Tiger Woods about to fall from top 10

FOR his golf, Tiger Woods is about to fall out of the top 10 in the world for the first time in 14 years. For his star power, he still ranks ahead of any other athlete despite adulterate affairs and a divorce.

Woods, whose last win came 18 months ago at the Australian Masters, will drop to at least No. 11 in the next world ranking published Monday. It will be the first time he is out of the top 10 since he was No. 13 on April 6, 1997, the week before he won the Masters for the first of his 14 majors.

Forbes magazine, however, said he still is the No. 1 celebrity in the sports world. Woods checks in at No. 6 on Forbes' annual "Celebrity 100" list of the most powerful people or groups in the entertainment business. Lady Gaga tops the rankings, followed by Oprah Winfrey, Justin Bieber, U2 and Elton John. Forbes estimated Woods' earnings last year at $75 million, making him the highest-paid athlete.

Woods began the year ranked No. 2 but has been dropping steadily. Woods, who tied for fourth at the Masters last month, withdrew from The Players Championship last week because of injuries to his left knee and left Achilles. He said Monday that he will try to return June 16-19 at the U.S. Open at Congressional (Md.).

Woods has been atop the world ranking for 623 weeks in his career, by far the longest of any golfer since the ranking began in 1986.

European Tour: Luke Donald has another chance to take the No. 1 spot from Westwood at the World Match Play Championship, which starts Thursday at Spain's Costa del Sol.

Donald won the Accenture World Match Play title at Arizona in February. No. 3 Martin Kaymer, who split with caddie Craig Connelly on Sunday, is also in the field, and there are enough points to allow him to move back to the top of the rankings, too.

The field is divided into eight groups of three, with the top two in each going through to the knockout stages Saturday and Sunday. Donald has Ross Fisher and Ryan Moore in his group. Westwood is joined by Anders Hansen and Aaron Baddeley. Kaymer is drawn with Y.E. Yang and Noh Seung-yul.

TaylorMade Brings Technology to Forged Irons with Three New Models

FOLLOWING the much successful release of Burner 2.0 irons last year, TaylorMade Golf has once again pushed the benchmark higher with the introduction of three new forged irons models, redefined and distinctly different from one another: Tour Preferred® Muscleback (TPMB), Tour Preferred® Muscle Cavity (TPMC) and Tour Preferred® Cavityback (TPCB).

Created with major input from tour pros, the three new models incorporate specific features and technologies that enhanced superior performance. Each new iron is exquisitely designed to blends classic forged irons features with modern performance elements. The TPCB utilizes a multi-material construction comprised of a forged face and cast body while TPMB and TPMC are both created using a state-of-the-art shaping process and 6-step forging procedure that resulted pure feel.

“Forged irons are typically devoid of performance technologies,” said Bret Wahl, Senior Director of iron, wedge and putter development. “Their compact and solid construction with thin sole, thin top line, high CG location and little to no offset, forces a very specific type of impact parameters to hit a good shot, with virtually no margin for error. We took a long and close look into the makeup of forged irons to determine if we could advance the performance with the use of technology and found that we could.”

The Tour Preferred® Muscleback or TPMB irons are fine muscleback blade with clear lines designed for the purist. A compact player’s shape and minimal offset, TPMB delivers the pure feel, feedback and workability coveted by blade fans. The 6-step forging process produces thin top line and sole, straight leading edge, minimal offset and tapered hosel work that gives a pure face-to-ball connection sought after by skilled players.

“This is the iron that many of our Tour Staff pros have been waiting for,” said Keith Sbarbaro, TaylorMade’s Vice President of tour operations. “The lines are clear and clean from every angle and the pure feel of the ball on the forged face at impact is as good as it gets.”

Adding to that, TPMB also incorporates TaylorMade’s innovative new precision-weighting port at the back of the club head which offers precision-weighting port solves age-old problem and guarantees a precise swing weights while ensuring optimal and consistent CG location in every club head.

The Ideal Forged Players Cavity Back or TPMC irons are designed with a clean, classic and maneuverable player’s shape which offers optimum blend of feel, workability and forgiveness. A compact and shallow cavity is incorporated for added stability plus a smoother feel and workability of a forging.

