November 2011: Local Knowledge: Golf Digest

Woods looking to build on success Down Under at Chevron

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Was Australia an illusion or a turning point for Tiger Woods? Are more than two years of injuries and distractions behind him as the new Sean Foley-crafted swing kicks in or was that Sunday singles success at the Presidents Cup another one-off tease?

Nothing that happens this week at the Chevron World Challenge will provide definitive answers to those questions surrounding Woods. That will come next year in full-field tournaments, especially the majors. But it will be fascinating to see if Woods can build on his success Down Under.

For Woods, this week's Chevron World Challenge feels more like the first tournament of 2012 than the last event of 2011. Photo by Getty Images.

"Playing Oz for two weeks, it was fantastic," Woods said on Wednesday after the pro-am round at Sherwood CC. "I hit all shots and all shapes. I was trusting my trajectory again. You get exposed in the wind. I felt very comfortable in that wind."

If the weather forecasters are correct, Tiger's new swing and growing confidence will certainly get another good test in Thursday's first round of the Chevron. The prediction is for sustained wind of 25 to 35 miles per hour, with gusts up to 50 mph. "If it blows like that, it will be a challenge," he said.

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Court system on Sharp Park's side... for now

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

A preliminary injunction sought by opponents of Sharp Park golf course in Pacifica, Calif., to stop pumping and mowing on half of the 1932 Alister Mackenzie layout -- measures that would have effectively shut it down -- has been denied by a California court.

In a 15-page ruling issued Tuesday in San Francisco, U.S. District Court judge Susan Illston wrote that the the plaintiffs had "failed to meet their burden of showing irreparable harm to the California Red-Legged Frog or the San Francisco Garter Snake" caused by the operation of the municipal course.

Photo by Bill Fields

A group of non-profit conservation groups has sued the City of San Francisco, arguing that the operation of the course has caused "taking" of the frog, a threatened species, and the snake, an endangered species. The city and advocates of Sharp Park, including the San Francisco Public Golf Alliance, argued that the course has been taking actions to protect the two species, including egg masses of the frog.

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For Woods, Chevron is much more than an exhibition

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Two years ago, the host was conspicuous by his absence at the Chevron World Challenge. Too much was happening too quickly for Tiger Woods in the wake of his Thanksgiving night car crash to make an appearance at Sherwood CC less than a week later.

Last year, going into Sunday with a four-stroke lead, it seemed Tiger would get his first victory since the incident of Nov. 27, 2009, and the subsequent revelations about his personal life. But sloppy work on the greens by Woods early and Graeme McDowell's hot putter late took care of that.

Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

This year, Woods comes into the Chevron with more reason for optimism than at any point in a winless streak that is now in its third year. Strong efforts at the Emirates Australian Open and the Presidents Cup suggest the longest run of futility in Tiger's pro career could end this week.

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Woods upbeat about his golf game and brand

Monday, November 21, 2011

Tiger Woods' successful swing through Australia provided evidence that the 14-time major champion is getting closer to finding the form that once dominated golf. In recent weeks, he's also showed he's regaining his stature off the course as well.

Fresh off clinching the winning point for the U.S. in the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne, Woods sat down with CNBC's Darren Rovell to talk golf and business in an interview from Hobe Sound, Fla. on Monday. Despite a lengthy trip back from Down Under, Woods seemed upbeat with the status of his game and his brand.

Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images

"Well, golf wise it's gotten better. I went through a period there where i was struggling for a little bit. I was hurt. Wasn't able to practice. Was finally able to turn it around here with Sean. Things are now starting to progress. I played well in Australia. Really looking forward to my tournament next week out there in L.A.," Woods said. "Businesswise, everything's been good. So excited to be part of Fuse and what they can do for me as an athlete."

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IMG's Teddy Forstmann succumbs to cancer

Monday, November 21, 2011

Teddy Forstmann, a billionaire financier and philantropist and owner of the monolithic agency IMG Worldwide, died of brain cancer on Sunday. He was 71.

Forstmann was diagnosed with brain cancer earlier this year and underwent surgery to remove a tumor in late April. Forstmann had been chairman and CEO of IMG since buying the company for $750 million in 2004.

