Editor's Weekly Word

The PGA Championship lived up to the expectations we have of all the majors as you can read in our full report. But apart from now knowing the outcome of the final major tournament on the 2004 calendar, we now also know the USA team line-up for the Ryder Cup next month and things are also hotting up at the top of the world rankings.

After Chris DiMarco and Chris Riley edged Jay Haas and Steve Flesch out of the automatic selections for the team, Hal Sutton announced on Monday that 50 year old Haas will still get his Ryder Cup cap. Flesch, however, was passed over in favor of Stewart Cink, who has Ryder Cup experience and has shown good form of late. In my opinion, these are excellent selections who round out the USA side and, come September 17, I know that even those players that came so close but missed out on a place, will be cheering their team along. By next Sunday evening we'll know the first five selections for the European Team and the remainder will be decided the following weekend.

Vijay Singh is having another great season and many would say that he is currently the best player in the world despite his official #2 ranking. But don't expect Tiger Woods to roll over and easily relinquish his hold on the #1 spot. The "bad" season he is having is better than most players would dare dream of and he is never more at home than when playing in World Golf Championships events like the NEC Invitational which starts in a couple of days. Ernie Els has his claims to the #1 label too and, with it being so close at the top, we could see the world number one position changing hands between these three quite frequently over the next few months. And if Phil Mickelson could pick up a couple more decent wins it would be no surprise to see him joining this "mini super league" at the top of the world of golf. Anything which adds a bit more interest is certainly good for the game and despite the public statements from Els and Singh that being #1 is not important to them, I have a feeling that they will be pulling out all the stops to make sure that this opportunity does not pass them by. After all, telling your grandchildren, "I was almost world #1", doesn't have quite the same ring to it.

Have a good week.

Regards

Andy Smith
Founder/Editor
www.golfing-weekly.com

86thU.S. PGA Championship - Tournament Report

Vijay Singh earns fifth win of season at the PGA

After starting the final day with a narrow one stroke lead and shooting a four over par round of 76, Vijay Singh did just enough to get into a three-way playoff with Justin Leonard who had dominated the leaderboard for most of the day and Chris DiMarco who had earlier set the winning target of 8 under par. Then the winning qualities of an exceptional golfer shone through, as Singh immediately took control with a birdie, his only one all day, on the first of the three extra holes that would decide the winner of the season's final major tournament.

Singh continued to show that he had found another gear by putting his tee shot on the second playoff hole, the par three 17th, within five feet of the flag.  Although his putt slid just past the cup, par was enough to maintain his advantage going to the final hole. Despite his tee shot finishing well short of the others after being held up by a bounce in the light rough, Singh found the centre of the green with his 240 yard approach and when Leonard and DiMarco both failed to make the birdies they needed, he tapped in for par and victory.

Leonard had taken over the lead early in the round when his playing partner, Singh, made double bogey on the 4th and then a further bogey on the 7th gave Leonard a two stroke advantage which he held for most of the day. DiMarco joined Leonard in the lead at minus 10 for a brief spell at the beginning of the back nine but the gap reopened when DiMarco made bogey on 15 and Leonard birdied 13. DiMarco dropped one more shot on his way to setting the clubhouse lead at minus 8 and recording the only sub par round amongst the leading players. Leonard maintained his two shot advantage over Singh and with only three holes to play looked likely to win his second major, having previously won the British Open the last time it was played at this year's venue, Royal Troon, in 1997. But dropped shots on 16 and 18 meant that extra holes were required.

Ernie Els and Chris Riley both missed out on a playoff place by the one shot they each dropped on the final hole and they shared fourth place with 7 under par totals of 281. This was Els' fourth top ten finish in the 2004 majors and the only other player to achieve the top ten clean sweep was Masters winner, Phil Mickelson who finished a shot further back in a share of sixth place with Paul McGinley and K.J. Choi.

Apart from their very respectable paychecks, Chris DiMarco and Chris Riley were rewarded for their efforts by places in the USA Ryder Cup team, finishing 8th and 10th respectively in the points list. Paul McGinley moved up into the 10th qualifying place in the European Ryder Cup points list with just two weeks until the team is finalised. On current form I would expect to see him in the European team even if he gets bumped out of the final automatic place in the last two tournaments.

Whistling Straits played hard but fair and only on the final day was it plain to see that it could have played a lot tougher with more wind and firmer greens. Personally I am glad that the rain earlier in the week gave us a chance to see both faces of this quality course which will no doubt become a regular venue on the rotation for major tournaments.

Footnote: In the last 24 months Singh has won 10 of is 20 PGA Tour victories, earning over $16 million along the way and looks set to top the PGA money list for the second consecutive year. Under the Official World Golf Ranking system he is just one tenth of a point average behind Tiger Woods who secured a record-breaking 332nd week at #1 with the 5.01 (weight-adjusted) points he picked up for his T24 finish at Whistling Straits. Under the "Golfing Weekly UNOFFICIAL world ranking system" which uses the same weighted points but only takes into account the players' last 40 ranking events, Vijay Singh has been world number one for months and is currently 3.17 points average ahead of third placed Tiger Woods, with Ernie Els unofficially ranked #2. (For my full article, published in May, on the inequities of the World Rankings system - click here).

Back to Contents List

86th U.S. PGA Championship - Results

Par 72 - 7,514 yards

Back to Contents List

PGA Tour Money List

Back to Contents List

BMW Russian Open

With all the best European Tour players away at the PGA Championship, the BMW Russian Open was an opportunity for some of the less well-known players to make a name for themselves. The man that rose to the occasion was England's Gary Emerson who recorded a 16 under par total of 272 to win by two shots from Austria's Markus Brier. After ten years playing on the European Tour, Emerson lost his card at the end of 2003 and jumped on this chance to regain his full playing rights for the remainder of this season and the whole of 2005.

Back to Contents List

BMW Russian Open - Results

Par 72  - 7,074 yards

Back to Contents List

Volvo Order Of Merit

Earnings on the European Tour are paid in Euros. The equivalent value in US$ is for information purposes only and was calculated at the rate which was current at time of publishing. Earnings from the majors are included in both the European & PGA Tour Money Lists.

Back to Contents List

"Off the Cart Path" - weekly cartoon strip by Roy Doty

Back to Contents List

Ryder Cup Points

The European Team will be decided over the next two weeks. The USA team shown is now finalized and the list below shows the 10 automatic selection through qualifying with the two Captain's picks at the end.

Back to Contents List

Official World Golf Rankings

Back to Contents List

Golfing Weekly Home Page

© Copyright 2004 Golfing-Weekly.com