The Golf Watch

Tiger Woods continues to win two weeks before a major

What a great Sunday for watching golf.  On CBS, Tiger Woods beat out the red-hot Hunter Mahan and Anthony Kim to win his first AT&T National. 

And over on ESPN2, Morgan Pressel holed a 70-yard eagle shot on the par-5 17th to force a playoff against Eunjung Yi.  Pressel lost in the playoff. 

I was switching back and forth the entire day between the two tournaments.  One statistic that continues to amaze me:

-- Tiger has now won 46 of 49 tournaments (94%) when leading/co-leading after 54-holes.

That's about as close to automatic as you can get.

At Congressional for the next few days

Expect a few posts later this evening regarding the first round of the AT&T National.  Until then, here are a few pictures I took at last year's tournament with an inside-the-ropes perspective. 

Why such a weak field at Congressional?

 Last year--with no Tiger Woods--it was no surprise.  But this year, I find it unbelievable that only four of the top-12 players in the world are playing this week. Let's consider why this week's tournament should be so enticing:

--It's two weeks after the US Open and two weeks before the British Open.  It is sandwiched in between two weaker tournaments.  It's only logical that the top players would want to play.

--The tournament is at Congressional, where the 2011 US Open will be held.  This is the last chance players have to play the course in a competitive format before the Open.

--Tiger is the host and the players have a lot to be thankful for--namely purse sizes and popularity of the game.

 --It's the 4th of July, and what better place to spend the holiday weekend then in the nation's capital?

John Hawkins offered an interesting theory on Wednesday's Grey Goose about the mediocre field. He said that players might not be coming to the AT&T to send a message to Tiger that he should play in more events to support the Tour.  It's just a theory, but it might hold some truth.

At Aronimink, a transformation

Tim Rosaforte reminds us that although there is a lot of excitement over Aronimink GC temporarily hosting Tiger Woods' AT&T National, the club has had its fair share of criticism. 

McLaughlin chooses Aronimink, not Avenel

First off, kudos to the Philadelphia Inquirer and Washington Post on their coverage the past six months of the future host of the 2010, '11 AT&T National.  Joe Logan of the Inquirer first reported Tournament Chairman Greg McLaughlin's interest in Aronimink, located outside of Philly, as a possible site six months ago, and the club seems destined to be the host of the tournament, pending a vote, as Leonard Shapiro of the Post reported earlier today.

This is a pretty big insult to TPC Avenel and the PGA Tour.  Tim Finchem and co. have invested a ton of money into a course overhaul at Avenel, and they certainly didn't have to do it for the members. 

For those of you not familiar with Avenel, it's located about a mile down the road from Congressional, the current host of the AT&T.  The decision to move there would have been logical, but obviously, the course didn't impress Tiger's camp. 

Most of the players complained about Avenel's layout, but I have heard the changes made should diminish most of those concerns.  What is the future of the course?

Tiger meets with Congressional members...in person

Last month, the trip to D.C. for his AT&T National would have been too much  Last week, though, Tiger Woods was able to make the trip to the nation's capital to Congressional Country Club.  According to Leonard Shapiro of The Washington Post, Woods made a presentation in support of the AT&T National staying at Congressional for the long haul...

More than 350 members of Congressional Country Club attended a town-hall-style meeting last night at the club to hear Tiger Woods and PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem make formal presentations in support of a proposal to keep the AT&T National, Woods's signature golf tournament, at the Bethesda course from 2012 through 2017.

According to a source who attended the two-hour meeting, Woods spoke to the members in the club's packed ballroom for about five minutes, and also answered members' questions.

As for his physical appearance, Doug Ferguson notes:

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem saw Tiger Woods for the first time since his season-ending surgery, and reported Sunday that the No. 1-ranked golfer was his usual self, except for being about 10 pounds lighter and walking with a slight limp.

"He lost 12 or 13 pounds after surgery, gained a few back," Finchem said. "He looks kind of thin."

"Tour broadcasts feel the pain"

Thomas Bonk of the LA Times catches us up on how badly television ratings have been hit the last three weeks without Tiger...

It's all a matter of perspective. The PGA Tour and its truckload of sponsors aren't even asking you not to touch that dial on your television; they're asking you to make sure the set is turned on in the first place.

The Absent Tiger Factor is here and it's awful to behold.

Case 1: Buick Open. The first event of three events so far that Woods would have played but missed because of his knee surgery. The overnight rating on CBS for the fourth round was down 12%, from a 1.7 to a 1.5.

Case 2: AT&T National. Worse. The overnight ratings for the fourth round on CBS were down 48%, from a 2.9 to a 1.5. Third-round ratings dipped 35%, from a 2.0 to a 1.3.

Case 3: British Open. Not good. The overnight ratings for ABC's final round coverage Sunday fell 14.6%, from a 4.1 to a 3.5.

AT&T National ratings drop

As expected, Thomas Bonk of the LA Times reports that the ratings for the Tiger-less AT&T National went down signifciantly...

In a word: bad. The overnight ratings for Sunday's fourth round of the AT&T National on CBS were down 48%, from a 2.9 to a 1.5. The third-round overnight ratings were down 35%, from a 2.0 to a 1.3.

As for the LPGA...

...overnight ratings on CBS for the weekend's LPGA event, the P&G Beauty Northwest Arkansas Championship, barely registered. Saturday's rating was an 0.7 and Sunday's was an 0.6.

Kim steps up for PGA Tour

On Wednesday, I was sitting on the driving range next to Rex Hoggard of Golfweek as we watched Anthony Kim prepare for the AT&T National.  He seemed fresh, confident, and relaxed.

I followed Kim for five holes during the pro-am, and he hit several superb shots, including one out of the rough on the par-4 3rd that I recorded in the video below.

Kim won the AT&T earlier today by two strokes over Fredrik Jacobson after firing a 5-under 65.  He's the first player since Tiger Woods to win twice in a year before the age of 25.

The PGA Tour needed a young gun to step up in Tiger's absence, and Kim is the first one to do so. 

Oberholser loses his cool at AT&T

At the AT&T National earlier today, I was out following the group of Arron Oberholser, Stuart Appleby, and Brandt Snedeker.  All three of the players struggled, but it was the startling behavior of Oberholser that stuck with many of the fans after Friday's action.

It all started on the 12th hole when Oberholser had a putt from less than 5-feet for par. He asked a woman to stop moving behind the hole, and subsequently missed the putt.  He walked toward the 13th tee, slamming his putter against the bag twice. 

Then, on the 13th tee box, Oberholser said:

The next person who moves is getting putted upside the freakin' head.

Later, after missing a makeable birdie putt on 15, Oberholser threw his putter a good 25-30 ft. toward his bag in frustration. 

Oberholser has been afflicted with two majors injuries the past year--one involving his left hand, and the other involving his right shoulder.  It's been a long, frustrating year for Oberholser, but that's no excuse.