Ruthless Golf

Linsanity and Golf

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:00:00 +0000

In case you haven't heard of Linsanity, let me give you a quick lesson.

The New York Knicks (basketball team, for those of you who don't follow the NBA) have been struggling. Their two main players, Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire, are out with injuries... and to be honest, the team wasn't playing too well before they went out. But a week ago an undrafted point guard named Jeremy Lin was picked up to try and help them through this rough period.

Lin initially got some attention simply because he doesn't fit the normal NBA mold. He's the first Asian-American player in the NBA (his parents are from Taiwan, just like Yani Tseng) and he graduated in 2010 from Harvard -- hardly a powerhouse of basketball. He's basically been bouncing around the league because nobody wanted him. The Knicks didn't really expect much from him when they put him on the court last Saturday, but they were playing so bad they needed to do something.

The result is a phenomenon called Linsanity. The NBA is playing a condensed schedule this year and since Lin started last week the Knicks have played 4 games. First they beat the New Jersey Nets, then the Utah Jazz, and then the Washington Wizards. He scored more than 20 points per game, even setting some records for undrafted players. Many analysts have been critical of all this excitement, though. The Nets, Jazz, and Wizards aren't very good teams, they said, and it proved nothing. He hadn't taken any shots more than 5 feet from the basket, so he clearly couldn't shoot. Just wait till he played the Los Angeles Lakers Friday night; he wouldn't look so hot then.

So all he did was lead the Knicks to a 92-85 win over the Lakers and personally outscore Kobe Bryant, 38 to 34. And we discovered that he hadn't taken any shots over 5 feet from the basket because he hadn't needed to. In fact, he hit a 3-pointer to start the game and then hit shots from all over the place. And when ESPN's analysts questioned at halftime whether Lin could keep this up -- wouldn't the other players just "figure him out" -- Magic Johnson simply smiled and said, "He'll be fine. He uses his head. This kid's the real deal."

The Knicks are playing better than they have for a long time, and their coach simply says the team loves to play with Lin. They know he'll get the ball to them so they can shoot, and he gets everybody involved. The Knicks have even begun to play some defense -- a term previously unheard around this team!

Linsanity will probably be all over the news by the time you read this post. So why am I telling you about it?

Because Jeremy Lin said something at halftime that can improve your golf.

I'm sure you know that Tiger Woods is playing with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo at the AT&T Pro-Am this week. You probably also know that Romo is an extremely good player but hasn't been able to qualify for the US Open. It's because he makes mental mistakes. GC talked about Romo hitting a long club into a narrow opening on one of the par-5s and, while he pulled it off, he still needed a third shot to reach the green.

In other words, Romo took a risk that could have hurt his score without giving him an advantage when he was successful. He still hasn't learned some of the basic strategy he needs in order to make the best use of his skill.

Compare this to Lin. I actually heard this exchange on TV, but I'll just quote this USA Today post about Lin's play:

At halftime, the Knicks led 49-41, with Lin scoring 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, five assists and one steal.

Yet interviewed at the half, Lin was upset that he wasn't taking enough of an advantage of the Lakers' "big men sagging off me" to get his own big man, Tyson Chandler, the ball. And so, he told ESPN's Lisa Salters, he was going to take a look at the film at halftime.

Salters was about to ask another question — but stopped, eyes raised, and asked, "You're going to look at tape right now."

And, indeed, after halftime, Salters reported that Chandler said they DID look at the film.

Most players study game films the next day, not during the game! But Jeremy Lin got himself an unexpected break with the Knicks -- indeed, he's been sleeping on his brother's couch this week because he didn't know if he'd get to stay on the team -- and he's making the most of it.

If you want to get better at golf, you probably want to spend all your time hitting golf balls. But do you know how to use the skills you already have? If not, learning more skills probably isn't the most productive way to spend your time. I'm not saying you should become obsessed with the game, spending every spare moment thinking about it. But, like Jeremy Lin, you've got to learn to use your head to think your way around the course.

