***Buick Invitational Live Thread***[Golf Ping]

The Golf Channel, PGA.com and various print sources ^ | January 23, 2008 | Golf Ping List

[Zuben Elgenubi]

2008 Buick Invitational

Mickelson Fit for Play at Buick
By Associated Press - January 23, 2008

SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- The Buick Invitational will have the Nos. 1 and 2 players in the world, after all.
 
After three days of bed rest and antibiotics for respiratory problems, Phil Mickelson said Tuesday he was feeling better and will play in the pro-am Wednesday at the Buick Invitational, paving the way for him to make his '08 debut at Torrey Pines. He also has a practice session planned with swing coach Butch Harmon.
 
"I'm feeling much, much better," Mickelson said. "I'm happy about that and looking forward to working with Butch to make sure everything is in order for this week."
 
Mickelson has not played since winning the HSBC Champions in China in November. He suspects the respiratory problems, which included shortness of breath, stemmed from either cleaning up debris outside his San Diego County home after the wildfires, or something he picked up in Asia during a two-week stint last fall.
 
Mickelson is a three-time winner of the Buick Invitational, ending Tiger Woods' six-tournament winning streak in 2000 and last winning in 2001 in a playoff.
 
Woods is the three-time defending champion.
 
Related Links:

• Full Coverage - Buick Invitational
  
• GOLF CHANNEL Airtimes

[cleveland gop]

31 on the back and only 24 putts. You’ve got to be kidding me! If anyone has an ideb of who can hang with Tiger, please let me know.

[GRRRRR]

Uncredible. Golf is such a mental game and he’s got the mental all over everyone els.

Many years ago, at the club...a friend of mine was a scratch golfer. Me, I carried about 16 strokes but in the spirit of the game we agreed to play even up, no strokes for me. For nine holes we played even and then on the back nine he birdied out and thrashed me solidly.

Tiger’s like that. He can just do it anytime he wants.

Simply amazing.

[Rummyfan]

Tiger charges from four shots back to win!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1964236/posts

Now if he could somehow hop over to Arizona he would win there too!

[cleveland gop]

Scary, isn’t it! He is never too far out of it. Trust me, he works at the game harder than most and it shows.
There is a show on FOX now that is being narrated by Alec Baldwin! PLEASE!!!

[Zuben Elgenubi]

Woods Rallies to Win in Dubai - 02/03/2008

By Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Tiger Woods watched his 25-foot putt race down the slope and bend toward the cup, then he skipped backward and punched the desert air in celebration when it disappeared into the cup for a final birdie.
 
So ended his spectacular charge Sunday to win the Dubai Desert Classic over Ernie Els, a familiar victim. Woods birdied his last two holes, and five of his last seven, for a 7-under 65 to start his season with two victories that looked nothing alike.
 
One week was an eight-shot victory at the Buick Invitational. The next week was his largest comeback in eight years when Woods rallied from a four-shot deficit with an array of impressive shots that make him look tougher to beat than he already is.
 
"I'm just happy to get a win out of this," Woods said.
 
It was the third time Woods has started his season 2-0, another sign that he could be headed for a big year. He now has won his last four official tournaments, and six of his last seven dating to the Bridgestone Invitational in early August. Woods also won his unofficial Target World Challenge by seven shots in December.
 
"It's the ideal start, isn't it?" Woods said. "You play to win. So far, I've done that this year."
 
Woods finished at 14-under 274 for a one-shot victory over Martin Kaymer of Germany. Woods had already posted his score when Kaymer, who won two weeks ago in Abu Dhabi, closed birdie-birdie-eagle for a 66.
 
But the real victim was Els.
 
He started the final round with a one-shot lead over Henrik Stenson and was four shots clear of Woods. The 38-year-old South African missed par putts inside 5 feet on the 11th and 12th holes to lose the lead, but he still had a chance to force a playoff with a birdie on the par-5 18th. Instead, Els hit 5-wood that came up well short and ended up in the water.
 
He finished with a bogey for a 71 and tied for third with Louis Oosthuizen.
 
