Show Your Ryder Cup Colors on Nike Golf’s Facebook Page

It’s Ryder Cup week, and Nike Golf has come up with a cool way to show your support for whichever side you are rooting for. In a new application they’ve added to their Facebook page you can choose the team you are supporting, and create a Nike Golf team bag with your name on it that you can share on your wall or use as your Facebook profile picture (as I am doing for this week). No matter which team you want to win, it will certainly be an interesting three days at Celtic Manor in Wales this weekend, and this is a fun way to kick off Ryder Cup week.

Check out the “Show Your Colors” application on Nike Golf’s Facebook Page >>

Fantasy Four: Season Recap

The main season of the PGA Tour is all wrapped up and what a great first edition of the NG Nation Fantasy Four. Jim Furyk’s win was a great cap to pick up his 3rd win of the year and a ridiculous paycheck. It was a great 5 months of Fantasy Four action and before I recap the season, I will recap The TOUR Championship.

We had some very good picks this week with a bunch of Top 10′s and lots of scoring. I was happy with my picks and predictions, as I thought Els, Furyk and Villegas would be sleepers and all ended up with Top 10′s.

Ryder Cup Note: DJ, Stricker, Kuchar, Phil, Overton and Bubba did not play well this week. If I’m sprinkling cash on the Ryder Cup, I’m all over the European Tour, especially with Paddy’s T8 in the Vivendi Cup.

Let’s hit the stat pack!

  • Number of Entries: 10 (no Drew this week & Mosher DQ)
  • Number of Golfers Selected: 18 (that’s great for a field of 30)
  • Most Popular Pick: Steve Stricker – 6 picks
  • Number of Missed Cuts/WD’s: 0
  • Number of Top 10’s: 10  – Furyk, Donald, Casey,Watney,  Goose, Hoffman, Choi, Els, Camilo, Streels
  • Number of Top 10-Top 25’s: 6 – Mahan, DJ, Phil, Kuchar, Stricker, Day
  • Top Nike Golfer: Paul Casey (T4)
  • People That Selected the Winner: 2 – Brian and Jane
  • Average Points: 36.2

Jane absolutely dominated the playoffs picked 3/4 winners. I’m blown away. Also, Jane missed the first 6 events of this contest, so per event basis, she was Topps Trading Cards. She was beastin’. At least she wins the Playoffs and a dozen Nike ONE Vapor Speed balls.

Jane’s winning team (56 points): Jim Furyk (1), Els (T7), Phil (T22), Stricker (T25)
Brian’s winning team (56 points): Jim Furyk (1), Charley Hoffman (6), Phil (T22), Stricker (T25)

Check here for the TOUR Championship point totals.

Despite Jane’s win and playoff push (much like Luke Donald’s or Paul Casey’s), she falls short of the overall crown. However, she did manage to tie for the lead for Most Wins.

Chris Wang is the overall season winner, dethroning his lover, partner, competitor, Meredith Wang who showed up with a measly 12 points and pulled a Kuchar/Stricker/DJ in the final event. Chris wins his choice of a Method putter, SQ Machspeed or VR Driver.

Check below for the season and monthly totals.

(Chris and Jane, NG Nation will be in touch with you for your prizes!)

Please leave any feedback about the contest, as this will hopefully become an annual event. I feel as though the FedEx Cup format worked quite well with the double points in the Playoff events. Next year we will definitely consider bonus points and a points reset.

I’d like to thank everyone for playing and continuing to participate. I try to keep it fun and not offend people, but I’ll try and make more jokes as time goes on and we expand our contest to more participants!

NEW CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT: To tide you over, I will gladly be running the NG Nation Fall Series Fantasy Four starting at this week’s Viking Classic! This will be 5 events and there will be 4 prizes. We really hope come back and play and also tell your friends! We’re going to try and spread the word with this. It will work the same as the regular season; pick 4 golfers each event for 5 events and win some free Nike Golf swag!

Check back this week and don’t forget to keep repair your divots and ball marks!

