PGA Golf Talk

Lorena Ochoa  showed amazingly good results with her 8 tour wins, 1 major, No. 1 year-end ranking, No. 1 money list, 69.69 scoring average, 21 top-10s, 1st in greens in regulation. In contrast, Woods succeeded in 7 tour wins, 1 major, No. 1 year-end ranking, No. 1 money list, 67.79 scoring average, 12 top-10s, 1st in greens in regulation. In fact, Ochoa was the first woman to eclipse the $3 million plateau and a short time later said bye-bye to the $4 million zone. So, unfortunately for Tiger, this year was definitely Ohoa’s year. Well, one cannot be a champion forever.

Eventhough Tiger Woods spent 10 weeks and four days without hitting a golf shot, it hardly became a problem for him on Thursday in the Target World Challenge when he struck just about everything where he was aiming, except for the last 18^th hole… Woods’s approach got into the hazard on the 18th hole and finished with a double bogey for a 3-under 69, leaving him one shot behind Jim Furyk in the final tournament of the year.

Tiger Woods, PGA tour champion and one of 15 top golf players in the world, will come back to action for the first time since hoisting the inaugural FedExCup. Woods is aimed to defend title and win his 4th Target World Challenge presented by Countrywide.

Australian Sim shot a 7-under 65 yesterday and took a one-stroke lead over long-hitting American player J.B. Holmes and 3 others after the 1st round of the Australian PGA Championship. Michael Sim’s, 23, rookie season on the PGA Tour this season was delayed by a stress fracture in his back. The golfer went out in 4-under 32 after he made birdies on 3 of the last 4 holes of the front 9 and a 15-foot putt for par on 9.

Demsey had nothing left but to stay aggressive. However, it all changed in the final round, as the Torrey Pines all of a sudden found himself inside the magic number thanks to 4 birdies on the back 9. 26 PGA Tour cards for the following 2008 season were distributed following the 6th and final round yesterday. Having shot an impressive 8-under-par 64, the thirty-five-year old Demsey moved from a tie for thirty-first into the eighth place.

Lickliter shot an even-par 72. He will go into today’s 5th of 6 rounds with a 3-shot lead over Allred (70) in the PGA Tour National Qualifying Tournament held at Winter Garden, Florida. The 38-year old, Lickliter was at 24-under 264. The Top Twenty-Five finishers and ties will earn 2008 PGA Tour cards. The next number of players nearest Fifty will get full Nationwide Tour exemptions. The remainder in the 166-man field will receive conditional Nationwide Tour status.

Two Australians (David) Lutterus and (Brett) Rumford were still both on golf course to earn places on the United States PGA Tour next year. The players were in a 3-way tie for 9th place at 8-under at the Q-School qualifying tournament in Winter Garden. The best twenty-five golfers at the end of 6 rounds of golf will earn PGA tour cards for the following season. Frank Lickliter II from the United States was 9 shots clear of the field after shooting a 2nd consecutive 10-under-par round of 62.

3 New Zealanders, who were trying to win their way on the United States PGA Tour have made disappointing starts to the marathon 6-round qualifying tournament. Waite is the best of the Kiwis at the Orange County National Golf Centre, where 2 golf courses are in use. He shot a 1-under par 71 at the Crooked Cat golf course to be tied for seventieth after round 1, 9 shots behind Frank Lickliter and Brendon de Jonge from Zimbabwe.

Four golfers from Canada entered in the final stage of Professional Golfers’ Association Tour qualifying school offer a good cross-section of the field in general. You can see a Nationwide Tour player, who is looking to take the next step (Brad Fritsch), a veteran, who tries to get back to the top (Ian Leggatt), and 2 unheralded professional players, who hope to win the equivalent of golf’s lottery (Bryan DeCorso and Lee Curry). All four players have just as good a shot as other one hundred and fifty or so golfers at Orange County National in Orlando this week.