Who won the first-ever Donald Ross Memorial Invitational boys individual title?

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Another Woods Accusation

Tiger Woods is in the hunt following his third-round 66 at the 110th United States Open.

Woods' scorching round on the famed Pebble Beach Golf Links comes on the heels of yet another woman alleging a private encounter with the golfer.

But this time it's not that he had an extramarital affair, but the claims that Woods fathered a son.

And it came to Manatee County where a paternity test was filed in court.

In case you missed it, check out the full story here

Saturday, June 19, 2010

An and Hampshire miss cut at Open

Ben An and Travis Hampshire both missed the cut at the famed Pebble Beach Golf Links following second-round play in the 110th United States Open.

An, a Bradenton resident, carded a 4-over par, 75 on Day Two.

Hampshire, who is No. 2 on the local West Florida Golf Tour's Order of Merit, shot 77 Friday.

Both players missed their chance to continue on the weekend, which players 7-over par or better qualified for.

For An, the reigning U.S. Amateur champ, the result is his second missed cut in major championships this year.

The perks of winning the national amateur title meant An earned an invite to The Masters and automatic exemptions into both U.S. and British opens.

For Hampshire, a mini-tour professional, he earned qualification through the grueling local and sectional stages before exiting without a payday in his trip to California's crown jewel of golf courses.

Friday, June 18, 2010

An and Hampshire soar in Open first round

Bradenton's Ben An didn't jump to the top of the United States Open leaderboard after the first round.

Neither did Tampa's Travis Hampshire, who plies his trade on the local West Florida Golf Tour.

An, the reigning U.S. Amateur champ, carded an 8-over par, 79.

Hampshire soared higher, posting a 10-over par, 81.

Both players hit the same exact number of greens - 7 of 18.

And both were fairly accurate off the tee, which is a major bonus in the "toughest test in golf" where the rough seems to grow longer than a jungle.

An hit 8 of 14 fairways. Hampshire found the short grass 10 of 14 times.

They combined for 59 putts (An had 30).

Yet both struggled in getting acclimated to Pebble Beach.

The 110th U.S. Open continues today, and both players will need stellar second rounds to make the weekend.

And in Hampshire's case, a payday as the WFGT player is a professional.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Tradition kept with An's pairing

Bradenton's Ben An is scheduled to play his first two rounds of the United States Open just like all the previous U.S. Amateur champs have, by teeing it up with the reigning British Open champ and the defending U.S. Open champ.

An, an amateur bound for the University of California-Berkley next fall, is being paired with Stewart Cink and Lucas Glover when the second major of the year kicks off Thursday at the famed Pebble Beach Golf Links.

An will tee off No. 1 at 8:17 a.m. for round one and off No. 10 at 1:47 p.m. on Friday.

While An is the lone Bradenton golfer in the field, West Florida Golf Tour regular Travis Hampshire of Tampa is also playing.

An received an exemption due to his triumph at the U.S. Amateur last year, and Hampshire gained his entry through the rigorous qualifying stages.

Hampshire won a spot at the lone Florida sectional, held at McArthur Golf Club in Hobe Sound.

He's hovered around the top of the WFGT's Order of Merit standings during the tour's inaugural season this year based off a couple victories and high finishes in other tournaments.

Now he'll play in the U.S. Open with fellow professional Dan McCarthy and amateur Joseph Bramlett in the first two rounds.

He'll tee off No. 10 at 9:12 a.m. Thursday, and off No. 1 at 2:42 p.m. Friday.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Korda helps United States win Curtis Cup

Bradenton's Jessica Korda and her American teammates split the Sunday singles matches to defend the Curtis Cup on home soil.

The United States defeated Great Britain and Ireland 12 1/2-7 1/2 in the 36th Curtis Cup held at Essex (Mass.) County Club this past weekend.

Korda teamed with Alexis Thompson for the second time during the three-day event in Saturday's morning four-balls, where they defeated Danielle McVeigh and Pamela Pretswell 2 & 1.

Korda and Thompson joined up again in the Saturday afternoon foursomes.

