by Jeff Skinner
What a strange weekend in golf. We saw the ladies of the USA struggle at the inaugural International Crown. Jim Furyk spit the bit again at the RBC Canadian Open and Bernhard Langer give us a dominating performance in senior golf.
It’s hard to say what the biggest shock of the weekend was. Take your pick; I was astounded, amazed and stunned at the outcomes.
Team USA came into Mike Whan’s newest baby, The International Crown as the favorite and the ladies laid a big egg on Thursday losing both their matches. The ladies went into the event as the highest ranked team and couldn’t win a match in the first round. They bounced back on Friday with two wins but a split of their matches on Saturday left them in a sudden death playoff with Korea.
And a sudden death it was with Lexis Thompson and Cristie Kerr losing to Korea. It seems impossible that with a team with Stacy Lewis, Paula Creamer, Thompson and Kerr that they could not make it to the finals. I’ll label that loss astounding.
On the PGA Tour Jim Furyk went into Sunday at the RBC Canadian Open with another 54 hole lead. Furyk lead Tim Clark by three shots at the start of the day but at day’s end which included a rain delay, Clark topped Furyk by single stroke and took home his second PGA Tour victory.
Clark sizzled on the back nine with birdies on 11,12,14,15 and 17 for a 30 on the closing nine and a five under 65. Clark was thrilled to be back on top after injuries the past two years had crippled his game.
Clark jumps to27th in the FedEx Cup race and is excited about the possibilities. “If I stay in this sort of frame of mind, there’s no reason why I can’t keep it going. The next two events are big for us, and I’d love to keep it going.”
Furyk was left shaking his head…again. “It was a benign day, and 69 is not a bad round by any means, but by only making two birdies I let a couple guys back into the tournament,” he said.
“I’m obviously disappointed,” he said. “I just didn’t putt well enough, and I didn’t convert the opportunities I had.”
I have to call this one stunning. I thought Furyk would finally break the jinx.
Bernhard Langer was busy setting records at the Senior British Open. Langer’s win at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club in Wales was Woodsian. His final round 67 gave him a winning margin of 13 strokes over Colin Montgomerie.
It’s the largest margin of victory in any senior major event in history and has some talking about the possibilities of Langer being considered for a spot on this year’s Ryder Cup Team.
He started the day with a five shot lead and pulled away from the field to finish at eighteen under par. Langer was his usual understated self,” The golf course is unbelievably tough. To have this weather for four days is unreal, it’s like playing in Florida with a bit of wind.
“The secret was I didn’t make too many mistakes and my driver was very good and my long putting was excellent, although not quite today as I was lacking a little. Perhaps my lead was too big.”
Winning a major by thirteen strokes? That’s just amazing.
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