Sunday, August 25, 2013

Riegger leads after second round of Boeing Classic

Riegger leads after second round of Boeing Classic

CBSSports.com wire reports
SNOQUALMIE, Wash. -- John Riegger shot an 8-under 64 on Saturday to open a three-stroke lead after the second round of the Champions Tour's Boeing Classic.
The 50-year-old Riegger, making his fifth career start on the 50-and-over tour, had an eagle for the second straight day and added seven birdies and a bogey to finish at 11 under at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge.
Tom Lehman, Bernhard Langer, Kirk Triplett and Bobby Clampett were tied for second. Lehman had a 67, Langer and Triplett shot 68, and Clampett had a 69.
Riegger pitched in for the eagle on the 590-yard, par-5 15th hole.
"It wasn't anything fancy" Riegger said. "It was just a straight-forward pitch. It landed just on the green and rolled in just like putt."
He said he no idea at the time that shot pushed him into the lead
"I don't look at it [scoreboard]," Riegger said. "If I just go out there and play the way I'm capable of playing, things will take care of themselves. It's not going to do any good to worry about what someone else is doing."
Riegger won twice on the Web.com Tour, the last in 2010.
"That tour helped me prepare for out here than the regular tour just because you have to go low and keeping going low because there's so many good players," Riegger said. "As for my fifth event, these guys have been beating up on me for 30 years. We still have one more day to go and there's a lot of great players out here. There's some guys out here capable of shooting 63 or 64 on this golf course."
Langer, the 2010 winner, chipped in for eagle in the 529-yard, par-5 eighth.
"Those were three beautiful shots for the eagle," Langer said. "Then I hit it into the water next hole [for bogey]. ... It's not over. Three shots sounds like a great deal. On this golf course, it can be gone in a hole or two. There is a lot of golf to be played yet. I think whoever is within five shots has a chance. I've won tournaments when I was seven shots back."
Lehman birdied his final three holes.
Hometown favorite Fred Couples was 5 under after a 70.
First-round leader Bart Bryant, the Dick's Sporting Goods Open winner last week in Endicott, N.Y., followed his opening 66 with a 75 to drop into a tie for 20th at 3 under.
Scott Hoch withdrew because of an ankle injury.
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Tommy Fleetwood wins Johnnie Walker Championship

Tommy Fleetwood wins Johnnie Walker Championship

CBSSports.com wire reports
GLENEAGLES, Scotland -- Tommy Fleetwood of England birdied the first playoff hole Sunday to earn his first European Tour victory at the Johnnie Walker Championships.
Fleetwood also birdied the 18th to finish his round with a 70 and set up a three-way playoff with Scotland's Stephen Gallacher (67) and Argentina's Ricardo Gonzalez (70) after all three finished at 18-under 270 on the PGA Centenary course.
Playing the par-5 18th again, Fleetwood narrowly missed an eagle putt from the fringe and then rolled in a three-footer for the win. Gallacher and Gonzalez both made par.
Gallacher overcame a triple-bogey 7 on the 11th hole with a round that included five birdies and two eagles - including one on the 18th to make the playoff.
Copyright 2013 by STATS LLC. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC is strictly prohibited.
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Teen star Lydia Ko wins again in Canada, bests field by five strokes

