Weekend Wrap

Work continues to impinge on my blogging, much to my regret... but let's catch up, shall we?

Vegas Victory - Little known Ben Martin came storming back to win the Shriner's Shootout yesterday:

Ben Martin made a 45-foot eagle putt to regain the lead and finished with a 20-foot

birdie putt for a 3-under 68 and his first PGA Tour victory Sunday in the Shriners Hospital for Children Open. 

Martin played his final four holes at the TPC Summerlin in 4-under par, though no shot was more important than the eagle. 

Kevin Streelman ran off five birdies in a six-hole stretch to overtake Martin for the lead, and Streelman hit a wedge into 5 feet on the 18th hole. Martin, who led by as many as four shots on the back nine, hit a 6-iron over the water to the back of the green on the par-5 16th.

My interest in Tour golf at this point on the calendar is at low ebb, but it is fun to watch a young gun try to close out his first win.

Match Play in Eclipse - The World Match Play used to be quite the serious event, drawing a star-studded field to Wentworth (back when it as a Harry S. Colt design) that included names like Nicklaus, Palmer and Player.  Now it's an after-thought, and with sponsor issues (Volvo has discontinued it's support of the event), this week's event probably didn't help.  But at least they had a big-name winner, right?

Mikko Ilonen defeated top-seeded Henrik Stenson 3 and 1 in the final Sunday to win the World Match Play Championship. 

Ilonen fought back from being 1 down after four holes against the fifth-ranked Swede on the London Club course at Ash in Kent. It was the 34-year-old Finn's fifth European Tour victory and his second this season after winning the Irish Open.

Ilonen is the most famous Finnish golfer since...err....can I get back to you on that one?  Though this is his fifth Euro Tour win, so while not someone that will help with the TV ratings, he's a legitimate Tour rabbit.

That Euro Template - One of the recurring themes of our flood-the-zone Ryder Cup coverage is that there's less to the so-called Euro template than it seems.  So more fault lines were exposed in this preview of Ian Poulters forthcoming autobiography:

"It makes me laugh. Faldo is talking about someone being useless at the 2008 Ryder

Cup. That's the Ryder Cup where he was captain. That's the Ryder Cup where the Europe team suffered a heavy defeat. 

"And he was captain. So who's useless? Faldo might need to have a little look in the mirror. I have always got on great with Faldo in the past and I have a great deal of respect for everything he has achieved but this feels like sour grapes. It feels like a guy who is still bitter that he lost in 2008. 

"Faldo has lost a lot of respect from players because of what he said. There were plenty of things a lot of the players were unhappy with at Valhalla but none of us criticised him. He may find that begins to change now."

I've got no problem giving Paul Azinger another go as captain, but I would suggest that all involved remember the good fortune Zinger had in his opposing captain.

Rub of the Green -  The slideshows are a somewhat tired format, but Golf.com has a cracker for us today, the 13 Unluckiest Breaks in Golf History.  

I'm glad to see jean Van de Velde included, because, while everyone remembers the meltdown, they quite frankly remember it wrong.  He made  ahuge mistake hitting driver off the tee, but got away with that one.  The 2-iron into the grandstand was a perfectly logical decision, but who would have forseen him hitting a railing.

Here's one I don't think I'd ever heard:

Byron Nelson, 1946 U.S. Open 

In his final season of tournament golf before his retirement, Lord Byron, pictured at the

1946 Masters, was close to the lead in the 3rd round amid huge crowds at Cleveland’s Canterbury Golf Club. After Nelson hit his lay-up second at the par-5 13th, the gallery swarmed. Nelson’s caddie tried to duck under the ropes, tripped and accidentally stepped on Nelson’s ball. Nelson was slapped with a one-stroke penalty. 

He eventually earned a playoff -- and lost. If not for the misstep by his caddie, Nelson would have exited the game on top.

The slideshow has the usual suspects (Roberto, Tiger, Phil) but also some that will no doubt be new to you.

Jarrod Lyle -  The two-time cancer survivor is the feel-good story of the fledgling season:

Through two events, Jarrod Lyle is chipping away at the grand total he needs to reach if he's going stay on the PGA Tour.

Lyle, who left the Tour in 2012 to battle and for the second time in his life defeat leukemia, is playing on a medical exemption in the hopes of earning enough money to retain his Tour card. 

Lyle has 20 total starts, including the two he's already made this season, to earn the $283,825 that will allow him to retain his card. After making the Frys.com (T-31) via a Monday qualifier and playing the Shriners (T-42) thanks to a sponsor exemption, he has racked up $53,795.

Litigation Interruptus -  We've had good fun with Rory's lawsuit with his management company that involves former BFF Graeme McDowell, but this is a shame:

The world’s best golfer is suing Dublin-based Horizon Sports Management Ltd and two other companies, Gurteen Ltd, with a registered address in Malta, and Dublin-based Canovan Management Services.

Today it was announced that no agreement had been reached between McIlroy and Horizon despite mediation talks and the case will proceed to a full hearing next February.

"I'm going to need time away from tournament golf to prepare for the trial over my legal dispute with Horizon Sports Management," Rory said today.

At least better now than, say, next April.

 Quite the Hot Streak - Get a load of the roll this 81-year old Villages resident went on:

Like a lot of golfers who are fortunate to have more than one hole in one, Dom DeBonis had to wait a long time between his first and second ace. Like, 45 years.

But once he recorded the second one, the aces started running wild. 

It is rare enough that in a span of 33 days, Mr. DeBonis, 81, had four holes in one on four courses in three states. 

Even more remarkable is that this Sharpsburg native had a hole in one on three consecutive days while playing golf on a buddy trip in the Myrtle Beach, S.C., area — a feat so improbable the National Hole-in-One Association had never attempted to calculate the odds of that happening.

So let's do some math... I had my first and only ace in 2013... does that mean I have to wait until 2058 for the second?