Angel " El Pato" Cabrera quacks his way to victory

It was riveting stuff right from the time Aaron Baddeley hooked his first tee shot into deep stuff to the last putt that Tiger had on the last hole to force the U.S. Open into a playoff. In the end it was Angel Cabrera who clinched the trophy despite struggling to finish in a clinical fashion. It wasnt a beauty pageant and it does not matter if you win ugly, as long as you win. Cabrera is the first Argentine golfer to win a U.S. Open and he did it in fine fashion becoming only the second Argentine golfer to win a major. With three holes to go he had a three shot lead but two consecutive bogeys saw him come periliously close to Tiger and Furyk was close by lurking in the shadows. Furyk would have been in a perfect position had it not been for the unfortunate bogey on the 17th hole brought about by a poor shot off the tee.

Most of the week I was fascinated by the difficult greens at Oakmont and had great fun in seeing player after player struggling from tee to green but the final round provided a new perspective to the entire spectacle. Although it was still tough, the course seemed to be playing easier than the earlier rounds and this gave the players far more opportunities to turn in birdies and the roar that went up for every birdie that was sunk brought out a very interesting fact. The crowds are not going to cheer every par that a player makes but the number of birdies they can sink.

The real thrill is in seeing someone make a charge on the final day and give the leaders a fright. The real thrill is in seeing, who manages to steady their already frailed nerves. The real thrill is in anticipation of that pefect iron shot from the middle of the fairway, 3 feet from the flagstick,on the final hole, good enough to knock the winds out of the clubhouse leader. Unfortunately if tournament organisers go out of their way to make the course unplayable the connosieurs of the game will be left wanting for more and the true Joie de Vivre of the game would be forever lost.

Perhaps the time has come for the officials of the game to revisit their approach towards the majors, or else all the leaderbaords will be bereft of the big names and an unwanted Russian Roulette will ensue to determine the winner at each venue. Time for serious thinking. While they are doing some soul searching "El Pato" or The Duck can dig into a plate of Matambre and savour his glorious victory!

The Church Pews Bunker

One of the most famous bunkers in all of golf is the Church Pews bunker found at the Oakmont Country Club. Almost as famous as the Road Hole bunker found on the Old Course at St. Andrews. It would perhaps be unfair to say that the Church Pews bunker is the most dreaded part on the Oakmont course because players seem to be getting spooked by almost every available inch of space on the course but one can say with a great deal of certainty that the Church Pews bunker is quite possibly the most graceful looking hazard in all of golf. When the golf course was initially designed it was a set of eight bunkers one after the other. When the golf course was later redesigned and the number of bunkers considerably reduced(at one point the course had over 350 bunkers) the eight bunkers were redesigned to form the beautiful looking Church Pews.

A dictionary definition of a Pew tells us that they are long, fixed, backed benches that are arranged in rows for the seating of a congregation in church. No wonder then that the bunker has been aptly named the church pews bunker. Not much is known as to when members began to use the name but the year when Jack Nicklaus won the U.S. Open in Oakmont the name seems to have gained a lot of prominence with the bunker finiding a lot of print space. Legend has it (ok,slight exaggeration), once when a player could not locate his golf ball in the bunker a spectator is believed to have shouted out to him it is in the seventh aisle!

This bunker is found between the third and the fourth fairway and it becomes impossibly difficult for a player to reach the green once they find the bunker. Just recently during one of his interactions with the press, Tiger was asked why he was not practicing shots out of the church pews bunker like most other players. His response-:"Why should I practice negativity?"

This one will definitely make the top 10 list of the most famous bunkers list but as for the title of the most famous bunker, the Scots will continue to make their case for the Road Hole bunker and wont take lightly to any suggestion to the contrary.

The horror story continues

If you were not petrified by the Exorcist, Oakmont is sure to scare the living daylights out of you. You can be rest assured that Henry Fownes was looking down from his heavenly abode with a great deal of glee, seeing big names being swallowed effortlessly by the beast like course. Those who survived were left nursing their shattered pride for the course spared no one. Phil Mickelson was the biggest name to miss out on the weekend action with a 7 over par round which gave him a total of 11 over par, missing the cut by one stroke. Yes, you heard that right. The cut fell at 10 over par.

