Graeme McDowell Surging at Right Time

Graeme McDowell Surging at Right Time
Match Play Win, His Second in a Month, Makes G-Mac a U.S. Open Favorite










Mark McLaughlin May 19, 2013 11:32 AMYahoo! Contributor Network




COMMENTARY | He couldn't let the kid steal his thunder for too long.

Graeme McDowell, who ended a 40-year European drought at the U.S. Open with his br
eakthrough win at Pebble Beach in 2010, has spent the last two plus years operating in the shadows of heralded fellow Ulsterman and former world No. 1 Rory McIlroy.



While McIlroy struggles to regain his dominant 2012 form, G-Mac has found his groove again. McDowell rallied to win the European Tour's Volvo World Match Play Championship Sunday in Bulgaria 2 & 1 over Thailand'sThongchai Jaidee, his second victory in a month.

With the win, he should rise into the top five in the Official World Golf Ranking, his highest placement since March 2011.

Since his U.S. Open victory, G-Mac has become a fixture in golf's biggest events. He teed off in the final group Sunday at last year's U.S. Open at Olympic Club and British Open at Royal Lytham and St. Anne's but fell just short in both instances. He dispatched Hunter Mahan to clinch the 2010 Ryder Cup for Europe and has also taken down Tiger Woods in his own tournament twice in the last three years at the Chevron World Challenge.

But it hasn't been since 2010 that G-Mac has strung together two wins in a year. And he's got plenty of golf ahead of him this season.

"I feel this is building blocks for something good this year and beyond," McDowell said after winning the RBC Heritage in April.

G-Mac flexed the strengths of his game in the match play win in Bulgaria. He overtook Jaidee in the championship by keeping his ball in play and waiting for his opponent to make mistakes.

"This course really suited my game, accuracy off the tee," McDowell said at the trophy presentation after his eighth European Tour win. "I felt strong all week."

G-Mac could be forgiven for taking his eye off his little, white Srixon. The amiable 33-year-old got engaged at the European Tour's season-ending DP World Tour Championship last November and spent an extended offseason putting the finishing touches on his new bar and grill in Orlando, Nona Blue.

Any rust from that break quickly wore off. He strung together three straight top 10 finishes in late February/early March on the PGA Tour before edging Webb Simpson in a playoff to win the RBC Heritage.

If his form can hold, McDowell will be one of the favorites when the U.S. Open returns to Merion Golf Club next month. In his last four outings at our national championship, he has a win, a tie for second and two other showings in the top 18. He wasn't a factor in McIlroy's record-breaking win on a softened Congressional Country Club in 2011 but when conditions are difficult, G-Mac should be right there.

He's fifth in driving accuracy on the PGA Tour, which will be a critical on a short Merion course where the fairways will certainly be pinched to offset a setup that will be less than 7,000 yards. But more than a solid swing, G-Mac possesses the optimistic mindset necessary to bounce back from the inevitable bad breaks and occasional bogeys that an Open will throw at you.

McDowell is the type of a guy you'd want to share a pint with. Win or lose, he's always a straight shooter with the media. And he's a loyal friend, acting as the unofficial spokesman and defender of McIlroy through the youngster's adjustment to the fame and commitments of a being a superstar.

Could G-Mac achieve similar status? Another major victory would go a long way.

"I didn't get a lot out of my year last year in many ways, but I knew in the bottom of my heart that my game was getting better and better all the time," McDowell said after his win at Harbour Town.

G-Mac is about as content and confident as a golfer can be right now. Don't be surprised if you see the Irishman smiling again a few Sundays from now at a golf course outside Philadelphia.

Mark McLaughlin has reported on the PGA Tour for the New York Post, FoxSports.com, Greensboro News & Record, and Burlington (N.C.) Times-News. He is a past member of the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association. Follow him on Twitter @markmacduke.

Johnson captures first LPGA title

Johnson captures first LPGA title










The Sports Xchange May 19, 2013 7:50 PMThe SportsXchange



MOBILE, Ala. - Jennifer Johnson shot her second straight round of 7-under 65 to capture her first tour victory at the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic on Sunday.

Johnson's four-day total of 21-under-par 267 on Magnolia Grove's Crossing Course was a tournament record and gave her a one-stroke victory over Jessica Korda andPornanong Phatlum.

Johnson had one top-10 finish in her LPGA career before Sunday - an eighth-place showing in another Alabama tournament, the 2011 Navistar LPGA Classic in Prattville.

