Bellinghamgolfer.com

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm certain Colin Montgomerie would not have been hoping Paul Casey would somehow manage to lose the BMW Championship at Cog Hill yesterday afternoon, but at the same time it's probable the merest sliver of the tiniest bit of the smallest part of him was glad he didn't have to face the consequences of a Casey victory. Can you imagine the flak he would have taken in the British newspapers this morning had Casey not bogeyed three holes in a row on the back nine and eventually been overtaken by Dustin Johnson?
The more you think about it, the less Montgomerie's decision to leave Casey out of the European team makes sense. Casey was number nine in the world when Monty awarded his Captain's picks to Eduardo Molinari, Luke Donald and Padraig Harrington (he's No. 7 now). He has made it to the last two finals of the WGC Accenture Matchplay Championship (the Ryder Cup is a matchplay event, of course); he won the 2006 HSBC World Matchplay at Wentworth in England, beating Shaun Micheel 10&8 in the final; and he played in the last three Ryder Cups building a 0.56% winning record - significantly better than Harrington's 0.4% record.
Given how Harrington has been playing of late, not to mention his 0-7-2 nightmare in the last two Ryder Cups, it surely would have been easier for Mongomerie to explain why he picked Casey and left the Irishman out.

It was a great weekend for Washington golf fans. Ryan Moore entered the final round of the BMW Championship with a one-shot lead and, though he didn't claim his second PGA Tour victory, he did at least do enough to qualify for the Tour Championship at East lake GC in Atlanta in two weeks' time. It's likely he was bitterly disappointed with his final-round 73 but, considering he arrived in Chicago 58th in the FedEx Cup standings and after stating the BMW would most likely be his last event of the FedEx season, finishing the week in 26th position and advancing to his first ever Tour Championship is not a bad consolation.

Tacoma's Michael Putnam won his first PGA Tour-sanctioned tournament, shooting a final-round 67 at Willow Creek CC in Sandy, UT to win the Utah Championship Presented by Utah Sports Commission. With the victory, the 27-year-old jumped up into 15th place on the Nationwide Tour money list, putting himself in an excellent position to win his card for next year's PGA Tour.
It was a shame, however, that Paige Mackenzie couldn't  finish stronger at the LPGA Tour's P&G NW Arkansas Championship in Rogers, AK. With a second-round 65, the former All-American at UW was tied for fifth with a round to go, but she fell into a tie for 41st after closing with a 77 yesterday.

No doubt you've noticed summer has given way to fall rather abruptly in Bellingham. No sooner had we packed the kids off to school than the rain started coming down. I was all set to play my first round of golf in two months yesterday, but the weather put paid to that. Being British, I'm quite used to playing in inclement conditions and, as a kid, always regarded sunny days as unexpected gifts in which to get out for 36, maybe even 54. I would have been happy (well, content) putting up with yesterday's drizzle, but my playing-partner didn't fancy it after surviving 18 holes in persistant rain last Monday.
The Fall Classic, the last major tournament of the Lake Padden Mens Club 2010 season, is scheduled for this coming Saturday. I'm hoping to get out for it, rain or shine.