This time they beat McVeigh and Leona Maguire 3 & 1, as the USA swept all six matches Saturday.

The GB&I squad would need a scintillating performance on Sunday to win the Cup, but the singles portion was just a coronation for the Americans as they won the Curtis Cup for a 27th time.

Korda stayed hot in her Sunday match against Pretswell with five birdies en route to a 4 and 3 victory.

Korda never trailed in the match, taking her first lead on No. 3 with a par to Pretswell's bogey.

Then the right-hander birdied Nos. 5-7 to take a 2-up lead through seven, and turned with a 3-up lead.

It was more than enough.

Korda earned medalist honors at The Oaks during the U.S. Women's Open sectional qualifier after rounds of 68-68--136.

So, she's in good form leading into the Open held at Oakmont Country Club outside of Pittsburgh July 5-11.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Korda and USA trail Curtis Cup after Day One

Bradenton's Jessica Korda finished her first day at the 36th Curtis Cup with an 0-1-1 record.

Korda teamed with 15-year-old Alexis Thompson for a half point in the morning round Friday.

Then she played with Tiffany Lua in the second round for the United States.

But Korda was part of a losing effort as the Great Britain and Ireland duo of Sally Watson and Lisa Maguire took down the afternoon four-ball match.

The turning point came on No. 16 at Essex (Mass.) County Club, when Watson and Maguire birdied the 409-yard par 4, while Korda and Lua only managed par.

The teams tied the subsequent two holes to give Great Britain and Ireland a full point, and a 3 1/2 to 2 1/2 points with two days remaining.

Korda fares well in Curtis Cup opener

Jessica Korda's Curtis Cup debut garnered the United States team a halve.

Korda, a Bradenton Prep student, teamed with Alexis Thompson in Friday's morning foursome match against the Great Britain & Ireland duo of Hannah Barwood and Holly Clyburn.

The 17-year-old Korda and 15-year-old Thompson are the youngest players on the American team.

The pair's halve was part of three matches that drew even through 18 holes in the tournament's opening round.

The 36th edition runs today through June 13 at Essex Country Club in Mass.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Curtis Cup opener set

Bradenton's Jessica Korda is set to team up with Alexis Thompson in first round of the 36th Curtis Cup.

The tournament is a biennial tournament for the best female amateur golfers akin to the Walker Cup, which is the men's amateur version of the Ryder Cup.

The United States takes on the Great Britain and Ireland team at Essex Country Club beginning Friday, and Korda tees off at 9:10 a.m. when she'll pair with Thompson to face Hannah Barwood and Holly Clyburn in the opening round.

Korda is coming off a spectacular United States Women's Open sectional qualifier at The Oaks Golf Club in Osprey, where she earned medalist honors for her 36-hole total of 68-68--136.

Zinger on the WWL

Paul Azinger made the rounds today at the Worldwide Leader of Sports, ESPN, as part of his book tour.

The Bradenton resident was at Mike & Mike in the Morning, the station's morning radio show that is also simulcasted on one of ESPN's television channels each weekday.

Then he made an appearance on The Herd, another radio show, hosted by Colin Cowherd before doing a Sportsnation chat on espn.com.

Through it all, Zinger discussed an array of topics including his plan to play the Champions Tour full time in 2011 and the book he penned about his time as Ryder Cup captain.

To check out the book, click here

WFGT's new site marvels

The West Florida Golf Tour has attracted some large fields, and has kept going strong in the mini-tours debut season, despite the scorching hot and humid summer months that plague the other mini-tours across the state.

One of the reasons for that is a new and improved website that features a cleaned up look and some tweaks that resonate well with all involved.

"The guys can go in, and sign up themselves," tour owner Carl Wakely said following the recent River Wilderness tournament. "They can upload their own picture, which is cool. They have a lot more control, it's kind of like a Facebook thing where you log in. And from our point of view, it's a (heck) of a lot more efficient ... it's a lot more automated."

Head to www.westfloridagolftour.com to check it out.

The tour has a slew of tournaments throughout the rest of the year, before culminating with the Tour Championship at the Ritz-Carlton Members Golf Club held at season's end.