HTWD Music Spotlight: "No Interruption" by Hoodie Allen

As you may know, this blog is dedicated to golfing along with a few other sports talked about here and there. But for this piece, we decided to write about one of our favorite rappers, Hoodie Allen. Hoodie is a rapper from NY and his fan base is only getting bigger by the minute. Earlier today, he released his newest song and music video, called "No Interruption" to promote his upcoming EP.

My first thought on when I heard this song was "Is Hoodie's style gonna change?". Thankfully, that wasn't the case. Hoodie still sticks to his brilliant word play and his awesome flow. He even throws a super memorable and catchy chorus for us fans to remember while raging at one of his future concerts. Along with his buddy and producer RJF, they create a non-sampled hit that'll be sure to generate hype for a good while. The music vid is just as cool as the song. It's got a movie-type of feel with some Otis influences (car scenes) with an amazing vibe to it. Job well done, Hoodie!

Check the video out!

His upcoming EP, titled "All American", comes out April 10th with a national tour coming soon after the release. For dates, go to his personal website www.hoodieallen.com and see if he's a city near you! For now, go ahead and buy the single off iTunes and enjoy the new Hoodie music.

Follow Hoodie on Twitter, @HoodieAllen
"Like" his Facebook Page, www.facebook.com/hoodieallen

HTWD Picks of the Week: Shell Houston Open

    VS





JJ: For this final Master's tune-up, I'm going with Johnson Wagner. Mr. Moustache already has a win under his belt this year, and was actually the PGA Tour player of the month in January. He hasn't been as hot of late, but he's obviously a proven winner. If he can win here in a "mimic" Augusta National course, then he clearly would be regarded as a better player than given credit for. His game is really steady, and I think he can post a good finish here this week.

Bernardo: This week I’m going with the defending champion, Phil Mickelson. Phil is playing well this year, winning at Pebble Beach and T2 finish at the Northern Trust Open. When Phil is rolling the ball well on the greens and hitting fairways, he is nearly unbeatable. The same could be said about other players, but its different when speaking about Phil. If the flat stick is pure, odds are Phil might defend. Plus I could use a point after last week.

Recap: In a brutal final day at the API, Bubba Watson (JJ's pick) outlasted Webb Simpson to allow JJ to earn another point.

Already used: 

JJ: Jonathan Byrd, Keegan Bradley, Bryce Molder, Ryan Moore, Brandt Snedeker, Phil Mickelson, K.J. Choi, Martin Kaymer, Lee Westwood, Charl Schwartzel, Nick Watney, Bubba Watson

Bernardo: Martin Laird, K.J. Choi, Bill Haas, Ben Crane, Matt Kuchar, Dustin Johnson, Aaron Baddeley, Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Brandt Snedeker, Webb Simpson

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Images via pga.com and Callaway Golf

Arnold Palmer Invitational: Tiger is Back

Tiger Woods; Getty Images 

The Tiger drought has come to an end. We continuously predicted and guesstimated when Tiger would return to the winners circle. He came close at the Honda Classic, where he surged up the leader board with a final round 62, but wasn’t enough to take down Rory Mcllroy. Then we were faced with some bad news after he withdrew from the WGC-Cadillac Championship, due to pain in his left achilles. But Tiger wasted no time and surprised the non-believers with a win at Arnie’s tournament. 

The API set up for a final round duel between Tiger and Graeme McDowell. McDowell is no newbie when it comes to playing against Tiger. He defeated Tiger at the U.S Open in 2010  at Pebble Beach, followed by taking him down in a playoff at the Chevron World Challenge. But today history did not repeat itself and the guy in the red shirt came out victorious. Today Tiger resembled that of his youth, executing skillful shots and sinking putts. 

This win marks Tiger’s 7th win at Bay Hill and 72nd overall career win. Many of you may ask if Tiger is back. More importantly with this win, is Tiger a favorite to win at the Masters? Numerous speculations will emerge as we get closer to teeing up in Augusta National. 

Congratulations Tiger Woods!

HTWD Picks of the Week: Arnold Palmer Invitational

 VS

JJ: Whelp, last week didn't go so well. So onwards and upwards to this week. I'm taking Bubba Watson here. He's been playing well as of late (see the CA Championship and the Tavistock Cup) and is always chock full of confidence. Bubba has been overdue for a win for quite some time. He hits the ball too far and is too talented to not be able to come up with a win soon, especially on the form he's been on recently. That's why I'm going to take him here to hopefully earn the King's trophy and to help me catch up on this year long race. 

