Quail Hollow Championship

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The Quail Hollow Championship is a PGA Tour golf tournament. The event is held at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina in early May. It was first played in 2003 as the Wachovia Championship and has attracted some of the top players on the tour. In 2009, the tournament had a $6.5 million purse with a winner's prize of $1.17 million.

From 2004–06, the tournament ended in a playoff. Additionally, the event is known to have one of the tougher finishes on tour with 16, 17, and 18 often ranked among the PGA Tour's toughest holes. The majority of the charitable proceeds from the tournament benefit Teach for America

 

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Past Winners

.2009 Sean O'Hair

Wachovia Championship

.2008 Anthony Kim
. 2007 Tiger Woods
. 2006 Jim Furyk
. 2005 Vijay Singh
. 2004 Joey Sindelar
. 2003 David Toms

 

[truebluefan]

England's Lee Westwood ready to move on after Masters

After being left in Phil Mickelson's dust at Augusta National during the final round of the Masters, Lee Westwood ran into the ash from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano the past two weeks.

The first storm left him without a green jacket. The second grounded air travel in Europe and scrapped a holiday with the family in Barbados.

Neither, however, knocked the 37-year-old Englishman out.

"I didn't dwell on it for too long," Westwood said Tuesday about finishing second by three strokes to multiple Masters champion Mickelson in the first major championship of the year. After opening with rounds of 67-69-68 to take the 54-hole lead, Westwood's solid final-round 71 was lapped by Mickelson's Sunday 67.

"Obviously I was disappointed not to win it. I felt like I played all right the last day, but Phil hit a lot of good shots and won the tournament. It wasn't like I gave it away," Westwood said. "So you know, there's not really any need to dwell on a performance like that. It's something you just use as a positive again and move on."

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/golf/pga/2010-04-27-lee-westwood-quail-hollow_N.htm

 

[truebluefan]

Phil Mickelson greets little girl who runs onto the course

As Phil Mickelson was walking down the fairway of the third hole Wednesday afternoon at the Quail Hollow Championship Pro-Am a little girl in pigtails ran under the ropes and onto the course.

No, it wasn't his daughter running to greet her dad. This was a little girl who slipped under the ropes and took off running toward the Masters champ. The girl's dad was one step behind, trying to stop her.

Mickelson and his caddie stopped to greet the girl. Mickelson patted the girl on the head with a smile and gave her his golf ball.

http://www.wcnc.com/sports/golf/Phi...e-girl-who-runs-onto-the-course-92346934.html

 

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Goydos nets two hole-outs en route to co-lead

Paul Goydos carded a 4-under-par 35-33=68 in the opening round of the Quail Hollow Championship.

Goydos hit 11 GIR and needed just 24 putts to match his personal low in 15 career loops of Quail Hollow. He was buoyed by a pair of hole-outs. At the par-4 8th, he jarred his fairway approach from 74 yards. Then, at the par-4 16th, he chipped in from 11 yards for birdie. And with birdies of 28 and 41 inches at the par-5 10th and par-4 11th, respectively, the veteran finished in a share of the clubhouse lead as the afternoon wave started.

 

[truebluefan]

Tiger Woods Shoots ‘Terrible’ 74 at Quail Hollow, Trails by 9

Tiger Woods decided to skip his customary practice session and take the rest of the day off after a “terrible” 2-over-par 74 in today’s first round of the Quail Hollow Championship.

Woods missed 10 of 14 fairways off the tee and is nine strokes behind leader Bo Van Pelt, whose bogey-free 65 matched Woods’s opening-round score at the tournament a year ago.

In his first appearance at a regular U.S. PGA Tour event since admitting marital infidelity five months ago, Woods had four birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey today at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“I pretty much struggled all day,” Woods told reporters after his round. “I didn’t really know which way it was going to go today, left or right.”

Woods was 4-over during one three-hole stretch midway through his round, when he hit consecutive tee shots into water hazards -- one into a pond surrounding the par-3 17th hole and then a drive into a creek on the par-4 18th.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601079&sid=a3SOdDLJGuPM

 

[truebluefan]

Woods fails to make cut at Quail Hollow

The second step in Tiger Woods' post-scandal chapter turned out to be a short one. Maybe even a step backward.

Woods missed the cut for just the sixth time in his professional career, stumbling to a seven-over-par 79 at the Quail Hollow Championship that left him far down the scoreboard and set a handful of personal worsts.

 

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Wilkinson misses the cut at the Quail Hollow

Tim Wilkinson shot 2-over-par 72-74=146 at the Quail Hollow Championship, and will miss the cut by one stroke.

The lefty needed a par putt from 41'10" to fall at the par-4 9th hole to slide into the weekend. Since it didn't, the missed cut leaves him with three starts on his Major Medical Extension to earn $237,297. (He's also $29,124 short of securing conditional status, which would grant the non-winner a few additional starts if he falls short of the terms of his medical.) The bright side to today's near-hit is that he went 36 holes after last week's scare (right thumb).

 

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McLachlin withdraws from Quail Hollow Champ.

Parker McLachlin withdrew prior to his second round of the Quail Hollow Championship, citing a wrist injury.

At the moment, the projected cut is 1-over-par 145. After his opening 88 yesterday, he would have had to shoot a 57 this afternoon to play the weekend. He was scheduled to go off the 10th tee at 1:10 p.m. ET today.

