NORTON, Mass. — Talk about a jolt of energy. The two biggest names in golf electrified the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup at the Deutsche Bank Championship on Monday with a tremendous display of golf.

The back-and-forth duel between Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods at TPC Boston in the second of four Playoff events was eerily similar to their classic battle down the stretch at the 2005 Ford Championship at Doral — only this time Lefty got the better of Tiger.

On Thursday night, he went to Fenway Park and witnessed Boston Red Sox rookie pitcher Clay Buchholz toss a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles in just his second big-league start. Then, Lefty followed that up with a win at TPC Boston in his first appearance at the event.

“I had a lot of fun, not just today, this whole week,” he said. “I had a lot of fun on the golf course being able to play three rounds with Tiger, a couple with Vijay. I had a great time off the course, too. We went and saw the no hitter in Fenway Park. How often does that happen? It was a very historic night and fun week here in Boston that I’ll never forget, and had a chance to spend a couple days up in Kennebunkport, Maine, the few days prior to this tournament. It made for a very special, memorable week, and I just am so excited with the way it finished.”

Before a boisterous, sellout crowd and under beautiful, blue skies Sunday, the Mickelson-Woods pairing did not disappoint. Mickelson entered the final round trailing 54-hole leader Brett Wetterich by two shots at 11 under, while Woods started the day three back. In the end, Woods, who was the defending champion, tied for second with Wetterich and Arron Oberholser, two shots behind Mickelson.

Mickelson grabbed a share of the lead at 14 under by the seventh hole and went out in 4-under-par 32. A 1-under 34 on the back capped off by a spectacular up-and-down for birdie on the 72nd hole put the finishing touches on a 5-under-par 66 for 16-under-par, 268 total, and his first win since THE PLAYERS Championship in May.

For Mickelson, Monday marked just the sixth time he has outscored Woods in the 19 times they’ve gone head-to-head on the PGA TOUR. To be able to win while going head-to-head with Woods, Mickelson said, made the victory all the more special.

“I think that he was making a charge there in the end, and to be able to stand up on 16 after he knocked it close and follow it with a birdie of my own, knock it inside of him to finish with a couple birdies coming in to win, it feels terrific,” Mickelson said. “Now the next step is to try to hopefully go head to head in a major. We don’t get paired very often in majors, and hopefully, next year in ‘08, we’ll have a chance to do that.”

One of the great features of the FedExCup is that it pairs players for the first two rounds of each of the four Playoff tournaments based on their standing. Because of that, Woods, Mickelson and Vijay Singh — Nos. 4, 5 and 6, respectively heading into the Deutsche Bank Championship — played the first 36 holes together.

“My favorite thing about the FedExCup is the way the pairings go straight down the points list,” Mickelson said. “I think that’s my favorite aspect of it. It leads to some excitement.”

Mickelson says he enjoys playing with Tiger Woods. (WireImage)With Mickelson taking over the No. 1 spot thanks to his second win of the season, Stricker slipped to No. 2 and Woods jumped to No. 3. That would be the potential threesome for the first two rounds of the BMW Championship. However, Mickelson admitted that he hadn’t decided whether or not he was going to play just yet, citing frustration over the way so many big events are sandwiched at the end of the season, as well as family obligations.

“I want to have a balance in my life, and I certainly feel the obligation to play and support the FedExCup and to support the PGA TOUR, support the game of golf,” Mickelson said. “And I also want to have balance in my family life, and my family has sacrificed a lot this year because it’s been a very difficult schedule. It’s not the four FedExCup tournaments; it’s the PGA, Akron right before that, only four days off after the British Open before we had to travel and playing two weeks before that, so it’s been the last three months having no more than two days off at a time and working to do corporate outings in between.

“So our time together has struggled, and I want to have a balance there. They start school next week, so I have that conflict or obligation and desire to be there.”

Mickelson did say that he would be in Chicago on Tuesday for a prior engagement, and if he were to skip the BMW Championship, he said he would still play in the Playoffs-ending TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta in two weeks.

New Englanders are very passionate about their sports — especially their Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots — which made the Mickelson-Woods pairing fitting and appreciated. That didn’t go unnoticed as both Mickelson and Woods were impressed with the enthusiasm of the crowds throughout the week.

