How To Avoid Hitting Fat While Chipping How To Avoid Hitting Fat While Chipping I just thought of a shot that I don t see it very often, but for those of you that struggle with it, I wanted to give you a little golf tip on chipping, and I feel confident it will help you. Do you hit fat shots when you …
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This Week: Euro PGA and Colonial
The two big tournaments this week are the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial on the PGA Tour, and BMW PGA Championship on the European Tour, and both have good fields.
The European PGA is the "flagship tournament" of the European Tour, the biggest event in Europe outside of the British Open. Which means almost all the best European golfers and Euro Tour regulars are at Wentworth Club outside of London. Among "name" European golfers, only Sergio Garcia and Henrik Stenson are notable exceptions; both are playing at Colonial instead.
Luke Donald is the defending champion, and his win here last year allowed him to displace Lee Westwood at No. 1 in the world ranking. Donald is No. 2 now, behind Rory McIlroy, and McIlroy and Westwood are both at Wentworth. So are, among others, Martin Kaymer, Justin Rose, Charl Schwartzel, Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter, Thomas Bjorn, Paul Casey, Francesco Molinari, Darren Clarke, Padraig Harrington, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Edoardo Molinari, Robert Rock and Matteo Manassero.
At the Colonial in Fort Worth, the defending champ is David Toms. Jason Dufner, coming off his second win in a month, is playing. Players Championship winner Matt Kuchar is here, and we'll get our first look at Kevin Na since his eventful week at The Players. Among the others in the field are Ben Crane, Rickie Fowler, Jim Furyk, Bill Haas, Ryo Ishikawa, Zach Johnson, Hunter Mahan, Louis Oosthuizen, Geoff Ogilvy and Nick Watney.
Check out our tournament pages for the lists of past champions at both tournaments, plus more info about each:
This Week: Euro PGA and Colonial originally appeared on About.com Golf on Monday, May 21st, 2012 at 09:32:12.
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Pressel Hit with Slow Play Penalty, Loses Match at LPGA Sybase You want to see tour players penalized for slow play? You got it. Only on the
LPGA Tour, not the PGA Tour.
Morgan Pressel was hit with a slow play penalty in the semifinals of the
Sybase Match Play Championship on Sunday, and she wound up losing the match.
Pressel was playing Azahara Munoz in one semifinal, and the two players had fallen off the pace. They received a warning earlier in the match, then were put "on the clock" at the 11th hole. Which meant that going forward both players were being timed.
At that point, Pressel was 2-up in the match. But on the 12th hole - a hole Pressel otherwise would have won - she was hit with a slow play penalty after taking too long on her tee shot and also too long collectively for the hole. Boom. Penalty. Loss of hole. Pressel would have gone 3-up without the penalty; instead, Munoz won the hole and Pressel's lead was cut to 1-up.
Then, on the 15th hole, Pressel thought that Munoz had touched the line of her putt with the putter. Munoz denied the accusation, a rules official was summoned, and that official ultimately sided with Munoz, avoiding another penalty. Munoz won the hole to even the match, then won the next two holes to close it out, 2 and 1.
(You can find a fuller account of the incidents in
the Associated Press article.)
For about the last half-dozen years, maybe more, the LPGA has been much more aggressive than the PGA Tour in trying to address slow play. The PGA Tour
hasn't handed out a penalty stroke for slow play in 20 years. On the LPGA Tour, slow play penalties are rare, but they do occur multiple times every year.
If you want the PGA Tour to start dishing out penalties for slow play, this is what that would look like. Some of those penalties would inevitably occur at key moments, or become turning points, or cost a popular player a win or badly needed dollars.
Then again, the LPGA's policy is stricter than the PGA Tour's, with LPGA players having less time than PGA Tour players are given. Under the PGA Tour's rules, Pressel wouldn't have been penalized. But Pressel doesn't play on the PGA Tour, she plays on the LPGA Tour, and the LPGA's rules are known by all the players. (In fairness to Pressel, although she's the one who got penalized on Sunday, of the two players it is Munoz who has the greater reputation for slow play.)
Munoz advanced to the finals at the Sybase to face Candie Kung for the championship. Pressel plays Vicky Hurst in the consolation match. (Update: Munoz won the championship by beating Kung, and Pressel won the consolation match over Hurst.)
Pressel Hit with Slow Play Penalty, Loses Match at LPGA Sybase originally appeared on About.com Golf on Sunday, May 20th, 2012 at 14:21:43.
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Vote: Is Mickelson smart or a quitter? Phil Mickelson says he's tired. Who wouldn't be after shooting 79? Is that an excuse to call it a day?
