Golf Latest Headlines

[OnePiece]

Davis Love III, son Dru lead Father-Son Challenge

Published: Saturday, December 15, 2012 | 05:55:05 PM












Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP

Davis Love III, left, and his son Dru shot a 60 in the scramble format Saturday.




ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Davis Love III and son Dru birdied five of the last six holes for a 12-under 60 in the Father-Son Challenge scramble event, giving them a one-stroke lead Saturday after the first round.

Dru Love is an Alabama freshman after winning five Georgia state titles in high school.
"We could have been better," Davis Love III said, "but he made a couple of nice putts that kept it going. We birdied some of the hard holes and let a couple easy ones get away."

Mark O'Meara and son Shaun, and Fred and Taylor Funk were a stroke back, and Larry Nelson, who won the last two Father-Sons in 2007-08 before the event went on a three-year hiatus, was two shots back with son Josh.
Bernhard and Christina Langer, one of two father-daughter pairings, also was 10 under at the Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes along with 72-year-old Jack Nicklaus and son Gary, Hale and Steve Irwin, and Vijay and Qass Singh.
"We've got a chance," said Jack Nicklaus, who won the 1999 title with Gary as his partner. "It's all about winning; that's the way I've played all my life. I don't like second place, I don't like third place. I don't like any other place. I like first place."
Gary Nicklaus, who played on the PGA Tour from 2000-02, is a reinstated amateur who qualified for this year's U.S. Amateur.
The Loves finished second when the Father/Son was last played in 2008, when Dru was 14.
"I think this is completely different than when we played in it the other three times," said Davis Love III. "There's a lot of teams that can shoot a low score any day, and the course is just sitting there for you."

The Loves matched the best front-nine score at 7-under 29, then parred Nos. 10-12 to slip off the pace. A birdie at the short par-4 13th broke the skid.
The Funks only got into the field Wednesday, when Dave Stockton and son Dave Jr. withdrew because of a death in the family. Fred had to scramble to rearrange some sponsor obligations, but got in one pro-am round before teeing it up Saturday.
"It was tough to get it all worked out, but it was great," said Fred Funk, who qualified for the field by virtue of his 2005 Players Championship triumph.
Arnold Palmer, the oldest player in the field at 83, had an 80 in tandem with grandson Will Wears. It was the first appearance for the big-hitting Wears, a Pennsylvania high-school senior who watched cousin Sam Saunders play in earlier editions.
All players and caddies wore black ribbons to honor the victims of the school shootings in Connecticut. The tournament also held a moment of silence on the first tee before Lee and Connor Janzen struck the opening drives.

[OnePiece]

Sweden's Chopra leads rain-delayed Johor Open

Published: Saturday, December 15, 2012 | 05:25:48 PM











JOHOR, Malaysia (AP) -- Sweden's Daniel Chopra shot a 6-under 66 on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead after the second round of the rain-delayed Johor Open.
Chopra had a 10-under 134 total in the Asian Tour event at rainy Horizon Hills.
Thailand's Chapchai Nirat was second after a 67. American David Lipsky had a 73 to top the group at 8 under, and Spain's Sergio Garcia was 7 under after a 69.
South Africa's Ernie Els was 3 under after a 72.

[OnePiece]

Australian PGA may remain at Coolum after all

Published: Saturday, December 15, 2012 | 05:25:06 PM










Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images
A mechanical T-Rex named Jeff is on display between the ninth green and 10th tee at the Palmer Coolum Resort.

COOLUM, Australia (AP) -- The Australian PGA golf tournament may not be moving from its home of the past 11 years after all.
The PGA of Australia says it will consider a revised offer from the owner of the Palmer Coolum Resort to keep the event on the Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane.
After wrangling with resort owner and billionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer over signage and other sponsorship issues, the PGA of Australia chief executive Brian Thorburn said this week that the tournament would shift next year to another course in Queensland state.
But Thorburn said on Sunday that the board of directors would next week consider a new offer from Palmer that could see the event remain at the player-favored resort, which has a 26-foot robotic dinosaur outside the clubhouse.

