Women’s Equality Day

Our club provides a place for women to play, learn, and enjoy a lifelong involvement with golf.

Sunday, August 26

Enjoy a FREE cart rental with paid green fee for all women on Sunday, August 26!

Book a Tee Time

Skip the hassle of calling. Book your tee time online!

“Tiger’s coming!” was the shout of one golf fan directed to Brooks Koepka during Sunday’s final round at the U.S. PGA Championship.

Gentle baiting from the crowd, as well as several roars of delight from around the course after another Tiger Woods birdie, weren’t enough to deter Koepka from a third major title. But the signs are there that Woods is again a force to be reckoned with.

American Koepka, 28, withstood stifling pressure and sweltering heat in St Louis, Missouri, to card a four-under 66 good enough for a two-shot victory, and claim the trophy and the $1.98 million prize.

Woods played his part though in front of a huge gathering of supporters, in pursuit of his first major title in a decade — and came close by returning a 64, his lowest final round in a major ever.

Winning at Bellerive means Koepka has now won three of the last seven majors and becomes only the fifth golfer and first since Woods in 2000 to triumph at both the PGA and U.S. Open in the same year.

“Other than me, my team, everybody was rooting for Tiger,” Koepka said. “It kind of pushes you to step up your game.”

As Woods finished his round and had the clubhouse lead, he had a maximum value of 100, according to Google Trends. While at the same time, Koepka was languishing down at just 27. That’s despite holding a clear lead and playing his final few holes on the course.

The sense of apathy, combined with the love of a sporting comeback, isn’t of concern to Koepka, who accepts he won’t be able to please everyone and still had the support of his fellow professionals.

“I’ve heard some frustration that he hasn’t won a lot of other tournaments, but he’s won three majors now, so he’s definitely winning the right ones,” Adam Scott said. The Australian was playing alongside Koepka in the final group and finished three shots behind him.

More vocal support should come Koepka’s way next month when he takes part in the Ryder Cup as part of Team USA, after the top eight automatic picks heading to the event in Paris were confirmed.

By winning at Bellerive, Koepka finished top of the standings ahead of Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler and Webb Simpson. Captain Jim Furyk will pick four others — three on September 3 and the final choice on September 9.

Woods, in finishing runner-up Sunday, jumped from 20th to 11th in the Ryder Cup standings, behind Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson.

It seems almost unthinkable that Furyk would leave out Woods given his form in the past two majors and his experience of seven previous Ryder Cups.

“I’m just pleased with what I’ve done so far, and now to be part of the Ryder Cup conversation, from where I’ve come to now, it’s been pretty cool,” 14-times major champion Woods said.

The wait continues for the Woods comeback to be completed with that elusive 15th major, but given his form so far in 2018, interest only looks set to increase.

 

Adam Reed | 

Source: cnbc.com

ST. LOUIS — It produces a hodgepodge of winners. That’s the stigma associated with the PGA Championship. Compared to other majors’ ignominies—like the weather predicating who captures the claret jug or USGA officials unnecessarily intervening at the U.S. Open—the PGA’s alleged stain is relatively innocuous. But that belief is real, and Golf Digest’s own Brian Wacker set off a firestorm for reflecting that sentiment in a recent column, one that drew blowback from some past champions.

But is it fair? Or more importantly, correct? We know there are a host of names engraved on the Wanamaker Trophy that won’t sniff the Hall of Fame, yet every tournament boasts such a roll call. Which got us thinking: Which major—year in, year out—produces the “best” and “worst” winners?

For our investigation we used OWGR data from 2000 to 2017, giving each major 18 submissions for 72 winners total. Why 2000? That year Titleist’s Pro V1 and Nike’s solid-core Tour Accuracy golf balls were introduced, which from an equipment perspective is viewed as the parcel in how the game was played, and how it is today. Plus, manually charting this test became time-consuming, and 18 and 72 seemed apropos golf numbers.

Mentioned above, we pulled a player’s Official World Golf Ranking the week before their major triumph, giving us a snapshot of their stature in the game pre-victory. OWGR does have its critics, but it’s the best barometer available to illustrate this idea of a player’s standing.

So what does that equation reveal? This century, the Open Championship produces the “worst” winner, with an average OWGR rank of 42.55. The Masters has the highest average OWGR winner at 15.77, followed by the U.S. Open with a 21.83 mark and the PGA at 33.22.

That the Masters is decidedly lower than its major brethren is not a surprise. Only 85 to 90 players tee it up at Augusta National, a limited field compared to the competitions at the other three majors. The green jackets want to ensure a “name” entity join their ranks, and—judging by these numbers—that endeavor’s been a success.

However, there are outliers, so what happens if we subtract the highest OWGR winner from each tournament? Call this the Ben Curtis Corollary, because without his Cinderella story in the mix, the Open Championship jumps the PGA, 21.94 to 25.23. (The Masters remains the lowest at 12.65, the U.S. Open trailing at 18.41.)

There is another part to this equation. Chiefly, how often does a championship cater to the best in the world? Amazingly, the PGA Championship comes out on top, with nine of its last 18 winners—Tiger Woods three times, Rory McIlroy twice, Vijay Singh, Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington and Jason Day—ranking inside the top five in the world. That’s three more than the Masters and the British, and four better than the U.S. Open.

Moreover, only five times has the PGA Championship winner been ranked outside the top 30 this century. That’s equal to the U.S. Open, with six British Open victors outside the top 30 (the Masters has just two such instances: Zach Johnson and Angel Cabrera).

Mentioned above, the OWGR data provides only a glimpse before a player’s win, failing to showcase what followed. For example, Justin Thomas enters Bellerive as the defending PGA champion, ranked No. 2 in the world. A ranking markedly better than his No. 14 standing the week before his Quail Hollow triumph. Conversely, every major battles this issue, which somewhat negates its wrath.

Still, the OWGR numbers give us an idea of the merit of each event’s winner. And, at least this century, the PGA more than meets the standards of a major champion.

 

Source: golfdigest.com

Join us for a great game of golf, friends, fun, food, and competition!

$400.00 PER TEAM. TEAM OF 4 PLAYER. INCLUDES LUNCH.

Join us for a great game of golf, friends, fun, food, and competition!

$400.00 PER TEAM. TEAM OF 4 PLAYER. INCLUDES LUNCH.

Register to play at Ukiah Valley Golf Course OR  Call Duane Nelson at 478-6924 or Mark Mirata at 972-9101!