“The precision-weighting port proves it is possible to innovate and improve the performance of a true, forged blade,” said Brian Bazzel, Manager of iron and wedge creation.

Both TPMB and TPMC sports advanced USGA-conforming groove design that allows more spin and control from the rough, plus standard shaft and grip properties chosen with input from TaylorMade Tour Staff professional, including True Temper Dynamic Gold shaft- the most widely played on tour- and Tour Velvet grips, a combination deemed optimal for promoting consistent and responsive performance.

As for the Tour Preferred® CB or TPCB irons, it is multi-material forged cavity back designed with a two-piece head. Its advanced construction melds a forged face with a cast body that incorporates an undercut cavity that delivers a pure feel of a forged iron and forgiveness of a deep cavity back.

“Uniting a forged face with a cast cavity allows us to deliver the soft feel of a forging with the stability and forgiveness of a deep undercut cavity,” said Wahl.

Boasting the highest MOI out of the three new irons, the TPCB is also the only iron with Inverted Cone Technology (ICT) which gives faster ball speed on off-center hits which makes it extremely forgiving for consistent distance from shot to shot. Additionally, the TPCB also features a precision-weighting port that guarantees consistent swing weight and optimal CG location and the same new, advanced groove design to promote more spin and control.

Availability and Pricing

For Asian market, the Tour Preferred® Muscleback is available in S200 steel shaft only with a suggested retail price of RM4090. For the Tour Preferred® Muscle Cavity, there are two shaft options – S200 shaft (retails at RM4090) and NSPRO 950 steel shaft (retails at RM4390). The Tour Preferred® Cavityback is the only model offered in both steel - NSPRO 950 (retails at RM4390) and graphite TP 65 (retails at RM4790) shafts. All three models are available in sets of #4 to PW with the standard Tour Velvet grips. The irons are already available in the market.

Choi first Asian to win Players Championship

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida - South Korea’s K.J Choi beat American David Toms in a sudden-death playoff to win the Players Championship at Sawgrass on Sunday and become the first Asian to win golf’s unofficial “fifth major”.

Choi sealed the biggest win of his career with a regulation par on the first playoff hole after Toms, a former US PGA champion, three-putted for a bogey.

"For some reason I felt so comfortable out there. The swing that I have right now just doesn’t break down under pressure situations. I was able to be precise and aggressive and keep my rhythm together and that is what brought this performance,” said Choi.

The drama came at the end of a marathon final day with the leaders arriving at 7.45 am local and playing 13 holes of their rain-affected third round before heading out again for the fourth round.

The pair had finished the tournament tied at 13-under par after closing with rounds of 70 where they both played consistent and solid golf while their challengers fell by the wayside.

Choi, 40, snatched the outright lead with a birdie on the par-3 17th only for Toms to respond by draining a long birdie putt on the final hole, to a huge roar, forcing the playoff, the first Choi has faced on the PGA tour.

But the 44-year-old Toms, without a win in five years, lost his touch when it mattered most. He missed a par putt from three and a half feet on the first playoff hole, the par-3 17th, then watched as the Houston-based Choi calmy drained his par to secure his eighth win on the PGA Tour and his first in more than three years.

Toms, who won the US PGA Championship in 2001 but has not won in 124 starts since Hawaii in 2006, was left looking for positives from his near miss.

"It is disappointing but I hung in there. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in this position, to be in the lead on a tough golf course, it shows I can still do it. I need to work on putting, if I had putted well I could have put a bit of distance between myself and the others,” he said.

Britain’s Graeme McDowell started the final round with a one stroke lead but imploded in a horrible round where he found water on four holes. The reigning U.S. Open champion, who had declared his swing problems behind him, shot a seven over-par round off 79 to finish tied for 33rd place.

"That last round was up there in my top 10 worst last rounds ever so that is going to hurt a little bit of course,” said McDowell. Another experienced American, Paul Goydos, shot his third 69 of the week to finish third, two shots behind Choi and Toms — his secoind top three finish at the Players in the past four years.

