The Par Five: Els, Yani, Thorbjorn and More

I don’t get it. Not at all. Why would anyone logically expect Ernie Els to have a decent RBC Canadian Open considering the way he won the Open Championship? We witnessed the replays of the missed shots. And we question them? Think about it…

Put yourself in the shoes of Els. You’re teeing it up on the first hole of the final round. You’re six shots from the lead. You see the leaderboard and those names…Scott, McDowell, Woods, and you think, “well, how do I get it done?” Not a completely helpless feeling but you know you’ve got to have the others “help you out” in order to get your hands on the Claret Jug.

Just not sure Ernie would, could, hope that Adam Scott would completely bobble his final four holes and you shoot the round of your life, in a manner of speaking. That’s the way. Not sure of any manuscript has that version.

One thing that does get lost in Els firing that final round 68 is that is was not the best round of the day. That was Nicolas Colsaerts with a 65. If Colsaerts shoots an even par 70 in his second round instead of that 77, the Belgian’s name is the one most likely having his named engraved on the jug.

So I think we can honestly give Els the slightest of passes when it comes how he performs in Ontario. If he misses the cut, he misses the cut.

Who’s not getting much of a pass is Rolex #1 Yani Tseng. It’s almost as if she’s not allowed to have a slump. Truth of the matter is that she is in a slump. I’m completely guessing here, but one side of my brain tells me the LPGA cannot afford for one of its biggest draws to have such an event.

Tseng has changed caddies…and that still has not proven to be the cure.

Hold on a minute. Granted, she shot +4 yesterday at the Evian Masters (which we’ve herd on numerous occasions that this will be a major next year) and as I’m typing this, she’s even for the day. If she misses the cut, it will the second time in three tournaments Tseng will miss the cut. The tournament she made the cut was the US Women’s Open…and she finished T50. Tseng missed the cut at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, a tournament she has previously won.

A new approach is needed and changing caddies is merely one step in the process for doing so. Success will not return over a couple of weeks. The timing of the decision for this change is actually a good one made by Tseng and her camp.

It’s not an overnight process either. Just ask Tiger.

Okay, okay. His process is a little different.

FWIW…the projected cut right now is +2. She’s got some work to do with very few holes remaining.

After the first round of the Senior Open Championship, some scores were pretty darn low even though the course as a whole was playing over par. Bernhard Langer took advantage of seemingly mild conditions en route to carding a 6-under-par 64 at Turnberry.

Today, not so much. Mark McNulty, who was only one shot back of Langer, has already completed his second round and had the “honor” of seeing a 75 as his second round score. The course gave him five strokes yesterday and took those 5 back from him today. He sits at even.

So how can we explain Gary Hallberg and his -7? Six less putts? Good sign. Four of five in scrambles? Another good sign. Three more greens in regulation is also encouraging for the American.

Who can give me the name of Tiger’s playing partner during the third round of The Open Championship? No, there’s no prize involved, and I did already provide the answer, but if you said Thorbjorn Olesen (I hadn’t given you the last name), you are correct. I imagine he gained a few fans going toe to toe with Woods. What he may have left on the course at Lytham he has found at the Lyoness Open in Atzenbrugg, Austria.

Olesen fired an opening round 8-under 64 and followed that up with a 4-under 68. He held an eight shot lead after the second round. Today, Thorbjorn is -4 through eleven holes, yet his lead has shrunk to four strokes.

If you haven’t heard, the LPGA has a “feeder” tour as well. The Symetra Tour has produce current LPGA players actually too numerous to list here, and I do not wish to leave anyone out so head to their website.

Well, another from the tour may be on the way as Marcela Leon was the most recent winner of Golf Channel’s Big Break. The list of perks and prizes is amazing. Her’s some of that “package”…

• invitation to compete in this year’s LPGA Kingsmill Championship in September
• $50,000 in cash
• an Adams Golf endorsement contract which includes $10,000 in cash
• a $10,000 shopping spree to Dick’s Sporting Goods
• a $10,000 car rental credit for from Avis Car Rental
• a return trip for two to Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas

That’s a haul.

For the year on the Symetra Tour, Leon has been in four events, but has yet to crack the top ten.

If you want to know a little more about Leon, you can read the Quick 18 on SymetraTour.com and here’s a bio of the Big Break Atlantis champ.

Congrats, Marcela!