This Week in Golf - August 9th through August 12th

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - PGA OF AMERICA - PGA CHAMPIONSHIP, Southern Hills Country Club, Tulsa, Oklahoma - The final major of the season is upon us with the 89th PGA Championship.
Last year, the championship was contested at Medinah Country Club, and this year returns to Southern Hills Country Club.
Southern Hills Country Club is the first course to host the PGA Championship four times. Southern Hills was also home to three U.S. Opens, including the 2001 Open where Retief Goosen defeated Mark Brooks in a playoff.
Along with the various ways professionals gain entry into this championship, the 20 low scorers from the PGA Professional National Championship also will tee it up at Southern Hills this week.
Last year, Tiger Woods collected his 12th professional major championship and his third PGA Championship, as he won the PGA for the second time at Medinah. Woods became the first player to win the PGA Championship on the same course twice.
Woods led entering the final round and is now 12-for-12 when owning at least a share of the 54-hole lead. His 18-under 270 total matched his own PGA Championship record for lowest score in relation to par.
TNT has extensive coverage of the event on Thursday and Friday, beginning at 2:00 p.m. (et), then has mid-day coverage on Saturday and Sunday. CBS takes over Saturday and Sunday afternoons, with live action from 2:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. each day.
The PGA Tour returns to action next week with the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, where Davis Love III won last year.

NATIONWIDE TOUR

NORTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA CLASSIC, Glenmaura National Golf Club, Scranton, Pennsylvania - The Nationwide Tour returns to Scranton and Glenmaura National for the eighth year of the Northeast Pennsylvania Classic.

Craig Bowden parred the first extra hole last year to beat Jess Daley and win the title. It was Bowden's third Nationwide Tour win overall, and helped him return to the PGA Tour.

Daley was not as lucky, as he remains on the Nationwide Tour having finished 25th on the money list last year. He is only 99th on the money list this year, but will look to improve that position this week at Glenmaura.

There is no television coverage this week. The Nationwide Tour returns to New York next week for the Xerox Classic, where Kevin Stadler won in 2006.

USGA

U.S. WOMEN'S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP, Crooked Stick Golf Club, Carmel, Indiana - The U.S. Women's Amateur heads to Indiana for the fifth USGA Championship, hosted by Crooked Stick.

The last USGA event here was the 1993 U.S. Women's Open. It is the first time this event is being contested at Crooked Stick.

The format is 36 holes of stroke play, before the match-play rounds start Wednesday and conclude Sunday with the 36-hole final.

Fourteen-year-old Kimberly Kim became the youngest winner ever last year, when she came from behind to beat Katharina Schallenberg at Pumpkin Ridge. Kim was five down after 15 holes, but she rallied and won on the 36-hole when she sank a five-foot birdie effort.

Among those trying to take the crown from Kim this week include Meghan Bolger, the 2006 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Champion; Mina Harigae, the 2007 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Champion; Diane Lang, 2006 USGA Senior Women's Amateur Champion; Stacy Lewis, 2007 NCAA Individual Champion; Kristen Park and Jenny Shin, the last two U.S. Girls' Junior champions.

The Golf Channel will cover five days of action starting with Wednesday's First Round of Match Play.

The next USGA event on the schedule is the U.S. Amateur, which will be played at Olympic Club in San Francisco starting August 20th. Richie Ramsay won last year, but has turned professional.

DURAMED FUTURES TOUR

BETTY PUSKAR GOLF CLASSIC, The Pines Country Club, Morgantown, West Virginia - The Duramed Futures Tour is down to the final four events, as players jockey for position on the money list in an attempt to gain their LPGA Tour card for next year.

Last year's winner, Kristy McPherson, has moved on to the LPGA and will not be on hand to defend her title. The top-10 players on the money list are all scheduled to play this week, however.

Next week the tour moves to Maryland for the Hunters Oak Golf Classic.

