Getting it Done

Whew, what a weekend at this week's PGA TOUR event, the HP Byron Nelson Championiship. So much went on this weekend- pros struggling, an amateur hogging the spotlight, a 5th playoff in 6 weeks for the TOUR, and an unheralded young gun taking the title. Oh and not to forget- Tony Romo married Candace Crawford (former Miss Missouri) on Saturday, and Manchester United was defeated by FC Barcelona by a score of 3-1 in the Champions league final as well. And, the French Open is entered its second week over these past few days, so yeah, lots of sports events have been occurring besides this wild finish.

For this tournament there was a lot of surviving going on rather than moving up the leaderboard. If you shot even par on Saturday or Sunday, chances are you shot up a few spots and made some more money. This was evident for Australian golfer Jason Day, who started of his tournament with a 2 round total of 3 over, but gutted out some good golf and finished in the top 5 at 1 under par. This tournament really gave many viewers a chance of how the U.S. Open will probably be- a tough mental and physical grind.

When Sunday began, quite a few notable names had a chance to take this tournament. This included talented Spaniard Sergio Garcia and fan favorite Jordan Spieth, who just graduated high school. Both struggled on this day however, with each shooting 77's and promptly knocking them out of contention. This opened the door for players such as Ryuji Imada, Ryan Palmer, and Keegan Bradley to have a chance to take the trophy home. In the end, it came down to Palmer and Bradley. Palmer made a clutch birdie on the extremely hard finishing hole, and forced a playoff. But in the playoff, when both players hit their tee shots both way right, it was Bradley who parred the whole and took home the win. It came a surprising win to many people, including myself, because prior to this, his best finish on either the Nationwide or PGA TOUR was a runner up finish. But obviously he was the one who outlasted the entire field on this day, and credit is given to him for hanging tough and getting it done.

HP Byron Nelson Championship

DJ

Happy Wednesday everyone, this week the PGA Tour visits TPC Four Seasons for the HP Byron Nelson Championship. My pick of the week is Dustin Johnson. Dustin is one of the faces for Taylormade Golf, with ads revealing his distance off the tee and fashion statement. Dustin has had a pretty good season with three top 10s and ranked within the top 30 in the FedEx Cup. Dustin is seeking  a win in 2011, expect to see a high finish maybe even a win. Dustin will play in the feature group consisting of K.J Choi, recent PLAYERS champ, and Sergio Garcia. With Dustin’s distance, it will allow him to overpower TPC Four Season, leading to added confidence to go low on this course. To add to the hype, Dustin has finished within the top 10 the last two years, seven out of eight rounds at this course, have been in the 60s. Hopefully with all this good history, I can over my fellow blogger’s pick, Jason Day, who is the defending champion. 

Note: So far the golfers I have used this year are-  Bubba Watson, Martin Kaymer, Tiger Woods, Matt Kuchar, Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott, Jason Day, Luke Donald, Rory Mcllroy, and Stewart Cink   

For those soccer fans out there, thought this was pretty humorous:

Pick of the week: HP Byron Nelson Championship

Awwwww yeeeeah. Got a VERY MUCH NEEDED point last week with my pick of Zach Johnson coming through on the weekend to outplay Bernardo's pick of Stewark Cink at the Crowne Plaza Invitational. However, I'm still down three full points, so I need to keep this momentum rolling. Last week the TOUR held its annual tournament in honor of golfing great Ben Hogan, and this week they are holding another tournament for a legend: the great Byron Nelson. This week at the HP Byron Nelson Championship many players will be vying for this illustrious title. This includes defending champion Jason Day, who has posted many solid finishes this season and seems be on the doorstep for that next TOUR win. He strikes the ball well and can putt very nicely. And on a course where it's ranked as one of the toughest in terms of driving accuracy, striking is very important. That is why I'm going to go with this young, talented Aussie. The Taylormade staffed pro has 5 top-10 finishes in 11 starts with his best being 2nd in that magical Masters Tournament earlier this year. He tees off at 8:44 am EST on Thursday, and sits 25th in the FedEx Cup standing, and at a course where familiarity can play a big advantage for you, I expect him to be contending by Sunday afternoon.