Nike Golf Athletes: Tour Wrap-up 9.26

Here’s how the Nike Golf Athletes fared at the various tour events this past week;

PGA Tour: The Tour Championship
T4 :: Paul Casey :: 66 71 69 69 :: 275 :: -5

Nationwide Tour: WNB Golf Classic
T11 :: Jhonattan Vegas :: 68 68 74 65 :: 265 :: -13
CUT :: Chris Nallen :: 74 70 :: 144 :: E
CUT :: Garrett Osborn :: 71 73 :: 144 :: E
CUT :: Brendan Todd :: 78 72 :: 150 :: +6

Champions Tour: SAS Championship
T3 :: John Cook :: 72 64 70 :: 206 :: -10
T13 :: Bob Tway :: 68 70 73 :: 211 :: -5
T63 :: Curtis Strange :: 72 81 73 :: 226 :: +10

European Tour: Vivendi Cup 2010
T8 :: James Morrison :: 66 68 73 68 :: 275 :: -13
CUT :: Marc Warren :: 73 70 :: 143 :: -1
CUT :: Oliver Fisher :: 80 70 :: 150 :: +6

LPGA, Ladies European Tour & European Challenge Tour: no event this week

Sneak Peek: 2011 Tour Premium

By now you may have seen some of the 2011 Tour Premiums on Nike Athletes David Duval and Steve Ames (covered here), but here is a full sneak peek of the 2011 edition. The TP carries the tagline “Old world craftsmanship meets new world performance” and that description could not be any more accurate.

The shoe is clearly separated from other models in the line which incorporate a more sporty, performance-based look. The TP, unveiled in 2010, features full-grain waterproof leather on top of the Nike Power Platform TW, and a Nike Zoom unit in the heel. It also has a phylon midsole and a sockliner for maximum comfort.

In 2010, colorways included all white, all black, and a white/dark cinder version. For 2011, Nike responded to fan requests with two new versions: a sweet white/black edition, and an all brown edition.

I’m really like this white/black combo and I hope we can see it at the Ryder Cup as well.

Here are the rest:

Nike Golf Athletes in the Field: 9.23-9.26

This week is much more than just a tune-up for next week’s Ryder Cup matches — The PGA Tour is in Atlanta for the finale of the Playoffs, The Tour Championship. Nike Golf athlete Paul Casey is in 5th place on the FedEx Cup points list and can win it all with a victory at East Lake. This week the Nationwide Tour is in Texas at The WNB Golf Classic, look for Jhonattan Vegas to have another strong finish there on his quest for his PGA Tour card. The Champions Tour is in North Carolina for the SAS Championship, look for John Cook to finish high on the leaderboard in that event. The European Tour is in Paris France for the Vivendi Cup, look for all three Nike athletes to do well there. Good luck this week to all the Nike Golf athletes at their events this week, especially Paul Casey at The Tour Championship!

PGA Tour: The Tour Championship
Paul Casey

Nationwide Tour: WNB Golf Classic
Chris Nallen
Garrett Osborn
Brendan Todd
Jhonattan Vegas

Champions Tour: SAS Championship
John Cook
Curtis Strange
Bob Tway

European Tour: Vivendi Cup 2010
Oliver Fisher
James Morrison
Marc Warren

LPGA, Ladies European Tour & European Challenge Tour: No event this week

Nike Golf Shoe Pairings for The Ryder Cup

We’ve had a few days to mull over the United States’ Ryder Cup scripting and no matter how silly I think Rickie Fowler will look in an oversized perriwinkle cardigan, I’ve come to accept most of it.  Now, the players wont be able to choose what they wear, but they can choose their footwear and accessories. Which is why I bring to you my Nike Golf shoe pairings for the US Ryder Cup team.

Let’s start with the practice day apparel. You can view Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday outfits here: FRONT VIEW and here for the BACK VIEW. Click on all thumbnails to enlarge.

Team USA’s practice day apparel includes a variety of khaki and tweed pants with tops including half zip sweaters in black and navy, and a red sweater vest.

