Even with another PGA Tournament underway - the Honda Classic at the extremely underrated PGA National Champion Course - Tiger Woods’ dominance at the World Match Play and throughout 2008 remains the topic in the golf world. Once a few national golf writers realized they could not be first on the Tiger perfect season bandwagon - started by WorldGolf.com’s William K. Wolfrum - they decided to one-up Wolfrum with talk that Tiger’s not only going to have a perfect season, he’s going to decide the U.S. presidency, probably somehow sweep the Beijing Olympics (even if golf’s not in it), invent ... full post »

MARANA, Ariz. - Henrik Stenson knocked around another of the world’s top 60 golfers this afternoon, beating Justin Leonard 3-and-2. Only Stenson really sounded like he could have cared less. There’s good reason for that too. Stenson’s win came in the third-place consolation match in the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship. What is this, girl’s high school softball? Who plays a consolation game in the pros after being eliminated from title contention? Tiger Woods all but called for the demolition of this needless match earlier in the week. In fact, the mere presence of this monster made Tiger more of a lock ... full post »

MARANA, Ariz. (Feb. 24, 2008) - Still don’t think Tiger Woods knows every possible record and piece of golf history he’s approaching? Almost as soon as Woods put his hands around that weird porcelain-egg-looking, genie-bottle-like trophy for blowing out Stewart Cink 8-and-7 in the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship final, he talked Arnold Palmer. Tiger knew enough to forget Stewie (if only all of us who witnessed his putrid play at the Gallery Golf Club today could put it out of our mind so easily). Woods passed Palmer for all-time PGA Tour wins with 63, moved only one behind Ben Hogan and ... full post »

Maybe it’s just me. But watching the late-night Golf Channel replay of Paula Creamer’s clutch charge win in the Fields Open, it sure seemed like her caddie for the week was way more into those post-victory hugs than Creamer was. This guy couldn’t get enough Creamer. He held on for a long, long time on the first one, went in for a second one later, even feinted like he would try for a third - while Creamer’s smile seemed to say, all right, enough dude. Down. Not that you can completely blame the guy. It is Paula Creamer. But a ... full post »

MARANA, Ariz. (Feb. 24, 2008) - If you wanted drama in the 36-hole championship match of the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship, you’re out of luck. Unless you were on the courtesy shuttle bus I took in to the course that backed into some rich lady’s car. Of course, if you expected drama as Tiger Woods took on Stewart Cink just one match play win away from moving to a perfect 3-for-3 in tournaments entered and won in 2008, you’re more delusional than O.J. “This is a citizen’s arrest memorabilia seizure” Simpson. Tiger wasn’t about to lose this final match. It would ... full post »

MARANA, Ariz. (Feb. 23, 2008) - Thirty six holes of match play today and Tiger Woods never trailed. Want to place bets on if Stewart Cink leads him once in tomorrow’s 36-hole final? Woods’ unspoken goal of an undefeated 2008 season rolls on in the desert outside of Tucson. He just finished off Henrik Stenson, the defending champion in the WGC Accenture Match Play semifinals 2-up. Which went nicely with his 3-and-2 knockout of K.J. Choi in the morning. That moves Tiger to 5-0 at the Gallery Golf Club at Dove Mountain, one more match from moving to a perfect 3-for-3 in ... full post »

MARANA, Ariz. (Feb. 23, 2008) - The highest-rated player Tiger Woods has played at the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship turned out to be one of his easiest wins. Tiger took out K.J. Choi 3-and-2 in this morning’s quarterfinals, taking over a match that was all square heading into the back nine by winning three of the next four holes. That pits Woods against the defending champ Henrik Stenson - who’s a match play savant that the Dustin Hoffman character in Rain Main could appreciate. Stenson beat Woody Austin 2-up in the quarterfinals, kicking a lot of the tournament’ character to ... full post »

