Its Justin Time for Rose as he Becomes a Father.

Congratulations go out to Justin Rose and his wife, Kate, who gave birth to their first child late on Saturday. The birth caused Rose to arrive late in Tucson, Arizona, where he is to compete for the WGC-Accenture Match Play championship and will kick off his challenge against the American, Boo Weekley on Wednesday.

The couple have named the baby boy Leo, and the latest addition to the golfing world comes into the world a week ahead of schedule, and only a matter of days after Tiger Woods, who is also competing at Tucson, became a father for the second time. Conveniently for Justin, he had taken the week off from competing and was at the couple’s home in Florida.

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Mickelson boost as ‘Lefty’ retains Northern Trust Open

Phil Mickelson endured another torrid tournament this past weekend, but unlike the previous weeks, this time he managed to successfully defend his Northern Trust Open title.

Mickelson, nicknamed ‘Lefty’ had begun the season in inauspicious fashion, failing to threaten the top of the leaderboard in any of his previous tournament starts but Riviera hinted at a revival in his game despite an up-and-down four days which almost saw him blow what appeared an unassailable lead.

Mickelson had started the tournament with a blistering personal-best round of 63 before shooting a 72 in his second round. It appeared that his coach, Butch Harmon has sorted Lefty’s game when he arrived on the Saturday, as Mickelson bested his day one round with a new personal best of 62 to take control of the tournament. But with the tournament seemingly won, Mickelson tried his best to throw it away, carding a final round 72, which needed a 6-footer on the final hole to edge out countryman Steve Stricker with veteran Fred Couples a further stroke behind.

It could have been a lot different for Couples, however, as he missed two birdie attempts from less than 8 feet on the front nine before a bogey on 18, where he was trailing by a single shot, killed off his chances; a closing 69 tying him in third place with Andres Romero and KJ Choi.

Mickelson had started the final day with a four-stroke lead but had a woeful time from the tees which saw his lead eroded away, despite stretching the lead to five after the first hole of his final round. A barrage of three birdies in four holes around the turn from Stricker whittled away at Mickelson’s lead, cutting it to one stroke before Mickelson himself found trouble on the 14th; his tee-shot finding the bunker before missing a 7-foot par put to fall two strokes behind. It remained that way with three holes left to play before Mickelson staged his comeback with a birdie on the 17th, after hitting to within five feet of the cup before reaching the 17th green in two, and two-putting for birdie to put him back into the lead after Stricker missed a twelve-foot putt for birdie.

The final hole saw Stricker hook his tee-shot which prevented him from being able to make the green with his second shot before he misjudged his approach, leaving himself with another 12 footer for par, which slid past the hole. It was to be a sucker punch for Stricker, which allowed Mickelson the chance to roll in his six-footer; a chance he duly took and he joined Ben Hogan, Corey Pavin and Mike Weir as the only repeat winners at Riviera.

It was a welcome boost for ‘Lefty’ and the win moves him up to number three in the world rankings. He now heads to Arizona for the Accenture Match Play Championship where he’ll lock horns with the returning-to-action Tiger Woods, who will play his first competition in eight months after recovering from knee surgery.

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IGF launch 2016 Olympic Golf Bid

The International Golf Federation have submitted a formal bid to the International Olympic Committee to have golf included in the 2016 Olympic Games. It is one of seven sports being considered for inclusion into the games; the others being baseball, karate, roller sports, rugby sevens, softball and squash.

The proposals centre on a 72-hole individual strokeplay for both men and women, with a three-hole playoff to determine the medal winners in the event of a tie. Eligible competitors would be based firstly on world rankings, with the top 15 ranked players eligible to compete regardless of restrictions on the number of players allowed from a given country. The remainder of the field would be chosen according to world ranking, but a restriction of having a maximum of two available players from each country that does not already have two or more players among the top 15 would apply.

Ty Votaw, executive director of the IGF Olympic Golf Committee said of the bid: “We are pleased with the formal bid document and now look forward to working with the programme commission on the preparation of the final report to the IOC Executive Board in advance of our presentation to the board in June … we worked diligently to solicit input from the world’s leading players and golf organisations to address and finalise a number of key issues contained in the document, including the recommended format for competition.”

The IOC’s final vote on whether to add no more than two additional sports will take place in October, where they will also choose the host city for the Games – Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo are the possible venues.

Mohler Takes United States Curtis Cup Reins for 2010 Clash

The United States Golf Association has announced their team captain for the 2010 Curtis Cup match, to be played at Essex Country Club in Manchester, Massachusetts, scheduled to take place between June 11th – 13th.

The U.S Women’s amateur team will be captained by fifty-five year old three-time Massachusetts State champion Noreen Friel Mohler, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the all-women amateur team event.

The Curtis Cup is a biennial competition between female amateur teams representing the United States and Great Britain and Ireland and dates back to 1932. The American team have a strong history in the Curtis Cup, having won the tournament twenty-six times to Great Britain and Ireland’s six times; there have only been three draws in the competition.

Mohler is no stranger to the Curtis Cup, having represented the United States in the 1978 match, where they were victorious over Great Britain and Ireland by a 12-6 scoreline. The United States have won the last six competitions, including the 2008 renewal which was played at the Old Course, St. Andrews where the American side ran out 13-7.

“This is the highest honor that I have ever received in my golfing career,” said Mohler. “I am honored, humbled and excited about this opportunity. It was the thrill of a lifetime to play in the Curtis Cup, and I’m sure that it will be a life-changing experience as a captain.”

Tulfarris to Stage the 2009 Lesbian Golf Championship

Ireland’s Tulfarris Hotel & Golf Resort, County Wicklow, will play host to this year’s Lesbian Golf Championship, to be held on Friday 20th and Saturday 21st March.

One of Ireland’s premier golf courses, Tulfarris will see some 120 women descend onto the fairways to compete over Patrick Merrigan’s finest creation. Situated on the shores of Blessington Lake amid a 200 acre woodland estate, the 18-hole championship golf course has already hosted the Irish Senior’s Open Championship and Club Professional PGA Championship. Read more

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