Tag: sports
Big Break The Palm Beaches announces cast
An Iraq war veteran hoping to become the first amputee to compete in a PGA Tour event is among the cast for Big Break The Palm Beaches, which will begin its run at 9 p.m. Monday, Feb. 2 on The Golf Channel.
Golf Channel filmed its 23rd season of The Big Break last September on four courses at PGA National Resort and announced its cast of 12 aspiring professionals Wednesday. At stake is more than $120,000 in cash and prizes, including a spot in the field of the Barbasol Championship, a new Tour event scheduled opposite the British Open July 13-19 at Opelika, Ala.
Chad Pfeifer of Scottsdale, Ariz., is among the cast members. A veteran of the Iraq War who lost his left leg while on duty, Pfeifer learned how to play golf while rehabbing and credits the game with saving his life.
The cast also includes brothers Wesley and George Bryan, who both starred collegiately at the University of South Carolina; Floridians Clay Myers from Orlando and Robert Rohanna from Naples; 39-year-old Tommy Schaaf of Savannah, Ga., the oldest cast member and one who has 25 mini-tour wins but hasn't had the financial means to get to the next level, and South African Kyle Scott, who earned conditional status on the Web.com Tour in last month's Qualifying Tournament, also at PGA National.
Aside from the PGA Tour exemption, prizes include $60,000 in cash, an Adams Golf endorsement contract, $10,000 in car rental credit from Avis Car Rental and a week-long return trip for two to PGA National Resort and Spa that includes a chef's private dinner at Ironwood Steak & Seafood.
Competition took place last September on the Champion, Palmer, Fazio and Squire courses.
PGA Tour members who have come through the Big Break program include winners Matt Every and Tommy "Two Gloves" Gainey; while the women's side has produced LPGA regulars Gerina Piller, Kristy McPherson and Ryann O'Toole.
Author bbigganePosted on January 14, 2015 Categories Brian Biggane, PGA Tour, Web.com TourTags Chad Pfeifer, Clay Myers, George Bryan, Gerina Piller, Kristy McPherson, Kyle Scott, Matt Every, Robert Rohanna, Ryann O'Toole, sports, Tommy "Two Gloves" Gainey, Tommy Schaaf, Wesley BryanLeave a comment on Big Break The Palm Beaches announces cast
Tiger Woods commits to play Phoenix, Torrey Pines
Tiger Woods will begin his 2015 season later this month in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Willie J. Allen Jr., File)
The Super Bowl will have some high-profile competition for attention later this month when Tiger Woods makes his first appearance at the Phoenix Open in 14 years.
The Jupiter Island resident announced his first two events of the year on his website Friday. He'll be playing the Waste Management Phoenix Open from Jan. 29-Feb. 1 and the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Feb. 5-8.
The Super Bowl will be played in Glendale, just outside Phoenix, on Sunday, Feb. 1.
While the Honda Classic hasn't heard anything from Woods as yet, his early-season plans bode well for a possible fourth straight appearance at PGA National. Woods would have two full weeks off after Torrey Pines before what has become his hometown tournament in Palm Beach Gardens. He has typically played the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral the week after Honda.
Phoenix represents an unusually early start to the season for Woods, who has in recent years usually made Torrey Pines his first event.
While this will be Woods' fourth appearance in Phoenix, the previous three all came early in his career. He aced the par-3 16th hole in 1997 to set off a raucous celebration at what has become one of the most iconic par-3 stadium settings on the PGA Tour. He played there again in 1999 and 2001; his fifth-place finish in 2001 has been his best result.
Woods hasn't played in an official PGA Tour event since missing the cut at the PGA Championship at Valhalla last August. He took three-and-a-half months off to rest his ailing back, then finished last in an 18-man field at the Hero Challenge in December in Orlando.
Woods has signed on Chris Como as a consultant after dismissing Sean Foley as his swing coach in August. But he has insisted he hasn't tried out a new swing; rather, he's gone back to some things that worked when he was younger.
Woods said on his website, http://www.Tigerwoods.com, that he's excited about his upcoming schedule.
"It will be great to return to Phoenix," he said. "The crowds are amazing and always enthusiastic, and the 16th hole is pretty unique in golf. Torrey is a very important place to me. My pop took me there when I was younger, and I have a lot of special memories of watching the Tour play there when I was growing up."
Woods, who turned 39 on Dec. 30, has won a record seven times at Torrey Pines.
NBC analyst Johnny Miller said this week that Woods' early-season play will be crucial to him having a successful season after he went winless in 2014, when he played in only seven events.
"He needs to get off to a good start, especially at San Diego and these tournaments coming up that he usually wins," Miller said.