If you do, maybe you start your own brand of Linsanity among your playing partners.

The photo came from this SC Herald post.

At Least Yani Started Well...

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:00:00 +0000

After the LPGA's first round of the year, Yani Tseng was a single shot off the lead behind Stacy Lewis and Sarah Kemp.

My, how quickly things can change! But, as we learned during the Presidents Cup, Royal Melbourne is a skittish lady. And apparently, she's ready for a catfight with the best women players in the world.

At the time I'm writing this, the cut is hovering around +7 and moving back. (Remember that down under in Australia, they're nearly 16 hours ahead of us -- the eastern United States, that is.) Cristie Kerr and Morgan Pressel are struggling. Both are several strokes over par for the round and sitting right at the cutline -- Cristie just inside, Morgan just outside. Fortunately both still have about half the round to go.

Even the Empress herself is struggling. Yani's 4-over for the day, dropping all the way back to +1 (T19). She's still got half a round to go as well, but it's not looking well; she's lost ground as I've written this post.

You might think the wind is up or the weather's bad, but I can't find anything about it. It appears that the ladies are just struggling with the toughness of the course. Most of them -- except the leaders, that is -- are shooting even or over par.

And that makes the leaderboard kinda interesting.

Leading -- at least while I'm writing this -- is one of the first round leaders, Stacy Lewis. According to LPGA.com's first round report:

"Stacy Lewis said that she fell in love with Royal Melbourne the first time she played the Composite Course this week. Of course it didn’t hurt that she got a few tips from honorary Royal Melbourne member Greg Norman before her trip."

She's still got a handful of holes to play, but she looks good at this point -- -3 for the day, -7 over all.

Her closest pursuers -- one and two strokes back respectively, and already in the clubhouse -- are So Yeon Ryo and Hee Kyung Seo. If those names sound familiar, they should. Ryo won last year's Women's US Open over Seo, "the Supermodel of the Fairways," in a playoff. Ryo shot -4 in her second round and Seo blew the field away with a -7 to hop up the leaderboard.

Mel Reid from England is T4 in the clubhouse one more stroke back. She's had two -2 rounds. The rest of the T4 group is a Who's Who of the women's game -- Jessica Korda, Julietta Granada, and Sandra Gal -- but these 3 are still on the course.

Brittany Lincicome is in the clubhouse at -1. Jiyai Shin (where has she been lately?) is in at even par. Lexi Thompson is +3 (4 above the projected cut) with holes left to play. And Ryann O'Toole's +5 in the clubhouse.

It's shaping up to be an interesting first tournament of the year. Maybe we'll get some idea who's going to challenge Yani for the right to rule this year.

One-Club Golf?

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:00:00 +0000

I did a post last July about playing golf with only a half-set of clubs. I was glad to know I'm not the only person who enjoys it.

And it's common knowledge that some of the biggest names in golf learned the game using a single club. (They were too poor to buy a set.) For example, Seve learned by hitting rocks on the beach with a 3-iron, and I heard that Chi Chi Rodriguez learned with a 4-iron. Sam Snead, who started playing back in the days of hickory, learned with a club he carved from an old tree branch.

But I was quite surprised to find this Golf Digest article on playing with just a 9-iron!

David Owen, the author, apparently plays 9-iron golf regularly. As I understand, they play only 5 holes at a total par of 20, and they all play from the forward tees. What fascinates me most about this is his description of the game:

"Each player carries just one club, a 9-iron. Because a 9 is the wrong choice for almost every shot, you learn, by trial and error, to make it the right choice."

He then tells you a little about how you use a 9-iron to play all the wrong shots.

I don't know about you, but I think that's just plain cool!

The article's not terribly long and I think you'll enjoy it. But it just might challenge your ideas about how to improve your golf game as well.

The photo's from the article.

The Shark Hits 'Em Crooked Too

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Today I want to give you a link to the golf tips over at Greg Norman's Sharkwatch page. It's part of shark.com (where else would Greg Norman be?) and it's got gobs and gobs of lessons and advice.

