Golf Digest Search Results

Despite several key absences, Senior PGA Championship still stands out

Wed, 22 May 2013 17:58:00 GMT

TOWN AND COUNTRY, Mo. -- The Senior PGA Championship will always stand out in 50-and-over golf because it is by far the oldest of the senior majors, having begun in 1937 at Augusta National GC.

This year, though, for the 74th renewal, a portion of the older set has chosen to compete about 700 miles from Bellerive CC, in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial in Fort Worth, where they are past champions. Tom Lehman -- who has won the Champions Tour's Charles Schwab Cup the past two seasons -- David Frost, Corey Pavin and Keith Clearwater are teeing it up at Colonial CC in the PGA Tour stop this week.

Hale Irwin is a sentimental choice to win this week. (Photo: Getty Images)

Combined with the absences of Fred Couples, who withdrew Monday citing his back, and John Cook, who will speak at mentor Ken Venturi's Thursday service, four of the top 15 players on the 2013 Champions Tour money list won't be playing outside St. Louis. Another missing player is Nick Price, victorious in the 1992 PGA Championship at Bellerive, who is still on the mend from arm surgery.

Those golfers who are at Bellerive will encounter a course with which they are familiar -- although one that was adjusted by architect Rees Jones following the 2004 U.S. Senior Open won by Peter Jacobsen. It is a formidable, par-71 design whose first turn in the national spotlight was when it hosted the 1965 U.S. Open won by Gary Player.

An 11-year-old St. Louis boy, Jay Haas, was a spectator that summer out with his uncle, Bob Goalby, a prominent tour pro. As Haas recalled Wednesday in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "I kind of remember being here and being near the 18th green when Jack Nicklaus walked off. There was a lot of people around him, and I remember my Uncle Bob saying, 'Get that guy's autograph. He's going to be a star.' "

Haas got Nicklaus' signature and, if not Nicklausian, eventually fashioned an endurable and solid decades-long career of his own, which is still going well at age 59. If that would seem too old to win the Senior PGA, consider that in 2011 Tom Watson, 61, became the oldest winner of the championship since the advent of the Champions Tour. Hale Irwin was just shy of his 59th birthday when he won in 2004, and John Jacobs was also 58 when he won in 2003.

Irwin, who will turn 68 on June 3 and lived in St. Louis for many years, would be the ultimate, sentimental, golden oldie longshot this week. But consider that he is coming off two years in which he finished fourth and third in the event of which he is a four-time champion. And Irwin was second to Jacobsen in the 2004 U.S. Senior Open, just ahead of Haas and Tom Kite.

A more logical pick would be Bernhard Langer, the only multiple winner on the Champions Tour this season with two titles, and 18 in his career. Kenny Perry, a past Colonial winner who chose to play with his age group this week, will be another golfer to watch. Perry, 52, only has one career senior win, but has great memories from the final round of the 2012 Senior PGA, when he closed with a record 10-under 62 at the GC at Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Mich.

Regardless of who prevails at the end of 72 holes, they will join a who's who of former champions, including Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Julius Boros, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino and Raymond Floyd. Even without getting presented the huge Alfred S. Bourne Trophy, all of 36 pounds, a winner knows he has achieved a weighty accomplishment.

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Al Geiberger's "59" clubs, Wanamaker trophy, net $130,000 at auction

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 13:28:00 GMT

By John Strege

Former PGA Tour and Champions Tour player Al Geiberger has a tax issue, but he said that's not the reason he auctioned off much of his memorabilia, including the clubs with which he recorded the first 59 in PGA Tour history.

Geiberger, 75, said that his Champions Tour pension, an annuity on which he began collecting at age 65, expired at age 75 and that his PGA Tour pension pays "a whopping $128 a month."

Bidding, conducted through Green Jacket Auctions, closed on the Geiberger Collection on Saturday night, earning him nearly $130,000, including $54,754 for the Wanamaker Trophy he received for winning the PGA Championship in 1966 and $10,832 for the clubs from his round of 59.

Geiberger's name, meanwhile, had turned up on a California Franchise Tax Board list of the top 500 delinquent taxpayers, noting that he owed $219,060.

"No, not that's not the reason," he said about selling his collection. "We've been handling that with Bernie Gartland [of the Gartland Group, tax attorneys]. We settled with the IRS, but the state is ridiculous to work with. Bernie's been working with them."

He sold the memorabilia to generate cash to augment his retirement income. "I didn't make any retirement on the regular tour," he said. "The senior tour is where I built up some, but the annuity ends in 10 years."

The memorabilia, at any rate, had been locked away in a storage facility near his home in Palm Desert, Calif. "We've actually been in touch with Al for the last couple of years," Ryan Carey, president of Green Jacket Auctions, said. "We'd known he has been interested in selling his collection. It's been sitting in a storage locker for several years. He knew he wasn't really appreciating it."

