke, open, captain, faldos, finished, mcginley, golf[/Tags]
August 24, 2008
Westchester Country Club has always been supportive of rotating the tournament around the metropolitan New York area, and in fact agreed to that concept in the contract we signed last year with the Tour. We may have been disappointed with the way things were handled regarding the 2008 tournament, but we would be thrilled to again play host to the Barclays as our contract anticipates, and going forward for years to come. Undoubtedly, many of the Tour’s issues can be resolved to each side’s mutual satisfaction. I know I speak for the vast majority of our membership when I say the Barclays is a great event, and we look forward to its return to Westchester. Halpern, President, WESTCHESTER COUNTRY CLUB, INC. read more
[Tags]westchester, barclays, club, contract, country, forward, golf[/Tags]
August 23, 2008
The PGA Tour would argue that the must-see golf is the FedEx Cup playoffs, which began with 135 players competing at the Barclays at Ridgewood C. So begins a four-tournament stretch that will feature smaller and smaller fields (Deutsche Bank, 120 players; BMW, 70; Tour Championship, 30), and will ultimately crown a champion based on a running point total. Ultimately only 30 players will convene for the FedEx finale, the Tour Championship at East Lake outside Atlanta, because the smaller the field, the more “exclusive” (important) it is. Meanwhile the FedEx Cup remains a play for relevance via monetization and marketing, which looks especially silly every other year, when top players are more concerned about playing for God and country at the Ryder Cup. read more
[Tags]fedex, players, cup, tour, match, year, golf[/Tags]
August 22, 2008
The Tour says it’s Westchester’s fault because the club’s members were too demanding and out of touch, insisting that they be allowed to continue to play tennis and golf in the middle of a $7 million Tour event. In a messy series of events last winter, the Tour decided to buy its way out of its contract for 2008 with Westchester and move to Ridgewood, another classic course— Westchester was designed by Walter Travis ; Ridgewood by A. Because of disappointing attendance over the last decade and an unenthusiastic playing record by the game’s star attraction — Tiger Woods has entered the Westchester Tour stop only three times, and signaled his disdain for the course by skipping the inaugural event of the FedEx Cup playoffs last August — the Tour’s championship-management division had been promoting the idea of rotating the event around the New York metropolitan area for years. Among the membership’s longstanding agreements with the Tour was that during tournament week members could still play the adjacent South course, still play tennis on the courts that bordered the par-3 1st hole and still have access to the sports house that included the pros’ locker room and a fitness center. read more
[Tags]tour, westchester, event, club, play, ridgewood, golf[/Tags]
August 21, 2008
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) — Peter Hanson shot 1-over 71 in cold, windy and wet conditions and held on to win the SAS Masters on Sunday for his second career European PGA Tour victory. Hanson, the first Swede to win the event since Jesper Parnevik 10 years ago, finished at 9-under 271 on the Arlandastad course north of Stockholm. Showing no signs of nerves, Hanson hit a brilliant iron shot to the heart of the green and clinched it with a routine par after narrowly missing his birdie putt. With the win, Hanson moved from 23rd to 17th on the European Ryder Cup points list. He will play the next tour event in the Netherlands instead of taking the week off because he has an outside chance to make the team that will defend the Ryder Cup against the United States next month at Valhalla in Louisville, Ky. read more
[Tags]hanson, european, event, tour, win, cup, golf[/Tags]
August 20, 2008
Padraig Harrington answered questions while at White Oak, a golf community in Tryon, N. Harrington thinks he’s closer to adding another Tiger-like trait to his bag - Woods’ unflappable confidence. Harrington looked confident, calm and relaxed Sunday as he spoke at White Oak Golf & Equestrian Community, where the triple major champion is set to build his first U. Harrington, 36, says he’s fueled by the tension that comes from fighting for a title on the back nine, as anyone who watched him take control of the British Open and PGA the past month can attest. Then Harrington rallied back from one stroke down to defeat Sergio Garcia at Oakland Hills to win the PGA. Harrington accepts that some will wonder if he - or anyone else - would’ve won if Woods, who is out for the season after knee surgery in June, were healthy. read more
[Tags]harrington, , pga, woods, golf, month, golf[/Tags]
August 19, 2008
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) — Peter Hanson shot a 2-under 68 Saturday and took a two-stroke lead going into the final round of the SAS Masters. Hanson, who has won only once in 174 European Tour starts, bogeyed the third hole but posted birdies on Nos. Hanson, trying to become the first Swede to win this event since Jesper Parnevik 10 years ago, has a 54-hole total of 10-under 200 on the Arlandastad course north of Stockholm. Hanson is 23rd in the European Ryder Cup standings but could still qualify for the team that will defend the trophy next month against the United States at Valhalla in Louisville, Ky. Nick Dougherty of England (70), Swedes Daniel Chopra (67) and Pelle Edberg (66), Soren Kjeldsen of Denmark (68) and Gary Orr of Scotland (67) were tied for second. Dougherty shared the overnight lead with Hanson and they were atop the leaderboard heading to the 16th hole. read more
[Tags]hanson, dougherty, european, hole, 67, 68, golf[/Tags]
August 18, 2008
OTTAWA (AP) — Yani Tseng finished off a course-record 8-under 64 in the rain-delayed second round, then shot a 68 in the third to take a four-stroke lead Saturday in the Canadian Women’s Open. Tseng, the 19-year-old Taiwanese star who won the McDonald’s LPGA Championship in early June and finished second two weeks ago in the Women’s British Open, had a 14-under 202 total on the tree-lined Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club course. Se Ri Pak (68) was second, and defending champion Lorena Ochoa (74) and Katherine Hull (72) were 8 under. She birdied the final four holes to break the course record of 65 set by Martha Nause in the 1994 du Maurier Classic and matched Friday by Hull. read more
[Tags]tseng, 70, lpga, round, 2, 68, golf[/Tags]
