Stenson Wins Accenture Match Play- Funk Wins In Mexico

Henrik Stenson was pretty impressive Sunday hell he was pretty impressive all week. After playing 120 holes in five days in the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. Stenson's all around game was just amazing. In the finals that featured five lead changes and countless mood shifts,Stenson made back-to-back birdies for a 2 & 1 victory.
Stenson Road to Victory
Round 1 def. Zach Johnson, 1-up
Round 2 def. K.J. Choi, 2-up
Round 3 def. Aaron Baddeley, 4&3
Quarter Final def. Nick OHern, 1-up
Semi-Final def. Trevor Immelman, 3&2
Final def. Geoff Ogilvy, 2&1


Stenson move to No. 5 in the world, taking his place among the elite, the highest ranking ever by a Swede, Jesper Parnevik was ranked #7 a few years back. He earned $1.35 million to move atop the PGA European Tour Order of Merit. Pretty impressive week. I had Stenson in my Ottawa Golf Fantasy League so that help vault me to #1 with another top 10 week.

In Mexico Fred Funk won the Mayakoba Golf Classic on the second hole of a playoff with Jose Coceres. Funk becomes the second man to win a PGA Tour event after winning on the Champions Tour(Craig Stadler was the other). Funk earned $630,000 for his eighth career PGA Tour victory.

Funk Leads Mayakoba Golf Classic

Fred Funk goes and shoots a 62 for the first round lead of the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Mexico the other PGA event going on this week. I don't think he'll win it because I don't think he'll be able to put 4 great rounds together, we'll see. My Yahoo Fantasy picks for this event went a little like this:
Cameron Beckman shooting a 64 -16 pts.
Ted Purdy shooting a 67 -10 pts.
Jesper Parnevik shooting a 69 -6 pts.
Harrison Frazar shooting a 69-6 pts.

Big Names Lose at Accenture Match Play

Upset were plenty on the second day at the Accenture Match Play. Chad Campbell's match went into extra holes where he defeated Jim Furyk in 19 holes. Aaron Baddeley continued his hot ways and defeated Luke Donald 1 up. At one point Donald was up 3 after 12 holes but bogeys killed him and Badds smelled blood and won. Phil Mickelson lost 3 and 1 to another hot player in Justin Rose, how many have him in any Fantasy Leagues. Same thing for CH III who handily defeated Sergio Garcia 4 & 3. Another upset was Nicolas Fasth who won 1 up against Retief Goosen. Fasth just narrowly won his first round to Joe Durant and finally VJ lost to none other than Stephen Ames. So there's definitely some players you wouldn't of though would have advanced this far, we'll see what Friday brings.

Of my 6 picks left after Wednesdays matches I only have 3 players left after Thursday, that being Tiger, Toms and Henrik Stenson. There matches are as follows:

12:00 PM

53

Tiger Woods vs Nick O'Hern

12:12 PM

54

Aaron Baddeley vs Henrik Stenson

12:24 PM

55

Chad Campbell vs David Toms

Nicole Perrot - LPGA Golf Babe

My wife always bugs me that on top of loving to play golf, I watch a damn lot of golf on T.V. also mostly PGA Tour and European Tour events with the occasionally LPGA Tour Events and speaking of the LPGA Tour there's some wicked ladies that can hit the ball. Over at GolfWRX.com
there's a great post of pictures from the latest LPGA Tour event, the Fields Open from Hawaii courtesy of Pitbull808 "Reid"
My favorite being of Nicole Perrot who's lovely to look at and is a fine golfer to boot with one LPGA Tour victory. Here's hoping she wins this week after posting a 69 in the first round.

Darren Clarke Using New Scotty Newport Detour At Accenture Match Play

Darren Clarke lost to Sergio Garcia in 19 holes at the Accenture Match Play yesterday. He did manage to hit some sweet putts but it wasn't with his usual Scotty RedX 2, which he has used for years.

