After 72 holes there was a three way tie at 12-under par between Kenny Perry, Angel Cabrera, and Chad Campbell.  This threw way tie lead to a sudden death playoff.

The sudden death playoff began on the 18th hole.  Chad Campbell was eliminated in sudden death on the 18th hole when he missed a 4-footer to save par from the bunker.

Perry and Cabrera went on to the 10th hole for the next sudden death hole.  Perry hit an awful approach shot that landed far left of the green.  Then his chip skidded past the cup and he never got a chance to finish the hole and Cabrera two-putted for par and the prestigious green jacket!

I personally was pulling for Perry.  The green jacket was his for the taking but he gave it away on the last 2 holes of regulation.

Perry was a gracious winner as he said “I may never get this opportunity ever again, but I had a lot of fun being in there,” Perry said. “I had the tournament to win. I lost the tournament. But Angel hung in there. I was proud of him.”

It was fun watching Phil and Tiger play today. Tiger and Phil just fell apart down the stretch.

All Woods and Mickelson could do was just think if the shots that could have been.

Mickelson started to fall apart by sending his ball into Rae’s Creek and missing two short putts for a double bogey.  Mickelson finished at 5-under 67 for the day that could have been so much better.  Woods bogeyed 17 and 18 and  finished with a 68.

Congratulations to Angel Cabrera!

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It has been reported that Gray Player will be playing in his last Masters tournament this year.

I say finally!

Gary Player is 73 years old and should have stopped playing many years ago.  Gary Player is very selfish.  He only kept playing so he could beat Arnold Palmers record of the most Masters appearances.

Look at his record for the past 21 years at Augusta.  He has only made 4 cuts during those 21 years.

Player was reported as saying he “doesn’t want to be greedy”.  Well Gary it is a little to late for that.

It is time to let someone else in the tournament that at least has some chance of winning.  If nothing else, at least giving another golfer a chance to make some money.

Let me know what you guys think about Gary Players announcement.

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The weather is Georgia has been cold and windy for that past couple of days.  However, the weather is warming up just in time for the 2009 Masters.

The beauty and the majesty of the, in my opinion, most beautiful golf course in the world is on stage starting tomorrow.

Who knows what The Master tournament will us this year?

Let’s look at the first round tee times.

8:00 a.m. – I. Woosnam, C. Reavie, B. Baird
8:11 a.m. – S. Lyle, B. Mayfair, T. Clark
8:22 a.m. – K. Sutherland, R. Fisher, P. Marksaeng
8:33 a.m. – L. Oosthuizen, C. Pettersson, D. Hart
8:44 a.m. – R. Floyd, J. Leonard, R. Saxton
8:55 a.m. – F. Zoeller, M. Campbell, K. Duke
9:06 a.m. – B. Curtis, N. Watney, M. Jimenez
9:17 a.m. – C. Stadler, R. Sabbatini, D. Johnson
9:28 a.m. – G. Player, L. Donald, S. Ames
9:39 a.m. – R. Goosen, S. Hansen, S. Katayama
9:50 a.m. – B. Langer, G. Norman, L. Westwood
10:12 a.m. – J. Rose, H. Stenson, A. Cabrera
10:23 a.m. – V. Singh, G. Ogilvy, E. Els
10:34 a.m. – M. Weir, P. Harrington, R.Imada
10:45 a.m. – P. Mickelson, C. Villegas, J. Furyk
10:56 a.m. – S. Appleby, O. Wilson, S. Garcia
11:07 a.m. – L. Mize, J. Merrick, D. Kittleson
11:18 a.m. – T. Hamilton, S. Flesch, M. Goggin
11:29 a.m. – T. Watson, I. Poulter, S. Wilson
11:40 a.m. – A. Baddeley, B. Watson, G. Mcdowell
11:51 a.m. – M. O’Meara, P. Perez, D. Trahan
12:02 p.m. – F. Couples, R. Mediate, J. Newman
12:24 p.m. – S. Kjeldsen, S. O’Hair, R. Sterne
12:35 p.m. – A. Romero, B. Weekley, C. Campbell
12:46 p.m. – B. Crenshaw, P. Casey, S. Stricker
12:57 p.m. – Y. Yang, R. Allenby, H. Mahan
1:08 p.m. – Z. Johnson, W. Lin, R. Karlsson
1:19 p.m. – J. Olazabal, M. Kaymer, B. Snedeker
1:30 p.m. – K. Choi, A. Quiros, K. Perry
1:41 p.m. – T.Immelman, A. Scott, D. Lee
1:52 p.m. – T. Woods, S. Cink, J. Singh
2:03 p.m. – A. Kim, R. Mcilroy, R.Ishikawa

I have highlighted some of the more intriguing players to watch during the first round.

