| Wanna bet? Tiger listed as early Masters fav | Tuesday 1/6, 9:47 PM CT |
|
We have no idea when Tiger Woods is going to return to action, but the book isn't shy in giving him the lean as the favorite to win The Masters, according to the Associated Press. British-based William Hill already has installed him as the 9-to-4 favorite to win The Masters. The bookmaker lists Phil Mickelson at 10-to-1 winning the Masters, followed by Sergio Garcia at 12-to-1 and Padraig Harrington, going for his third straight major, at 14-to-1.
Our View: One other betting option on Woods is how many majors he will win in 2009. William Hill offers 2-to-1 odds that Woods will win at least one major, 11-to-4 that he will win two majors, 14-to-1 that he will win three and 33-to-1 odds that he will win them all. In other words, the odds of Woods winning the Grand Slam are equivalent to Adam Scott winning The Masters. William Hill also has 11-to-10 odds that Woods will not win any major this year. All of this is predicated on him playing the Masters. |
|
| Ogilvy sticking with old Titleist Pro V rather than moving to new model | Tuesday 1/6, 9:43 PM CT |
|
Geoff Ogilvy is one of the most articulate players on the PGA TOUR, but even he was verbally challenged when talking about changes to the Titleist golf ball, according to the Associated Press. Titleist is involved in an ongoing dispute with Callaway over patents applied to the popular Pro V1 ball. Two courts have ruled in favor of Callaway, and Titleist is appealing. Before the latest court ruling, Titleist converted the Pro V1 to be outside the patents in question. Some are using the modified ball. Others are using the new Pro V1, which carries two small dots in the side stamp. "The new-new one, I'm not going to use this week," Ogilvy said. "I'm going to play these two weeks with the new version of the old one, and then do a bit more testing. There are good reports about the new-new one. So I've got a whole month in Phoenix to test them all out. They never make a bad ball. They're always pretty good."
Our View: Ogilvy went on to explain the ball he uses also has two variations, according to his people at Titleist. Balls made in 2007 did not infringe on any patents and are the ball the Aussie will be striking this week. |
|
| Tiger's past may offer insight towards '09 return | Tuesday 1/6, 9:37 PM CT |
|
It is mere speculation, but it appears we may be able to estimate a date for return to the game of golf for Tiger Woods, according to Jason Sobel of ESPN. Sobel starts by assuming (a) there is an excellent chance Woods will not play 15 tourneys this season, (b) that Woods will continue, as he has for some time, to fit his PGA appearances to his own preferences and liking, (c) that Woods will not bow to pressure from commissioner Tim Finchem (openly pleading with the game's elite to add more starts to the schedule, and (d) Woods will be seeking additional time off for the arrival of his second child. With all of this in mind, it appears one of three consecutive tourneys, starting with the Buick Invitational followed by Pebble Beach and the Northern Trust seem to offer the best hope for the arrival of the best to ever hit the links.
Our View: The Buick has become a question mark by dropping their endorsement deal with Tiger, making the Northern Trust a realistic possibility. It's a Riviera course he has destroyed before but he skipped this tourney with the flu last season, and Sobel suggests that we have yet to learn if that means it is off the plate or he was really sick. If not then, the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship could be start #1. Only time will tell. |
|
| Chopra's putter could be weapon of choice at Kapalua | Monday 1/5, 11:15 PM CT |
|
There have only been two winners who earned a victory in their first appearance at the Mercedes - defending champ Daniel Chopra in 2008 and Sergio Garcia in 2002, according to Nathan Easler of ESPN. Chopra, one of the highest-ranked putters from the '08 season (28.06 putts per round last season, 3rd on Tour), gave credit to experience on those greens that are renown for their "varied" texture compared to typical PGA courses.
