Another First Beckons For Els
Ernie Els will be hoping to regain his form at this weekend's Deutsche Bank Championship.
As the PGA Tour’s lucrative FedEx Cup reaches the business end, there’s even more on the line for Ernie Els.
Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson have a lot in common. Both golfers have at various occasions been described as Tiger Woods’ closest rivals. They are both now in their 40s, with multiple Majors to their name (Mickelson just eased ahead of Els earlier this year with his fourth Major victory at the Masters). Worldwide each golfer has clinched more than 40 titles (Els is further ahead here, with 44 international wins and 18 US PGA Tour titles, although Phil has a mammoth 38 wins on the US PGA Tour) and their worldwide earnings make them two of the richest current pros in the game.
But another thing that unites these two great golfers is that neither has won the prestigious PGA Tour Player of the Year Award.
That’s because since 1997, one man has dominated that awards category. Yip, you guessed it, Tiger Woods has walked away with the Player of the Year honours on 10 different occasions. The only exceptions have been Mark O’Meara (1998), Vijay Singh (2004) and Padraig Harrington (2008).
With Tiger’s poor performances this year, 2010 will also be an exception – and this is good news, particularly for Els.
Els has won twice on the PGA Tour this year, and has led the FedEx Cup standings for 22 consecutive weeks. Last week’s disappointing 71st-place finish at The Barclays unfortunately dropped him back to fifth on the standings, but he has a shot to redeem himself at the Deutsche Bank Championship which tees off today (with a Monday finish).
Should Els win one of the three remaining events in the FedEx Cup playoffs, he would be a shoo-in for the title, but who are his main competitors? Both Justin Rose and Steve Stricker have also won twice on the PGA Tour this season (they finished the regular season FedEx Cup in fifth and second respectively), while Matt Kuchar’s victory in The Barclays last weekend, and subsequent rise to top spot on the standings, has vaulted him into contention.
So plenty to watch this weekend in Boston – Els to attempt to regain the advantage, his competitors out to stake their claim, Tiger hoping to win for the first time in 2010 (and avoid dropping out of the Playoffs entirely)… oh, and the approaching Hurricane Earl. Should be exciting stuff!
Man With The Million Dollar Hair
Troy Polamalu
Troy Polamalu’s hair is worth $1 million…at least that’s what Head & Shoulders asked him to insure it for. Lloyds of London has insured Polamalu’s hair for the specified amount, after request from the shampoo brand.
This Pittsburgh Steelers player hasn’t cut his hair since joining the team in 2003…that’s 7 years without a haircut! Not only has he saved a lot of money by not heading to the barber shop, he’s also made a lot of money via endorsements from Head & Shoulders.
The NFL safety’s locks are now a whopping three feet long, and the 29 year old has been quoted as saying”Head & Shoulders has gone above and beyond by insuring my Samoan locks for a cool $1 million dollars. This reinforces that my full and thick hair is unstoppable.”
And he better get his money, because it would just be sad if he lost the money after doing this lame ad.
Courtesy of The Daily Mail
IMAGES: US Open Hots Up
Ana Ivanovic powers her way through to the third round.
The action on and off the court at Flushing Meadow has been hot, hot and hotter! And we’re not just talking about the heatwave!
Aren’t we all glad former world No 1 Ana Ivanovic is back in action – and winning!
Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki moves past Chelsey Gullickson.
Not just a pretty face, Caroline Wozniacki is the top seed at the US Open.
US Swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker watches husband Andy Roddick.
A serious looking Brooklyn Decker watches as her husband Andy Roddick crashes out of the US Open, losing to little-known Janko Tipsarevic.
Maria Sharapova defeats Jarmila Groth in the first round.
Former US Open champ Maria Sharapova is back! And a dark horse to clinch the title this year.
Victoria Azarenka collapses during her second-round match yesterday.
Victoria Azarenka was a casualty of the soaring New York temperatures, and shocked spectators by collapsing during her match. It was later revealed that the Belarussian star had been playing with a slight bout of concussion.
Watch the video here.
Mickelson ‘Feels Great,’ And Eyes Rebound
Phil Mickelson
While it appears that Tiger Woods might be sorting out some problems in his game, golf fans are wondering what’s going on with Phil Mickelson.
Despite their struggles they still are the best two players in the game, so it would be nice to see them on the leaderboard this week in Round 2 of the PGA Tour playoffs at the Deutsche Bank Championship — as they were a year ago when Lefty captured the Tour Championship.