Lorena Ochoa wins 2007 Women's British Open

St. Andrews, Scotland (Sports Network) - This time there would be no meltdown, no miraculous shot from another player, no doubt about it.
Lorena Ochoa has her first major championship.
The Mexican star closed with a one-over 74 in the final round Sunday to win the Women's British Open by four shots, ending her 0-fer in the major championships with a weekend of steady golf on the Scottish coast while all the pressure of dubious past performances in the majors rested on her slight frame.
She seemed to handle it with ease, protecting her first-round 67 with three scores of 74 or better to finally gain that last bit of validation for her now-unassailable No. 1 ranking.
No one -- not Annika Sorenstam, not previous foil Karrie Webb -- could stop Ochoa this time. Her stunning 16-month run to the top of the women's game has its climax.
Ochoa finished at five-under 287. She led after each of the four rounds.
Several players took stabs at Ochoa's lead early on, but there were only three other survivors to par when all was said and done. Jee Young Lee and Maria Hjorth had matching 71s in the final round to finish at one-under 291.
Reilley Rankin also shot a 71 and was alone in fourth place at even-par.
Sorenstam, who was within five shots of Ochoa after six holes, went five-over par on her last 12 holes and tumbled all the way into a tie for 16th place at four-over 296.
Looking for a jolt to her middling play, Sorenstam didn't come close to getting it. She closed with rounds of 77 and 76 on the weekend.
Ochoa had never won a major before Sunday, but she didn't lack opportunities.
She squandered a seven-shot lead in the final round of last year's Kraft Nabisco Championship and was beaten in a playoff by Webb. It was a record- tying meltdown at the modern women's majors, one that almost felled her in regulation.
Many remember Webb's miraculous hole-out eagle from the fairway at the 18th hole that Sunday, and for good reason. But lost in the mix was Ochoa's own eagle moments later, set up by a gutsy five-wood into the 18th green at Mission Hills.
Ochoa was in the mix until the last hole of the 2005 U.S. Women's Open, then suffered a meltdown. She closed with a quadruple-bogey when a par could have gotten her into a playoff with Birdie Kim.
The '06 Kraft Nabisco was the only other time Ochoa held the 54-hole lead at a major. Sunday, she improved to 7-6 all-time with the third-round lead, and 3-3 this season.
It was her 10th win in 16 months, her fourth this season. And it was never in doubt

Sabbatini alone on top at Firestone

Akron, OH (Sports Network) - Rory Sabbatini managed his second consecutive three-under 67 on Friday and moved into the lead after two rounds of the WGC- Bridgestone Invitational.
He is in at six-under 134 on the South Course at Firestone Country Club, two shots better than reigning Masters champion Zach Johnson, who fired a 65 on Friday.
It was at the Wachovia Championship this year that Sabbatini made a big deal about wanting to play with Tiger Woods in the final round. On that Sunday, Woods clocked him en route to victory and this week could see this rivalry renewed.
Woods, a five-time winner of this event, posted an even-par 70 on Friday and is tied for third place at minus-two.
"The course is playing a little tough out there," said Woods. "It was quite a challenge. I hit the ball decent today, I struggled getting the pace. It was hard to read the putts."
Woods bogeyed his first hole, but got that stroke right back with a birdie at No. 2. He bogeyed the sixth, but once again, reclaimed the lost shot quickly with a birdie at eight.
He parred out from there and did not give himself many great looks at birdie.
"I didn't hit it close," said Woods.
Scott Verplank shot a two-under 68 and Kenny Perry managed a one-under 69 to join Woods in third place at two-under-par 138.
So far it has been Sabbatini who has controlled his game best at Firestone. With demanding rough and hot, humid conditions, this tournament is resembling a U.S. Open and Sabbatini is handling it.

"The way I look at it is I'd take even money right now shooting even-par on the weekend," said Sabbatini. "The course is only going to get tougher. We've been very fortunate that we really haven't had any wind. If there's wind on this golf course, it's going to become almost impossible to play."

Sabbatini, an overnight co-leader, wasted little time in breaking into red figures on Friday. He knocked a nine-iron to 15 feet at the first to set up birdie, then birdied the par-three fifth when his six-iron stopped 12 feet from the hole.