Bernardo: The Arnold Palmer Invitational is a popular stop for some notable names on tour. With many possible surprises this week, I’m picking Webb Simpson for the API. Simpson is known to be a consistent player throughout the season with a few hiccups here and there. Ever since Simpson had his breakout season in 2011, there has been some added pressure for him to compete in more tournaments and he seems to have dealt with it well. The guy is pretty clutch with every club in the bag including the putter, so I believe this will be an impressive week for good-oh Webbie.

Recap: Last week Bernardo's pick of Brandt Snedeker beat Nick Watney, increasing Bernardo's overall season lead.

Already used: 

JJ: Jonathan Byrd, Keegan Bradley, Bryce Molder, Ryan Moore, Brandt Snedeker, Phil Mickelson, K.J. Choi, Martin Kaymer, Lee Westwood, Charl Schwartzel, Nick Watney

Bernardo: Martin Laird, K.J. Choi, Bill Haas, Ben Crane, Matt Kuchar, Dustin Johnson, Aaron Baddeley, Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Brandt Snedeker

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HTWD Spotlight: Tavistock Cup

If you don't have the Golf Channel or aren't a die hard golf fan, then you probably didn't notice that a little event called The Tavistock Cup went on yesterday and today in Florida. It used to be just a 2 Club event, but now it's held by 4 of the most prestigious a private golf clubs in the world for bragging rights. Those clubs are Lake Nona, Isleworth, Albany, and Queenwood.

The best part of these Golf Clubs is that they have some of the best golfers on the planet. Albany is home to Tiger Woods and Justin Rose, Queenwood has Adam Scott, Lake Nona has Graeme McDowell, and Sean O'Hair resides with Isleworth. So it's not like you're watching any second tier touring pros play this event. You have top notch talents having fun, cracking jokes, trying to win a bragging right event with some fantastic golf shots. So it's pretty much an awesome thing to watch.

The Cup is split into 2 days: the first day has each team split up into partners and play a best ball format, with all the scores totaled up at the end of the day. The second day is more conventional as everyone plays their own ball, and at the end the scores are all totalled up again. The Club with the lowest cumulative score for both days wins the Cup.

For this years edition, Lake Nona (the host Golf Club) was able to win the tournament, at a whopping -41, winning by 2 shots. 5 players shot 67, low round for the day. Tiger ended up with a mediocre even par 72, looking both good and bad at times. At least he's healthy, though. No need for more setbacks as we head to Bay Hill and Augusta.

All in all, it was a good event, and if you are just getting into golf, I recommend you find highlights and possible replays of this tournament. A very entertaining tournament that gets you a great inside look on some of the best golfers in the game. I wish nothing but the best for all of these competitors for the rest of the season.

Check back with us tomorrow for our Weekly Picks and another Spotlight blog!

Photo via wsmcommunications

Transitions Championship: Return of Luke Donald

This weeks Transition's Championship was easily one of the most entertaining tournaments of the year thus far. Around one point in the final round, you had 6 players tied for the lead all with a chance to win the tournament. It was truly March madness.

Nobody in regulation took advantage of the 18th hole and get ahead of the pack. It ended up with a 4 man playoff of Luke Donald, Robert Garrigus, Sang Moon Bae, and Jim Furyk all fighting for the title. Donald and Garrigus both stuck their approaches to within 7 feet, while the other two were well outside of that range. Garrigus unfortunately missed his birdie chance, while Luke nicely converted his putt for the title and regaining the title of No. 1 ranked golfer in the world.
Congratulations, Luke!

HTWD Picks of the Week: Transitions Championship

 VS

JJ: The Transitions Championship is known as one of the tougher tracks on the PGA Tour, with it's layout that can be unforgiving. Although Gary Woodland won the tourney last year at -15, we should expect a lower number this year. And for that, I'm going with Nick Watney (right) this week. Nick is a great grinder and a scorer in the clutch. He showed this at the Blue Monster last year, and although he's been quiet since, this should be a good week for him to show up on the golf map again. He's rounding into form by getting tournaments under his belt, and this could be a good time for him to breakout right before the Masters.

Bernardo: This week I’m going with Brandt Snedeker (left) for the Transitions Championship. Snedeker is having a great 2012 season, racking up multiple top 10s and a win at the Farmers Insurance Open. Snedeker’s fast pace approach to playing golf will be a perfect match for a tough course and field. This early success displayed by Snedeker can only be the beginning to something big to come.

Recap:  Due to the infamous WD of Tiger Woods, last week's Pick of the Week edition is nullified and considered a TIE since we had no stated rules on Withdraws or Disqualifications. Therefore, that will be discussed for the next years edition to be fair. 

