The Vancouver Open will be coming up soon...Sept 9, 10th & 11th

Everyone can look forward to following the Vancouver Open, which will take place Sept. 9-11th. I'm sure many of you will want to follow Brandan Price , who was recently featured here on The Fore Report.

This unique Open Championship will be held at 3 courses. It will start on Sept. 9th at Fraserview and Langara and then end on Sept. 11th at McCleery Golf Course. A bit different than how it's done here I know however, quite intriguing. All of the golfers will be playing one round each at both Fraserview & Langara. Then, the top 60% and ties in both the Amateur & Pro divisions, will make the 36 hole cut to play the final round  at McCleery Golf Course on Saturday. The tournament will bring 224 golfers consisting of 80 pros/and 144 amateurs. Bryn Parry, a familiar name to those that follow the VGT (via Vancouvergolftour )is the defending 2009 Champion while Adam Cornelson was the 2009 Amateur winner. Bryn shot a 66, 65 and 71 to take a 2 stroke lead for the win over Phil Jonas last year.

There will be a Pro-am on Thursday, which will benefit the CKNW Orphans' Fund. What a great cause! The format will be as follows; 4 amateurs will play with a top VGT or a Candian Tour Professional to raise funds for this years charity. So, don't forget to follow along online at Vancouvergolftour, if you're not there in person in beautiful Vancouver.

Congrats to Sophie Gustafson on her win in Europe!

For the 14th win in her career, Sophie Gustafson claimed the Ladies Irish Open title on Sunday by posting a -12, 204 to defeat Marianne Skarpnord (who is a rookie), and In-Kyung Kim by 1 stroke! While she's not finished in the top ten but one time this season, it looks as if "change is gonna come"! She's started in 12 tournaments this season and had no victories until her current, which she should be very proud of. Great playing Sophie! We only wish we could have followed this via broadcast in the States. 


Sophie, who is a 7 time European Solheim Cup Team Member can be proud with the win at exquisite Killeen Castle, which will play host to the 2011 Solheim Cup. When the ladies return for the Solheim Cup in September 2011, Sophie will know what to expect. Sophie is an international player, playing on both LPGA events and the LET. 


A bit of a break for most, as the next tournament will be on Aug. 20-22nd on the LPGA Tour. 

92nd PGA Championship @ Whistling Straights in Kohler, WI

This is the coveted trophy the winner will take home on sunday, August 15th. Y.E. Yang, the defending champion 
of this Championship beat out Tiger Woods to claim the title at Hazeltine last year. Can he do it again? Will Woods be a contender? Will Lefty get his game back to what it has been? These are the questions of many and like myself, one will only know by watching each round. I expect we will see some changes each and every round on the leaderboard. I do not think this will be a course or weather conditions conducive to someone holding lead position through 3 or all 4 rounds. 


This year the 92nd PGA Championship will be played at Whistling Straights in Kohler, WI.  This is a beautiful little area of Wisconsin for those that have not gotten the chance to visit. It is home of two fabulous courses; Blackwolf Run and Whistling Straights by course designer Pete Dye. I have gotten the chance to play Blackwolf Run a few years ago and was quite glad that the round was cut short by weather as my scorecard was less than acceptable! Whether some say it's more like an old Links course, it is certainly open and rugged. The winds of Wisconsin sweep across the terrain. Whether it's the deep pot bunkers, large sandy areas or undulating greens; Mother Nature will reign. The bonus is, on all 18 holes of Whistling Straights, you will get a great view of Lake Michigan. The course boasts bluffs, massive sand dunes and the fairways are of natural fescue. The elevation change alone on this course, is 80 feet. Half of the holes will hug the shoreline. Best known for it's signature hole, a par 3 #17 will have players hitting to a green over both the sand and water. 


Lee Westwood who is out with his calf injury, will miss this event and most likely the Ryder Cup as it looks now and as sources have speculated. Tiger Woods hasn't won a major in 2 yrs now. While his personal life unraveled last year, his game completely unraveled last week. He shot the worst round in his history as both an amateur & since turning professional. Today, Woods was seen with swing coach Sean Foley out on the course, who was videoing Woods from both a front and rear view. My recommendation, shave the mustache & goatee; I think it weighed him down last week. 
This is the same Sean Foley who works with Sean O'Hair and Hunter Mahan. By the way these two guys have been playing, it appears this was a wise decision for Woods. He will be paired with Y.E. Yang and Vijay Singh for the first two rounds. Another good pairing to watch will be Rickie Fowler and Justin Leonard, who will be joined by Ryo Ishikawa. Wisconsin native Steve Stricker will be paired with Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott, which will be a great 3 to keep an eye on! Lefty on the other hand, will be paired with two recent winners; Graeme McDowell & Louis Oostuizen. The goup just ahead of them will have Stenson, Z. Johnson & L. Glover. 


