Golfing Eighteen Blog

The 2008 BMW Championship is ten months away and tickets are sure to go quickly for one of golf’s most anticipated tournaments. St. Louis Marriott West is now offering cutting edge Saint Louis accommodations, perfect for spectators attending this acclaimed event.

St. Louis, MO (PRWEB) November 8, 2007 — The 2008 BMW Championship is ten months away and tickets are sure to go quickly for one of golf’s most anticipated tournaments. St. Louis Marriott West is now offering cutting edge Saint Louis accommodations, perfect for spectators attending this acclaimed event.

The BMW Championship is the core of a six-year partnership agreement between BMW, the PGA TOUR and the Western Golf Association (WGA). The event is the third of four PGA TOUR playoff tournaments that culminate with the new FedEx Cup competition.

The tournament is being held at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis from September 4-7, 2008. Tickets went on sale Monday, November 5, 2007 at 12 a.m. CST. Weekly grounds books are $225, while the volunteer package is $125.

With 2,600 volunteers needed for the week event, volunteers must commit to three, half day shifts and one training session. Volunteers will gain firsthand exposure to the inner workings of the BMW Championship and collect event merchandise including two 2008 BMW Championship golf shirts, one wind shirt, one cap or visor, one commemorative volunteer pin, as well as one invitation to the Volunteer Appreciation Party.

With so many people coming to St. Louis for the tournament, the St. Louis, MO hotel suggests making travel plans well in advance. The city will be buzzing with excitement come next autumn and the Marriott is already preparing for the occasion. With a pristine lakeside backdrop that features an outdoor patio overlooking fountains and wooded walking trails, this hotel offers a secluded escape.

Accommodating Saint Louis lodging offers guests upgraded amenities complete with spacious rooms, work stations, and separate sitting areas. Marble and tile bathrooms complement luxurious guest rooms, while new plush bedding packages promise a refreshing night of sleep.

Regatta Grille Restaurant in St. Louis is known for crisp, classic American cuisine, served overlooking the soothing water, while the ultra-casual Regatta Bar serves up traditional bar food surrounded by TV screens showcasing sports and news.

For whatever reason one might choose to come to St. Louis, there is only one place to stay. Let St. Louis Marriott West show you a new side of luxury.

About St. Louis Marriott West
Retreat to relaxation at this luxury St. Louis hotel ideal for any occasion, the Marriott West Hotel in St. Louis, MO is located minutes from Lambert Airport, Westport, Chesterfield, Six Flags and the area’s top destination attractions. Luxurious accommodations treat guests to an unparalleled stay, while the meeting and social event facilities at this hotel in St. Louis, Missouri raise the bar with upscale offerings and an outstanding culinary team. Dine in at the Regatta Grille Restaurant featuring lakefront views and delectable American cuisine, or dine out and delight in a breath of fresh air on the restaurant’s deck that showcases the lovely surrounding landscape. This nearby Westport St. Louis hotel has everything you need to retreat in style, including a first-class fitness center, soothing sauna and whirlpool, two elegant ballrooms, and flexible meeting space. For more information or to make a reservation call 314-878-2747 or visit http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/stlwe-st-louis-marriott-west/

That Tiger Woods is a force that is capable of steering off his fellow competitors out of green is an established fact right now! What we are actually looking forward to see whether he is going to touch the standard set by Jack Nicklaus in the years ahead.

With grabbing the PGA Championship he made it to at least one major for the third straight season taking his career total to 13 and this is what precisely soared up his fan’s expectations.

Woods concluding a dramatic finish (he finished at 8-under 272), now has more majors up his sleeves than the rest of the world’s top 10 golfer combined. Woods is now 31, and already he has beaten Nicklaus in pace - Nicklaus won his record 18 professional majors and he was 35 when he won his 13th. He is also ahead of the pace set by the Golden Bear.

This is the fifth time of the year that Tiger woods bagged another win. He remains the only one in the circuit who has won more than twice! The game for the second straight week, culminated into an eight-shot victory in the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone. This has been a special win after coming in second at the Masters and the U.S. Open.

On the emotional front this victory was quite different than the previous others - this championship did not see the great Golfer throwing himself in the arms of his father or his mother cheering on his win. This time it was his two months old baby daughter in the arms of her mother who came to congratulate him on his two-shot victory. No wonder, the baby Sam Alexis was all red when she met the winner. It was a grand surprise for the golfer - this was Elin and Sam’s first trip to a tournament and Woods was totally unaware of their coming to the course.

“It’s a feeling I’ve never had before,” Woods said after concluding victory over Woody Austin in the final major of the year. “Having Sam there and having Elin there, it feels a lot more special. And it used to be my mom and dad. And now Elin, and now we have our own daughter. So it’s evolved, and this one feels so much more special than the other majors.”

However despite being at 13, Woods feel “it’s still a long way away.” He said. “You can’t get it done in one year. It’s going to take time. It took Jack 20 years to get it done, 20-plus years. Hopefully, health permitting and everything goes right and I keep improving, I’ll one day surpass that.”

The big story at this weekend’s U.S. Open turned out to be a little-known Argentinean making the clutch shots he needed to finish like a champion, while the world’s top ranked player, and one of the best closers in golf, missed his birdie try on the 18th to fall one shot short. Angel Cabrera, who shot a first round 68, had two of only 8 total under-par rounds for the entire field, stumbling only once all weekend, with a 76 posted on Saturday.