Two of the brightest young talents on either side of the Atlantic, American Nick Watney and Britain’s Luke Donald, tied for fourth, three shots off the lead. Donald’s placing was his seventh consecutive top ten finish on the PGA Tour.

Burner Superfast 2.0 lebih laju, lebih jauh

TAYLORMADE mula memperkenalkan siri model driver Buner pada awal 2007. Sejak itu ia menjadi antara driver yang paling laris di pasaran dalam sejarah jenama itu.

Kunci kejayaannya ialah pada teknologi Superfast yang membolehkan pemain lebih pantas untuk jarak lebih jauh.
Tahun lalu, teknologi Superfast itu dipertingkatkan lagi untuk menjadikan driver Burner Superfast lebih ringan, lebih panjang dan lebih jauh daripada generasi Burner sebelumnya.
Apa yang dikatakan itu ditunaikan oleh TaylorMade yang mana ia telah meningkatkan aerodinamik dan memberikan jarak lebih jauh
Ia diperakukan oleh pemain profesional dalam siri jelajah dan juga kejayaan di pasaran.
Lebih 50 pemain profesional dunia menggunakan Burner SuperFast dalam siri Jelajah PGA.
Semua itu mendorong para jurutera TaylorMade untuk meningkatkan keupayaan driver itu walaupun pada masa yang sama memperkenalkan siri R11.
Untuk generasi baru, TaylorMade melancarkan Burner SuperFast 2.0 yeng menggabungkan teknologi SuperFast dengan permukaan muka lebih besar dan kesan geseran aerodinamik lebih rendah.
Ini memberikan ayunan yang lebih laju, kadar pelancaran lebih tinggi dan mengurangkan putaran untuk memberikan jarak.
Selain itu, digabungkan dengan MOI yang lebih tinggi untuk menjadikan Burner SuperFast 2.0 jarak lebih jauh daripada model Burner yang asal.
Bentuk pada Burner SuperFast 2.0 juga dipertingkatkan untuk memberikan pusat graviti (CG) lebih rendah supaya sudut pelancaran lebih tinggi untuk mengurangkan putaran.
Burner SuperFast 2.0 memiliki permukaan muka yang lebih luas berbanding mana-mana driver iaitu 4,550 milimeter persegi.
Muka yang lebih besar ini penting kerana driver yang lebih panjang menjadi ia lebih mencabar untuk dikendalikan bagi pemain biasa.
Oleh itu muka yang lebih besar menyedia permukaan lebih luas untuk pukulan bola.
Bahagian muka yang dalam pula menyediakan permukaan lebih luas.
Bagi meningkatkan prestasi tanpa mengorbankan rasa dan daya boleh main, TaylorMade mengubahsuai shaft dan kepala.
Apa yang lebih istimewa, Burner SuperFast 2.0 tampil dengan warna putih sama dengan R11.
Warna ini dikatakan memudahkan pemain melakukan pelarasan dan menetapkan sasaran.
Ia juga menghilangkan silauan yang dihasilkan oleh warna hitam sebelum ini apabila terkena cahaya matahari.
Lagi pula, warna putih menjadikan driver ini dua peratus lebih besar.
Burner SuperFast 2.0 ini juga menggunakan grip lebih ringan dari jenama Winn. Beratnya hanya 25 gramm, tetapi ia tetap memberikan rasa dan cengkaman yang sama.
Ini merupakan antara komponen penting bagi menjadi berat driver ini hanya 279 gram - yang paling ringan pernah dihasilkan TaylorMade.
Panjang shaft driver ini ialah 46.25 inci dan apabila digabungkan dengan beratnya ia meningkatkan ciri aerodinamik untuk memberikan jarak lebih jauh.
Turut memainkan peranan penting dalam memberikan prestasi pada Burner SuperFast 2.0 ialah penggunaan shaft Fubuki 50 yang beratnya hanya 49 gram dengan bahagian hujung yang lembut untuk membolehkan pemain meningkatkan kelajuan bola. Burner SuperFast 2.0 ada dua versi iaitu 2.0 dan 2.0 TP.
Untuk pasaran Malaysia Burner SuperFast 2.0 boleh didapati dengan 9.5 darjah dan 10.5 darjah dan tiga jenis shaft iaitu S, R dan SR.
Untuk Burner SuperFast 2.0 TP pula di datangkang dengan versi 9.5° dan 10.5° - dan dua jenis shaft iaitu X dan S.
Harga bagi Burner SuperFast 2.0 ialah RM1,590 dan Burner SuperFast 2.0 TP RM1,790.

