Journeyman golfer Rob Oppenheim made a crucial putt at the 72nd hole of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am to earn the highest finish of his PGA career.
With Jordan Spieth holding a three or more shot lead throughout the final round, the final outcome of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am was generally anti-climactic. However, for one golfer the final holes of the tournament were quite dramatic and significant.
Unless you are a die-hard golf fan, the name Rob Oppenheim is likely not significantly familiar. However, Oppenheim is the embodiment of what life is like for all except the top few professional golfers.
After playing the best golf of his 15 year professional career during the first three and a half rounds of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Oppenheim found himself near the top of the leaderboard reaching as high as fourth place with just seven holes left to play.
Considering that Oppenheim entered the weekend with only one career top 10 finish on the PGA Tour (tie for 10th at the 2016 Quicken Loans National), it was very new territory and had the potential to provide a payday matching his entire career earnings.
Though like all professional golfers Oppenheim is no stranger to pressure, you have to wonder if looking up and seeing his name listed on the same leaderboard as golf superstars Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Brandt Snedeker and Jason Day eventually started to get to him.
After a birdie on the 11th hole put him at 12 under par, Oppenheim then got a tough bounce on his tee shot at the par-3 12th hole and he eventually made his first bogey of the day. Given that Oppenheim had only one bogey per round through the first three days, it seemed possible that the 12th would just be a blimp as he finished the best performance of his career. Read the rest of this entry →
Arnold Palmer won seven golf majors and finished second 10 times.
While other golfers enjoyed more success on the links, it can easily be argued that no golfer did more to raise the profile of professional golf as a global sport than Arnold Palmer, who passed away Sunday at the age of 87.
Originally from Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Palmer played golf at Wake Forest University and won the 1954 U.S. Amateur Championship.
He turned professional in 1955 and the 25-year-old rookie quickly displayed his ability by claiming the Canadian Open championship. In 1958 he earned his first major with a one-stroke victory at the Masters and went on to be the PGA Tour money leader for the year.
After again winning the Masters in 1960, he claimed his only U.S. Open title with an epic performance at Cherry Hills Country Club in Colorado.
At a time when the third and fourth (final) rounds were played on the same day, Palmer entered the final round trailing leader Mike Souchak by seven strokes. Also ahead of him were golfing legend Ben Hogan and amateur Jack Nicklaus, both three strokes off the lead.
Arnold’s Army began to grow during the afternoon as he peppered the course with great golf shots while his opponents started to struggle amidst his charge. Palmer registered a final round 65 (six under par) and ended the tournament two strokes ahead of Nicklaus and four ahead of Souchak and five others.
It would prove to be the only U.S. Open victory for Palmer as he lost three other times in a playoff.
Later in 1960, Palmer began growing his international legacy by traveling to Scotland to play in the British Open at a time when few Americans participated in the tournament. Though his hopes of winning the golf grand slam ended with a one-stroke loss to Kel Nagle, Palmer planted the seeds for future American success in the legendary tournament. Read the rest of this entry →
If you’re a keen golfer, there’s no doubt you’ll want to make use of the many mobile apps out there that will help you to get the most out of your hobby. From tips and news to apps that help you improve technique, there’s something for every golfer, and here are some of the best Android apps to choose from.
Golf News and Tips Apps
If you want to keep up with the latest news and information about golf, you’ll need a good app for that. Fortunately, there are a number of great apps you can use.
One of the best is Golf Channel Mobile. This is the official app of the Golf Channel, and you’ll find it packed full of the latest news as well as videos, player profiles, tips, and more. It’s also free, making it even more of a must-have app.
Golf Master is another great app. It provides you with a huge library of instructional videos that you can use no matter what your ability level. Again, this is a free app, making it a great one to have on your smartphone.
And if you want to keep up to date with all the latest important tournament, the Masters Golf Tournament app is well worth having. Follow all the news and events from the Masters Tournament wherever you are, and keep up to date with rankings, info, and more.
