Latest Golf News

Donald still No.1

Luke Donald is unlike any other No. 1 player in golf over the last two decades.

No, he still hasn't won a major.

What sets Donald apart from Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer most recently, from Tiger Woods for an entire decade, and from Vijay Singh and David Duval during their brief stay at the top, is the way he hits the ball.

In an era of extra large off the tee, Donald still wears a medium.

He is No. 147 in driving distance, and while Donald isn't exactly a peashooter, no one will ever talk about how he can overpower any golf course except for the Par 3 Course at Augusta National.

The only numbers that matter, however, is that he has been No. 1 in the world longer than anyone else this year. He is No. 1 in Vardon Trophy for the lowest adjusted scoring average. He is No. 1 on the European Tour money list and No. 2 on the PGA Tour money list, with a chance to become the first player to win money titles on both sides of the Atlantic.

And along with three wins this year, he has finished out of the top 10 in only five of the 20 tournaments he has played this year.

In some respects, he has become an inspiration to those who don't fall out of bed and crack 300-yard drives.

Tiger won't win another major

Greg Norman said Tiger Woods has too many distractions now to maintain the focus he had when he won 14 majors in 11 years, and he doesn't think Woods will win another major championship.

Norman, who held golf's No. 1 ranking for a total of 331 weeks between 1986 and 1998 and won two British Opens, made the comments in an interview that will be published in the November issue of Golf Magazine.

Woods's last major win was the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, and he has not won a tournament since his Orlando car accident in November 2009 and the ensuing sex scandal.

"Tiger, when he dominated, had a single-shot approach," Norman said. "It was only about the golf."

That's just not the case anymore, Norman said.

"Now there are so many distractions, and people are looking for things that are wrong with Tiger now, so he's got to deal with that on a day-to-day basis, like every other mortal has to do, right?" Norman continued. "In our lives, in our business, we all have to be responsible for our actions. It's very hard for him to have that focus. And the more he shuts people off, the worse it gets."

Couples wins Playoff

Fred Couples finished off John Cook with a nifty wedge shot to 3 feet on the third hole of a playoff Sunday in the Seniors Players Championship.

"I knew when it was going, it was a really good shot," Couples said. "I didn't think it was going to be short and trickle down the hill. I just felt like it was going to be right there. It was simple yardage -- 76 yards -- and it hit soft. That extra rain certainly helped that shot, but I knew it was going to be close."

Couples won his first senior major title, closing with an even-par 71 to match Cook (70) at 11-under on Westchester Country Club's West Course -- a longtime PGA TOUR venue where Couples estimated he has played about 100 rounds in 30 years. Peter Senior (71) was third at 10 under.

Couples, the 1992 Masters champion, won for the first time this season after winning four times last year in his first season on the 50-and-over tour.

He won after having a non-traditional back procedure six weeks ago in Germany, and had to battle the stiff wind and a sore left hip that began giving him trouble during a nearly two-hour rain delay.

"I wouldn't say I was playing awesome golf before the rain delay but it wasn't bad," Couples said. "After the rain delay, I just didn't feel very good. I hit some good drives but I was not all that great."

Couples joined Jack Nicklaus and Raymond Floyd as the only players to win THE PLAYERS Championship on the PGA TOUR and the Senior Players. He also earned a spot in next year's PLAYERS, an event he won in 1984 and 1996.

"That's great," Couples said. "I get to play with the studs, so that'll be fun."

Cook held a share of the lead for nine holes but bogeyed No. 16 and missed birdie putts on the final two holes, forcing the second straight playoff and fourth overall in the event.

"I thought that putt was going in," Cook said. "My eyes got real big."

Tom Lehman (68) was fourth at 9 under, a stroke ahead of 2010 winner Mark O'Meara (69). First-round leader Jeff Sluman (70) slipped into a five-way tie for sixth.

Cook missed a chance for his first major victory, and dropped to 1-5 in Champions Tour playoffs.

Simpson wins Wyndham

Webb Simpson grew up in North Carolina, and his favorite memory of the Wyndham Championship was caddying for Neal Lancaster as a teenager during a pro-am.

That might change now that he's won the tournament.

Simpson claimed his first PGA TOUR title Sunday, shooting a 3-under 67 to win by three strokes.

The 26-year-old Raleigh native finished at 18-under 262 and moved to No. 3 in the FedExCup standings about a 30-mile drive from the Wake Forest campus where he was a college star.

"I really couldn't think of a better place to win than here in Greensboro," Simpson said.

George McNeill (64) was at 15 under, with Tommy Gainey (69) another stroke back in the final event before the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.

Carl Pettersson (69), Vijay Singh (65), Jerry Kelly (65), Kyung-tae Kim (66) and Charles Howell III (67) finished at 13 under at Sedgefield Country Club.

Simpson said his first visit to the Greensboro-based tournament came when he was 16. His father brought him to the event's former home across town at Forest Oaks Country Club to caddie for Lancaster during the Wednesday pro-am.

