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Sunday, August 31, 2008

Tim Clark leads after 62 round / Tim Clark conduce după o rundă de 62

The "Penguin" from South Africa was about to break the course record in the hunt for a 59, needing a birdie in the last two holes, to accomplish just that. He bogeyed them, but still holds a one shot lead over Mike Weir, who followed his impressive first round score with a 68.

Vijay Singh and Ben Curtis are tied for third place, one shot behind Weir, while Sergio Garcia , Jim Furyk and Kevin Streelman are one further back at -11.

Padraig Harrington, the winner of the British Open and the PGA Championship this season, missed his second cut in a row. He posted a great 6-under-par for the day, but nonetheless finished right under the cut line due to a horrible first round of 75.

The cut was made at -3 and 86 players were above it, which means there will be a secondary cut of top 70s and ties, on Sunday (after the third round; the tournament plays Friday through Monday). Phil Mickelson is among those who just squeezed in, but who still needs a good third round to play on Monday. Mickelson had two birdies in his last three holes, to jump above the line and live to play for another day.

More updates to follow...

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"Pinguinul" din Africa de Sud era pe cale să doboare recordul traseului la TPC Boston în căutarea unui 59, având nevoie de un birdie la ultimele două cupe, pentru a realiza acest lucru. A făcut bogey la ambele, dar deţine totuşi locul întâi cu o lovitură în faţa lui Mike Weir, care şi-a continuat prima rundă impresionantă cu un scor de 68.

Vijay Singh şi Ben Curtis sunt la egalitate pe locul 3, la o lovitură în spatele lui Weir, în timp ce Sergio Garcia , Jim Furyk şi Kevin Streelman se află la încă o lovitură mai în spate, la -11.

Padraig Harrington, câştigătorul Open-ului Britanic şi al Campionatului PGA anul acesta, a ratat calificare pentru al doilea turneu la rând. El a înregistrat o rundă foarte bună de 6-sub-par, dar a încheiat totuşi sub linia de cut din cauza unei prime runde oribile de 75.

Linia de cut s-a tras la -3 şi 86 de jucători s-au aflat deasupra ei, ceea ce înseamnă că va exista un al doilea cut după runda a treia, duminică (turneul se dispută de vineri până luni). Phil Mickelson este printre cei care au reuşit să se strecoare mai departe, dar are nevoie de o rundă a treia mai reuşită pentru a avea şansa de a juca şi luni. Mickelson a avut două birdie-uri în ultimele 3 cupe, sărind astfel peste linie pentru a-şi putea continua turneul.

Vor urma alte noutăţi...

Saturday, August 30, 2008

A Perfect 10 / Un 10 perfect

Canadian Mike Weir has posted a 10-under-par round on Friday, in the first 18 holes at the Deutsche Bank Championship. His perfect bogey-free round had 10 birdies and brought him to the top of the leaderboard, with a 3-shot lead over the rest of the field.

Vijay Singh was tied for second at -7, along with Briny Baird, John Merrick and Heath Slocum. Padraig Harrington had a desastrous round of 75 (+4) on the par 71 course at TPC Boston.

As a sidenote, this week's tournament will be held from Friday to Monday, unlike the usual schedules of the PGA TOUR, due to Labour Day, September 1st.

More to come from the next rounds...

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Canadianul Mike Weir a înregistrat o rundă de 10-sub-par vineri, în primele 18 cupe ale Campionatului Deutsche Bank. Scorul său perfect, lipsit de bogey-uri a conţinut 10 birdie-uri şi l-a adus în fruntea clasamentului, cu un avans de trei lovituri în faţa celorlalţi.

Vijay Singh se află la egalitate pe locul 2, la -7, împreună cu Briny Baird, John Merrick şi Heath Slocum. Padraig Harrington a avut o rundă dezastruoasă de 75 (+4) pe traseul de par 71 de la TPC Boston.

Ca o notă informativă, turneul de săptămâna aceasta se va desfăşura de vineri până luni, spre deosebire de orarele obişnuite ale PGA TOUR, datorită Zilei Muncii pe 1 septembrie.

