Memorial skins match today in Ohio

Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods dominated the Memorial skins match today in Dublin, Ohio, hometown of Jack Nicklaus. Mickelson won all nine skins in his group, while Woods won six of the nine.

Mickelson’s group included Nicklaus, Ernie Els, Sean O’Hair and Kenny Perry. Woods played alongside Jim Furyk, Rory McIlroy, Steve Stricker and Zach Johnson, winner last week at Colonial.

The tournament was picked up live by the Golf Channel, and was one of the most enjoyable tournaments I’ve watched in a long time. With everybody wearing mics, it was great to hear the players joking around like the rest of us do when we play. It’s a lot easier to root for guys after you’ve seen them in this type of format, rather than the usual seriousness of tournament play.

Ryder Cup in Wales

I know it’s a long way off, but the Ryder Cup is one of my favorite sporting events, and deserves at least an update from this blog. Corey Pavin was picked as the team’s captain, and has been flying all over the country to keep up with America’s best golfers.

This Ryder Cup will be held October 1-3 at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales. Pavin selected Davis Love III, Tom Lehman, Jeff Sluman, and Paul Goydos as the team’s four assistants. The United States is the defending champion after beating Europe at Valhalla in 2008.

Continue reading →

Update on South River Golf Course

As my avid readers might remember, I did an update on South River Golf Links in Edgewater, Md., to see how the course was preparing for the upcoming golf season. And luckily, I got the chance to play the course, and catch back up with David Fink, who worked there and I interviewed about the playing conditions.

The course is in great shape, and really played well. When talking to the other guys around the clubhouse, I got the same feel from all the golfers.

Continue reading →

Matt Jones leads the Texas Open

Matt Jones, the 30-year-old Australian who played his college golf at Arizona State, is in the lead at the Texas Open after shooting a 66 in his first round. Paul Stankowski opened with a 67, and J.B. Holmes, Matt Weibring, Charley Hoffman and Steve Lowery had 68s.

The new site has its advantages, and the weather looks to be better for the weekend rounds.
With a month left until the U.S. Open, golfers are trying to prepare for the next major by warming up at these events. But the surprising leader is Jones, whose best finish this season is a tie for seventh two weeks ago at Quail Hollow.