And the 2008 Player's Champion is....

TPC Sawgrass!

In second place...from Spain...the best golfer in the world who has yet to win a major....every reporter's favorite punching bag -- Sergio Garcia!

Now how's that for a knock em down, beat em up kind of weekend! :)

With 6 out of the top 11 golfers missing the cut (notably: Steve Stricker, Geoff Ogilvy, KJ Choi, Vijay Singh, Justin Rose and Padraig Harrington), it's hard not to give top honors to the course.

But Sergio tamed it as much as anyone could this weekend. And he really demonstrated the potential we've been waiting for since 1999.

I have to say that I really enjoyed watching Sergio stick it to them [reporters] at the Players. I loved it in the post round media conference when he was asked if he had silenced the critics and he responded with a smile and said something to the effect that, "Maybe I should ask you that question - I don't write newspapers." Good shot Sergio!

Sergio has always been the "straight man" to the media's "quick on the draw" put-downs because he sets himself up so well with comments that he should think, but never say. But this weekend, it was almost like they were grovelling over him. I had to laugh.

When The Golf Channel brought Sergio over to the commentary desk, I noticed Brandel Chamblee wasn't there - Mark Rolfing was there instead. Brandel was quite brutal with Sergio after last year's British Open from what I recall and I was wondering if his removal from the desk for that interview was intentional. It would not surprise me in the least. Rolfing has always been a Sergio fan and maybe the only way TGC could get Sergio up there was to replace Chamblee with Rolfing for that interview. Maybe a coincidence? I wonder...

Oh well...I'm really happy for Sergio. He deserves this win and many many more. I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see him win a Major this year. I don't think it will be the US Open at Torrey Pines, but the British Open is a real possibility with his record there, regardless of what happened last year. He's has 6 top tens in his last 7 tries at that event. It's only a matter of time for him to close that one out

And I for one, think maybe this year, his time has come.

Golfgal

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‘Brutal’ Sawgrass the winner as challengers struggle
William S Callahan
Irish Independent
12 May 2008

“THE challengers are not really challenging.” With these exasperated words on Saturday evening, one TV pundit set the tone for the weekend at The Players Championship. So it continued into yesterday’s fourth round at Sawgrass. Plenty of ‘oooohs’ and...read more...

Tech Tags: Irish Independent newspaper Sport

Big Break Ka'anapali - Ask the Ladies Opportunity

Hi everyone

As some of you know, I have a blog on Golf For Women Magazine and I've been following Big Break Ka'anapali closely through the eyes and experience of Big Breaker Christina Lecuyer, Last week I had privilege of interviewing Tina Miller, another BB contestant who also offered to share her thoughts on each week's episodes.

So...I'm a busy golfgal, watching the show each week, taking notes and interviewing these two amazing women by phone and posting the interviews on GFW.

Today, GFW is asking their readers to send in questions for Stina Sternberg who hosted the show, and Christina Lecuyer and Tina Miller.

Stina will answer hers in her post-episode blog and I will include Christina's and Tina's questions in the post-show interviews with them. If you want me to include your name or nickname and where you're from, that's cool too. Just let me know. Otherwise I'll treat them as anonymous to protect your privacy.

So head over to Golf For Women and read the posts and add your questions to the comments 'section of my posts or Stina's.

Any if there are any other Big Breakers out there, past, present, men or women who want to share their thoughts on this series, I'd love to interview you too! Just send me an email at golfgal [@] on-mark-it.com or post your comments or questions here.

Hey, I feel like I'm making a career out of this BB frenzy....Aaaand, loving it!!!

Golfgal

Can this Tony tame the Tiger?

Many have lumped Anthony Kim in with the ranks of Rory Sabbitini and Jason Day as "upstarts" who should keep their mouths shut about being (or beating) the number one in the world. Even Tiger himself didn't hesitate to try and put Kim in his place last year by ridiculing his AK belt buckle. But Kim took it in stride with a rebuttle, ""Well, Nike hasn't put my initials on anything yet."

Well, I for one, was happy to see Anthony Kim let his clubs do the talking this weekend, blasting to a 5 stroke victory at Quail Hollow yesterday. At 22 years old, AK is the youngest PGA winner since Sergio García won his third title at the Mercedes Championship in 2002.

Kim's fellow players know that the young gun has great promise. In fact, Jason Bohn compared Anthony to the world's number one, "I played with somebody who played extraordinarily good, almost Tiger-esque’’.

Watching Kim on the 18th green yesterday was just great. He could hardly contain himself before his last putt - the grin sneaking out time and time again as he was trying to focus on closing it out. It was so cool to see that kind of excitement in a winner.

“I’m a little bit numb right now, but that walk up 18 was the best feeling of my entire life,” Kim said. “I’ll never forget that feeling. I had chills going up and down my spine. I want to recreate that as many times as possible now, so I’m really going to work hard.”

I think this will really propel Anthony into more wins this year. He admits freely that a year ago he was immature. That's pretty humbling to admit, but I think he really did show this weekend that he's grown up a lot. At 22, he has a long way to go and from my seat...it looks like it will all uphill from here to the top of the leaderboard many times over.

I wouldn't be surprised if he is responsible for breaking the Tiger Grand Slam streak in 2009 like Immelman did at the Masters this year.

Golfgal

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The next Tiger
by Andrew Both in Charlotte, North Carolina
The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)
05 May 2008

A 2 year-old KoreanAmerican appears destined to be the world’s next great golfer, whether or not he wins the Wachovia Championship today. Anthony Kim charged to a four-stroke lead after the third round at Quail Hollow yesterday, and those who have...read more...

Related:
Kim lets his game do talking

Tech Tags: The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) newspaper Main Game