Posts tagged PhilMickelson at FanHouse

With all the majors past us and the Ryder Cup still a month away, it's nice that the PGA Tour started the FedEx Cup to give us something to keep our attention. Or is it?

The Cup seems to bring out the creative because it's such a new idea and fans tend to want to tweak the four tournament playoff system like a VCR repairman.

With Tiger Woods busy walking on water, our precious playoff picks will be wide open to a new winner. Can Phil Mickelson actually do something during the absence of his Swoosh-ness? Will Kenny Perry claim the Cup as a 48-year-old? Can Anthony Kim add a piece of tin way bigger than any of his belt buckles?

Join us at 1 p.m. EST for a chat about all things FedEx Cup. If you have any suggestions about things you'd like to see changed, let us know. We have a lot of pull with Tim Finchem.

Great news, Tiger Woods fans! According to his swing coach and unofficial spokesperson, Hank Haney, the planet's best golfer is fine and dandy despite the fact that, you know, it sounds like he's not.

But just because Eldrick won't be swinging a club until 2009 isn't a cause for concern -- nor is it a reason for Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh et al to get their hopes up -- at least to hear Haney tell it.

"He's not behind schedule," Woods coach Hank Haney said yesterday. "I think people thought, 'It's Tiger Woods, he'll be back in two months.' But it just doesn't work that way." ...

"He's doing really good with his rehab," Haney said. "He feels good about it. I talked to him [Sunday] night for a long time on the phone and he's making great progress, working hard. He's in the pool, on the bike. The ACL is a long rehab - that's just the way it is."

Apparently, not even the world's finest robots can rebound from knee surgery in a few months. I had no idea. Whatever, when Woods does return to the tour, Haney is convinced that "he'll be back better than ever." No idea if Haney's contract stipulates that he must say that at least once per public appearance or if he truly believes that, but there are concerns that Era of Tiger could be behind us.

If you've ever been watching a golf tournament and thought to yourself, "Wow, that's the dumbest looking hole I've ever see, what idiot designed that," you could soon be that idiot!

The PGA Tour and the TPC network of clubs, that include TPC Sawgrass and such, are having a contest of sorts to allow any average Joe to design a hole at TPC San Antonio, set to open in 2010.

The TOUR is inviting aspiring golf course designers to submit an original, hand-sketched design of the 13th hole on the AT&T Canyons Course at TPC San Antonio, which is being designed by renowned architect Pete Dye. Entries will be judged by Dye and Steve Wenzloff, Vice President of PGA TOUR Design Services, Inc. One winner will be selected from all entries received to have his or her design integrated into the project, and will also receive a trip to TPC San Antonio to tour the course with Dye prior to the club's grand opening.

See, this might be the most exciting thing to happen to San Antonio since Santa Anna.

As much fun as it would be to submit a 440-yard par-4 with two fairway bunkers right and an undulated green, why don't we mix this up? Wouldn't TPC San Antonio love to be the first course on tour with a par-7. Lets make it so long it will be one of the only holes with a snack shake in the middle of it. Anyone on board for water traps around the greens? Can we have a Venus Flytrap in the hole?

While skimming the recent Tiger Woods blog post on PGATour.com, an extremely scary thought hit me like that nightmare when someone takes out your family.

What if Tiger is never the same? What if Woods comes back and isn't the dominant figure we've grown to love on the PGA Tour? What if this knee surgery makes him an average golfer like the rest of them, taking away his ability to win tournaments like an 18-year-old in an elementary school dodgeball game?

All of these ideas came to me from one simple paragraph Tiger wrote.

I don't know what the doctors are going to tell me about playing golf down the road. I'm taking it day-to-day, week-to-week. All I'm doing every day is looking forward to my next day.

So you're telling me, Tiger, the near-billionaire with the trophy wife and an even better trophy case, and the huge yacht, and the private jet, and the pretty pearly whites is living like we live? He's human? He is just trying to get to the next day?

If you thought Tiger Woods was the biggest name missing out on the Ryder Cup this year, you're wrong.

Englishman Luke Donald went under the knife to repair his wrist and will be out for the remainder of 2008 which is good news for any and all people hoping for a U.S. upset.

"While there is never a good time for an injury, the timing of this injury was especially disappointing for me considering that it forced me to miss the Open Championship and it comes in a Ryder Cup year," said Donald. "But taking proper care of it is my highest priority and I'm encouraged by Dr. Weiland's experience with this type of injury and his outlook towards my recovery and rehabilitation. I am appreciative of his guidance, as well as his staff's, and look forward to working diligently at my rehabilitation and returning to action next season."

It really isn't good for the European team looking for a solid captain's pick. Donald was 11th on the Ryder Cup World Point List and has been an absolute BEAST in Ryder Cup play in 2004 and '06.

His record of 5-1-1 is impressive in itself but becomes even shinier when you look at the teams and individuals he's taken out. Teams of Woods and Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson and David Toms and a singles victory over Chad Campbell two years ago after Campbell slaughtered Donald in '04 are just some of the highlights.

I don't know this for a fact, but I think that golf writer Dan O'Neill (if that is your real name, Wanny) has probably written his last column for NBC. Why do I think that?

