Results for February 2009
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Tiger isn't the only game in town
The notion that Tiger Woods might be bigger than the game itself has some merit that is born out by television ratings in tournament in which he does or does not play. Woods is a transcendent star, certainly, but disregarding the celebrity factor for the moment, what you'll find is that the game's future is in good hands, with or...
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Northern Trust to U.S.: Thanks, but no thanks
Northern Trust, in an effort to quell the criticism it took for the expensive entertaining it did at the Northern Trust Open recently, announced that it would return the $1.6 billion the U.S. government presented it as part of a financial-system rescue plan. The Los Angeles Times story on the matter notes: "The bank hasn't said so directly, but it...
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Tiger leaves, and so do fans
It is not surprising, of course, but once Tiger Woods made his exit from the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship so did a healthy percentage of fans. Attendance on Friday was down 21 percent from Thursday (11,130 from 14,120). Moreover, attendance was up over the same day a year ago every day until Friday, when it was off more than 1,300...
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Wachovia stricken from tournament title
Wells Fargo & Co. will remove Wachovia from the title of the PGA Tour event it sponsors, the heretofore Wachovia Championship, citing a concern over giving "mixed signals about our priorities," Bloomberg is reporting. Wells Fargo, however, will fulfill its sponsorship obligation, which runs through 2014. The tournament will be called the Quail Hollow Championship. Wachovia Corp. was purchased by...
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'The next Tiger Woods' misses the cut
New Zealand amateur Danny Lee, 19, no doubt has a bright future, but he's already made an embarrassing misstep. After Lee won the Johnnie Walker Classic, he declared that he wanted to be the next Tiger Woods. The following week, he entered the Nationwide Tour's Moonah Classic in Australia, shot 74-75, and missed the cut by five shots. Children, the...
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Don't blame Tiger
Tiger Woods' loss to Tim Clark on Thursday was less to do with Woods' eight months of inactivity than the fickle nature of match play. There was a reason the PGA Tour abandoned the format it once employed previously in Tucson (the Seiko-Tucson Match Play Championship). When each round matters more than the collective 72 holes of a stroke-play tournament,...
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Of Ted Williams and Tiger Woods
Christopher Clarey of the International Herald Tribune has an interesting essay today on the deification of athletes by comparing the era of Ted Williams to that of Tiger Woods through the prism of the prose of the late John Updike. There to record Williams' homer in his final at-bat in his final game, Updike wrote: "Our noise for some seconds...
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Recession watch: Atlanta Athletic Club alters mowing pattern
Even elite country clubs are not immune to the effects of the recession. The prestigious Atlanta Athletic Club will no longer cut its fairways in a crisscross pattern in an attempt to save money, Bloomberg reports. "Maintenance crews at Atlanta Athletic, where golfing legend Bobby Jones grew up playing the game, will soon start cutting the fairways in a back-and-forth...
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National Tiger is Back Day
That's what San Francisco Chronicle columnist Scott Ostler called it, but he also succinctly noted why Woods' comeback was such a big deal to the sport: "Win or lose, Tiger is back, and in the popularity polls, golf has broken out of a tie with rhythmic gymnastics."...
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John Daly sighting
This from the Philadelphia Daily News: "During the Phillies' annual golf tournament Tuesday, suspended PGA pro John Daly joined Shane Victorino's foursome on the back nine, thereby disqualifying the group." -- John Strege...
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