Third Round at the ATT National

It is now Sunday morning and the final round of the AT&T national is underway with the early tee times on the course.  Going into the final round, the field is crowded at the top with Brandon de Jonge leading at 7 under par and only 4 strokes separating the top 11 players.  Today promises exciting golf as the leaders look to overtake de Jonge on a course that suffered significant damage as 70 mile per hour winds tore through the course Friday evening leaving many in the DC area without power.

It was an odd sight watching the third round with only a skeleton crew of marshals and a few Congressional Country Club members populated the vast expanse.  Being accustomed to seeing throngs and hearing cheers for great shots, the golfers offering polite applause and to their playing partners and tipping their hats to the squirrels was surreal.  Equally surreal were the downed trees, piles of dismembered limbs and empty grand stands.

Despite the absence of crowds and the storm ravaged course, several notable rounds were recorded including 4 under par by Tiger Woods (tied for second), Billy Hurley at 5 under par climbing to a fifth place tie, and Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas at 2 under to put him in 7th place overall.  I have a soft spot for Vegas - having lived in Caracas for three years and played golf with many of the Venezuelan pros, I am pleased to see him in the hunt...and I'm sure my Venezuelan friends will be glued to the television today offering their support to Jhonattan.

Beau Hossler, the 17 year-old who recently made a splash at the U.S. Open joined Davis Love III on the MDF list (not cut, but yet not allowed to play in the final round due to the number of golfers in tied positions ahead of them).

Jim Furyk, a perennial crowd favorite on the tour enters the final round in 62nd at 7 over par.

Vijay Singh, another elder statesman on the tour remains in striking distance at 2 under par.

Enjoy the golf, and go make some great photography.

Craig

Vijay Singh at the 2012 ATT National

Vijay Singh, The Big Fijan, ended the first round of the 2012 AT&T National tied for second place at three under par.  When I think of Vijay Singh, the first thing that comes to mind is not only his remarkable success, but his longevity on the PGA tour.  At 49 years, he has amassed one of the greatest records in PGA history.  Here are just a few stats:

• Overtook Tiger Woods in 2004 at the top of the World Golf Rankings which he held until March 2005.  He regained his #1 ranking just two weeks later after three consecutive wins.
• In 2005 he became the youngest living player to be elected to the hall of fame.
• In 2007 he won The Mercedes Benz Championship giving him 18 wins over the age of 40 - surpassing Sam Snead and making him the all time leader of wins over the age of 40.  His record now stands at 22.
• In 2008 he won the FEDEX cup, topped the money winning list and became the leader in all time PGA wins for a non-American.
• He is the second man to exceed all time tour earnings of $60 million behind Tiger Woods.
• 540 weeks in the top 10 of the World Golf Rankings.
• In 2011, he missed his tee-time at the U.S. open ending the longest streak of consecutive majors played by a professional golfer at 67.

This short list of accomplishments (far from complete) paints the picture of Vijay Singh as one of the greats.  And quite honestly, I love seeing the elder statesmen of the sport continue to perform at an exceptional level of play.  I play golf. I watch golf. I eat, breath, and sleep golf.  However, as I walked the lush fairways of Congressional Country Club, I saw herds of "kids" playing the game.  Names I did not recognize.  It made me wonder - will any of these kids come close to the longevity and success of Vijay Singh?

I wish Vijay the best through the rest of the tournament.  However, with only one round in the bag and only five strokes differentiating the top 29 players, anything could happen.

Have fun, and go make some great photography.

Craig

Tiger Woods at 2012 AT&T National

It is always a great pleasure to combine my passion for photography with other passions.  I regularly have the opportunity to do this with my food photography (Craig's Grape Adventure) but rarely get the opportunity to do so with my other obsession - golf.  Yesterday, was one of those rare moments.  I had the opportunity to do some shooting during the practice round of the AT&T National at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda Maryland.

The practice round is the only time when cameras are allowed on the course.  Also, yesterday was a perfectly pleasant day - when play starts on Thursday, temperature are forecasted in the upper 90's with typical DC area oppressive humidity.  In other words, everything conspired in my favor yesterday.

in 2011, I did some shooting at the practice round of the U.S. Open (also held at Congressional).  If you did not see my posts from the US Open, here is your chance to go back and see some photography of select golfers you may enjoy.

• Miguel Angel Jimenez

• Phil Mickelson

• Dustin Johnson

• Sergio Garcia

• Ernie Els

• Black and white photography from the 2011 US Open
• Photographic Wrap-up of the 2011 US Open

While wandering the course yesterday, enjoying the weather and the opportunity to do some shooting, I came across a crowd - something not normal for most golfers during a practice round.  I walked over to see what was holding the interest of the gaggle of spectators.  Not surprisingly, the group was gathered to watch Tiger - so today's post focuses on several shots I was able to grab of Tiger.