Mickelson told reporters not long ago that his subpar play through the summer had to do with being diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis, but he added that he has it under control with medication.
However, his game has been anything but sharp, especially when he shot 72-74–146 and missed the cut last week in the Barclays.
Lefty is not one to make excuses, so it’s hard to tell if his physical condition is affecting his play or if this is simply another dry spell for a player who has run either very hot or very cold throughout his career.
“I’m disappointed,” he told reporters after finishing with an ugly double bogey last week. “I’ll try to get this thing worked out over the next five or six days.”
It seemed that Mickelson would unseat Woods atop the World Golf Rankings for the first time in his career when he captured the Masters and tied for second in the Quail Hollow Championship.
However, despite having nine tournaments in which to do so, it has not happened. The Barclays was his best chance yet, with 10 mathematical possibilities to take over the top spot, but he couldn’t even get to the weekend.
“I’ve been trying real hard to accomplish that,” Mickelson told reporters when asked about being No. 1 before the tournament last week. “I just haven’t played well enough yet.
” … I feel like I’m playing much better golf. I’ve been working on my driver again trying to get that thing in play, and I think I’ve kind of come on to something there, adding a little bit more loft and just getting the ball in play.”
Lefty was unable to get that straight once the tournament started, however. He hit only slightly more than 50 percent of the fairways, about where he is for the season. Not only that, he averaged 31.0 putts per round.
He claimed that the chance to be No. 1 is not getting in his way.
“I haven’t thought about it too much,” said Mickelson, who has not finished in the top 10 in his last four tournaments on the PGA Tour, or since tying for fourth in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in June.
“I’m trying to win. I’m trying to compete in tournaments, and I haven’t played that well the last couple of months. But, again, I feel like my game’s been coming around.
“I’ve been able to practice and work hard. I feel great. I’m looking forward to the next five weeks.”
In addition to the medication to control his arthritis, Mickelson has made a drastic change in his diet. He has become a vegetarian and said it has not been that difficult.
Of course, he admitted that might change the next time he goes to a ballgame and the hot dog man comes around.
“It’s been surprisingly easy,” he said. “I’ve been eating some good stuff. I feel good. And there’s a lot of things that I’m able to eat. I feel much better. But, again, my goal, my hope is that right now I feel great health-wise because I’ve been taking some medicine, some treatment.
“It feels like (the arthritis) has gone away. And after awhile there will be a point where I’ll stop taking medication and hopefully have it in remission. And I’m hoping that my diet will help keep it in remission and I won’t have to take medicine.
“So that’s why I’ve kind of made that change.”
Perhaps it’s simply that Mickelson needs time for his game to come back around after making changes in his life that might be more dramatic than he realizes.
Lefty said early last week that he feels good about his game and is looking forward to the busy schedule ahead, with the Ryder Cup following the PGA Tour playoffs.
“I feel like my game’s actually in pretty good shape,” said Mickelson, who often in the past seemingly has faded into the offseason after the PGA Championship. “I’m excited about playing some golf and excited about the FedEx Cup.
“I think everybody is not finding it difficult to get their games sharp and ready through the FedEx Cup. We’re excited about it because the season ends a lot earlier than it did before.
“But more importantly, I think, that the FedEx Cup has really kept the top players’ games sharp for our team events. And we’ve won the last three events, the Presidents Cup and the Ryder Cup, that we’ve competed in.”
And Lefty knows better than anyone that it’s time for him to get his game sharp, too.
Courtesy of The Bleacher Report
Shot Out of the Rough Sparks Quite a Round
Golfers have been known to burn up the course, but this is ridiculous.
Fire officials claim Saturday’s 12-acre fire in Irvine was sparked–literally–by a golf club.
How that possibly came to be after the jump . . .
An unidentified golfer playing at Shady Canyon Golf Course in Irvine landed a shot in the rough around noon Saturday.
On his next swing to get the ball out of the rough, his club clinked into a rock . . .
. . . which caused a spark . . .
. . . which lit the rough . . .
. . . which was set ablaze.
The fire burned part of that hole and spread to vegetation next to the course and eventually a couple hillsides covered in dry brush.
A fire official was reported to say, “There’s a lot of dead growth out there”–and, no, that was not a reference to the men’s club.
More than 150 firefighters and helicopters overhead responded to put out the blaze.
Bet they wish they got that kind of response in Yorba Linda.
No charges were filed against the golfer, who may want to switch to a less dangerous sport, like octagon fighting.
Courtesy of The Bleacher
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