Golf Central

On this day in 1935, the legendary Walter Hagen, who first brought showmanship and style to professional golf, won the Gasparilla Open by one stroke, beating Clarence Clark. It was the be the last individual title of Hagen's storied career at the age of 42.

Typically, Hagen finished off his opponent with a flourish, just like he had done most things throughout his life. Smart-dressing and free-spending, Hagen won 45 times on the fledgling PGA Tour, and it's fitting that his last win came in the party atmosphere of the Gasparilla, which coincides with Tampa Bay, Florida's Mardi Gras-like festival. Of course, Hagen finished with a pair of birdies, including a 45-foot bomb on the last, to seal the win ...

Get your notebooks and quotebooks ready, folks, because word says that Fred Couples will be the captain of the US team for the 2009 Presidents Cup in San Francisco, California.

Freddie - the loveable bungler of the English language and one of golf's most popular players, among his peers, the press and fans - would ostensibly be getting a trial run before possibly being handed the reins of the American Ryder Cup squad in 2010 or 2012. Couples has been a member of four Presidents Cup teams with a 3-0-1 singles record.

Journalists will be licking their chops at the prospect of five straight days of interview sessions with Couples, who is as likely to innocently turn a phrase on its head as he was likely to turn loose an effortless 300-drive in his playing prime.

Golf World is reporting that Couples will take over for Jack Nicklaus, who has captained the last three US Presidents Cup teams, in the 2009 edition at San Francisco's municipal-course jewel, Harding Park Golf Course. An official announcement is expected Tuesday.

And we want the phone number for Couples' conference call, at which he is likely to say: "You can't replace a guy like Jack Nicklaus. He's a legend and he played in a different time. And you can't replace a guy who played in a different time, unless you know how to travel in time, and I'm just a golfer, man." ... Or something like that.

OK, we're beating a dead horse here. We know you're really upset about not being able to spend your Sunday watching Rod Pampling and Shingo Katayama battle it out in what would have been a gripping contest. But that's what they say about these "fickle" match-play tournaments: you're never guaranteed to get what you want. And yes, we were just kidding ...

Streak! ...: You're taking a lot of perverse pride in saying that, aren't you.
Hey, it helps to be the first. That's what journalism's all about, getting the story before the other guy ...: Actually, it's about a lot of things, fairness, public record, balance, ethics, checks and balances and a lot of things I forgot from university, but I can't say you're wrong.
You know what my headline would be tomorrow?: What's that ...:
STREAK! ...: OK, now you're just being annoying. But I have to say it was an awesome performance by Tiger Woods. Poor Stewart Cink just didn't have a chance on Sunday. The match between Tiger and Cink was finished after 29 holes before Justin Leonard and Henrik Stenson finished their 18-hole consolation final, which is say something.
8 & 7, huh?: Yep. Imagine what Tiger would have done to somebody he didn't like.
Can I say something please?: Go ahead then ...:
Streak! ...: Oh God. You're as relentless as Tiger Woods. Have you ever seen someone so bloody-minded in their pursuit of perfection?
Well, I could shout "Streak" again if it makes you happy ... but no ...: I have to say it's scary when Tiger is asked after a tournament like that "Do you think a perfect season is in reach?" and he says, without batting a long-lashed eyelid: "That's my intent. That's why you play. If you don't believe you can win an event, don't show up."
Well, 63 of the other 65 best golfers in the world showed up ...: And they got beat down. But let's not forget Tiger was within a whisker of going home on Wednesday before he pulled off that incredible rally against JB Holmes in the first round, and Aaron Baddeley almost sent him packing on Friday as well.
So where does this put Tiger in a historical framework then?: He's passed Arnold Palmer on the all-time PGA Tour wins list with 63, just one behind Ben Hogan. "I think this is the best stretch I've ever played," says Tiger. Good God. We haven't even gotten to the majors yet.
OK. Can I say it one more time then, please? ...: Oh, go on then ...
Ah, it's just no fun if you're going to let me say it ...: OK, you can't say it then ...
Streak! ...

Sunday's results
Final match (36 holes):
Tiger Woods def. Stewart Cink, 8 & 7
Sunday's third-place match (18 holes):
Henrik Stenson def. Justin Leonard, 3 & 2

The complete bracket of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship is right here, but don't go away, y'all, because you need to see how we did in our predictions and a breakdown of the numbers, so stay right on board with us.

Lost in all the hubbub of Tiger Woods' smashing victory at the WGC-Match Play Championship in Arizona is the fact that Paula Creamer has really nice legs.

(Sorry, we digressed there, for a minute. But try looking at nothing but pictures of Tiger Woods for five straight days, and then you see a picture of Paula Creamer's legs, and it makes you realise that there's more to golf than the Big Cat. Sorry, Tiger).

And not only that, Paula's victory in Kapolei, Hawaii at the Fields Open was dramatic in its own right. The 21-year-old starlet has a streak of her own going: Creamer has now won twice in her last four starts, and that's LPGA Tour victory No. 5 for the chirpy little daughter of an airline pilot from California. Using her trademark pink ball in the final round, Creamer shot 66 for a 16-under total of 200, with four birdies on the final five holes to beat Jeong Jang of South Korea.

"I'll always remember this finish," said Paula. So will we. Thanks, Paula ... and look out, Lorena Ochoa ...

PGA Tour
Mayakoba Golf Classic: About the only scenery more stunning than Paula Creamer's pins this weekend were the gorgeous vistas of El Camaleon Golf Club in Playa del Carmen, on Mexico's tropical Yucatan peninsula. This is where the PGA Tour kindly sent the rest of its players not qualified for the elite-only world match play field in Arizona, and what a nice trip it was for the "opposite-field" boys.

It was especially so for Brian Gay, who won his first PGA Tour title by two shots over Steve Marino after closing with a 1-under 69. It was Gay's 293rd career PGA Tour start (only 12 active players had entered more events on the tour without a win than the 36-year-old Texan). Gay had notched a pair of second-place finishes, at the 2001 Colonial and the 2002 Buick Open ...

Champions Tour
Champions Skins Game: There was another rally in Kaanapali, Hawaii, where the old-timers were battling it out in the alternate-shot team skins event. Fuzzy Zoeller and Peter Jacobsen teamed up to win six skins and $320,000, knocking off defending champs, the legends Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus. One of these days, we want to turn 50, go to Hawaii, smoke stogies, and win a lot of money for a skins game. We just need a little more time to practice the old golf game, though ...

Nationwide Tour
Moonah Classic: In the co-sanctioned Australasian-Nationwide Tour event in Melbourne, Australia, 25-year-old Aussie Ewan Porter waltzed to victory with a final-round 66 for a 13-under winning total, enough for a seven-shot win over DJ Brigman and Tee McCabe from the States.