Check back soon for more shotes from the 2012 AT&T National.

Have fun, and go make some great photography.

Craig

Photographic Wrap-up of the 2011 US Open

As many golfers had hoped, Rory McIlroy redeemed himself from the Masters meltdown and won the US Open in spectacular fashion.  At the same time, the good folks from Guinness made a few extra bucks at the pubs in Rory’s hometown of Hollywood, Northern Ireland.  Congratulations Rory.

Although not up to the withering pace set by McIlroy, several notable performances were recorded in the final round including Kevin Chappell (-5), Peter Hanson (-4), Carl Schwartzel (-5),and Louis Oosthuizen (-4).  And lets not forget Sergio Garcia who hung in with a –1 for the day to finish at –5 and tied for 7th.  Jason Day (-3) continued his excellent play to end at second place at –8, 8 strokes off McIlroy’s 16 under par finish.  Happy father’s day Mr. McIlroy!

Our wrap up post features some environmental shots from the US Open, and a creative conceptual shot as the title photograph (top of the page).  While at the Tuesday practice round, I tried to make several unique photos that capture the game while moving to the abstract.  This was the best of my efforts.  The shot was made by increasing aperture to f/32 and decreasing the shutter speed to 1/28 while shooting at a focal length of 200mm.  This is an example of breaking the rules – intentionally.  Without the context of golf, this photograph is undecipherable.  However, in the context of the US Open, the imagination kicks in and makes it understandable.

One of the things I truly enjoy about the US Open, and the PGA tour in general, is the way players are treated as they should be – it is a pure meritocracy.  Rory was cheered with abandon.  All the players, regardless of their country of origin were welcomed warmly and applauded for their performance.  Golf seems to break down boundaries not seen in other sports.  Golf fans appreciate excellence.  Period.

If you have not been following along with my posts from the US Open, here is your chance to go back and see some photography of select golfers you may enjoy.

• Miguel Angel Jimenez
• Phil Mickelson
• Dustin Johnson
• Sergio Garcia
• Ernie Els
• and finally, some black and white photography from the 2011 US Open

I hope you have enjoyed the photography from the Us Open.  The Open has certainly inspired me.  I played at Patuxent River Naval Air Station’s Cedar Point golf course over the weekend with three excellent scores (all things are relative).  I shot 80 on Friday, 81 on Saturday, and had a great father’s day gift on Sunday – a 77.  These scores will not make the cut on the PGA tour, but my golf buddies will be sure to enjoy this – my handicap will be suffering for some time as a result of these scores.  Less money in my wallet, and more in theirs.

Have fun, and go make some great photography.

Craig

Black and White Photography from the 2011 US Open

Several regular readers of this blog have questioned me regarding my photography from the US Open.  All the questions asked why I was shooting everything in color knowing my bias toward black and white photography.

It is true that I prefer black and white photography.  My decision process starts with viewing the photograph, from time of clicking the shutter button, as black and white.  I then go through a process that may lead to processing the photograph in color if the composition satisfies several criteria.  These decision points ask whether the color adds any meaningful information, and is the color distracting from the subject.

With respect to the recent 2011 US Open Photography, I had two reasons for keeping the color.  First, when you view golf photography there is a natural expectation to see lush green grass.  The highly saturated green from a well maintained golf course is a clear part of the mental image one expects.  Second, golfers are known, for good or bad, for wearing brightly colored and sometimes quite outrageous clothes (go see some shots of John Dailey, Ian Poulter, or Ricky Fowler for a good examples of the more colorful).  I thought it was important to capture some of this color of the game.

So in response to my friendly and helpful critics, this post is dedicated to black and white photography from the 2011 US Open.  I encourage you to return to the previous posts from this week, all color photography of the US Open, and form your own opinion of the relative merits of color vs. black and white golf photography.

Today is the final round of the US Open following some exciting play on Moving Day.  There was some interesting movement on Saturday, none of which did anything to shave away at the lead of Rory McIlroy who now leads the field by eight strokes – two better than the end of day results from Friday.

Among the notable movers on Saturday were outstanding play by Lee Westwood (-6), Jason Day (-6), Robert  Garrigus (-3), Fredrik Jacobson (-5), Matt Kuchar (-2), Sergio Garcia (-2), Kyung-tae Kim (-2), Henrik Stenson (-2) and Bo Van Pelt (-3) to round out the top ten.

There were also several players that had an opportunity but moved dramatically in the wrong direction including Robert Rock (+5), and Phil Mickelson (+6).

Aside from the record setting play by Rory McIlroy, the outcome today will likely be influenced by the weather.  With rain over night and the threat of more rain during the day, the rough will become even more of a penalty for those not finding the fairway, and the greens even more receptive and slower which will allow the field an opportunity to attack the pin even more aggressively.

As I am writing this, I am looking out on the Potomac from my secret Southern Maryland lair and witnessing a torrent of rain.  Not only will this rain affect play at the Open, but it is also diminishing my plans for hitting the links this morning.  Depressing.

I have a few more photographs from the Open to share, so check back soon as I wrap up my coverage.  And finally, best wishes to Rory on continuing his record setting play and redeeming himself from the tragedy of The Masters.

Have fun, and go make some great photography.

Craig

Ernie Els at the 2011 US Open

It is now Saturday, and the third round of the US Open – known as moving day – the day when players are trying to move up the leader board and position themselves for the final round on Sunday.  Unfortunately, 41 year old South African Ernie Els is not on the course today.  At six over par, Ernie was asked to pack his bags when he did not make the Friday cut of four over par.

Ernie, aka The Big Easy, is a big guy with a seemingly effortless swing.  His size (210 and 6’3”) and the fact that he is a former rugby player make the nickname appear quite appropriate.

By all reports, Ernie is a very personable guy and a fan favorite.  The fans above certainly appreciate Ernie taking a moment for autographs.  However, if you scroll back to the first photograph of the post, his downward look, appearing almost dejected, may have been a foretelling of his performance in the first two rounds of the US Open.

With a world ranking of 122 and an impressive 9th rank in greens in regulation, we will likely see Ernie redeem himself from this cut in short order.

Have fun, and go make some great photography.

Craig

Sergio Garcia at the 2011 US Open

Today we enter the third round of the US Open with Sergio Garcia tied for third place at two under par and nine strokes of Rory McIlroy’s lead position at 11 under.  I did not see Rory at the Tuesday practice round, but I spent some time following Sergio.  Sergio and the rest of the field have their work cut out for them after two record setting rounds by McIlroy.

I don’t rub elbows with the pro golfers, but it was obvious that Sergio has a lot of friends on the tour.  After he finished the 9th hole and was crossing the practice putting green to the 10th, he made his playing partners wait several minutes as he hugged, shook hands, and otherwise greeted each of the 20 or so other players on the practice green.

I don’t know many Spaniards, but having spent three years living in Venezuela, I can tell you this is a common scene among the Spanish speaking countries of South America.  Everyone gets a warm greeting.  Honestly, I found Venezuelans and the rest of South America to be the warmest and most welcoming people I have ever met.  And if you have the chance to sit down, have a drink and chat, you will have a friend for life.

Best wishes to Sergio, and I hope he contributes to making the final two rounds of the 2011 US Open memorable.

Have fun, and go make some great photography.

Craig

Dustin Johnson at the 2011 US Open

Continuing with my series of photos from the 2011 US Open, Dustin Johnson is today’s featured golfer.  Dustin is another exciting golfer who is emblematic of the new crop of young golfers making their impact on the PGA.

We are now witnessing the process of the “changing of the guard” as this group of young players are routinely challenging, pushing, and often surpassing the elders of the game.  This group of young players is adding new excitement to the game with their crushing drives and aggressive style of play.  While this aggressiveness can be very entertaining, it can sometimes work against them as we saw at last year’s final round at the US Open when Dustin disintegrated after holding a three stroke lead going into the final round.  The nightmare began on the par 4 second hole, and within three holes he dropped his three stroke lead to three strokes behind the new leader.  And it got worse.  Johnson ended up with an 82, five strokes in back of winner Graeme McDowell.

More recently, the youngster Rory McIlroy’s meltdown at 2010 Masters followed a similar path.  At the ninth hole, MIlroy held a one shot lead when the nightmare began with the 10th hole triple bogey.  He lost another shot on the 11th, and two more on the 12th.  After shooting 80 in the final round he ended up in 15th place.

Although both Johnson and McIlroy have created a couple of memorable collapses, memories I’m sure they are trying to forget, I am confident they will be around for quite a long time and overcome these defeats with spectacular victories.  As a matter of fact, I am watching the second round of the US Open while writing this, and McIlroy is now five under par for the day through 14 holes and holds an eight stroke lead over another young gun – Zach Johnson.  The young guys make this game interesting.

Have fun, and go make some great photography.

Craig