The week I spent at Jack’s place (Muirfield Village) led me to fall behind on blog updates…okay fine it effectively ended my updates. But I’m going to try and get it back again. First let me get proper congrats to the winners for the rest of the season. ‘Rosie’ won twice once at Memorial where my brother Jim quoted a Bette Midler song, and again over the 4th of July at Tiger’s tournament. Lee Westwood won for the first time in over a decade on American soil in over in Memphis. A teary-eyed win was in place for Bubba Watson in Hartford, while the Master of the Midwest Steve Stricker, went extraordinarily low in the Quad-Cities. Carl Pettersson and Stuart Appleby pulled themselves out of obscurity with comeback wins in Canada and West Virginia. Hunter Mahan ruled the week in Akron at historic Firestone, while Arjun Atwal made a name for himself with a breakout win in Greensboro. In lesser-known tournaments Matt Bettencourt and Bill Lunde jumped into the winner’s circle.
I missed the final 3 majors of the season. At world-renowned Pebble Beach it was a real battle for our national championship. Dustin Johnson grabbed defeat with a final round 81 leading the way for the extremely steady cardigan clad Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell to grab his first ever major. Tiger and Phil both finished in a tie for 5th. At the home of golf it was pure and utter domination from a relatively unknown. South African Louis Oosthuizen lapped the field in an impressive wire-to-wire victory to capture the Claret Jug at The Old Course at St. Andrews. The biggest controversy occurred at the PGA championship on Wisconsin’s modern throwback Whistling Straits. A tightly packed bunch was slimmed to a three horse race on Sunday between Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson, and German Martin Kaymer. From there it got crazy!
After Watson and Kaymer finished they were one shot back of Dustin Johnson who was standing on the 18th tee. He walloped his tee shot right into the midst of the gallery and into a highly traveled spectator area. After evaluating his situation he pulled off a great shot knocking it just to the left of the green. He pulled off a pretty solid chip and had a 12-foot putt to win the tournament. He just barely missed it and evidently forced a three-way playoff with himself, Watson, and Kaymer. After he walked of the green he was met by a rules official who had to be the bearer of bad news informing Johnson that he had incurred a two-stoke penalty on his second shot because he grounded his club in an apparent bunker. Although it looked only like a patch of dirt, the rules sheet clearly stated that bunkers were located all over the course even in the rough and gallery areas. This ruling left Johnson out of the playoff and gave him a second heartbreak in a 2010 major. These headlines dominated leaving Kaymer's playoff win over Watson as merely an afterthought.
The playoffs were ultimately how the FedEx Cup was going to be decided. Matt Kuchar grabbed the top slot after his win at the Barclays, where top 10 points man Jim Furyk found himself DQ-ed after missing his tee time in the Pro-Am event at the practice sessions. In Boston at the Deutsche Bank Charley Hoffman found himself on the comeback trail with his sharp game and unmistakable flowing blonde mane. Some solace was taken at the third event of the playoffs as Dustin Johnson cashed in at the BMW event in Chicago. But the Cup was secured at the final event at Eastlake North in Atlanta and the Tour Championship. One of the most consistent players all season was Jim Furyk and he showed it taking control of the field and locking up a BIG payday with a win and a FedEx Cup.
A rainy Ryder Cup at soaked up Celtic Manor in Wales showed the European machine to be just a bit much for an inexperienced but gutty US bunch. The Euros took back the Cup holding off an American charge in singles matches on a Monday finish. It was very competitive!
The fall series featured wins for Bill Haas, Heath Slocum, Rocco Mediate, and Jonathan Byrd. There is only one more even left before the official hiatus starts for the pros. This week is the Children’s Miracle Network Classic from Disney. Expect future blogs previewing the 2011 season. Will Tiger get it back?
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