Cody's Blog » Golf

Oooo Louis

Cody Clark — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:14:36 +0000

Carrying the nickname Shrek and golf head covers to match (until his caddie convinced him to ditch them). 27 year-old South African golfer Louis Oosthuizen provided British Open spectators with the most boring final round of golf. Coming into the final round with a 4 shot lead over Paul Casey, Oosthuizen proceeded to shoot a solid 1 under 71 in the final round and took a 7 shot win in the Open Championship over Lee Westwood. In that his first major tournament win if his career, Oosthuizen was one of the only constants in a tournament that provided some of the best players with some of the worst days. Louis missed the cut in the event just before the Open, and came in to St. Andrews rearing to go, and it showed, as he shot a 16 under for the tournament to take home the $1.3 million purse.

The Mark of a Champion

Cody Clark — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 00:19:38 +0000

Policing yourself is a sticky situation. If you commit a penalty, you can call it, or pretend nothing happened. You can own up to it, or deny that it ever occurred. For a one Brian Davis, a player who has never sniffed a victory and only has one top 10 win, calling the penalty was what he had to do. On the final regulation hole, Davis holed out on an 18 foot birdie putt to force a playoff between Davis and Jim Furyk. On the playoff hole, Furyk’s first shot landed on the hole with a beautiful opportunity to set up his tournament winning shot. Davis was not so lucky. His first shot landed in the marsh off to the left of the hole. On his ensuing shot, during his backswing, his club ticked a loose reed. Suspecting that he may have hit something, Davis immediately asked for PGA Tour tournament director Slugger White and shared what he saw. White consulted with officials, who then checked TV replays and confirmed Davis’ worst fear: His violation cost him a chance at his first PGA Tour victory in his career. What Davis did was the classiest thing that I have ever seen in a competitive sport, and in an age where things tend to be swept under the rug, Brian Davis has become one of the most respected figures on the PGA Tour.

Time Off? Who Needs It!

Cody Clark — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 00:03:39 +0000

After 144 days of no golf, Tiger Woods finally decided that he was going to step back in the golf spotlight and try his hand at Augusta in his first tournament back. And after three rounds, he looks like a genius. Many people thought that he would pick up with a tune-up tourney before he made his grand return, but Tiger felt that he could compete even without that extra practice time. Through three rounds Tiger Woods sits at -8, which is good for a share of third place up to this point. He would be in a tie for second at this moment, but Phil Mickelson posted back to back eagles on 13 and 14 to propel himself into second one shot off of the lead, which is held down by Lee Westwood’s 12 under par. Regardless of whether you are a golf fan or not, the final round at Augusta will definitely be one for the record books, with big names making a push in an effort to obtain Augusta’s green jacket.

YES, YES, YES!

Cody Clark — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:40:37 +0000

Tiger Woods began Sunday’s round at Hazeltine National with a two stroke lead. It’s in the bag right? WRONG! Y.E. Yang (the 110th ranked player in the world) played the round of his life matching and keeping pace with the great Tiger Woods and basically sealed the deal with his chip shot eagle that put him ahead one after Tiger birdied. What a way to win your first major; by beating Tiger Woods after he had held the lead at the PGA Championship through 67 holes! Yang was not caught up in the moment , or the fact that he was playing Tiger and went out there and played a solid round of golf to beat the FedEx Cup leader and number 1 player in the world. Tiger had the tournament right in the palm of his hand, but poor putting led to his demise and loss of what would have been his 15th major victory. This year, while Tiger Woods did not win have a major victory, Angel Cabrera, Y.E. Yang, Lucas Glover, and Stewart Cink all cashed in on their opportunities. I am very happy for Yang, and I am also happy that Woods has finally lost to bring him back down to earth.

Tiger Woods Wins. Again.

Cody Clark — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 18:38:35 +0000

With Tiger Wood’s three stroke win over Padraig Harrington win in the WGC Bridgestone-Invitational at Firestone, Woods now has 5 PGA Tour wins on the season in a dozen chances, with that chance at a sixth next week at the PGA Championship. It was a great tournament, and I really thought that Paddy was going to maybe pull it out over the number 1 golfer in the world, but Tiger proved his abilities once again, coming from behind to snag the win at Firestone right out from under Harrington’s nose. This tournament was won really won on the 16th hole. It is a Par 5 hole, and with his 3rd shot, Padraig hit the ball into the rough behind the green. then with tiger’s shot, he hit a beautiful ball that and landed about three feet from the cup to secure his 70th win on Tour. Next week’s PGA Championship is a chance for Tiger to win his sixth tourney this year and I really that believe that the world’s best golfer is going to pull it out to secure his 71st championship win.

Tiger and His Temper

Cody Clark — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:28:56 +0000

In case you have not noticed, the most recognized and loved athlete in the world has a temper problem. It was kind of nice watching the Open at Turnberry without Tiger Woods slamming, cursing, or throwing his clubs in front of an audience of viewers both at the course and at home watching in dismay. Considering that a lot of the viewers are children that want to do everything like Woods does and his bad temper is not teaching the kids to have respect for the sport. Take a look at Tom Watson in the playoff. Did you see him do any of that bad stuff as he got demolished by Stewart Cink? (I’ll bet my life savings that Tiger would have had a cow!) His tantrums are getting real old real quick and I wonder when the PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem is going call him out for his lack of respect for playing “the gentlemen’s game.”

Stewart Who?

Cody Clark — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:54:57 +0000

In 49 appearances in Majors, Stewart Cink did not have one win to show for it. Until now. Ranked 33rd in the world and one of the most respectable men in the game, Cink now has that big win to show for all his hard work and effort. (In one of the biggest tourneys on tour) Watson three putted the last hole and at the end of the 72nd hole, the score was all knotted up. Then Stewart Cink proceeded to crush Tom Watson in the playoff by a whopping 6 strokes to bring home his first Clarent Jug. When asked what happened in the playoff, Watson replied “The playoff was just one bad shot after another.” I hate to say this, but I have to agree. Although I was routing for the 59 year old Watson, I am glad to see one of the class acts in golf take home the victory.

British Open Without Tiger?

Cody Clark — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:48:22 +0000

For the first time in three years and only the second time ever in a major championship, Tiger Woods shot a 4-over-74 to miss the cut by a stroke. Tiger had been playing “decent golf” coming into today’s round, but really struggled on a few select holes. (Such as 9, 10,12,13: bogey, double bogey, bogey, double bogey) This missed cut was the very first time in over two years where he has not finished in the top ten in a PGA Tour event. I have to admit that watching the Open will not be the same since Tiger is not in it, but I am looking forward to seeing if Tom Watson, Steve Marino, or Mark Calcavechia can play good enough from here on out to win this years British Open at Turnberry in Scotland.