Today was the first round of the Verizon Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, SC and look who’s already off to a hot start: K.J. Choi. After a solid performance at the Masters, pairing up with and outplaying (and outclassing) Tiger Woods, Choi jumped into the lead with a seven under 64 to lead all players. It looks like a certain someone might have rubbed off on K.J. last weekend (golf-wise). Also in the hunt are Mike Weir (-5) and Sergio Garcia (-4). Naturally, many of the top names took this weekend off after the Masters, so this is not a huge tournament, but will still provide some great golf.
In other news, former 49er, star dancer, and football legend Jerry Rice looks to expand his resume even more by joining professional golf. Now, Jerry is not going to be joining the PGA tour, but is entering a tournament in the Nationwide tour (not the NASCAR one) and hopes to make the cut. This is incredible for a couple of reasons. First of all, it is incredible that this man can dominate one sport and be good enough to compete with professionals at a completely different one. And secondly, and possibly even more impressive, is that the forty-seven year old only started playing golf when he was thirty. He used to wake up at 4 in the morning to go to the driving range before he had practice later in the morning. Now that is dedication.
That is Rice on the right and former Steeler great Jerome Bettis on the left, but I couldn’t pass up a chance to shamelessly plug a movie for one of my favorite actors (Don Cheadle, center). See Iron Man 2 in theaters May 7!
If you’ve been living under a rock then here’s some big news: Phil Mickelson won the Masters this Sunday by three strokes over Lee Westwood. This of course is old news but what made it so important was the fact that Lefty was able to overcome a difficult year off the course, coping with his wife and mother’s cancers, and win one for the family. After sinking a birdie putt on 18 to further cement his victory, Phil made his way over to his wife Amy and his three children with whom he shared a touching moment. At that point in time, everything that was so important in the last four days seemed insignificant. Here was a family that loved each other and supported each other through the toughest of times, and there wasn’t a person in the crowd who would’ve had it any other way. Gone was the controversy of Tiger’s infidelities when Phil was able to pull one out for the good guys, the underdogs, the faithful hard-workers. In that moment, Golf once again became a wholesome sport, full of strength and character.
Despite that major story (no pun intended) there was another one that I was more than pleased to be witness to, and that was the official coming out party for Anthony Kim. Most people have heard of Kim, who is the currently the tenth best golfer in the world, but no one really considered him a threat at a major. This quickly changed on the back nine of the final round on Sunday. After a disappointing bogie on eleven, Kim went birdie, birdie, birdie, eagle, birdie on twelve through sixteen to pull into a tie for second at twelve under (by the time he finished). People were talking about Phil’s rise earlier in the tournament where he almost had three eagles in a row, but now Kim took the spotlight and showed his true potential. He will now begin to get some of the praise he deserves, plus a cool crystal trophy for posting the low score of the tournament (65).
Wow is all you can really say about the last couple of days. So far this years tournament is looking to be one of the best in recent memory and its not even the final round yet. As I had predicted a couple of days ago, Phil Mickelson has raised his game to a whole new level and has taken Augusta by storm. Not only did he shoot a five under 67, he had two eagles (and nearly a third) in a row to take the lead after being down four strokes. Unfortunately he slipped up a little after that, but he still is only one stroke back of the surprisingly consistant Lee Westwood.
Lurking close behind the Westwood and Mickelson are K.J. Choi and Tiger Woods who are both eight under for the tournament. These two guys started the Masters in the same group and look to play their fourth consecutive round together later Sunday afternoon. And just behind Woods and Choi is Fred Couples who appeared to be out of contention with a weak second round but rebounded nicely on Saturday with a four under 68 to return to relevance.
So who will pull it off? Will it be the wily Englishman Westwood who has been the consistant leader? Or Lefty who has overcome the hardest year of his life in search of his third green jacket? Or the fallen hero that is fighting to reassert his dominance in the sport of golf? Only one can win, hopefully we will be treated to a classic finish.
Despite all the hoopla surrounding Tiger’s return, the actual event went off with less fanfare and controversy than all expected. As he warmed up on the practice green, people watch and applauded, but no one heckled. As Tiger walked to the first tee, he received a spirited applause that was amplified by the fact that EVERY SINGLE PERSON at the tournament was there to watch him. Tiger hit his drive with a slight fade right into the middle of the fairway. What a relief.
Now that the drama has ended, it is time to see what Tiger is going to do in the actual tournament. He had a solid day, shooting a 68 (his best opening round ever) and sits two shots behind the leader Freddy Couples. The most remarkable stat of Tiger’s day was his two eagles, which is the first ever at a Masters in one round. Despite that impressive feat, Tiger did have a couple bogeys that hurt an otherwise great first round back to golf.
Sitting in second place are a few big names. Phil Mickelson opened up the Masters with a five under 67 and is looking to continue his great play and win his third green jacket. Also tied is sixty years young Tom Watson, who took the world of golf by storm last year when he almost won the British Open only to choke on the last green. In addition there are a couple of South Koreans, Y.E. Yang (who won the PGA Championship last year) and K.J. Choi (who was partnered with Tiger today) who look to keep Tiger at bay. A final notable is Anthony Kim who is tied with Tiger for seventh, two shots off the lead.
There have been rumblings of bad weather in Augusta with a possible tornado warning. Today, the golfers were lucky with near ideal conditions. Hopefully the weather will continue to hold tomorrow and into the weekend. If not, we may be seeing some US Open conditions.
All eyes will be on the first tee at 1:42 pm (EST) this afternoon as Tiger Woods takes the tee for his first tournament round since his incident last year. Most people wonder what type of reaction Tiger will receive from the crowd and some about how he will react. Tiger is not accustomed to being booed, but in my opinion, I doubt the crowd at Augusta will have the audacity to heckle Tiger (do so and face the wrath of the Master’s security). This is not the US Open in New York, where things often get rowdy for the (cough) well lathered fans, but one of the most respected and polite crowds in professional golf. However this may change due to the media circus that has been created around Tiger. Personally, I think there should be complete silence. Imagine how disconcerting it would be to step up to the tee in front of thousands of people, only to hear absolutely nothing. If that wouldn’t shock you, I don’t know what to say.
In other Tiger news, Nike has released a new ad featuring the voice of Tiger’s late father and a very remorseful looking Tiger. At first watch, I was kind of shocked and confused as to why Tiger would allow such a commercial. I thought his last press conference was fine, he owes the fans and the media no other apologies. This campaign perplexes me.