Already used- Phil Mickelson, Geoff Ogilvy, Rickie Fowler, Aaron Baddeley, Hunter Mahan, Ricky Barnes, Luke Donald, Justin Rose, Anthony Kim, Adam Scott, Jason Day

Interview of Day before tomorrow's action.



photo courtesy: img.timeinc.net

Salad Bowl Madness

Carlos, JJ ,Bernardo, Kyle

Last Saturday on May 21st, 2011, the Salinas Valley Junior Golf Association (SVJGA) hosted their 14th annual Jr./Adult golf tournament at the Salinas Golf and Country Club located in Salinas, CA. This event is a special two-player team event, in which where one Adult (18 years or older) and one SVJGA participating junior have the opportunity to play together in a variety of formats other than stroke play. Since Bernardo and I are both over 18, we gotta to play with former high school teammates of ours. I teamed up with Carlos Alvarez, a junior at Everett Alvarez High School, and Bernardo joined forces with Kyle Contreras, a soon-to-be graduating senior at EAHS as well. Although Kyle and Carlos are in different divisions in the Association, we still had our sights on beating each others respective teams. And although we weren't in the same group for this tournament, we all still had a lot of fun. The format this year is best ball. (The rules are as follows: everyone in the group plays their seperate golf ball, and records their own score. Then at the end of a hole, the team will select the lowest score from that hole and count it as their score for that hole. Example: If I make a six on a hole, and Carlos makes a four on the same said hole, then we will choose Carlos' score over mine and write down a four for that hole. This generally leads to chances for low scores, as long as both partners don't mess up on the same hole.) The competition between our two teams got serious enough that Carlos and I donned grey pants with black shirts as Kyle and Bernardo wore white pants with black shirts. In the end, Carlos and I managed to put together a score of 72, or even par at the country club, to win by one stroke over Bernardo and Kyle, who managed to shoot a one over par 73.

This tournament was a shotgun start, meaning that every group started on a different hole, since there were a bunch of teams and everyone wanted to finish in a relatively quick fashion. Carlos and I were paired with the group of Carter and Mike Silva, and we started off on the 18th hole. This meant that we would be finishing on the 17th hole, which is definitely the hardest hole on the golf course. We started off pretty well, with Carlos making a nice 7 footer for par on our first hole after I was in trouble off the tee. Then I had a chance to birdie #1 but my 5 foot putt didn't break as much as I thought. Then, things got rolling. Carlos nailed about a 20 footer off the green on the par 3 second hole for birdie, then I hit a 7-iron close on 5 to tap in another birdie and get us to -2 through 6 holes of play. We kind of stumbled with a bogey on #7, our 8th hole of the day, but we quickly rebounded when I got up and down for birdie on #10 to get us back to 2 under par. From then on, however, it was a slight struggle. We gave that birdie back at 12, and then surrendered another bogey on 15 to get us to even par for the tournament. Luckily, Carlos parred 16 for us so we could set our sights to try and manage at least par on 17, our last hole of the day. At that point, we had talked to Bernardo and Kyle a few holes back and knew they were fluttering around even par as well. So we guessed a par on this tough hole could possibly win the duel between us. This hole didn't come easy however. I pulled my drive so far left it ended in the middle of the 18th fairway, and Carlos' tee shot left him with a tree to contest with. Carlos got it near the green, but par wasn't guaranteed, so I had to hit one as good as he just did. Luckily I did just that, hitting one of my best shots of the day- onto the green about 15 feet away for a birdie putt!! Unfortunately I missed it on the low side, and had to make a testy 3 footer for the par and the score of 72. Fortunately, it was good enough to outlast 9 other teams in Carlos' division, narrowly defeat Bernardo's team, and take home the first prize.