"That was probably the most fun 18 holes I've ever been a part of," Simpson said.

His final 18 of this tournament were marked by steady, bogey-free play and a strong finish marked by consecutive birdies on Nos. 15 and 16.

After taking the lead during Round 3 with a late five-hole stretch of four birdies and an eagle, Simpson opened his final round with eight straight pars before moving to 16 under with a birdie on the par-4 ninth.

He stayed there until late in the day. Birdies on the par-5 15th and the par-3 16th gave him a three-shot lead with two holes to go.

"When I made the putt on 15, I asked my caddie for the first time all day, `Where do we stand?' and he said, `We're two ahead right now,'" Simpson said. "I knew I needed to play solid golf on the last three holes, and to birdie 16 was so huge. ... I knew I had a three-shot lead on 18, and as soon as I hit the ball in play, I knew it was probably over."

McNeill made a late charge, with the former Florida State player moving to 15 under with a birdie on No. 17, his sixth birdie of the round. But all he could do after that was hope for a few late bogeys from Simpson.

Simpson Leads at Wyndham

Even during a rough start, Webb Simpson never lost his cool. He was rewarded with one of the hottest stretches of his young career.

It put the local favorite in position for his first PGA Tour win.

Simpson shot a 6-under 64 on Saturday to move to 15-under 195 and take a two-stroke lead after three rounds at the Wyndham Championship.

The 26-year-old Raleigh native and former Wake Forest player had four birdies and an eagle during his late charge at the final event before the playoffs start next week.

"You've got to really stay patient around this golf course, because bogeys are pretty quick to happen out here with the rough and the undulating greens," Simpson said. "I told myself to be patient and let the birdies come. It took them a while to get there, but (he) finally made a few coming in."

Tommy Gainey (69), who led or shared the lead after each of the first two rounds, was 13 under.

Carl Pettersson (63) and John Mallinger (65) were 12 under. Daniel Summerhays (68) was 11 under, and Billy Horschel (66), Charles Howell III (66), Jason Bohn (67), Retief Goosen (68) and Ernie Els (69) were another stroke back.

Play was halted for 1 hour, 4 minutes late in the day due to threats of rain and lightning.

Appleby Uses Long Putter

Stuart Appleby has joined tour golf's long putter trend in a bid to stop his dramatic form slide.

Appleby has made just one cut in his last 13 regular US PGA Tour events and finished last in this month's WGC-Bridgestone Invitational where there was no cut.

But, joining the likes of resurgent countryman Adam Scott and newly-crowned PGA Championship winner Keegan Bradley, he has made the switch to a belly putter to turn his fortunes around.

He'll use the longer flat-stick at this week's Wyndham Championship where he and several other Australians face their last chance to get into the US tour's rich play-off series.

"It's been an ordinary year by my standards but now I'm really looking to make hay in the next six weeks," Appleby said.

"My swing is much better now and I recently switched to a belly putter which didn't show much fruition early but I think it was because it was so foreign and I wasn't quite used to it.

"I tweaked a few things with it, the posture and grip, and I'm ready to use it again so I wouldn't be surprised if I played really well this week."

Appleby is among 11 Australians lining up this week in Greensboro, North Carolina looking to boost their points tally for the play-off series

Stolz wins in Thailand

Andre Stolz secured his second victory of the season on the OneAsia Tour when he triumphed in the Thailand Open after an enthralling head to head battle with local golfer Prayad Marksaeng on Sunday.

Stolz, who won the season-opening Indonesia PGA Championship in March, fired a final round nine-under-par 63 to beat Prayad by two shots at Suwan Golf and Country Club.

The Australian had started the day three behind overnight leader Prayad but stormed through with nine birdies including six on the front side. He finished with a four-round aggregate of 22-under-par 266.

Prayad, bidding to become only the third Thai to win his national Open, closed with a 68. It was also an impressive round made up of five birdies with the only blemish being a bogey on par-five 18th, where he found water with his third.

"I hit a lot of great shots early on and obviously Prayad and I were battling each other, it was great fun," said Stolz.

"I knew I had to get a fast start and he comes out making birdies as well. The heat knocked me about and I battled the last four or five holes and hit a lot of horrible shots."

Fellow Australian Brent McCullough and Korean Choi Jin-ho tied for third on 17 under par.

Bradley Wins PGA

It took extra holes, but rookie Keegan Bradley won his first career major championship Sunday, defeating Jason Dufner by a stroke in a three-hole aggregate score playoff at Atlanta Athletic Club to capture the PGA Championship.

Bradley birdied the first hole, No. 16, then added two pars on Nos. 17 and 18, while Dufner went par-bogey-birdie to come up a stroke short.

Leading by two when he arrived at the difficult par-4 18th hole, Bradley chose to go for the green in two rather than lay up to a green that’s fronted by water.

He safely cleared the pond and two-putted for the victory.

More Articles...