Eye on Golf : CBSSports.com Blogs

With win, McIlroy at one with the world

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:28:26 EST

MARANA, Ariz. -- All of a sudden, as he looked at the scoreboard, his future flashed before him.

OK, so he might not get there this week, but the possibility certainly exists, thanks to the first-round results at the Accenture Match Play Championship.

World No. 2 Rory McIlroy was on the course Wednesday afternoon when he saw a leaderboard which noted that world No. 1 Luke Donald had been upset in the opening round. That creates the very real possibility that, with a victory tis week, the 22-year-old U.S. Open champ could ascend to the rankings top spot with a victory Sunday.

God bless McIlroy, who freely admitted that he will use the ranking as a motivational carrot the rest of the way -- and there are another five matches he must win -- to climb to the highest rung in the game. Many players would not allow themselves to think about it, much less discuss it, openly.

No. 1 Donald gets dispatched, well, big and easy

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:27:17 EST

MARANA, Ariz. -- OK, so the opponent was Ernie Els, a former world No. 1 and a seven-time winner at the European Tour's match-play event.

Defending champion Luke Donald would have had trouble beating practically anybody in the first round of the Accenture Match Play Championship on Wednesday.

"I don't think it would have mattered who I played today," said Donald, the top-seeded player in the field and the current world No. 1. "I just didn't play well."

He didn't play long, either.

The biggest surprises on Wednesday at Accenture

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 1:57:02 EST

By Shane Bacon

Unlike March Madness, the Accenture Match Play is easily the biggest toss up in sports. Rankings? They’re meaningless, and anything can happen. That said, we give you our five biggest upsets of the first round of play.

Ernie Els defeats Luke Donald -- It wasn’t that Donald was a top seed and Els came in the rugged vet holding a 16 seed, but it was a guy most had forgotten about beating the defending champion and world number one in the world! Els played great, and could definitely make a run here after gaining some confidence by smoking past Donald 5 and 4.

Miguel Angel-Jimenez defeats Sergio Garcia -- Most thought Sergio, coming off a final round 64 at Riviera to tower up the leaderboard, would be a good pick to possibly upset Rory McIlroy in their side of the draw, but he couldn’t even get out of the first round, falling to his fellow Spaniard. The bright side of things? At least his blue shoes looked good.

Tiger Woods 'survives' in every sense of the word

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:47:46 EST

Tiger Woods survived a tough first round match at the Accenture. (Getty)

By Shane Bacon

If you ever wanted a view of where Tiger Woods’ golf game has been the last two and a half years, you needed to spend a few hours watching his first round match at the Accenture Match Play on Wednesday.

Luck had always been on Tiger’s side for so many years, but the first hole showed that wasn’t really the case anymore. His opponent, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, a man that said Tiger was beatable before the match began, had a short birdie putt on the first hole that went on a victory lap before falling in to put the rather unknown 1-up. Tiger lost the next hole as well, and while he steadied the ship, and eventually won, it was anything but pretty.

Accenture matches about aptitude, altitude

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:54:29 EST

By Steve Elling

MARANA, Ariz. -- According to the host venue's website, certain points of the Dove Mountain course are located at 3,200 feet above sea level. For those who watched the Accenture Match Play Championship's final pairing last year, when it snowed and hailed, that's certainly no news flash.

For a PGA Tour player, the territorial elements can create unique environmental issues. Or, in the case of this particular track, three of them.

Players teeing off early face the very real prospect that the ball will feel like a piece of desert rock. Temperatures overnight routinely dive down close to freezing. The first matches Wednesday started at 7:25 a.m. local time.

Man sues golf club for lowering his handicap

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:05:14 EST

Thomas Talbot is suing Hermitage Golf Club for lowering his handicap. (Irish Independent News)

By Shane Bacon

There are only two ways to live with a golf handicap; always wanting to work on your game, redefine the things that aren’t that good, and lower that number each year. Or you can just enjoy ballooning that number so it’s easier to gamble against your friends, always claiming you’re a 15 when really you’re a solid 12.4.

The latter is a 75-year-old man in Ireland who is so mad about his handicap going down that he is suing his home club for 10 million euros for lowing his handicap.

Match play to remain in 'Zona, but where?