To give you an idea of what's there, I found this tip about fixing crooked shots. (And yes, there's a written lesson there in addition to this picture.)

This is just one of those simple things that we forget to check when things go wrong. We really need to forget about gimmicks and pay more attention to our fundamentals. This tip is a great example of the little things we tend to overlook.

Greg's got 100 of these "instant lessons" and 61 "attack tips" to help you improve your game. It's hard to go wrong with free advice from the Shark!

Stuff to Watch for This Week

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:00:00 +0000

The golf season really gets underway this week, so I thought I'd post a reminder of what's coming.

The big news for most fans is that Tiger makes his US debut at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. This is the first time he's been there in a long time, and it'll be interesting to see what he's changed since the Abu Dhabi tournament a couple of weeks ago.

The AT&T broadcast starts Thursday on GC from 3pm-6pm.

The LPGA kicks off their season this week as well. This is one of the new tournaments on the schedule, the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open. (In case you didn't guess, it's in Australia. That means, of course, that it'll be time-delayed.) The ladies will be playing the Royal Melbourne course that the men played in the Presidents Cup.

The LPGA broadcast starts Thursday on GC from 12:30pm-2:30pm. Tony Jesselli posted a full preview of the event over at Mostly Harmless, so just use this link to read it.

The European Tour's still in the desert for the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, and most of the big names (McIlroy, Westwood, Kaymer, etc.) in the OWGR will be playing there. Notable Americans include John Daly, Mark O'Meara, Fred Couples, and Peter Uihlein. (I wonder if Freddie headed over to Germany to get his back fixed again, and Dubai was a convenient stop? If so, he may be end up in contention.)

I didn't see a TV listing on the tournament site, but GC usually starts ET broadcasts around 9am on Thursday.

Finally, the Champions Tour is back in action with the Allianz Championship. As best as I can tell, Tom Watson isn't playing anywhere this week, and of course Freddie's over in Dubai, but John Cook, Mark Calcavecchia, Bernhard Langer, Tom Lehman, and the rest of the cast will be there.

The Allianz starts Friday at 6:30pm-8:30pm on GC.

That's definitely plenty of golf to watch this weekend! But with football done for the season and basketball kinda scattered on the schedule, there should be plenty of time to catch your favorites.

The Limerick Summary: 2012 Waste Management Phoenix Open

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Winner: Kyle Stanley

Around the wider world of golf: Christel Boeljon came from behind to win the Gold Coast RACV Australian Ladies Masters on the ALPG/LET; Kieran Pratt got his first Asian Tour win at the Zaykabar Myanmar Open; and Paul Lawrie won the Commercialbank Qatar Masters on the ET (John Daly snagged a solo 4th).

The Patriots were favored in the Super Bowl and I thought they just might squeak it out. They even led going into the 4th quarter. It wasn't enough. (BTW, congrats to Eli Manning. He'll never have to answer that "are you an elite QB" question ever again.)

Spencer Levin was in the same boat, it seems. He had led after 2 rounds before but couldn't hold on. This time he not only led after 2 rounds, he led after 3... but it still wasn't enough. Things fell apart for him during the 4th round.

The story sounded vaguely familiar... oh yeah, it happened last week to Kyle Stanley. That 4th round collapse could have destroyed him but friends, fans, and family all rallied to give him support. Everybody expected him to have a decent tournament this week.

That was an understatement. Last week's final round 74 turned into this week's 65, an 8-stroke difference.

Water was his downfall last week... but not this week. In fact, mistakes must have been the furthest thing from his mind as he blistered the course Sunday. PGATOUR.com's wrap-up quoted him:

"I didn't pay much attention to the leaderboards until maybe four or five holes left," Stanley said. "Once I made a couple birdies there on the back nine, I figured I was maybe getting close. But I didn't really think about it too much today. I made the mistake of thinking about it probably all of the final round last week. So, this week, I just kind of tried to just let it happen."

And happen it did. Just like Rory McIlroy after last year's Masters and David Toms after last year's TPC, Stanley roared back immediately from his collapse at the Farmers to grab his first PGA Tour win. The tournament announcers are probably right -- given what we've seen lately, Spencer Levin should be the early favorite for the Pebble Beach Pro-Am next week. He has a pretty good record there anyway, and now...!

So this week's Limerick Summary salutes the Tour's newest phoenix to rise from his own ashes to victory in his next PGA event. Smoking the field is apparently very good for your health!

Take two: Stanley rose from the ashes—
No flameouts this weekend, no splashes.
Last week, he got drowned;
This week, he gets crowned
And someone else learns from collapses.

The photo is from the front page at PGATOUR.com.

A Quick Super Bowl Post

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:31:00 +0000

I'm not a football expert by any means, but I wanted to do a Super Bowl post anyway.

Let me say upfront that I don't really have a preference between the Giants and the Patriots. My team is the Carolina Panthers -- I live in North Carolina, after all -- and the team I root for when the Panthers aren't playing is the Denver Broncos. (Back before we got the Panthers, I was a huge John Elway fan.) And as far as Eli Manning and Tom Brady go, I like both QBs for the same reason: Each has had to prove himself -- one in the shadow of his older brother, the other because he went, like, 3056th in the draft.

That said, I do have a feeling the Patriots might pull this one out. I know the Giants are the overall favorite -- and if they had played the Super Bowl last weekend, I would have expected the Giants to win easily.

But, not to put too fine a point on it, something smells funny to me.

I think the week off will hurt the Giants more than the Patriots. The Patriots needed time to catch their breath and regroup, while the Giants would have liked their train to keep on zippin' down the track.

But it's the intangibles that bother me. For example, I keep hearing how Brady's lost his confidence since his poor game against the Ravens. He went to see his passing coach the next week to "get fixed," you know.

As a golfer, I don't see that as a lack of confidence. Phil won't play in Hawaii because the wind can cause him to make compensations in his swing that will have to be fixed. Brady -- also a golfer, in case you didn't know -- had an injured shoulder and always has trouble with the Raven defense. I'd be surprised if he hadn't made unintended compensations to protect that shoulder during the game, and just wanted to make sure they were fixed before the Super Bowl.

The whole Patriots team has somehow managed to come into this game as the underdog, despite being favored by 2.5 points in Vegas. They seemed a bit too relaxed all week; even Belichick was showing up for media gigs in purple shirts and making jokes.

And then there's the whole Chad Ochocinco thing. It bugged me no end when, in the Broncos game, they brought Chad in for one touchdown play when the game was pretty much over... then took him out immediately. All I could figure was that they were testing something. And all week I've had this nagging suspicion that Chad was going to play today, even though there was no word about it.

Until this morning. Wide receiver Tiquan Underwood got cut from the team last night, and guess who got added to the roster this morning?

To make a long story short... Suddenly the Pats have a wide receiver who is totally uninjured this season and of whom the Giants have virtually no film footage that might help them predict his role. Even if they did, they don't really have time to make more than minor adjustments.

So here's my prediction: The Brady-Ochocinco connection is going to play a big part in today's game. I look for Chad to provide 2 touchdowns and some crucial yardage in other plays.

I don't know what the final score will be, but I think the Pats are going to squeak past the Giants and win Super Bowl XLVI.

Luke Puts Some Bounce in His Pitches

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 09:00:00 +0000

I pulled another of Luke Donald's Masterclass videos he did for Mizuno. This one looked really useful -- he's playing a short pitch shot after he short-sided himself on the approach. It's also got a short mental game tip after the shot.

I wanted to post this video because it's a very different situation from most of the pitching advice I've given you. I try to give you the highest percentage shot I can, but Luke's playing from a lie where the percentage shot will get you on the green but you'll have a much longer putt than you'd like.

See, Luke didn't short-side himself in the rough. He's on the fairway but the contours of the green make a lower shot unlikely to stop fast enough to get the ball close. The only way to get it close is a high shot from a tight lie, and you have to use the bounce of the club to pull it off.

This can be a really tricky shot, folks. Using the bounce like this means you have to hit the shot accurately. If you hit it a little fat, the club is going to bounce into the ball and you'll skull it. So make sure you practice it before you try it during a round.

Luke Donald on How to Make Mistakes

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 06:11:00 +0000

Lefty directed me to this video that Michael down at Aussie Golfer posted. Somehow I missed it, but it's such a cool video that I had to post it for you guys.

Here's the deal: Luke Donald is teaching how to hit a high soft-landing pitch shot for Mizuno, the company that makes his clubs. The problem is, he messed up the shot! But -- and this is what is so cool -- he didn't stop the lesson. Instead, he turns it into a lesson on how to deal with mistakes. This is part of the reason he's #1 in the world right now.

His lesson on dealing with mistakes -- and the kinds of reactions people often have to them -- may be even more useful than the pitch shot!

Maybe JD's Been Talking to Sergio

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Gonzalo "Gonzo" Fernandez-Castaño may be leading the Commercialbank Qatar Masters event on the European Tour, but it was John Daly who stole the show with a bogey-free round of 5-under in what the ET site dubbed a "desert storm."

You can find the first round summary here but I thought you might be interested in a few of Daly's comments. First, the ET reporter said:

The desert storm was such that many players wore sunglasses to try to limit the amount of sand blowing into their eyes on what Daly called a "brutal" day.

The reporter went on:

Daly's last victory was eight years ago, and he no longer has a US PGA Tour card.

It was in a strong wind that he won the 1995 Open Championship at St Andrews, but he did not expect this.

"I'm pretty shocked," Daly said after keeping a bogey off his card.

"I had five and a half weeks off and really didn't touch a club much.

"It's one of the best rounds I've ever played in a wind like that. You feel like you are eating a lot of sand."

Ironically, only 9 players in the field of 132 broke 70 in the first round... and one of them was John Daly.

I saw the interview with Daly on GC and he truly seemed as amazed as everybody else. Charlie Rymer suggested that JD tries too hard sometimes and maybe that five weeks away from the game was just what he needed.

Of course, Sergio followed a similar path during the last few months of 2010. As the old saying goes, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder." Sergio rediscovered his love for golf and it showed in his play last year.

I'm not quite sure that's what happened to JD... at least, not yet. I think Rymer was correct when he suggested that John had lower expectations -- and I suspect the harsh weather helped keep them down Thursday. And perhaps the time away from the game let him "forget" some bad habits he had gotten into -- we've all experienced that, haven't we? But you know what I think happened?

Maybe he was so tired of struggling that he just went out and played golf the way he knows best -- grip it and rip it. And, lo and behold, that was enough.

Sometimes we want something so bad that we get in our own way. Sometimes we have unrealistic expectations that put too much pressure on us. Sometimes -- and this is a tough concept for many people -- sometimes we just need to stop caring whether we do well or not. Sometimes we need to step back from trying to get better and just enjoy the act of playing a game we love.

I found this blog post at a site called The Passions and Possibilities® Network. I don't know the full intent of this site, but I liked what they said in this particular post. Plus they have a cool term for people who do what they love -- Passioneers™. I don't know if the old saying "Do what you love and the money will follow" is true, but I do know that people who do what they love tend to be happier and, quite often, more successful than people who don't. They're certainly more fun to be around.

You'll probably do better at golf -- and life, for that matter -- if you can become more passionate about it. That's certainly been a problem for JD, and hopefully some time away from the game will have done him as much good as it did Sergio.

Oh yeah, one last thought. Rymer said it would be harder to keep expectations down as the week wore on. But the ET reporter said:

And the bad news for the entire field is that the wind is expected to be even stronger for the second round.

Worse weather may be just the cure for high expectations. Maybe old Mama Nature is a JD fan after all.