He dropped a shot at the sixth after his drive landed in the right rough. His second came up short of the putting surface, but he only chipped to 12 feet. Sabbatini missed the par save, but parred his next seven holes.

At the 14th, Sabbatini's three-wood drive rolled into the rough. His second missed the green, and like the sixth, his 12-footer for par stayed above ground.

He was back to three-under par for the championship, but caught fire late on the back nine.

Sabbatini played a five-iron to 20 feet at the par-three 15th and converted the birdie try. He missed the fairway at 16 and laid up in the fairway. The decision paid off for Sabbatini as he hit a sand-wedge to 15 feet and made the putt.

The South African polished off his third birdie in a row at 17. His eight-iron approach stopped 10 feet from the stick and this year's winner at Colonial sank the birdie putt to reach six-under par.

"I didn't quite hit the ball as well as I did yesterday," acknowledged Sabbatini. "I hit a couple more drives today in that thick hay they call rough out there. It was just a little more of a grind today, a little more work. I think the positive thing I can take out of it is that I did battle out there today and came out on top."

Johnson began on the back nine Friday and tallied three birdies and a bogey. He added three more birdies on his second nine at Firestone to get into sole possession of second.

"Today obviously my score card showed that I played solid," said the reigning Masters champion. "I hit a lot of fairways. That's what it came down to, and my putter started to work."

Davis Love III also fired a 65 on Friday and is tied for sixth place with Lee Westwood (71) and Chris DiMarco (70). The group came in at one-under-par 139.

Paul Casey and Hunter Mahan shared the first-round lead with Sabbatini and both shot rounds of three-over 73. They are tied for ninth with Justin Leonard (67), John Senden (69), Peter Lonard (70) and Mark Calcavecchia (72) at even- par 140.

Phil Mickelson's woes continued on Friday. He has missed the cut in the last two major championships and shot a two-over 72 in round two. Mickelson is tied for 41st at plus-six.

"Obviously I didn't score well, six-over par, but I'm not displeased with the way I'm playing," he said.

Jenkins and Thorpe lead 3M Championship

Blaine, MN (Sports Network) - Tom Jenkins and Jim Thorpe both fired rounds of eight-under-par 64 on Friday to share the first-round lead of the 3M Championship.
Champions Tour leading money winner Jay Haas, Craig Stadler, Bobby Wadkins, John Jacobs, D.A. Weibring, John Harris, Gil Morgan, Q School winner Boonchu Ruangkit and the all-time wins leader on the elder circuit, Hale Irwin share third place at minus-seven.
This event went off as scheduled when organizers decided to press forward after Wednesday's tragic bridge accident. The TPC of Twin Cities is about 15 miles from the site of the tragedy.
"In the wake of the recent tragedy in our community, we will additionally raise money for the Minnesota Red Cross through on-site efforts this weekend with support from the tournament, the players and the Champions Tour," 3M Championship Director Hollis Cavner said on Thursday.
The golf was spectacular on Friday as 57 of the 78 players broke par. The 69.833 average on Friday was the lowest in tournament history and the second- lowest this year on tour.
Jenkins collected his first birdie of the round at the par-five third, then closed his front nine with birdies at seven and nine. He did most of his damage on the back nine.
The 59-year-old rattled off back-to-back birdies at 11 and 12, then birdied 14 to reach six-under par for the championship. Jenkins birdied the par-four 16th and sank a 20-footer at the last to get in at minus-eight.
Jenkins has seven wins on the Champions Tour and has at least one win every year since 2002. His best finish in 2007 was a tie for fourth at the AT&T Champions Classic in mid-March.
Thorpe also broke into red figures with a birdie at the par-five third. Like his fellow co-leader, Thorpe picked up two more birdies on the front before going off on the second nine.
He birdied 12, three in a row from 14 and two-putted from close to 50 feet for a birdie at the last.
Thorpe has 12 wins on the elder circuit, but none this year.
Defending champion David Edwards shot a three-under 69 on Friday and is tied for 27th place with, among others, recent Senior British Open champion Tom Watson, Peter Jacobsen and Loren Roberts.

