Steve Williams Pitchin' A Fit

Well, there won't be any more awkward high-fives. Not really sure why this is such a huge story. Yea, yea I know...they've been together for over 12 years and Tiger won 13 of his 14 majors with Stevie on the bag. But come on! It's a G damn caddie for crying out loud. Everyone is acting like Steve Williams made Tiger Woods. Nah. It's the other way around, folks. If any other player fires their caddie - which happens all the time on tour - it gets a little blurb in the paper.

Stevie isn't reacting so well to the whole thing, and is teetering on the edge of throwing darts at Tiger on his way out the door. From a statement on Williams' website (he has a website???)

Following the completion of the AT&T National I am no longer caddying for Tiger after he informed me that he needed to make a change. After 13 years of loyal service needless to say this came as a shock.

Not exactly how you want to handle that change if you're Steve Williams. It looks pathetic. How long before this guy goes all "JetBlue" on us and just does a drunken interview ripping on Tiger. I get that he was probably shocked, but he maybe should have seen it coming when he began caddying for Adam Scott during Tiger's absence.

I know I saw it coming. If you're the caddy for the best golfer in the world, you don't ask him if you can work for someone else while he's hurt. I think Tiger saw that as a sign of Steve not being entirely on his side. Couple that with some off-handed comments made in the last 2 years about Tiger letting down his family and what not, and you've got a recipe for getting your ass fired.

Ultimately, this shouldn't change to much, though I am fascinated to see who Tiger gets on his bag next.

Also, you gotta wonder if Steve Williams is gonna get a book deal or something. I doubt it but you never know. He denies being in the know of Tiger's extramarital affairs, but who knows if that is really the case. Even without that stuff I'm sure he could write a shitty expose that a lot of people would read.

U.S. Open Wrap-Up - Bad News for American Golf

Now we know why Tiger's eat their young!

Step aside Tiger, there's a new sheriff in town and his name is Rory McIlroy. After completely unraveling on Sunday at The Master's with a 4 stroke lead after 54 holes, Rors came roaring back at the very next major and totally blew the doors off the competition for a week. He became the first since Woods to win the Open while leading wire-to-wire and posted the lowest ever U.S. Open score. Among the many records he set he also became the youngest Open champ since Bobby Jones in 1923 at the ripe age of 22.

Before the week started I would have figured that the winning score might be somewhere in the -5 to -6 range, with the course playing soft all week due to heavy rains leading up to the tournament. Never in a million years would I believe that -16 would be the winning score. (And actually, if you take out McIlroy I would have been right on the money.) That is an insane performance at the U.S. Open - soft greens or not.

Part of me thinks that because we remember so well what Tiger did just a little over a decade ago at Pebble Beach that Rory isn't really getting his due for this performance. Watching it yesterday, it felt so much more anticlimactic than Woods' performance in 2000.

Nonetheless, he's getting his due here on Dueling Couches. That was a masterpiece unlike any I've witnessed and I'm looking forward seeing many more from him in the years to come.


As for the rest of the field, Jason Day finished in 2nd after a great weekend of play. And Y.E. Yang and Lee Westwood finished in a tie for 3rd along with Robert Garrigus, and Kevin Chappel. Nowhere on the leaderboard were any of the young hotshot Americans that everyone likes to keep talking about.


Dustin Johnson: T23 +1
Anthony Kim: T54 +7
Bubba Watson: T63 +9
Rickie Fowler: Missed Cut +5
Hunter Mahan: Missed Cut +5
Ben Crane: Missed Cut +6
Nick Watney: Missed Cut +6

Disgusting. It's the rest of the world's game right now. Hell, Northern Ireland has produced the last two U.S. Open champions. The group of young American golfers mentioned above haven't done anything to warrant all the attention that they get. Between them they have a combined 17 wins on tour, but no majors - though Watson and Johnson have both been close. Kim admittedly needs to focus more on golf and Fowler seems more concerned about being a fashion icon than winning tournaments.

I realize I'm being harsh, and that winning on tour is not an easy thing for any golfer, especially with how much competition there is now. However, I know these guys have tons of game and I'm just getting sick of hearing about how this could be their big break. Enough with the Twitter and youtube. I want to see some damn trophies! Tiger spoiled us all for a long time, and that reign looks to be all but assuredly over. The world team is full of good young golfers who actually WIN tournaments and don't worry about making stupid online music videos. One of those losers made the cut this week - and he finished plus 9. Nice.

Time to put up or shut up for these guys. Only Fowler can even still be considered young. The others are in their 30s or close to it.

That's it from the golf world for now. Check back as we get closer to the British Open from Royal St. George's - a fantastic course.

U.S. Open 2nd round Update

Wow! Rory McIlroy is murdering Congressional CC. At one point he was -13, but finished his round at -11 when he double-bogeyed the 18th after a wayward tee shot and a terrible decision to try and go at the flag and dropping one in the drink. Oh, by the way that was his first bogey of the tournament!

The double bogey on 18 is a little worrisome, because it shows some poor judgement. I think his caddy really let him down at the Master's by not pulling him aside and telling him not to be so aggressive when things were beginning to get unraveled. And I think he definitely needed to tell Rory not to go at the flag on 18 today. Oh well. He's still got an 8 stroke lead.

The good news for the rest of the field? Most of them have over 2 rounds of golf remaining to get into position to challenge McIlroy.

Jason Day and Bubba Watson are two guys to keep an eye on this afternoon. They'll tee off shortly after 2 pm. Matt Kuchar is about to tee off and he's currently at +1. He's another guy that I could see making a move. Unfortunately, I don't see any story line playing out where anyone gets within less than 4 strokes of McIlroy today. As the sun continues to shine this afternoon, those greens will firm up making it really hard to go after these pin locations, even on some of the birdie holes.

This could be the beginning of a new era in golf.

U.S. Open Day 2 Preview

The 2nd round is recently underway and we are seeing history unfold. Rory McIlroy is currently at -10 atop the leader board. He is just the 5th man to reach double digits under par at the U.S. Open, and he is the fastest to reach that mark. Pretty remarkable. However, we've seen McIlroy put up these fast starts at a major before, last year's British Open and this year's Master's. So far, the young man hasn't been able to put it all together over a weekend and win a major, but if he keeps up this Tiger-like pace he should lap the field. This is reminiscent of Woods at Pebble Beach in 2000.

As for the rest of the field, there are some surprises near the leader board. Ol friend, Y.E. Yang is tied for 2nd with Zach Johnson at -3. And Sergio Garcia is back from the bowels of golf at -2. As for my contenders list, so far it is a big disappointment. Only Phil who I put at #10 is even in the Top 20 currently. My sleeper Charlie Hoffman is also in the top 20. Just more proof of how tough the U.S. Open is.

Phil actually played a pretty good round yesterday outside of his double bogey at the 10th which was his first hole - a bear of a par 3, playing over 220 yards today.

Another sentimental favorite near the top of the board is Davis Love III who played a terriffic round yesterday, that should have been even better. He missed two birdie putts by a combined 10 mm, leaving both on the edge of the cup.

Hopefully, someone can put on a charge today and get closer to McIlroy. Although watching him run away with it could be fun too. Zach Johnson, Ryan Palmer and Robert Garrigus are the Americans that look to have the best chance heading into today. The course is playing soft again today from the rains overnight. Don't be surprised to see some low numbers today.

I will try to give some updates throughout the day's action as things unfold.