MARANA, Ariz. - Tiger Woods keeps giving his opponents the chance to beat him in the WGC Accenture Match Play. And they keep failing to do it. Tiger found himself down one to Aaron Baddeley heading into 16. Later, on the green of the first extra hole, the world’s most dominant golfer stood there helpless, certain that Baddeley was going to close him out with a makeable putt. Instead Woods wins in 20 holes, Baddeley joins J.B. Holmes as losers who would have won if they were playing anyone other than Tiger, if they were playing more loose in the clutch. “The one ... full post »

MARANA, Ariz. - Too bad Phil Mickelson’s not a tree falling in the forest. Maybe then nobody would notice that he just got bounced from a tournament he never really seemed fully committed to - the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship. Maybe Phil couldn’t have withstood the onslaught of birdies Stuart Appleby threw at him (nine in just 17 holes) in the second round even if he did seem engaged in this tournament. But the fact he showed up at the Gallery Golf Club at Dove Mountain for the first time Tuesday afternoon, made the curious decision to not play a ... full post »

MARANA, Ariz. (Feb. 21, 2008) - You didn’t think that Tiger Woods would struggle for two days in a row, did you? Tiger’s showing how deadly J.B. Holmes’ merry first-round loss figures to be for the rest of the field in the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship. He’s making rather methodical work of second round foe Arron Oberholser - who broke Canada’s heart when he squashed that Woods-Weir President’s Cup rematch. Tiger’s three up with four holes to go. Phil Mickelson - the no-practice round man - on the other hand is getting all he can handle a few holes back from ... full post »

MARANA, Ariz. (Feb. 21, 2008) - For much of his second round match with Adam Scott, the PGA Tour’s Aquaman wanted to drown himself. At least, if he could take his putter with him. Woody Austin - who’s hearing it from the fans here about his lake dive in Montreal too - viewed his putter as a weapon of self destruction for much of the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship’s second day. Austin wasn’t just missing makeable putts. He was three-jacking holes, handing four holes to Scott like a butler providing a hot towel. This included what Austin just called “the worst putt ... full post »

MARANA, Ariz. - Rory Sabbatini needs a heart transfusion. Fast. On a day when Tiger Woods pulled off one of his most memorable comebacks ever, a day when Phil Mickelson shook off some monster putts from Pat Perez to pull off his own first-round win, Sabbatini quietly faded away in another big time event. This time, it’s the WGC Accenture World Match Play Championship. The immortal Bradley Dredge took out Sabbatini as easy as could be, 4 and 3. And by the looks of Sabbatini’s swing, Dredge could have turned around and beaten him again if he had needed to in the ... full post »

MARANA, Ariz. - It looked like the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship was going to lose all its buzz on day one. It looked like J.B. Holmes was going to shoot down both Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods in 1-on-1 duels in a month’s time. Then, Tiger Woods got The Look. Hitting one long dagger putt after another and a completely ridiculous 270-yard second shot from the rough on 17 - with what he dubbed his “senior club", his 5-wood, after the match - Tiger left Holmes and his caddie just shaking their heads and chuckling. From three down with five to ... full post »

MARANA, Ariz. - You’d think that Phil Mickelson would be in a good mood after winning at Riviera and cementing his title as Mr. Pacific Time Zone. You’d think he’d be happy that there’s no Pro Am to think up a blow-off excuse for at the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship with its Wednesday start. You’d be wrong. A Mickelson you could hardly recognized showed up at The Gallery Golf Club just outside of Tucson today - a grumpy one. First, Mickelson canceled a scheduled interview visit to the media center. He even refused to talk to reporters on the side and the ... full post »

MARANA, Ariz. (Feb. 19, 2007) - A lot of you scoffed when WorldGolf.com’s new-age Kreskin William K. Wolfrum predicted that Tiger Woods would go undefeated in 2008. Many more chuckled when I shamelessly became the first to jump headfirst onto Wolfrum’s bandwagon. Well, it’s Tiger’s third tournament of the 08 season and he is being asked in press conferences about the possibility of having a perfect season. The query came today at the World Match Play Championship at The Gallery Golf Club at Dove Mountain. Now, I know what you’re thinking. But no, the question didn’t come from me. I planned to ... full post »