Well, Dan, in an attempt to discuss Sergio Garcia's on-course struggles kind of glanced at the proverbial line, started running, jumped over it and landed about 100 yards past said stripe.

See, O'Neil was attempting to draw a parallel between Garcia and Phil Mickelson. Lefty needed 42 majors played before he won one. Sergio just choked his way through played in number 41. And, well, let's let O'Neill take it from there (emphasis mine, and a tip of the cap to Mrs. Stradley for the find):

You remember the No. 42. That was the number of majors Phil Mickelson played in before he won the 2004 Masters. That's the amount of frustration, heartbreak and second-guessing "Lefty" endured before he got that Jackie Robinson off his back.

Now, technically, Jackie Robinson is a number 42. However, when you're discussing someone's inability to achieve something, you don't say, "Man, glad to finally get that 42 off my back!" You say "Whew! Glad that monkey is finally off my back."

Before Tiger Woods hobbled off into the sunset, the PGA Tour was experiencing some of its best ratings. In fact, Sunday's round of the U.S. Open drew more viewers (10.0/20) than the competing NBA Finals Game 5 (9.0/16). But everything went to hell as soon as Woods announced he'd be taking a sabbatical the rest of the 2008 season.

Since [the U.S. Open], however, golf's TV ratings have fallen into the abyss. Despite Padraig Harrington's thrilling victory on Sunday at Oakland Hills, the overnight rating for the PGA Championship was 3.0, down 55% from last year's final round at Southern Hills - an event won by (surely you recall) Woods.

This is all very troubling because it's not like the British Open and PGA Championships were ho-hum affairs won in mind-numbingly boring fashion. On Sunday at Royal Birkdale, Harrington played inspired golf on the back nine on his way to back-to-back Claret Jugs.

And last week, Sergio Garcia had a chance to win his first major before, you guessed it, Harrington toughed his way around the course to win back-to-back majors, which seems like a pretty big story.

Maybe, but not to the casual fans who tune in to see Eldrick, even if he's in 20th place, 10 shots off the lead.

There's no easy solution to this problem, but at some point PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem is going to have to plan for the eventuality that Tiger Woods will retire. I would suggest that maybe Phil Mickelson would finally get his chance to shine, but this summer proves that Tiger's got nothing to do with how he plays.

The best way to comfort someone that has just lost something is to be there for them. That, or tell them they just made the Ryder Cup and then talk about them like they're the second coming of Christ.

That works too.

"I've had my eye on Ben Curtis for a long time and I really believe he is going to add a lot to this team," Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger told a news conference at Oakland Hills Country Club on Monday. "I could not be more excited for him.

"I like the fact he won the British Open and came back, after having a down spell in his career, and won those two tournaments in that one year. I saw a lot of heart in Ben Curtis."

In the wake of the PGA Championship, the eight automatic spots have been filled, and the second place finish by Curtis yesterday at Oakland Hills jumped him into a spot to play at Valhalla.

"Ben has got that kind of demeanor we need on the Ryder Cup team," Azinger said. "He's a little more stoic, a little more subdued, but I like his personality. He's the type of guy that's going to just put his head down and barrel on.

"I've always had my eye on him. I was hoping he played well at some point so I could either pick him or he'd make the team, and he's done it."

The best thing to ever happen to the Detroit Lions will be accompanying Phil Mickelson, Stewart Cink, Anthony Kim, Kenny Perry, Jim Furyk, Justin Leonard and Boo Weekley with four more captains picks coming from Azinger.

Phil Mickelson was the favorite heading into the PGA Championship probably because he's the world's second-best player (well, before yesterday, anyway), has won two of his three majors at the event, and, really, who else had a better shot?

It wouldn't have surprised me if Lefty won the whole thing, but I also remember thinking that he could just as easily miss the cut. Well, he made it to the weekend, but couldn't make a run, and ended up finishing tied for seventh. All in all, a solid showing, but not really all that exciting, at least if you're CBS and concerned with ratings.

But Crowne Plaza, which has blanketed the airwaves with a Philbert-centric ad campaign, did manage to keep Mickelson's mug on teevee screens even as the network focused on Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia. And of all the spots, this is easily the funniest (although, there is something to be said for David Feherty asking Lefty if he won the 2006 U.S. Open):



Ditto. Hilarious.

Normally, the PGA Championship is the major reserved for a newbie. They call it "Glory's Last Shot" because seven of the last 14 have been first time winners. Normally the one that bucks that trend is Elderick Woods, who, unbeknownst to the golf world, has handed the title of major champion king to an Irishman with a quirky smile.

Oakland Hills gave us everything, from floods to hole-in-ones to a marathon finish that ended with a putt you almost knew had to fall. Here are the winners and losers from a great week of golf at the year's final major.

Winners

• Padraig Harrington -- Wait, didn't I just write one of these? Harrington has now won three of the last six majors championships and has truly earned the nickname "Back Nine." A 32 at the British a month ago and a 32 on the closing stretch yesterday has Padraig with as many majors as Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh. Think he's taken advantage of the Woods layoff?