Tuesday: Red candy stripe polo with dark khakis and a black half zip sweater top. Black cap. I’ve chosen two shoe options for this outfit. With the black hat, I went for a black shoe, so I am suggesting three options: Nike’s black and silver SP-6 from 2007, and for the more traditional look, and brown/black combination saddle shoe, also from the 2007 collection, and the Course Air Tour GT from 2004 which has Gore-Tex.

Wednesday: Light blue polo with light khakis and a navy half zip sweater vest. Light Khaki cap.  For this Steve Stricker-esque outfit, I went with a Stricker-esque shoe – all white. 2010 Tour Premium, and the 2008 Zoom Elite – Note here that i’ve actually picked the original UK version which has a white swoosh with red outline. This of course means that the American flag insignia must be on this shoe!

Thursday: Pretty much the shirt I wore to work today with a red sweater vest, and tweed pants. Red cap. I like the Thursday’s red outfit, its finally a bit bolder and dare I say, contemporary, after two days of traditional styling. I’ve paired Thursday’s outfit with the Zoom Elite USA edition – the best Ryder Cup shoe ever made, and a special Tour Premium in Navy that I mocked up.

After the practice days are over, the USA team will wear an untraditional color scheme including yellow, perriwinkle, and black.

Friday: This isn’t a joke – Friday’s outfit is a yellow crew neck sweater with a giant ryder cup trophy on it. Hopefully it will be warm out so the players can ditch the sweater and stick with the light blue polo and grey slacks. White hat. For this outfit, I went with two different options of the saddle shoe – the SP-6 Brown Saddle and the TW Air Accel Classic.

Saturday: This perriwinkle cardigan was the first photo released and was the subject to much controversy. The only patriotic color on the uniform is the red felt patch on the left chest. But I see what the Captainess was going for here, and a nod to what golfers used to wear a century ago must not be worn with sport-type shoes. Under the cardigan is a white polo and the pants are a chalkstripe trouser. Black cap. I chose two shoes for this line. If the cardigan is not worn, I recommend my favorite Nike Golf shoe model – the SP-8 TW in all white. If the cardigan is worn, I recommend the most formal looking shoe Nike has ever made – the TW Gore-Tex Cap Toe.

Sunday: I really like Sunday’s all black outfit. Black pants, black sweater with red zipper and cuffs, black polo with red,white, and blue placket. Red, white, and blue nylon belt. Once I saw the outfit I immediately thought of the TW SP-8 Limited Edition – it has just the right touch of black and red to match the sweater. Also, I think this would be a good day to break out the custon 2011 TW Ryder Cup shoes I made.

I hope you enjoyed my pairings, what do you think?

FedEx Cup Fantasy Four: The TOUR Championship

We’ve made it, sportsfans! All the way to the other side! I’m very excited. It should be a real points explosion as you have 5/6 odds of scoring points this week with only 30 players in the field. I don’t need to do much of an introduction, but this is what we’ve all been waiting for.  For the winner, eternal glory, the choice of a brand new Nike driver of your choice, along with bragging rights spanning the internets.

This is the last event (!) of  The Playoffs for the NG Nation Fantasy Four and it’s definitely too late to join :) For a refresher on the rules, hit the link — Contest Guidelines and leave your Fantasy Four below.

Big change this week: YOU DON’T HAVE TO PICK PAUL CASEY!
He’s the only NG Staffer and there’s only 30 guys to pick from, so let’s go out guns blazing.

The twitterati have been buzzing with rumours of bonus points and/or a points reset, but rules and rules and we play by them. Just like Dustin Johnson. No bonus points or reset!

Another important note, the Fantasy Four Power Couple reside in Georgia and I know that Chris will be at East Lake all week. They just try to get every advantage possible. Maybe they’ll check out some practice rounds before submitting their Fantasy Four.

To see the standings up to this point and how everyone picked last week, click here

NIKE GOLF: One to Watch  (doesn’t mean you have to pick him!)