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:25:47 EST

By Steve Elling

MARANA, Ariz. -- The Dove Mountain course was designed, explicitly, with match play in mind.

So when players basically deemed the host venue for this week's Accenture Match Play Championship as the second-worst course on the PGA Tour, it had to sting.

The venue's contract to host the tournament expires after this week, and depending on your personal view, it might come as mixed news that signs point toward the mega-money event staying put.

FedEx re-ups for 5 years and even more dinero

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:31:51 EST

By Steve Elling

MARANA, Ariz. -- Crossing another massive item off his to-do list, PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem on Wednesday announced that the mega-money FedEx Cup competition has been extended through 2017 and will include gradual increases in paydays for players.

Speaking for the players on tour: Cha-ching.

At minimum, the extension is worth $175 million based on current sponsorship level of $35 annually toward the pot of golfing gold delivered to players at the end of the financial rainbow. The winner under the current deal receives $10 million at the FedEx finale in Atlanta, one of the biggest paydays in all of sports.

Bradley's great expectorations have fans in froth

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 2:09:13 EST

By Steve Elling

MARANA, Ariz. -- Spitting in sports has been around as long as chewing tobacco, pressure situations, big money and nervous individuals.

But rarely in golf has a player run more quickly afoul of the etiquette police than did Keegan Bradley last weekend in Los Angeles.

Playing in the marquee pairing at the Northern Trust Open on Sunday, the promising second-year pro was nervously unleashing a steady stream of spittle and taking several awkward moments to hit shots as he eventually lost in a three-man playoff with Phil Mickelson and winner Bill Haas.

Matches we'd love to see at the Accenture

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:23:25 EST

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy shake hands earlier this season in Abu Dhabi. (Getty Images)

By Shane Bacon

We know, we know, predicting things in golf is absolutely impossible, but the interesting nature of match play has us thinking ahead. What are the best possible matches that COULD happen this week at the Accenture? These are our favorite possible matchups.

Nick Watney vs. Tiger Woods (second round) -- Any match Tiger is in will be featured, but I’d love see a player like Watney go up against him Tiger in a fairly even match.

Not just clubs in the bag, but cash, too

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:14:47 EST

By Steve Elling

MARANA, Ariz. -- Hey, sometimes, failure can be its own reward.

Bill Haas, the winner in thrilling fashion last weekend at Riviera in Los Angeles, uses big brother Jay Jr., as his caddie. Jay, named after their PGA Tour-playing father, took a shot at Qualifying School last fall but washed out in the first stage.

Now he's back on his little brother's bag, as he was when Bill won the FedEx Cup finale in Atlanta last year. By the way, winning caddies typically earn 10 percent of their boss' purse, which means Jay Jr. has pocketed about $250,000 for his brother's two victories over the last few months.

Tiger Woods responds to 'beatable' comments

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:44:27 EST

Tiger Woods talks to the media. (Getty Images)

By Steve Elling

MARANA, Ariz. -- It hasn't taken long for golf's admittedly rather polite version of trash talking to commence at Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, site of the 2012 Accenture Match Play event.

Either way, because it relates to former world No.1 Tiger Woods, people have taken notice.

Does golf need more match play events?

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:15:21 EST

By Shane Bacon

Admit it, you love match play. Absolutely love it. It takes golf to another level. Instead of playing the usual format (you versus everyone else including the golf course) you are HEAD-to-HEAD against one guy, loser jumps on the phone with their travel agent.

It used to decide one of the majors, is the format to the best in both men’s and women’s golf (Ryder and Solheim Cups) and is what us regular folks play everyday when competing against friends on the links.

So, why in the world is it only once a year?

Tiger Woods' opponent says 'he's beatable'

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 3:39:09 EST

Tiger Woods sighs after missing a putt at Pebble Beach. (Getty Images)

By Shane Bacon

There are a few rules in sports trash talking that everyone should know. Don’t predict a big victory unless your name is Joe. Don’t say anything you don’t have to say if you’re a superstar, just go do it.

And don’t push Tiger Woods’ buttons the week of a match-play event.

Stiff or not, Crane sends 'em running

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 9:00:21 EST

By Steve Elling

Obviously, they haven't seen the funny workout video.

Otherwise, the would-be thieves might have known that in the grand scheme of mean, Ben Crane is about as daunting as Mickey Mouse.