It was a devastating blow to Els, who stared at the ground as he walked toward the 18th green. He is in the middle of a three-year plan to overtake Woods at No. 1 in the world, and said at the start of his season that he needed to start winning.
 
This was the perfect occasion, and he let it slip away in familiar fashion. Two years ago at Dubai, Woods birdied the last two holes to force a playoff against Els, then beat him when the South African hit his second shot into the water on No. 18.
 
This one never had a chance.
 
"The second shot on the 18, it was right where I had it, but I could see the gust got it in the air and it didn't have much of a chance in the end there," Els said.
 
Reaching No. 1 now looks like a lost cause.
 
Woods has more than double the points over second-ranked Phil Mickelson, and when asked about the gap over Mickelson, Woods playfully said, "I thought Ian Poulter was No. 2?"
 
That was a reference to Poulter being quoted in a British magazine that he was the only one capable of challenging the world's No. 1 player. Poulter closed with a 76 on Sunday and tied for 39th.
 
It was the largest comeback for Woods since he made up a five-shot deficit at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in 2000, a final round that included holing out from the 15th fairway.
 
This was almost as impressive. Woods lost momentum with bogeys on the sixth and ninth holes, but he poured it on along the back nine with six birdies to win Dubai for the second time.
 
"All of sudden I was in the mix, out of the mix," Woods said.
 
It started with a chip-in for birdie from a thick lie in the rough. Then came a tough flop shot from a tight lie, a bunker between Woods and the hole, that he caught perfectly to about 5 feet for birdie on the 13th.
 
"I thought I had to shoot 30 to get into a playoff," said Woods, who shot 31 on the back nine. "It just happened to be good enough."
 
Woods hit a perfect drive on the 359-yard 17th to just left of the green, leaving him a good angle for a chip that he hit to 8 feet for birdie. Then came the 18th, when Woods though his 5-wood for a second shot was perfect.
 
It went long, just short of the bunker, leaving Woods an awkward chip down the slope, with water on the other side.
 
"I could easily chip the ball in the water," Woods said. "You have to make your mistake short and if I leave it too short, just chip up and try to make a par and (I'm) probably not going to win the tournament, but see what happens."
 
He came up short, but holed the 25-foot birdie putt that turned out to be good enough.
 
Woods also won his first two events of the season in 2000 and 2006. In both those years, Els was among his early victims.
 
He now has won 72 times worldwide in his career, 62 of those on the PGA TOUR. A week ago at Torrey Pines, Woods won by at least eight shots for the ninth time in his career. This was much tighter, and Woods made no secret which one he prefers.
 
"I like (winning) by seven or eight a lot," he said. "It's a lot less stressful."
 
Woods has until Friday to decide whether he will play the Northern Trust Open at Riviera, although he likely will not return until the Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona, which begins Feb. 20.
 
Related Links:

• Leaderboard - Dubai Desert Classic

[cleveland gop]

Just checkin’ in! Good news locally golfwise. It seems the Senior PGA Championship is coming back to the area Memorial Day weekend next year.
Last time it was here, 2002 at Firestone(that year the Bridgestone tourney was out in Seattle), Fuzzy won. This time, Canterbury Golf Club will host!
3 major type tourneys in our neck of the woods next year. Should be lots of fun!
Did you see Quinney’s hole in one? Pretty good stuff there!

[Zuben Elgenubi]

Thanks for the ping. I was travelling extensively this week and just didn't have time to update the Riviera scores. Yes, that hole-in-one put him right into contention.

Mickelson On Top at Hogan's Alley - 02/16/2008

By Associated Press

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. --Phil Mickelson knew immediately that he was going to enjoy this walk at Riviera.
 
Under blue skies off Sunset Boulevard, the last trace of wind was on its way out of town, leaving Mickelson and the late starters Friday afternoon in the Northern Trust Open with a second straight day of the easiest conditions. Then came a 3-iron from 247 yards on the par-5 first hole that was so true it left him 12 feet away for eagle.
 
