Rookie Watney's 63 good for 2-shot lead

Updated: July 15, 2004, 9:58 PM ET

Associated Press

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BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. -- Nationwide Tour rookie Nick Watney shot a 9-under-par 63 Thursday for a two-shot lead after the first round of the inaugural Pete Dye West Virginia Classic.

The 2003 Fresno State graduate birdied four of the final five holes at the Pete Dye Golf Club to overtake good friend D.A. Points, who was at 7 under.

Among five players three shots back is Nick Cassini, nephew of fashion designer Oleg Cassini.

Watney has missed the cut in five of 12 Nationwide events, but he's had three top 10 finishes in his last five tournaments. His best finish was a tie for fifth at The Reese's Cup Classic earlier this month.

The 23-year-old finished 10th at the PGA Tour's Reno-Tahoe Open a year ago and won the Lewis Chitengwa Memorial Championship last August in his only Canadian Tour start.

Watney's bogey-free round included an eagle on the par-5 11th.

After missing a 4-footer for birdie on the par-3 16th, Watney took the lead on No. 17 after a 60-yard wedge to within 3 feet. He sank a 17-foot birdie putt on No. 18.

Players took advantage of greens softened by rains earlier this week. Thursday's cool, cloudy conditions kept them from drying out.

Seventy-six players -- nearly half the field -- broke par.

Points, seeking his second tour win of the season, had his best opening round of 2004, two weeks after withdrawing from The Reese's Cup Classic after a first-round 79.

Points won last month's Northeast Pennsylvania Classic. A win this week would bring him within one victory of an in-season promotion to the PGA Tour.

Shooting 6-under 66 were Cassini, Ned Michaels, Bryce Molder, Darron Stiles and D.J. Trahan.

Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press

Non-winner doesn't let up after strong first nine

Updated: July 15, 2004, 9:20 PM ET

Associated Press

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ENDICOTT, N.Y. -- Kelly Gibson completed the soggy first round of the B.C. Open and had just one wish.

"I hope a hurricane comes tomorrow and there's a one-round winner," Gibson joked Thursday after an 8-under 64 placed him alone atop the leaderboard. "Would they do it? Why not? I'll take the cash."

Although showers caused a 28-minute delay on the En-Joie Golf Club course, the first round was completed with Gibson holding a one-shot lead over rookie Camilo Villegas, Todd Fischer, John Morgan, last week's runner-up, and Kevin Stadler.

Brett Quigley, Garrett Willis, Brenden Pappas and Roland Thatcher were another shot back.Tommy Tolles and 1997 B.C. Open champion Gabriel Hjertstedt were among 11 players at 67, including defending champion Craig Stadler, who couldn't match son Kevin on this day.

Heavy rains cut short Wednesday's pro-am and a couple of downpours early Thursday finally forced play to be stopped in late morning for course maintenance. But the changing conditions still were ideal for scoring and tournament officials added a helping hand. They allowed players to lift, clean and place over the first two rounds.

"We saw a week's worth of weather out there today," said two-time B.C. Open champ Joey Sindelar, who shot 68. "It was calm and misty this morning, and then it was misty and windy, and then windy and sunny. But the scores are there. Greens are holding, and they're at a speed you can make putts on. When they're a little bit slower, guys start pouring them in."

Guys like the 40-year-old Gibson, who has never won on the PGA Tour since turning pro in 1986. He birdied his first three holes and was 6 under on the front nine. His only glitch, a bogey at No. 10, came right after the delay.

"We got held on the 10th tee, and when I came back out I hit a wedge in between wind gusts," Gibson said. "I kind of misclubbed there."

It didn't take long to regain that rhythm. Gibson rolled in a 30-foot putt for birdie at No. 11 and followed that with birdies at 12 and 14.

"That was the best putt I made all day, coming off a bogey," Gibson said. "That kind of zapped me back into thinking I could shoot a real low number. I was able to sustain the momentum, and that's usually the key to shooting a low round."

The most unlikely name near the top of the leaderboard was the 22-year-old Villegas, who is playing only his fourth tournament since qualifying for last month's U.S. Open. The native of Colombia began the day with a sizzling 29 on the back nine, reaching 6 under over the final five holes with four birdies and an eagle on the par-4 16th. He faltered with three bogeys on the front nine but stayed near the top with another eagle on the par-5 third.

"I didn't even realize I made 29. It's my first," said Villegas, an academic All-America at the University of Florida and two-time SEC player of the year. "It's the first time I've seen my name in a PGA tournament. That was pretty cool. But I controlled my emotion out there. I was feeling great. I was driving awesome, and that makes it seem a lot easier. It's not that hard when you're in the middle of the fairway and the greens are that soft."

It was for Fred Funk, who elected to play here instead of the British Open in an attempt to score more points in his quest to make the U.S. Ryder Cup team. He shot a 2-over 74 that included four bogeys and only two birdies and was distraught as he left the course.

"It's a typical round," said Funk, who won here in 1996 and also has finished second twice. "I'm just playing pitiful. I've been playing like this for about six months. I don't know if I can turn it around."

