WGT Golf News

By Shane Bacon

Photo: Streeter Lecka, Getty Images

It didn't happen because Ryan Moore took it upon himself to win the Wyndham Championship on Sunday. Nope, that wasn't the reasoning. This was something that some people have, and some people don't. It's being cool. It's being chill. It's being one of those guys people would enjoy having around.

Ryan Moore has that. Sure, the guy is one of the most decorated amateur golfers we've ever seen, but his success on the PGA Tour hasn't been what he wanted it to be. It took him five years to card a victory, that happened on Sunday when he birdied the third playoff hole to take down Kevin Stadler. It's just, Moore is the kind of guy you'd invite over for a beer, or a steak or text a funny joke because he'd probably reply with something equally entertaining.

Moore had sponsor deals with companies, but felt that didn't suit him very well, so he dropped them. Millions of bucks he left on the table to be more like himself and less like everyone else. He buys his own clothes. He uses a bag that looks like it came directly from the set of "Caddyshack." He has a little bit of a gut that looks more weekend golfer than PGA Tour winner. He doesn't care.

He is just a guy, and a guy that is damn good at golf. His win just cemented exactly what he told me earlier this year when I talked to him about his sponsor issues -- "Good golf takes cares of itself."

Moore played some fantastic golf on Sunday, and is now in the elite PGA Tour winner's circle. Expect many more to come, and each one will be just as cool as the first.

From today through September 30, play the ADT Million Dollar Challenge for your chance to win a trip to the Breakers Resort in Florida to compete in the 2009 ADT Golf Skills Challenge, where you will have one chance to hit a 120-yard short iron shot for $1 million if the shot results in a hole-in-one! Anyone can play the game, but only residents of the continental U.S. who are 21 and over are eligible for the sweepstakes drawing.

Check out our TV ad spot running on NBC this weekend!

By Stephanie Wei

Photo: Wei Under Par

There are great expectations for Team USA at the Solheim Cup this week. And there are even greater ones for Michelle Wie. Once again, she’s in the spotlight. But for the first time, her personality and her game are being showcased positively.

Over the years, it was all about the hype — a girl who had phenomenal golf abilities and wanted to play with the big boys. Then, when she didn’t live up to them, backlash ensued and she was scrutinized for the special treatment she received, the withdrawals and disqualifications, and the behavior of her parents. Unfortunately, much of the criticism was misplaced. After all, she was —and still is — only a kid.

That’s in the past, so let’s keep it there.

Now, she’s earned her way on the Tour and even as a captain’s pick on the Solheim Cup team. Her teammates have had the opportunity to get to know the real Michelle — the one who is funny, talented, sweet and quirky. They’ve been singing her praises.

In yesterday’s press conference Cristie Kerr said:

[Michelle’s] an amazing golfer, but what people don’t realize is she’s still just a teenager, you know, and we’re getting to know her as a person. And you know, what people don’t know about her is that she’s got quite the fashion edge. She makes her own clothing. You know, she designs clothing. She does a lot of interesting things.

It sounds like she’s also embraced the camaraderie that goes along with being a team member. And, she has continually voiced her appreciation to Captain Beth Daniel for choosing her. So you see, Michelle isn’t the “spoiled and ungrateful” individual that many painted her to be. She’s just a normal teenager who happens to be an incredibly talented golfer.

Michelle is in a wonderful position to make her mark. She’s enjoying the experience of being part of a team — something that’s greater than what her career so far has seemingly represented (or how it’s, in my opinion, unfairly been perceived by the public). Could this week be the beginning of her insurgence as the stronghold of the LPGA?

The Solheim Cup couldn’t have come at a better time — the US ladies and Michelle have their chance to play their way to positive headlines. Without a doubt, it would be a huge win for the team and women’s golf. Here’s to new beginnings.

USA, USA, USA!

By Peter Kessler

Over the last 49 holes Yang was 13 under and Tiger was 1 under.
Yang's best previous major finish wad 30th in the 2007 Masters.
Tiger beat Yang in the previous 21 events in which they both played with Tiger winning nine of those,
Yang has played in fewer majors than Tiger has won.
Tiger made more bogeys in the final round than all three previous rounds combined.
On Sunday's back nine Tiger shot 37 and Yang 34.
This was Tiger's first come from ahead loss.
Tiger lost to YE Yang.
Think about that.

Hi everyone, we performed a routine system maintenance last night, and along with that we made the following changes:

Tier Adjustments

Based on your feedback, we tuned the tier score range parameters to make it more challenging to move up tiers. This change does not apply retroactively, so you will not move down a tier even if your score range does not fall within the new parameters.