"I'm a little shocked," Johnson said. "The whole back nine, I didn't know what was happening."

Third-round leader Chella Choi had one bogey in the first two rounds. But she turned the back nine into a free-for-all by bogeying back-to-back par-4s on the 11th and 12th holes. That dropped her to 18-under.

Johnson was the first to get to 19-under down the stretch. She birdied from 12 feet on the par-3 14th hole, which played the toughest on the course Sunday.

Choi got it back together to join her at 19-under with a 15-foot birdie putt on 13.

Phatlum, who carded a 9-under 63, birdied 17, second-round leader Korda birdied 15 and Jiyai Shin birdied 18 to finish at 63 all at about the same time to get to 19-under.

Choi gave a fist pump on her birdie putt on the 15th, but the ball wiggled out, and she stayed at 19-under.

Phatlum finished with three straight birdies to walk off the course at 20-under.

Johnson pulled even with a birdie on the par-5 16th after leaving her eagle putt about a foot short.

Despite having to take a free drop when she overhit the 16th and the ball rolled against the TV-camera tower, Korda stayed in contention by getting a birdie the par-5 to join Johnson and Phatlum at 20-under.

Johnson rolled in a 15-footer for a birdie on 17 to get clear of the clubhouse leader, Phatlum, by going to 21-under.

"The birdie putt on 17, that's when I started thinking a little bit more about winning the tournament," Johnson said. "The putter has kind of been the missing link because I'm hitting the ball so well. And when they go in, it really helps score."

When Korda put her tee shot on the 17th into the greenside bunker, threw her pitch well over the hole and had her par putt wiggle past the right edge for a bogey, Johnson was two strokes clear of anyone on the course and safely on the 18th green.

She two-putted to finish at 21-under, leaving Choi and Anna Nordqvist in need of birdies on the final two holes to force a playoff.

Despite all the birdies dropped during the tournament, neither could do it.

Johnson wins first LPGA title

Johnson wins first LPGA title










The Sports Xchange May 19, 2013 8:50 PMThe SportsXchange


MOBILE, Ala. -- Jennifer Johnson started using what she called a "spaceship" putter this week, and it launched her into a higher orbit in the LPGA.

Johnson shot her second straight round of 7-under 65 to capture her first tour victory at the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic on Sunday.

Johnson's four-day total of 21-under-par 267 on Magnolia Grove's Crossing Course was a tournament record and gave her a one-stroke victory over Jessica Korda andPornanong Phatlum.

Johnson had one top-10 finish in her LPGA career before Sunday -- an eighth-place showing in another Alabama tournament, the 2011 Navistar LPGA Classic in Prattville.

"I was putting with kind of a traditional blade-style putter," Johnson said, "and I went to a Futura, which looks like a spaceship -- I call it the spaceship -- and it's just flowing better with my stroke, more like a pendulum, and it just feels good.

"Before this week, I had experimented with more of a forward press, and it just doesn't fit my style of putting. So I worked with my coach on making it kind of more like a pendulum, and this new putter that I put in play really emphasizes that, and so I can stroke it easier and I don't have to work as hard to get it like rolling on line.

"The putter has kind of been the missing link because I'm hitting the ball so well. And when they go in, it really helps score."

Johnson birdied four of the final six holes on Sunday to win a shootout in which nine players bettered the tournament record of 17-under-par.

"It was pretty intense for me," Johnson said. "I was telling my caddie, 'Man, I haven't seen that much tension on a golf course in a while.' And he's telling me, 'What? What's intense?' So he was trying to keep me loose, crack some jokes. ... It was like birdies after birdies, and you had to keep making them to keep up.


"I'm a little shocked. I didn't even realize I shot 65. The whole back nine was kind of like a -- I don't know. I don't know what was happening."

Third-round leader Chella Choi had one bogey in the first two rounds. But she turned the back nine into a free-for-all by bogeying back-to-back par-4s on the 11th and 12th holes. That dropped her to 18-under.

Johnson was the first to get to 19-under down the stretch. She birdied from 12 feet on the par-3 14th hole, which played the toughest on the course on Sunday.

Choi got it back together to join her at 19-under with a 15-foot birdie putt on 13.

Phatlum, who carded a 9-under 63, birdied 17, second-round leader Korda birdied 15 and Jiyai Shin birdied 18 to finish at 63 all at about the same time to get to 19-under.