First-round divots
There have been five first-time winners on the PGA Tour this year, and another could be on tap here. Of the top 10 players after the first round, only Willis has won on tour.

Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press

New TaylorMade Rocket Ballz RBZ Driver with good quality

Spring is coming, everything looks good, I'm in a good mood and need to play the golf to keep the mood. I also need choose some driver to make the game more interesting.

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The RocketBallz drivers are being offered in two models: RocketBallz and RocketBallz Tour. The RocketBallz driver boasts a larger appearance at address with a standard face height, while the RocketBallz Tour driver is mid-sized at address with a deeper face. Both are traditionally shaped and feature improved aerodynamics thanks to TaylorMade's Ultra-Thin Wall (UTW) casting process and Thick-Thin crown design.

The TaylorMade RocketBallz driver includes Flight Control Technology (FCT) to easily adjust the loft and face angle for the ultimate in optimization. With FCT, the golfer can easily adjust the performance angles (face angle, loft and lie) of the RBZ driver to one of 8 settings via the FCT sleeve. These settings allow a range of launch conditions that promote up to 60 yards of side-to-side trajectory adjustment.

The RocketBallz driver's combination of lightweight shaft and lightweight grip results in overall club weight of less than 300 grams. Re-balancing the club with a slightly higher swingweight, promotes more swing speed for most golfers.

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A Whole New Meaning To The Game Golf In India

A game of golf can become interesting if the setting is absolutely perfect. The setting would be in terms of the game, the golf course that has been chosen for playing the game. In contrast with the earlier times, golf clubs in India now see a huge transformation. With the growing number of golfers and golf lovers, the golf courses are also being set up meeting with the various needs of the golfers.

Golf in India had not seen much in earlier times and was a sport that was limited only to the upper strata of the Indian society. But now with so many golf courses gradually emerging, the game has gained enough popularity among Indians from various social categories. This has led to the emergence of very many golf clubs in India.

There are various ways of collecting information on the game and its news in India. One of the easiest and latest ways is to check out online golf sites for all sorts of information. There are a lot of other features of the game that can be accessed online nowadays. Specifically, golf forums have been made that can be joined to realize your extreme interest in the game and discussing your love of it as well. Not only that there are many stores nowadays that are available online so that you can conveniently purchase any type of golf related items in a matter of a few minutes.

Speaking of convenience, the sites online also give you access to another attractive offer. This is regarding booking golf tours and the like. Of the many golf clubs in India you have the liberty to pick the tour of your choice an enjoy golf while you are holidaying. International tours are also arranged for the same.

Not only are the above available in a matter of a few mouse clicks, but also there are online golf games and quizzes that are impressively built and are absolutely user friendly. If you are somebody who is not sure of what type of equipment you are looking for then you do not need to go ahead and buy a mere expensive set without having a fair idea. Now you can research online as much as you want and then buy the required golf accessories. You may also alternatively for experiment purposes buy second hand products that are available online. IF that doe not suit you as well then you also have the option of hiring certain equipments for the same.

Golf Club Iron Sets

Irons are generally used when you are less than 200 yards away from the green. The closer you are to the green, the higher the iron you will use. A standard Iron Clubs Set irons consists of 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 IRONS and the PITCHING WEDGE (PW). The 3 and 4 irons are harder to hit than the higher number irons. Many golfers, especially ladies, seniors and higher handicap golfers, are changing to a modified standard golf set that replaces the 3 and 4 iron with hybrids. Hybrids are a cross-bread of woods and irons. We think this is a sensible trend and one that a beginning golfer should consider. Hybrids are easier to hit and more forgiving than a 3 or 4 iron and result in comparable distances. Wedges are specialty irons. The first wedge is the Pitching Wedge (PW), which is usually about 48 degrees in loft. Wedges generally increase in 4 degree loft amounts. So wedges commonly come in 48, 52, 56, 60 and 64 degree lofts. Wedges are extremely useful to your game and most golfers have a few of them. Wedges are generally designed as "blade clubs" because you are close enough to the green that the game improvement design elements (discussed below) are less important. The need for increased shot control and shot shaping, which blade design encourages, becomes the more important technology for a good wedge design and good golf club wedges.

The object of the golf game is to hit the ball straighter and farther, so golf clubs sets designed to do that are called GAME IMPROVEMENT golf clubs. The primary characteristics of game improvement Iron Clubs are perimeter weighting, large sweet spot and low center of gravity design.

a) Perimeter Weighted Iron Clubs

Perimeter weighting means that the weight of the golf club head is positioned around the perimeter of the golf club instead of at the center. If you always hit the ball dead center perfect, you would want a small sweet spot and no perimeter weighting so you could put as much physical mass directly behind the impact point of the ball. However, if you are off - even just a millimeter - your shot will go astray. Perimeter weight distribution maximizes forgiveness.

b) Large Sweet Spot

A large sweet spot is generally created by perimeter weighting design. The sweet spot is the optimum place to make contact with the ball. The larger the sweet spot, the greater room for swing error. But designing for the largest sweet spot can leave less room to correct other common swing errors. Perimeter weighting can be shifted to cure toe-miss-hits and to help get the ball up in the air.

c) Low Center of Gravity

Low center of gravity (C.G.) means shifting weight to the bottom of the club to increase the ability to hit the ball up into the air. If you don't have a problem getting the golf ball off the ground, then C.G. should be less important to you. It you have a big problem in this area then C.G. matter a lot.

