Nick Faldo is Now a Knight
Does this mean that Johnny Miller will now insist on being called "maestro"?
Queen Elizabeth is not the first woman to approach Faldo with a sword. I mean, have you read about his relationship troubles? (Thank you, I'll be here all week.)
Faldo was wistful upon the conclusion of the ceremony, telling the BBC: "I played my first round of golf on my 14th birthday. When I found out in the summer (about the knighthood), my first thought was of riding my bike through the woods to the golf course when I was just starting out."
Aside from being called "Sir," what does being a knight get Faldo? Well, he'll learn the truth behind the DaVinci Code; he gets free fish and chips for life; and he's allowed to drunk dial the Queen at 2 a.m.
Faldo is the second golfer to receive the knighthood in England, the first being Henry Cotton.
PGA Tour Season Wraps Up at Disney
Just one more chance for those golfers outside the Top 125 on the money list to get inside the Top 125 and secure a full tour card for 2010. And those golfers must be antsy - they've been waiting a while. It's been three weeks since the last event, the Frys.com Open. The Viking Classic two weeks ago was rained out, and last week was a bye week.
The Viking Classic rainout means that Rickie Fowler and Jamie Lovemark both get into the field this week without having to get sponsor exemptions. They both fininshed in the Top 10 at the Frys.com - taking part in a 3-man playoff - which would have gotten them into the field at the Viking Classic. Fowler planned to play the Viking, while Lovemark had to skip it for a Q-School qualifier. Because the Viking was canceled, those automatic entries by virtue of the Top 10s carry over to the Disney.
And both young golfers, with another high finish, have a chance to earn enough money this week to automatically qualify for the 2010 Tour, bypassing Q-School finals. Fowler - with $553,700 in earnings, which gets him close to the Top 125 - has a much better shot than Lovemark, who has $453,872, the equivalent of 147th on the money list.
The bubble boy going into the tournament - the player sitting at No. 125 - is David Duval. And the former No. 1-ranked player needs to play well this week. He's used up all the exemptions he had available to keep his card - one for being in the Top 25 in career earnings two years ago; another for being in the Top 50 in career earnings last year. Duval appeared as if from nowhere to finish second at the U.S. Open in June. Be he made only four cuts prior to that, and has made just one cut since.
Also in the field this week is Haymes Snedeker, who joins his brother Brandt by virtue of winning Big Break X: Michigan; and double-heart transplant recipient Erik Compton, who received a sponsor exemption for the second straight year.
View the field field here; or check the PGA Tour money list to see which players are right around the 125 cutoff point.
Rules FAQ: Golf Ball Stuck in Tree
What's a golfer to do when it happens? That question is part of our Rules FAQ. Read about the options when your ball is up a tree.
Mickelson Outplays Woods, Rallies to Win HSBC
And at the end of the final round, Mickelson was still on top, but Woods five strokes back. It was Ernie Els, not Woods, who charged at Mickelson on Sunday, even overtaking Phil before Els (playing several groups ahead) found water on the 18th.
Mickelson, meanwhile, rolled in a long par-save on the 16th and birdied the 17th, shooting 69 to finish at 17-under. Els was one back after his final-round 63, followed by Ryan Moore, Rory McIlroy, Nick Watney, and then Tiger and Martin Kaymer at 12-under.
Although this win doesn't count as an official PGA Tour victory for Mickelson, it is his second WGC win of the year. Which is notable for the fact that Mickelson had never won a WGC tournament prior to the 2009 WGC CA Championship at Doral.
Woods and Mickelson both missed short birdie putts on the second hole. But while Mickelson righted himself, Woods never did. Woods found water on the fourth hole, double-bogied, and was never in the mix after that. It's also the fourth time in their last five rounds together that Mickelson has bettered Woods.
Woods plays again this week at the Australian Masters, and will play at least once more in 2009 after that at his own Chevron World Challenge - but we won't see Mickelson again, the AP reports, until the Century Club of San Diego Invitational at the end of January.
Mickelson, Woods Poised for Final Round Duel
That's because his playing partners in the lead group on Sunday are Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Mickelson carded a third-round 67 to take the lead, two strokes ahead of Woods (70) and Watney (70). Ryan Moore is another stroke back, and Lee Westwood is four off Mickelson's pace (see leaderboard).
