Mcilory takes out AK for 2 Million Dollars !!

Only a week after dropping his agent, Chubby Chandler, U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy won $2 million in the Shanghai Masters on Sunday, beating Anthony Kim with a par on the first hole of a playoff.

McIlroy holed a 2-foot putt for the victory after Kim missed a 3-footer.

McIlroy had a chance to win in regulation, but the 22-year-old star from Northern Ireland missed an 8-foot birdie putt. He closed with an even-par 72 to match Kim (69) at 18 under on Lake Malaren's Jack Nicklaus-designed Masters course.

"It's something that I feel like I can still get better at is winning and putting yourself in the position to win when you're not playing your best," McIlroy said.

"Even if it's scrappy golf where you grind it out, you're going to win a lot more tournaments by doing that rather than playing your best golf the whole week. I was very happy I was able to pull this one out."

The $2 million first prize is the richest in golf. The top players, staying in Shanghai another week for the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions at Sheshan International, also received appearance money and last place paid $25,000. Because the event isn't sanctioned by a major tour, there were no ranking points at stake.

Kim earned $750,000.

"It was an exciting final day and a tough finish for me personally," Kim said. "We had a lot fun out there today."

Hunter Mahan (70) and South Korea's Noh Seung-yul (73) tied for third at 13 under in the 30-man event. Second-ranked Lee Westwood aced the par-3 12th en route to a 67 that left him fifth at 12 under.

McIlroy gave up an early three-shot lead, then rallied from a stroke down on the back nine to force the playoff.

Both players drove into the bunker on the first extra hole, then blasted out to set up the deciding putts. The victory was McIlroy's first in three career playoffs.

McIlroy ran into trouble on the opening hole of the day when his ball hit the pin and bounced back into the fringe, leading to a bogey.

"I felt good standing on the first tee obviously with a three-shot lead," McIlroy said. "I thought my second shot was very good. It was just a little unfortunate to hit the pin and ricochet back off the green. To go from three ahead to one ahead after the first hole was obviously not the start I was looking for."

After McIlroy answered with a birdie on No. 7 to retake the lead, he hit his second shot into the water on the difficult par-4 ninth en route to a bogey. But Kim missed a 5-foot par putt to remain a stroke back at the turn.

McIlroy hit into the bunker on the 11th and three-putted for another bogey — his third of the round — to give Kim the sole lead.

After hitting into the bunker again and barely salvaging par on the 14th, McIlroy finally got a break on the 15th hole when he made a 5-footer for birdie and Kim missed from the same distance to even it.

McIlroy had a chance to take the lead on 17, but missed a birdie putt by less than inch. Then, on 18, he missed the putt that would have given him the victory.

Ian Poulter (72) was 11 under, Retief Goosen (68) and K.J. Choi (67) were another stroke back and Y.E. Yang (72), Padraig Harrington (72) and John Daly (71) were 6 under.

Sergio Gets 2 in a row !

This weekend Sergio Garcia kept the good play alive with a 2nd win in 2 weeks ..

 Sergio Garcia held off fellow Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez to win the Andalucia Masters by one shot on Sunday for his second straight European Tour victory.

Garcia shook off two early bogeys with two birdies on a flawless back nine to card an even 71 and finish with a 6-under total of 278 at the Valderrama course.

"It's very, very special. Valderrama ... I have so much history here and unfortunately it wasn't as good as this until now," said Garcia, who had previously finished runner-up three times on the course.

Jimenez seized the lead early when Garcia three-putted the sixth hole and bogeyed the next. The 47-year-old Jimenez dropped shots on the 13th and 15th before making a pair of birdies to press Garcia until the last hole.

Jimenez had a chance at pulling even with a birdie on the 18th, but his 15-foot putt fell short and Garcia calmly made par.

"On 18, we decided to play a little more conservatively and make sure we hit the fairway," Garcia told the European Tour website. "I've been in that situation three or four times on this course. It wasn't easy, but I believed in my ability. To be able to hit the chip I hit there and roll the putt in with the pressure, it was nice."

Richie Ramsay of Scotland, who led for the first two rounds, finished two shots back in third, with Irish golfer Shane Lowry a further shot behind in fourth.

The 31-year old Garcia won the Castello Masters by 11 strokes last weekend to end a nearly three-year title drought.

"It's been two amazing weeks," said Garcia, who became the first Spaniard to win a stroke play event at the cork tree-lined Valderrama course. "I wasn't as good as probably the last 13 days, but we hung on and managed to pull through."