Aksi di Cengkareng

Dah lama ahli KGU tidak beraksi di luar negara terutama Indonesia. Kalau ada yang kena naik kapal terbang pun sekadar ke Langkawi, Sabah dan Sarawak. Jadi, aksi di Jakarta tetap dalam kenangan. Untuk mengimbau balik kenangan diturunkan beberapa keping gambar aksi di Kelab Golf Cengkareng, Jakarta.

Driver paling hangat

TaylorMade tampil dengan siri driver yang terbaru r11. Kelebihan driver ini ialah ia mempunyai tiga tahap pelarasan iaitu shaft, loft dan pemberat boleh ubah. Ia untuk membolehkan driver ini dilaraskan mengikut keperluan setiap pemain.
Malah ia kini menjadi driver yang paling hangat di pasaran dan permintaan untuknya seperti pisang goreng panas. Ia lebih mudah dikendalikan dan memberikan lebih jarak daripada driver biasa.

Kenangan aksi di Awana

SELEPAS agak lama berdiam diri, blog KGU tampil dengan posting revisit balik pengalaman beraksi di Awana bersama-sama rakan-rakan ketika meraikan pemindahan saudara Fikri ke Johor.
Semoga posting ini dapat membangkitkan kembali minat untuk rakan-rakan kembali mengunjungi blok ini.

Sporting great Ballesteros dies aged 54

MADRID, May 7 (Reuters) - Seve Ballesteros, one of golf’s greatest and most charismatic players, died on Saturday at the age of 54 following a long battle with cancer, his family said.
The Spaniard, who won five major titles and inspired a generation of players worldwide, died peacefully at 0210 local time surrounded by his family at his home in Pedrena, northern Spain, after four operations on a brain tumour diagnosed in late 2008.
World number one Lee Westwood described Ballesteros as an “inspiration, genius, role model, hero and friend,” in one of many warm tributes paid on Saturday.
“Seve made European golf what it is today,” Westwood added on his Twitter feed. “RIP Seve.”
Many players competing in the Spanish Open in Terrassa on Saturday wore black ribbons in tribute to Ballesteros, while organisers prepared to mark his death with a minute’s silence at 1445 local time (1245 GMT).
The flags at the course were flying at half-mast, while Jose Maria Olazabal and Miguel Angel Jimenez embraced on the practice range at the start of the day as they remembered their friend and fellow Spaniard.
Four-times major champion Phil Mickelson highlighted the flair and charisma of Ballesteros as his defining characteristics.
“Because of the way he played the game of golf, you were drawn to him,” Mickelson said at Quail Hollow Championship in North Carolina.
“You wanted to go watch him play. He had charisma and he kind of had so many shots that it was fun to watch him play.”
A winner of three British Opens and two Masters titles, Ballesteros also helped revive Europe’s fortunes in the Ryder Cup, breathing new life into the team competition against the United States.
He won 87 titles worldwide, 50 of them on the European Tour, and had the great satisfaction of captaining Europe to Ryder Cup victory at Valderrama in Spain in 1997.
European Tour chief executive George O’Grady said Ballesteros had been an inspiration as a player and a man.
“Seve’s unique legacy must be the inspiration he has given to so many to watch, support, and play golf, and finally to fight a cruel illness with equal flair, passion, and fierce determination,” O’Grady said in a statement.
“We have all been so blessed to live in his era. He was the inspiration behind the European Tour.”
The tumour was originally discovered after Ballesteros collapsed at Madrid airport and was rushed to a nearby hospital.
“Today, at 2.10 a.m. Spanish time, Seve Ballesteros passed away peacefully surrounded by his family at his home in Pedrena,” the family said on Saturday in a statement on the player’s personal website (www.seveballesteros.com).