Already used: 

JJ: Jonathan Byrd, Keegan Bradley, Bryce Molder, Ryan Moore, Brandt Snedeker, Phil Mickelson, K.J. Choi, Martin Kaymer, Lee Westwood, Charl Schwartzel

Bernardo: Martin Laird, K.J. Choi, Bill Haas, Ben Crane, Matt Kuchar, Dustin Johnson, Aaron Baddeley, Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy , Tiger Woods

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WGC Cadillac Championship: Blue Roses

Justin Rose

What a turn of events this Sunday has played out to be. Bubba Watson failing to seal the deal, TIGER WOODS withdrawing due to leg injuries, Rory’s possible back-to-back win, Sergio Garcia only breaking par once this week, and the list goes on. The prestigiousness that comes with a WGC event was definitely well represented this week, with all this drama surrounding the final round. 

This win marks Justin Rose’s 11th overall win and first WGC title. Rose waited anxiously as Bubba played 18th, needing a birdie to force a playoff. A terrible loss for Bubba after playing well throughout the week. We all know Bubba is full of talent, knocking on the door of victory, but no respond just yet. Rose’s hard work with his swing coach Sean Foley, seems to finally be paying off, looking mighty smooth with his swing. Congratulations Justin Rose!

Rose’s win might be overlooked due to Tiger’s injury, involving the same achilles that removed him from competitive golf for quite sometime. Just as we thought Tiger was making his run to become World #1, we are rear ended with some bad news. Will Tiger return healthy or has the toll of aging got the best of Mr.Woods? 

Rory Mcllroy, current World #1, surged up the leader board with a final round of 5-under par, finishing just two shots short of Rose. Mcllroy’s performance closely matches that of what the ideal World #1 should entail. If he continues on this path, I don’t see no one taking the position from Rors. 

Besides the Tiger injury, Sergio Garcia suffered an injury to the heart, after carding a 12 on hole #3. Garcia failed to get over the water three times (ouch!). I don’t know how much of this Garcia can take, lets hope he doesn’t lose the love/hunger for the game, as he did before. Just as Tiger he was in the making of a comeback.

HTWD Picks of the Week: WGC Cadillac Championship

 VS 

JJ: This tournament is gonna be awesome. With so many elite players playing well coming into this event it feels like a major. And for that reason, I'm going with a major winner. I'm selecting Charl Schwartzel (left) this week to win this WGC. He played well here in 2010 and just had a solid finish last week at the Honda. His game is very simple and effective, and I think that's a good combo to avoid getting eaten up by the Blue Monster.

Bernardo: For the Blue Monster I’m going with Tiger Woods. Tiger is coming off a good week, after finishing T2, which included a final round of 8-under par. More impressively he eagled his final hole of the tournament, to have a chance at catching Rory. Tiger’s season continues to reveal some progression in his game, with that said, Tiger might be able to fashion a win this week.  We’ll just have to wait and see how the week plays out, especially with the quality of players teeing up this week.

Recap: Last week both of our picks landed in the top 5 at the end of the week, but Bernardo picked Rory and he ended up winning the whole thing. Bernardo earns 2 points for that and takes the lead.

Already used: 

JJ: Jonathan Byrd, Keegan Bradley, Bryce Molder, Ryan Moore, Brandt Snedeker, Phil Mickelson, K.J. Choi, Martin Kaymer, Lee Westwood

Bernardo: Martin Laird, K.J. Choi, Bill Haas, Ben Crane, Matt Kuchar, Dustin Johnson, Aaron Baddeley, Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy 

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Honda Classic: Rory's World

Our new World No.1, Rory McIlroy

We are now looking at another world number one, folks. Move over Luke Donald, and hello to Rory McIlroy. The Northern Irish star has now claimed his 3rd PGA Tour title and his first ever taste of the number one world ranking at the tender age of 22 years old. He held off a star studded field to win by 2 shots, at a cool 12 under par. He now joins Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia as the only golfers to have 3 PGA Tour titles before the age of 23 ever. 

Speaking of Tiger, Rors (his nickname) had to hold off a vintage TW on this final day. Tiger blitzed Rory and the field, by coming from 2 under to start the day to finish second at -10. His day included 2 eagles, with some fist pumps sprinkled in there as well. It was easily the best we've seen him play since 2009, and with him firing on all cylinders today it will bode extremely well for the rest of the PGA Tour season.

But now, back to talking about the Honda Classic champ. This will be immense for Rory and his confidence and all of the golf world. It will fire up everyone else to take their best shots at him now that he's the undisputed best golfer in the world. It surely makes this season MUCH more intriguing, especially seeing how he'll go with being the favorite at every big event now. All left to say now is that this season is just getting started and it's going to be awesome.

Congratulations, Rory! 

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