Once ranked No. 2, Garcia had dropped outside the top 75 after near-misses at the 2007 British Open at Carnoustie and 2008 PGA Championship at Oakland Hills.

His fifth European Tour win on his home soil will lift him back into the top 20. It also qualified him for next week's WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai and moved him to the top of the European Ryder Cup points race.

"Ryder Cup years are always special for me," he said. "So hopefully we can make that team."

Jordan Spieth - Next Tiger Woods (Actually)

Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods draw many parallels , both seem to be able to perform under the most pressure . Spieth has played in 2 PGA tour events as a teenager and finished within the top 20 both times . He is the ONLY person in history other than TIGER WOODS to win the US Junior Amateur more than once .  Recently he competed in only his third college tournament ..... and surprise surprise , he won .“I’ve gone through the experience (of a college tournament) and failed the last two times,” said Spieth, who shot a final-round 5-under 67 to win the Isleworth Collegiate Invitational on Tuesday at Isleworth Golf and Country Club.

“I thought I could learn from it after doing it the first time. It looks like I needed two events, and the third time is a charm. But I’m just really happy to play well on a course like Isleworth.”

Spieth finished at 11-under 205 to tie an ICI tournament record. Georgia’s Harris English shot 205 in 2007. Spieth broke the competitive course record with a 7-under 65 Monday. 

If you here the name Jordan Spieth in the same sentence as Champion , Masters , US open , or Hall of Fame in coming years dont be surprised ! This kid is the real deal !! 

PGA Tour Driven .. What it takes to get to the top .

In this post I want to focus on more the process that all the guys i talk about endure . It seems very glamourous to be a Pro golfer on tour but dont be fooled into thinking its just as simple as showing up and signing a scorecard filled with red numbers ! ... it takes a lot . Mentally , Physically , Technically , and Emotionally . So lets take a look at some guys on tour who have been gracious enough to have the public take a sneak peek into what it took for them to get to the top . And what  it takes for them to stay there .

Working out with Camillo 

Article Excerpt of Vijay Singh 

ON A BREEZY WEDNESDAY MORNING, IDEAL FOR HIS purposes, Vijay Singh arrives at the practice ground. "I'm going to chip first," he says. (Third, he means, having already worked out and putted at his Ponte Vedra Beach home.) "My green might even be too fast right now," he says. "So nice to putt, though. The ball does not bounce."

Singh and another man are alone on the back tee at the Tournament Players Club, actually in an alcove off the tee (the backroom behind the backroom).

"Although it looks like I'm just chipping," Vijay says after a couple of dozen balls, "I'm doing different things with each shot." From the spot he has selected just below a practice green, he chips and chips in silence. "I'm trying to figure out why those balls wouldn't check last week. I don't know why." Now, a ball curls up to the cup and falls in. "There are so many times you hit it and you don't like it, and it goes in," he says. Not the next one he holes or the next, but the one after that prompts him to say, "That's the shot I was talking about. It went in, but it wasn't what I wanted."

Shifting over into a shallow bunker, he says, "I'm going to go back and forth until they're the same," and he does. Whether he's chipping off the ground or the sand, the outcomes, even the English, become uniform. "I'm trying to hit as close to the ball as possible," he tells caddie Paul Tesori, who has just pulled up in a cart. "I'm trying to land it on the damn green, Paul. Did that one check? There. One check and a roll. That's perfect."

Like adding weights to a machine, Singh moves to an upslope. "This is different," he says. "This is hard work. Here's where the broken legs and the sore backs and the aching hips come from." Soon, he is sweating. "I guarantee you, 95 percent of the players can't do this, swing uphill like this and still get to the left side in balance. I've got to rest."

But he doesn't rest. He takes a swig of juice, inhales two small bags of potato chips, and segues straight into a killer drill of coming to a complete stop after each section of his swing, until the last grunted piece produces barely a 50-yard slap. Like Seve Ballesteros as a boy, Singh can do a lot of different things with a 3-iron.

"My first clubs were a 9-iron and a 7-iron," he says. "Until I got a full set at 12, I whacked those babies around."

"Are you going to hit some drivers?" Tesori asks.

"I promised myself I'd hit 50 drivers," Singh says. "Let's hit 52 drivers. A deck of cards."

These too, he tees up on the upslope. "Get those legs moving," he tells himself.

Almost four hours have passed, not an especially long session for Singh. At times you could see the effort. At times you could see the joy. "Last ball," he announces, pounding number 52 into the clouds.

"What do you think?" he says.