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By Cameron Morfit
Senior Writer, GOLF Magazine
Published: September 21, 2008

Will Paul Azinger be the U.S. Captain for 2010?

That Azinger’s underdog U.S. team won, 16 1/2 to 11 1/2, at Valhalla on Sunday does many things, first and foremost renewing a rivalry that had gone stale from two consecutive 9-point drubbings by Europe. But it also answers definitively the question of whether or not the captain really matters in these things.

Um, yes, it does.

European captain Nick Faldo is being marinated for the biggest barbecue of his life. Even before the 37th Ryder Cup matches began, the ruthless British press dubbed him “Captain Cock-up” for inadvertently revealing his Friday pairings. They appeared to be scrawled on a slip of paper in his hand, and came to light when the Euro captain seemed to forget that the Ryder Cup might attract photographers with expensive lenses.

Faldo nearly came to tears when he was asked about meeting Muhammad Ali on Thursday, an all-too-human reaction from a man not known for his warmth, but his strangest move was to leave both Darren Clarke and Colin Montgomerie off his team. Even for American fans, the absence of both players from a Ryder Cup was palpable, like a phantom limb.

But as much as the European press will eviscerate Nick the Not so Quick, Azinger’s moves had a far greater impact. He began to put his stamp on the 2008 Ryder Cup the moment he was introduced as captain on November 6, 2006. He said the points system would now emphasize performance in the year of the actual Cup, not the year previous. He wanted the hot players.

He said he would be taking four captain’s picks, not two.

He said he wanted “guys on the team that say ‘dude.’”

“Experience,” he said, “is way overrated.”

And so he got at a team with six rookies, including the breakout star of the Cup, 23-year-old Anthony Kim, who throttled Sergio Garcia 5 and 4 Sunday and finished the week with two and a half points (2-1-1).

Paul Azinger got a team with lots of guys who say “dude,” a guy who lets his driver speak for him in J.B. Holmes, and even a player who speaks a language all his own in Boo Weekley.

Every team needs a jester, a guy who can be relied on to keep things light, but you get the feeling Azinger knows that. (Clarke has filled that role for Europe.) Woody Austin kept the 2007 Presidents Cup team laughing, and with Azinger encouraging Boo to be Boo, Weekley kept everyone but Lee Westwood in stitches in Louisville. On Sunday, while thrashing Oliver Wilson 4 and 2, the U.S. team’s southern comfort threw a leg over his driver and actually began to ride the thing, up and down, like it was Trigger. Can you imagine Davis Love III doing that?

Azinger not only changed the selection process, he altered the order of play, starting the competition with alternate-shot (foursomes) instead of best-ball (four ball). For whatever reason, the American team had enjoyed more success at foursomes, and so he let them play that game first. It panned out in a big way, as the Americans got off to a quick 3-1 lead and never trailed.

When you think about the Cup as much as Azinger has, you understand these things. Seve Ballesteros breathed the Ryder Cup in the same way; as the captain of Europe’s 1997 team, he was the one who changed the order of play to best-ball in the morning, for the same reason that Azinger changed it back. It gave his team the best possible chance.

If Azinger was Ballesteros, and Weekley was Austin, then Kim was Garcia, the irrepressible, incandescent talent running and jumping all over the course while piling up points and reminding even veterans like Phil Mickelson that this is supposed to be fun.

A team needs that, just as it needs a jester. But odds are Azinger did not consciously sit down and try to fill all of these holes. He intuited it.