He was using a new Scotty Newport Detour putter which supposedly will be out later this year. Check out the pictures courtesy of Imagewire.com:

How Did Your First Round Picks Do?-Accenture Match Play

Well after the first round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play I came out pretty good as the only one who lost was Ernie Els who got spanked by Bradley Dredge of Wales 4 and 2.
Hard to believe with the way Ernie was playing he lost to Mr Dredge who is ranked 62nd in the World. My other picks who advanced were Tiger who disposed of J.J. Henry 3 and 2. Retief Goosen also won defeating Scott Verplank 5 and 4. The others were:
Padraig Harrington defeats Lee Westwood after 19 holes
Phil Mickelson defeats Richard Green 1 up
Henrik Stenson defeats Zach Johnson 1 up
David Toms defeats Oberholser 5 and 4

The interesting match ups for the 2nd Round should be the young guns like Sergio Garcia vs Charles Howell III and Luke Donald vs Aaron Baddeley. Also Ryder Cup Stars Paul Casey vs Colin Montgomerie should be interesting.

Metcalfe Golf and Country Club- Projected Opening Date April 19th

I received an email from a local course the other day, Metcalfe Golf and Country Club, as I read it I noticed they'll be at the 13th Annual Ottawa Golf & Travel Show which they're at ever year. Upon further reading I noticed there projected opening date of Thursday April 19th and a large smile came ove rmy face, that's only 57 days away, can't wait.

Field Set for the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship

The bracket is out for the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship starting this Wednesday at the Gallery Golf Club at Dove Mountain, South Course in Tuscon, Arizona. J.J. Henry got into the field as Sunday afternoon as South Africa's Charl Schwartzel withdrew. He's set to face Tiger, so he probably won't last long but anything can happen in match play. A few others will be hanging around the Gallery at Dove Mountain waiting to see if they'll be anymore withdrawals. So don't go far John Senden, Dean Wilson and others, you never know. A printable bracket can be found at PGATour.com

The course is out in the desert in Tuscon and there's a drivable par 4 on each of the nines so the bomber could have the advantage(#7 & #12).There's also 4 par 5s so long drivers will have the advantage there also. Some early matchups that look interesting include Paul Casey and Mike Weir, Sergio against Darren Clarke, Tim Clarke and Robert Allenby and finally Appleby will also have his hands full with CH III.

Charle Howell III defeats Mickelson on 3rd Hole of Playoff

It was nice to see CH III beat Phil in a playoff. Phil probably could of had it wrapped up on the final regulation hole but instead hit a less conservative shot and couldn't get up and down for par, the bogey also on #13 also hurt him too. CH III round of 65 put him into the playoff where he made 3 solid pars on route to his 2nd PGA Tour win. It really was his putting down the stretch that propelled him to the win. He's had so many seconds in his career I'm sure he's ecstatic for his 2nd win.
My OttawaGolf.com Fantasy Picks worked out quite nice as all 7 made the cut, including these as my top 5:
1. Charles Howell III
2. Phil Mickelson
T3. Ernie Els
T3. Robert Allenby
T3. Jim Furyk
Pretty sweet, my Yahoo leagues also worked out nice as I had Howell III, Allenby, and Jim Furyk for bonus points because of there finishes.

New Firefox Theme- Firefox 2 Vista Black Beta

Very cool dark theme for Firefox. Just unrar the file and drag and drop in extensions window. Firefox 2 Vista Black Beta

Rich Beem Vaults to -11 with Ace on the 16th at Nissan Open

You had to love Rich Beem's reaction after jamming a 7 iron on the 176-yard par 3 14th hole at Riviera. This guy is just an ordinary guy elated with jarring a 7 iron, he hopped right up onto the Red Nissan that was by the hole. Couldn't see Tiger or Phil do this. Beemer hasn't won since 2002 where he won the 2002 INTERNATIONAL and the PGA Championship at Hazeltine. Who cares his reaction was great and also his 3rd round score of 65 which puts him in the final group. It wasn't too long ago this guy was selling cell phones and car stereos. Good for him, I don't think he'll pull out the win tomorrow but he sure might make it interesting.