Ochoa clinging to lead at St. Andrews

St. Andrews, Scotland (Sports Network) - Lorena Ochoa will carry a lead into the weekend of a major championship for the second time this season, still looking for that last bit of validation for her No. 1 world ranking.
The Mexican star managed just an even-par 73 in the second round of the Women's British Open on Friday, but it was good enough to keep her head above a pool of challengers that included Annika Sorenstam, who has was three shots back at St. Andrews using a yardage book given to her by Tiger Woods.
Relying solely on her own measurements, Ochoa was at six-under 140 following a steady, if not unremarkable, round that included two birdies and two bogeys.
Her last bogey came at the par-four 18th, narrowing her lead over Wendy Ward and Catriona Matthew to just a shot.
"I think we are in good shape and I think we understand the golf course pretty good," said Ochoa.
Matthew fired a five-under 68 on Friday, equaling the round of the day. She birdied the 17th -- the famous "Road Hole" -- which has been converted to a par five for the women's first event at the Old Course.
"I'm delighted the wind didn't pick up as much as I thought it would and happy with my round," Matthew said.
Ward had a 70 to join Matthew in second place at five-under 141.
Sorenstam led a group of five players who were two shots further back at three-under 143.
Seeking her first win of the season, her first major since last year's U.S. Women's Open and a jolt to her middling play, Sorenstam shot a 71 on Friday to post her lowest 36-hole British Open score in relation to par since 2004.
Sorenstam has just one British Open crown among her 10 major championships, winning at Royal Lytham & St. Annes in 2003.
She woke up at 4 a.m. local time Friday for her 6:52 tee time, having relaxed little after shooting a 72 in the first round.
"It's tough to go to bed so early knowing I have to get up because I was so wound up after the first round and was thinking about all of the different shots," said Sorenstam. "I tried to tell myself, 'You've got to sleep, you've got to get up in about six hours.'"
Three players will be on the course at 6 a.m. local time Saturday morning to finish their second rounds after play was suspended for the second day in a row due to darkness.The third round is scheduled to begin an hour later.
Ochoa didn't tee off until noonish on Friday. Her round got started on a good note with a seven-iron to six feet to set up birdie at No. 1, but it would be her only birdie in the first 13 holes.
In between, she made bogey at the 11th, trimming her lead to one shot over Ward. Ochoa reached the green in two at the par-five 14th, then two-putted from 15 feet for a birdie.
She three-putted for her closing bogey at the 18th.
"I'm upset about that three-putt on 18, but I didn't leave myself in a good position for my second shot," said Ochoa. "Nothing I can do now. I'm just glad I still have the lead."
Although Ochoa has won nine times in the last 16 months to supplant Sorenstam as the top-ranked women's player in the world, a major championship has eluded her.
Could her first time come in the first professional women's tournament ever held on the Old Course?
"Hopefully we can keep doing the same thing for a couple more days," was all she offered.
Ochoa also led after the second round of this year's Kraft Nabisco, but she finished in a tie for 10th place after shooting rounds of 77 and 72 on the weekend. She is 6-8 in her career with the 36-hole lead, and would like nothing better than to prove she can hold on to win a major.
"I can't wait to be here tomorrow," she said.
After shooting par on Thursday, Michelle Wie stumbled to a seven-over 80 and will miss the cut. Her round included a triple-bogey at the par-four 13th.
"It's like a puzzle," the 17-year-old Hawaiian said of piecing her game together. "I'm just getting one bit at a time ... But just playing two rounds here is an amazing feat because it's two more than I've ever played here."
Defending champion Sherri Steinhauer was one of four players who joined Sorenstam in a tie for fourth place at three-under par. Yuri Fudoh, Rebecca Hudson and Karine Icher were also there.
Kraft Nabisco champion Morgan Pressel and 2005 Women's British Open winner Jeong Jang will join Wie in missing the cut.