“Boston is an awesome sporting town,” Mickelson said. “The electricity at the Red Sox game where you have a rookie that nobody knows, and he comes out and pitches a no hitter, and you wouldn’t believe the way people were supporting him. The same thing held true at the golf course. There were some fun, funny comments. It was an electrifying crowd. There were so many people that came out to support this event. We just as players certainly appreciate that.”

“All year, we’ve been talking about how it’s been kind of dead this year with the excitement level,” Woods said. “D.C. was pretty rowdy, here it’s been pretty rowdy, so it’s nice to see some atmosphere out there. You know, we were playing well today in the same group, the guys behind us were playing well, so a lot of good scores all around.”

Visit us at www.kikogolf.com

Tags: Golf Experiences by kikod
No Comments »

At The Driving Range -A Valuable Lesson

I took my son to the driving range today. We played along side 2 brothers who were about 4 and 6. They were both outfitted with great sets of kids golf clubs - properly fitted for their age and height, and I immediately noticed the older one had on golf shoes, and a glove. He looked like he knew what he was doing. Hoping that my son who is 8 might pick up some tips we joined in beside them.

Their Dad sat back with a bag of popcorn and watched them as if he was at a movie - a comedy I think. As I was in the middle of putting this web site together, I felt that I had stumbled upon a wealth of information about junior golf. And did I ever learn something.
The youngest was having the most fun, and he was defiantly the most fun to watch, he would hit the ball from left to right, walk away and return to hit from right to left, sometimes he hit it, some times he missed. He never thought twice about where the ball was going, or what his position looked like.

His older brother had a great swing and approached every shot the same way; walked over to his Dad, grabbed a handful of popcorn, wiped his hand on his jacket, looked at where the tractor picking up balls was, and smacked that thing about 100 yards - every single time.

My son was no different, his entire focus was to try and hit the tractor and with each pass it made they became even more frantic to make a connection. Sometimes they got close, sometimes it went in the opposite direction, but the 3 of them were having a great time. No thoughts as to where their feet were, what direction they were pointed in and whether or not their arms were straight. They hit bucket after bucket, ball after ball, with the same casual ease. Finally it was the youngest who managed to smack the side of the tractor.

Did I learn anything from those boys? Sure did! Whether it is a moving target or a pin on a green, give them something to aim at, keep quiet, and let them have fun!

It was not until I was lying in bed that night that I realized what I had really learned that day. That when I addressed the ball it was:

Address the ball
Make sure 2 knuckles are showing on my left hand
Spread fingers along the shaft
Check distance from top of club to my belly button
Club head facing straight
Cock hands to the left
Eyes on the ball
Left elbow straight
Knees are bent
Weight in heels
Relax hands
Relax shoulders
Relax
Release through left knee
Keep heel down
Slow back
Elbow still straight
Eyes on the ball
Chin over left shoulder
Swing through
Bending right knee
Feel weight of club on left thumb
Chin over right shoulder
Still looking down
Follow through
Club over left shoulder
Did I just imagine hitting the sweet spot, or is that the ball still sitting on the tee?

My pro is right, I think way too much.

Wrist Rite is the best investment you can make for your young golfer!
visit our web site www.kikogolf.com

Tags: Golf Experiences by kikod
1 Comment »

SALIMAH MUSSANI WINS THE CPGA WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP

Salimah Mussani wins 2007 Canadian PGA Women’s Championship presented by Aquafina

THORNHILL (August 1, 2007) – After a sweltering day on the golf course, Salimah Mussani of Burlington, Ontario came out on top as the winner of the 2007 Canadian PGA Women’s Championship presented by Aquafina at the Ladies’ Golf Club of Toronto in Thornhill, Ontario.

Mussani won by one shot over defending champion and first round leader Marie Josée Rouleau (St. Lambert, QC) to take home her first Canadian PGA Women’s title, shooting rounds of 70-72 for a 142 (-2) tournament total earning her the $5, 000 first prize.

