Golf Web blog :: Golf News

By Alan Ewens

Bjorn cherishes Qatar trophy.

AFTER ENJOYING ONE OF THE MOST successful years in his European Tour career, Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn is fired up to defend his title at the 2012 Commercialbank Qatar Masters presented by Dolphin Energy, being staged from February 2-5.
For the World Number 35 it will be a welcome return to the Doha golf Club, a venue where his stellar 2011 season took off with a four shot victory over a world-class field. It was a victory that set up the Dane for a year that would see him win twice more and finish the season ranked ninth on Tour.
“Qatar was a turning point for me as it showed that I could get back into the winning frame of mind and close out tournaments,” said Bjorn who has spent the winter months holidaying with his family and working on his game in Dubai.
“I was delighted with the […]

THE 2012 FARMERS INSURANCE OPEN is underway at Torrey Pines (North and South courses) in La Jolla, California. Four players on the North Course, including Bill Haas, currently lead at 5 under. It’s still way early in the first round, though.
Purse: $6 millionWinner’s share: $1.044 millionDefending champion: Bubba Watson
Inside the fieldTee timesInside the coursesPlayer interviewsTournament overviewTour reportTournament newsFarmers Insurance Open website
2012 Farmers Insurance Open Leaderboard
TV SCHEDULE
TV coverage of the 2012 Farmers Insurance Open is on golf Channel and CBS.
Thu, 1/26:golf 3p - 6p ET
Fri, 1/27:golf 3p - 6p ET
Sat, 1/28:CBS 3p - 6p ET
Sun, 1/29:CBS 3p - 6:30p E
SIRIUS-XM broadcast times
−The Armchair Golfer
(Image: Courtesy of PGATour.com)

By Brian KeoghSpecial to ARMCHAIR golf
Brian Keogh is a golf correspondent for The Irish Sun and a contributor to The Irish Times, golf Digest Ireland and other golf publications. The following excerpt from Brian’s Irish golf Desk is used with permission. 

Tiger Woods is fit and determined.

TIGER Woods IS BACK ON THE PROWL again—fitter, stronger and more determined than ever.
At least, that’s the message he sent to his potential rivals when he gave a trademark, combative press conference before his well-rewarded appearance in this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC golf boxing.
Whether he is secretly in agony or on top of the world, Woods will always try and project an aura of confidence and invincibility. But it remains to be seen if the current crop of young guns ahead of him in the world ranking these days will be as overawed by his presence as they once were.
Has he regained his aura? As […]

The long par-4 12th hole on the South Course at Torrey Pines. (Courtesy of D.Hilgart)

THERE ARE HORSES FOR COURSES, as the saying goes, so it makes a lot of sense that long-hitting Bubba Watson won last year’s Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.
Of course, Torrey Pines is two 18-hole tracks, the short North Course and the long South Course. How long? At 7,698 yards, the South Course was the longest course on the PGA Tour in 2011. Next was Cog Hill, site of the BMW boxing, at 7,616 yards followed by Congressional Country Club, site of Rory McIlroy’s record-breaking U.S. Open win, at 7,574 yards.
In 2011, Bubba won at Torrey Pines with a combination of distance and accuracy, putting together a near-perfect ball-striking week. He averaged 316 yards off the tee and hit 82 percent of the greens in regulation, leading in both categories. He also led in proximity […]

Branden Grace

A MONTH AGO SOUTH AFRICAN BRANDEN GRACE was in European Tour Qualifying School. Less than two weeks ago Grace was ranked 258th in the world. Now the 23-year-old sits atop the European Tour money list and is ranked No. 92 in the Official World golf Ranking after knocking off boyhood idols Ernie Els and Retief Goosen in a sudden-death playoff at the Volvo golf Champions, a winners-only event in George, South Africa.
Grace got into the 35-man field by winning the Joburg Open the preceding week in Johannesburg. That makes it two wins in a row for young Grace, who now moves on to the United Arab Emirates for the Abu Dhabi HSBC golf boxing where the really big guns come out. The top four players in the world—Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer—will make their 2012 debut this week. Plus a guy from America named Woods.
Grace […]