When you think about the Cup as much as Azinger has, you appreciate the significance of having local talent on your team. And you get the importance of attitude. So when you notice Bluegrass State native Holmes strutting off the tee at the FBR Open while taking out Mickelson in sudden-death, and almost beating Tiger Woods eye-to-eye after that, you recognize things may be breaking your way. And when Kentuckian Kenny Perry wins three times to free up a captain’s pick, you know things are breaking your way.

But you never say these things. You say to anyone with a microphone that your team is simply lucky to be in the same zip code as these Europeans, a team so stocked full of talent it gives you nightmares. You say this is their Ryder Cup to lose, no question.

His assertion that experience is overrated proved true with his selections of rookies Holmes (2.5 points) and Hunter Mahan (3.5 points), who won and halved their singles matches on Sunday to remain undefeated for the week. Chad Campbell, who unexpectedly beat Padraig Harrington, 2 and 1, finished with 2 points. Among the four U.S. captain’s picks, only Steve Stricker never really found his groove, but even he didn’t get skunked, earning a half point.

Maybe Azinger intuited that the 9th and 10th men to qualify for the U.S. team on merit have historically earned fewer points than the two captain’s picks. Or maybe he actually did the math.

In the end, who knows why he did anything? Why did he call Faldo a word that rhymes with “trick” with a U.K. writer’s tape recorder running? Why did he make such an effort to have goofy T-shirts printed up for a “13th man” rally in Louisville on Thursday night, and why did his entire team join him on stage?

Why did he have Lou Holtz talk to his team, when his team’s youthful “dude” demographic probably doesn’t know him from any other TV talking head?

Paul Azinger has a feeling for this event like Ben Crenshaw had a feeling that something special was going to happen on the last day of the 1999 Ryder Cup. The PGA of America has settled into a one-and-done mentality for its captains, but after Valhalla, the Ryder Cup that got turned on its head, that’s one more custom worth abandoning immediately.

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US Celebrates First Ryder Cup Win Since 1999

By

Gary Van Sickle
Senior Writer, Sports IllustratedGary Van Sickle
Senior Writer, Sports Illustrated

Published: September 21, 2008

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — This 37th Ryder Cup won’t be remembered for its great golf shots, although they were plentiful and spectacular.

We won’t recall any last-hole heroics — they were numerous, too, just not on Sunday.

We’ll probably even forget just how excruciating the tension was on the last day, and just how much the final outcome was in doubt. The Americans’ five-point margin of victory (16 1/2-11 1/2) wasn’t remotely indicative of how close this Ryder Cup was. The end came oh-so-suddenly when J.B. Holmes birdied three of four holes, turned his match around and set up Jim Furyk to two-putt his way to the clinching point with four matches still on the course.

What we will remember about the Americans’ first Ryder Cup victory since 1999, and only their second since 1995, are these scenes:

Kentucky’s Kenny Perry getting tearful hugs from his whole family, including his father, after winning his singles match against Henrik Stenson in a page that surely came straight out of Destiny’s playbook. Perry, 48, from little Franklin, Ky., had said this event would define his career and that, after narrowly losing the ’96 PGA Championship here, Valhalla Golf Club owed him. That debt is paid in full.

American captain Paul Azinger, his voice cracking with emotion as he tried to do an interview with NBC’s Jimmy Roberts in the chaotic moments after Furyk clinched the Cup. “In the end, it comes down to putting and heart,” said Azinger. “Our guys have a lot of heart.” Azinger’s passion was evident when he drove his golf cart down empty fairways Sunday afternoon, waving to fans like he was waving to friends he recognized, jumping out to give them fist-pumps or a pump-up-the-volume gesture.

Furyk wiping some errant moisture from his eyes as he recalled what it felt like to be on the losing end of the decisive Ryder Cup match, and how blessed he felt to have this moment, not for himself but for his teammates and his captain.

Anthony Kim pounding home a clutch par putt with authority and striding toward the next tee because he couldn’t wait to win another hole, only to be told that the match was over, he’d just beaten a helpless Sergio Garcia, 5 and 4. We’ll remember the smiles on the faces of Garcia and European assistant captain Jose Maria Olazabal, who couldn’t help but be amused by the kid’s enthusiasm. They showed true sportsmanship as they shook hands and offered sincere congratulations. Mostly, we’ll remember the infectious smile of Kim and the unbridled joy of the 23-year-old.