This week at the Nissan Open- Fantasy Picks

Well it looks like it might be another good week for my Fantasy Picks, although I'll have to admit with 9 of the 10 Top ranked players in the field this week, you know the cream will always rise to the top. It looks like my picks all 7 of them will make the cut. That being Phil, Ernie, Allenby, Scott, Weir, CH III, and Furyk. I'd picked Padraig last weekend maybe I should of picked him this weekend he's gone and tied for the lead after the second round but I believe he'll fade a little as Phil may win two in a row or maybe CH III who's do for a win. We'll wait and see.

3balls.com- Great Golf Club Shopping with Coupon Codes

If you are a golfer you’re always looking for deals. Maybe it’s on the next greatest driver from Callaway or TaylorMade or that Cleveland wedge that’s going to get you up and out of the bunker for a birdie or maybe that new golf ball by Srixon or Titleist that explodes off the club face of your driver. At any rate I’m a golfer and I’m always looking for deals. Check out the online coupon codes you can use at 3balls.com on TaylorMade drivers, golf balls and more. More coupon codes can be found here at CouponChief.com

Mickelson Wins...You Gotta Be Kiddin'

For the last few weeks I was tired of the way Phil Mickelson was playing. Driver would be all over the place, then his short game was inconsistent then his putter took a U turn. I'd had him in my Fantasy League for numerous weeks with no great showings. So this past week I just pull him from all my leagues and what does he do goes and wins the AT&T Pebble Beach Open by 5 shots. I disregarded his track record at the tournament entirely, now see where it got me. Way to go Phil. Thanks buddy.

Darren Clarke slips from the World top 50

Not surprisingly Darren Clarke has slipped out of the top 50 in the World Golf Rankings. His wife passing away last year needless to say his schedule was quite limited. His goal this year is to get back the game that once had him much higher in the rankings. Even though he finished in 20th-place finish at the Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday, his ranking drop from 47th to 51st. this week he's playing Malaysian Open where he opened with a 74.

Picks for Pebble Beach

There will be many who will pick the usual for Pebble Beach like VJ, Phil and Jim Furyk but because I think Mike Weir will do well this week, as the courses set up for him nice as you don't have to be a long hitter, it's more about putting and GIR. Weir has had a great track record here as you can see fro his stats. He hasn't won since 2004 and he's due. A few sleepers might be Nick Watney, Daniel Chopra or Jesper who can't miss 4 cuts in a row.

Badds Wins in Phoenix off to Pebble Beach

Aaron Baddeley soars down the stretch with birdies and Quinney implodes as Aaron wins his second PGA Tour title. The tournament definitely took a back seat to the Super Bowl, but was just as exciting as a few golfers could of easily won. Off to Pebble Beach this week.

Charley Hoffman with his Custom Red X at the Buick

Bad Fantasy Golf Week

The old picks this week were definitley a bust this week. With Calc., Jesper, Charley, and Phil missing this weekend. It could be anyones tournament in Phoenix this week maybe another first time winner like Charley Hoffman did a few weeks back. Others getting an early jump on their Super Bowl weekend include defending champ J.B. Holmes (1 under), Tom Lehman (1 under), Rocco Mediate (even), and Steve Jones (4 over), as well as Justin Leonard (even), Fred Couples (even), Geoff Ogilvy (1 over) and John Daly (1 over). Who'll win we'll have to wait and see but I'll bet it will be more exciting then the Super Bowl.

Eagle Creek’s Fate Still To Be Determined

There's been alot of talk lately about ClubLink acquiring Eagle Creek Golf Course in Dunrobin just outside of Ottawa. First the talk was quite active on the ever popular OttawaGolf.com forum
Now it seems like local Sports Sun Columnist has posted to his blog on Feb.1/07, stay tuned.