At the end of day two Angel Cabrera takes the lead at even par, his final putt for birdie ensuring that Phil missed out on the weekend. The rule for the cut line is the top 60 and ties and anyone within 10 shots of the leaders are saved from the cut line. Had it not been for the amazing birdie by Cabrera on the final hole, Phil would still have been in the competition. I guess that's why the French came up with expression C'est la vie...Such is life!

With the early pace that Dougherty had set it seemed that he would pull away from the field after he found himself 3 under par for the tournament and three shots clear off the field, but Oakmont spewed enough venom to ensure Nick's collapse over the rest of the round. He finished at 5 over par where he accompanies Tiger Woods and some others for tied 13th position. When he tees off on Saturday he will be accompanied by Tiger Woods. Atleast they are fortunate(we will look for a better word) enough to have an excuse to return on Saturday. There will be several notable absentees such as Colin Montgomerie, Henrik Stenson and Richard Beem who are presently looking to get as far away as possible from the Oakmont Country Club.

After good iron shots from the fairway players are often found sizing up their putt for what looks like a likely birdie. If they miss the putt, they end up with a good 5-6 footer coming back for par.That is how difficult the greens are. It is the par's which will determine the champion this year at Oakmont and not birdie's. Nothing sums up the difficulty of the greens than a comment once published by a reporter covering the Open quite a few years back-:

"Putting on the greens at Oakmont is like putting on a marble staircase and trying to hole out on the third hole from the bottom"

Nick Dougherty sets the early pace(er..crawl)

One things for sure, overnight rain at the Oakmont country club made the players' affair with the beastly greens a little bit easier than expected. But if you are harbouring any thoughts of a scoring spectacle at Oakmont, wash that thought away because at the end of the first day only two players managed an under par score. Nick Dougherty with a well crafted 2 uner par 68 was the leader by one stroke over Angel Cabrera. Tiger was lurking in the shadows, just three off the pace and at tied fifth position with a round of 1 over. He is placed perfectly to launch an attack over the weekend. Phil Mickelson returning after the injury layoff turned in a round of 4 over par and would have to play some steady golf to book his place for the weekend. Among other players, the long hitting Bubba Watson turned in a nice round of even par and the Spanish veteran Jose Maria Olazabal also found a spot on the leaderboard with an even par round. Defending champion Ogilvy was right up there with a round of one over par and the previous winner at Oakmont, Els was at 3 over par and in tied 34th position.

The longest par 3 in open history, the 8th hole was the second most difficult hole on the course with most players struggling to make par there. The honour for the most difficult hole though went to the 18th hole as most players struggled to find the fairway there and if you miss the fairway there you might as well kiss your par goodbye. A par is golden and anything better than that should be considered a bonus at Oakmont.

The only thing working in the favour of the players is the weather and it is expected to be cloudy over the course of the tournament. While thats a good thing it would help if the wind stays down or else we could see major upheavals on the leaderboard. The second round promises to be an interesting affair with players jostling for a spot on the leaderboard while other try to hang on and make the cut.

Alexis Thompson-The next big thing in Women's golf?

While most 12 years old try and find a way to grapple with their new found adolescent status(and that also includes their travails with Algebra) not many would expect them to be on the golf course mastering their swing. So if last week someone asked Alexis Thompson what were her plans for the week, not many would have taken her seriously when she would have told them "I intend to qualify for the U.S. Women's open". She may be a good golfer but to qualify for a major on the LPGA tour surely is no child's play. Think again. Alexis Thompson, a 12 year old qualified for the U.S. Women's Open, one of the four majors on the women's tour in a sectional qualifier in Florida.

At the age of 12 years, 4 months and a day she achieved the distinction of the youngest qualifier by pipping the previous record holder Morgan Pressel by nearly 8 months. Is this possibly an indication of the lack of depth in women's golf or is this girl a special talent? While the jury is still out on that one, she may well be a special talent looking at the achievements of the previous record holder Morgan Pressel. Before Alexis Thompson, Morgan Pressel had become the youngest qualifier when she qualified for the U.S. Women's Open in 2001. This year, in the first major on the LPGA Tour, the Kraft Nabisco championship, Morgan created a sensation by becoming the youngest player to win an LPGA major and a cool cheque of 300,000 dollars to boot! It could have been even earlier when she came close to winning the U.S. Women's open in 2005 but had to settle for a tied second place finish.