Though IMG has global interests in sports, fashion and media, its roots are in golf; it was founded in 1960 by Mark McCormack on a handshake deal with Arnold Palmer. Until this year, Forstmann was a fixture in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, playing with his client and friend Vijay Singh.

Forstmann was a member of the National Golf Club of America, Shinnecock Hills Golf Club and Deepdale Golf Club in New York and Bel-Air Country Club and the Madison Club in California. He carried a handicap of 4.1, according to GHIN.com, though he had not posted a score in more than a year.

In 1978, Forstmann started Forstmann Little & Co., a leveraged buyout fund that enjoyed remarkable success during the ensuing two-plus decades. Besides his business acumen, he was known, too, for his philanthropy. In 1998, he and John T. Walton, son of Sam Walton, the founder of WalMart, started the Children's Scholarship Fund, which has awarded nearly $500 million in scholarships to low-income children, according to the obituary posted on IMG's website.

A memorial mass will be held at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City on Nov. 29.

-- John Strege

(Photo by Getty Images)

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Huggan: U.S., Royal Melbourne & Presidents Cup all winners

Monday, November 21, 2011

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Give them credit. A lot of it, too. The cosmopolitan International side certainly made the last day of the ninth Presidents Cup interesting at a bright and breezy Royal Melbourne. But only for a little while. The harsh truth is that this edition of the biennial contest was won and lost well before the closing series of 12 singles produced an eventual score of 19-15 in favor of the United States.

Down and under as early as day one, when they fell what proved to be irretrievably behind after halving two foursome matches they should have won, the four-nation Internationals battled to the end before giving up the fight. For the seventh time in its 17-year history, the trophy will be heading back to PGA Tour headquarters in Ponte Vedra.

As it turned out, the seemingly comfortable 13-9 edge with which the Americans started the final series was just too much to overcome. Needing an all-points rally, the same problem that had haunted the Internationals over all four days of the 34-game contest reared its head all over again: too many passengers; too few drivers.

Photo by Mark Dadswell/Getty Images

So it was that, even as the likes of K.T. (kinda terrific?) Kim, Charl Schwartzel, Ryo Ishikawa and Adam Scott quickly constructed what would be winning positions, the Internationals were left trying to hide too many "passengers."

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LPGA players face tricky greens, too

Saturday, November 19, 2011

ORLANDO - There has been a lot of talk about wicked greens this week, not only at vaunted Royal Melbourne, site of the Presidents Cup, but Grand Cypress, home of the CME Group Titleholders.

No one would put Grand Cypress' putting surfaces in the all-artful league that Royal Melbourne occupies, but they are slick and sloping. The women will get their shot at Royal Melbourne soon enough, when the 2012 LPGA season kicks off there with the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open.

Aussie Karrie Webb watched some of the Presidents Cup broadcast Wednesday night. "I'm already a little scared about our tournament there at the start of the year," Webb said. "I'm hoping we don't have green speeds of 14. [But] Melbourne has a whole summer of hot, dry heat just to make those greens even firmer than what they already are."

Grand Cypress' greens aren't quite so frightful, but they will figure prominently in Sunday's final round, which will begin with Sandra Gal and Hee Young Park at seven-under 209 holding a one-stroke lead over Suzann Pettersen with Paula Creamer two back and Yani Tseng and Na Yeon Choi trailing by three.

"This week, just no idea on a lot of these greens," Park said, noting her usual practice-round routine hadn't been of much value this week. "It's more about trusting my feel. If it feels left to right, just trust my feel."

The greens are one reason the world's best women have risen to the top of the leader board after 54 holes. "I think it does bring out the best players," said Pettersen. "When the greens are this tricky and the course this firm, you'll see the best ball-strikers getting close on some of the surfaces. If you take on some of the pins, you can be rewarded, but you can make some bogeys as well."

Creamer erred on the side of caution in shooting a one-under 71 Saturday in pursuit of her first victory of 2011. "You can't be super aggressive with some of these holes," she said. "You're just going to have to make some 20- and 25-footers because of pin placements. I saw some of the 'dots' for tomorrow, and there's a lot of sucker pins. You're just going to have to make some putts early on and not let the leaders get too far away from you."

