INCAgolf All you ever wanted to know about golf (well almost)

Associated Press
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — Scott Stallings made a birdie on the final hole to qualify for a three-way playoff, then sprinted in excitement toward the 18th tee and showed he could repeat the feat on the first extra hole.

The PGA Tour rookie sank a 7-footer for birdie on the 168-yard hole to win the Greenbrier Classic on Sunday, beating Bob Estes and Bill Haas.

After watching Estes and Haas miss longer birdie attempts on the first extra hole, Stallings curled in his putt for his first tour victory. He flipped his putter, then hugged and high-fived his caddie.

Greenbrier Classic Leaderboard
1. Stallings (-10)*
T-2. Haas (-10)
T-2. Estes (-10)
T-4. Walker (-9)
T-4. de Jonge (-9)
T-4. Woodland (-9)
T-4. Tringale (-9)
T-4. Romero (-9)
*- Won on first hole of 3-way playoff • Complete scores

“To be a champion in such a great event is a huge blessing,” Stallings said.

The 26-year-old Stallings is the 10th first-time winner on the PGA Tour this year and the sixth rookie to do it.

“I’ve wanted to do this since I was a little kid,” Stallings said. “I was that little boy running around chasing autographs and yelling at guys because they wouldn’t stop and sign my golf balls.”

Stallings overcame a tough start and made six birdies on the back nine to gain the playoff, where he earned a winner’s check worth $1.08 million and a spot in the Bridgestone Invitational.

Stallings said he was more excited about moving from 88th to 26th on the FedEx Cup points list.

A native of Worchester, Mass., and die-hard Red Sox fan, he’ll likely realize one of his biggest goals to play in the Deutsch Bank Championship, the second stop in the FedEx Cup playoffs outside of Boston. The top 100 in the points standings after the Barclays, the first playoff stop, will qualify.

It marked the second straight week that a tournament was won in sudden death. Sean O’Hair beat Kris Blanks on the first playoff hole a week ago at the Canadian Open.

http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/6821942/rookie-scott-stallings-wins-greenbrier-classic-birdie-playoff

Associated Press
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Sean O’Hair turned around the worst week of his most trying golf season on an even tougher golf course.

Not even he imagined it was possible just four days ago.

Coming off a frustratingly close missed cut at the British Open, and in the midst of his worst season on the PGA Tour, O’Hair “played horrific” in Wednesday’s Pro-Am on the eve of the Canadian Open.

Sean O’Hair poses with the trophy after winning the Canadian Open in Vancouver, Canada. O’Hair defeated Kris Blanks on the first playoff hole.
All of which made him savor the victory four days later that much more.

O’Hair won after tapping in for bogey on the first playoff hole Sunday, and then watching fellow American Kris Blanks lip out his bogey putt from just over five feet. It was the fourth PGA Tour victory for O’Hair, but his first since 2009 and first top-15 during a season in which he’s missed 10 of 17 cuts coming in.

http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/6798376/sean-ohair-takes-canadian-open-first-playoff-hole

By Andy Farrell, Special to PGA.com

SANDWICH, England — When a magazine in Britain polled its readers to ask which golfer they would most like to play alongside, Darren Clarke was the favorite.

Make that Darren Clarke, Open champion. The galleries at Royal St. George’s roared their approval on every tee and every green on Sunday. The ovation at the 18th was not just respect or admiration but genuine affection.

“The roars and shouts were wonderful,” said the champion golfer of the year for 2011. “Perhaps people see me as a bit of a normal bloke. I like a drink, I like going to the pub.”

On the flight home from his victory in Mallorca in May, on one of those airlines where there is no premium seating and you have to pay for refreshments from the trolley service, Clarke bought everyone on board a drink.

That win was an important stepping stone for Clarke in dealing with being in contention at the 140th Open Championship. But the fact that he was there and not at the Players Championship the same week also tells the tale of how he was out of the spotlight that focuses only on those at the very top of the game.

http://www.pga.com/openchampionship/2011/news/clarke_farrell071711.cfm

Steve Stricker’s third straight victory in the John Deere Classic certainly was the most challenging — and by far the most dramatic.

With nine holes to play, Stricker led by five strokes. With two holes left, he was two shots down.

2011 JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

The 561-yard, par-5 second hole at TPC Deere Run was the easiest hole to birdie on the entire 2010 PGA Tour, surrendering 259 birdies last year.

Complete coverage
Golf on TV
What’s in the winners’ bags?
Watney moving in right direction, toward top of list of rising American stars
Woods still recovering, will skip British Open
Watson’s bad week in France offers big lesson about fame, foreign tours
Oosthuizen happy to be playing John Deere, even with British Open title defense looming
Red-hot Stricker shooting for third straight John Deere Classic title
TPC Deere Run is the venue for this week’s John Deere Classic. Have you played it? If so, click on its name to write a review of your experience. Also, be sure to check out our PGA.com Course Guide to review all the courses you’ve played and to find the perfect course for your next round.

Twice, Stricker buried shots deep in bunkers, one so far under the sand he had a hard time finding the ball. At a third bunker, he had to take an awkward stance just to give himself a chance to swing.

But he won nevertheless, sinking a 25-foot putt from off the 18th green Sunday to beat rookie Kyle Stanley by one stroke.

“It became hard, real hard,” said Stricker, who was grateful for the encouraging words from caddie Jimmy Johnson.

“Jimmy was right there telling me the whole time, you know, it’s not over yet, just keep plugging, you never know what’s going to happen,” Stricker said. “And sure enough, he was right. Just play it all the way out and see what happens.”

Stricker’s clutch putt capped a roller coaster round on a steamy afternoon and gave him a 2-under par 69, good enough to make him the 10th golfer since World War II to win a tournament three straight times.

Despite a double bogey on No. 5, when he needed two shots to get out of a greenside bunker, and bogeys on 15 and 16, Stricker finished at 22-under 262. Stanley, 23, whose best finish previously had been a tie for 12th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in late March, closed with a 66.

http://www.pga.com/news/pga-tour/steve-stricker-wins-john-deere-classic-third-straight-year-in-dramatic-fashion

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. (AP) — Never mind that Nick Watney was the highest-ranked player at the AT&T National, or that he won a World Golf Championship in March. Stepping to the first tee Sunday in a tie for the lead at the AT&T National, he had reason to feel overlooked.

After being announced, one fan called out, “Go, Rickie!” Several other fans in the large gallery wore bright orange shirts and flat-brimmed caps to show their support for Rickie Fowler, a 22-year-old who was tied for the lead and going after that first PGA Tour win.

“He’s obviously a very popular player. I think his time is definitely coming,” Watney said. “I would say there were probably a few more Fowler fans out there. But it is what it is. Sometimes you play away games or whatever.”

Watney doesn’t have the panache of Fowler, but his game is starting to get plenty of attention.

Playing the weekend at Aronimink in a staggering 12 under, and going the final 27 holes without a bogey, Watney closed with a 4-under 66 for a two-shot victory over K.J. Choi (67) to win for the second time this year and move to No. 10 in the world.

Watney, whose other win this year was a World Golf Championship against an elite field at Doral, also put himself atop the FedEx Cup standings and the PGA Tour money list for the first time.

Read more: http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,2081314,00.html#ixzz1RHaFpkei