Amex and Tiger part ways as the company shifts its strategy

AKRON, Ohio (AP) -- No longer affiliated with Tiger Woods or the tournament he won five times, American Express signed an endorsement deal Friday with the PGA of America that showed how it has shifted its strategy in golf.
American Express, which in November became the first corporate partner of the USGA, agreed to become an official patron of the PGA of America, which runs the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup and has a membership of 28,000 teaching professionals.
Among other things, American Express card members will have access to Ryder Cup tickets starting next month.
Corporate partners with golf organizations have become almost the norm over the last nine months. Amex and Lexus have deals with the USGA, while the PGA of America earlier this week announced a similar deal with Royal Bank of Scotland.
But for the last decade, Amex focused its golf business on the world's No. 1 player and a World Golf Championship.
Woods twice signed five-year endorsement deals with American Express, which led to one commercial in which Woods played the role of groundskeeper Carl Spackler in a spoof of the movie "Caddyshack." American Express also was title sponsor of a World Golf Championship that Woods won five times on five courses, the last one at The Grove outside London in September.
Amex vice president Rich Lehrfeld said while the relationship with Woods was strong, the company's marketing strategy has shifted to become even more geared toward consumers.
"He brought a lot of value to Amex. He's an incredible athlete with an incredible work ethic, and that runs well with what our brand is all about," Lehrfeld said. "Sometimes strategies change. We wanted to move our dollars to build a broader base of consumer experiences."
One example of that was at Oakmont, where American Express allowed 82 card members to play the course two months before the U.S. Open, then tag along as Woods played a practice round and explained how he prepared for majors.
When he walked off the 18th green that afternoon, however, it was his final act with American Express.
"It was a good 10-year run," Mark Steinberg, his agent at IMG, said Friday while following Woods at Firestone. He said Woods and American Express mutually agreed not to negotiate another contract.
"I know that sounds like a cop-out," Steinberg said. "But this was one of those deals that had run its course. If they wanted to be more consumer-driver, that might require more of Tiger's time. And it still might not hit the right demographics for them. We talked about doing something smaller, but why downsize?"
American Express stopped its title sponsorship of the WGC event after Woods won last September. Lehrfeld said the company would stay involved with events through the USGA (U.S. Open, U.S. Women's Open, Senior Open and U.S. Amateur) and the PGA of America, which counts the Ryder Cup, PGA Championship and Senior PGA Championship among its biggest tournaments.

Furyk could miss Firestone event

Akron, OH (Sports Network) - Jim Furyk could miss this week's World Golf Championships event at Firestone Country Club because of a back injury.
Coming off a victory last week at the Canadian Open, Furyk aggravated a back problem while practicing on Tuesday. He will likely make a decision on his status Wednesday night or before the start of the tournament on Thursday.
With the PGA Championship set for next week at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Furyk might just sit out this event to rest for the final major of the year.
Furyk, who has ascended to No. 2 in the world rankings, has had a brilliant 2007 season with one victory and seven other PGA Tour top-10 finishes. He's also been solid in the majors with a tie for 13th at the Masters, a tie for second at the U.S. Open and a tie for 12th at the British Open.

Gulbis' win reflected in world rankings

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Natalie Gulbis finally wrapped up her first LPGA Tour win on Sunday by beating Jeong Jang in a playoff at the Evian Masters.
It helped Gulbis, formerly a weekly top-20 presence in the world rankings, climb 12 places to No. 27 on the latest list. Ahead of her, there were a handful of changes to the top 20.
Lorena Ochoa, Karrie Webb, Annika Sorenstam and Cristie Kerr remained in positions 1-4 respectively ahead of this week's Women's British Open. Se-Ri Pak was an addition to the top five, moving up a spot to No. 5 and bumping Suzann Pettersen to No. 6.
Morgan Pressel held onto the seventh position, while Juli Inkster and Ji-Yai Shin were up to eighth and ninth respectively.
Paula Creamer, Mi Hyun Kim and Ai Miyazato slipped two places apiece to fill positions 10-12, Jang was up two spots to 13th, and Brittany Lincicome and Shiho Oyama dropped one spot each to 14th and 15th.
Jee Young Lee, Stacy Prammanasudh, Seon-Hwa Lee, Mi-Joong Jeon and Momoko Ueda rounded out the top 20. Ueda moved up one spot to 20th, dropping Yuri Fudoh to 21st.