News: THE PLAYERS
May 8 2012
5:50 pm
Choi has tall task ahead
By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Prior to last year, K.J. Choi had finished in the top 25 at THE PLAYERS Championship just twice in nine trips to TPC Sawgrass. Not exactly a great track record.
Then of course in 2011, he beat David Toms in a playoff.
No one, however, has successfully defended their title in 37 previous PLAYERS Championship.
“This is the type of a course where you have to really concentrate on every shot,” Choi said Tuesday. “There’s so much pressure out there, emotionally, not only golf-wise, but you have to have control of your emotions as well. “You have to set your expectations low and not ignore all the risks that are out there, because if you lose one shot that could be it. That could be the end of the tournament.”
Choi comes into this year’s PLAYERS Championship having not exactly played his best, either.
He missed two of his last three cuts and hasn’t had a top 10 since the season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions.
Now he’ll try to do what no other player has done here: Successfully defend.
“I think this course is good in a way because it gives a fair amount of chance to both guys who can hit the ball long, and also guys who don’t hit it as long,” he said. “Everybody has a chance.”
Even Choi, no matter how slim it might seem.
News: THE PLAYERS
May 7 2012
12:57 pm
Matchups set for THE PLAYERS
The pairings have been unveiled for this week’s PGA TOUR Matchups Game on Facebook. You can check out the Matchups for the THE PLAYERS Championship below, or on the PGA TOUR’s Facebook page.
Participants have until 6 a.m. ET Thursday to make their picks. Log on to the PGA TOUR Facebook page and click the Matchups link to make your picks for this week, or to sign up.
GO TO FACEBOOK PAGE TO PLAY MATCHUPS GAME
| Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson | In dozens of starts, have just one PLAYERS win each |
| Rory McIlroy vs. Rickie Fowler | Rematch of last week’s epic playoff at Wells Fargo |
| K.J. Choi vs. Sergio Garcia | Two former champs each won title in a playoff |
| Hunter Mahan vs. Ben Crane | Close friends both have game for TPC Sawgrass |
| Vijay Singh vs. Davis Love III | Love III has two titles here. Singh looking for first. |
9:15 am
Live interview schedule
Tuesday, May 8
Rory McIlroy: 10 a.m. ET
Tiger Woods: 2 p.m. ET
K.J. Choi: 2:45 p.m. ET
Phil Mickelson: 3 p.m. ET
Hunter Mahan: 3:30 p.m. ET
Rickie Fowler: 4 p.m. ET
Wednesday, May 9
Luke Donald, 9 a.m. ET
David Toms, 1 p.m. ET
PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem, 2:30 p.m. ET
Davis Love III, TBD
News: Valero Texas Open
April 16 2012
1:42 pm
Matchups Game set for Valero Texas
The pairings have been unveiled for this week’s PGA TOUR Matchups Game on Facebook. You can check out the Matchups for the Valero Texas Open below, or on the PGA TOUR’s Facebook page.
Participants have until 6 a.m. ET Thursday to make their picks. Log on to the PGA TOUR Facebook page and click the Matchups link to make your picks for this week, or to sign up.
GO TO FACEBOOK PAGE TO PLAY MATCHUPS GAME
| K.J. Choi vs. Matt Kuchar | These two technicians are each seeking first win of year |
| Brendan Steele vs. Johnson Wagner | Defending champion takes on No. 5 in FedExCup points |
| Justin Leonard vs. Harrison Frazar | These two Texans have played together for almost 30 years |
| Charley Hoffman vs. Kevin Chappell | These two finished a shot behind Steele here last year |
| Bud Cauley vs. Harris English | It’s an SEC battle (Alabama vs. Georgia) between rookies. |
News: THE PLAYERS
April 12 2012
1:15 pm
Westwood, McIlroy set for PLAYERS
With THE PLAYERS Championship less than a month away, many notable players have committed to play at TPC Sawgrass.
Defending champion K.J. Choi will return in hopes of becoming the first player to successfully defend his title at the PGA TOUR’s signature event.
Adam Scott, the 2004 PLAYERS champ, will make his 11th PLAYERS start.
Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood, ranked No. 2 and No. 3 respectively in the Official World Golf Ranking, have also committed to play. Westwood has three top-10 finishes in this event, while McIlroy will be looking to make the cut for the first time at TPC Sawgrass.