Choi gave a fist pump on her birdie putt on the 15th, but the ball wiggled out, and she stayed at 19-under.

Phatlum finished with three straight birdies to walk off the course at 20-under.

Johnson pulled even with a birdie on the par-5 16th after leaving her eagle putt about a foot short.

Despite having to take a free drop when she overshot the 16th and the ball rolled against the TV-camera tower, Korda stayed in contention by getting a birdie on the par-5 to join Johnson and Phatlum at 20-under.

Johnson rolled in a 15-footer for a birdie on 17 to get clear of the clubhouse leader, Phatlum, by going to 21-under.

"Before I hit my birdie putt on 17," Johnson said, "I saw that Pornanong was tied with me at 20, and I didn't want a playoff. So I was like, 'I'm going to make this thing.'"

When Korda put her tee shot on the 17th into the greenside bunker, threw her pitch well over the hole and had her par putt wiggle past the right edge for a bogey, Johnson was two strokes clear of anyone on the course and safely on the 18th green.

She two-putted to finish at 21-under, leaving Choi and Anna Nordqvist in need of birdies on the final two holes to force a playoff. Despite all the birdies dropped during the tournament, neither could do it.

"It means a lot," said Johnson, who won $180,000. "Since I played my first tournament, I was 9, and when I was about 12 or 13, I wanted to play on the LPGA. So like nine years, this is kind of what I've worked for."

Korda came back with a birdie on 18 to finish tied with Phatlum for second.

Shin, 17-year-old Ariya Jutanugarn, Hall of Famer Karrie Webb, Nordqvist and Choi finished tied for fourth at 19-under.

Jutanungarn was playing on a sponsor exemption. In five LPGA outings this season, her worst finish is still fourth.

Defending champion Stacy Lewis, who shot herself back into contention with a 9-under 63 on Saturday, had a 5-under round Sunday and finished alone in ninth at 18-under. Last year, she won the tournament with a then-record 17-under 271, the score that tied for 10th this year, shot by Hee Kyung Seo and first-round leader Lexi Thompson.

Has Lee Westwood Turned it Around?

Has Lee Westwood Turned it Around?
The Former No. 1’s Strong Showing at the BMW PGA in England Continues a Streak of Solid Play, Positioning Him Well for the U.S. Open











Mark McLaughlin May 25, 2013 8:10 PM




COMMENTARY | Lee Westwood has made some bold moves in 2013 to improve his chances in the majors and have more of an impa
ct on the PGA Tour.



The results so far have been mixed as the Englishman has tumbled out of the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking. I owe part of the drop to quirks in the system as Westwood has carded four straight top 10 finishes in the U.S., including ties for eighth at both the Masters and the Players Championship.

What Westwood hasn't done lately is win and it will take a trophy to get him back in the conversation. He has a great chance to end a victory drought stretching back to last June at this week's BMW PGA Championship in Surrey, England.

Playing in just his second European Tour event of the season, Westwood fired a 5-under-par 67 Saturday to enter the final round just one shot off the lead held by Spain's Alejandro Canizares.

Despite the string of high finishes, Westwood admits that his ball-striking, long the strength of his game, could be better.

"If my long game starts to come together, I could be dangerous,'' Westwood said Friday before his breakout third round.

A long maligned short game has been the difference of late. In fact, Westwood was so efficient at scrambling for pars in the second round at Wentworth that playing partner Ernie Els remarked, "Bit of a short game wizard now."

The numbers back up Els' description. Westwood ranks sixth on the PGA Tour in scrambling even with a middling putting performance. That compares to a scrambling rank of 189th in 2012.

"Even Johnny Miller last week said something about my short game. I nearly fell over," Westwood said after the third round.

Such touch will come in handy three weeks from now at the U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club, where the USGA is sure to grow the rough around the greens to offset shorter approaches.

Making his first trip to England since moving to Palm Beach Gardens, Florida last fall, Westwood thinks concentrating on the PGA Tour was the correct decision.

"It's pretty cold and wet out there, so I'm not regretting the move right now."

A Westwood win, which would be his first in 20 tries at the BMW PGA, would deflect some of the negative press surrounding the European Tour's signature event.

The controversy started earlier in the week with Sergio Garcia's "fried chicken" comment about Tiger Woods and grew worse when Euro tour chief George O'Grady made matters worse in trying to cover for Sergio. While Garcia got himself back into contention Saturday, several of the tour's biggest stars - Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter and Luke Donald - didn't survive the cut at a rainy, chilly Wentworth Club.

