Bleacher Report: Tiger Woods Making the Right Choice with Ryder Cup Withdrawal, Lengthy Absence

August 14, 2014 by Art Spander in articles, golf

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

The suspense has ended. Inevitability won. Tiger Woods lost. The U.S. Ryder Cup team lost. If an athlete, a sportsman, is unable to play, then there’s nothing to do but make the concession. And so Wednesday, Woods, tenacious, finally gave in.

Per the PGA of America, he withdrew his name from consideration for the Ryder Cup matches at the end of September because of the injury to his back.

Read the full story here.

Global Golf Post: Bourbon, Bats and a Big Horse Race

August 11, 2014 by Art Spander in articles, golf

By Art Spander
For Global Golf Post

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY — When Denny Crum, a California native and at the time an assistant to John Wooden at UCLA, was introduced as head basketball coach of the university in this city in 1971 he referred to it as "Lewis-ville."

Corrected almost immediately, Crum's mistake was shrugged off by the local citizenry as a minor indiscretion...

Read the full story here.

Bleacher Report: Star-Studded Battle Brings Unforgettable Drama in 2014 PGA Championship's Finale

August 10, 2014 by Art Spander in articles, golf

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The slogan couldn’t live up to the event.

“This is major,” they advertised. The 2014 PGA Championship, with a leaderboard of unprecedented quality, a race against darkness to reach conclusion and a champion already threatening to become the best ever, was so much more.

Read the full story here.

Bleacher Report: Stacked Leaderboard Setting Up Dramatic Final Round of 2014 PGA Championship

August 10, 2014 by Art Spander in articles, golf

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — This is a major.

Is it ever.

This is a golf tournament with a leaderboard full of champions and suspense. This is what we’ve been waiting for in a summer that lacked the competition any sport needs, especially when it’s without its injured star.

Read the full story here.

Bleacher Report: Questions Mount for Struggling Tiger Woods After Missed Cut at PGA Championship

August 09, 2014 by Art Spander in articles, golf

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Once he provided all the answers. We knew all we needed about Tiger Woods, the golfer, if not the person.

He was the champion who could win U.S. Opens on a bad leg, who could set scoring records and who could do almost everything except walk on water.

Read the full story here.

Bleacher Report: Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson Grouping to Be Savored at 2014 PGA Championship

August 07, 2014 by Art Spander in articles, golf

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — They are the major characters in this major championship, the 96th PGA, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, at least for a couple days, facing each other and facing the probability they may never pass this way again.

The game is one of personalities, stars, and during the past decade there have been no greater leading men than Woods and Mickelson, in popularity and frequently on the scoreboard.

Read the full story here.

Bleacher Report: Tiger Woods the Mystery Man Entering 2014 PGA Championship

August 07, 2014 by Art Spander in articles, golf

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — He’s the man, all right. All you had to do was listen to the shrieks and the shouts. “Hey, Tigah, in the hole. Hey Tigah, over here.” No question he’s the heart of golf in America.

But Tiger Woods, who made a stirring return on a steamy, humid afternoon with a practice round in Louisville on Wednesday, also is the mystery man.

Read the full story here.

Bleacher Report: Will Incredible 62 Ignite Phil Mickelson Heading into 2014 PGA Championship?

August 06, 2014 by Art Spander in articles, golf

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — One round for Phil Mickelson, who must have played 10,000 rounds of golf in his life. Maybe 50,000. One round, but even for a man who’s been there, done that, won majors, won millions, it's a round that could make a difference.

How strange, the PGA Championship, the tournament which carries the reminder "This is major" at the front of the media tent, is being played at a course named after a hall named for slain warriors in Norse mythology, Valhalla. It is on a course with a funeral connotation Mickelson again seeks to find life.

Read the full story here.

Newsday (N.Y.): Rory McIlroy coasts in with first British Open title

July 21, 2014 by Art Spander in articles, golf

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

HOYLAKE, England — It was supposed to be a coronation march. Instead it became a long walk, although not spoiled, to the delight of Rory McIlroy.

After starting the final round of the British Open on Sunday with a lead of six strokes, McIlroy saw his margin trimmed to two by the 72nd hole. Still, that was good enough to have him announced as "The Champion Golfer of the Year."

Read the full story here.

Newsday (N.Y.): American Rickie Fowler getting closer to major glory

July 21, 2014 by Art Spander in articles, golf

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

HOYLAKE, England — Rickie Fowler was the only player in the 143rd British Open to shoot four rounds in the 60s. And he didn't win.

"I tried to give Rory a little run at the end," Fowler said of Rory McIlroy, who finished two shots ahead of Fowler and Sergio Garcia. "But I just got on the gas a little too late."

