Golf Central

On this day in 1902, Robert Tyre "Bobby" Jones Jr was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to become to greatest amateur golf star in history, a winner of 13 major championships, and the founder of the Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament.

Jones never had a proper lesson, but was blessed with one of the smoothest swings of the day - a swing that influenced generations of golfers through his Golf My Way films and books. He retired from competitive golf at age 28 having won the 1930 "Grand Slam": Taking the British Amateur, British Open, US Open and US Amateur all in the same year. Confined to a wheelchair in later life due to a spinal ailment, Jones died in 1971, his place in golf history assured ...

So much for those idiots who think Tiger Woods is boring ...: I agree with you. This win was really special. And the victory celebration on the 18th green was a new one: something completely different to the old Tiger fist-pumping ouvre ...
Awesome victory celebration. It was like he didn't believe himself that he had just won the thing.: He didn't ... you could see it as his eyes got wider, then he started backpedalling like a maniac and the expression of joy and the slam-dunk of his cap were priceless.
And there was Arnold Palmer, standing by the side of the 18th green ...: Yes, looking every bit the member of golf royalty that he is, and giving an approving nod and wink when Tiger's putt went down. And then Arnie pulled Tiger close for a hug afterwards to show him how he proud he was.
You'd better recap this thing or else you're gonna go too warm and fuzzy on us ...: Sorry. Well, on Saturday morning Tiger was seven shots out of the lead, fired a brilliant 66, then backed it up on Sunday with another 66 to edge veteran Bart Bryant by a shot by draining that beautiful 24-foot left-to-righter on the 72nd green.
And that means ...: And that means Tiger has 64 victories in his PGA Tour career, matching Ben Hogan for third all-time, with only Jack Nicklaus and Sam Snead to chase. And this is five wins in a row for Woods, meaning his attack on Byron Nelson's record 11 wins in a row in '45 is still very much alive.
And what did he say about that?: He was pretty humble about it. He said "You've got Arnold here, and Mr Hogan, that's some pretty neat company. I've had an amazing run in my career."
And this was the one he wasn't supposed to win ...: So they say. He was too erratic off the tee to win at Bay Hill, blah blah, didn't like the slow greens, blah blah ... but there you go.
And the streak goes on ... And the streak goes on, to Doral, where Tiger will likely be a huge favourite. He's won six times on the Blue Monster.
See you at Doral! ...: See you at Doral!

On this day in 1997, a pair of old-timers had to stay up past their bedtimes as Bob Murphy and Jay Sigel needed nine extra playoff holes to settle the Champions Tour's Toshiba Senior Classic in Newport Beach, Orange County, California - then the longest playoff in the tour's history.

As the two stubborn seniors battled it out, tournament organisers were beaming as broadcasters were forced to give the event an extra two hours on ESPN television. So nobody missed anything when Murphy canned an 80-foot snaking birdie putt on the 17th green to take the last of his 11 senior titles ...

Talk about a lucky 7 ...: Lucky for some! Not so great for Jeev Milkha Singh, but fantastic on Graeme McDowell and well played.
They had quite some duel, didn't they?: Yep, it was good stuff. The Irishman and the Indian posted a pair of 68s to close finish on 24-under and force a playoff, which took three extra holes before McDowell finished it off.
That was some 7-iron McDowell hit wasn't it?: Lovely. On their third trip down the 18th, Singh knocked his approach to six feet. But pured a 7 from 179 yards out to about one foot, and tapped in the birdie for the winner's cheque of 333,330 euros.
What did McDowell have to say about it?: "It's in my top five best shots ever hit under the gun", he said ...
I can sense a new list coming: "Graeme McDowell's Top 5 Shots Under The Gun" ...: Stop being silly.
Sorry. So that's a nice little feather ...: ... for McDowell's cap in a Ryder Cup year. And its three European Tour wins for the Ulsterman, who was the top collegiate golfer in America back in '02.
That's just what I was going to say ...: Sorry.
A bit unlucky for Jeev isn't it?: A bit. But the first Indian to ever play in the Masters, and the first Indian on the European Tour, was second in Indonesia as well, and now both he and McDowell get into the elite field at Doral next week. It was going to be the third Euro Tour win for either guy.
Don't you want to know how Hwang Inn-Choon of South Korea did?: The anticipation is too much ...
The world No. 1353 finished 32nd on 6-under, same as countryman Park Do-Kyu ...: Not bad. Well done Inn-Choon! Way to go Do!
Doh! And we'll see ya at the Blue Monster!: See ya at the Blue Monster!

This thing is living up to its billing now, isn't it?: Got to agree with you there. It's the King's tournament, and just after surpassing Arnold Palmer on the PGA Tour victories list, Tiger Woods is
What should we call him then? The Emperor? ...: Tiger suits me just fine. Don't think he needs another nickname really ...
So explain how our Eldrick has turned this tournament on its head ...: Typical Tiger fashion. On a day when everyone else was dropping back, Tiger pulled off a seven-shot swing on the Friday leader, defending champ Vijay Singh, with a 4-under 66 to create a five-way lead.
Tiger likes it tough out there ...: He does. It got windy and wild and the greens got a bit a faster, which Tiger loves. So now it's Tiger, last week's Innisbrook winner Sean O'Hair, the grinder Bart Bryant, mad bomber Bubba Watson, and the only man to replace Tiger as world No. 1, Vijay ...
That's as good as it gets really ...: And that's not all. There are 16 golfers within three shots of the leaders.
So what happened to Vijay?: He doinked three balls into the water and shot a 40 on the front nine, and it goes to show how good his back nine was that Vijay's still in the hunt.
So here's the big question? Does anybody really have a chance other than Tiger?: Let's put it this way. In his last 45 tries with the lead or a share of it after three rounds, Tiger has won 42 times.
Likes that Sunday red then ...: He sure does. And if the greens stay fast I think he's going to make it 43 out of 46 ...
And that would be five straight wins for Tiger ...: Who's counting?
Everybody ...