Bug Fix

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The Solheim Cup, founded in 1990 by the company behind Ping, kicks off this week in Sugar Grove, IL. This biennial, trans-Atlantic team match-play competition between U.S.-born players from the LPGA Tour and European players from the LET, is a highly anticipated event after three quiet weeks for the LPGA. Here are team USA's Christina Kim and Michelle Wie having a relaxed moment after practice:

Photo: Christina Kim

Congratulations to sabbath270, who placed first in the Pro tier in the July People v. The Pros Open. What’s in his bag?

• TaylorMade R9 TP 9.5° Driver
• Ping G10 Pro 3 Fairway Wood
• Ping G10 Pro Iron Set (Steel)
• Ping Tour W Pro 54° Wedge
• Ping Tour W Pro 60° Wedge
• Ping Tour W 60° Wedge
• TaylorMade Spider Putter

By Ryan Ballengee

Down goes Frazier.  18-1.  The '69 New York Mets.  The miracle on ice at Lake Placid.  Hell freezing at Hazeltine.

This is not Ed Fiori at the Quad Cities.  Rocco at Torrey certainly falls short.  Not even Rich Beem, on the same course seven years prior, can touch the significance of this PGA Championship.

YE Yang joined the pantheon of all-time great sporting upsets on Sunday by managing to shoot 70 in the final round of the PGA Championship to best Tiger Woods by three strokes.  He became the first man to unseat Woods when the world number one held a share of the 54 hole lead in a major championship.

With the accomplishment, Yang officially gives Asia a seat at the United Nations of golf champions.  Asia was the only continent with more people living on it than penguins that had not produced a major champion.  Every other continent had done it already.  Even if you discount South African champions as not really ethnic Africans, they count.  South America can thank Angel Cabrera for getting them on the board - interestingly enough by also beating Woods at the 2007 US Open at Oakmont.  Now, Yang will be a hero for the rest of his life for what he won on Sunday.

Golf is exploding in mainland Asia, finally catching up to the golf bug that Japan caught decades prior.  China is reporting that participation in golf is growing by nearly 50 percent per year.  Courses are being constructed all over the continent.  The Champions Tour is hosting its first tournament in South Korea next year.

By virtue of his win, Yang intensified all of that momentum and enthusiasm for the game by tenfold.  Yang will be to Asia what Tiger Woods was to a generation of young people in the United States.  He is a champion to emulate.  He was the man who stood up to the best in the world, beat him, and smiled at the camera while doing it.  It was fun and endearing, while simultaneously courageous and clutch.  Yang is a tremendous ambassador and representation of what Asian golf is and can be.

In the week that the International Golf Federation announced that the IOC is recommending golf to be included into the 2016 Olympics, Yang is proof positive of the power of the event.  Despite flaws in the proposed Olympic golf tournament format and qualifying criteria, this victory gives credence to the possibilities of the sport in the Olympic games.  It no longer takes an imagination to conjure a defeat of this kind of magnitude.  It happened on Sunday.

Not only does the Yang victory help perception of golf in the Olympics, but it also helps the perception of Asian professional golf.  The Asian Tour has been steadily growing in recent years, but largely due to a symbiotic relationship with the European Tour.  Co-sanctioning of events has boosted the profile of Asian Tour events by bringing in higher ranked players with paid appearances to mow down the best that Asia has to offer.

Though the talent level has been growing in Asia with names like Jeev Milkha Singh, Prayad Marksaeng, and Thongchai Jaidee, there had not been a validation of that growth.  Yang represents that and confirms that Asian professional golf is a legitimate threat in major championships.  They can no longer be ignored or patronized with invites to participate.

The Masters invited Ryo Ishikawa to compete in the tournament this year because of his youth, clear talent, and - most importantly - the potential benefit to their brand if Japan's emerging superstar could pan out at Augusta National.  Now, with Yang as a confirmed major victor, that kind of transparent business-based invite is unnecessary.  In time, Ishikawa will certainly hoist a major trophy of his own, but until then, golf's major championships have a legitimate and proven champion from Asia.

The elevation of this victory is not intended to diminish what players like Se Ri Pak, Eun Hee Ji, and Ji Yai Shin - among many others - have accomplished in women's golf and on the LPGA Tour.  Those victories were and are very significant in fueling the growing enthusiasm for the game in Asia.  Now, though, those female champions have a male counterpart.  Their counterpart took down the greatest golfer still playing.

