Even with the majors being over weeks ago and the inaugural Fedex Cup concluding last weekend, there is still a few more weeks of golf to be played. Although many of the top names will not be playing over the last few weeks, many golfers like this time of year because it gives them that last shot to win a tournament or gain some extra money without the pressure of some of the top players.

The third round of the PGA’s Turning Stone Resort Championship has just begun in Verona, New York. Robert Allenby is one of three top three golfers participating in the tournament. The other two being John Rollins and Henrik Stenson, who missed the cut. Steve Flesch is leading after the first two rounds with -13. He’s followed by Jeff Gove and Brendon de Jonge at -12.

The LPGA is taking the weekend off after last weekend’s Solheim Cup. The Senior’s Champions Tour is in the middle of a three day tournament at the SAS Championship. Mark Wiebe was leading after the first round with a 7-under 65.

Other tournaments this weekend included the women’s Solheim Cup, which is a biennial tournament featuring the Europeans and Americans. It is basically the women’s Ryder Cup, occuring the years in which the Ryder Cup isn’t played. This year’s cup took place in Halmstad, Sweden. The U.S. team was playing with what many might have called a chip on their shoulder after analyst Dottie Pepper called the U.S. team “Chokin’ freakin’ dogs”, after a disappointing Saturday and trailing the Europeans. The U.S. team bounced back from several disappointing ties on Saturday, to dominate singles play on Sunday. The Americans did it despite rain, wind, and cold weather that had made the conditions tough. Leading their charge on Sunday was Morgan Pressel’s impressive upset over Annika Sorenstam. Other winners for the U.S. yesterday included Juli Inkster, Stacy Prammanasudh, and Nicole Castrale.

The Americans won the last Solheim Cup in 2005, but this was only the second time they have won the Solheim Cup on foreign soil. The Soheim Cup began in 1990.

Tiger Woods

Originally uploaded by coombskj

Tiger Woods easily cruised to victory today at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, winning both the Tour Championship and the $10 million Fedex Cup Title. For Tiger it was just another day on the course. Tiger flirted with history by coming within four strokes of shooting the lowest score in PGA history. Tiger finished with a 23-under par 257. Tiger shot a 5-under 65 for the day.

Unlike yesterday, Tiger never had any challengers during the final round. Both Mark Calcavecchia and Zach Johnson finished with a 15-under par 265.

Tiger adds yet another title to his collection with his claim of the inaugural Fedex Cup title. There were 5 golfers in contention going into the tournament, but it was clear after the first couple rounds that it was Tiger who was going to claim the title.

This ends the inaugural Fedex Cup playoff that has had it’s positives and negatives. With such low scores throughout the tournaments, expect harder courses in the future.

Tiger continued to have a cushion after Round 3 of the Tour Championship, carding another impressive 6-under 64. It looked as though Tiger would have some challengers after Masters Champion Zach Johnson just missed carding a 59, settling for a 10-under par 60 for the day and Mark Calcavecchia tying Tiger after the 15th hole. Yet two birdies by Tiger and a bogey by Calcavecchia gave Tiger a three stroke lead going into the final day. Tiger is at -19, followed by Calcavecchia at -16, Sergio Garcia at -14, and Zach Johnson at -13.

Tiger has all but won the Fedex Cup Title. The closest contender to Tiger is Rory Sabbatini, who is twelve strokes back at -7.

South African Tim Clarked blitzed out to an early lead at the Tour Championship on Thursday, despite rain that figured to affect scores. Play was suspended during parts of the first round yesterday due to rain. Clark matched the course record at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta with a 8-under par 62. Clark has never won a PGA event but continues to play near the top of the pack. This is evidenced by the fact that he’s in contention in the final tournament of the Fedex Cup Playoff. Only the Top 30 golfers from the Fedex Cup standings are playing in this weekend’s culminating event. However, Tim Clark didn’t follow up his blistering round today during round 2, as he finished with a 1-under 69. Clark is four shots off the lead.

None other than Tiger Woods has taken over the lead. Tiger shot a great 6-under par 64 in the first round, but shot even greater during the second round with a 7-under par 63, putting him at 13-under and 3 strokes ahead of Woody Austin. Tiger’s impressive first two rounds clearly put him in the driver’s seat to win the Fedex Cup. Usually it’s Tiger making a run for the leader during the third and fourth round, but unfortunately for the hopes of other golfers, it was round 2 that Tiger took over the lead. Other contenders for the Fedex Cup title include Mickelson, Stricker, Choi, and Sabbatini. Choi is the closest to Tiger at -8, followed by Mickelson at -6, and Stricker and Sabbatini at -4.