"Hopefully he can do that and build some confidence, because his confidence _ you can't get confidence a little bit on the practice tee and practice grounds. You've got to do it when the bell rings.
"I'm pulling for him. I hope he does well. I think it would be good for golf."
Author bbigganePosted on January 9, 2015 January 9, 2015 Categories Brian Biggane, PGA TourTags Chris Como, Sean Foley, sports, Tiger WoodsLeave a comment on Tiger Woods commits to play Phoenix, Torrey Pines
Golf writers honor Rory McIlroy as Player of the Year
I waited until the last minute to submit my votes, but at least two of the three categories in the Golf Writers Association of America competition for Player of the Year really were no-brainers. As it turned out, all three winners reside in Palm Beach County and all three got my votes.
Rory McIlroy won Male Player of the Year for the PGA Tour for the second time in three years and it wasn't close, as he picked up 94 percent of the vote. McIlroy didn't exactly shoot out of the box, losing in a four-way playoff at the Honda Classic and nearly missing the cut at the Masters, but his form started coming around with a sixth-place finish at The Players in May and he wound up winning three times, including the British Open and PGA Championship.
The two major wins give him four for his career at age 25, tying him for third with Ernie Els among active players behind Tiger Woods (14) and Phil Mickelson (5). He'll try to complete his career grand slam at the Masters in April.
"Truly a great honor for me," McIlroy said. "This award is testimony to my best year as a professional golfer and something I can aim toward winning again as I go into next season."
Another no-brainer was the choice of Boca Raton resident Bernhard Langer's selection as Senior Player of the Year. Langer won twice on the Champions Tour and took home the Schwab Cup for his season-long excellence. He was named on 90 percent of the ballots and also won for the second time; the first came in 2010.
Langer's season was made more impressive by the fact he's now 57; the vast majority of winners on the Champions Tour are in the 50-55 category, but he just keeps on going.
The closest of the three votes came in the Female Player of the Year category, where Stacy Lewis garnered 57 percent of the vote to edge out Lydia Ko and Michelle Wie. Lewis, like McIlroy a Palm Beach Gardens resident, won three times and also topped the money list, won the scoring title and took home Rolex Player of the Year honors.
"It is tough to win one, let alone all three," Lewis said. "It's a true honor to be recognized by as GWAA Player of the Year for the second time." Like McIlroy, she previously won in 2012.
Author bbigganePosted on January 7, 2015 January 7, 2015 Categories Brian Biggane, Champions Tour, LPGA, PGA TourTags Bernhard Langer, Ernie Els, Lydia Ko, Michelle Wie, Rory McIlroy, sports, Stacy LewisLeave a comment on Golf writers honor Rory McIlroy as Player of the Year
5 storylines as PGA Tour prepares to resume in Hawaii
The advent of a new year means the start (actually the resumption) of the PGA Tour season won't be far behind. As we look forward to the Tournament of Champions kicking things off in Hawaii the week of Jan. 9-12, here are five storylines to watch, with an emphasis on the ever-growing number of players in the Palm Beach Post circulation area:
1. Tiger Woods' quest to get his form back and resume his pursuit of 18 majors. Hall of Famer Nick Price says he won't bet against Tiger's chances to catch Jack Nicklaus, but these days he's clearly in the minority. The experts did see some positives in the Jupiter Island resident's play at the Hero Challenge in December, but everyone agrees he's a long way from his glory days of 10-15 years ago and even has work to do to get close to his 2013 form, when he won five times. One of the intriguing elements to Woods' return is when he'll play. There haven't been any announcements yet but it's a good bet he'll tee it up at Torrey Pines in January, Honda and Doral in February and March, and of course The Masters in April. Will he see the need to get in more work and play more frequently? One would expect the answer to that question is yes.
2. Rory McIlroy goes for a career grand slam at The Masters. At just 25, the Palm Beach Gardens resident is already tied with Ernie Els for third on the list of active major winners with four, leaving him behind only Woods (14) and Phil Mickelson (5). Winning his second PGA Championship and first British Open in 2014 left McIlroy needing only a Masters win to complete the set, and that quest will dominate the discussion leading up to Augusta this year. The expectation that he would have one green jacket already peaked in 2011 when he took a four-shot lead to the final round before shooting 80 and fading to 15th. His best finish was in 2014, when he wound up eighth, but that was deceiving: he barely made the 36-hole cut and played his third round with a ringer before closing fast and earning what many (including himself) have called a back-door top 10. But there's little doubt McIlroy has the game to compete at Augusta _ as long as his putter doesn't betray him.
