In the Rough

After a long hard day at work yesterday I decided to go to the local driving range and get rid of a bit of frustration I had. Golf and the driving range is usually the place I go when I need to clear my head or just to hit some golf balls. Now i know im not the only one that does this because our local range on a Monday evening is full of people with the Monday Blues.

Last night though i bumped into an old friend who i used to play golf with but hadn’t seen with a golf club in his hands for nearly six months due to his last “disastrous round” (his words not mine, although i did beat him by about 6 shots).

After the last round we played together he was saying his eyes were getting increasingly worse and the strain of playing golf was making things harder for him.

He mentioned laser eye treatment but it was more as a half hearted comment (i thought). Last night though his swing was a lot more fluid and he was striking the ball very well, after a brief catch up he mentioned that he was missing golf that much (he used to play twice a week) he decided to get laser eye surgery and after a bit of rest he was back playing in no time.

To my annoyance he is not only seeing better generally (his squinting has stopped), he is hitting a golf ball well. After the last 18 months of me beating him we have decided to play again next sunday and i must admit im a little worried after seeing him hitting the ball so well last night.

On last nights performance and from speaking to my friend Laser Eye Surgery could really help your golf performance should you be struggling.

Paul Azinger has said he will be in contact with World Number One Golfer Tiger Woods over the three days of the Ryder Cup in Valhalla.

The World number one is out of the Ryder Cup tournament after knee reconstructive surgery earlier on in the year however his advice and suggestions could prove very helpful for Azinger as he tries to win back the Ryder Cup for the United States Of America.

Azinger has this to say “I’m going to have an open phone line to him during the event as I am kind of curious to know how he feels as the event unfolds”

He also praised Tiger Woods by saying “He is really intelligent and he’s a great golf mind, so I’m looking forward to talking to Tiger.”

The US team have lost three straight ryder cups and are going into the event at Valhalla as underdogs as Europe seem to have the strongest team.

US Ryder Cup Captain Paul Azinger has picked Chad Campbell, Steve Stricker, JB Holmes and Hunter Mahan have been given the four US wildcard picks.

The four of them failed to make the automatic spots but have been given the nod by Paul Azinger for the match against the Europeans at Valhalla.

US Ryder Cup Captain Paul Azinger is set to pick his four wildcard picks for the 2008 Ryder Cup at Valhalla this afternoon.

Azinger has a couple of Ryder Cup veterans to pick from who didn’t make it into the automatic places. Steve Stricker, Zach Johnson and Scott Verplank are all hoping for wildcard picks along side JB Holmes, Hunter Mahan, Sean O’Hair and Woody Austin.

The four wildcard picks will be playing along side the eight players who have already qualified in Phil Mickelson, Stewart Cink, Kenny Perry, Anthony Kim, Ben Curtis, Justin Leonard, Boo Weekly and Jim Furyk.

Justin Rose, Soren Hansen and Oliver Wilson have booked the last 3 automatic places for the european ryder cup for 2008 at valhalla.

After the Johnnie Walker Championship it was Nick Dougherty who narrowly missed out and Rose, Hansen and Wilson gaining the automatic places.

Nick Dougherty could still make the ryder cup team but would need a wildcard pick, as he needed a second place finish at gleneagles.

The automatic ryder cup places for the European team have been filled by Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson, Robert Karlsson, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Graeme McDowell, Justin Rose, Soren Hanson and Oliver Wilson.

Nick Faldo’s wildcard picks will be annouced at 6pm during a press conference.

Northern Ireland golfer Darren Clarke won the KLM Open in Holland by four shots to put himself in a very strong position for one of Nick Faldos wild card picks for the Ryder Cup.

Darren Clarke produced some of his best golf for a number of years to see off Paul Mcginley and Henrik Stenson who finished four shots behind.

40 Year old Darren Clarke has now almost certainly guaranteed himself a wild card pick with the other probably now a straight fight between Colin Montgomerie and Paul Casey. Ian Poulter has withdrawn from the Johnnie Walker Classic next week to play in America which may have ended his chances of a wild card pick.

The absence of Tiger Woods since his wrist injury has shown a drop in TV listings for the British Open at Royal Birkdale, WGC Bridgestone Invitational and PGA Championship (USPGA) at Oakland Hills.

Since woods has been missing through injury there has been 3 big golf tournaments (2 majors and the World Golf Championship). During 2007 Tiger Woods won the World Golf Championship and USPGA tournaments.

The World Golf Championships in 2008 attracted 34% less viewers than in 2007 when Woods shot a brilliant final round 65 to win the tournament by 8 shots. For the USPGA viewers were down 50% on the 2007 year. For the British Open in 2007 it was Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia battling it out on the final day with Harrington eventually winning. The British Open stats again show a sharp decline with a third of people switching off compared to the 2007 results.

Over the last couple of years golf audiences have been dropping but could Tiger Woods be really affecting the viewing numbers out there?

Northern Ireland Golfer Darren Clarke has admitted he will need to play some of his best ever golf over the next two weeks if he is going to get a wild card pick of European Ryder Cup Captain Nick Faldo.

Darren Clarke who can no longer qualify automatically for the Ryder Cup Team faces a massive challenge to be in the team come September at Valhalla.

Clarke will be competing for two wildcards with Colin Montgomerie, Ian Poulter, Paul Casey and Carl Pettersson when Nick Faldo makes his picks on the 31st August.

in 2006 at the K Club Darren Clarke was an inspiration and ehlped to inspire the team to victory.

South African Ernie Els has come out in support for the having golf an Olympic sport in 2016.

For the 2012 Olympics in London golf unfortunately missed out and will not feature. However for the 2016 Olympics Golf is competing against baseball, roller sports, karate, softball, squash and rugby sevens for two places.

Golf previously was at the Olympics in 1904 where only 2 Canadians and over 70 Americans competed for the Olympic Golf Gold Medal.

By October in 2009 Golf will know whether it has gained Olympic status as the International Olympic Commitee meet in Denamark in October 2009.

After another important point scoring weekend in golf the european and US teams have taken a little more shape.

The current european team is looking like this -

1. (1) Padraig Harrington - Ireland
2. (2) Lee Westwood - England
3. (3) Sergio Garcia - Spain
4. (4) Henrik Stenson - Sweden
5. (5) Robert Karlsson - Sweden
6. (6) Miguel Angel Jimenez - Spain
7. (7) Graeme McDowell - Northern Ireland
8. (8) Justin Rose - England
9. (9) Oliver Wilson - England
10. (10) Soren Hansen - Denmark

The european team is a good mix of experience and first timers who have had a good team.

Englands Lee Westwood has 5 caps previously, Ireland’s in form golfer Padraig Harrington has 4 caps as does Spains Sergio Garcia. Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain has 2 previous caps with Henrik Stenson and Robert Karlsson both having one previous cap. All other current european players have never previously played in the Ryder Cup.