FedEx Cup playoffs: Some rips, plenty of riches

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FILE - In this Aug. 30, 2009, file photo, Retief Goosen of South Africa, putts on the second hole during the final round of The Barclays golf tournament at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, N.J. No doubt, there were awkward sight lines off the tee to tight landing areas, and it didn't help that the rough was close to 4 inches. The slopes on some of the greens were severe and didn't hold shots. It needed some work, and billionaire club chairman Paul Fireman paid for them out of his own pocket. Lost amid the criticism of Liberty National was that it produced by the best tournament of the 2009 playoff season. (AP Photo/Mel Evans, File)

DOUG FERGUSON (AP Golf Writer) August 20, 2013AP - Sports

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) -- Jordan Spieth used words like ''incredible'' and ''amazing'' to describe Liberty National Golf Club.

He can be forgiven. He's only 20.

Spieth wasn't a member of any tour at the start of the year, and now he's taking part in the financial windfall known as the FedEx Cup playoffs. He has only been a full PGA Tour member for five weeks, not nearly long enough to learn how to complain.

No one used words like that when The Barclays was held atLiberty National four years ago.

Tiger Woods said it was ''interesting,'' a description that was subject to interpretation, though no one needed an interpreter. One player said the front nine didn't return to the clubhouse for fear no one would play the back nine. A caddie said golf course designers Bob Cupp and Tom Kite ruined a perfectly good landfill. And the jokes went on. It almost became a sport in itself, seeing who could deliver the best one-liner.

No doubt, there were awkward sight lines off the tee to tight landing areas, and it didn't help that the rough was close to 4 inches. The slopes on some of the greens were severe and didn't hold shots. It needed some work, and billionaire club chairman Paul Fireman paid for them out of his own pocket. More on that later.

Lost amid the criticism of Liberty National was that it produced the best tournament of the 2009 playoff season. Heath Slocum won with a 20-foot par on the final hole, and while he remains the lowest-ranked player to win a playoff event at No. 124, the real measure was who he beat by one shot - Woods, Steve Stricker, Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington.

Also overlooked was the history and location of Liberty National. Fireman developed the course on the site of a former landfill, and no other golf course screams out, ''New York, New York'' better. It sits on the shore of the Hudson River across from Lower Manhattan, so close to the Statue of Liberty that she looks as if she's holding one of those ''Quiet, Please'' signs. Dozens of players have been posting photos on Twitter of the views, from either the course or the water taxi over to Manhattan.

But there's a bigger picture.

The Barclays is the start of a four-tournament series with a total of $67 million in prize and bonus money - $8 million purses at each FedEx Cup playoff event, and $35 million in bonus money, with $10 million to the winner.

The greens were too severe? The course looked contrived? Really?

That's what annoyed Cristie Kerr.

The two-time LPGA major winner is a member at Liberty National, and she had heard enough. Kerr ran into a couple of players - Woods included - last year during a charity event and told them they weren't giving the course a chance.

''I talked to a couple of guys about how lucky they are to play on this stage, and to have a guy like Paul Fireman who will spend any amount of money to build the best course he can,'' Kerr said Sunday evening in Colorado. ''It didn't deserve to be beat up like that. They should be grateful to be there. For us women, we struggle to get sponsors. So it's tough to hear. I think they respect me and respect what I was saying. And I know a couple of guys apologized to the Firemans.''

Fireman said Woods approached him at the Deutsche Bank Championship last year and they had a nice conversation. He said Woods had heard about the changes to the golf course and looked forward to playing.

''Sometimes,'' Kerr said, ''you can get a little big for your britches. They just need to be thankful for the stage, for the money they play for and the TV coverage they get, and all the other things that come along that they get to do.''

She might have been referring to the rows of black BMW courtesy cars outside the clubhouse.

Fireman heard the good and the bad from four years ago - ''It wasn't that bad, but it definitely had a tone,'' he said - and instead of taking it personally, he took action. Five greens were rebuilt (the 12th green was rebuilt three times until they got it right). Others had the slopes significantly reduced. The landing areas were widened on nearly every hole. And the 18th green was moved some 20 yards closer to allow for better staging.

He paid for the changes himself.

''The most important thing is the course will show well,'' Fireman said. ''You can make it as tough as you want. We made it easier - not easy, but easier. My members love it, and I think I should worry about that first. I think we've done a great job. We've done everything we can do.''

Phil Mickelson also is a member, and Fireman leaned on him for advice. Mickelson's philosophy is to at least give players a shot at the green, even if they get into more trouble trying. His recommendation was largely about how to set up the course.

''What I said to Paul was if you were to play Augusta National and have 4-inch rough, you'd be miserable and the beauty of Augusta National would not come out,'' Mickelson said after an 18-hole practice round Tuesday. ''I felt that way about Liberty National. If you get rid of the rough and put the first cut in there, you always have a shot. Since he's done that, it has made Liberty National play so good.''

Mickelson said some of the complaints from 2009 were valid, ''but nobody articulated it well at the time. They just made the claim it was too hard, too severe.''

It's a different golf course. The reviews have been far more positive this week. The sights are as spectacular as ever.

The one thing that hasn't changed is that the players are still competing for an insane amount of money. This is no time to complain. It wasn't then, either.

Golf-Australasian tour suffers under PGA Tour heat

 

August 20, 2013

By Andrew Both

GREENSBORO, North Carolina, Aug 20 (Reuters) - As the heavyweight U.S. PGA Tour revamps its schedule and continues to expand internationally, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the world's other tours to survive, let alone thrive.

 Nowhere are the problems more acute than in Australia, a proud golfing nation that has produced some of the game's greatest players, including this year's Masters champion Adam Scott and former world number one Greg Norman.

 The PGA Tour of Australasia has shrunk considerably since the halcyon days of a couple of decades ago when Japanese sponsorship money and the regular presence of home-grown superstar Norman combined to create a perfect storm that yielded a dozen or more world-class tournaments.

This year, the tour has dwindled to just four tournaments offering prize money of at least $1 million (A$1.1 million). That might not be too much of a problem if the country's top players competed in all four, but this will not be the case.

 Among the notable absentees will be Australian veteran Stuart Appleby, a nine-time winner on the PGA Tourwho intends to skip his home circuit for the first time.

"I haven't got any plans to play in Australia this year," Appleby, 42, told Reuters. "It will be the first time I've aborted the whole schedule.

"The new schedule has made it really difficult and unfortunately there is very little making Australia look like a proposition now (for us) to come back and play.

"Many of us have done it for 15 years or so but you may find that this is now a trend and that you'll see very few guys (going back to Australia to play)."

The PGA Tour of Australasia faces several problems, but perhaps none is greater than the fact that three of its four big tournaments (in October and November) will clash with the start of the 2013-14 PGA Tour season.

For the first time, the U.S. circuit will officially launch its season in October, rather than in January, and six events will be played in late 2013, with two of them in Asia.

It is no coincidence that the Australian Open, the only event on the PGA Tour of Australasia that does not clash with the 2013-14 PGA Tour, will have the strongest field.

SOFTENING THE BLOW

 Masters champion Scott will help soften the blow this year by playing in three events - the Australian PGA Championship in Queensland (Nov 7-10), the Australian Masters in Melbourne (Nov 14-17) and the Australian Open in Sydney (Nov 28-Dec 1).

But, as Appleby observes, Scott cannot be expected to prop up the tour indefinitely.

"Adam is going to put in a fair effort this year and that's awesome of him but he can't be held accountable for holding the torch the next five years," Appleby said.

"I love playing in Australia and truly wish I could but the Australian tour is a small tour and insignificant on the world stage compared to the other tours.

 "Asia (where the PGA Tour has mainly expanded) has made a big difference. The whole landscape has changed, and I don't know how Australia is going to deal with that change in scheduling.

"Corporately we're a strong economy and yet we've had our prize money drop in golf. It's going to take a miraculous amount of ingenuity to get our prize money back to where it was."

The irony is that Florida-based Appleby will still visit Australia toward the end of the year - on a holiday with his family.

"Older guys like me have kids locked into school (in the U.S.)," he said.

"It's unfortunate but I feel like all the Australian guys, we've put our time in. I've done as much as I can and I hope there's a way we can move forward in five years, but I'm not sure how that's going to be possible." (Editing by Mark Lamport-Stokes)

Australasian tour suffers under PGA Tour heat

 

Andrew Both August 20, 2013

By Andrew Both

GREENSBORO, North Carolina (Reuters) - As the heavyweight U.S. PGA Tour revamps its schedule and continues to expand internationally, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the world's other tours to survive, let alone thrive.

 Nowhere are the problems more acute than in Australia, a proud golfing nation that has produced some of the game's greatest players, including this year's Masters champion Adam Scott and former world number one Greg Norman.

 The PGA Tour of Australasia has shrunk considerably since the halcyon days of a couple of decades ago when Japanese sponsorship money and the regular presence of home-grown superstar Norman combined to create a perfect storm that yielded a dozen or more world-class tournaments.

This year, the tour has dwindled to just four tournaments offering prize money of at least $1 million (A$1.1 million). That might not be too much of a problem if the country's top players competed in all four, but this will not be the case.

 Among the notable absentees will be Australian veteran Stuart Appleby, a nine-time winner on the PGA Tourwho intends to skip his home circuit for the first time.

"I haven't got any plans to play in Australia this year," Appleby, 42, told Reuters. "It will be the first time I've aborted the whole schedule.

"The new schedule has made it really difficult and unfortunately there is very little making Australia look like a proposition now (for us) to come back and play.

"Many of us have done it for 15 years or so but you may find that this is now a trend and that you'll see very few guys (going back to Australia to play)."

The PGA Tour of Australasia faces several problems, but perhaps none is greater than the fact that three of its four big tournaments (in October and November) will clash with the start of the 2013-14 PGA Tour season.

For the first time, the U.S. circuit will officially launch its season in October, rather than in January, and six events will be played in late 2013, with two of them in Asia.

It is no coincidence that the Australian Open, the only event on the PGA Tour of Australasia that does not clash with the 2013-14 PGA Tour, will have the strongest field.

SOFTENING THE BLOW

 Masters champion Scott will help soften the blow this year by playing in three events - the Australian PGA Championship in Queensland (Nov 7-10), the Australian Masters in Melbourne (Nov 14-17) and the Australian Open in Sydney (Nov 28-Dec 1).

But, as Appleby observes, Scott cannot be expected to prop up the tour indefinitely.

"Adam is going to put in a fair effort this year and that's awesome of him but he can't be held accountable for holding the torch the next five years," Appleby said.

"I love playing in Australia and truly wish I could but the Australian tour is a small tour and insignificant on the world stage compared to the other tours.

 "Asia (where the PGA Tour has mainly expanded) has made a big difference. The whole landscape has changed, and I don't know how Australia is going to deal with that change in scheduling.

"Corporately we're a strong economy and yet we've had our prize money drop in golf. It's going to take a miraculous amount of ingenuity to get our prize money back to where it was."

The irony is that Florida-based Appleby will still visit Australia toward the end of the year - on a holiday with his family.

"Older guys like me have kids locked into school (in the U.S.)," he said.

"It's unfortunate but I feel like all the Australian guys, we've put our time in. I've done as much as I can and I hope there's a way we can move forward in five years, but I'm not sure how that's going to be possible."

(Editing by Mark Lamport-Stokes)

Teen star Lydia Ko wins again in Canada

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) -- Lydia Ko breezed through another perfect Sunday in the Canadian Women's Open - until a reporter pressed the amateur about missing out on another $300,000 payday.

''I don't care! I don't care!'' Ko said. ''I can say that a couple times more, if you want.''

The 16-year-old New Zealander successfully defend her title, closing with a 6-under 64 at Royal Mayfair for a five-stroke victory and her fourth win in professional events.

''I'm pretty surprised, but I played some really good golf out there, so I was really happy about that,'' Ko said. ''My goal today was to shoot 5 under and just play my own game. If somebody else shot better, then I can't do anything about it.''

Last year at Vancouver Golf Club in British Columbia, the South Korean-born Ko became the youngest winner in LPGA Tour history at 15 years, 4 months, 2 days. She also became the fifth amateur winner in tour history and the first since JoAnne Carner in the 1969 Burdine's Invitational.

''I never really thought about making history and all that,'' Ko said.

Ko's other victories in professional events came last year in the Australian tour's New South Wales Open and this year in the Ladies European Tour's New Zealand Women's Open. Projected to jump from 19th to seventh in the world ranking, she has played 14 LPGA Tour events the last two seasons, making the cut in everytournament. She also won the U.S. Women's Amateur last summer.

Ko was again asked about turning professional.

''I've got some people above me like my mom and dad, they're the boss,'' Ko said. ''They're going to help me to make the right decision and to turn pro at what time. I think as I'm only 16 still, it's quite hard to make huge decisions. When I turn pro it's like a job. Money is all about it and everything like that, every shot counts. Yeah, I think my parents and New Zealand golf they're all going to have a say, and hopefully we'll make a really good decision on when I will turn pro.''

Ko had a 15-under 265 total after opening with rounds of 65, 69 and 67.

A stroke behind Caroline Hedwall entering the final round, Ko birdied five of the first eight holes and reached 15 under with a birdie on the par-4 12th. She dropped a stroke on the par-4 13th, parred the next four and closed with a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th.

''I didn't have it coming,'' Ko said about her final putt. ''That's why I was like, 'Oh, my God.' I was pretty worried it would just go straight down because I knew it was a slippery putt. No, I just hit a little bit, and it trickled down in the hole.''

France's Karine Icher was second after a 67 - and ended up with the $300,000 check.

''I would like to play tomorrow,'' Icher said. ''It was a good day today. I'm very happy with my game.''

She marveled at Ko's performance.

''She's amazing,'' Icher said. ''Sixteen-years-old and to win twice. She has no fear, I guess. It's incredible. As an amateur and so young, it's great for women's golf, but not so great for us.''

Hedwall, the Swede coming off a record 5-0 Solheim Cup performance in Colorado in Europe's blowout victory over the United States, had a 71 to tie for third at 9 under with Brittany Lincicome(69).

''I was trying to keep up with (Ko), but at the same time I couldn't hit it as close and I couldn't make as many putts,'' Hedwall said. ''She was just really impressive today.''

Golf-World rankings

Aug 26 (Reuters) - World rankings on Monday (U.S. unless

stated, last week's positions in brackets):

 1. (1) Tiger Woods 14.38 average points

2. (4) Adam Scott (Australia) 9.44

3. (2) Phil Mickelson 8.62

 4. (3) Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) 8.18

 5. (5) Justin Rose (England) 7.88

6. (6) Matt Kuchar 6.58

7. (7) Brandt Snedeker 6.32

 8. (8) Jason Dufner 5.99 

9. (9) Graeme McDowell (Northern Ireland) 5.82

 10. (10) Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 5.77 

11. (11) Luke Donald (England) 5.09

12. (12) Keegan Bradley 5.06

 13. (14) Lee Westwood (England) 4.93 

 14 (13) Steve Stricker 4.92

15. (19) Jim Furyk 4.70

 16. (17) Charl Schwartzel (South Africa) 4.53 

17. (15) Ian Poulter (England) 4.52

18. (18) Jason Day (Australia) 4.49

 19. (16) Ernie Els (South Africa) 4.44 

 20. (20) Sergio Garcia (Spain) 4.37

(Editing by Josh Reich)

Golf-PGA Tour money list

Aug 26 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGA

Tour on Monday (U.S. unless stated):

 1. Tiger Woods $8,215,119

2. Phil Mickelson $5,224,727

3. Matt Kuchar $5,100,008

4. Brandt Snedeker $4,913,261

5. Adam Scott (Australia) $4,646,513

6. Justin Rose (England) $3,691,881

 7. Henrik Stenson (Sweden) $3,465,963

8. Bill Haas $3,281,963

9. Keegan Bradley $3,180,813

 10. Billy Horschel $3,117,543

11. Jason Day (Australia) $2,981,763

 12. Kevin Streelman $2,878,018

 13. Jordan Spieth $2,724,820

14. Jason Dufner $2,678,134

15. Boo Weekley $2,601,662

 16. Dustin Johnson $2,572,844

 17. Steve Stricker $2,553,532

18. D A Points $2,507,287

19. Webb Simpson $2,487,284

20. Jim Furyk $2,433,929

(Edited by Josh Reich)

Europe finally wins the Solheim Cup in America

CBSSports.com wire reports

Aug. 18, 2013 9:18 PM ET

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Hedwall birdies on the 18th to become the first in Solheim Cup history to win all five of her matches. (USATSI)

PARKER, Colo. -- Even with six rookies on her team, captain Liselotte Neumann told the Europeans this was their time to make history in the Solheim Cup.

All she wanted was for them to prove they could win in America.

They gave her so much more.

Caroline Hedwall became the first player in Solheim Cup history to win five matches, and the final point was for more than the 24-year-old Swede. She stuck her approach on the 435-yard 18th hole into 4 feet for a birdie that gave her a 1-up win over Michelle Wie and assured Europe of keeping the cup.

"I'm still shaking," Hedwall said. "It's just amazing."

Moments later, Catriona Matthew holed a 5-foot par putt to halve her match and give Europe the outright win on the seventh try in America.

And it only got better.

Even as the celebration played out across Colorado Golf Club, tears rushing over the European stickers on their cheeks, Neumann's crew kept battling for half-points until the very end. The Solheim Cup ended when Cristie Kerr and Karine Icher reached the 18th green -- the scene of this great outdoor party -- and conceding each other birdies to get on with the celebration.

That final half-point put Europe in the record books again -- 18-10, the biggest blowout since this competition began in 1990.

"It was really fun to see Caroline get her fifth point this week, making some history on the team," Neumann said. "Winning here for the first time, making more history. ... I'm sure we'll go have a drink or two and do some dancing and singing tonight."

The Americans have an 8-5 lead in the series, though this is the first time they have lost back-to-back in the Solheim Cup. The Americans are without the Solheim Cup, the Ryder Cup, the Walker Cup and the Curtis Cup, the four biggest team events between both sides of the Atlantic.

U.S. captain Meg Mallon, gracious to the end, could only point to a poor performances on the slick greens -- and her team's inability to close. Over the final three-hole stretch, Europe had a 17-10 advantage in holes won.

"The way we played 16, 17 and 18 I think is what really made the difference," Mallon said. "It wasn't for lack of preparation because we played this golf course quite a bit. So it wasn't like a surprise for us. It was just a matter of who dropped the putts on those holes. And unfortunately, it was the Europeans."

And she didn't get much help from her best players.

Stacy Lewis, the highest-ranked American coming off a Women's British Open title at St. Andrews, went 1-2-1 for the week. Paula Creamer was 1-3 and was blown out by a 17-year-old Charley Hull in Sunday singles. Angela Stanford was the other player without a point this week, going 0-4. Cristie Kerr, the most experienced American on the team, went 1-2-1.

Europe's rookies were 12-5-2, with Hull stealing the show. The English teenager showed no fear, at one point asking Neumann, "When am I supposed to be nervous?"

"I didn't really feel that nervous, to be honest," Hull said. "Because this is how I always look at golf -- I'm not going to die if I miss it. Just hit it, and find it, and hit it again."

It really was that simple.

"It's a fantastic feeling right now," Neumann said. "I'm so proud of them. They played such good golf this week. They just played tremendous golf."

Hull, the youngest player in Solheim Cup history, capped off her amazing week by demolishing Creamer in a match that set the tone for Europe. Another rookie, Carlota Ciganda, handed Morgan Pressel her first lost in singles in four appearances to go 3-0 for the week.

Not even a one-hour delay due to lightning in the area could damper this European celebration. Suzann Pettersen was lining up her putt on the 16th hole when she heard the cheers from the 18th, got the news that Hedwall won her match and began pumping her fist.

Matthew holed the winning the putt, but the Europeans really won Saturday afternoon when they swept the fourballs matches to build a 10-5 lead, matching the largest margin going into Sunday.

Raucous cheering on the first tee raised American hopes of the greatest comeback in Solheim Cup history.

Once they got on the golf course, it was a hopeless cause.

Mallon stacked some of her best players at the top of the lineup with hopes of filling the leaderboard with red scores and building momentum. Europe was ahead early four of the opening five matches.

Brittany Lang delivered a point, though she had a tussle with Azahara Munoz until winning on the 17th.

Lewis, in the opening match, didn't take her first lead against Anna Nordqvist until driving the green on the par-4 14th for a birdie. But the closing stretch belonged to Europe, as it had all week. Lewis missed an 8-foot birdie on the 16th for a chance to go 2 up, and the Swede found more magic on the 17th. One day after her hole-in-one, she holed a 20-foot birdie putt to square the match, and Lewis had to make a 7-foot par to get a half-point.

Ciganda, the Spanish rookie who couldn't break 80 in her opening fourballs match, finished with five straight birdies to pull away from Pressel.

Europe's biggest boost came from its youngest star.

Hull, playing as if she had been here many times before, dropped in a 45-foot birdie putt on No. 6 to take her first lead, and she demoralized Creamer from there, 5 and 4. Creamer has not made it beyond the 14th hole in singles losses the last two Solheim Cups.

Hull only showed her age at the end. She took a marker from her bag and asked Creamer if she could sign a golf ball for a friend back home.

"He's a big fan, so I thought I might as well get one," Hull said.

By the end of the week, the Americans had reasons to ask for the autographs.