Urmează alte noutăţi din rundele următoare...

Monday, August 25, 2008

V. J. Number 1 / V. J. Numărul 1

Here are the top 10 and ties:

1FIJVijay Singh-8
70706670
T2ESPSergio Garcia-8
70676970
T2USAKevin Sutherland-8
70696968
T4AUSMathew Goggin-7
67746967
T4USABen Curtis-7
71687068
T4USAKevin Streelman-7
67706872
T7SCOMartin Laird-6
70697267
T7USAJustin Leonard-6
70707167
T7USANicholas Thompson-6
75686867
T7CANMike Weir-6
72676772
T7ENGPaul Casey-6
66716972


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Iată primii zece jucători şi egalii lor:

1FIJVijay Singh-8
70706670
T2ESPSergio Garcia-8
70676970
T2USAKevin Sutherland-8
70696968
T4AUSMathew Goggin-7
67746967
T4USABen Curtis-7
71687068
T4USAKevin Streelman-7
67706872
T7SCOMartin Laird-6
70697267
T7USAJustin Leonard-6
70707167
T7USANicholas Thompson-6
75686867
T7CANMike Weir-6
72676772
T7ENGPaul Casey-6
66716972

Sunday, August 24, 2008

It's all open at The Barclays / Orice este încă posibil la Barclays

As Steve Stricker posted a 6-over-par 77, the race for the first event of the FedExCup playoffs is wide open with 5 players within 1 shot of the lead, 10 players within 3 shots and 22 players 4 off the pace.

The big movers from Saturday's third round are four non-Americans: Vijay Singh had a great round of 66; Canadian Mike Weir followed a Friday 67 with another one; the Australians Jason Day and Robert Allenby are in the hunt after having shot 66s on moving day.

The 54-hole lead is Kevin Streelman's. The American is at -8 for the tournament, having had rounds of 67, 70 and 68. Streelman is 102nd after the FedExCup reset but would climb into first, or at least into second place in the standings, with a win here in New Jersey.

Paul Casey and Sergio Garcia are one behind the leader, while Kenny Perry is at -5.


More updates to come...

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Steve Stricker a înregistrat un 6-peste-par 77, iar cursa pentru câștigarea primului turneu al playoff-urilor FedExCup este foarte disputată, 8 jucători aflându-se la cel mult o lovitură de conducere, 10 jucători în 3 lovituri și 22 de jucători în 4 lovituri de primul loc.

Cei care au avansat cel mai mult sâmbătă au fost patru jucători non-americani: Vijay Singh a avut o rundă foarte bună de 66; canadianul Mike Weir a postat încă un 67 după ce avuse același scor vineri; autralienii Jason Day și Robert Allenby sunt aproape de vârf, după ce au încheiat "ziua de mutări" cu scoruri de 66.

Conducerea după 54 de cupe este deținută de Kevin Streelman. Americanul se află la -8 pentru turneu, având runde de 67, 70 și 68 până acum. Streelman este al 102-lea în clasamentul FedExCup după reset-ul de săptămâna trecută, dar ar urca pe prima sau în cel mai rău caz pe a doua poziție, dacă ar cîștiga aici în New Jersey.

Paul Casey și Sergio Garcia se află la o lovitură în urma liderului (-7), în timp ce Kenny Perry se află la -5.

Urmează alte noutăți...

Friday, August 22, 2008

The Barclays air suits Steve Stricker / Aerul de la Barclays îi priește lui Steve Stricker

Steve Stricker seems to repeat his feat from last year's Barclays tournament, after a fabulous second round of -7, on top of his -3 from Thursday. He now leads the field, with Hunter Mahan the closest to him, two shots back. Mahan is 1-over-par at the moment, through 4 holes.

2007 U.S. Open winner, Angel Cabrera posted a 67 just like Sergio Garcia and Anthony Kim, all three resting on the first page of the leaderboard.