“This is a tournament that you want to win. It means a lot to capture a Canadian PGA title and have my name on the trophy with the likes of the best in Canada,” says Mussani. “This course is so beautiful and the conditions were perfect, it couldn’t have gotten any better.”

Mussani, who sunk a hole-in-one in her practice round before the tournament, entered the final round today at two under par, putting her in third place and in the final pairing for the last round. “I started very confident today, I knew that I could definitely contend with the other players out there, and I knew that I just had to play my own game and not focus on anyone else. After I got that hole-in-one at my practice round, I knew there was something in the air, some good luck”.

“Yesterday I wasn’t hitting the ball that well, and today it felt like I was heading toward the same thing, my driver sucked, and it seemed as though the only thing saving me was my putter,” Mussani says of her game. “For some reason today I was so nervous, I think I was the most nervous I have ever been at a tournament, so I stopped paying attention to the leaderboard and just focused on my shots, I focused on a target and just reacted to that target. By just focusing on a target I really brought myself back down to where I could concentrate.”

Mussani was diagnosed with Lupus in 1997, and most doctors believed that she should quit the game. Lupus is an incurable autoimmune disease that is triggered by stress and heat, two things that are abundant on the course. The disease has caused Mussani to pass out on the course, and withdraw from tournaments due to skin rashes, swelling, and general fatigue, so it was quite an impressive feat that Mussani could handle two days of competition with the humidex reaching over 40 degrees. While on the course, Mussani tries to avoid the high temperatures by using a heat repelling umbrella while ensuring that she is fully hydrated. “I told my caddie before my round today to make sure that I keep completely hydrated, I think I drank about a bottle of Aquafina per hole, I definitely drank my share of water out there, good thing they were the sponsor!”

Mussani is currently traveling on the Duramed FUTURES Tour, and has two top ten finishes to date; she placed fourth at the Lakeland Classic and tied for third at the El Paso Golf Classic. “I am actually leaving right now to drive down to New Hampshire for the next FUTURES tournament, I have to be there by 1PM and play in a pro-am, so I basically live out of my car right now.”

When asked what she will do with the prize money, she replies, “I think this cheque breaks me even right now. The money that I win from tournaments basically goes directly into my next entry fee, or food and accommodation for the next tournament. It costs around $450 to get into an event, so over the course of the year, I almost pay $10,000 just to play, so this cheque comes at a great time! It is also my birthday coming up, so I may have to buy something special to treat myself”.

Defending champion Marie Josée Rouleau ended today’s round with a four over par 76, leaving her one shot short of the win. “Today I didn’t play to my potential, I was not happy with my game, Salimah had a great round, she played well today and deserved the win,” says Rouleau. “I am looking forward to coming back next year to compete in the tournament once again”.

Maggie Steciuk from London, Ontario was the course low today carding a five under 67 for a two day combined total of 143 placing her tied for second overall. “Today I took advantage of the par fives, I had some great long drives and tried to get on the green in two, so I think this was what kept me so low today. The greens were fast and the course was in great shape.”

Steciuk graduated last year from St. John’s in New York and is still uncertain as to what her future plan is for her game. “If I keep bombing 67s like that, I will definitely want to get into more competitions, but I’m not sure, I am registered for interior design at Fanshawe College in London for the fall but depending on how some of the next tournaments go I will make the decision then whether or not I will continue with school, so I’m going to go play a few more state opens and then in the Futures Tour qualifier this fall and hopefully I will know by then.”

Low amateur of the first and final round was Mandi Dupuis of Tecumseth, Ontario who carded rounds of 76-81 for a final score of 157.

The Ladies’ Golf Club of Toronto is North America’s only remaining private golf club established by women for women. Founded in 1924 by Ada Mackenzie, Ladies’ was designed by renowned course architect Stanley Thompson.

Past champions of the tournament include Lori Kane, who won the championship at the Ladies’ Golf Club in 1999, and recorded four other CPGA championship wins as well in ’96,’97,’98,& ’01, Nancy Harvey (’94,’95 & ’00) and Alena Sharp (’04).

Visit our web site to find out how you can golf like the champions!

www.kikogolf.com

Tags: Golf Experiences, The Perfect Putt by kikod
2 Comments »