The big excitement is that for portions of the 1st & 2nd rounds, there will be some 3D provided by both TNT and on the PGA.com website. Now remember, you won't be able to see this by merely rushing out and buying 3D glasses. You must have a 3D TV or 3D compatible PC Screen. For only viewing portions of rounds 1 & 2, I won't be rushing out to obtain either. Regarding mobile apps; the best  is the one on the iPhone," PGA Championship". This allows you to watch live, see live leaderboard scoring, get the latest news,  set alerts for birdies, etc. It's one pretty package and it's FREE! Those like myself with the iPhone4, can see this in the clearest and best optimal viewing with the new retinal display, which is beyond phenomenal.


Coverage will be as follows:

Thu, August 12		1-8 PM ET
Fri, August 13		1-8 PM ET
Sat, August 14		11 AM-2 PM ET
		2-7 PM ET
Sun, August 15		11 AM-2 PM ET
		2-7 PM ET

The weather will be near 90 degrees at the start of the tourney and drop to around 80 degrees for Sunday's final round. Each day but Thursday are calling for the potential thunderstorms and/or showers. The midwest is getting more than their share of warmth and humidity and have had heat index at or above 100 & advisories in states just southern to Wisconsin. Either way, the anticipation of this tournament and the potential for someone to grab their first win, could easily become a reality! I'll be watching, will You? 




Now, Go Hit Some Balls..........................

Mahan wins WCG Bridgestone, Bill Lunde wins Turning Stone!

Hunter Mahan not only won, but secured his place on the Ryder Cup team today at The WCG Bridgestone Invitational with a final round 64. He finished at -12, two strokes ahead of Ryan Palmer. Hunters last win was earlier this year in February at the Waste Management Open, where he shot a final round 65.

Tiger Woods however, had his worst finish ever with a final +18. He had not even shot a round over par since 2006. He was not alone, Phil shot a final round 78 to finish in 10th place. This was the first time that the two men both shot over 77 in the same round, since The British Open in the late 90's. Coincidence or not, it's very clear that young-guns are out to make a presence on the Tour.

On the East Coast, Bill Lunde was the one winning at Turning Stone after beating JJ Henry by one stroke. A true "cinderella" story if you will; Bill played on the Nationwide Tour, them walked away from the game after a very rough year in 2005. Luckily for him, a career in real estate didn't work out and he found himself heading to work with Butch Harmon. 2008 was not just his year he returned to golf, but the year he won a tournament than put him 5th on the money list and earned him his card on the 2009 PGA Tour. Wow, what a difference this 3 years made in this man's life. I think we can expect to see more wins in Bill's future! Well deserved Bill, well deserved!

The PGA Championship comes next, where Tiger is a co-favorite to win. Will he turn things around in one week, only time will tell. As with lefty, there is work to be done on the golf course.

Stone vs Stone, what's happening with the guys this week

While the talk is of Phil Mickelson becoming the worlds #1 in rankings with a win this week at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational, people are also talking about Tiger's worst finish possibly occurring this week. Bubba Watson who went off the tee on the 9th hole, ended up putting his 2nd shot back over the trees and onto the green. He then did the same thing on the 10th, by going left and back toward the 9th fairway. This was the first time I had seen him repeat a horrible drive back to back. He came back as best he could, and finished at -5, in a tie for 10th. Alongside of him are; Lefty, K.Miyamoto, D.Johnson, N.Watney and O.Wilson.

Justin Leonard, another one to watch to be aggressive on Sunday, held the sole lead for a time before slipping back into 4th place at -7. He is joined by South African Ernie Els and P.Hanson. Matt Kuchar has 3rd place all to himself at -8.

In the lead we have a tie with R.Palmer & S.O'Hair at -9. Nike golfer Justin Leonard is the only NIKE golfer in the top 10 at Bridgestone. Further down the leader board, is fellow NIKE player Lucas Glover in a tie for 16th.





In another "Stone" as in Turning Stone Resort Championship in Verona NY, A. Cejka holds the lead at -15. While we have a jam at 4th place, 2nd & 3rd place are held by C.Couch and B.Mayfair respectively. Rory Sabbatini made up some strokes and got it back to -10. Matt Kutcher won this last year however, he is not there to defend his title. Matt is making a play at another "Stone" event in Akron, OH.....WGC BridgeSTONE Initational as mentioned prior, and currently in 3rd place there.

