PGA Golf Talk

Hunter Mahan has had a pretty good summer. The 28-year-old PGA golfer got engaged to his Dallas Cowboys cheerleader girlfriend in June, finished a career-best 8th at the Masters, and won his biggest PGA event to date last weekend- the Bridgestone Invitational. The former Oklahoma State first-team All-American felt right at home in Akron, Ohio. Mahan captured the $1.4 million prize shooting a 64 on the final day of the PGA tournament. The victory also guaranteed Mahan a spot on the USA’s Ryder Cup team. In 2007, Mahan was apart of the winning USA team at the President’s Cup. The headline story at Firestone Country Club was the horrific tournament Tiger Woods had. Woods shot 18 over PAR for his worst PGA finish in his career. The PGA will now sets course for Whistling Straits-where the 2010 PGA Championships will be held. The golf world will see if Woods can get his game together or if a lesser known name like Mahan steals the show once again.

At just the age of 16, Jordan Spieth grabbed headlines today by shooting a 68 at the Bryon Nelson Championship today. The Dallas native finished in 17th place at -2 under par in Irving, Texas at TPC Four Seasons Resort and Club. Spieth won the 2009 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship and has committed to playing golf at Texas in college. Spieth might be good enough to skip school if he keeps playing like he did today. The teenager had a big group of fans following him, erupting with every birdie he made. If Spieth makes the cut at the Bryon Nelson, he will become the sixth=youngest golfer to make the cut at a PGA Tour event. Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who has played with Speith previously, stopped in to watch him play a few holes. A junior at Dallas’ Jesuit College Prep, Jordan Spieth is a name to keep your eye on in the year’s to come.

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!

Bruce Vaughan had to hit a 20 foot putt in the first playoff hole against John Cook to claim the first title of his career, the senior British Open, on Sunday. This is the major PGA victory of his golfing career and Vaughan is thrilled to bits on achieving it. He says that he will be treasuring this first major victory for the rest of his life and will be trying his hand out in many more senior championships. Vaughan had enjoyed playing at Royal Troon in Scotland and this victory gives him a direct entry for next year’s British Open. The ticket sales for all the major PGA tournaments can be doe online through various online ticketing websites.

Tiger Woods who left the golf course after the Masters, finishing three shots behind Trevor Immelman is hoping to return to the game in the Memorial that will start on May 29th and is hosted by Nicklaus. Woods has already won three times in this course. Woods is returning after a surgery to remove cartilages from his leg. At present Woods is able only to chip and putt and over 30 yards is a difficult task for him. He hopes that he will be able to play full shots within a week. If he is unable to organize his play by the time the Memorial starts, he will definitely return in the U.S Open which starts on June 12th at the Torrey Pines. 

Fans who heard about Tiger Woods’ bad knee were worried that he might be forced to skip some tournaments while his knee recuperates, but Woods himself has come forward and clarified that he will make a full recovery in order to participate in the US Open slated to be held in June. On April 15, Woods checked into a hospital to undergo arthroscopic surgery to correct his knee. After the follow up checkup, Woods told the concerned public that come June 12, he will be making an appearance at Torrey Pines, San Diego to score some wins at the US Open. He is following doctor’s orders to rest and keep a positive mindset to aid recovery.

Adam Scott had to fight it the hard way with Ryan Moore in the final round of the tournament after carrying a three stroke into the final round. After blowing the early advantage in the opening of the final round, Scott completed a 9 foot birdie to force a playoff battle on No 18. He won the EDS Byron Nelson PGA Tour Golf Championship after making a 48-footer in the third playoff and thus achieved his 6^th PGA tour win of his career.

Scott said that he was extremely happy to win the title, but did not think that he played at his best on the final round. He acknowledged the fact that he somehow managed to hang in there shot to shot with Ryan. The playoff was the icing in the cake as both the players were pitting it out in the middle on Sunday and the talk of a game full of thrills and spills were witnessed in the final round.

It all began with news about John Daly consuming alcoholic drinks when attending a PGA Tour event last March. He was seen drinking under a hospitality tent. This piece of news was apparently reported by his golf instructor Butch Harmon, who then quit being the troubled golfer’s teachers. As a result, Daly has had numerous of his profitable contracts canceled. He then went on to attend a press conference at the Spanish Open held in Seville, Spain and in that event, he stated that Harmon has already taken back what he said and duly apologized to Daly.

Harmon, on the other hand, refuted his claim and said that he would never retract what was being said about Daly. He also revealed that Daly had beseeched him to go on the Golf Channel and make a live apology because his livelihood was affected. Harmon refused and said that he wishes Daly all the best in his future endeavours.

It was a record of sorts last Sunday at the 2008 Augusta Masters PGA golf tournament as Trevor Immelman became the first South African to win a Master’s in 30 years with a three shot victory. The 29 year old South African played some astonishing golfing shots to stay putt on top and waded off the swirling winds at the Augusta masters to adorn the green jacket which has been his childhood dream. Immelman said that he was determined to hang in there till the last shot and decided to take one shot at a time.

Immelman said that he was proud of his efforts at the Augusta Masters and was honored to receive the green jacket from last year’s champion Zach Johnson. Immelman was very happy when his childhood hero Gary Player left a telephone message stating the confidence that Player had in Immelman winning the tournament after the third round. The talk of the town and world champion golfer Tiger Woods had to settle for the second place at the Masters.

PGA of America launches PGA Profinder, a new feature in their site that aims to further connect PGA to the public, thus making it more accessible and user friendly for all who visit the website.

PGA.com will offer PGA Profinder, a new online searchable directory that lets visitors access all PGA Professionals and PGA-staffed facilities.

Every ardent golf fan will gain the ability to use this cutting edge online tool to search for as well as locate PGA Professionals and facilities so as to find golfing instructions, golfing clinics, events, leagues, tournaments and generally golf playing opportunities. They are free to search via ZIP codes, golf courses, PGA Professional’s name or city. All in all, a grand total of 28,000 PGA Professionals and over 11,000 PGA-staffed facilities are listed on PGA ProFinder.

Next up, another feature will also be introduced in the website. The PGA Golf Instruction Video Series DVDs will be sold. The series will feature PGA Teachers of the Year Laird Small, Peter Krause and Bill Forest, who were world renowned golf players and instructors.