And the victory was not a squeaker.  It was decisive.  A three shot win is a practical blowout in a major championship.  Yang was not conservative in his approach.  He went for broke, with nothing to lose.  He really had nothing to lose.  Perhaps, though, it dawned on him somewhere on that back nine how much he could gain for himself and the sport were he to do what was previously considered impossible.  Yang even birdied the final hole to serve as an exclamation point of the win.

The exclamation point was not just for this tournament, though.  His final putt will be an enduring image in golf history - and an incredible thorn in the side of the career of Tiger Woods.

By Josh Zander

As you can see from my written blog this month, be careful about taking swing advice from your fellow golfers. One of the tips I often hear golfers giving is to flatten your left wrist (for right-handed players) at the top of the backswing. Does this apply to you? Well there is only a 33% chance it does. If you are slicing the ball, flattening your left wrist will help. Do not take this advice if you are hitting it straight or hooking the ball as flattening your left wrist will close the clubface and make the ball go more left.

As you can see in the video, the position of the left wrist at the top of the backswing has a lot to do with how you grip the club. If you have a strong grip, your wrist should look cupped at the top. If you have a neutral grip, your wrist should be flat or slightly cupped at the top.  If you have a weak grip, your wrist should be flat to slightly bowed at the top.

I look at the golf swing as a recipe of many different ingredients. After we pour all these ingredients into our pot of boiling water, we are looking for the end product to be a solid golf shot with the desired ball flight. As an instructor, I love the challenge of putting the puzzle together to help my students achieve their desired results. Every piece of advice I dole out has an effect on the quality of the shot. I never give advice to make something look prettier or because it is the latest swing fad. I give advice to help your game and it has taken years to learn the cause and effect of each ingredient.

So are you willing to take advice that may or may not be correct from a “helpful” friend? I feel like I have invested a lot of time, effort and money on my golf swing. I will only take advice if the person can give me a good explanation of cause and effect. Find a teacher you trust and stick to the plan. If you do, your recipe will turn out delicious!!

By The Armchair Golfer

(Editor’s note: I had the opportunity to ask TNT analyst and former PGA Tour player Bill Kratzert a few questions prior to today’s start of the 2009 PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota. TNT has 18 hours of coverage on Thursday through Sunday.)

ARMCHAIR GOLF: How are current course conditions?

BILL KRATZERT: The course is in great shape. It’s unusually hot right now and the golf course is not as bouncy and as fiery as you would think it would be. The greens are running as quick as they can, given the undulations in the greens. A lot of the greens have mounding and many of them are turtle back greens, where it filters off each way. As far as the rough is concerned, it was topped off Sunday afternoon after a huge amount of rain. I don’t think they’re going to touch it again. In my opinion, the rough isn’t all that penal right now. It’s very playable. I think there is ample room off the tee. I don’t think that driving the ball extremely straight is going to be a huge factor. Which plays into a Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson or a Geoff Ogilvy.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: Will shorter hitters be able to compete on such an extremely long Hazeltine?

BILL KRATZERT: A lot of people think the longer player has the advantage. But given the fact that of the par 5 holes where a player like [Tiger] Woods or [Phil] Mickelson should capitalize, only one that is reachable — the 7th hole. The other three are not reachable so the long hitters are not going to have any more advantage on those. When you’re looking at a guy hitting with a 7-iron or a 5-iron, a Tim Clark or Brian Gay or Jim Furyk might be as effective with a 5-iron as the longer hitters are with a 7-iron. I’m not discounting the length of the course, but I’m not placing the shorter hitters off to the side.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: Other than Tiger, which players are on your radar this week?

BILL KRATZERT: Jim Furyk or Steve Stricker, or I would also look at Lee Westwood. His name keeps coming to mind. He’s never won a major championship, but he has the game. Look at the way he played the Open Championship. He’s out of the playoff by a shot and he bogeyed on the last four holes. Yes, had a birdie in there on the 71st hole, a par 5, but he should have a major championship on his resume already. He’s one guy we should take a good, hard look at. Or, maybe it’s a young guy — a [Camilo] Villegas, Sean O’Hair, or Anthony Kim.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: If you were still playing, what would your game plan be this week?

BILL KRATZERT: I would really concentrate on distance control and, by that, I am referring to the par 5 holes that you can’t reach. Also, the par 3s that are over 200 yards. The 8th hole and 17th hole, they are in the 175, 180 range. Because the rough isn’t that penalizing from what I’ve seen, a lot of it would be distance control. The more times you can put it flag high or just underneath the hole, you’ll benefit from it.