Tournaments

Basic Things you Need to Know About Golf Tournaments

• In professional golf tournaments there are four rounds
• When the tournament is "Open," like the US Open or the British Open, any player who qualifies can play
• There are 4 tournaments called Majors. They are the most important tournaments (The Master, The US Open, The British Open, and The PGA Championship)
• There are 3 different types of grass on the golf course...
• Par is a set amount of strokes for each hole that the player has to get the ball in the hole
• A birdie is when you get 1 stroke less than par
• A eagle is when you get 2 strokes less than par
• A bogey is when you get 1 stroke more than par
• A double bogey is when you get 2 strokes more than par

US Open
Going into the final round of the US Open Phil Mickleson was leading at 1 under par. On hole 3 Phil ended up shorter than the green, then 3 putted to get him a double bogey. On 4 he got a birdie to bring him to +1. Then on 5 another double bogey. Then at 10 a tremendous second shot to get a eagle which brought him to even. Then at 13 and 15 he gets bogeys which brought him to +2. Phil said that on 13 he used the wrong club. He used his pitching wedge instead of his gap wedge. Then on hole 15 his gap wedge came up way short of the pin to give him another bogey. Then on 18 another bogey to get to +3. "If I had won today, or if I ultimately win, I'll look back at the other Opens and think it was a positive play, but if I never get the Open, then, every time I think of the U.S. Open I think of heartbreaks." quotes Phil during his press conference.

Scorecard for Phil Mickelson
Round 4
Hole     1   2   3   4  5  6  7  8   9  10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
                                                                                               
Par      4   5   3   4  4  4  4  4   3   4   4   4   3   4   4   4   3   4
                                                                                               
Score   4   5   5  3  6  4   4  4   3   2   4   4   4   4   5   4   3   5

British Open
In 2013 the British Open was played at Murfield Golf Links in Scotland. Phil Mickelson won. He was +2 a the start of the fourth round and finished at -3 at the end. He shot -5 for the day. Lee Westwood  started the fourth round at -3, shot +4, and finished at +1. I thought he would win because he played well during the 3rd round. At one point he and Henrick Stenson were the only players under par. When he was on the 8th hole he was tied for 1st place at -1 with Henrik Stenson and Adam Scott. Then, Lee Westwood started playing worse, and when he was on the 14th hole he was even and Phil Mickelson was leading at -2.