Tiger had a chance to easily beat the course record today after shooting 7-under on the front nine but had two bogeys on the back nine.

tiger woods

Originally uploaded by mycrei

Tiger Woods once again proved today why he is the best golfer in the world, winning the BMW Championship by two strokes over Aaron Baddeley. Tiger put himself in a position to win yesterday after shooting a 6-under par 65, putting him one stroke behind Aaron Baddeley and Steve Stricker. Both Stricker and Baddeley played good enough to win today, but not good enough to beat Tiger.

Tiger finished today with an 8-under par 63 and a 22-under par 262. Tiger’s score demonlished last year’s 13-under by Trevor Immelman. With Tiger’s 22-under par 262, he destroyed the course record of Cog Hill, which had been set by him four years ago. Behind Tiger was Aaron Baddeley who shot a 5-under 66 to finish two strokes behind Tiger. Steve Stricker shot a 3-under 68 to finish four strokes back.

Steve Stricker has been the feel good story of the year, coming back from a slump, and having several top ten finishes, including winning The Barclays. Yet Tiger was too much for him today.

With this win, Tiger now moves into first place of the Fedex Cup Rankings with only one tournament remaining to produce a winner. Tiger was the subject of debate a couple weeks ago when he skipped the opening tournament of the Fedex Cup Playoffs. Some said that he wouldn’t have a chance to win the Fedex Cup after skipping The Barclays, but obviously Tiger has proved otherwise.

The inaugural Fedex Cup Playoffs will conclude next weekend with the Tour Championship.

Check back for an updated money list, World Golf rankings, and Fedex Cup rankings.

Aaron Baddeley

Originally uploaded by scubaeddie32

The third round of the BMW Championship began with a tight leaderboard, but at the end of the day there were three golfers who put themselves in position to take home the title: Aaron Baddeley, Steve Stricker, and Tiger Woods. Throughout the third round,the leaderboard remained tight, but the top three golfers turned it on during the back nine to seperate themselves from the rest of the pack.

Steve Stricker shot bogey free golf in route to a 7-under 64. Stricker continues to play solid golf since finishing in the top ten at the British Open. Stricker is tied for first at -15. Joining Stricker in first place is up and coming Australian Aaron Badddeley, who shot a 6-under par 65. Tiger Woods is one stroke back at 14-under par after shooting a 6-under par 65. The next closest to Tiger is Justin Rose who is four strokes back.

Tomorrow should be an exciting day of golf, especially with Tiger and Stricker near the top of the Fedex Cup rankings.

Tiger Woods is one of several golfers in the midst of a tight group at the top of the leaderboard at the BMW Championship. Woods shot a 4-under par 67 for the second day in a row. Jonathan Byrd remains the leader, although he didn’t shoot at well as his opening round 64. Byrd finished the day with a 2-under par 69. Joining him in first place is Aaron Baddeley, who shot an impressive 6-under par 65. It’s crowded at second place with four players at -8, including Tiger. Joining Tiger is Justin Rose, Steve Stricker, and Camilo Villegas. Check back for more updates.

Another great weekend of golf kicked off today with the PGA’s BMW Championship at Cog Hill Golf and Country Club in Lemont, Illinois. This is the third event of the Fedex Cup Playoff. This tournament has a lot riding on it, as only the top 30 players in the Fedex Cup rankings will be advancing to next weeks final Fedex Cup Tournament: The Tour Championship. The top news going into the tournament was Phil Mickelson’s decision to skip the tournament after coming off an impressive win at the Deutsche Bank Championship. The Fedex Cup Playoff started with 144 golfers at the Barclays a couple weeks ago and that number has now been cut to the top 70 on the point list. Round one has just finished with Jonathan Byrd in first place with a 7-under par 64. One stroke behind Byrd are Justin Rose and Camilo Villegas at -6.

Also this weekend is a new event to the LPGA, the NW Arkansas LPGA Classic. It starts tomorrow. The Seniors Champion’s Tour has the week off.

US OPEN GOLF

Originally uploaded by sdonsky

Phil Mickelson moved up the leaderboard each day at the Deutsche Bank Championship, culminating with Phil raising the trophey yesterday in Norton, Massachusetts. Phil has had to shake off some bad finishes over the last year in order to come away with another title. Mickelson started off the weekend slowly, shooting a 1-under par 70 in round one, but his second round 7-under par quickly shot him up the leaderboard. Tiger Woods had a couple opportunites to make charges at Mickelson, yet Mickelson answered every charge by Tiger. Mickelson shot a 5-under par 66 in the final round and carded a 16-under 268 for the tournament.

Behind Mickelson were three players tied for second at -14. They included Brett Wetterich, Arron Oberholser, and Tiger Woods.

In the wake of Mickelson’s victory, Mickelson has announced that he will be skipping the third Fedex Cup Playoff event, The BMW Championship. Mickelson didn’t go into detail about his reasons for skipping the tournament.