Our View: As anyone who has had the fortune of playing in Hawaii will tell you, the grain of the greens is an astonishing and confounding force. In 2008, the Plantation Course ranked the most difficult of all non-major events in the following statistical categories: overall putting average (1.733), putts per round (30.56), putting from 10 to 15 feet (24.44 percent) and putting from more than 25 feet (3.14 percent). This is no one-year anomaly, since the Plantation Course was also the most difficult in these same categories in 2007, as well as two additional putting categories. This season, five of the PGA's golfers ranked in the top 25 for putting last season will be on the links in Hawaii, including Brian Gay (#7), Ryuji Imada (#10), Andres Romero (#15), Greg Kraft (#20), and Mart Turnesa (#21). If they keep the putter pure again to start the '09 campaign, they could hold a distinct advantage. |
|
| Allenby riding a hot streak | Sunday 1/4, 11:15 PM CT |
|
When Tiger Woods returns from knee surgery in 2009, he may no longer have the longest active streak for most consecutive cuts made, according to Nathan Easler of ESPN. Woods' current streak of cuts made stands at 29 while Robert Allenby enters 2009 riding a wave of 27 consecutive cuts made. Woods holds the PGA Tour consecutive cut streak record with 142 (1998 Buick to 2005 Byron Nelson). Back then, Allenby was impressed by Woods' accomplishment, saying after the streak ended: "It was always going to come to an end, wasn't it? Obviously it was a hell of a feat. That record will never be broken."
Our View: Allenby himself has a strong streak going. After he missed the cut in his first tournament of 2008, the Sony Open in Hawaii, he proceeded to make 27 straight. He won't be on the links at Kapalua to keep the streak going this week, but as one of the more active golfers on the planet, you can bet Allenby will be found on the fairways shortly after. |
|
| Tiger hoping to improve scheduling for charity event | Sunday 1/4, 11:07 PM CT |
|
No one in the Tiger Woods' camp is particularly happy about the dates of his charity event. The Chevron World Challenge ended four days before Christmas, and it followed tournaments in South Africa and Australia that kept away top-ranked players, according to the Associated Press. While it was an elite field, it featured only two of the top 10 in the world ranking. "The first week in December would be great," Woods said. "The date after the Skins Games would be the ideal date. We've still got to work things out, see what kind of TV contracts they have," Woods said. "We'll see what happens."
Our View: That would make sense on the calendar - the Skins Game over Thanksgiving weekend, another California event, then head east to Florida for the Father-Son Challenge and the Merrill Lynch Shootout hosted by Greg Norman. For now, there appears to be too many moving parts. PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem would only say he is looking into it. |
|
| Furyk one of many top golfers without Maui invite | Saturday 1/3, 9:21 PM CT |
|
The 2009 season begins with the Mercedes-Benz Championship at Kapalua on the Hawaiian island of Maui and serves is a poignant reminder of how the previous season ended, according to PGATour.com. To qualify for the first PGA tourney of the season, the first shot to start collecting '09 PGA dollars, and the first shot to collect FedEx Cup points, one must earn a victory on the Tour during the previous season. That gives many players without name recognition, guys liks Greg Kraft, Johnson Wagner, Marc Turnesa, and Richard S. Johnson, a shot to play in a limited field at one of the most prestigious events of the years. That also leaves a list of top-ranked golfers on the outside looking in, a list that includes the likes of Jim Furyk, Hunter Mahan, Steve Stricker, Robert Allenby, and Luke Donald, just to name a few. "Well,'' Furyk conceded a few days ago, "I'm disappointed I didn't win. I don't really look as not heading back to Kapalua -- everyone wants to be there -- as much as I had the one glaring bad spot or bad mark on my record. I didn't win. And you know I'm ultimately going to judge my season on how many golf tournaments I won and how I played in major championships. Other than being hurt in '04, I think the last eight, nine,10 years I've been out in Kapalua all but one year. Then I followed with the Sony (Open in Hawaii). This coming year my schedule will be different."
Our View: This is only the second time since 1999, when the Mercedes-Benz Championship was moved to Kapalua and to the front of the TOUR schedule, Furyk didn't make it a painful reality considering he owns a home off the fourth fairway. He was close with a second-place finish in the World Golf Championships-CA Championship, behind Geoff Ogilivy. A couple of thirds had him contention as well, but the season ended without a win, something that, since 1997, had occurred only once -- in 2004. |
|
| Opening field set for Hawaii, Harrington & others opt out | Friday 1/2, 10:40 PM CT |
|
The 2009 PGA season is ready to get started with next week's opening tourney at the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Maui, Hawaii. However, while the field includes some of the top names in the game - K.J. Choi, Boo Weekley, Ernie Els, Kenny Perry, and Vijay Singh, just to name a few - we have confirmed the worlds' four top players will be taking a pass, according to ESPN. Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson and Padraig Harrington are all skipping the Hawaii stop at Kapalua Resort, ESPN.com's Jason Sobel has learned. Of the 37 eligible participants, 33 will be teeing it up at Kapalua next week.