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Show the Callaway Hyper X Fairway Wood in Details

Callaway has a line of X Hyper Drivers and X-Hot fairway woods, and People always confused about the two different lines of golf. They both are the famous and hot golf on sale in the golf market. The difference between them is that there was a 2007 X fairway wood that looks very different. The X Hot fairway wood came out last year and resembles the 2007 X fairway wood, but it's much bigger. The new 2008 X fairway wood is 175cc (as is last year's 2007 X fairway wood with the sole that resembles the new Hyper X driver).

But today I will show the Callaway Hyper X Fairway Wood to everyone. Carrying on Callaway Golf's tradition of creating exceptionally high quality fairway woods, the X Fairway range are nothing short of magnificent. Unsurpassed playability, distance and forgiveness are embedded into one of the game's best selling fairway woods using feedback from a number of well established tour pros to re-energize the fairway wood market. A larger head shape the new head shape is slightly larger to raise the moment of inertia (MOI) which is designed to appeal to a wider range of golfers and deeper clubface giving you added confidence at address, making the X Fairway's have one of the most effective faces available.

Hyper x fairway woods in cheap golf club sets modified x-sole design X-sole design provides a versatile turf interaction that helps cutting through rough (or thick) fairways or assists in smoothly gliding over tight fairways. It also lowers the leading edge of the fairway wood to help get the ball in the air more efficiently. It now has a slightly deeper face that increases the effective hitting area and provides confidence at address. Increased perimeter weighting It has a strategically positioned internal weighting system that provides a high moment of inertia for superior stability on miss-hits and also optimizes ball flight trajectories from the fairway

The Callaway Hyper X Fairway Wood features their unique VFT technology (Variable Face Thickness) giving explosive ball speed off the clubface to really catapult your shots towards their intended target whether that's attacking a green or finding a fairway. A fantastic high quality golf club that is easy to use and appealing to all levels of golfers, the Callaway X Fairway series is a performance enhancing range that will not only improve your distance and accuracy but your final score.

Callaway has made a very smooth and classic looking club in the X Hot Fairway Wood. One big difference in feel, mentioned before, is the length of the shaft in the X Hot. The Hyper X is easy to hit, the X Hot is sense to use. Choose one of them, just by yourself.

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Left Handed Ping G20 Irons Achieve More Forgiveness

The next year 2012 will be the one of the most years. Firstly, because of the film of <2012>, report the destruction of the Earth and lead the people in the panic. I scared this news for a long time; even I knew it's unreliable. Secondly, the Thirtieth Olympic Games in Londonthat everyone knows live in Earth. As a fan of sports, I can't miss this event. Many stars will gather in Londonand enjoy their match. The last, the 2012 European Cup will be the big party that every football fans take party in it.

Actually, I'm interested in golf game, and like to collection club. Especially Ping. Cheap golf club sets so many golf online sales. I really enjoy the feeling of golf game bring to me. One of the most annoying feelings in golf is hitting a sweet iron shot at the green, only to see that you've flown the dance floor or come up woefully short. As early as before, Ping released the golf of Ping G20 Irons and replaced the G15 Irons. As soon as released, G20 Irons become the hot golf in the market. The 10% thinner face is the same size as the previous model, which enables Ping to move the weight saved into the sole of the club. The G20 has a wider sole than its predecessor, particularly in the toe area, which increases the moment of inertia and forgiveness of the iron. At address the clubhead sits very well behind the ball, although in some of the longer irons you can see the back of the cavity, which may not appeal to all.

In order to catch the market, Ping released their Left Handed Ping G20 Irons. Knowing exactly how far you hit each iron is a huge advantage on the golf course and the consistent yardage gapping of the PING G20 iron set delivers predictable distance control for more accurate shots. The G20 iron set also includes high-launching long irons that maximize the overall range and forgiveness of the set. Forgiveness and accuracy are achieved through extreme perimeter weighting in the 17-4 stainless steel head. A multi-material cavity badge made of soft elastomer improves feel and sound while enhancing distance control, allowing you to play your best golf.

Left Handed Ping G20 Irons Main Features:

Thin Face- A multi material cavity badge made with soft elastomer heel and toe sections improves feel and sound
> Distance Control- The cavities floating CTP structure stabilizes a thin face to generate fast ball speeds and enhance distance control.
> Forgiveness and Accuracy- are achieved through extreme perimeter weighting in the 17-4 stainless steel head. A multi-material cavity badge made of soft elastomer improves feel and sound while enhancing distance control, allowing you to play your best golf.
> Consistent, Precise Distance Control- was achieved by using a thin face backed by a floating CTP structure. Weight in the back flange of the deeply cut, multi-cavity head increases the MOI. Combined with PING's new CFS steel shaft, the G20 optimizes feel and trajectories.

The golf makers always provide the hot golf suit for left hand. Their benefits for the people are good at left hand.

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