Graeme McDowell, the 2010 U.S. Open champ, will be making his fifth PLAYERS start.
THE PLAYERS Championship will be held the week of May 7-13. For more information, click here.
News: Equipment notes
March 28 2012
3:52 pm
Tiger’s old ball and Ping’s new putter
By John Schwarb, PGATOUR.COM
Of all the corners of the golf world that exhaled with Tiger Woods winning an official PGA TOUR event for the first time in 30 months at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, perhaps the biggest exhale came from Nike headquarters.
Woods, of course, is the frontman for Nike Golf, having worn the swoosh on his clothes since joining the TOUR in 1996. He originally played Titleist golf balls in his early years as a pro, then picked up Nike’s new balls in 2000 and its clubs in 2002. Two years ago he shelved the last non-Nike product in his bag – his longtime trusty Scotty Cameron putter – for a Nike Method.
By winning at Bay Hill, Nike got a boost for its new VR Pro Blades, which feature a more precise forging process and Nike’s proprietary high-frequency grooves. What the company didn’t get as much of a boost for was its 20XI ball.
Though Woods’ hat has a 20XI logo on the side, his bag doesn’t have any of the company’s new resin-core balls. He’s still playing the ONE Tour D.
Whereas most TOUR players are quick to put the newest balls in play, Woods’ model is three years old. It’s the oldest item in his bag.
Nike ball design guru Rock Ishii told me at January’s PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando that he leans on Tiger every time he sees him to put a 20XI ball in play on TOUR, and that Tiger has had success with the ball in testing. But the ONE Tour D is still his choice.
Tough to argue after watching him win by five shots at the Arnold Palmer.
NEW NOME: Ping introduced the first USGA-approved adjustable-length belly putter shaft this week. Used on its Nome 405 putter, it allows a player to adjust the length within a 9-inch range (from 37.5 inches to 46.5 inches) to create his or her own custom fit.
“With the popularity of belly putters we saw a unique fitting opportunity because shaft length is so critical to performance,” Ping CEO John Solheim said. “Adjustability is key because the standard 42-inch belly putter fits a narrow range of people.”
To adjust the putter, Ping provides a tool that threads into a locking stainless-steel ring on the shaft, and when the ring is loosened, the shaft slides telescopically. Tightening the ring gets the putter ready for play again. (Like other adjustable clubs such as drivers, adjustable putters may not be changed during a round of golf, per USGA rules.) The shaft is available in Ping’s three different bends for a straight, slight arc and strong arc stroke types.
NEXT TO HEX: Callaway staff players Fredrik Jacobson and J.B. Holmes put Callaway’s new Hex Black Tour ball in play at Bay Hill for the first time, switching from the company’s older Tour i(z) model.
Jacobson also picked up fresh wedges for the upcoming Masters, moving away from the stock-soled wedges he prefers into grinds with bounces reduced and moved more toward the center of the sole. With the closely mown surfaces at Augusta National, less bounce is preferred by most players.
IMITATION: Reigning PLAYERS champion K.J. Choi visited Odyssey’s putter rep and asked for a duplicate of the White Hot XG #7H used by Luke Donald in winning the Transitions Championship. According to Callaway, he said there was something about the rails protruding off the back of the putterhead that made it far easier to swing on plane. The only modification Choi made to the putter was to add his usual Super Stroke Fatso grip.
WINNER’S BAG: Tiger Woods at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard:
Driver: Nike VR Tour (8.5 degree, Graphite Design DI 6X shaft)
Fairway wood: Nike VR Pro Limited Edition 3-wood (15 degrees); Nike SQ II 5-wood (19 degrees)
Irons: Nike VR Pro Blades (3-PW)
Wedges: Nike VR Pro (56, 60 degrees)
Putter: Nike Method 001
Ball: Nike ONE Tour D
News: Transitions Championship
March 14 2012
9:24 am
Notable groups: Transitions
The tee times for the first round of this week’s The Transitions Championships have been released. CLICK HERE for the tee times. Use the space below to comment about the pairings at the Copperhead Course.
Here’s a look at some of the notable groups in the first two rounds:
Zach Johnson/Geoff Ogilvy/Padraig Harrington, 8:27 a.m., No. 1
How strong is the field this week? This three major champions are among 17 that showed up.