Next up on the PGA Tour, is the PGA Championship in Kohler, WI. Whistling Straights will play host to this great tourney which has a purse of $7,500,000 and the winner pocketing a mere $1,350,000. Not a bad chunk of change eh? I would highly recommend iPhone users to download the free app "PGA Championship", which will keep you up to date by the minute!

Will Phil make up ground and become the world's #1 with a win? Will Matt Kutcher go for the win after making the decision he would not play at Turning Stone to defend his title? Will Tiger get it going on Sunday to defend his title, or will Ernie Els make a strong contender to beat them all? One thing is for sure, Sunday will prove to be an exciting day to follow both tournaments!

One last note, Lee Westwood who started playing in this week's tourney had to withdraw on friday due to the nagging calf injury he has. He also is losing out this week on a chance to have claimed world's #1 with a win @ Bridgestone. He will not play in The PGA Championship at Whistling Staights and he hopes to be well enough for the Ryder Cup, Oct 1-3rd. He knows the only cure now is rest, and he's going to finally give in to that recommendation from his physicians.

Safeway Classic Presented By Coca-Cola Aug 20-22

Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club's Ghost Creek Course will be the site of the next LPGA tournament in the States. This picturesqe course is located a mere 20 miles from Portland, in North Plains Oregon and sits at the base of Tualatin Mountains.

Ghost Creek course is of Robert Cupp design. This course opened in 1992 and then played host to The NIKE Championships the following two years. The other course at Pumpkin Ridge is Witch Hollow, also of Robert Cupp design is a members only course. Witch Hollow was host of the 1997 & 2003 US Women's Open. It's most recent hosting, was for the 2006 US Women's Amateur. Both Pumpkin Ridge & Witch Hollow received distinction and were named in 2005's list of the Top 100 courses to play in Golf Magazine as well as Golf Digest's 100 most Modern Courses respectively.

Television coverage will be by Golf Channel and is listed for 12:30-2:30 ET for the first round and then 5:30-8:00 pm ET the final two rounds. MJ Hur is the defending champion after Holding off Pettersen & Redman in a 2 hole sudden death playoff. She posted Her first two rounds of 69 and her final round 65 to go -13 and claim the title in 2009, which was also her Rookie Year!

Several players are still playing tourneys in Europe this week before heading home for a couple of well-deserved weeks off. One of those is Christina Kim, who will be the featured Prof Golfer in my next Q & A session. Here's a hint......someone called speedraser will follow CK!

Now, Go Hit Some Balls!

After leading 3 rounds, YANI wins at Birkdale!

The day was likely the best of all rounds, with temps in the 60's and some sunshine amongst the clouds. The ladies could actually be comfortable in shorts, which was not the case in prior rounds.

After 32 fairways hit, 63 greens in regulation and 126 putts, Yani Tseng held on after leading through 3 rounds to WIN the RICOH Women's British Open at Royal Birkdale! She has 3 career wins with today's title, after winning the 2008 Canadian Women's Open & the LPGA Championship that same year. She has become the youngest to win 3 Championships, at the age of 21. Keep an eye on this young lady, as she may one day hold the title of world's #1.

Even though she couldnt catch her, the talented Aussie, Katherine Hull was 1 stroke behind to claim 2nd place. Katherine had a total of 115 putts throughout the tourney with 54 greens hit in regulation and 39 fairways.

Na Yeon Choi & In-Kyung Kim finished in a tie for 3rd, while Cristie Kerr, Amy Yang & Hee Kyung Seo tied for 5th. Morgan Pressel took 8th place with a -1 round 71 today. Christina Kim, Momoko Ueda, Brittany Lincicome, In-bee Park and Ai Miyazato all tied for 9th. While Christina may not have eagled holes 17 or 18 like she had in earlier rounds, she birdied 14 & 15 to card a +2 round 74 to end the tourney that dealt some harsh weather conditions at times.

Jiyai Shin didn't have the day she strived for once again and had a +1 round 73 to finish in 14th place. Michelle Wie had a final round of -1 71 today and finished in a tie with Gladys Nocera for 17th place.

One thing is for sure, these ladies showed their athleticism and talent while playing in such diverse weather conditions from day to day. While Links courses can certainly be of exceptional challenge to golfers, what proved strongest this week, was the determination of these women to make the best of any given situation and do what they know best.........play some great golf!

Next up will be The Safeway Classic Presented by Coca Cola in North Plains, Oregon August 20-22nd. After that, the ladies will head to Winnipeg Canada for the CN Canadian Womens Open Aug 26-29th.