All posts in News

Tiger Woods Caught on Video, Practicing at Isleworth

by James on March 27, 2010 in News, Players with 1 Comment

Well what do we have here. We all know Tiger has been hard at work, on the course and on the range getting ready with the one-and-only Hank Haney… But due to the seclusion of the settings Woods’ generally frequents, we haven’t seen much (or anything) in the way of video proof. Cue the folks at TMZ *sigh*.

Tiger Woods Caught on Camera at IsleworthYes, sadly TMZ has managed to shoot a video of Tiger prepping for the masters at Isleworth with Hank Haney close by to provide guidance and advice. I can’t imagine how the cameraman got into the situation, and I shudder to think where he was hiding to get the video. Regardless, it’s great to see Tiger on the tee, and from what I can see, he looks loose and the swing is shaping up.

I hope the folks at Augusta National are going to have security setup on a tight perimeter of the course. Otherwise we may see more videos like this taken from the bushes…practice rounds perhaps?

Good grief.

Woods and Couples to Play Monday Practice Round at The Masters

by James on March 26, 2010 in News, Players with 3 Comments
Fred Couples and Tiger Woods

Fred Couples and Tiger WoodsThe press conferences are set, and we know Tiger is going to speak on Monday, April 5th at 2PM EST. Good stuff. But I know you’ve all been wondering, who and when is he going to play practice rounds with? Sure, he’s already been on the course getting ready this past week, but I’m talking about ‘official’ practice rounds here.

The latest on the topic comes from the Golf Channel. Fred Couples let TGC know that he and Tiger Woods will play 18 on the Monday of Masters week, the same day Tiger takes to the press conference podium. Should be an interesting pairing. Freddy has been through a lot in his own personal life, and heck, he’s won a green jacket of his own… I wouldn’t be surprised if Couples requested to play with Tiger, seems to me he may have some wisdom or helpful advice to pass on to the world’s #1.

Whatever happens, hopefully we’ll get a little insight into the practice round from Tiger when he sits down with the media.

[Via: TrailingTiger]

Masters Pre-Tourny Press Conferences Scheduled: Tiger Sets the Stage on April 5th

by James on March 25, 2010 in News with 2 Comments

Tiger Woods to Speak at The Masters on April 5th

The big news yesterday was no doubt the announcement of the Tiger Woods press conference at The Masters. He’s all setup to sit down with the press on April 5th, at 2PM EST. Excellent. While many are no doubt looking forward to asking him questions, one has to assume he’ll be all golf talk, and no personal talk… At least, that’s what I think we have to bank on until he proves otherwise. The other day when he talked for a few minutes with The Golf Channel and ESPN, he did open up, but these were 1-on-1 interviews… Sitting down to answer personal questions from a throng of golf reporters isn’t something I can see Tiger ‘hitting’. But we’ll see. What do you think?

The Masters pre-tourny interview schedule has also been released. Press conferences will proceed as follows:

Monday, April 5

Tuesday, April 6

  • 9 a.m. Raymond Floyd
  • 10 a.m. Padraig Harrington
  • 11 a.m. Stewart Cink
  • Noon Angel Cabrera
  • 12:30 p.m. Chang-won Han
  • 2 p.m. David Duval
  • 2:30 p.m. Phil Mickelson
  • 3:30 p.m. Steve Stricker
  • 4 p.m. Geoff Ogilvy
  • 4:30 p.m. Matteo Manassero
  • 5:00 p.m. Jack Nicklaus

Wednesday, April 7

  • 12:30 p.m. William Porter Payne, chairman, Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament

No matter your opinion of Tiger these days, it should be one heck of a press conference. It’s time to step-up TW. Again, the conference is set for Monday, April 5th at 2PM EST. Setup your TiVo.

Note: Thought it was interesting to see Jack Nicklaus slated for the last slot on Tuesday. I’m sure all of the other players will be asked about Tiger, but I’m particularly interested to hear what Jack has to say. This is another one to watch too, me thinks 🙂

[Via: GolfWeek]

Tiger Woods Caught Practicing at Augusta National

by James on March 23, 2010 in News with 1 Comment

Tiger Woods and Hank Haney at The Masters

What do you do when you’re Tiger Woods, knowing that the Tavistock Cup is going on right now in your very own gated community at Isleworth? Well, you give your wife and kids a big hug and kiss (hopefully), and hop on a plane to Augusta to for some practice rounds, of course!