[OnePiece]

Charl Schwartzel leads by 10 shots at Alfred Dunhill

Published: Saturday, December 15, 2012 | 11:25:05 AM










MALELANE, South Africa (AP) -- Charl Schwartzel shot an 8-under 64 Saturday to take a 10-stroke lead after three rounds of the Alfred Dunhill Championship and move to the brink of back-to-back titles.

The South African birdied five of his first eight holes and then had four birdies in a row from No. 12 to sit at 21 under. The 2011 Masters champion repeated the dazzling form that won him the Thailand Golf Championship by 11 shots last week.
Bourdy was alone in second at 11 under.
Sweden's Kristoffer Broberg, South Africa's Branden Grace and England's Steve Webster were 11 shots off the lead in a tie for third at 10 under.

[OnePiece]

Daniel Popovic, No. 1,251 in the world, maintains two-shot lead at Australian PGA

By DENNIS PASSA,AP Sports Writer | Published: Saturday, December 15, 2012 | 05:05:07 AM








Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images
Daniel Popovic made six birdies and three bogeys on Saturday.



COOLUM, Australia (AP) -- Daniel Popovic shot a 3-under-par 69 Saturday to take a two-stroke lead into the final round of an Australian PGA championship marked by lesser-known golfers dominating the marquee players.

Popovic, outside the top 1,000 in world rankings, had a 54-hole total of 13-under 203 on the Palmer Coolum Resort course. Fellow Australian Andrew Brown, who has never won as a professional and who has only one top-10 finish on the Australasian PGA Tour, shot 64 to move into second place.
U.S. Champions Tour regular Peter Senior, last week's Australian Open winner, was tied for third with fellow Australian Matthew Griffin. Senior shot 68 and Griffin 70 and were another stroke back.
Robert Allenby shot 68 and fellow Australian Geoff Ogilvy, who needs to be among the top three here in order to finish in the top 50 year-end world rankings and earn a U.S. Masters spot next year, had a 72 were tied for ninth at 208.
Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland, the 2011 British Open champion, shot a 72 was tied for 24th, eight strokes behind Popovic. South African Rory Sabatini (70) was 11 strokes out of the lead while Greg Norman, another player featured in the pre-tournament posters, only made it through two holes Thursday before withdrawing due to food poisoning.

The 26-year-old Popovic, who has led after all three rounds, nearly quit golf earlier this year due to his father's serious illness - his dad has incurable bone cancer. On Saturday, Popovic made a 15-foot birdie putt on the tough, water-lined 18th to give him his two-shot buffer into the final round.
"I knew that I had it in me and I still know that I have one more good round tomorrow in me," Popovic said. "I've just got to keep my routine going."
Popovic said his father would be watching the final round from his hospital bed, where he is undergoing further blood testing for his cancer.
"It's going to be an incredible ride for the whole family I think, tomorrow," Popovic said. "For myself ... and my dad, it is going to be huge."
Brown had the round of the day, making birdie on six of his first 10 holes and bogeying only the par-4 13th.
"I had a couple of slightly jittery holes towards the end of the back nine, so it was nice to hit a good drive down 18 and then hit an iron nice and close," he said. "It hasn't been the best year for me, but whenever you shoot 64 in any tournament, let alone the Aussie PGA, you take it."
Brown said his birdie at the fifth hole after hitting his approach into the trees was the turning point of his round.
"I hit an ordinary second shot but got a good break away from the signage and holed a 25-foot putt for birdie, and then birdied the next two holes," he said.
"There are a lot of birdies out there but it is the kind of course where things can go pear-shaped very quickly, too."

[OnePiece]

Nicklaus, Palmer headline return of Father-Son Challenge

Published: Friday, December 14, 2012 | 05:55:03 PM











David Cannon/Getty Images
Arnold Palmer helped bring back the Father-Son Challenge after a three-year absence.



ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- When Larry Nelson won the last Father-Son Challenge with son Drew, the runner-up duo included a high school freshman just beginning to grow into his body and his swing.
Look at Dru Love now.
The son of Davis Love III stands 6-foot-3, a five-time Georgia state champion now trying to crack the lineup of a No. 1 Alabama team that includes a U.S. Amateur semifinalist and two second-team All-Americans.
And if you think he's big, check out Arnold Palmer's partner this week. Grandson Will Wears is a 6-foot-5 high school senior who plays basketball during Pennsylvania's winter season.
"Yeah, it's been a while," Nelson said Friday.
After a three-year absence, the scramble event returns this weekend at Grande Lakes Orlando's Ritz-Carlton Golf Club.
"When your son's with you, you'd better be competitive," said Jack Nicklaus, joined by son Gary this week. "And your son had better be competitive. Both of you want to show each other that you can play."
The event had a 14-year run from 1995-2008 before sponsorship issues dropped it from the schedule. It was such a hit among its Hall of Fame participants, though, that organizers never set the concept aside.
With Palmer's help, the event was revived in March with PNC Bank as sponsor.
"It's exciting to think that they want to play as badly as they do," Palmer said when the return was formally announced. "So they bring their sons, their daughters - whatever it might be - and it's pretty exciting."
The field features 18 major champions or Players Championship winners, paired with their offspring. In the case of guys like Nicklaus, Nelson and Raymond Floyd, they've had to let two sons alternate years.
"It's fun to come and compete on the big stage - or what feels like a big stage to us," said Josh Nelson, who helped Team Nelson to the 2007 title but stepped aside a year later as brother Drew helped bring the family another title. "We relish it. Every year, we were hoping to hear that they would get a sponsor and we're just really thankful for PNC stepping up."
Dru Love - formally Davis Love IV but with a nickname shortened from the word "quadruple" - was 14 at the last Father-Son. As exciting as it was to challenge the Nelsons down the stretch, the company he was keeping was no less memorable.
"Getting out with your dad and playing a scramble is no big deal," he said. "But when you jump out there with - last (time) we had Shark (Greg Norman) and Vijay (Singh) - that was really cool."
Lee Trevino and Daniel Trevino also are playing along with Nick Faldo and Matthew Faldo, Hale Irwin and Steve Irwin, Vijay Singh and Qass Singh, Steve Elkington and Sam Elkington, Raymond Floyd and Robert Floyd, Lee Janzen and Connor Janzen, Bernhard Langer and Christina Langer, Sandy Lyle and James Lyle, Mark O'Meara and Shaun O'Meara, David Duval and Nick Karavites, Dave Stockton and David Stockton, Lanny Wadkins and Tucker Wadkins, and Fuzzy Zoeller and Gretchen Zoeller.

[OnePiece]

Ogilvy shoots 69 at Australian PGA, trails by two

Published: Friday, December 14, 2012 | 10:04:36 AM











Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images
Geoff Ogilvy shot a 69 to get within two shots of the lead.



COOLUM, Australia (AP) -- Daniel Popovic maintained a share of the lead after the second day of the Australian PGA on Friday while Geoff Ogilvy posted another solid round.
Popovic, who nearly gave up golf earlier this year to care for his ill father, followed his opening-round 64 with a 2-under 70, including a double-bogey seven on the par-5 15th.
The Tour rookie is tied with Zhang Xinjun (67) at 10 under, two shots clear of the field at the Palmer Coolum resort course.
Zhang had a one-stroke lead twice in the closing holes, but bogeys on two of his final three holes dropped him into a tie with Popovic going into the weekend.