The PGA Tour veteran and part-time Internet entertainer has an endorsement deal with ShowMeGolfers, a company with offices in Denmark. Late Friday night, thieves smashed a window at the buildings, where a mannequin dressed at Crane adorns a window.

The winner of the week was really this guy

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:04:16 EST

By Shane Bacon

Yes, Bill Haas won an incredible playoff this weekend, and yes, Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley both deserve recognition for some remarkable putts they made to force the sudden death holes, but the real winner was this guy in this video.

No, not Phil, the guy in the white shirt that had a near panic attack when Mickelson's 30-foot birdie on the 72nd hole found the bottom of the cup. Seriously, just watch and be amazed. I have no idea who he is, but he is definitely in the running for golf's 2012 meme.

MMSC: Examining the weekend in golf

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:38:07 EST

Phil Mickelson celebrates his birdie on the 18th hole this past weekend with Keegan Bradley. (Getty Images)

By Shane Bacon

Golf is probably the hardest sport in the world to play, and play well, so it makes total sense that everyone is a critic, and that’s what we’re going to do here at Monday Morning Swing Coach. Cover just the PGA Tour? Nope. We're going to try to expand this Monday feature to anything and everything that happened the past weekend.

Who needed Sunday’s playoff win the most?

Lefty tops early U.S. Ryder points list

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 0:31:07 EST

By Steve Elling

In the first of what, henceforth, will be weekly updates issued every Monday, here are the updated Ryder Cup standing for both teams as of Feb. 19.

Remember, the U.S. takes the top eight off the points list, then adds four captain's picks at a later date. The Europeans take 10 players off a combined list from two metrics. The players in bold below are the ones who would make the team of the matches were held today.

See the fine print below for further illumination.

Welcome to Eye on Golf

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:56:29 EST

Tiger Woods pumps his fist at the 2010 Masters. (Getty Images)

By Shane Bacon

I just spent the last three weeks of my life on the road with a bunch of women golfers, some you may have heard of, so you may not have, caddying for a friend in the hopes that a story would come from it. I was at the Gold Coast of Australia, the “Jersey Shore” of the Southern Hemisphere, Melbourne, a beautiful, expensive place that made me feel like Canucks fans might spill out of the bars, and Christchurch, New Zealand, a place once so beautiful that has been so devastated by earthquakes that you drive around downtown with your jaw agape, wondering why we silly Americans didn’t know more about it.

And between pints and bags and birdies and bogeys, a story did come from it, which parallels with my new move over here to CBS.

Casey shoulder injury forces match-play exit

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 19:26:01 EST

By Steve Elling

Even with easy money and scads of world ranking points on offer just for showing up, injured Paul Casey on Thursday elected to withdraw from the season’s first World Golf Championships event next week outside Tucson, Ariz.

Casey, who dislocated a shoulder in a holiday snowboarding accident, visited his doctor in Phoenix on Wednesday and the exam results were mixed, so Casey elected to withdraw Thursday from the Accenture Match Play to give replacement George Coetzee extra chance to get to the event site in timely fashion.

Casey, 34, has twice finished second in the Accenture event and is a past winner at the European Tour’s match-play tournament. Coetzee, ranked No. 66 in the world, is South African and will be making his first Accenture appearance. The field is limited to 64 players.

Tiger's pairing pummelling by Phil not his worst

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:49:06 EST

By Steve Elling

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Gotta admit, this came as rather surprising news.

When Phil Mickelson slaughtered Tiger Woods by 11 strokes in the final round of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Sunday, blowing past the former world No. 1 like he was an unproven rookie, it wasn't even the worst head-to-head beat-down of Woods' career.

Or even of the past two years.

Tiger and Phil, yin and yang, paired at Pebble

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:49:24 EST

By Steve Elling

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- Who are these guys, Abbott and Costello? Hall and Oates? Peanut and butter?

Break 'em up as a team and they mostly flop?

As we all know painfully too well at this point, Tiger Woods has been missing in action for more than two years, and in that span, his nemesis Phil Mickelson didn’t do much of anything.

Here's one ranking Woods is glad not to top

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:49:50 EST

By Steve Elling

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- Here's a No. 1 ranking that Tiger Woods would just as soon yield to somebody else.