After Saturday’s play, it began to look as though Tiger might be set to make a Sunday run for the trophy and finally overcome his inability to win a major when not leading going into the final round of play.

Tiger started Sunday in the final group, two shots behind then leader, Aaron Baddeley. To say Baddeley played poorly on Sunday would not only be a terrible pun, but also a huge understatement. The man who had the best putting average of the field going into Sunday suddenly could not sink anything and finished with a 10-over par 80 for his final round.

Tiger on the other hand, played solid golf all day, shooting over par only twice, and sinking an early birdie shot. Tiger’s best chance to catch Cabrera came on the 17th hole, but Tiger’s bunker shot sailed over the green, forcing him to settle for par.

Jim Furyk also had a shot at besting Cabrera’s tournament-winning score of 5-over par, but a bizarrely misplayed 17th hole ended with a bogey, dropping Furyk one shot back of Cabrera, where he finished tied with Tiger.

So the man nicknamed “The Duck”, a pot-bellied chain smoker who no one could have imagined winning this year’s U.S Open, ended up doing just that. Suddenly I find myself dusting off my clubs to head to the driving range, because if Angel Cabrera taught us anything this weekend, it’s that perseverance and patience can overcome seemingly insurmountable odds and help transform a portly “Duck” into a Tiger-slayer.

As if last week’s loss to Yang Yong-eun wasn’t shocking enough, this weekend he blew a final round lead and was thus defeated again, this time by Padraig Harrington at the Dunlop Phoenix.

The Golf Channel reports: “After both players birdied the par-5 18th, Woods missed a birdie putt from just outside 10 feet on the second extra hole. Harrington tapped in a short birdie putt for the win.”

Read the full story.

One Lucky Fan Will Win Chance to Caddie for PGA Tour Golfer Camilo Villegas at the 2007 Tournament 

MONTEREY, Calif., Nov. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Casting calls are
familiar to many celebrities who participate in the AT&T Pebble Beach
National Pro-Am, but a “caddie call” has an altogether different script.
AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) today announced “AT&T Caddie Call,” a program that will
give fans a chance to show their golf knowledge and enter a sweepstakes for
a chance to caddie for PGA Tour professional Camilo Villegas during a
practice round the week of the 2007 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Fans enter by going online to participate in the AT&T Caddie Call — an
interactive game where they must answer questions on the rules of golf.
Questions will be presented as a computer simulation or video footage.
Those who answer all nine multiple-choice questions correctly are entered
into a sweepstakes to caddie for Camilo.

The grand prize includes airfare, hotel accommodations and passes to
the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, as well as the opportunity to caddie
for Camilo during a practice round. Other golf fans who enter can win AT&T
Pebble Beach National Pro-Am merchandise and autographed memorabilia from
Camilo.

The contest is open to legal residents of the United States aged 18 or
older as of Nov. 15, 2006. The promotion runs through Jan. 27, 2007. Fans
can go online at http://attblueroom.com/sports to play.

No purchase is necessary to enter. Void where prohibited. For the
Official Rules, visit http://attblueroom.com/sports or send a
self-addressed stamped envelop to: AT&T Caddie Call Rules, P.O. Box 13198,
Bridgeport, CT 06673-3198.

The 2007 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am will be held from Feb. 5 to
11, 2007.

Out of Naples, FL, the AP reports that “Jerry Kelly and Rod Pamling won the Merrill Lynch Shootout on Sunday, beating Justin Leonard and Scott Verplank with a bogey on the first hole of a playoff in the Greg Norman-hosted event… ‘We had a ton of fun out all day every day we were out there. We just really enjoyed each other’s company,’ said Pampling, who teamed with Kelly after Peter Jacobsen dropped out after having a hip replaced…  Pampling and Kelly split $675,000 from the $2.75 million purse.”

Read more on Kelly & Pampling at the Merrill Lynch Shootout at Golf.com.

This tournament also had the first female to ever play in the Shootout - Annika Sorenstam.

ESPN reports that “Craig Kanada played his way onto the PGA Tour on Sunday, holing dramatic chips on the final two holes for a one-stroke victory in the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship…. Kanada, 10 positions out of a PGA Tour spot at the start of the week, shot an 8-under 64 on Friday and closed with a 66 to finish at 13-under 275. Matt Kuchar (73) and Andrew Buckle (69) tied for second.”

Read more on Craig Kanada and the PGA Tour at ESPN

ESPN covers the LPGA and writes “Lorena Ochoa wrapped up the LPGA Tour’s player of the year award with a record-setting finish in the Tournament of Champions… The 24-year-old Mexican star shot a 7-under 65 on Sunday for a 10-stroke victory and a tournament-record 21-under 267 total. She ran her winning streak to three with her sixth victory of the year and earned $150,000 for a season total of $2,492,872.”

Read more on Lorena Ochoa at the LPGA at ESPN.

South Korea’s Yang Yong-eun surprised everyone this weekend when he won the HSBC over Tiger Woods and other top contenders.  “Woods failed to win a 72-hole tournament for the first time since July 9, finishing two shots behind South Korea’s Yang Yong-eun in the HSBC Champions on Sunday.  Yang, a regular on the Japanese tour who has played infrequently outside Asia, closed with a 3-under 69 Sunday for a 14-under 274 and a two stroke victory over Woods at the HSBC Champions tournament. Yang won $833,000.”

Read more on Yang Yong-eun at ESPN.