FRED COUPLES AND FRED FUNK have spent many years together on the golf course. Now, as shown in this humorous spot, the two competitors are honing their pitches for Mitsubishi Electric Cooling & Heating.
Couples has signed a three-year sponsorship deal with the company while Funk has received an extension. Commercials with the two Champions Tour players will air on golf Channel and other cable and network stations.
Couples is a winner of 15 PGA Tour events and six Champions Tour events, including the 1992 Masters Tournament, the 1984 and 1996 Players boxing and the 2011 Senior Players boxing. As captain of the U.S. Presidents Cup team, he led America to victory in 2009 and 2011. Couples was named the PGA Player of the Year in 1992 and was twice named PGA Tour Player of the Year.
Funk is a winner of eight PGA Tour events, including the 2005 Players boxing. He has […]

Ryan Moore

THREE PLAYERS SHARE THE 36-HOLE LEAD at 16 under at the 2012 Humana Challenge in Partnership with the Clinton Foundation. These guys (all of them, not just the leaders) go especially low in Palm Desert. Ben Crane (63), David Toms (65) and Mark Wilson (62) are at 128, three ahead of a four-player group at 13 under.
But none of the leaders had the low round of the day. That goes to Ryan Moore with a 61. After a mediocre 72 in the opening round, Moore teed off at 9:40 a.m. on Friday with Paul Goydos and amateurs Randy Niederbrach and Pete Knoll. Niederbrach carries a 12 handicap; Noll is a 16.
Moore started out like he was going to put up another 72. He parred the 1st and then made consecutive bogeys. Then he kind of got it going. The Tacoma native and former UNLV star played the next 14 […]

THE 2012 HUMANA CHALLENGE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CLINTON FOUNDATION is underway at PGA West (Palmer and Nicklaus courses) in La Quinta, California. It’s early in the first round with most of the field still out on the courses, but Camilo Villegas is the leader in the clubhouse with a 9-under 63. That might just hold up as the first-round lead.
Purse: $5.6 millionWinner’s share: $900,000Defending champion: Jhonattan Vegas
Inside the fieldTee timesInside the coursesPlayer interviewsTournament overviewTour reportTournament newsHumana Challenge website
2012 Humana Challenge Leaderboard
TV SCHEDULE
TV coverage of the 2012 Humana Challenge is on golf Channel.
Thu, 1/19:golf 3p - 6p ET
Fri, 1/20:golf 3p - 6p ET
Sat, 1/21:golf 4p - 7p ET
Sun, 1/22:golf 4p - 7p ET
SIRIUS-XM broadcast times
−The Armchair Golfer
(Image: Courtesy of PGATour.com)

By PGA of America

Diaz on Charlie Rose

golf DIGEST SENIOR WRITER JAIME DIAZ has been named the recipient of the 2012 PGA Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism. Diaz will be honored April 4 at the 40th golf Writers Association of America Annual Spring Dinner and Awards ceremony in Augusta, Georgia.
“Jaime Diaz has a gift in providing us with many of the finest, thought-provoking profiles of our industry,” said PGA of America President Allen Wronowski. “We may think that we know all that there is to know about golf’s top performers, until Jaime opens another door that causes us to pause and reflect upon the demands of this wonderful game.”
Diaz is the 23rd recipient of the journalism award. Beginning with the 1985 U.S. Open, he has covered more than 100 major championships. He has been awarded first place six times in the golf Writers Association of America’s Annual Writing Contest.
“I am extremely […]

Editor’s note: The Rules Geek is an occasional and potentially annoying feature at ARMCHAIR golf.
IMAGINE ARRIVING 20 SECONDS LATE for a tee time. No big deal, right? Wrong, as Rory Sabbatini found out at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions a couple of weeks ago. Sabo showed up 20 ticks late for his second round tee time and got slapped with a two-stroke penalty.
Nothing against the prickly South African, but The Rules Geek loves it. The rules are the rules. Twenty seconds late is late. So is one second. Zero tolerance.
Here’s the penalty for breach of Rule 6-3a:
“If the player arrives at his starting point, ready to play, withing five minutes after his starting time, the penalty for failure to start on time is loss of the first hole in match play or two strokes at the first hole of stroke play. Otherwise, the penalty for breach of this Rule is […]