PGA Golf Talk

Tiger Woods only lasted two days in this fun game. He has been out for eight months until this week, when he came back to his first tournament in all those years. Does this mean that there is a big problem for him coming up, or does it just mean that he’s going to be a little rusty for a little while. He wasn’t quite able to catch some of the other golfers who were better at hitting their shots this week. But he didn’t seem too disappointed by it. How many people can come out from a longer time away from the game, including some surgery, to really play well. Not many people try. But Woods would be the guy that can do it if anyone can!

Like the coming of a prophet, the return of Tiger Woods is being followed very closely right now on the Golf news. Why is that? It’s just that we haven’t seen him for the better part of a year. It’s going to be great to see what he’s able to accomplish this time around, and it’s possible that we’ll be disappointed with his first time out. It’s not that unusual for someone to be not as good now as usual. But it takes awhile to get back in motion. His caddie, however, has been scouting out the course for him. Taking yardages, pictures and noting changes. He will be kind of a guide for Mr. Woods during the competition. This isn’t unusual, but I’m sure he’s working harder than usual, as he hasn’t had Woods to work for in awhile.

Tiger Woods will be back next week, and it will be very interesting to see how it works out for him. One of the changes is, apparently, that his short game has improved markedly, because he had to work on something while he couldn’t play full games or anything. He is certainly planning to win, even if you don’t think he can, he’s definitely going to try. He’s also aiming at the 4 major championships more than the regular tournaments. It’s certainly something that he can accomplish, if he’s as healthy as the reports indicate. How about that new kid? It seems like that’s not going to actually make much difference for him. He has one kid, so a second one isn’t going to change too much for him in this tournament.

Dustin Johnson won the Pebble Beach competition this weekend. And he didn’t even play the final round! Actually, no one did, because the weather out there has been so awful the last few days that they had to suspend and then ultimately cancel the final round of play. In fact, one of the storms took out a whole tree and that put the game on hold. Bad weather is not that unusual out there, but it’s been particularly bad this time around. Since everyone was at risk, they wanted to stay out of it, and keep these famous golfers out of trouble. But Dustin Johnson played a very nice game at the Beach and will be a serious contender this season!

Dustin Johnson and Robert Garrigus are at Pebble Beach right now and they’re doing an amazing job. Usually, no one would get a score nearly as good as -7, but without wind and rain, both of these golfers made it up to that level. When you watch Pebble Beach, you don’t usually get to see golfers play at the top of their games. More likely, you’re going to see what the golfers are made of, particularly when they play against the elements. Johnson and Garrigus were able to really push their way through the first round and are hoping to be able to continue. Keep an eye on this competition. Without Tiger in the regular picture, we’ll have to expect some other people to really jump up!

Tiger Woods has become a father for the second time. His newest son, Charlie Axel Woods, was born this weekend in good health. Both mother and son are doing well and resting up. This is great news for the family and everyone involved. Sam, the older child, is two and very excited to have a baby. But there is a question on the side of the sport/business aspect. It was already not clear whether he would be returning to the sport due his injury, and now with another child, it’s even less likely. The sponsorship and viewership is down. The sponsors are also not certain to be sticking around the sport for the long-term. Keep an eye on this, because it could have a big impact on the sport in the future.

We are only about a month into 2009, but we’ve already had several competitions in the golf world. Some golfers are already at 4 events this year. Looking at the leader boards, Kenny Perry is at the top, having won almost $1.3 million over three events. In second place is the up-and-coming star, Zach Johnson, who has won $1,278,850 in four events. Geoff Ogilvy is at third place right now with $1,236,237. These are the early leaders for this year and it’s going to be an exciting year. Several of the big names really haven’t hit their stride quite yet; Tiger Woods, for example, hasn’t made it yet. It’s still early in the season and there’s still time for you to get your golf tickets. Hurry and find your seats!

Gwladys Nocera has won the women’s New Zealand Open title. She shot 3 under 69 during the tournament and has proven that she is one of the best. Nocera is from France and won the tournament by 6 strokes. We don’t talk often enough about the women’s golf game, which is often just as good as the men’s game, just without quite as many flashy players. We will endeavor to write a bit more about it in the future. There isn’t a whole lot more information about this particular tournament, but we’ll get on the next tournament!