In a poll reported this week by Forbes, Woods is tied with NFL quarterback Michael Vick as the nation's most disliked athlete, with each receiving a 60 percent disapproval rating.

Vick was listed first, however, because he got more votes of "dislike a lot" from respondents than did Woods.

Harrington calls belly rule change 'inevitable'

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:50:37 EST

By Steve Elling

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- A day after Tiger Woods all but said that the belly putter should be ruled illegal, three-time major winner Padraig Harrington made a bold prediction.

"Yes, it's inevitable it's going to get changed," he said Wednesday.

Harrington is an ambassador for the Royal & Ancient Golf Club, and whether he's speaking with any insider information here is a bit unclear, but the sentiment seems to be growing that the long putters need to be re-examined.

Aces doubly wild for Chopra at Pebble

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:51:02 EST

By Steve Elling

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- Tiger Woods sauntered onto the practice green at Pebble Beach on Tuesday and spotted Daniel Chopra, holding court with a few inquisitive sorts.

"Hey, Chopra," Woods said playfully, "where's my drink?"

Make it a double.

Woods throws weight behind bumping belly

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:51:40 EST

By Steve Elling

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- Add Tiger Woods to the list of players who believe that the belly putter should fast go belly-up.

In fact, the former world No. 1 said Tuesday that he has been agitating for years with one of the game's global rulemakers, the Royal & Ancient Golf Club, on the possible language relating to how a rule regarding maximum putter length would be worded.

At the seaside Pebble Beach Golf Links, Woods said he's been preaching anchors aweigh to the broom and belly models for years. The former world No. 1 said he's conversed with the R&A's chief executive, Peter Dawson, about perhaps capping the length so that putters would be the same length as a sand wedge.

L.A. hits town's PGA Tour sponsor with lawsuit

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:47:33 EST

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Intentionally or not, the City of Los Angeles certainly timed the announcement to ensure maximum impact.

Attorneys for the city have sued Northern Trust, the title sponsor of the town’s PGA Tour event, alleging that the company frittered away city pension funds on reckless investments.

The city seeks $95 million from Northern Trust, whose tour event begins in two weeks at famed Riviera Country Club.

"Northern Trust made false claims and statements regarding its management of the assets of the Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System [LACERS] in order to receive payments as a custodian bank and securities lending agent," according to the complaint, which was filed in Superior Court and excerpted in the L.A. Times.

Mickelson sues to quash on-line Canucklehead

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 8:37:12 EST

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Attention flamers, vicious posters and other reputation-savaging knuckleheads who hide behind the anonymity of chatroom walls while tossing grenades at others:

Phil Mickelson is fighting back.

In a move that could bring unintended light to a very personal issue, Mickelson filed suit in Canada to learn the identity of a person who has been ripping him on the Internet.

According to the Courthouse News Service, Mickelson alleges in the complaint that "the postings suggest that plaintiff has an illegitimate child, that his wife has affairs and other similar vexatious statements that are absolutely untrue and, simply put, vicious.”

Phil goes back to drawing board for Torrey

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:49:59 EST

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Phil Mickelson signs more autographs than any star player on the PGA Tour.

He can also put a drafting pencil to paper.

An exclusive report in the San Diego paper this week noted that Mickelson has privately talked with high-ranking city officials about updating Torrey Pines North, the sister course to the more famous South layout, in the future, a redesign that’s been under discussion for years.

Mickelson said he’d do the tweaks for free.

Woods has familiar final result in UAE -- defeat

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:40:21 EST

Organizers of the high-powered European Tour event in Abu Dhabi staged an interesting promotion in the third round, allowing all of the fans who wore red clothes – the primary color of the title sponsor -- into the event for free.

A day later, the most famous guy ever to don that identity-defining color didn’t much show up at all.

Seeking to end a 26-month drought in official worldwide events, former world No. 1 Tiger Woods struggled just to stay in the mix and blew a share of the 54-hole lead for the ninth time in 61 tries.

After playing as well as he had since his last victory in 2009 for most of the week, Woods spent most of the day in Abu Dhabi scrambling to keep pace of journeyman pro Robert Rock, who won by a stroke over Rory McIlroy and two over Woods, recording only his second European Tour victory.