Teen star Lydia Ko wins again in Canada, bests field by five strokes

CBSSports.com wire reports
EDMONTON, Alberta -- Teen star Lydia Ko ran away with the Canadian Women's Open -- again.
The 16-year-old New Zealand amateur successfully defend her title Sunday, closing with a 6-under 64 at Royal Mayfair for a five-stroke victory and her fourth win in professional events.
"I'm pretty surprised, but I played some really good golf out there, so I was really happy about that," Ko said. "My goal today was to shoot 5 under and just play my own game. If somebody else shot better, then I can't do anything about it."
Last year at Vancouver Golf Club in British Columbia, the South Korean-born Ko became the youngest winner in LPGA Tour history at 15 years, 4 months, 2 days. She also was the fifth amateur winner in tour history and the first since JoAnne Carner in the 1969 Burdine's Invitational.
"I never really thought about making history and all that," Ko said.
Ko's other victories in professional events came last year in the Australian tour's New South Wales Open and this year in the Ladies European Tour's New Zealand Women's Open. Projected to jump from 19th to seventh in the world ranking, she has played 14 LPGA Tour events the last two seasons, making the cut in every tournament. She also won the U.S. Women's Amateur last summer.
Ko was again asked about turning professional.
"I've got some people above me like my mom and dad, they're the boss," Ko said. "They're going to help me to make the right decision and to turn pro at what time. I think as I'm only 16 still, it's quite hard to make huge decisions. When I turn pro it's like a job. Money is all about it and everything like that, every shot counts. Yeah, I think my parents and New Zealand golf they're all going to have a say, and hopefully we'll make a really good decision on when I will turn pro."
She bristled when asked about losing out on another $300,000 pay day.
"I don't care! I don't care!" Ko said. "I can say that a couple times more, if you want."
Ko had a 15-under 265 total after opening with rounds of 65, 69 and 67.
A stroke behind Caroline Hedwall entering the final round, Ko birdied five of the first eight holes and reached 15 under with a birdie on the par-4 12th. She dropped a stroke on the par-4 13th, parred the next four and closed with a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th.
"I didn't have it coming," Ko said about her final putt. "That's why I was like, `Oh, my God.' I was pretty worried it would just go straight down because I knew it was a slippery putt. No, I just hit a little bit, and it trickled down in the hole."
France's Karine Icher was second after a 67.
"I would like to play tomorrow," said Icher, who ended up with the $300,000 check. "It was a good day today. I'm very happy with my game. More putts got in."
She marveled at Ko's performance.
"She's amazing," Icher said. "Sixteen-years-old and to win twice. She has no fear, I guess. It's incredible. As an amateur and so young, it's great for women's golf, but not so great for us."
Hedwall, the Swede coming off a record 5-0 performance last week in Colorado in the Solheim Cup in Europe's blowout victory over the United States, had a 71 to tie for third at 9 under with Brittany Lincicome (69).
"I was trying to keep up with (Ko), but at the same time I couldn't hit it as close and I couldn't make as many putts," Hedwall said. "She was just really impressive today."
Copyright 2013 by STATS LLC. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC is strictly prohibited.
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Monday, January 28, 2013

Frustrated Tiger opens with 74


Frustrated Tiger opens with 74

Updated: April 9, 2005, 10:18 AM ET
Associated Press
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Putting a ball into the water usually only happens on a hole with a windmill.
That didn't stop Tiger Woods from dunking one Thursday at The Masters.
Tiger Woods
AP Photo/Morry GashWoods has failed to break par in his last three first rounds at The Masters.
In a bizarre opening to his bid for a fourth green jacket, Woods watched helplessly as his eagle putt on the 13th hole ended up in Rae's Creek instead of the bottom of the cup.
A seemingly routine birdie turned into a bad bogey -- and that was just the start of his afternoon of misery on a rain-soaked Augusta National course.
By the time darkness brought his round to an end after only 12 holes, Woods also had a shot hit a pin and go into a bunker and played from one set of trees to another on a hole he usually handles with ease.
He returned Friday to find even more problems, hitting a tree on the eighth hole for a bogey and finishing his first round at 2-over 74, seven shots off the lead. Woods signed his scorecard and headed toward the clubhouse, saying only "gotta eat" when asked about his first round.
The day before, Woods committed one of golf's ultimate sins when he stroked a 70-footer that sped past the hole and didn't stop moving until it reached the water.
Woods looked stunned as his caddie, Steve Williams, pleaded with the ball to slow down. But it kept going, drawing a gasp from the crowd before disappearing down a slope into the creek.
Things didn't get any better on a day when Woods tossed clubs, kicked his bag, and looked as frustrated as The Masters officials watching thunderstorms delay the first round by more than five hours.
Just for good measure, Woods had to sit through a review by Masters officials over whether he was standing astride the hole while tapping in a putt on the 14th hole. After looking at video, officials ruled there was no violation.
It wasn't what Woods envisioned two days earlier when he told the media his game was peaking.
"I know my ball striking is there," Woods said.
Whether he felt the same after a gloomy first day wasn't known. After being driven in from the course when play was suspended by darkness, Woods declined comment and quickly drove off with a rules official.
Whatever he was thinking couldn't have been good.
Woods not only putted a ball in the water, he also duck-hooked a drive into a tree on No. 2 and then sprayed his next shot into the trees all the way on the other side of the fairway.
Disgusted, he kicked at his bag as he walked up to the ball in the woods. He then hit his next shot into a greenside bunker and had to hole a 25-footer for par.
And even when Woods hit it good, bad things happened.
His wedge on the first hole hit the pin, only to kick back and roll into the front bunker. What likely would have been a birdie turned into a bogey, further dampening his mood.
And he didn't get much sympathy from one of his competitors.
"He's had a few good breaks over his career," Chris DiMarco said. "It's golf. It's just the way it is."
Woods had to start on the back nine when thunderstorms forced Masters officials to juggle tee times. He was 1-over after three holes when he came to the 13th, which traditionally ranks as one of the easiest holes on the course.
Woods reached the green of the par-5 with a tough shot out of the pines, but his ball bounded some 70 feet past the pin tucked in front. He lined up his eagle putt, gave it a rap with his putter and watched as it raced past the hole, picked up speed and rolled off the green.
Woods was walking toward the hole when the ball disappeared, going down the hill and rolling into the water. He took off his cap in disbelief as Williams ran for the bag he had left on the next tee in case his boss wanted to try to wedge it out of the water.
Instead, Woods called over a rules official and placed another ball where his had originally been. Then he putted again, this time for par. That putt ended up about a foot from the hole, and Woods tapped in for bogey.

Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press
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Wie starts with qualifier May 13 in Hawaii


Wie starts with qualifier May 13 in Hawaii

Updated: April 6, 2005, 5:17 PM ET
Associated Press
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The next step for Michelle Wie is the toughest test in golf.
Michelle Wie and Father
Michelle and her father, B.J., know the odds of qualifying are long.
The 15-year-old from Honolulu entered the U.S. Open on Tuesday, although she faces a long and improbable road to Pinehurst No. 2.
The first stop will be an 18-hole local qualifier May 13 at Turtle Bay on Oahu, the same course where she tied for second in an LPGA Tour event in February from a shorter set of tees. Wie likely would have to finish first or second at Turtle Bay to advance to a 36-hole sectional qualifier in June.
"Michelle is excited about this,'' her father, B.J. Wie, said from the University of Hawaii, where he is a professor. "To make it through local qualifying will be challenging. I hope she can make it into sectional. That would be a good experience. For her making it into the main event will be difficult. Her chances will be low.''
Her entry left the USGA officials scanning the record books to see if any other woman had tried to qualify for the U.S. Open, the second-oldest championship in golf.
Wie also entered the U.S. Amateur Public Links qualifying for the second straight year, which she sees as her best chance of ever playing in the Masters. The winner of the Public Links gets an invitation to Augusta National.
A year ago, Wie came up two shots short of qualifying for 64-player tournament of match play.
Wie rose to national prominence by becoming the youngest winner of a USGA championship for adults, capturing the Women's Amateur Public Links at age 13. In her PGA Tour debut at the 2004 Sony Open, she shot 68 in the second round at Waialae Country Club and missed the cut by one shot.
Since then, she has taken a path like no other teenager in golf.
Now in the 10th grade at Punahou School in Honolulu, she already has played 20 times on the LPGA Tour, twice on the PGA Tour and once each on the Nationwide and Canadian tours.
She has been criticized for not playing against girls her own age and piling up trophies, but her father said she is driven by playing against the best.
"That's her main interest, going into the men's world,'' her father said.
She has shown she can play just fine with the women. In three LPGA tournaments this year, including a major, Wie has tied for second, tied for 12th and tied for 14th two weeks ago at the Kraft Nabisco Championship. If she were a pro, she would have enough money to be 10th on the money list.
Wie plans to play Turtle Bay from the back tees at least twice before local qualifying. Her father noted that the entry fee for the U.S. Open was $125.
"The USGA charges very little for an entry fee,'' he said. "In this state, that's the cost of one round of golf.''
Wie finishes the 10th grade at the end of the May, and her next tournament will be the LPGA Championship on June 9-12 outside Baltimore.
Her father said she would qualify for the U.S. Amateur Public Links on June 14 at Cedarbrook Golf Course in Pittsburgh. If she were to make it out of local qualifying for the U.S. Open, she would have to play the 36-hole sectional on the Monday and Tuesday before the LPGA Championship.
Wie already has qualified for the U.S. Women's Open at Cherry Hills in Denver the last week in June, having tied for 13th last year at age 14.

Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press
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Masters Tee Times


Masters Tee Times

Updated: April 10, 2005, 11:18 AM ET
ESPN.com
All times are ET.
Sun.Pairing
11 a.m.
11:10 a.m.
11:20 a.m.
11:30 a.m.
Jonathan Kaye, Stehen Ames
11:40 a.m.
11:50 a.m.
12 p.m.
12:10 p.m.
12:20 p.m.
12:30 p.m.
12:40 p.m.
12:50 p.m.
1 p.m.
1:10 p.m.
1:20 p.m.
1:30 p.m.
1:40 p.m.
1:50 p.m.
2 p.m.
2:10 p.m.
2:20 p.m.
2:30 p.m.
2:40 p.m.
2:50 p.m.
3 p.m.
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