There are so many sports out there today that it is impossible to count them all. When you are looking for a new game to play, it can be tempting to look to the new ones. However, there is something to be said for the older sports. Often, the classic sports are the best – there is a reason, after all, that they remain classic. One such sport is golf. This sport has been around for a long time now – and its popularity only grows and grows. Why might this be? There must be a good reason that people take up golf every day. The fact is, it is one of the finest sports around – and for a number of reasons. If you are thinking about starting up a sport for the summer, then golf might be your best option. Let’s have a look at why that might be the case.
You probably don’t think of “injury” and “golf” in the same sentence. A day at the golf course is supposed to be relaxing. But, it can actually be very dangerous. Here’s how to protect yourself.
Stay Aware Of Your Surroundings
The golf course doesn’t seem like an overly dangerous place, but it can be. A club, for example, can be dangerous in the wrong hands. A stray ball not only hurts to get hit with, it can cause a serious injury. It’s one thing that these Phoenix car accident lawyers deal with often.
Before you begin your own swing, take a look around you and make sure no one is in the way and that you won’t be hitting anyone.
Listen For Warnings
OK, the path is clear. Now what? Make sure that everyone else is on the same page as you. Don’t assume that others see what you’re doing. They may not. In fact, it’s a good bet that you’re the only one who knows what you’re doing.
Unless you’re golfing with a large group of people, and even then, you should take extra care to make sure that others who aren’t with you are aware of when you’ll be swinging. And, for your own sake, be ready to make a quick move if you have to get out of the way of other golfers. Read the rest of this entry →
Going from having millions of fans worldwide watching your every move and genuinely being one of the best – if not the best – at what you do on the planet, to the realms of being mere mortal is a difficult transition. And it isn’t one that every sportsman is able to navigate successfully. Largely due to a combination of a startling lack of business acumen, poor decisions, lavish lifestyles and divorce (reputedly around the 80% mark for top US athletes), it doesn’t take long for one time heroes to become zeros – sometimes literally when it comes to finances.
In 2009, Sports Illustrated published a report highlighting just how bad this problem is. It found that an astonishing 78% of NFL players find themselves in “financial distress” within just 2 years of retiring. Around 60% of NBA players, who with an average salary of $5million is higher than every other sport, are bankrupt within 5 years of calling it a day on the court.
This isn’t always the case however, here are some examples where top sportsmen have gone on to build a successful – and occasionally surprising – career after retiring from their former profession.
1. Magic Johnson
One of the finest basketball players of all time, the point guard achieved practically everything there was to achieve in the game. During his 14-year career which included 2 comebacks, Johnson won 5 NBA titles, 3 Final MVPs, and 3 regular season MVPs, and even found the time for an Olympic gold medal. He still has the highest average assists per game in history – 11.2, and playoff assists – 12.3.
His career since retirement has been no less successful. Despite a less than auspicious start (his TV show was pulled after 2 months) Johnson found a taste for business and never looked back. He was one of those who invested in Starbucks before anyone had even heard of the now omnipresent coffee shop brand. His company – Magic Johnson Enterprises – has its fingers in many industries from banking to entertainment and has helped the former Laker star earn a reputed $500 million.
2. George Foreman
Foreman’s recent career has become so successful and high profile that anyone who can’t remember back to a time when everyone didn’t have a cell phone could be forgiven for thinking that this is what he has always done. The rest of us of course know that he was one of the most formidable and talented heavyweight boxers of all time. He will always have a place in boxing folklore due to his part in the Rumble in the Jungle – one the most famous and entertaining fights of all time, but his record stands up for itself: 81 fights, 76 wins, 68 of those by way of KO, and just 5 defeats. And don’t forget that most of those were during the golden era of heavyweight boxing.
When he came out of retirement at age 45 to knock Michael Moorer (then 27) out, he became the oldest heavyweight world champion in history. When he finally retired for good, he teamed up with Russell Hobbs Inc, and launched the George Foreman Fat Reducing Grill, which he had helped design. It was an instant success and has sold over 100 million units in less than 15 years. Though he has never disclosed how much he has made from the grill, it is believed at its peak the preacher was earning $4.5 million a month. In total, it is estimated he has earned in excess of $200 million from the endorsement. A lot more than he than he ever made in the ring, actually. Read the rest of this entry →
