Man, he nailed that chip in the clutch and that eagle made him -8 for the tournament, a stroke up on Tiger Woods. Yang didn’t fold over the next four holes, and he didn’t fold after missing a putt on 17 that could have given him a two-shot lead. The best part is someone stood up to Woods and won a major going heads-up against him. I can only hope this gives other golfers confidence entering future tournaments knowing Woods is mortal. As for Tiger, putting was his problem the entire round. He’ll definitely be back.

Straight in the coconut! That had to have hurt. Oh yeah, nice to the see the members of the gallery paying attention at all times.

In case you don’t have the time to watch it, Padraig averaged an extra 30 yards per drive with the Gilmore swing thanks to the run up that created a faster swinging speed. I doubt that any golfer will have the balls to use this method in actual tournament play, but maybe it’s worth a shot for someone looking to gain an edge. Thanks to Yahoo!’s Devil Ball Golf for the video.

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“I may never get this opportunity ever again, but I had a lot of fun being in there,” Perry said. “I had the tournament to win. I lost the tournament. But Angel hung in there. I was proud of him.”
…
I’m not going to feel sorry,” Perry said. “If this is the worst thing that happens to me, I can live with it. I really can. Great players get it done, and Angel got it done. This is his second major he won. I’ve blown two. But that’s the only two I’ve had chances of winning.”

I enjoy Perry’s perspective on the issue but it’s disappointing that he blew it. Anyone watching the telecast saw his wife and daughter, so you can probably understand why he can live with it — he’s already pretty well set. And by the way, am I the only one wondering how Tiger and Phil wound up in the same pairing Sunday? Based on their respective scores following the third round, they shouldn’t have been matched up together. Gotta love CBS trying to manipulate the ratings and make it more about those two than the actual winner. In this case though, it’s hard to really call Cabrera the champion with the way he backed into things.

I’ve been playing miniature golf since I was five and I still haven’t sunk two aces in the same round. But someone did that on a real course in Lake Placid two weeks ago. That person also happens to be the aunt of the venerable SpinMax. Barbara Lockwood defied the odds (67 million to one they say) by picking up a couple of aces in the same round, and she shared her story:

I was screaming and jumping up and down, and the lady that was with Logan, she was saying ‘Girl Power!’ On the second one, I got up on the green and was waving the flag back and forth.
…
It was crazy. I called my nephew in Ohio, and he couldn’t believe it, he was going crazy because he never had one. And then I called my 90-year old mother after the first one, in her nursing home.

The nephew in Ohio? That’s right — SpinMax. Poor guy. First he can’t shoot the buck in his backyard, now he has to see his aunt pick up three aces before he gets one. Maybe next round will be your lucky day. Just make sure your aunt splits her lottery winnings with you afterwards.

GM may implement a round of cost cuts because a planned $15 billion in asset sales and savings won’t be enough to maintain its liquidity amid deteriorating sales, people familiar with the matter said. The company’s stock has dropped more than 74 percent this year, to $6.19 at yesterday’s close, and GM has cut 53,000 union workers since 2005.

Because of that, [Woods' agent Mark] Steinberg said in a telephone interview that he wants to find out if it “makes sense to continue” beyond 2009, when the contract expires.
…
In the coming year, [Woods' agent Larry] Peck said, Buick would be “trimming back” some of its spending on “back of the house” things, such as hospitality at sports events.

One of the problems might be that Tiger is out recovering from knee surgery meaning he’s not producing returns on investment. Buick is also a big sponsor of the PGA Tour in general, so they may choose to scale that back, if not Woods. Bottom line: if the money isn’t there, it’s going to be hard for Buick to advertise, right?

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Last month I was fawning over Tiger Woods much like the rest of the media and viewing public when he battled a severe knee injury to win the U.S. Open. Needless to say, it was a pretty incredible feat. But how about Paddy Harrington? The big story entering the British Open aside from Tiger not being in it and Kenny Perry deciding not to play in it, was defending champ Padraig Harrington’s questionable status. Harrington hurt his wrist last weekend working a speedbag in the gym and couldn’t even manage more than three practice swings on Wednesday. Harrington even said his chances of completing the first round were only 50-50 and that if it were any other tournament, he would have pulled out of the event.

I didn’t get to watch a whole lot of the tournament, only a few holes here and there, but I do know it was just as much of a shock for me to see Harrington’s name towards the top of the leaderboard on Thursday, much like Norman. Even more shocking was to see Harrington come from behind to win his second straight claret jug. No asterisk here for a non-Tiger win — Harrington’s a legit champ who successfully defended his title. And seriously, how about some love for a guy who won a tournament even though his wrist was so bad he couldn’t take more than three practice swings the day before the event? I’d say that’s pretty darn incredible.

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Wie told reporters that after she finished her round Friday, she left the tent just above the ninth green where players sign their scorecards. She was chased down by volunteers working in the tent, who pointed out she hadn’t signed.

Wie returned to the tent and signed the card, and “I thought it would be OK,” she said.

But Wie, according to Witters, had already walked outside the roped-off area around the tent. At that point, the mistake was final, Witters said.

Witters said she and other tour officials didn’t learn about the mistake from volunteers until well after Wie teed off Saturday morning, so they let her finish the round.

And for such a dumb move, she was disqualified. Too bad since she was second after three rounds and really had a chance to do something huge — like actually win a tournament. Oh man, what could have been.

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“The week of Memorial [two weeks before the Open], I thought there was no chance he could play,” Haney said in a telephone interview from his home in Texas. “The doctors told him he needed to be on crutches for three weeks and then three more weeks of inactivity, and then you start rehabbing.

“But Tiger looked the guy in the eye and said, ‘I’m playing in the U.S. Open and I’m going to win.’ Then he started putting on his shoes and told me we’re going to go practice. It’s just incredible.”

OK, so there’s the legend. And Tiger did make it worth his while because he won. But was this in hindsight a foolish move, knowing what we know now — that he was going against doctors’ advice? This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a player go against doctor advice, and doctors don’t always have the right assessment (many seek second opinions). Still, despite the heroics, maybe it wasn’t worth it in the long run to do what Tiger did. Hopefully his career won’t be cut short by this knee injury. And truthfully, we’ll never know how much this particular choice impacted his injury. For all we know, he could have shredded his knee down the line anyway.

(Photo Courtesy Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images)

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Coming off the knee surgery, playing through pain on Saturday, Woods was incredible. You could see him grimace when he took his shots. You could see his body tweaking and not properly rotating because of the knee. It clearly was hindering his game and he clearly was playing through pain. And I’m not talking about John Daly sacking it up after a night of tequila shots — I’m talking about real, authentic, I have to grit this out because my knee is killing me pain. And what Tiger did, the eagle putt on 13, the birdie on 17, and then the other eagle put on 18, was simply incredible. I didn’t think he even had a shot at sinking either of his putts on 13 or 18, yet he did, and he climbed up the leaderboard.

Could anyone else overshoot their chip shot and have it land in the cup on one bounce? That’s just how things work when you’re Tiger Woods. By the time things are done on Sunday, Tiger will probably have his 14th major and third U.S. Open title. If not, no big deal — nothing can top what he did in the third round on Saturday to take the lead. Only three golfers are under par for the tournament. The course is eating alive the world’s best players. Yet here’s Tiger, on the shelf for six weeks because of knee surgery, atop the leaderboard. He makes you want to work harder and be better at whatever it is that you do. And if he doesn’t, well, then you need to check your pulse.

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