Bernardo's recap:

My teammate Kyle and I, started off the 3th hole, since it was a shotgun start, allowing our finishing hole to be the 2nd hole. We were paired up with Josh Perham and his father, just like me and kyle, they both were matching, with pink tops and gray bottoms, expressing their taste for a bit of fashion. On our first hole, I hammered a 3 wood down the middle about 50 yards away from the hole, #3 is a short par 4, allowing me to set up a easy par for the team. After a shaky start for kyle, he pulled through on our second hole, hitting the fairway and knocking a short iron to a mid-range putt, setting up a easy two putt par. On #6, Kyle missed the fairway, but was able to hit a great shot into the green, setting up a short putt for birdie. We continue at 1-under par till we reached #7, were we both hit bad tee shots, making it difficult to hit the green in regulation on this short par 4, kyle would fashion a bogey, placing us at even par. Standing on the 10th tee, easiest par 5 on the course, we knew that we needed to get a birdie or better. We both hit the fairway, allowing us to go for the green in two, both second shots landed left of the green, I was able to hit a great pitch to about 3 feet and sink the birdie putt. Kyle would chip-in on the next hole #11 for birdie, our team score was 1-under par. As our birdie bogey cycle continued, terrible second shots would force another bogey on #12. Cruising through the back nine, birding number 14th, now one under. We felt a bit of pressure since we knew we needed to be around 3-under par to win, with the added pressure we missed the green on the easy par 3 #16, resulting in difficult chips and a bogey. Heading into #17, the hardest hole on the course as mentioned by my fellow blogger, we lost a bit of excitement since we knew that it would take 3 birdies on the last four holes to win. I hit a good drive down the middle on #17 setting up a short iron into the green, Kyle missed the fairway making it difficult to hit the green in two, my second shot would land left of the green forcing a chip over the bunker, resulting in a bogey. After the bogey on #17 we knew it was over, we would par the last 3 holes, to finish at one over par. Overall the day was not great, kyle and I both hit some great shots but not enough to win our division or the other friendly match.

Kyle on #9

Overall, this tournament was such a good experience for Bernardo and I; as we don't play as much tournaments as we used to and it got our adrenaline pumping. Excitement was evident in all of us as some friendly banter was talked to one another in the week leading up to this event. Although current EAHS MVP Carlos and I managed to hang on for the narrow win between our dear friends, this does not mean our competitions will end here. In fact, we are in the planning stages for setting up another two-on-two showdown, this time with it most likely being the college kids/bloggers (Bernardo and I) vs. the high school duo (Kyle and Carlos). Stay tuned for that duel and more updates from our blog!!

Old School Becomes New School

Another week, another winner, this week’s champion is David Toms.This week the PGA Tour was at Colonial Country Club for the Crowne Plaza. David Toms certainly displayed a show of extraordinary golf shots, from dozens of fairways hit to wedge shots landing inches to the hole. After coming off a good week at the PLAYERS, David Toms  had substantial momentum to deliver some great golf. After back-to-back 62s, Toms obtained a demanding lead over the field, resulting in added pressure for those falling behind. Sunday would be a battle of the old gun, Charlie Wi, versus the older gun, David Toms, which provide for some good television. Wi had to birdie the 72nd hole of the golf tournament to force a playoff, falling shot, Toms would win with a one stroke lead at 15-under par. Wi added to the hype of the mid age golfers comeback, firing multiple rounds in the 60s.The defending champion Zach  Johnson quietly ascended to the top of the leader with a final round 65, Johnson was  my fellow blogger’s pick of the week, allowing him to receive a much needed point. Great play from Chez Reavie finishing at 8-under par with a charming 62 on Monday, two rounds in the 70s hindered him from contending on Sunday, but overall great play from  Reavie. Overall this was a great event with many big names in the field, hats off to David Toms. 

Final Round Recap:

Pick of the Week: Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial

This week the PGA Tour visits Colonial Country Club for the Crowne Plaza Invitational, past champions on this course are Sergio Garcia, Kenny Perry, Zach Johnson, even legends like Tom Watson. For this event my pick is Stewart Cink, with great finishes in the past two events, building up momentum coming into this week. Last year at Colonial, he fired over 3 rounds in the 60s, good enough for a top 25. This guy has game, this might be the week to reveal whats cooking in the bag. Hopefully Cink can pull through for me, allowing me to gain a larger lead. The gap between the points is getting pretty large, me and jj might have to use some of our engineering techniques, to make use of such great space. Some notable players to watch this week are: Sergio Garcia, Hunter Mahan, and David Toms. Garcia was able to achieve a T12 with a impressive final round 65, another example of momentum coming into this week. David Toms, veteran player, was firing on all pistols last week at TPC Sawgrass, but was not able to seal the deal Sunday afternoon, but expect a great finish. Hunter Mahan doesn’t have a great record here, but I believe he will pull through this week, finishing in the top 25. 