Three things. That confidence doesn't come from winning. That winning comes from confidence. And that confidence comes from hard work.

"That's very, very true," Singh says softly. "It doesn't come on a plate, does it? You have to work for it. If you do all of this practice, then, when you get on the course, it's there. You don't have to think about it. In fact, if you have to think about it, it almost can't be done."

Then he says, "I think it's Starbucks time."

On that note , I am going to leave you guys with a video of who some say is the inventer of practice ... Ben Hogan

This Week in Golf ... Winner Winner Luke Donald (Mr. #1)

This Weekend History was made ! Luke Donald became the first man in history to win both the European Tour money list and also US tour money list . He has made $6.68 MIL in the USA and 3.58 MIL Euros ($5.07 MIL) for a cumulative 11.75 Million Dollars !!!  
I think that we can learn alot from Luke ... Good thing he has playing lessons ! ...

With all the Hype here in the US , it is hard not to live in a bubble . But Sergio Garcia also has made history this weekend .Winning the Castello Masters by a record setting 11 Shots !! 

lets look at some video from Sergio .. I mean whats not to love about Sergggggg 

This Week in Golf - Q school edition

This Week the first stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School Gets underway .... Here are the links to check scores from the tournaments .

http://www.pgatour.com/qschool/#

Q School can get pretty intense lets check out some intense moments from Q school past ...

Check Back to see what the final results of Q school are ! Until then check out this look into getting to know one of my favourite players Hunter Mahan . 

This Week In Golf - Race for the Money list Title

The Mcgladery Classic in Sea Island , Georgia took place this past weekend .

Championship Ceremony

A little more on Ben Crane 

A look into Ben Cranes life off the course 

More News from TOUR : Bud Cauley only sixth player in recent to make tour without Q school 

What has Bud done prior to playing on TOUR ?

Cauley was born in Jacksonville, Florida were he was home schooled by his parents. He was ranked top-five nationally in junior golf and among top 15 in the world. As a junior golfer, Cauley was a member of the 2006 Junior Ryder Cup, and the 2008 USA Junior World Golf Championships team. He was also a co-medalist at the 2008 Toyota World Junior Amateur Championships. When Cauley moved up to amateur events he was ranked No. 1 in junior golf.

Cauley chose to play college golf for the University of Alabama golf team, where he became one of the best in the program's history. He was a three-time first-team Golfweek All-American during his three years at Alabama. He was also a finalist for the Hogan Award, given to the best college golfer, all three years at Alabama. Cauley was a member of the 2009 U.S. Walker Cup team, where he posted a 3-0-1 record. In 2009, Cauley was the Southeastern Conference's Freshman of the Year. That year he captured his first collegiate victory at the United States Collegiate Championship. In 2008 he won the Players Amateur, qualifying him for the 2010 Verizon Heritage on the PGA Tour. He played in the 2009 and 2010 U.S. Amateur; in 2009 Cauley beat the world's No. 1 amateur, Rickie Fowler, in the first round of match play.

Whats next ????? The CMN Championship and the TOURs year end !! 

Memorable Moments From Years Past and What to expect 

Up & Comers on the PGA Tour

Bud Cauley - 21 Years Old - Seen this week at the FRYS.com Open ( Beat Tiger Woods By 8 shots)

Adam Hadwin - Canadian from Vancouver , BC

Danny Lee 22 Years Old - From New Zealand 

Billy Horschell - Univ. Of Florida Alum - 24 Years Old

Jordan Jackson Golf Blog - Tigers Return & Lots of New Comers to the Pro game

This Week There are a lot of exiting things happening in the game of Golf ... Lets take a look 

http://www.pgatour.com/video/r/highlights/interviews/2011/10/05/highs_11frys_wd_prsFull_woods.pgatour/index.html   (Follow This link for 30 Minute Tiger Woods Pre-Tournament Interview)

Amateur Stand out - And UCLA Sophomore Patrick Cantlay play in Fry.Com Open W/ Tiger Woods

http://www.pgatour.com/video/r/highlights/interviews/2011/10/05/qt_11frys_wed_fullprs_cantlay.pgatour/index.html (Follow This link for Patrick Cantlay Pre Tournament Press Conference)

Other News - Tiger Woods Signs his first Sponsorship Deal in 2 Years with ROLEX .


$$$$ Amount of the Sponsorship Still Unknown 


Other Events In Golf - Rickie Fowler Wins FIRST tournament as a professional ! 

Rickie Fowler pictured on the Left - He defeated Rory Mcilroy (Right) by 5 shots .

Funny Video Of The Week