March 28, 2024

The Players Championship

We are two days away from the start of The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, so now it’s time to go out on a limb and pick a favorite to win this year’s event. Hopefully it won’t be as hard as picking the Kentucky Derby!!

tiger-woodsTiger Woods – You would think that the 2001 Players Championship winner would be a pretty safe bet…wouldn’t you? Consider this – Tiger does not have a single top 10 finish in this event since his win, his best finish being a tie for 11th. Add in there is current struggles on the tee box and well…it doesn’t exactly lead me to believe that this is his year. But then again, I’m not one who is willing to bet against Tiger..no matter the situation.

phil-miklesonPhil Mickleson – What does Phil have to do to get respect? Everyone thought it was to win a major and he’s obviously done that. But I was watching a report on the golf channel the other night and they asked several pros if Phil was number one in the rankings would they consider him to the best player in golf? The answer…unanimously was…NO!!! Poor Phil. Even though he is at the top of his game right now, this isn’t going to be his year to win again.

Sean OHairSean O’Hair – Last week’s winner at Quail Hollow will find it tough to go back to back, despite his strong record at TPC Sawgrass. Unfortunately I don’t even see a top 10 in his future this weekend.

zach-johnsonZach Johnson – Zach had the lead going into Sunday at Quail Hollow before the proverbially wheels came off the bus early in the round. Look for Zach to make a good run at this year’s championship.

Sergio Garcia – The
sergio-garciadefending champion beat Paul Goydos in a playoff last year after not having any finish better than 15th prior to last year’s event. To date Sergio has not had a finish better than 13th. Could we see a repeat?

anthony-kimAnthony Kim – Did you see the Masters in April? 11…count ’em…11 birdies in one round. Kim has great skill and a killer putter. Look for him to be up front early, but he will drop back on Sunday as he does most of the time.

There are a whole bunch of other players who…on any day could have the weekend of their life and walk away with one of golfs most coveted trophies. But as promised, I’m going to go out on a limb and predict this year’s winner….drum roll please….

The winner of the 2009 Players Championship is…….Zach Johnson!

Ok..Ok…not exactly out on a limb.

Zach looked impressive through most of the Quail Hollow Championship. He’s a solid player who is currently ranked 7th on the money list. You know he has to be hungry after letting last weekend slip through his hands.

SportsUnderground Hat Tip of the Week Part Deux

SportsUnderground would like to extend a hat tip to Jay Busbee from Yahoo Sports! on this excellent article:

Quite simply the most amazing golf hole on the planet

SportsUnderground’s Opinion:
The Legends of Golf and Safari Resort in South Africa is now officially at the top of my list for places I must go on vacation. Each of the 18-holes was desgined by a different professional golf star along with stunning nature as far as the eye can see. Take all that and add an “X-treme 19th” hole that is 630 yards with a tee-box 1,400 feet high and you have me at hello. You must check out the video footage below and a separate hat tip to Padraig Harrington for getting a par.

Vijay Singh’s Hole-in-One

Check out this raw video footage of Vijay hitting a hole-in-one on the 16th hole of a practice round this week at The Masters. The best part is he skips the shot across the water before landing on the green.

Happy Birthday Arnie

Arnold Palmer

SportsUnderground.com would like to give a big shout out to Arnold Palmer since today is his 79th birthday. We salute you Arnie because of the major influence you had on bringing golf into mainstream popularity. You are a gentleman and a scholar and we can’t thank you enough for your Arnold Palmer Tee !

Mickelson Teaching Backflip

I came across this oldie but goodie and had to share with everyone. Mickelson makes an impressive shot to say the least and boy has he put on some LB’s over the years. Enjoy!

Golfing Agua Style

I ran across this water hazard recovery video clip today and thought I would share it with everyone. Quite impressive to say the least.

Tiger Woods Breaking News

Tiger Woods

The Golf Channel is reporting that Tiger Woods is done playing golf for the rest of this year. Tiger has decided to have season ending knee surgery just days after winning his 3rd U.S. Open. This means no Tiger in the British Open, PGA Championship, Fed Ex Cup and the Ryder Cup. Ouch! The PGA has to be terrified of what this will do to their TV ratings and sponshorships for upcoming tournaments without Tiger in the mix. It will be interesting to hear if this is 100% true and not a bad rumor, but I doubt the Golf Channel would break this news unless they felt it was air tight.

U.S. Open at Torrey Pines

Torrey Pines

The 108th U.S. Open has kicked off and in the near future the powerful threesome of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott will hit the course. A lot of people are predicting Tiger as the favorite, but I think it’s going to be very difficult to win his first tournament back from surgery. I think there is a real chance for Phil Mickelson to win his first U.S. Open due to the experience he has at Torrey Pines. Phil grew up on this course and has seemed very focused this week during interviews. So what do you think? Tiger, Phil, or the field?

Paula Creamer Wins SemGroup Championship

Congratulations to Paula Creamer for winning the SemGroup Championship yesterday in a playoff against Juli Inkster. This is now Paula Creamer’s sixth LPGA victory and she is only twenty-one years old.

Paula Creamer

Paula Creamer

Get Your Green On!

Trevor Immelman

Trevor Immelman won the 73rd annual The Masters today in a convincing manner. Immelman from South Africa led the prestigious major wire-to-wire and won by three strokes over Tiger Woods. Congratulations to Immelman and my heart goes out to CBS because I know they wanted Woods to win the event or at least more competitive. 😉