The brackets for this week’s World Match Play Championship came out and what do you know, Rory Sabbatini finds himself in Tiger Woods’ quarter of the draw. This is like one of those NCAA Tournament brackets where they try to set up a matchup between a coach and his former school or between Duke and somebody who despises Coach K’s fakeness (which is really most sane people when you think about it). As enlightened thinking as this is though, it faces one big problem: Sabbatini. Both he and Tiger have to win three matches to set up the fourth-round dream. Now, ... full post »

The New York Daily News’ comprehensive investigation of the Texas gym where Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte says some of the HGH he took came from includes a little nugget that should have made PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem spit up his frosted flakes this Sunday morning. The Daily News reports that 1 on 1 Elite Personal Fitness, which is owned by Pettitte’s childhood friend Kelly Blair, has several pictures of pro golfers training with Blair on its walls. Now just because a golfer is in a picture working out with a trainer who runs a gym that a whistleblower source tells the ... full post »

Ernie Els planned to skip the World Golf Championships - Accenture Match Play Championship (these tournament titles just roll off your tongue now, huh?) in Tucson next week. Els would have been the only player in the top 64 who missed the tournament by choice rather than injury. Then, Els talked some sense into himself. The Big Easy will be in the desert, giving him his first chance to shake off his big choke in Dubai. That’s when Els did everything but throw up on himself while helping to keep Tiger Woods’ unspoken goal of an undefeated season alive. Els needs Tucson. ... full post »

New golf courses actually within the city limits of Scottsdale are as rare as Roger Clemens admitting he’s wrong. There already seems to be a golf course on every other corner and there’s simply no longer much room to build. So the best new courses in the Phoenix Valley these days tend to be out a good distance from the hustle and bustle, like Raven at Verrado and We-Ko-Pa’s Saguaro - which are already two of the 10 best courses in the state. There is one good new course in Scottsdale now - the TPC Scottsdale Champions Course. It’s not really new, ... full post »

A few days shy of his 53rd birthday, Greg Norman is competing in his first PGA Tournament in almost two years so he can play with his son at Pebble Beach. You seemingly couldn’t write a surer recipe for embarrassment. Only, it isn’t. Norman shot a 4-over 76 in the first round and in terms of ball striking it was much better than that (The Shark putted with the touch of a drunk sailor). That’s only good enough for a tie for 149th in the 180-man field. Still, Norman played a pro’s pro round. Whether he’s 52 or 62, there’s no way ... full post »

If you didn’t pay close attention to Tiger Woods’ ruthless blitz of a comeback in the final round of the Dubai Classic - five birdies in his last seven holes to leave Ernie Els a quivering wet mess - you missed the bell tolling on anyone else’s chances in 2008. It’s clear now that Tiger isn’t focused on winning the Grand Slam - a prediction that everyone and their nanny have made for him, including WorldGolf.com’s own Brandon Tucker and Golf Channel’s Nick Faldo (who no doubt was funny while doing it). Sorry guys these calls are old news. I predicted ... full post »

Watching Bill Belichick slink off the field with two seconds still left on the clock, failing at even his lame attempt at sportsmanship (he congratulated Giants coach Tom Coughlin, but couldn’t stick around for one final snap? - even Randy Moss stuck around to the end this time), in his Super loss had to be one of the most just sights in sports in a good decade. Easy. Let’s face it, cheaters often win in sports. The Patriots came close too. They almost cheated their way into the record books, almost destroyed Mercury Morris’ life by going undefeated. The NFL alarmingly and ... full post »

Forget about the babe in the stripper’s wedding dress bantering with Tom Brady. The most absurdly appropriate question of Super Bowl week had to be the reporter who asked Patriots coach Bill Belichick in all seriousness whether the Patriots coach had been able to play any of Phoenix-Scottsdale’s golf courses during the week. You know like the Hoodie was going to say, the hell with this game planning for the win standing between my squad and a historic 19-0 season, I need to get out on Grayhawk … now! Now if it’s Steve Spurrier coaching in the Super Bowl … legitimate question. ... full post »