TALKING GOLF WITH GARY # 78

 FURYK WINS VERIZON
It was bizarre to say the least,  Brian Davis ended the one-hole playoff  with Jim Furyk by calling a two-stroke penalty on himself.  Davis ticked a loose reed in a marshy area beside the 18th green and called in a ruling that confirmed the violation.
 Furyk won his 15th PGA Tour event, and second since March.
 Furyk felt bad for Davis, who he dueled down the back nine at Harbour Town as Davis went after his first win.
Davis, who rolled in a clutch 18-footer for birdie on his final regulation hole to tie Furyk and force the playoff .
In the playoff, Davis’ troubles began with his approach, a wayward 7-iron that hit the left edge of the green, rattled off the rocks boarding Calibogue Sound and settled amid some grass, twigs and reeds.
 Furyk earned $1.026 million, finally tasting victory at Harbour Town after posting two second-place and one fourth-place finish since 2005.
 Davis earned $615,000 for his fourth second-place finish on the PGA Tour.
 Davis held a one-shot lead over Furyk with four holes left when things began to go wrong. Davis had back-to-back bogeys on the 15th and 16th holes to slip behind the ultra-steady Furyk.
 Davis shot a 68 and, like Furyk, ended with four rounds in the 60s.
 Bo Van Pelt and Luke Donald were two shots further back in third.
 Next week is  the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.  Jerry Kelly defends.



LANGER WINS RAIN SHORTENED EVENT
Bernhard Langer won for the 10th time on the Champions Tour at the Outback Steakhouse ProAm, which was shortened due to constant rain.
Langer birdied  the final hole during the second round on Saturday which gave him a one-stroke lead over Mark O'Meara and Mike Reid. Because no player completed their third round, the final result was based on the second-round leaderboard.
The leaders did manage to get on the course Sunday, and Langer made par on the first hole at TPC Tampa Bay while O’Meara chipped in for birdie to force a tie at 9 under. It didn’t matter when persistent rain washed out the rest of the tournament.
O’Meara has finished second nine times in four seasons on the Champions Tour, but still has yet to win.
Langer certainly got a good break Saturday, when his approach shot on the final hole hit the flag stick and dropped near the cup. He calmly made the putt for a birdie that gave him a one-shot lead,and eventually the victory.
Langer remains in second in the Charles Schwab Cup standings behind Fred Couples,  who finished tied for 12th at 4 under.
Next up is the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf. Berhard Langer and Tom Lehman are the defending champions.



NORDQVIST GOT MOJO
(AP) Anna Nordqvist won the inaugural Mojo 6 Jamaica LPGA Invitational on Friday, beating Amanda Blumenherst 1-up in the six-hole championship match in the Raceway Golf event. Nordqvist, the Swedish star who won the LPGA Championship and season-ending LPGA Tour Championship last year, earned $350,000 in the unofficial event at Cinnamon Hill.

After three rounds of six-hole matches Thursday, the field was cut from 16 to eight for the quarterfinals.
Nordqvist opened with a 2-up victory over Christina Kim, and beat Cristie Kerr on the first extra hole in the semifinals. Blumenherst beat Brittany Lang 1-up in the quarterfinals, and topped Na Yeon Choi on the first extra hole in the semifinals.
In the third-place match, Kerr beat Choi on the sixth playoff hole.



 YANG WINS CHINA OPEN
(AP)—South Korea’s Y.E. Yang  has won the China Open, shooting a 1-under 71 to seal a two-stroke victory over Welshmen Rhys Davies and Stephen Dodd. Yang made his only bogey of the weekend at the Jinji Lake Golf Club’s tough 18th hole Sunday, leaving him with a 15-under total of 273. Davies closed with a 67 and Dodd shot a 69.



CHAPPELL WINS HIS FIRST NATIONWIDE TITLE
Kevin Chappell, a former UCLA star, wons his first Nationwide Tour title at the Fresh ExpressClassic,birdieing two of the last four holes for a 6-under 65 for a one-stroke victory over David Hearn.
Chappell earned $108,000 to jump from 18th to second on the money list with $151,021. The top 25 after the end of the season will earn 2011 PGA Tour cards..



 IN OTHER NEWS
Jerry Kelly aced the fourth hole in the first round , at Harbour Town Golf Links, the second time since 2007 he’s gotten a hole-in-one there during the Verizon Heritage.
 Kelly was among the early competitors last Thursday when he came to the 193-yard, par 3, fourth hole. He hit a 4-iron that ended in the cup.

 Kelly did the same thing during the third round in 2007, also using a 4-iron for the ace.
It’s Kelly’s third ace during PGA Tour competition.


Tiger Woods will tee it up again in only two weeks at the Quail Hollow Championship.
Woods announced on Thursday he will play in the U.S. PGA Tour event which begins on April 29. It will be his first time playing at a tournament where tickets are sold to the general public since news of a sex scandal broke.
The early commitment was a sign that Woods plans to be helpful to the promotion of tournaments. He had been criticized over the years for waiting until the last day to announce he was playing, except for tournaments to which he had a sponsorship connection.


And sticking with the whole Tiger mess there are reports in the press that divorce is on the horizon for the #1 player in the world.  Tiger Woods' marriage to Elin Nordegren is over, according to Entertainment Tonight,
Nordegren has refused to move back into the home she shared with Tiger and has grown increasingly distant from him.  Reportedly  Mrs.Woods  was  visited by a divorce attorney at her current house in Orlando.


Masters champion Phil Mickelson committed to play at the Quail Hollow Championship on Friday. The tournament begins April 29 at Quail Hollow Club. As reported earlier Tiger Woods also is playing this event , so it gives the World's #1 and #2 players a chance to go at each other.
There is quite an impressive field at the event . The field includes Lee Westwood,Jim Furyk, Retief Goosen,Hunter Mahan, Kenny Perry, and Sean O'Hair who is defending.


That's it for this week.

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Have a great week.