Read the full story here.

Global Golf Post: Furyk Hopes Past Is Not Prologue

July 21, 2014 by Art Spander in articles, golf

By Art Spander
For Global Golf Post

HOYLAKE, ENGLAND — The final round started and Jim Furyk was on the leaderboard. Where he always seems to be. The years and the putts roll by, but Furyk makes no concession to time. Or no less significantly, failure.

Read the full story here.

Bleacher Report: Is Rory McIlroy the New Face of Golf After Winning the 2014 British Open?

July 20, 2014 by Art Spander in articles, golf

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

HOYLAKE, England — Rory McIlroy is one of three, with Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. But so effervescent, so whimsical as well as so remarkably talented, McIlroy in truth is one of a kind.

“The Champion Golfer of the Year.” That’s how the British Open winner is introduced by the head of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club, Peter Dawson.

Read the full story here.

Newsday (N.Y.): Rory McIlroy jumps to a 6-stroke lead in British Open

July 19, 2014 by Art Spander in articles, golf

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

HOYLAKE, England — It was short, and for Rory McIlroy, oh so sweet. In a matter of minutes he threw two eagles at the field and dispelled any thought the 143rd British Open would belong to anyone else.

McIlroy's threes on the par-5 16th and 18th holes Saturday in the third round at Royal Liverpool enabled him to leap to a six-stroke lead. Almost certainly the rest of the field is playing for second.

Read the full story here.

Bleacher Report: Relentless Rory McIlroy Shows Killer Instinct, Controls 2014 British Open

July 19, 2014 by Art Spander in articles, golf

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

HOYLAKE, England — The Open is closed. One moment we had a golf tournament. The next we had a rout. For Rory McIlroy, the next walk across the links of Royal Liverpool will be a coronation march.

Six shots in six holes. McIlroy was tied with Rickie Fowler at the 13th tee Saturday in the third round. After the 18th green he was six shots in front.

Read the full story here.

Bleacher Report: Will Rory McIlroy Run Away with 2014 British Open After Avoiding Friday Failure?

July 18, 2014 by Art Spander in articles, golf

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

HOYLAKE, England — That takes care of the Friday Flop nonsense for Rory McIlroy. That also ought to take care of the 143rd British Open.

Was it a jinx? A curse? A bad swing that turned into a horrible situation? A leprechaun’s mistake?

Read the full story here.

Newsday (N.Y.): Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods both make cut

July 18, 2014 by Art Spander in articles, golf

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

HOYLAKE, England — Phil Mickelson called it a "crazy" round. He was talking about his own play at Royal Liverpool on Friday, but the word very much could have applied to his rival, Tiger Woods.

Mickelson had an eagle on the 528-yard, par-5 fifth hole, lost a ball on the par-5 10th but still made par, and birdied the par-5 18th for a 2-under-par 70 and a 36-hole total of par 144 in the British Open.

Read the full story here.

Newsday (N.Y.): Rory McIlroy posts another 66 at British Open

July 18, 2014 by Art Spander in articles, golf

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

HOYLAKE, England — He's done this before, three years ago in the other Open. He turned the 2011 U.S. Open into a runaway, and now on this side of the ocean, Rory McIlroy is doing it again.

McIlroy did something on Friday that he hadn't been doing much of this season and extended his lead in the 143rd British Open to four shots. Even with two rounds to play, he may be uncatchable.

Read the full story here.

Newsday (N.Y.): Rory McIlroy shoots 66, Tiger Woods 3 shots back at British Open

July 17, 2014 by Art Spander in articles, golf

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

HOYLAKE, England — Rory McIlroy did what he was supposed to do in the opening round of the British Open: Take the lead.

Now can he avoid doing what everyone expects him to do — fall apart in the second round?

Read the full story here.

Bleacher Report: Confident Tiger Woods Defies Doubters with Impressive Day 1 at 2014 British Open

July 17, 2014 by Art Spander in articles, golf

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

HOYLAKE, England — Oh, we of little faith. That will teach us. Doubt the Great Tiger, even after back surgery, even after not winning a major in six years. Dummies.

That’s what Mr. Woods implied, which for him was just as clear as if he spelled it out, d-u-m-m-i-e-s.

Read the full story here.

Newsday (N.Y.): Justin Rose blooming as British Open awaits

July 16, 2014 by Art Spander in articles, golf

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

HOYLAKE, England — To steal a line from the Beatles, who began just across the River Mersey, Justin Rose's career has been a long and winding road.

Twenty-eight miles from Royal Birkdale to the north — where in the 1998 British Open Rose hit the spotlight before he hit the skids — to the 2014 Open, which starts Thursday at Royal Liverpool.

Read the full story here.