Last night while watching the Golf Channel, one of my favorites (Tim Rosaforte) noted that Tiger was confirmed to be at Augusta on Monday, getting a practice round in for the upcoming Masters tournament. Today he’ll no doubt be found at Augusta National as well, as the Tavistock Cup comes to a conclusion today.

Smart move by Tiger for sure. Why hang around Isleworth if you’re not ready for competition… Get out of the way, and prep yourself for the first major of the year.

Can Tiger win The Masters? That remains to be seen. However, the ‘ol standby bet of Tiger vs. the Field has to favor the field this time around me thinks. Usually it sits around 50/50… But this year I think the field as the edge 60/40 or even 70/30… would you agree?

Self-teeing System Added to Haggin Oaks Golf Complex

by Annie Latham on March 23, 2010 in News with No comments

The Haggin Oaks Golf Complex, in the Sacramento region of California, has just added the  Power Tee, self-teeing system  to its driving range.  The Power Tee system works by pouring the golfer’s bucket of balls in an underground holding container. After adjusting tee height, a ball pops out of the hole in the mat and tees the ball automatically. After a shot, the tee disappears into a hole and reappears seconds later with another ball.

According to head golf professional, Mike Woods, PGA, “The Power Tee system makes practicing easier and quicker for golfers of all ages and abilities. It also helps players become more consistent with stance and posture and lessens strain on backs and joints. Golfers who have used it tell me it’s really a lot of fun.”

Even before adding the Power Tee system, Haggin Oaks made Range Magazine’s list of America’s Top 100 Driving Ranges.

The Power Tee system, designed and manufactured in Britain, is very easy to use.   The tee has up to 40 adjustable tee heights (4 standard).

2010 Tavistock Cup Gets Underway

by James on March 22, 2010 in News with No comments

Tavistock Cup 2010Earlier this fine Monday morning the 2010 Tavistock Cup got underway. The world’s most talented interclub championship features some of the best golfers in the world. I have it on the ‘ol TV right now, and am listening to it in the background while I work away here. This years’ edition looks to be another stellar competition, even though the world’s #1 isn’t present. The Isleworth and Lake Nona teams are both stacked to the hilt. In fact, the talent is rediculous. Below are the lineups for the 2010 Tavistock Cup:

Team Lake Nona:

  • Ben Curtis
  • Ernie Els
  • Ross Fisher
  • Retief Goosen
  • Peter Hanson
  • Trevor Immelman
  • Graeme McDowell
  • Ian Poulter
  • Justin Rose
  • Henrik Stenson

Team Isleworth:

  • Robert Allenby
  • Stuart Appleby
  • Arjun Atwal
  • John Cook
  • Brian Davis
  • J.B. Holmes
  • Charles Howell III
  • Lee Janzen
  • Nick O’Hern
  • Mark O’Meara

Early betting have the odds in favor of the Lake Nona team, but heck, how could you ever count out an Isleworth team chalked-full of major winners? I’m really looking forward to the great shots that are sure to hit us over the competition. All players are out on the Isleworth course right now, and the wind is picking up… Should be a challenging first day.

Nike Steps Up to Sponsor Tiger Woods’ Bag at The Masters

by James on March 21, 2010 in News, Bags, Nike Golf, Players with No comments
Tiger Woods Golf Bag
Tiger Woods Golf Bag

Move on over, Frank. Nike is Coming in.

We had a little fun a few days ago speculating what sponsor’s logo would appear on Tiger Woods’ bag when he returned at The Masters. My gut told me that Nike would probably be the brand of choice… and when you consider how Nike has stuck side-by-side with Woods through his recent trials and tribulations, it seemed to be the most reasonable choice.

Sure enough, late last week word came out that Tiger’s own ‘TW’ Nike brand will be emblazoned on the bag. The brand will be front and center, so expect to see the ‘TW’ logo along with a handful of Nike swooshes adorning the equipment of the world’s #1.

If you take a look back through the years, the change to Nike will make it 4 logos to adorn Tiger’s bag. Back in 1996, Tiger started out with Titleist. From there he moved on to Buick, in a deal that lasted quite a long time until 2008 when GM filed for bankruptcy. Over the past year or so the AT&T logo had been found on-the-bag, until Tiger’s recent ‘indiscretions’.

Should be cool to see what the new Nike bag looks like. Any ideas?