"I suppose I'm kind of the odd man out there," Watney said in his press conference following the third round. "But the goal in golf is always to improve and tomorrow will be a big step for me. Regardless of the outcome I'll get the chance to watch these guys and see how they handle themselves."
Woods-Mickelson final-round pairings are rare, but often memorable. At the 2009 Masters, they were paired and Mickelson was on fire early, electrifying the crowds (and the announcers), but they were both too far behind at the start of the day. Their battle at the 2005 Doral Open produced one of the most riveting final rounds of the last decade, especially in non-majors (Woods won by a stroke).
Whether Sunday's final round lives up to expectations - or Watney or Moore or someone else plays spoiler - is yet to be seen, of course. And if you want to see it in the United States, you'll need to stay up until 11 p.m. ET Saturday and continue watching the Golf Channel's coverage through 3 a.m. ET Sunday. The European Tour's tournament page provides television broadcast times for much of the rest of the world.
Tiger Ahead of Phil at HSBC; Phil Takes Leads in Promoting China Golf
Both superstars have talked about the future of golf in China being huge. And they are right. It's simple demographics: If golf becomes a passion in China, then in 20 years many of the best golfers in the sport will be Chinese golfers.
And both superstars have talked of wanting to promote the growth of the game in China. While Tiger leads in the tournament, Phil has pulled slightly ahead in the promotional department. Mickelson is already designing a golf course in Tianjin, but on Friday he added the news that he's going to open a golf academy in Kunming.
"In Kunming we are putting a golf academy and we are putting a par-3 course where kids can enjoy and learn at the grassroots so that 25 years down the road we build support for the game of golf in China," Mickelson said.
Mickelson's instructional DVD and book are also going to be released in Mandarin.
Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer battled for years on the golf course, and also took their battles off the course into the business world - club companies, design companies, real estate companies and more. Looks like Tiger and Phil are heading in that direction, too.
That's One! But Is It Really a Stroke?
And sometimes when this happens, every other golfer in the group shouts out, "That's one!" But does the bump really count as your first stroke on the hole? Your club did contact the ball, after all.
We are occasionally asked this question, which is why we made it part of our Rules FAQ. So does it count as a stroke if you accidentally bump the ball off the tee? Read the answer.
See also:
Wie Will Play in Dubai
I doubt the Chinese will miss Glover. I doubt they'll miss any of those absentees - Tiger and Phil are there.
America's female professionals, however, aren't afraid of a little travel. They go all over the world. Many were in Korea last week, and many are in Japan this week.
And Michelle Wie will be in Dubai in December. The Ladies European Tour's Dubai Ladies Masters takes place Dec. 9-12, and it was announced today that Wie is playing. Wonder what kind of appearance fee she's getting.
Wie, currently attending classes at Stanford, will be back on the LPGA Tour the next couple weeks, too. She's entered into the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Mexico next week, and in the LPGA Tour Championship in Houston Nov. 19-22.
PGA Tour Announces Full Schedule for 2010
The doesn't mean the tour hasn't lost sponsors or tournaments. Buick is gone; the Buick Open in Michigan is dead, but the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines continues on as the Century Club of San Diego Invitational (presumably the tour will continue searching for a title sponsor). US Bank has also departed, and the US Bank Championship in Milwaukee is dead.
But the defunct tournaments are replaced by a new event, the The Greenbrier Classic at the historic Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia; and by the move of the Turning Stone Resort Championship from the Fall Series into the FedEx Cup portion of the schedule.
The dates of the 2010 majors are:
- The Masters: April 8-11
- U.S. Open: June 17-20 (Pebble Beach Golf Links)
- British Open: July 15-18 (The Old Course at St. Andrews)
- PGA Championship: (Whistling Straits)
One oddity of the schedule is the date selected for the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open. That event moves up to the date vacated by the defunct US Bank Championship, the same week as the British Open. What's odd about that? It's also the same week as the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship at Tahoe, which is played, figuratively speaking, across the street from the Reno-Tahoe Open. And the celeb tournament gets network TV coverage.
Family Golf Vacations
The most recent additions are Bandon Dunes - "It's a quiet, rustic environment - tough to get to, but a unique experience" - and Pebble Beach - "It was very expensive - (but) worth every penny and a favorite golf memory."
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