"The Mechanic" Back in Business

Miguel-Angel Jimenez made his first cut at the BMW PGA Championship since breaking his leg in a skiing accident in December.

Dubbed "The Mechanic" for his love of exotic autos and eccentric behavior, Jimenez shot a 5-under-par 67 Saturday to vault into contention at 4-under through three rounds.

Jimenez still has the game to contend on the European Tour - he won the UBS Hong Kong Open in his last start before the injury - but he could really make an impact on the Champions Tour. The Spaniard turns 50 next May and I could see him winning often as Bernhard Langer has done.

Mark McLaughlin has reported on the PGA Tour for the New York Post, FoxSports.com, Greensboro News & Record, and Burlington (N.C.) Times-News. He is a past member of the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association. Follow him on Twitter @markmacduke.

Chapman cards nine birdies in third-round 66

Chapman cards nine birdies in third-round 66











PGA.COM May 25, 2013 9:08 PM

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View gallery
(The PGA of America)



By John Kim, PGA.com Coordinating Producer

ST. LOUIS -- Roger Chapman put himself in a tough position to defend his title after the first two rounds of the Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid -- shooting 72-74 to barely make the cut on the number.

But despite digging himself into that 4-over hole at blustery Bellerive Country Club, and having a 6:57 AM CT tee time for Saturday, Chapman showed he was not prepared to relinquish the Alfred S. Bourne trophy without a spirited fight. The tall Englishman fired an impressive 5-under-par 66 that included nine birdies to vault up the leaderboard on moving day.

"I bogeyed the first and I thought, well, here we go," Chapman said following his third round. "Getting up at five o'clock for bogey at the first.

"But then I had four birdies in a row. So that sort of got the momentum going, which I severely lacked the first two rounds."

Chapman, who also won the U.S. Senior Open last year, had one of the most colorful scorecards of the day, with four bogeys and five pars to go with his nine birdies in the round. His four straight birdies came on holes 2-5. He also added birdies at 8, 11, 15, 17 and 18, where he made a curling 35-foot putt, to move up 47 spots into a then-tie for 21st. It may not be enough to earn him a successful defense of his title but it served notice that he was not here in a ceremonial role.

"I think that the first two rounds you're a bit under pressure to put in a good defense and probably thinking about just making the cut was the wrong attitude," Chapman stated. "The last few holes yesterday afternoon I sort of messed up and all of a sudden you're on the cut line and you're thinking, well, don't defend and miss the cut. So, but now I made the cut, the pressure's off a bit, just go out and play and that's what I did."

Moreno moves on top in Bahamas LPGA Classic

Moreno moves on top in Bahamas LPGA Classic










The Sports Xchange May 25, 2013 10:10 PMThe SportsXchange



The Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic has hardly gone as smooth as silk this weekend after flooding shortened the first two rounds at the Ocean Club Golf Course in Nassau, Bahamas, to 24 holes, but Paola Moreno has handled the elements as well as anyone.

Moreno shot a 4-under-par 41 on the abbreviated 12-hole, par-45 layout Saturday in the second round of the inaugural event to take a one-shot lead over Lindsey Wright.

The Colombian is at 9-under 81 heading into the final round on Sunday with a chance to claim her first LPGA Tour victory. Her best career finish is a tie for 23rd at the LPGA Lotte Championship earlier this year.

Eun-Hee Ji and Julieta Granada were tied for third at 7 under. Cristie Kerr, Hee Kyung Seo, Mina Harigae, Ilhee Lee, Hee Young Park, Anna Nordqvist and first-round co-leader Heather Bowie Young were next at 6 under.

Moreno carded four birdies in the second round and is bogey free after 24 holes.

"It's been exciting and I just focus on what I can control and the holes ahead of me," Moreno said, "I'm very excited for tomorrow.

"Nerves are good. Yeah, of course. I mean I prepare myself for these kind of situations, to play the last day and hopefully win tournaments."

Wright had the best round of the day with a 7-under 38 that featured seven birdies. The Australian also is seeking her first LPGA title. Her best finish on the tour is second in the 2009 LPGA Championship.

"I just played faultless golf, really," Wright said. "I didn't make any mistakes. I made a ton of putts."

Kerr shot a 5-under 40 in the second round, giving her a shot at a second win this month. In her last event, she won Kingsmill Championship.

