NOTES FROM TUESDAY PRACTICE ROUND – 93RD PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
They Said It …
“The course is in magnificent condition, and it’s quite long and demanding off the tee. I think driving the golf ball this week is certainly going to be the only way to create opportunity for birdies. You must be in the fairway … It’s a very demanding golf course.”
Adam Scott, winner on Sunday at the World Golf Championships — Bridgestone Invitational, commenting on the Highlands Course here at the Atlanta Athletic Club.
Did You Know …
*Phil Mickelson is the last American to win a major golf championship (2010 Masters)
*Tiger Woods is the last American to win the PGA Championship (2007)
*The last time that all four major champions in the same year were first-time major winners was in 2003 — Mike Weir (Masters), Jim Furyk (U.S. Open Championship), Ben Curtis (Open Championship) and Shaun Micheel (PGA Championship)
The first three major championships of 2011 have been captured by first-time major winners.
* The last time that no American won a major championship in a calendar year was 1994. The first three major championships of 2011 have been won by non-Americans.
* Charl Schwartzel has the most impressive record in major championships this year. Schwartzel won his first major at The Masters in April, then tied for ninth at the U.S. Open Championship in June and tied for 16th at the Open Championship in July.
* Darren Clarke, who won the Open Championship last month, could win his second major championship on his birthday. Clarke turns 43 this Sunday.
* Bubba Watson the golfer is named after Bubba Smith, the two-time Pro Bowl football player?
“That’s true,” Bubba Watson said yesterday. Watson was born on Nov. 5, 1978, two years after Smith had retired from the NFL.
“When I was born, I was real chubby in the face and my dad wanted a baseball player,” Watson said. ” I came out chubby in the face and looked like a big football player, and he said I’m a Bubba. So 10 seconds after I was born, he just called me Bubba.”
Bubba Smith died on August 3.
Just a Number, Right?
At age 19, Ryo Ishikawa of Japan is the youngest player in the field, at age 19. He will turn 20 on Sept. 17.
The oldest player in the field is Larry Nelson, 63. Nelson won the PGA Championship in 1981 here at the Atlanta Athletic Club and captured the title again in 1987. He is being honored on Wednesday night with the PGA Distinguished Service Award, the PGA of America’s highest annual honor.
Simpson Comes Up Aces
Even before he officially tees off in his first PGA Championship, Webb Simpson made an impression with the hole-in-one he recorded Tuesday at the Atlanta Athletic Club. In a practice round, Simpson used a 21-degree hybrid to ace his 264-yard shot at the par-3 15th hole.
“I didn’t really see it, but the crowd behind the green screamed so I knew I had made it,” said Simpson, who has six top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour this year. “I would have liked to have saved it [the hole-in] for later in the week but you can’t save holes-in-one.”
Zack Attack on Course.
Masters Champion Zach Johnson has enjoyed playing in Georgia, and has the record to back him up. He also has a talented budding Champions Tour player on his bag. The 2007 Masters Champion, Johnson also won the 2004 BellSouth Classic and 2007 AT&T Classic in suburban Atlanta. His longtime caddie, Damon Green, proved that he has not lost his own game by finishing tied for 13th in the U.S. Senior Open.
And Zach Giving Back.
Not all of Zach Johnson’s pre-PGA Championship preparation was in competition. On Aug. 1, the Zach Johnson Foundation kicked off its first year by netting nearly $1 million, thanks to a memorabilia auction the night before the former Cedar Rapids Regis High School prep hosted an 18-hole pro-am at Elmcrest Country Club in Cedar Rapids. Johnson and his wife, Kim, matched dollar-per-dollar of the proceeds to push the total to the million-dollar mark to Kids On Course, a program the Johnsons founded to give Cedar Rapids elementary school children various experiences to bring them closer to their academic potential. Joining Johnson on course were Rickie Fowler, Davis Love III, Stewart Cink and a former Regis quarterback who fared well himself later in life, ex-NFL star Kurt Warner.