Paul Casey (5)
PC has a legitimate chance to win this and I don’t care that he doesn’t have any history here. He’s playing with a chip on his shoulder and knows he’s an underdog going into this week. Honestly, I was going to put Casey in the “Four Who Are Hot” section, but oh well. Casey has 5 straight Top 25′s (2 Top 25, 2 Top 15′s and 1 Top 10) and if you discount the Canadian Open where he was drained from The Open (where he was T3) then he’s playing right up there with the best of them.

THE FIELD: Four Who are Hot

Dustin Johnson (2)
Recent starts – 1st at BMW, T57 at DB, T9 at Barclays, T5 at PGA, 15th at WGC-Bridgestone
People are rooting for him after his tough year…and he would be a great story. T27 at his only appearance at East Lake.

Matt Kuchar (1)
Recent starts –T3 at BMW, T11 at Deutsche Bank, 1st at Barclays,  T10 at PGA, T9 at WGC, T21 at Greenbrier, T4 at Canadian Open, T27 at The Open, T6 at US Open, T8 at Memorial
People still don’t realize this streak. He’s playing the best golf on the planet right now (maybe next to Kaymer). Rookie at East Lake.

Adam Scott (14)
Recent starts – T15 at BMW, T5 at Deutsche Bank, T9 at Barclays, T39 at PGA, T9 at at WGC-Bridgestone, T27 at The Open
Adam and Phil are the only two people in the Top 15 who have wins at East Lake. Also, given his current streak, he’s got to play well. He’s full of confidence and Mere couldn’t be happier that he’ll be in town this week.

Steve Stricker (4)
Recent starts – T8 at BMW, 9th at DBank, T3 at Barclays, T18 at PGA, T9 at WGC-Bridgestone
Of the Top 5, he has the most starts by far at East Lake with 4. His solo 6th last year with his other starts here make him the favourite to win in my books.

THE FIELD: Four Who Have History

Ernie Els (8)
Best finishes – 9 in ’09, T6 in ’08, T26 in ’07, T10 in ’06, T10 in ’04, T17 in ’03, T3 in ’00
Our season long leader has been quiet in the playoffs, but his last two finishes (30th then 13th) have him going in the right direction. He also has the history to back it up. Could be a big sleeper this week with a chance to win.

Jim Furyk (11)
Best finishes – T7 in ’09, T6 in ’08, 2 in ’06, T14 in ’05, T8 in ’03
A favourite to win almost every event this year got his playoffs off to a rocky start. However, if there’s a place for him to get his groove back, this is the place. T37 at DBank and T15 at the BMW has him going in the right direction. Another big sleeper this week.

Camilo Villegas (25)
Best finishes – 1st in ’08, T9 in ’07
Villegas has had a very quiet year for getting a big win. However, he’s an intense dude with a great history here. He should give a good show to end his year after not making it to East Lake last year.

Phil Mickelson (10)
Best finishes –1st in ’09, T3 in ’08, T20 in ’07, T19 in ’04, T5 in ’02, 1st in ’00
If the fans want DJ to win it all, they want Phil to finish 2nd, or win the event.  Phil is the only two-time winner in the field this week and is coming off of a T25 at the DBank and a T8 at the Barclays. Phil is looking good and know he needs some help even with a win. He still has a chance to win though.


FINAL FOURCamilo Villegas, Hunter Mahan, Luke Donald and Paul Casey

This is it!

Check out the full field here >> The TOUR Championship Full Field

Leave your Fantasy Four in a comment below. Remember, pick ANY 4 golfers you want to!

Pick with your heart,

D.

*Editor’s Note: Hey everybody, I really hope you enjoyed playing the Fantasy Four this year. A big thank you and kudos to Damian for running this for us, he did a great job. We’re going to do a Fantasy Four for the PGA Tour Fall Series, for a yet-to-be-determined prize, so keep your eye out for that. It will start with next week’s first Fall Series event, The Viking Classic. Thanks again for playing everyone! Bob

Nike Golf Athletes: Tour Wrap-Up 9.20

European Tour: Austrian Open

T56 :: Oliver Fisher :: 71 73 72 73 :: 289 :: +1
T56 :: Marc Warren :: 71 71 72 75 :: 289 :: +1

Ladie’s European Tour: Ladie’s Spanish Open

T2 :: Frances Bondad :: 69 68 67 :: 204 :: -9
CUT :: Carly Booth :: 74 75 :: 149 :: +7

Nationwide Tour: Boise Open

T3 :: Jhonattan Vegas :: 68 66 67 66 :: 267 :: -17
T7 :: Jamie Lovemark :: 66 70 68 64 :: 268 :: -16

CUT :: Chris Nallen :: 72 68 :: 140 :: -2
CUT :: Kevin Kisner :: 70 71 :: 141 :: -1
CUT :: Garrett Osborn :: 72 72 :: 144 :: +2

European Challenge Tour: M2M Russian Challenge Cup

T2 :: Tommy Fleetwood :: 73 66 72 67 :: 278 :: -10
DQ :: Matt Haines :: 69 73 :: 142 :: -2

PGA  & LPGA & Champions Tour: no event this week

PHOTOS: Nike Golf Athletes at the BMW Championship

Editor’s Note: Since it’s the bye week on the PGA Tour before the season-ending Tour Championship next week, I‘ve put together a couple of photo posts relating to two of the last three playoff events, The Barclays and The BMW Championship. I hope you like them. Bob

Last week’s BMW Championship saw Paul Casey vault to number five on the FedEx Cup points list with a second place finish at Cog Hill. Paul’s impressive performance on the first 12 holes on Sunday put the trophy firmly in his grasp before three costly bogeys on holes 13, 14 and15 backed him up just enough for eventual winner Dustin Johnson to take the title by a single shot. But Paul’s performance last weekend put him in great position going into The Tour Championship next week, and with a win at East Lake Paul will take home the FedEx Cup trophy and the 10 million dollar winner’s check.

A good friend of NG Nation, Rob Hayashida of Sandbox 8, was at the BMW Championship all last week, and he took some great photos while he was there. Rob has posted his photos from Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and he has let NG Nation take the photos featuring Nike Golf athletes and post them here for our readers to take a look. Rob got some great shots of athletes Tiger Woods, Anthony Kim, Stewart Cink, Paul Casey and Justin Leonard, check them out in the galleries below.

All photos courtesy of Sandbox8.com

ROUND 2 PHOTOS

ROUND 3 PHOTOS

ROUND 4 PHOTOS

Check out the full gallery of Round 2 photos on Sandbox8.com >>

Check out the full gallery of Round 3 photos on Sandbox8.com >>

Check out the full gallery of Round 4 photos on Sandbox8.com >>

PHOTOS: What’s In The Bag? Nike Golf Athletes at The Barclays

Editor’s Note: Since it’s the bye week on the PGA Tour before the season-ending Tour Championship next week, I‘ve put together a couple of photo posts relating to two of the last three playoff events, The Barclays and The BMW Championship. I hope you like them. Bob

Nike Golf has a cool application on their Facebook page where you can upload a photo of your bag and a list of its contents. Here on NG Nation you can also send us a photo of your bag and we’ll post it in our bag gallery in our “What’s in YOUR Bag?” post.

Last week I came across two great posts on Golfwrx.com that had some great photos of the golf bags of many of the players at the Barclays. Among these were several photos of the bags of Nike Golf athletes including Stephen Ames, Paul Casey, Stewart Cink, Justin Leonard and Carl Petterson. Golfwrx has let us put the photos of the Nike athlete’s bags here on NG Nation for our readers to take a look — these photos give you some pretty good close up views of the set makeups of these Nike athletes’ equipment. Check out the photos in the galleries below.

All photos courtesy of Golfwrx.com

STEPHEN AMES

PAUL CASEY

STEWART CINK

JUSTIN LEONARD

CARL PETTERSSON

Check out the first “What’s in the Bag?” photo post on Golfwrx.com >>

Check out the second “What’s in the Bag?” photo post on Golfwrx.com >>