The Golf Watch

Headlines: Louis Oosthuizen wins British Open at St. Andrews

The online editors got creative minutes after Louis Oosthuizen's dominating performance at the Open Championship. As always, click to enlarge each image. First up, PGA.com.

         

Reflecting on Paula Creamer's U.S. Open Victory

I wouldn't be surprised if Tour Commissioner Michael Whan still has a wide grin across his face. Two days after Paula Creamer claimed her first major championship at Oakmont, the win means more to Whan than you can believe. 

A month ago, it was looking pretty bleak down in Daytona Beach.

Creamer's nagging injuries sparked discussion over whether she would ever be the same. With popular young Americans like Michelle Wie and Morgan Pressel struggling to find their way to the front page of the leaderboard, the Tour needed Creamer to step up.

Don't get me wrong. Cristie Kerr and Jiyai Shin are amazing players, but they aren't the kind of players that can successfully carry the LPGA Tour's brand.

Fans come out in droves for players like Creamer and Wie, and sponsors are well aware of that. 

The LPGA desperately needs to secure sponsors and add new tournaments in the coming year. With Creamer's win last weekend, it should help their case.

Forget Tiger's putter, K.J. Choi's new style will make you think twice

Think of a croquet swing. Then think about Briny Baird's putting stance.

It's hard to describe. See for yourself what many viewers might see on television if K.J. starts sinking some putts.

Here's the full story.

Graeme McDowell U.S. Open Pebble Beach Headlines

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Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell wins the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach

It felt like a U.S. Open Sunday. Reminiscent of Oakmont in 2007, players were dropping shots left and right.  

But Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell prevailed on a day where pars were hard to come by. He won the first U.S. Open for his country.  

Could Pebble Beach turn into another Shinnecock?

That's the question some people are asking around Pebble Beach, especially with the greens expected to firm up and no rain in the forecast. The following quotes illustrate the concern among some of the players:

Phil Mickelson: The condition, I think it's the best U.S. Open setup that I've seen. I think the one area of concern I have is the greens, they're so small and they're so firm that, given that there's not any forecast for rain, I'm certainly concerned that we could have 14 potential 7th holes at Shinnecock, if we're not careful...

In 2000 it was the greatest performance I've ever seen in the game, to shoot 12-under by Tiger, that was the best ball-striking and the best putting tournament that's ever been performed in my opinion. The next was 3-over. And I thought that that was pretty good play and we were only able to shoot 3-over because the first two days we had some moisture, and I don't expect to see moisture. It's not supposed to rain this week, and that's why I'm concerned.

Henrik Stenson: On a lot of these holes, you can hit a shot and be in the rough 5 feet from the green and you'll be lucky to be putting after your next shot.

Steve Stricker: The course is in great shape. But I just think that the greens are such that they're small enough and going to be firm enough where it's going to be difficult to get the ball close to the holes and even though it's short at times, there's still enough good holes out there where you have to pay attention and try not to make mistakes. But I just think the firmness of the greens are going to stop the scoring from being real low.

Ernie Els: (But) the greens are going to be very tricky. And I went out late yesterday evening and hit some chip shots and putts on the greens. There's a huge difference from the morning to late afternoon, when, as you said, when the poa annua really dries up. When you hit the brown patches, the ball really doesn't stop on the green. So it could get a little bit tricky. But it's a great golf course.

2010 U.S. Open Storylines: Compton, Tryon, Jiménez, Duval...

Excited about U.S. Open week? All of the talk the next few days will be about Tiger, Phil and Lee. Here are some other storylines to watch out for:

1. Two years after his second heart transplant, Erik Compton heads to Pebble Beach. 

2. At age 16, Ty Tryon was expected to be the next big thing, especially after making the cut at the Honda Classic. Now, Tryon is 26. Time flies. 

3. 5 years ago, Jason Gore played in the final group of the U.S. Open, alongside Retief Goosen.  A lot has happened since that memorable weekend. Gore claimed his first and only victory on Tour in 2005, but after a couple of rocky years, he is splitting his time between the PGA Tour and Nationwide.  He has only made 2 out of 6 cuts on the Nationwide this year. He'll be hoping to recreate some of the magic of Pinehurst in 2005.

4. Miguel Ángel Jiménez will be recognized for years to come for his strong Ryder Cup play. But for some, he will be remembered as finishing second to Tiger Woods at the US Open at Pebble in 2000. It doesn't matter that he finished 15 strokes behind, he still finished second.

5. Hunter Mahan, Ricky Barnes, Nick Watney. My guess is that this threesome will get the least amount of air time on television, but has the greatest potential to go low.nAll three of these guys are known to play well on tough courses. Look out.  

6. Martin Kaymer, Sean O'Hair, Charl Schwartzel.The USGA always gets creative when assigning groupings for the first two days. This one I'm still trying to figure out.  Germany, U.S., South Africa? Maybe they were going for a World Cup feel. 

7. Jeff Overton and Rickie Fowler. Those are two names you won't be seeing this week.  Neither player qualified for the Open, but arguably should have. Both are inside the top-15 on the money list. Maybe one of these two should have gotten the sponsors exemption instead of Vijay.

8. David Duval. He was a contender at the U.S. Open last year. He finished runner-up at Pebble Beach twice in the mid-90's. In 2000, he finished T-7. A fine track record if you ask me.

This weekend was a win for Srixon

Titleist, Nike, Taylormade, Callaway and Ping.  Those are the companies you hear, see, read and are exposed to the most. They have much bigger marketing budgets than some of the smaller companies and their presence on Tour is palpable.

Then, there's Srixon, which most people affiliate with one player, and one player only, Jim Furyk. He's their brand ambassador. He's like what Fred Couples is to Bridgestone.  

But after this weekend, I am convinced that more people will be talking about Srixon.  Tim Clark and Robert Allenby both play Srixon balls, and it was the most exposure I had ever seen the manufacturer get at a marquee event.

I would expect the company to increase their marketing efforts in the coming weeks to keep the buzz going.

 

Tim Clark is victorious, sheds Golf Watch "best never to have won a Tour event" label

Tim Clark has been criticized for not being aggressive enough down the stretch on Sunday. His desire to win has been questioned.

Clark silenced all of those skeptics Sunday--firing at pins when appropriate down the stretch--to win his first PGA Tour event at the Players Championship.  

Anyone reading this blog long enough knows that we have chronicled Clark's near misses for the past three years. I wrote on May 25, 2008:

I know Justin Rose is the highest ranked player not to have won on the PGA Tour, but my vote among active players most deserving of a win has to go to Tim Clark.

With the pressure on down the stretch, Clark continued to make aggressive swings. His tee shot on the 17th was smart, his drive on 18 was a dagger down the middle and his par putt on the final hole showed how badly the South African wanted to win the trophy.

Lee Westwood has been the one fielding all of the questions of late on why he hasn't won the big one. It felt like the pressure had finally been lifted off of Clark's shoulders.  There was more pressure on Westwood to win. Still, Clark joked around with the press:

Yeah, I mean, a part of me is a bit disappointed because now no one is going to talk about me anymore. At least you had something to write about before. Now I'm just another guy with a win.

Now that Clark has won, who's the best player never to have won on Tour? Brett Quigley has to be near the top on my list. 

Tim Clark Players Championship Headlines

What a great way to get back into the swing of things here at The Golf Watch. The player who we labeled best player never to have won on Tour back in May of 2008 claims his first victory at The Players.

Here are some headlines from around the Web after Tim Clark's win. 

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