Azinger, again, bursting onto the stage of an old-fashioned pep rally Thursday night, followed by the rest of his players and their wives (all wearing 13th man T-shirts), throwing souvenirs into the crowd during a rollicking assembly that felt like the night before a big homecoming football game. It was cheesy, maybe, but it was real.

Boo Weekley, the countrified golfer who became a certified legend at Valhalla. Sure, he holed a bunker shot for eagle at the par-5 seventh hole in Sunday’s singles matches and acted like he expected to do it, but the truly indelible image came at the first tee. After hitting his drive, he went charging off with his driver between his legs, galloping Happy Gilmore style as if he were riding a pony. He smiled his way through the week, an infectious skill that cannot be underestimated. “That was an amazing moment that will never be duplicated,” Azinger said of Boo’s pseudo-ride. “Everyone cracked up.”

There were many other memorable scenes, too, from the boisterous fans — no American Ryder Cup crowd has been louder or better for three straight days than these folks — to the ones dressed as leprechauns and matadors and the Weekley supporters with their signs of “Boooooo” and “You’re my boy, Boo.”

The message of this Ryder Cup wasn’t one of redemption, like the Olympic Dream Team basketball squad. This American team didn’t look back. They were all about forming a new team. It seemed real when Azinger, speaking at the closing ceremonies, thanked the Valhalla superintendent and his crew and promised “the whole team is going to come down and hang out with you.” Quite a change when previous American Ryder Cuppers were often thought of as aloof guns for hire.

The book is closed on European Ryder Cup dominance. This week felt like the start of something big, or at least something new. Thanks to Azinger and the Americans, the event has been re-energized and restored to its rightful place as the most exciting thing in golf. And the Americans did all this without Tiger Woods, the world’s best player. Instead, they relied on a core of young players that included J.B. Holmes, Hunter Mahan and Kim, guys who are going to be around for a while.

The matches could’ve gone either way. European captain Nick Faldo said it many times after it was over. So did Azinger. They were right. That’s big news because it means that the Americans, if nothing else, got themselves back on equal footing with the Euros.

There was vindication enough to go around, and satisfaction. “I’m pretty damn happy right now,” Jim Furyk said Sunday night.

Earlier, he and the rest of the American team had created the one scene that may outlive the others. It was the traditional celebration as Azinger and his players shook bottles of champagne and sprayed them in every direction from behind an American flag draped over the second floor balcony of the clubhouse. They waved flags, they sang songs, they laughed, they threw arms around each other’s shoulders, they savored the moment.

They never looked more like a team. It was beautiful.

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The 2008 Ryder Cup starts next Tuesday.

I was reading through some different golf blogs yesterday, when I came across an excellent post about the 2008 Ryder Cup. I recommend you read the post over at EagleParBirdie.

Chris Henry gives a great initial analysis about the 2008 Ryder Cup and some of the players on this years teams.

Check it out…Valhalla Cometh.

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PARAMUS, N.J. (AP) — Vijay Singh won The Barclays for a record fourth time Sunday, matching Sergio Garcia with a long birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff and finishing off the Spaniard with another birdie on the second extra hole.

The 45-year-old Fijian closed with a 1-under 70 to match Garcia (70) and Kevin Sutherland (68) at 8-under 276 on the sun-baked Ridgewood Country Club course, the first-time site after 41 seasons at Westchester Country Club.

Singh, the 1993, 1995 and 2006 winner at Westchester, earned 11,000 FedEx Cup points in the playoff opener to take the lead with 109,500 points – 5,125 ahead of second-place Garcia. The WGC-Bridgestone Invitational winner three weeks ago at Firestone, Singh also earned $1.26 million for his 33rd PGA Tour victory.

Garcia and Singh made long birdie putts on the first extra hole, the 472-yard 18th framed by a canyon of trees, with Garcia rolling a 27-footer and Singh matching him moments later from 26 feet. After driving into the right rough, Sutherland was on the back fringe in three when Garcia and Singh made their birdie putts.