 

[truebluefan]

Villegas bogey-free in Quail Hollow opener

Camilo Villegas crafted a bogey-free, 5-under-par 33-34=67 in his opening round of the Quail Hollow Championship.

He hit an acceptable 13 greens in regulation and converted on five birdie putts, the longest of which found the cup from 8'11" on the par-4 8th hole. The Colombian finished two strokes back of Bo Van Pelt's lead.

 

[truebluefan]

D. Johnson joins Hayes atop the leaderboard

Dustin Johnson crafted a 7-under-par 34-31=65 in his second round of the Quail Hollow Championship to join J.P. Hayes in the clubhouse with the 36-hole lead at 6-under 138.

DJ had an eagle and eight birdies today, including long-range conversions from 32'8" at the par-4 1st hole (birdie) and 49'11" at the par-5 15th (eagle). This effort elates his fantasy owners that have wondered what's happened since his win at Pebble Beach. In the five events since, he went 0-1 at the WGC-Match Play and hasn't cashed for anything better than a T38 (Masters) in stroke-play formats. In a vacuum, Quail Hollow's length and premium to score well on par 4s and 5s is tailor-made for Johnson's game.

 

[truebluefan]

Hayes matches course record at Quail Hollow

J.P. Hayes blistered Quail Hollow Club with nine birdies en route to a course record-tying 8-under-par 33-31=64 in his second round of the Quail Hollow Championship.

Hayes' iron game was on form as he hit 15 greens in regulation, but it was his red-hot putting that opened the door for him to join Kirk Triplett (2004), Bo Van Pelt (2006) and Rory Sabbatini (2007) in the record books. Of Hayes' nine birdies, six found the cup from beyond 12 feet: 16'0" (10th hole), 27'6" (13th), 12'5" (15th), 20'1" (2nd), 18'4" (4th) and 12'10" (8th). He took just 25 putts overall and finished as the 36-hole clubhouse leader at 6-under 138.

 

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Davis Love III is two-back at Quail Hollow

Davis Love III carded a third round of 4-under-par 68 and is two-strokes off the lead at the Quail Hollow Championship.
Love was back in the field until a run of three birdies in four holes starting at the 14th hole moved him into third place. Eventually, as the leaders finished up Love gained a share of second place after Phil Mickelson couldn't save his par at the par-3 17th hole. On Sunday, Love will be looking for his 21st career championship on the PGA Tour and his first since the 2008 Children's Miracle Network Classic.

 

[truebluefan]

McIlroy Still in the Hunt at Quail Hollow

A year ago, Rory McIlroy was a 19-year-old up-and-comer from Northern Ireland who turned heads with a 20th-place finish at the Masters in his PGA Tour debut. After turning 20, he followed with a top-10 finish at the U.S. Open and tied for third in the PGA Championship.

Having raised expectations with that performance, McIlroy has struggled to live up to them in 2010. He tied for 17th at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in February, but it has been an otherwise forgettable season as he battled through a back injury sustained in Dubai earlier this year.

McIlroy missed the cut in his last two events including the Masters. He was on his way to a third consecutive missed cut in the Quail Hollow Championship on Friday when McIlroy delivered an eagle on the par-5 7th hole to save his round and his weekend.

And perhaps more.

http://onpar.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/01/mcilroy-still-in-the-hunt-at-quail-hollow/

 

[truebluefan]

Billy Mayfair extends lead at Quail Hollow

Billy Mayfair's last tournament win still earns him a note of recognition in golf annals as the only man to defeat Tiger Woods in a PGA Tour playoff.

That was in 1998. Now the 23-year veteran can earn another annotation if he can hold on through one more round of the Quail Hollow Championship and become the first Monday qualifier in 24 years to hoist the trophy.

"I'm trying not to think about it," Mayfair said Saturday after a one-under-par 71 widened his lead to two shots over Phil Mickelson and Davis Love III. "But obviously [when] you put yourself in this position, you want to take advantage of it."

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-pga-20100502,0,1458628.story

 

[truebluefan]

Young Rory McIlroy Wins His First PGA Tour At Quail Hollow Championship

The Irish golfer will turn 21 after two days but he showed the class and maturity of a seasoned golfer combining sensational shot making with a flair for the dramatic and the exuberance of youth to walk away with the title. McIlroy dominated the final 36 holes. He added a round of eight birdies and an eagle yesterday for a 15-under total of 273. Mickelson and Cabrera each shot 68 in the final round, but McIlroy held his nerves.

“You know, the last two days it seemed as if everything had just gone right,” “You get yourself into sort of a mind-set like that, and you just keep going,” said McIlroy, who became the youngest winner on the tour since Tiger Woods. The American golfer had won the Las Vegas Invitational in 1996, when he was just 20 years old.

McIlroy ties with Cabrera at nine under as he birdied four holes, including the seventh through the ninth. As the Irish phenomenon walked off the 11th tee, his caddie, J. P. Fitzgerald, told him, “Let’s try to get to 13 under.”

He then hit a 9-iron to within 3 feet and then placed it in the putt to get to 10 under. Talking about the youngster, Mickelson said, “You knew he was going to come out and win out here. He’s won in all the other places in the world. At 20 years old, it’s remarkable. He is some kind of player.”