The original World Golf Hall of Fame, then in Pinehurst, N.C., wanted the clubs he used in shooting 59 in the second round of the Danny Thomas Memphis Classic in 1977. "But I was still playing with them," he said. Instead, he sent the ball, a Hogan model that he used for all 18 holes, which has turned up missing, he said.

His auction take, incidentally ($129,983, to be exact), was more than he earned in all but two seasons in his PGA Tour career. In 1975 and '76, he earned $176,000 and $195,000 respectively.

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The Week In Style: 04.23.13

Marty Hackel — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Mr. Style's weekly look at what people are wearing on and off the golf course.

In interview, McIlroy admits Honda WD was a mistake

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 00:19:00 GMT

By Sam Weinman

Rory McIlroy's 2013 might be marked by missteps thus far, but at least the world No. 1 is willing to recognize when he's wrong.

In an interview with Golf.com, McIlroy acknowledged his abrupt withdrawal from the Honda Classic last Friday was a mistake, even if he was in pain from a wisdom tooth.

Related: Rory's withdrawal picked apart by fans

"It was a reactive decision," McIlroy told Golf.com's Michael Bamberger. "What I should have done is take my drop, chip it on, try to make a five and play my hardest on the back nine, even if I shot 85. What I did was not good for the tournament, not good for the kids and the fans who were out there watching me -- it was not the right thing to do."

McIlroy, who has played only five competitive rounds this season and has yet to make a cut, pulled out of the Honda while he was seven-over par through eight holes. While he said the tooth was part of the reason, he also admitted to Bamberger his swing has been problematic.

"I feel comfortable with all the equipment," he said of his change to Nike clubs. "The problem is, I'm bringing the club too upright on the backswing then dropping it in too much on the downswing."

All have contributed to a trying start to the season for the two-time major champion. Tellingly, McIlroy said there's at least one area in which he could learn from his new friend Tiger Woods.

"He might be the best athlete ever, in terms of his ability to grind it out," McIlroy said. "I could have a bit more of that, if I'm honest."

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Podcast: Paul Azinger on Riviera's 10th and Obama/Tiger's round

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 16:01:00 GMT

Listen to the podcast

By Ryan Herrington

With the drivable par-4 10th at Riviera CC again proving pivotal in the outcome of the Northern Trust Open, Paul Azinger recalls his approach to playing the risk/reward hole--and some of the trouble it caused him--in the latest edition of Zinger's Corner. Paul and Golf World editor Jaime Diaz also discuss the benefit of having a someone in the Oval Office who plays golf after President Obama's round yesterday with Tiger Woods at The Floridian (Exclusive: Details of Obama's round with Tiger) as well as Bernhard Langer's continued excellence on the Champions Tour and just what keeps him going.

Download and subscribe to the Zinger's Corner series in iTunes

Drive, He Said

Brett Avery — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Champions Tour rookie and Internet startup CEO Steve Elkington is a businessman on the move -- and a man with social-media game.

Podcast: Paul Azinger on Snedeker's win at AT&T

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 14:28:00 GMT

Listen to the podcast: Zinger's Corner

During his win this weekend at Pebble Beach, Brandt Snedeker showed not just prowess on the greens but improved ball-striking skills. In this week's Zinger's Corner, Paul theorizes that Snedeker may be one of a handful of players set to dominate the PGA Tour in 2013.

"I just believe that this may be one of those years where... these guys that know how to win [will] have a stranglehold on the tour," Azinger says. "Five or 10 guys may hog all the wins." Also mentioned: Rocco Mediate's debut win on the Champions Tour and amateur Lydia Ko's youthful march to victory in another pro start.

Download and subscribe to the Zinger's Corner series in iTunes

Photo by Getty Images

Rocco Mediate Is A 'Perfect Fit' For The Champions Tour

Tim Rosaforte — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Why Rocco the lovable mess is exactly what the senior circuit needs.

Champions Tour rookie Rocco looks to end his first event in victory

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 02:08:00 GMT

By Bill Fields

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Rocco Mediate believes the Champions Tour ought to use a simple marketing slogan: These Guys Are Still Good.

Mediate, making his senior debut this week at the Allianz Championship, one of the game's best talkers, is walking the walk. He shot an 11-under 61 at the Old Course at Broken Sound Saturday to take a three-shot lead over Tom Pernice Jr. into the final round. A 10-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th hole provided the finishing touch, putting Mediate at 16-under 128 after 36 holes.

Related: Rocco Mediate at 50

Pernice backed up his opening 66 with a 65 to keep himself within striking distance as Mediate, who turned 50 last December, attempts to become the 16th golfer to win his first event on the Champions Tour. Interestingly, Pernice was the most recent player to pull off the feat, at the 2009 SAS Championship.

Bernard Langer is in third place at 11 under, followed by David Frost at nine under.

Many eyes will be on Mediate Sunday. For his part, he is looking forward to being in contention again and trying to prove himself under pressure.

"You get to see what you have," said Mediate.

He certainly had plenty on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

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The Most Memorable Shots Of 2012

Alex Myers — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 05:00:00 GMT

A look back at the golf season's brilliant (and not so brilliant) moments.