3. Brooks Koepka plays his first full year on the PGA Tour. As many great golfers live in this area, Koepka, 24, has the potential to be the first bona fide star to be born and raised here. In a recent Sports Illustrated, golf writer John Garrity professed his opinion that Koepka will be the breakout star of the Tour in 2015. He's got a win under his belt from the Turkish Open in November and a top-five finish in a major, having tied for fourth at the 2014 U.S. Open. Koepka finished 2014 ranked No. 34 in the world, an improvement of 52 spots from a year ago, only two spots behind Woods and ahead of luminaries such as Jason Dufner (38) and Steve Stricker (41). Locals can look forward to seeing him at both Honda and Doral this year.
4. Time for Rickie Fowler to revisit the winner's circle. The charismatic Fowler set out to compete in majors last year and accomplished that goal in spectacular fashion, finishing in the top five in all four events including seconds at both the U.S. and British Open. That's great, but in five years on the Tour the Jupiter resident still has only one win, that coming in the 2012 Wells Fargo Championship. He's the first to say that has to change and that will be his goal for 2015. His rise in world ranking alone _ he went from 40th at the end of 2013 to ninth a few weeks ago and ends the year at 10th _ says he's more than capable.
5. Maintaining a top-notch field could be a challenge for the Honda Classic. Executive director Ken Kennerly has done a masterful job in building the field over the past several years for the PGA Tour's annual stop at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens. (Last year's field had the world's top eight players until Jason Day withdrew due to a thumb injury.) This year that quest could be made more difficult by the fact the Honda follows not the WGC-Accenture Match Play, as it has in recent years, but the Northern Trust in Los Angeles. It would be easy for top players to wrap up their West Coast swing at Riviera, take a week off and resume play at the Cadillac Championship at Doral. Kennerly does have history working in his favor, as this will be the ninth straight year the Tour has come to the same course, and those looking for a chance to play on Bermuda grass before the important WGC event a week later will surely be on hand. Then there are the locals, from Woods to McIlroy to Koepka, who make this one of their mandatory stops.
Author bbigganePosted on December 27, 2014 December 27, 2014 Categories Brian Biggane, PGA TourTags Brooks Koepka, Jack Nicklaus, Jason Day, Ken Kennerly, Nick Price, Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, Rory McIlroy, sports, Tiger WoodsLeave a comment on 5 storylines as PGA Tour prepares to resume in Hawaii
Jim Furyk 'very pleased' with first Ryder Cup task force meeting
The PGA of America has been very hush-hush about what went on at last week's initial Ryder Cup task force meeting in Palm Beach Gardens, the explanation being that the four-hour huddle came to no real conclusions to there was no reason to get into any specifics.
In that regard, it was nice of task force member Jim Furyk to stop by Banyan Golf Club in West Palm Beach Monday morning for a fundraiser to benefit the Jim & Tabitha Foundation to fill us in on a few of the details.
"It was productive," Furyk said in a 15-minute media interview before beginning the day-long festivities. "I was very pleased with how well everyone worked together, and how ideas were shared. It was a very open discussion; nobody felt like they had to hold anything back if they weren't happy about something. Everyone was very open with their beliefs."
Furyk, 44, made the drive of four-plus hours both from and back to his home in Ponte Vedra Beach, near Jacksonville, for the occasion. He said others present included Phil Mickelson, who made the trip from his home in San Diego; Tiger Woods, Raymond Floyd, PGA of America executives Derek Sprague and Pete Bevacqua. Rickie Fowler, on vacation in the Bahamas, participated by phone as did Steve Stricker, who was in Naples, and Davis Love, in Orlando.
"The first thing I was concerned about is there were a lot of chiefs in one room," Furyk said. "Everybody that plays golf works for ourselves – we don't have a boss – so everyone has a dominant personality, everyone wants to bring something to the table.
"I was just interested to hear everybody's opinion. I've played with Tiger and Phil and Davis and 'Strick,' and been around them so much that we've shared a lot of these ideas in the past. We've gone out to dinner, our families are friends, and we've talked about things that need to be improved.
"It was good. We didn't' come up with any answers. The first step was getting together and bouncing a bunch of ideas out there. Try to narrow the scope in different areas as far as future captain, points, picks, timing of when things should happen. We did a very good job of that."
Furyk said he'd been forwarded a story from last week's Palm Beach Post in which Billy Horschel was quoted as saying the task force was "a bunch of political BS" and, knowing Horschel well, took it up with him. He said Horschel admitted it was a poor choice of words.