Garcia and Singh then moved to the 577-yard, par-5 17th. Garcia hooked his drive into the left rough, just feet from towering trees. With Singh in the middle of the fairway, Garcia hit his second shot behind a tree in the right rough. Singh then hit a 267-yard approach onto the green, about 20 feet long and right.

Because the gnarly ground around Garcia’s ball was ruled abnormal, he was able to take a drop that allowed him to get a clear shot to the green. He advanced the ball near the front of the green about 30 feet from the hole and nearly holed his chip.

Singh then rolled his 20-foot eagle putt within inches for a tap-in birdie.

Third-round leader Kevin Streelman (72), Ben Curtis (68) and Mathew Goggin (67) tied for fourth at 7 under, and Martin Laird (67), Justin Leonard (67), Nicholas Thompson (67), Mike Weir (72) and Paul Casey (72) followed at 6 under.

Garcia made a 2 1/2-foot birdie putt on the 223-yard, par-3 10th to get to 8 under, a stroke ahead of six players, but couldn’t pull away.

Garcia had chances to increase his lead on the 13, 14 and 15 on the demanding A.W. Tillinghast layout. He pulled a 10-foot birdie attempt left on the 617-yard 13th, watched in dismay when his 70-foot chip on 14 hit the flagstick and gently bounced away, then nearly holed a 15-footer from the fringe on the par-3 15th.

Sutherland made a 13-foot birdie putt on the par-4 16th to tie Garcia for the lead at 8 under, and Garcia then fell a stroke back when he bogeyed the 16th after fading his drive into deep rough on the right side of the hole.

Garcia got back to 8 under with a tap-in birdie on 17, and missed a chance to get to 9 under on 18 when he pulled a 16-footer. Singh, playing alongside Streelman in the final group, reached 8 under with a two-putt birdie on 17, and also missed a 16-foot birdie try on 18 to set up the three-man playoff.

After birdieing 16 and 17, Streelman had a chance to get into the playoff with a birdie on 18, but missed from 18 feet.

Phil Mickelson shot a 68 to tie for 19th at 4 under. He dropped from third to fourth in the points standings entering his Deutsche Bank Championship title defense.

“I was a good round and it gives me some momentum to carry over,” he said.

Steve Stricker, three strokes ahead after a second-round 64 and four in front at 12 under after 10 holes Saturday, had a 71 to join Mickelson at 4 under. The winner last year at Westchester, Stricker shot a 77 in the third round.

Kenny Perry, second in the standings behind the sidelined Tiger Woods entering the week, had weekend rounds of 72 and 76 to tie for 48th at even par. A three-time winner this season, Perry dropped to seventh in the points race.

Divots: Lee Janzen, the last qualifier at No. 144 in the standings, also finished at even par to jump to 119th – the second-to-last spot for the Deutsche Bank in Norton, Mass. Alex Cejka, in the Czech Republic for the PGA European Challenge Tour event that he sponsors, ended up 120th. After the Deutsche Bank, the field will be cut to 70 for the BMW Championship at Bellerive in Louis, and to 30 for the Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta. … The 2009 event will be played at Liberty National in Jersey City.

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Padraig Harrington is hot. How hot? He is so hot that he has two straight majors. He is so hot, he joins Tiger Woods, Nick Price and Walter Hagen as the only players to win the final two majors in the same year. He is so hot that he is the first European to win consecutive majors and has won three of the last six majors.

Sergio Garcia was poised to finally prove he could win a major, leading by one shot in the middle of the 16th fairway. But again he fell short, I don’t dare say choke. He hit 6-iron into the water and had to scramble for bogey, then missed a 4-foot birdie putt on the 17th to fall one shot behind. Come on, he should be able to make a 4-foot putt in his sleep. Then he made sure he would not win by hitting into the bunker on the final hole.

Like Superman, Padraig Harrington came out of nowhere. He even spotted Garcia three shots when they made the turn and made four birdies over the back nine.

Garcia did not make a big ass out of himself like he did last year when Harrington beat him last year at Carnoustie.

Did I already mention that Padraig Harrington is hot on the golf course.

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