Now all eyes will be on Alexis Thompson when she tees off at the U.S. Women's Open. There will definitely be great expectations from her in the future and it is left to be seen how she deals with the pressure. This young girl who lists dancing as one of her hobbies can do just that for the time being. Sterner tests lie ahead.

AsianTour V/s European Tour

What was supposed to be a major boost for golf in India could now be the reason for confrontation between the Asian Tour and the European Tour. Just yesterday it was confirmed that India would be the newest destination on the European Tour with a yet to be disclosed location(most likely New Delhi) to host an event from the 7th to the 10th of February. The event would have a purse of 2.5 million dollars, the highest prize money ever to be offered for a professional Golf event in India. While this news has been welcomed with a great deal of enthusiasm by the golfing community of India, it has struck a discordant note with the Asian Tour officials.

Apparently the Asian Tour was not approached before this announcement had been made. All the new events on the European Tour in Asia have been co sanctioned with the Asian Tour, hence it does come as a surprise that the Asian Tour was not informed of this move. The executive chairman of the Asian Tour Kyi Hla Han has left no leaf unturned to ensure that the message gets across to the European Tour officials that he is revulsed by this move. He has termed it unethical on part of the European Tour for not having bothered to inform the Asian Tour. He further goes on to say "Despite media reports and quotes attributed to the European Tour, there has been no approach or communication to inform the Asian Tour about the event or its intentions".

His statement has been put on the Asian Tour website and it clearly reflects the seriousness with which the Asian Tour officials are approaching this matter. While the European Tour is not bound to inform the Asian Tour, it does seem like a violation of protocol. It would be interesting to see how the European Tour responds to the charges made against them. Would this have any impact on the Indian masters which is a regular part of the Asian Tour? One does not know, but for the sake of Golf in India where the game has grown by leaps and bounds one does hope that this issue is resolved amicably between the two tours. It would be a great pity if this "miscommunication" has any greater ramifications. The young golfers in India would definitely hope that common sense prevails so that they get an opportunity to compete against and watch some of the best golfers from the world in action.

Here is the complete statement of the executive chairman of the Asian Tour.

U.S.O 107 is upon us!

The U.S. Open has always been known to be the toughest of the four majors. To top that this year the U.S. Open is being played at Oakmont which has a reputation for being the most difficult U.S. Open course.



-> The defending Champion Geoff Ogilvy


The last time the event was played at Oakmont was in 1994. It was then that Arnold Palmer played for the last time at the U.S. Open and it was his 32nd appearance at the Open. Ernie Els won the title that year. It was Ernie's first major victory. Although he has won two more after that Ernie's golfing career has been punctuated by near misses more than victories. With one of the most graceful and pleasing swings on the golf course one would have backed Ernie to have won far more tournaments than he has actually won.


Listening to what a lot of players have to say during the practice rounds it clearly seems that everyone is apprehensive about the course and it would not be an understatement to say they are terrified by the prospect of having to face the greens which are bound to be severe, made worse by the dry conditions prevailing in Pennsylvania.

One person the players would turn towads to take advice from is Johnny Miller, the player who shot a 63 in the final round of the U.S. Open when it was hosted in Oakmont in 1973. That was the first time anyone had shot a 63 in any of the major championships. That remarkable closing 63 gave Miller the first of his two major championships. The other one being the 1976 Open championship. It will be fascinating to get inside the players heads and see how they intend to tackle the course, especially the 8th hole, a 288 yard par 3. If the wind aint backing them, most players would struggle to reach the green even with their driver. I think they would be more than happy to settle for a bogey or a par at best on this hole.


During the Augusta Masters a lot of players were complaining about how difficult the conditions were and they were very upset with the changes. It will be interesting to see what they have to say here. Their argument being that people applaud for birdies hit and not for bogeys. Be that as it may, in an era where golf clubs have become insanely good the organisers are trying their best to neutralise the players weapons and only the best will be able to respond to the challenge. Who will come out on top? We will just have to wait and watch!