John Huh/David Toms/Jonathan Byrd, 8:37 a.m., No. 1
Rookie John Huh finds himself in an "A" pairing after his win last month at the Mayakoba Classic.
Luke Donald/Justin Rose/K.J. Choi, 1:33 p.m, No. 1
The world No. 2 (Donald) tees it up with last week’s winner (Rose) and a two-time winner here (Choi).
Bud Cauley/Ryo Ishikawa/Tom Lewis, 2:04 p.m., No. 1
The oldest player in this group, Cauley, is all of 21 years old (in all fairness, he turns 22 on Friday). Lewis, who turned pro after last year’s British Open, makes his U.S. debut.
Gary Woodland/Webb Simpson/Scott Stallings, 1:22 p.m., No. 1
This trio finished 1-2-3 last year at Copperhead. Stallings is making his return to the TOUR after missing four weeks with an injury.
News: TOUR Notes
March 12 2012
1:39 pm
Matchups Game set for Transitions
The pairings have been unveiled for this week’s PGA TOUR Matchups Game on Facebook. You can check out the Matchups for the Transitions Championship below, or on the PGA TOUR’s Facebook page.
Participants have until 6 a.m. ET Thursday to make their picks. Log on to the PGA TOUR Facebook page and click the Matchups link to make your picks for this week, or to sign up.
GO TO FACEBOOK PAGE TO PLAY MATCHUPS GAME
THIS WEEK’S MATCHUPS
| Gary Woodland vs. Webb Simpson | Woodland handed Simpson a tough loss at Copperhead last year |
| Justin Rose vs. Luke Donald | Rose working on a season like the one Donald authored in 2011 |
| Brandt Snedeker vs. Jhonattan Vegas | It’s Vanderbilt (Snedeker) against Texas (Vegas) at Copperhead |
| Ryo Ishikawa vs. K.J. Choi | Asia’s top young player takes on Asia’s best over-40 player |
| Angel Cabrera vs. Zach Johnson | Two former Masters champions on road to Augusta National |
Round 1: Northern Trust Open
February 16 2012
4:26 pm
Choi relies on solid putter to shoot 69
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — K.J. Choi knew Thursday was going to be a challenging day as soon as he woke up at 4:30 a.m. local time.
"Outside wind there were palm trees like this," Choi said, waving his hand from side to side. "Very, very difficult on the golf course. Wind direction is different yesterday to today. … More difficult than a normal wind. And then downwind green is very firm, and control very difficult."
Even so, Choi managed to put together a solid round of 69 that left him one stroke off the lead when he finished his round early Thursday afternoon.
He was particularly pleased not to have missed a putt inside 5 feet on Thursday. He hit 10 fairways and 10 greens and used just 26 putts.
"Three more days, and I will continue focus and stay patient and finish the best (I can) this week," said Choi, who tied for seventh at Riviera last year and has three other top-10s.
Choi said the right-to-left wind made driving challenging "but luckily my putting was there, so I was able to recover." Choi said the poa annua greens were sometimes bumpy but always hard and fast — "even faster than Augusta at times, he noted — and determining the grain difficult.
"But what makes the Riviera Country Club so difficult is the targets are very small," Choi said. "But if you have control of what you’re doing, then obviously it’s going to make it easier."
Round 1: Sony Open in Hawaii
January 12 2012
8:12 pm
Choi finds his comfort zone
By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM
HONOLULU — K.J. Choi looked to his right, the Pacific Ocean just a few yards away, and smiled. It reminded him of his home in Wando, South Korea.
With one exception.
"We don’t have the coconuts," Choi said with a laugh.
No worries. Choi seems in his element playing golf at Waialae Country Club. He won the Sony Open in Hawaii here in 2008 and has two other top-10s. In Thursday’s first round, he posted a 5-under 65 to put him firmly in the hunt going into Friday’s second round.
Choi started slowly last week at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions but picked up steam as the tournament progressed, tying for fifth after shooting an 8-under 65 in the final round.
"I sort of had to play catch-up, and mentally I guess that’s where I was kind of frustrated," Choi said, "because I knew my body was good, but the feel for the shots wasn’t really there.
"But as the week went by, it caught up and I had more comfort."
No doubt he’s comfortable at this course.
"You just attack it the way you see it," Choi said, "and the wind, for me, I’m able to read the wind easier and I can control my iron shots better."
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