Pick of the Week: Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial

Whelp, at this rate guys, this competition between Bernardo and me will blow up faster than the 2010 season of the Dallas Cowboys (yes, I just went there). I need to rack up some points, FAST. Just like guys are gonna need to rack up birdies at this week's PGA Tour stop, the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. This is one of the oldest stops on tour, and always brings a lot of fun to it. Legendary golfer Ben Hogan is linked to this course, as the nickname "Hogan's Alley" is often tossed around here. This week, I'm going with American golfer Zach Johnson. Not only did he finish THE PLAYERS with an impressive 66 in his final round, but he also is the defending champion here, so he knows this course well. The dude can flat out putt and chip, and if you can do that, you'll be a factor a lot during the golf season. I've liked Zach ever since he won The Masters; he gives us kids who start to play golf late some hope to become a pro. Hopefully he can grab me a much needed point this week over Bernardo's pick, as my pick of Adam Scott failed me miserably and his choice of Sergio Garcia closed very strong for a 12th place finish.

Already used- Phil Mickelson, Geoff Ogilvy, Rickie Fowler, Aaron Baddeley, Hunter Mahan, Ricky Barnes, Luke Donald, Justin Rose, Anthony Kim, Adam Scott

Zach speaking with the media before this week's tournament:

Fallen Stars

This sport called "golf" is known by many as "deceptively simple, yet endlessly complicated". The two men pictured above, Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia, have been known for making it look just like the first part of that quote. But as of right now, both are living on the end of the last part of that saying. Both of these golf superstars had a lost 2010 season that will both force them to play excellent golf to achieve their once elite forms.

Just 2 years ago, they were the top 2 players in the world, with Tiger ranked 1 and Sergio right behind him ranked 2nd, respectively. Now where are they? Well, by the end of this week Tiger is going to fall out of the top 10 for the first time since April 6, 1997 when he was ranked No. 13 heading into The Masters (according to ESPN). Sergio isn't doing any better. Garcia has fallen to a woeful 73rd in the world, and is in danger of missing a major championship for the first time since 1999. However, he is playing in this week's PGA Tour event, so he still has a chance to improve on his ranking.

Both had extremely subpar 2010 seasons. Let's start with Mr. Woods. Post-scandal Tiger has not been anywhere near the same since that fateful incident. He's not only gone through a divorce, but he's suffered multiple injuries and a massive swing change. All of this culminated in a 0-win year in 2010 with scarce top-tens. This season hasn't been much better, with only 2 top-10s and a shocking first-day bounce at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Champoinship. Also, last weeks WD at THE PLAYERS Championship doesn't help his cause, and keeps the critics alive and well. And with his ranking plummeting week after week, it will be interesting to see how this season is remembered for Tiger, as the months go by without a win and the questions of him being able to get back to form continue to rise.

Little video about Tiger, courtesy of ESPN:


Now, onto Mr. Garcia. The Spaniard had a horrendous 2010 season, with only one top ten, which came in his first start of that season. In fact, his game got away from him so bad that he decided to give himself a 2 month break after the PGA Championship to get his head back on straight. And although he has a relatively OK start to this season (3 top 15 finishes), the break dropped his world ranking to the low 80s, with it being currently No. 73. But, he is still danger of missing the U.S. Open at Congressional in June, with him needing to either crack the top 50 in the OWGR or reach the top 10 in the PGA Tour money list with 2 more weeks to go. If he doesn't, his consecutive streak of 49 majors played will come to an end, and that's something that he's not trying to think about. All he's been trying to do is go out everyday and play as well as he can, and let the chips fall where they may

Video about Sergio, again courtesy of ESPN:


Overall, both golfers have fallen off immensely with their golf skills, and are desperately trying to regain it back. Like I said before, it was only in 2009 when these two superstars were on the top of the golf world at 1 and 2, just as many golf analysts predicted many years back when they were young phenoms. They still both have the talent to reach great heights again, but only time will tell to see if these golfers can regain what they've lost. And if they do play well again, the golf world will happily greet them back, as this game is always more interesting when you see "Woods" or "Garcia" on the first page of the leaderboard.

photo courtesy: www.theage.com

Dazed and Confused

Another tournament, another question, another controversy. This has been the ongoing timeline of what the current state that Tiger Woods has with his golf game. As you may have heard, after shooting a front-nine 42 earlier on Thursday last week, Tiger decided to withdraw from THE PLAYERS, citing his achilles and leg injuries as the reason. Many noted that he was also clearly limping throughout the day, so he chose to not make a bad situation any worse. As a Tiger fan, this only makes me feel worse for the guy. Karma obviously isn't done with him yet, as he continues to have this run of bad luck with the injuries and sub-par play. This can only raise more questions of "Is Tiger Done?" and "When will he return?" and most importantly: "When will he, if ever, win again?". Although these questions have been continually been asked ever since post-Thanksgiving of 2009, this WD at THE PLAYERS will only bring more of questions like these at possibly an alarming rate. It's defintely just going to get worse.

Even though many haters continue to relish the "cheetah's" demise, a majority of the golf contingent are rooting for him now. The math is simple; Tiger+Tiger Win+Big Tournament= $$$. The PGA Tour and the television networks need the guy. Their ratings go up, and their finances increase. The fans also become happier because the man is such a polarizing figure it creates a lot of buzz whenever he can do something like that. This recent setback can only hurt the TOUR even more.

I think the thing we all have to do now is just stay patient for the man. He needs to get healthy and not rush this injury, or we will be back to square one quickly. If we give Mr. Woods patience, space, and time to get his life, golf game, and health back together, I think he can return back to his winning ways. If he can do that, the PGA Tour will soar, because not only will he be back to normal, but since we have a huge amount of players playing great golf right now, we can see how they all stack up with one another. But for now, we just can only hope and believe as golf fans. The greatest golfer of our generation, at one point heralded as our Superman, has at some point been stuck with Kryptonite for about a year and a half now. Faith is needed for our fallen star to get back to normal, and its needed now more than ever. There's no doubt that he still has the potential to bring his game back to form for good. But until then, get well soon, Tiger Woods. I'll be rooting for you like never before.

Perfect Choi-ce

Whew, what a tournament that was. This years THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP had almost everything you could ask for in a big time golf tournament: the drama (sudden death playoff), the surprises (Tiger's WD, massive rainstorm), the great golf, and one of the ultimate golf courses on the PGA Tour. In the midst of all this, soon to be 41 year-old South Korean K.J. Choi, (aka The Tank) took home THE PLAYERS in a playoff over fellow forty-something David Toms in a playoff. Choi took the 1.7 million dollar first place prize at a score of -13, and recording a par on the playoff hole while Toms recorded a bogey. To get to this playoff, clutch golf was necessary. Choi birdied 17 in regulation to take a one shot lead going into 18. David hit a superb drive on 18, only to catch a bad break and have it roll into a divot. It didn't phase the 2001 PGA Champion, however, because he hit an excellent shot onto this massively difficult hole and rolled in a big time birdie to get both players into overtime. For Sawgrass, the first playoff hole is the treacherous 17th hole, where heartbreak or joy can occur (See Paul Goydos and Sergio Garcia in 2008). In this playoff, both hit it safely on the green and got their lag putts within 4 feet. That's where the drama escalated- Toms saw his short putt burn the edge to score a bogey, while Choi rolled his putt in for the victory. With this win, he jumps to 15th in the world and tallies his 8th overall PGA Tour victory. Next, he'll be looking for that elusive major victory.