"What I told Billy and would want to tell all the young kids is that we've been given a really unique opportunity to maybe not change the Ryder Cup for me, or for Phil, or Tiger, or 'Strick,' but to move things in a positive direction for that generation.
"I told Billy he would be one of the guys I'd hope will be carrying the torch in the future, representing the U.S., and that we've been given an opportunity to make some positive changes for his generation. He's an emotional guy, he's fiery. I know he didn't mean anything by it."
Furyk said Julius Mason, the Senior Director of Communications and Media Relations for the PGA of America, has everyone's schedule and is working to arrange the group's next meeting. He said that may happen at Torrey Pines in early February, where Woods, Mickelson and others typically begin their season.
"We have taken it seriously," Furyk said, "and we really think we can do something good with this."
Author bbigganePosted on December 15, 2014 Categories Brian Biggane, Ryder CupTags Billy Horschel, Davis Love, Derek Sprague, Jim Furyk, Pete Bevacqua, Phil Mickelson, Raymond Floyd, sports, Steve Stricker, Tiger WoodsLeave a comment on Jim Furyk 'very pleased' with first Ryder Cup task force meeting
Tom Watson opts for pedigree, experience in Ryder Cup captain's picks
U.S. Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson opted for pedigree and experience Tuesday evening in his three captain's picks for the 2014 matches to be contested later this month in Gleneagles, Scotland.
Jupiter resident Keegan Bradley was Watson's first selection and he was later joined by Hunter Mahan and Webb Simpson as the captain announced his picks for the biennial event set for the weekend of Sept. 26-28. Bradley and Simpson are both former major champions while Mahan won the prestigious Barclays two weeks ago.
The nine players who had previously qualified for the U.S. team through the point standings were Bubba Watson, Matt Kuchar, Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, Zach Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Jimmy Walker and Patrick Reed.
Earlier in the day, Europe captain Paul McGinley had announced his picks, rounding out his team with Palm Beach Gardens resident Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Scotsman Stephen Gallacher. Previously qualified were world No. 1 Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson, Victor Dubuisson, Graeme McDowell, Jamie Donaldson, Thomas Bjorn, Sergio Garcia, Martin Kaymer and Justin Rose.
Notable exclusions from the U.S. team included Chris Kirk, who just Monday won the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston, as well as Ryan Moore, Brendon Todd and Brandt Snedeker. All three players picked have previous Ryder Cup experience; they and their teammates all feel they have a score to settle with a European team that has won five of the last six Ryder Cups.
Watson's decision to select Simpson over was something of a surprise and likely will raise some controversy. Kirk was ahead of Simpson in the Ryder Cup point standings and is No. 1 in the latest FedEx Cup standings. He has also won twice this year and Monday's win in a FedEx Cup event ranks as the biggest of his career.
But Watson, who said he "had a revelation" Tuesday morning in looking at statistics that showed Simpson, the 2011 U.S. Open champion at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, deserved the opportunity. Simpson went 2-2 as a member of the U.S. team that lost a heartbreaker at Medinah in 2012.
Bradley admitted he has put pressure on himself the past few months and he recent results have suffered as a result. He missed the cut at the PGA Championship, finished 53rd at The Barclays and after a fast start faded to 16th at the Deutsche Bank.
But Bradley made a formidable team with Mickelson at last year's Presidents Cup and Watson praised what he called his "unbridled passion" for the event.
Bradley described the call from Watson Monday morning informing him he had been selected as "one of the best moments of my career, because it's so special."
Watson said his selection of Mahan was due in part to the great form he showed in winniing The Barclays and in part to the great form he has shown in finishing in the top five in four of the last five WGC-Accenture Match Play events.
Even Mahan admitted his victory at The Barclays was a "huge, timely win," adding, "I could not have won a bigger tournament at a better time."
The U.S. figures to be a significant underdog in the matches, as they not only will be on European soil but will feature three newcomers in Spieth, Reed and Walker. Also hurting the U.S. chances are the fact Jason Dufner is out with a neck injury, Tiger Woods opted out after struggling in his return from back surgery and Dustin Johnson is reportedly serving a drug-related suspension.
But Watson, who captained the U.S. to victory at The Belfry in England in 1993, the last time the Americans have won on European soil, said the bitter memories of the loss at Medinah should give his team incentive.
"That was a hard loss for American players," he said. "And a lot of them want to make up for it."
Author bbigganePosted on September 2, 2014 December 23, 2014 Categories Brian Biggane, Ryder CupTags From the Bunker, Hunter Mahan, Keegan Bradley, Paul McGinley, sports, Tom Watson, Webb SimpsonLeave a comment on Tom Watson opts for pedigree, experience in Ryder Cup captain's picks