Our View: Woods, who is recovering from knee surgery and ranked No. 1 in the world, hasn't played the PGA Tour's first event of the season since 2005 when he finished tied for third. He won the event in 1997 and 2000, both times in playoffs. Garcia, who recently overtook Mickelson as No. 2 in the world, has competed four times and won in his first appearance in 2002. Of the four no shows, Mickelson has the most appearances with seven, including victories in 1994 and 1998 while Harrington, ranked No. 4 in the world, has never played in the Mercedes Benz Championship. |
|
| Lefty ready to correct mistakes in '09 | Friday 1/2, 12:19 AM CT |
|
Phil Mickelson enjoyed a productive 2008 season, a campaign that included two victories, eight top-10 finishes, 19 top 25s in 21 starts, and just one missed cut. Earning more than $5.1 million in was good for third on the PGA Tour money list, but the lack of success while Tiger was on the sideline with injury has Lefty looking for bigger and better goals in '09, according to Bob Harig of ESPN. "As far as a missed opportunity, certainly Padraig Harrington took advantage of the opportunity and won a couple of majors," Mickelson said. "That's what I was hoping to do. The only thing that I can look at is I just didn't play my best, and I need to find ways to get my best golf out. I look at the offseason and some of the areas that I'm going to work on to try to make '09 a better year. I think that I've identified a couple of those areas and I'm looking forward to working on that."
Our View: Mickelson still has plenty of time. Although a new year has arrived and another golf season begins next week at the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Hawaii, Mickelson is expected to stay on the sideline for a few weeks, perhaps making his debut at the FBR Open at the end of the month, or maybe the following week at the Buick Invitational. Despite numbers that suggest otherwise, Mickelson said his switch to swing coach Butch Harmon is producing. Mickelson made the move just weeks before the 2007 Players Championship, and it paid off immediately with a victory there. But there has been sporadic success since. Mickelson battled a wrist injury during the summer of 2007, which led to missed cuts at the U.S. Open and British Open. He did win the Deutsche Bank Championship at the end of that season, then came back with victories at the Northern Trust Open and Colonial -- the latter set up by a dramatic final-hole birdie -- although the best he could do in a major championship was a tie for fifth at the Masters in 2008. |
|
| Daly suspended by PGA Tour | Wednesday 12/31, 4:29 PM CT |
|
John Daly has been suspended for six months by the PGA Tour, according to the Associated Press. He was suspended for all of the bad publicity that he's been bringing to the tour lately, including smashing a fan's camera in early December. "Is it fair that I got suspended?" Daly said. "It's not fair in reality, but it's probably fair in perception."
Our View: Daly's antics have become increasingly detrimental to the PGA's image in recent months and the camera incident was likely the last straw for them. He better keep his nose clean during the next six months if he wants to be able to earn more money that he can blow on booze and gambling. |
|
Crushing hits. Explosive separation. Hail Mary bombs to streaking receivers. For that and fantasy analysis for all things football turn to Owners Edge NFL every week on your way to the championship.
A 95 mph heater. A perfectly executed hit and run. A blast into the sky. At Owners Edge MLB, we break down every conceivable fantasy angle from the simple to the complex to quench your fantasy thirst.
Power-plays. Goals. Fights. Great glove saves. If you are looking to augment your NHL experience with some of the most innovative fantasy hockey analysis on the Internet, then turn to Owners Edge NHL.
Outlet passes. Jumpers from downtown. Alley-oops leading to thunderous jams that bring the crowd to their feet are all part of the NBA experience leading to our analysis of the hardwood at Owners Edge NBA.
The smell of burning rubber. The thrill of unmitigated speed coming out of the turn. The visceral exhilaration of a pile up. At Owners Edge NASCAR we make the pit stop so you don't have to on race day.