In danger of missing the cut at the moment (projected cut-line at +1):

  • Ryuji Imada +6 through 5 holes
  • Boo Weekley +2 through 5 holes
  • Camilo Villegas +2 in the clubhouse

More updates to come...

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Steve Stricker pare a repeta isprava sa de la Barclays-ul de anul trecut, după ce a postat o rundă secundă de -7, în continuarea scorului de -3 obținut joi. El conduce în acest moment în clasament, fiind urmat de Hunter Mahan la două lovituri în spate. Mahan se află la 1-peste-par acum, după 4 cupe.

Învingătorul U.S. Open-ului din 2007, Angel Cabrera, a înregistrat un 67 la fel ca Sergio Garcia și Anthony Kim, toți trei odihnindu-se pe prima pagină a clasamentului.

În pericol de a rata cut-ul în acest moment (linia de cut prevăzută la +1):

  • Ryuji Imada +6 după 5 cupe
  • Boo Weekley +2 după 5 cupe
  • Camilo Villegas +2 deja în clubhouse
Alte noutăți urmează cât de curând...

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Hunter Mahan destroyed the field and the course at the Barclays / Hunter Mahan a "distrus" traseul şi adversarii la turneul Barclays

Hunter Mahan just posted a 9-under-par in the first round at the Barclays, the first of the four playoff events for the FedExCup trophy.

Although the morning wave of players is just starting to come into the clubhouse, he is miles away from any competitor; Paul Casey is the closest to him at -5.

More updates to come...

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Hunter Mahan tocmai a înregistrat un scor de 9-sub-par în prima rundă a turneului Barclays, primul din cele patru turnee ale playoff-urilor FedExCup.

Deşi doar primul val de jucători a început să sosească la clubhouse, scorul lui e departe de toate celelalte; Paul Casey este cel mai aproape în acest moment, la -5.

Vor urma alte noutăţi...

The FedExCup Playoffs / Playoff-urile FedExCup


The second edition of the FedExCup is nearing its climax, with the grand prize of 10,000,000 USD up for grabs.

THE PGA TOUR PLAYOFFS FOR THE FEDEXCUP

1. Aug 21 - 24 : The Barclays

2. Aug 29 - Sept 1 : The Deutsche Bank Championship

3. Sept 4 - 7 : The BMW Championship

( Sept 18 - 21 : Ryder Cup 2008 ) - not a Playoff event, but scheduled between them

4. Sept 25 -28 : The TOUR Championship



After last week's tournament, i.e. The Wyndham Championship, the points standings in the FedExCup have been reset, to create the players seeding before the 4 playoff events about to start.

Here is the reset, click to enlarge:




The reset has Tiger Woods at the top with 100,000 points, but he will not compete for the rest of this year, after his season-ending surgery. He is the winner of the first FedExCup, which he dominated from start to finish: he didn't even bother to participate in the Barclays, finished 2nd in the Deutsche Bank and then won the BMW and the TOUR Championships.

At 99,500, the second in the reset is the veteran Kenny Perry who already has 3 wins this season and is looking for a strong finish to a great season. P.S. He will probably be as excited for the Ryder Cup 2008 which will take place between the BMW and the TOUR Championships; it was his greatest wish for this season, to be able to compete for the USA team at Valhalla Golf Club, near his hometown in the Bluegrass State.

Phil Mickelson is next at 99,250. "Lefty" is one of the favorites to win the trophy, but he'll have some strong opponents right behind him: Padraig Harrington, the winner of the last two majors of the season, at 99,000 points; the wonder-kid Anthony Kim at 98,750.

A look further down the post-reset standings shows that pretty much everybody is in the mix: Lee Janzen, who just creeped into the first 144 last week with a T15 finish, can shoot his way up the standings with a win at the Barclays. Janzen would pass the front-runners if they do not finish in the top 7.

Let the playoffs begin!!

