This Week at WorldGolf.com: July 27, 2005

World stage hosting golf's
most exciting matchups - for now

Before all eyes turn back to the U.S. tomorrow for the start of the Buick Open at Warwick Hills in Grand Blanc, Mich., I want to sit back and reflect on some of the great golf going on here on this side of the pond. We've reached that time of year when some of the most exciting tour stops are on the British Isles and in Europe. ('Course I don't need to tell this to savvy world travelers like Kiel Christianson and Tim McDonald.)

Sure, Jack and Tiger got all the press at St. Andrews for the British Open, err, the Open Championship. But venerable Tom Watson taking home the Senior British Open at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club in Scotland Sunday reminded the world just how dominant he is on the Queen's soil, even at 55. The five-time Open champ (he now has four senior majors, 12 overall) made it exciting too, taking Des Smyth three holes into a playoff before clinching the win. Don't look for Watson to cool down any time soon. The man shot a 64 on Saturday and he's finished in the top three in his last three starts on the senior circuit. Let's hope, when his time comes, Watson gets a Nicklaus-like send-off from the Open - he deserves it.

On the European PGA Tour, Niclas Fasth and Angel Cabrera also went to the third hole of a sudden-death playoff before Fasth prevailed with a 10-foot putt to take hom the Players' Championship of Europe at Alveslohe, Germany.

One women's (girls'?) circuit, young Paula Creamer dusted the field at the Evian Masters in Evian-Les-Bains, France to take home $375,000, become the youngest millionaire ever on tour, and put a smug grin on the faces of Michelle Wie skeptics like Chris Baldwin.

It was the second victory this year for the recent high school grad and made her the youngest player to win on both the LPGA and European LPGA circuits. She's pulled in $1,114,650 this year, which is more than any other 18-year-old could earn working a summer job on Pluto.

Creamer's win heartened reader "hrchief" who wrote in: "When is the golf media world (and Jennifer Mario types) going to stop pounding the Michelle Wie drum and take a few minutes to recognize Paula Creamer. … Paula Creamer has quietly won LPGA events and over a million bucks as a rookie."

Wie, of course, came in second for the third time this season, prompting an "I told ya so" screed from Baldwin (and a torrent of heated reader comments). Still, her fans can take heart in that Wie closed with back-to-back 68s to notch her best finish to date against LPGA Tour competition.

Annika Sorenstam (remember her, kids?) nosedived on the weekend, after being hot on Creamer's tail after round two. She won six of her first eight events of the year but is winless in her last three. With Creamer gushing to reporters after her win that "the leaderboard is getting younger and younger," something tells me Annika's due to bounce back at the Weetabix Women's British Open at Royal Birkdale and put the car pool, mall rat crowd in their place. Or could wee Wie, again playing on a sponsor's exemption, be ready to make the likes of Chris Baldwin and "hrchief" eat crow?

As always, WorldGolf.com welcomes your comments.

Ballybunion Golf Club's Cashen Course:
A worthy, mischievous little sister

How do you follow the most famous seaside links course in Ireland? If you're the Ballybunion Golf Club and you're looking to take some of the playing pressure off of your 1893-vintage classic Old Course, you acquire a stunningly beautiful tract of land and then hire the most influential architect of the mid-20th century, Robert Trent Jones, Sr., writes Kiel Christianson. The Cashen Course is a worthy, if vexing, little sister to the storied Old Course.

Full story | Scotland vs. Ireland - which is the better golf destination?

Whistler Golf Club, BC's 'cheap'
course, is no barebones bargain design

It's the cheap course. In some ways, that sums up Whistler Golf Club's standing in this resort wonderland community. Of course, being the cheap course an area where the golf scene is like a collection of Tiffany's, Gucci and Prada shops hardly puts you in the discount shop category - it just means you're more like Banana Republic. If you're watching the budget (but still appreciate great service), this could be the vacation course for you.

Full story | Want to be a WorldGolf.com Reader Reviewer?

From dogs on jets to
"signature holes," has the celebrity
architect phenomenon gone mad?

The celebrity golf architect obsession has gotten ridiculous, writes Chris Baldwin in his latest On The Spot column. The higher designers' fees skyrocket, the more they delegate to their underlings and come up with gimmicks like signature holes ("something Jack Nicklaus made up … for guys who don't really design their own courses," P.B. Dye said). Maybe golf doesn't need architects who command fees as high as $2 million a course and fancy themselves as rock stars.

Full story | Rebel Blogger: Votaw's apparent defection hurts LPGA's image