He settled for a birdie, but that sent him on his way toward the top of the leaderboard, a position that is becoming familiar on this storied course of shotmaking and precision.
 
"I thought that was a nice way to start the round, because it wasn't an easy pin to get up-and-down from a lot of places around the green," Mickelson said.
 
What followed was a mixture of solid shots, some wizardry with his wedges and one big putt, a 60-footer that dropped into the center of the cup on its final turn for birdie at No. 5.
 
When he finished his round with a 20-foot birdie to strong applause from the fans scattered above the 18th green, Mickelson had a career best at Riviera, a 7-under 64 that gave him a four-shot lead. He was at 10-under 132, poised for the second straight year to capture a title in the one city on the West Coast swing that has eluded him over the years.
 
"A lot of putts went in," he said. "Shots ended up close. It was a good day."
 
Robert Allenby, who won at Riviera in a cold rain and a six-man playoff in 2001, ran off four straight birdies around the turn and finished with six straight pars for a 66 that put him at 6-under 136, along with Jeff Quinney (137).
 
The group at 137 included Chad Campbell, Scott Verplank and Scott McCarron, a UCLA grad who nearly won this tournament in 2002.
 
For those who faced a cold wind Thursday afternoon and more swirling breezes Friday morning, the best anyone could muster was David Toms (68) and Kevin Sutherland (69), each at 3-under 139.
 
"It was interesting, the last 27 holes that I've played with the wind and everything," Toms said. "You certainly had to think about it on your club selection. It made a lot of the holes play very difficult. Overall, I'll take the two rounds I've put on the board."
 
For the second straight day, not everyone finished the round before dark. It got so bad that Charlie Hoffman had time to go to the pretzel stand between the second green and the third tee.
 
"So there will be a Saturday cut," quipped Rory Sabbatini on his way to the 18th tee as the sun began to dip behind the hill, and players were still just making the turn

[Zuben Elgenubi]

There are only 34 Rules Of Golf.

Email me if you want on the Golf Ping List:

Visit PGA.com, an excellent site.

.

Scores

Northern Trust Open

• Leader: Phil Mickelson
• World Golf Ranking: 2
• Money List: 11
• FedExCup Standing: 10

Pos	Player	Total	Today	Thru
1	Mickelson, Phil	-11	-1	18
2	Quinney, Jeff	-10	-4	18
3	Rollins, John	-6	-2	18
4	Appleby, Stuart	-5	-2	18
4	Taylor, Vaughn	-5	E	18
4	Verplank, Scott	-5	E	18
7	Choi, K.J.	-4	E	18

[mdittmar]

Noticed Phil was hitting the Driver less,guess an 11 would do that to all of us;)

P.S. New course to break ground in June,out here in the boonies,12 minutes away from my house:)

Vineyards Resort

[ThreePuttinDude]

Good news for us Phil phans....Way to go Phill

[Publius Valerius]

The old LA Open was always one of my favorite tournaments because I think Riveria is one of the best courses around. I didn’t know it was on this week until Sunday because of the name change. The Northern Trust Open? I had just gotten used to the Nissan Open.

I’m not sure all these name changes are particularly beneficial to golf. I recognize that it brings in a lot of money to the PGA (and the community) but I would think that lack of name recognition hurts viewership. Maybe I’m just an old fuddy-duddy.

[Rummyfan]

Riviera has always been one of my favorite venues that the PGA stops at. Love that course. No water anywhere but it’s still very tough.

[cleveland gop]

Same thought. Good win, solid field and one hell of a track.
And it’s never bad to jump into a helicopter and sleep in your own bed.

[cleveland gop]

Tiger 3 down with 5 to play, then wins 14-17 to beat Holmes. STOP IT!!!
Whoever the no. 2 golfer in the world ever is, no matter who he is will never be close to the success and the record smashing performances we witness when ETW tees it up!
Which makes what Vijay did in 2004 when he took no. 1 for a week all the more impressive.

[mdittmar]

Woods ousts Baddeley on 20th hole

Game on;)

[cleveland gop]

I wonder what their scores were in relation to par. I know both made 12 birdies. What a match!