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Monday, August 18, 2008

Pettersson wins the final event before the FedExCup Playoffs / Pettersson câştigă ultimul turneu înaintea Playoff-urilor FedExCup


Carl Pettersson of Sweden won the Wyndham Championship

Credit: H. Scott Hoffmann - Associated Press

The last tournament of the 33 week regular season is over and the reset for the FedExCup playoffs can be done to find out who the 144 players are who will continue the fight for the coveted prize.

But until then, let's have a look at this week's event at the Sedgefield Country Club, in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Wyndham Championship, as it is now called, has changed its name numerous times from the Greater Greensboro Open to the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro, but Sam Snead still remains the player who has won this tournament 8 times, holding the record for most wins in a PGA TOUR event.

The par 70 course and the fairly good weather conditions allowed for some very low scores this week, with the final aggregate score of the winner at 21-under-par.

The first round's worst score was a 6-over-par posted by Trevor Dodds, as the field went pretty low on Thursday. Martin Laird of Scotland and the American Bob Heintz had scores of 63, while Garrett Willis and Scott Sterling opened their tournament with 64s each. All four players were outside the top 144 in the FedExCup standings before this week and were looking for a great result which could catapult them into the playoffs.

Others, like Scott McCarron, Tim Clark and Carl Pettersson were trying to improve their position once the points reset would come. They started off with great rounds as well.

Friday came and apart from a few rain showers late in the afternoon, the sun shined upon some very happy scorecards: after an opening 64, Carl Pettersson easily topped the leaderboard on Friday with a 61 (9-under-par), with a round which included 11 birdies and 2 bogeys.
The cut was drawn at -3. Vijay Singh missed it with a 69 and a 72.

Saturday brought Rich Beem into the spotlight, who, after Briny Baird's 62, had the second-best round on moving-day; no need to say, he move up all right: from -3 to -10, but still 9 shots behind the 54-hole leader, the Swede Carl Pettersson. Beem was 166th in the FedExCup standings and needed a top-10 finish to play in the August-September events.

Sunday's round saw people fight for another cut: the one at 144 players in the standings. And this fight was won by many in the last few holes at Sedgefield. Rich Beem, for example, had 6 birdies and one bogey, before the 16th tee, but he still needed to make up some lost ground. And he did just that by finishing 2-4-3 on the 3-4-4 finishing holes. The two extra birdies helped him to a deserved 3rd place, -16 through his last 35 holes.

J.J. Henry was 177th before the event but his round of 62 on Sunday assured him a tie for 4th in this tournament and a place in the playoffs.

Carl Pettersson had only one real challenger in the last round: Scott McCarron. And although McCarron was in the lead at one time (on the 12th tee), he finished two shots behind Pettersson, who played the best golf this week in what is his adopted hometown since living in the USA.

Here are the top 10 players and their ties:

1SWECarl Pettersson-21
64616668
2USAScott McCarron-19
65646468
3USARich Beem-17
70676363
T4USAJ.J. Henry-16
70666662
T4SCOMartin Laird-16
63746463
T6RSATim Clark-15
64676866
T6AUSJohn Senden-15
66666766
T6USAKevin Streelman-15
66646768
T9USAShane Bertsch-14
67686764
T9USAMark Wilson-14
68676764
T9USAMichael Letzig-14
67666766
T9USABob Sowards-14
65666867
T9USAJerry Kelly-14
66656867
T9USABriny Baird-14
67686269


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Articolul în limba română, în curând...

Iată primii zece concurenţi şi egalii lor:

1SWECarl Pettersson-21
64616668
2USAScott McCarron-19
65646468
3USARich Beem-17
70676363
T4USAJ.J. Henry-16
70666662
T4SCOMartin Laird-16
63746463
T6RSATim Clark-15
64676866
T6AUSJohn Senden-15
66666766
T6USAKevin Streelman-15
66646768
T9USAShane Bertsch-14
67686764
T9USAMark Wilson-14
68676764
T9USAMichael Letzig-14
67666766
T9USABob Sowards-14
65666867
T9USAJerry Kelly-14
66656867
T9USABriny Baird-14
67686269