Ogilvy (69) and Matthew Griffin (67) were tied for third. Fellow Australians Mathew Goggin (66), Steven Bowditch (67) and Brad Kennedy (68) were another stroke back at 7 under.
Last week's Australian Open champion Peter Senior shot a 70 and was tied for eighth, four strokes behind the leaders. Former British Open champion Darren Clarke had a 69 and was another stroke back, while South African Rory Sabbatini shot 68 after an opening 76 to make the cut with a few strokes to spare.
Ogilvy, the 2006 U.S. Open winner, is aiming to finish in the top 50 in the year-end world rankings, which would guarantee him a spot in next year's Masters. Current projections show Ogilvy would have to finish third or better at Coolum.
"I don't know if it has to be first to get into the top 50, but it probably has to be first two or three," Ogilvy said. "I don't study world rankings that much. But that would be a bonus, winning the tournament would be the best part, but if that was a side bonus that would be good.
"I feel like I am in a good place. It's nice I will be in one of the last few groups tomorrow and if I can have a good score, maybe get right up there after tomorrow and give it a crack on Sunday."
Popovic found out earlier this year that his father, Radi, is suffering from a form of incurable bone cancer. The Australasian PGA Tour rookie said his father, in the hospital undergoing blood tests, was in tears after his opening round, and expected more of the same on Friday.
He misjudged the wind on 15, leading to the double bogey.
"Then we didn't have the best lie, there was a lot of into the grain, the grass growing into the ball and then I just completely stuffed it up," he said.
Zhang, who needed only 22 putts Friday and has preferred his hybrid club to his driver off the tee on all but three occasions for two rounds, said through a translator that he's becoming more confident as he plays the course more. Last year, he watched the PGA at Coolum on television from China.
"I felt good today, I am getting used to this layout and to the wind," Zhang said.
Asked how he communicates with his non-Mandarin speaking Australian caddie Drew Garland, who was provided by the tournament office, Zhang said: "I've learned some English, mostly related to golf, like `How do you think this breaks?"'
Bowditch grew up in the area and his family still lives at nearby Peregian Beach. He said he's taken plenty of confidence from securing his PGA Tour card for next year at the recent qualifying school in California.
"Q School is one of the most demanding golf events I have ever had to play," Bowditch said.

[OnePiece]

Popovic leads Australian PGA after opening round

Published: Thursday, December 13, 2012 | 10:35:56 AM










COOLUM, Australia (AP) -- Daniel Popovic shot an 8-under 64 to take a two-stroke lead after the first round of the Australian PGA Championship on Thursday, revealing afterward that his father is battling incurable cancer.
Popovic, on his first year on the Australasian PGA Tour, birdied his first four holes at the Palmer Coolum Resort, and later had a string of five straight birdies.
Fellow Australian Scott Strange shot 66 and was alone in second, followed by 2006 U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy and OneAsia Tour regulars Zhang Xinjun of China and Singapore's Choo Tze-huang, who carded 67s.
Popovic said his father, Radi, who gave him his start in the game, is battling a form of bone cancer.
"You are unsure of when the actual day will come, but he is a strong man and a very stubborn man and I think he'll be here for a little while longer," Popovic said. "He doesn't have too much energy.
"Last week he came up to Sydney, but he just sort of saw my first tee shot and when I came through nine and that was it. But he will be in tears today."
Veteran Peter Senior, who won last week's Australian Open, was in a group tied for sixth after a 68. Darren Clarke, the 2011 British Open champion, shot 70, including a 10-footer for par on 18.
Rory Sabatini of South Africa shot 76.
Greg Norman pulled out after two holes - both bogeys - due to food poisoning. Tournament officials said Norman was treated in his hotel room by a local doctor and was expected to make a full recovery.
Norman flew by helicopter with resort owner Clive Palmer to the Gold Coast for a private function later Thursday.
"Greg was trying to soldier through and clearly it wasn't possible ... he was quite ill," said PGA of Australia chief executive Brian Thorburn.
Popovic, who won last year's qualifying tournament to secure his card for 2012, looked set to break the course record of 62 when he was 8-under after 12 holes. But after eight birdies and a bogey, he shot par the rest of the way in, including a testing 4-footer on the last.
"It wasn't the best of conditions, but after last week at the Australian Open I got used to hitting a lot of wind shots," he said. "I didn't really want to attack the flags, but after a while I talked to my caddie and we decided to start hitting straight at them."
The 25-year-old Popovic said he only realized he was among the leaders early on his final nine.
"Through nine, I sort of thought I might be up there, then on the second (his 11th hole) I saw my name up there on the leaderboard. And I thought it might be time for a few more birdies. It didn't happen, but I'm not too disappointed."
Strange has played on both the European and Asian tours recently, but failed in his qualifying attempt for Europe next year and his status in Asia also is not guaranteed.
"If I managed to roll putts in there, I would have had my European card back," he said. "But that is the nature of the beast - live by the sword, die by the sword."
The Palmer-owned resort and the PGA of Australia were not able to come to an agreement to keep the event at the Sunshine Coast course, so it will move elsewhere next year in Queensland state.
Golfers this year were greeted by a giant tail-flipping, roaring replica of a Tyrannosaurus Rex dinosaur between the ninth green and 10th tee, part of billionaire mining magnate Palmer's plans to turn the resort into a theme park.
"I'm astonished. I never thought I'd see a dinosaur on a golf course," Zhang said. "During the practice round its eyes were moving and his tongue looked, well, almost real. It certainly makes the course look different."