Highlights of this very exciting final round duel here:



(photo courtesy of nyydailynews.com)

Pick of the Week: The PLAYERS

Sergio Garcia 

This week the PGA Tour visits TPC Sawgrass for THE PLAYERS Championship. My pick of the week is Sergio Garcia, respected player from Spain. Garcia is struggling to qualify for the upcoming U.S. Open in a few weeks. After four consistent starts without missing the cut, revealing that the  spaniard is slowly regaining confidence to perform.  Garcia has been my favorite golfer since I started playing golf, expressing my faith in his performance. Some notable players to watch: Luke Donald, Adam Scott, and Tiger Woods. Donald has been play very well since his victory at the WGC match play. He enters the week with a great amount of confidence and pressure to play well. Adam Scott, past champion at TPC Sawgrass, has had a few good starts this year including the Masters. With his past success here in 2004, expect a decent finish this week. Woods is hungry for a much needed win, if he can hit the ball well and most importantly make putts, he surely be in the winners’ circle on Sunday. 

Note: So far the golfers I have used this year are-  Bubba Watson, Martin Kaymer, Tiger Woods, Matt Kuchar, Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott, Jason Day, Luke Donald, and  Rory Mcllroy.     

Pick of the Week: THE PLAYERS Championship

Here we are ladies and gentlemen- THE PLAYERS Championship, aka the 5th major!! The tournament with the biggest purse, the deepest field, and the course that nobody owns. Famed TPC Sawgrass in Florida favors no particular golfer, as nobody here has collected more than 2 wins on this course (and the list of two-time winners is small as well). The one thing that can be said about Sawgrass is this: you better be in excellent form the whole week with your golf game, and you better be mentally tough, or you will get eaten alive. Not having those components usually spells disaster. Generally, another rule of thumb around Sawgrass is you must be accurate and be able to putt on Sunday. Watch out for these things as the tournament rolls on. Also, watch out for a few notable story lines this week, such as how Tiger does and how his injury impacts him (or not), if Luke Donald can back up a great season with a great win, if Martin Kaymer can show people he is World No. 2 worthy, and if Sergio Garcia can continue to find his form to continue his streak of majors played at next month's U.S. Open. Now, off to my choice for this week. I'm going to go with Aussie Adam Scott. The 2004 Champion obviously knows what it takes to win here, capturing that aforementioned win with a clutch putt on the 18th hole en route to his victory. He's been in good form this year too, posting a runner-up finish at the Masters with a sprinkle of other top-10's as well as he continues to roll with the long putter. Adam has arguably the best swing in golf, so once he figured out how to putt well again, his form has returned. I expect good things out of the still young 30 year-old, and a good finish to this tournament to boot.

P.O.W. Re-Cap: Last week things got a bit confusing in our Pick of the Week standings. Bernardo's pick Rory McIlroy missed the halfways cut, while my pick Anthony Kim just made it in. Yet, with the new two-cut policy the TOUR can apply to tournaments nowadays, Kim was cut after the third round. After talking to Bernardo I decided that this should be a tie, since neither of our playing techiniallly finished the required 72 holes last week to post a number. So it sits at Bernardo-6, JJ-3.

Already used- Phil Mickelson, Geoff Ogilvy, Rickie Fowler, Aaron Baddeley, Hunter Mahan, Ricky Barnes, Luke Donald, Justin Rose, Anthony Kim.

Adam before the tournament action this week:

photo source: telegraph.co.uk

Luck of the Beard

This week the PGA Tour visits Quail Hollow for the Wells Fargo Championship. To start off lets give a moment of silence for Seve Ballesteros, spaniard who won five major championships, who recently passed away at the young age of 54. As noted on PGA Tour website: “To remember the one thing we should never forget -- how, even on the worst of days or over the worst of lies, he never gave up -- on the course or in life”. He was a role  model for many golfers around the world, not only for his game but his character. 

With a leader board consisting mostly of American golfers, revealing the need for the U.S to obtain control of the top spots in the world currently held by Europe. Also many golfers struggling to qualify for the U.S. Open this week, notably Sergio Garcia. It came down to two players: Lucas Glover and Jonathan Byrd. Both tied at 15-under  went into sudden death playoff, Lucas Glover would come out victorious. Glover was in need of a win since his last win at the U.S Open nearly 2 years ago. Some notable players are : Trevor Immelman, Rickie Fowler, and Phil Mickelson. It has been awhile since the past Masters champ Immelman, played well in the U.S. With a 7-under finish at a course which demands every part of your game, he seems to be back on track. Fowler with multiple rounds under par, the young america is hungry for a win on tour. Mickelson has played well on this course, many believed this was his week to shine, but a 3rd round 74 hindered him from catching up to Jonathan Byrd and Lucas Glover. 