"It's interesting. I like it," Pettersen said of the firmness of the greens, noting that even wedge approaches were releasing during the third round. "It's hard to get [approaches] close, and you can't be too picky or you're on the wrong side of the hole and you might have a five-footer that you can barely touch. You can hit a great shot and have a six-footer that breaks more than a foot. It brings the feel into it, which I like."

Pettersen has kept the challenge in perspective thanks to some night-time television of her own.

"Having watched the President Cup," she said, "I feel pretty good about these greens."

-- Bill Fields

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Breaking down the Sunday singles matches

Saturday, November 19, 2011

MELBOURNE, Australia -- A four-point deficit is not insurmountable in team competition. Why it happened just 12 short years ago when USA shocked Europe in the Ryder Cup at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass.

Of course, USA got insanely hot with the putters and the home crowd was delirious and patriotic fever ratcheted up the intensity and Europe crumbled like a stale rice cake. So it can be done.

Don't see that happening today here at Royal Melbourne GC, though. The U.S. squad holds a 13-9 advantage, leaving the Internationals the proverbial Camel-passing-through-a-needle's-eye chance of capturing its second Presidents Cup win.

Captain Greg Norman's little sharks need to swim off with 8 1/2 out of a possible 12 points in Sunday singles. It would be a magical day if it happens, but the Internationals have been playing tight all week and have given little indication that they are going to shed that disposition and start freewheeling it around a golf course not exactly set up for such shenanigans. Read more

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Club pro is medalist at Champions Tour Q School

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Those earning full exemptions on the Champions Tour (L-R): P.H. Horgan III, Jeff Hart, Jim Rutledge of Canada, Gary Hallberg and Jeff Freeman (Photo courtesy of Champions Tour)

If a golfer doesn't have a gaudy PGA Tour career, the Champions Tour is a tough goal. Five players survived the gauntlet Friday, earning full exemptions for 2012 in the national qualifying tournament at TPC Scottsdale's Champions course.

Jeff Freeman, a club professional at CC of Orlando, cruised to medalist honors, closing with a five-under 66 for a 20-under 264. Freeman won by four strokes over former Champions Tour winner Gary Hallberg and Canadian Jim Rutledge. Jeff Hart and P.H. Horgan III were the others earning fully-exempt status.

Seven golfers earned conditionally-exempt cards: Jim Carter, Sonny Skinner, Bobby Clampett, Mark Mouland, Robin Freeman (the medalist's older brother), James Mason and Dick Mast. The top 30 finishers and ties are eligible to compete in open qualifiers next season.

Freeman, who will be able to start competing after he turns 50 in April, picked up $30,000 for his victory. "Scary day, scary day today," Freeman said of the final round. "When you are in these types of situations, if you don't play well, then you don't have a tournament to play in. I was scared all day, nervous all day and anxious all day. I just tried to play one shot at a time and get through the darned thing."

-- Bill Fields

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The outcome of this Presidents Cup is a foregone conclusion

Saturday, November 19, 2011

MELBOURNE, Australia - Well, the opening ceremony was pretty competitive, in any case. The International Team dressed as well as the Americans. The spouses all looked sharp, and the national anthems were a halved match. Then it all went to hell in a handbasket for the home team.

There is about as much mystery left in the outcome of this Presidents Cup as there is in a Gilligan's Island episode. Even if the crew for the International Team almost gets rescued in Sunday's singles play, they will ultimately and inevitably remained marooned on an island of ineptitude.

Any chance the Internationals had was washed away in a rainy morning foursomes session the Americans won 4-1 to take a commanding 11-6 lead. The International side made a spirited comeback in the afternoon four-ball matches, but all it did was cut the margin to 13-9.

Captain Greg Norman simply had too many weak links to hide and not enough places to hide them. To get the 17.5 points needed to win the Presidents Cup, the home team will need to take 8.5 of the 12 points up for grabs in singles play. The fact no team has ever come from behind in singles to win the Presidents Cup makes it unlikely enough. The fact few are playing well for the losing side makes it nearly impossible.

The Internationals would have to match the biggest comeback in Ryder Cup history in order to win here. In 1999 at Brookline, the United States trailed Europe 10-6 before a stirring rally snatched away the Cup at 14.5 to 13.5. But that squad was much better than the team the Internationals have here.

Related: Photos from the Presidents Cup opening ceremony

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