[OnePiece]

Norman withdraws from Australian PGA after 2 holes

Published: Wednesday, December 12, 2012 | 05:45:03 PM











COOLUM, Australia (AP) -- Greg Norman withdrew from the Australian PGA because of food poisoning after only two holes Thursday.
Norman, playing with fellow Australians Stuart Appleby and Jake Higginbottom, started on the 10th tee and bogeyed the 10th and 11th holes before withdrawing at the Palmer Coolum resort.

[OnePiece]

Nelson disappointed not to be chosen for U.S. Ryder Cup captain

Published: Wednesday, December 12, 2012 | 03:45:05 PM











Darren Carroll / Getty ImagesLarry Nelson, shown here in 2010, went 9-3-1 in three Ryder Cup appearances.



ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Larry Nelson thinks it was a great idea for the PGA of America to pick someone older to be Ryder Cup captain.
He's just disappointed it wasn't him.
Nelson, a three-time major champion with a 9-3-1 record in three Ryder Cup appearances, said Wednesday on Golf Channel's "Morning Drive" show that no one from the PGA of American contacted him about being the captain.
"And I do not have a ticket to New York, so apparently it's not going to be me," Nelson said.
Golf Digest reported on its website that the PGA of America planned to make Tom Watson the next U.S. captain. It would be the second time that Watson, who will be 65 when the Ryder Cup is played in 2014 at Gleneagles in Scotland, has been a captain. The other time was in 1993, and Watson hasn't been to a Ryder Cup since then.
"It's disappointing, certainly not devastating," Nelson said. "We don't quite know how the decisions are made and what goes into those. We just to have to react to what they are."
Nelson, a two-time PGA Championship winner, was in line to be Ryder Cup captain until being passed over for Lanny Wadkins in 1995 and Tom Kite in 1997. Nelson was thought to be too far removed from the game to be considered, though there has been a recent push for the 64-year-old Nelson to finally get his chance.
The PGA of America broke from its conventional pick and went with a veteran, but it wasn't Nelson.
"I think it's tough because it's kind of the third time this has happened," Nelson said. "It seemed to gather more momentum this year than in the past, and I'm certainly appreciative of the thousands of people who tweeted or sent me emails that were hoping this might be the time. I'm flattered by all that stuff, certainly disappointed. I don't know why the decision was made the way it was, but you just have to honor that."
Nelson is a quiet man from Georgia, though his career is remarkable beyond his three majors. He didn't take up golf until after he returned from the Vietnam War, and he turned in a career worthy of being voted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Watson is celebrated worldwide for his eight majors and epic duels with Jack Nicklaus. He is particularly popular in Scotland, where he won his first major at Carnoustie in 1975. Watson won the British Open five times, four of them in Scotland.
Nelson thought it was a "great decision" for the PGA of America to go away from its mold of picking past major champions in their late 40s who still played on the PGA Tour. It's just that Watson already had his chance as captain in 1993, the last time the Americans won a Ryder Cup in Europe. Watson is the first repeat captain since Jack Nicklaus in 1987 at his home course of Muirfield Village.
"Tom will be a two-time captain. That I don't quite understand," Nelson said. "Other than that, I think it's a great way to go."
Nelson said he wouldn't be interested in being an assistant captain.
"There are a lot of people who probably have less credentials that have been captain, and a lot of people that have more credentials that haven't been," Nelson said. "That puts me in area that it's not a decision I can make. It's a decision people I haven't even talked to made. They make the best decision they possibly can and what they think will help the Ryder Cup. You just have to go with it.
"I'm not totally surprised, just disappointed."