Seve Ballesteros 1957-2011

Pick of the Week: Wells Fargo Championship

This week the PGA Tour visits Quail Hollow for the Wells Fargo Championship. My pick of the week is Rory Mcllroy. Mcllroy, a European tour player, is ready for a win after a disappointing final round at The Masters, one of golf’s biggest tournament. Mcllroy, defending champion at Quail Hollow, has had a slow start in the U.S. Similar to Sergio Garcia, respected professional golfer from Spain. Hopefully my pick can overcome my fellow blogger’s pick, Anthony Kim, to secure a solid lead, currently up by three points. Mcllroy’s success, a final round 62, plays for a exciting battle over the two young stars. Some notable players to watch are:  Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, and Webb Simpson. Phil  Mickelson is consistently a contender in this event, finishing 2nd last year. With such success, its certain a win is somewhere around the corner. Bubba Watson coming off a victory over Webb Simpson, is becoming a respected player with his consistent starts. Though Webb Simpson hasn’t made a cut here, he certainly is hungry for a win after losing in a playoff last week. Hopefully this week Sergio Garcia has a good start cause this guy needs one, badly. 

Interview with Rory Mcllroy: 

Note: So far the golfers I have used this year are-  Bubba Watson, Martin Kaymer, Tiger Woods, Matt Kuchar, Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott, Jason Day, Luke Donald, and  Rory Mcllroy.     

Pick of the Week: Wells Fargo Championship

Alright y'all. No more time to fool around. I'm a deep hole against Bernardo, and I need to make up ground FAST or this Pick of this Week competition is going to get out of control. This week the big boys are teeing it up at famed Quail Hollow, which is the site of this years Wells Fargo Championship. The Charlotte, NC golf course usually tends to attract some of the bigger names for this event. Names like defending champ Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose, Sergio Garcia and Bubba Watson are all in this feeling looking to get a piece of the roughly 6.5 million dollar purse. Former world #1 Tiger Woods originally had planned to compete here as he usually does, but is missing out due to injury. With all that said, I'm going with a guy who still might be under the radar this year: Anthony Kim. This young American is still only 25, and although some may still consider this year a "struggle" for him, he has huge success at this 7,500 yard, par 72 track. He's 4 for 4 on cuts made here, and has set the tournament record here in terms of lowest number of total strokes, and has the lowest score relative to par here as well, with both coming in his 2009 victory. Even though the dude parties a little more than most of us would say is good enough, he is so talented that when he is playing well, he will shoot at pins that nobody else will and will play with literally no fear on every shot. I expect Kim to use his talent and comfortability on this course to snatch a nice win to truly shrug off the doubters, and for him to grab much a MUCH NEEDED point this week.

Already used: Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, Geoff Ogilvy, Aaron Baddeley, Hunter Mahan, Ricky Barnes, Luke Donald.

Preview for this week, courtesy of PGATOUR.com :

Party In 'NOLA

This week on the PGA Tour the players stopped in the Big Easy to compete in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. The fans were in for quite a tourney this week, with Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson duking it out on the 18th hole a few times before Bubba ground out a win. They entered the playoff both at 15 under par. Webb could have won the entire thing outright, but an honest mistake penalty of him touching his ball down the stretch on a tap in par putt cost him a shot and had him head in the clubhouse parring out. Bubba too had a chance to win the tournament, but he left his birdie bid on the 72nd hold just inches short, and off to the playoff went. The playoff saw some pretty good golf action, with Bubba birdieing 2 out of the 3 times they played it, with the final birdie to beat Simpson. Bubba now leads the Fed Ex Cup with his 3rd win in 10 months, while the young Webb still searches on for that elusive first PGA Victory.

WORLD NEWS: President Obama has declared that the US troops have shot, killed, and obtained the body of terrorist Osama Bin Laden earlier today. This is a monumental moment in American history and a proud moment for many people around the world!!

Highlights of the final round here: