The International and Greg Owen

Many of the world's best golfers are in Colorado this week for the International at Castle Pines. But despite the presence of many of my favorite golfers like Couples and Els, I'm pulling for Greg Owen.

The 34-year old from Mansfield in Nottingham, England is currently 54th on the money list, with earnings of $996,751. 2006 is his second year on the Tour after he earned his card through the pressure-cooker of Qualifying School in 2004. That he would make it through the grind of Q-School is especially impressive considered he had undergone spinal surgery earlier in the year. In 2005, he kept his card by finishing 57th on the money list with earnings of over $1.3 million. His 2005 total was helped by a 3rd place finish at the AT&T Pebble Beach and a tie for 4th at the Shell Houston Open.

At 6-4 and 200 pounds, Owen is an excellent driver of the golf ball, and ranks 8th in Total Driving (accuracy combined with distance) on the PGA Tour. But he constantly battles painful back problems that have managed to perplex physicians thus far. In addition to his back troubles, Owen has also had putter troubles. He currently ranks 177th on tour in putting, which makes it quite difficult to score. Both his back and his putter seemed to be giving him trouble yesterday, and I hopes he can overcome both.

Putting struggles resulted in heartbreak for him this year, when at the Bay Hill Invitational he lost the lead and eventually the tournament after he two-putted from 3 feet on the 17th hole for a costly double-bogey in the final round. Owen had dueled with playing partner Rod Pampling all day before his mistake on 17 but still had a chance on #18. Facing a lengthy par putt to extend the match, he hit what appeared to be a perfect putt that instead caught the lip and spun out. Owen finished a disappointing 2nd, and will likely be haunted by the memory for a long time. Hopefully, his 2nd place check for almost $600,000 helps to ease the pain a little.

He had a respectable 22nd place finish at the British Open Championship this year, during which he held the lead after shooting an opening round 67. But he's probably more famous for the news he made in last year's Open. He was signed up to play a qualifier in New Jersey for the event, but withdrew when he found out his ranking would qualify him for entry. But the Royal and Ancient Society ruled that by withdrawing from the qualifier, he had withdrawn himself from the Championship. Owen was livid, and had some choice words for the R&A, which he later apologized for. But the organization has since changed their policies in response to the controversy.

Despite adversity and controversy, Greg Owen is one of the most gracious and kind people I've ever met, and I hope he posts are strong showing in the International this week. I also wish him the best of luck in the rest of his season and golf career.

Currently, it looks like he's having a tough day, with a birdie and two doubles. Under the modified Stableford scoring system, that leaves him far down the leaderboard with -4 (birdie = +2 and doubles = -2). I hope he can put together a charge.