What You’ll Need to Watch The Masters in 3D

by James on March 20, 2010 in News with 3 Comments
What You'll Need to Watch The Masters in 3D

What You'll Need to Watch The Masters in 3D

Chances are you’ve heard that Comcast is broadcasting The Masters in 3D. Cool, for sure… but do you have the equipment and television necessary to enjoy the broadcast? Are you ready to view The Masters in full-out 3D? Keep reading to find out if you have the equipment you need.

Comcast has designs on outputting a side-by-side 1080i MPEG-2 transmission. If this doesn’t mean anything to you, no worries, it means nothing to me either. The quick translation is Comcast’s HD set-top boxes connected through HDMI are already more than capable of handling the signal. So, if you already have the box, it’s time to load up on a 3D HDTV

Quite honestly, the pricing isn’t as expensive as you’d think. I recently popped over to Best Buy to check them out, and Samsung seems to be the brand of choice, with their 46″ and 55″ 3D HDTV’s both readily available. These 3D HDTV’s are 1080p, run at 240Hz, and will set you back $2,339.99 for the 46″ model, and $2969.99 for the 55″. Not bad at all.

I’ve included the product links below from Best Buy. Check ’em out, and if you’re willing to drop a few grand, it COULD be worth it! (really, the price isn’t that much more than similar non-3D LED and LCD televisions!)

What are your thoughts? Too expensive? Or perhaps you just don’t care? Will plain ‘old’ 2D do you just fine?

Note: For the 3D HDTVs above, the 3D glasses are not included… You’ll need to purchase those separately.

Could we see a Shorter Augusta National for the 2010 Masters?

by James on March 19, 2010 in News, Courses with 2 Comments
Entrance to the 2nd Green at Augusta National

The entrance to the 2nd Green at Augusta National has been widened by 8 feet.

The anticipation growing in the pit of my stomach for this years’ Masters. At least, I think that’s what it is… it could also be the Thai food I ate for dinner.

Thai food aside, the excitement is growing by the minute, and as April draws near, I find myself reading (and watching) more Masters goodness than a guy can handle. Earlier today, I was poking around the Golf Channel when I came across the Shag Bag Blog (If you’ve never read it, I highly recommend). One quick post in particular that I came across was by Rex Hoggard, and it touched upon the changes (or lack thereof) to Augusta National this year.

The changes to the course for the 2010 edition of the Masters are surprisingly small… in fact, some would even consider them surprising. The 2nd hole has had the entry to the green widened by 8 feet. This should make for more birdies and eagles at the 575 yard par 5. Also worth noting is the fact that the 5th and 13th teeboxes have been extended… FORWARD. I had to do a double-take the first time I read that! But it’s true! The fifth is a challenging dogleg left par 4 at 455 yards. The 13th of course is one of the most famous par 5’s the world over, measuring 510 yards. The extension of the teeing areas forward on these holes should make for shorter approach shots on 5, and more green-hitting attempts on the par 5 13th.

In the end, we know we’re not going to see the tees forward very much… But if and when we do, we can count on more birdies and eagles than we’re used to seeing. We could be in for a real treat at The Masters this year, weather pending 🙂

Why Tiger’s Return at The Masters Makes Sense (& Dollars)

by Annie Latham on March 17, 2010 in News with No comments

The folks at PGATour.com did a post that proposed six reasons why Tiger returning for The Masters makes sense.  Not that the listing is in any particular order, but the first one happens to be “Controlled Environment.”  We all know Tiger likes control.

Reason 5, “Competing Storyline” makes a good point.  The Masters event is the first “major” of the year.  According to Nielsen, when comparing TV ratings for the final rounds of golf’s four major tournaments since 1977, they found that the top ten telecasts were all from the Masters.

Clearly, with or without Tiger, The Masters tournament itself is an attention getter.  We already noted that The Masters will be available in 3-D, which is a storyline too.  No doubt, Tiger will be the main attraction this year, but he won’t be the only story.

As for six reasons CBS and ESPN should be ecstatic about Tiger’s return (ESPN will air the first two rounds while CBS will broadcast the final two round), check these numbers from a Nielsen Wire post that appeared in February 2009:

The Nielsen Company compared the network TV ratings for the 3rd and 4th rounds of golf tournaments played by Woods after the U.S. Open in 2007 with those same tournaments he missed in 2008 due to a season-ending knee injury. And the results are just what you might expect: Tiger’s absence almost singlehandedly sliced tour ratings in half.

For the broadcasters, and let’s include the Golf Channel in that mix, all six reasons have to do with dollar bills (perhaps “pots of gold”).

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