"I hit it really good, gave myself a lot of chances," Kerr said. "It played a little more difficult today even, I think, because of the wind."

The tournament will finish with 12 holes again Sunday, but the course will be modified, substituting the 18th hole for the fourth hole and making it a par 47. Completion of 36 holes would make it an official event.

LPGA officials shortened the tournament to 12 holes on Friday, Saturday and Sunday after the course was flooded Tuesday with more than a foot of rain. A number of holes are unplayable.

McIlroy hopes he's shaping up into a contender

McIlroy hopes he's shaping up into a contender











PGA.COM June 12, 2013 9:42 AM

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Rory McIlroy attributes the strain he's been under to wanting to improve on his breakthrough 2012 season.(Getty …


By Dan Gelston, Associated Press

ARDMORE, Pa. - From No. 1 to just one of many, Rory McIlroy's game has clearly hit a rocky patch.

No wonder he's considered making Philly's most famous run.

"I was half thinking of going to the steps in the city, the Rocky steps," he said. "Wherever they are, going to run up those. Just because we are where we are."

McIlroy has more in mind that landing triumphantly at the top of the Philadelphia Museum of Art's steps. He'd like to leave an imprint on Philadelphia as the U.S. Open champion.

First, he needs to find the eye of the tiger, even at the risk of catching Tiger's eye. McIlroy will be part of the feature group the opening two rounds, playing alongside Tiger Woods andAdam Scott - Nos. 1, 2 and 3 in the world ranking.

Woods, Scott, Graeme McDowell have been rattled off at the top of the list of contenders who can win this week atMerion Golf Club. In just six months, McIlroy has gone from golf's next great player to a mere afterthought at Merion.

Most weeks, he hasn't come close to winning. The 24-year-old from Northern Ireland believes, though, his game is rounding into form, and it might help that conditions at Merion are soft because of days of rain, just as it was at Congressional for his record U.S. Open win.


"I much prefer this sort of golf," he said Tuesday. "I expect the scores to be a little lower than what they would be if the course was a little firmer and dryer."

McIlroy won the 2012 PGA championship on Kiawah Island to go along with his U.S. Open title in 2011. But he finished 25th at the Masters this year and is coming of a brutal 78 at the Memorial Tournament. He barely made the cut and finished 57th. He has a 33rd and a 45th on his resume and, most notably, quit in the middle of a round at the Honda Classic.

He played well to get in contention at the Valero Texas Open in early April, finishing second with a final-round 66 for his best finish of the year.

"This year, I feel like my game's actually in good shape," he said, referring to his Open chances. "I feel coming in this year I've got a way better chance than I did last year."

McIlroy attributed the strain to wanting to improve on his breakthrough season, when he won the PGA Championship, five tournaments around the world, money titles on the two biggest tours and established himself as the best player in golf.

McIlroy, who started the year in a slump and still hasn't won, struggled to balance his game with his business. He signed with Nike for what is said to be upward of $20 million a year and then left Dublin-basedHorizon Sports Management to set up his own management group.

He said the toughest part of this season has been "managing the expectations, probably of myself and other people."

"You want to contend and win tournaments and I haven't done enough of that this year," he said.


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Perhaps he could have continued to work on his game under the radar and without fanfare had it not been for that first-day grouping.

With just about every camera, reporter and fan at the course turned to the McIlroy-Woods-Scott grouping, the buzz from first hole of the tournament might well feel more like the first hole of a playoff. And maybe that can give McIlroy's game a jolt.

"It gets you focused from the first shot," he said. "There's going to be a lot of attention on that group and it's just nice to be a part of it."

Starting May 6, 2012, McIlroy spent 32 straight weeks at No. 1 before relinquishing the top spot to Woods after his win at Bay Hill.

Reaching No. 1 again is a worry for another day. Up first, conquering those Scottish-style bunkers known as the "white faces of Merion."

"As long as I just put it on the fairway, I feel like I can take advantage," he said.

McIlroy planned to unwind Tuesday night by watching the San Antonio Spurs play the Miami Heat in the NBAfinals. The Heat Big 3 of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh might be the only trio in sports this week that can top Woods-McIlroy-Scott in A-list star power.

"They can sort of help each other out, where we're trying to do our own thing," McIlroy said. "We're trying to beat one another. But it's nice again to pair the top-three ranked players in the world. It's a cool idea and I'm just happy to be a part of it."

He'll be happier to walk out of Merion a champion again.