More About One-Piece Takeaways

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:00:00 +0000

If you saw Martin Hall on GC's School of Golf last night, you heard him talk about something I harp on all the time. I often take instructors like Martin to task for telling viewers to do things that I say are wrong, but then they do shows like this one that prove they know how things really work. Clearly some of the bad advice is meant as a quick fix for a symptom rather than a lasting fix for the problem. When those teachers do a show like this, it's almost enough to make me forget the bad quick fixes.

Almost.

Martin was talking about wrist action, something he explains better than anybody I've ever heard. Although he didn't call it a one-piece takeaway, that's exactly what he was talking about.

He talked about the importance of having the bottom of your swing arc in the same place every time you swing. And he made this very important point: Many people think their wrists twist the club away from the ball and then twist the club back to hit it. Martin said THAT'S WRONG. Your wrists only hinge straight up and down, so they only move the club straight up and down -- like hammering a nail. The side motion -- your hands traveling along the swing plane, if you will -- is created by turning your shoulders.

Do you understand that? Your wrists only hinge straight up and down. There is no forearm rotation. If you twist your forearms -- which Martin demonstrated and said was incorrect -- you mess up the bottom of your swing arc.

When I write about one-piece takeaways I want you to turn your shoulders early to start your backswing. When your wrists start to cock, I want you to feel as if you're cocking them straight up.

"But then my club won't be on plane," you may say. (Go ahead. You may say it.) But your club will be on plane, and here's why: When your elbow bends during your backswing, it will cause your wrists to cock and it will tilt the club onto the correct plane. Your forearms don't twist when this happens; rather, the shoulder joint of your straight arm rotates. That means your entire straight arm rotates, not just your forearm. And because the whole arm moves, your forearms and wrists will feel as if they're in pretty much the same position they were at address.

Then, when you make your downswing, you don't have to untwist your forearms and hope you return them to their address position. All you have to do is straighten your bent elbow. Since bending it created all the "tilting" that happened during your backswing, straightening it returns everything to the starting position.

Result: More consistency in your swing.

So if you want to hit the ball more solidly and consistently, make a one-piece takeaway and don't twist your forearms. Martin says so, and I'm holding him to it.

The Ruthless Golf World Rankings: February 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:00:00 +0000

The big names were slow to get in the game this January. They didn't play much and, when they did, they all looked a bit rusty to me. But we expect that, don't we? And we did see some really good golf, along with a possible preview (at Abu Dhabi) of what the majors may look like this year. There's not much I could say that would add to that.

So chill out to the mellow sounds of the RGWR criteria:
I focus on the last 12 months of play -- that's long enough to see some consistency but short enough to be current. Every player in the RGWR won at least once on either the PGA or European Tour. The OWGR rates consistency over the last 2 years, so I see no reason to rank that; my RGWR says if you're a top player, you've won somewhere recently. My priority list (based on quality of field) looks like this:

majors, TPC (PGAT), BMW PGA (ET), and WGCs
FedExCup playoffs and prestige events (like Bay Hill and Dubai), the latter often determined by the history and difficulty of the course
other PGA and ET events

I put extra emphasis on recent form -- 2 wins separated by 6 months don't carry the weight of 2 wins back-to-back -- and I make some allowance if you're recovering from injury or serious sickness. Also, remember that I count Top5s as a separate category from wins; if you see a player has 3 Top5s, those are seconds through fifths only.

I assign points to tournaments this way:

Majors: 10 points
TPC & BMW PGA: 8 points (yes, I'm calling them equals!)
WGC: 7 points
Prestige events: 5 points
Regular wins: 3 points
Top 5 finishes: 2 points
Other wins: 1 point

I give full credit (not in point value, but they carry the same weight as "official" victories) for wins on the "minor" tours like the Nationwide and Australasian Tours provided the winner has a current win on the PGA or European Tour. These wins will count only as "regular" wins and not "prestige" wins, no matter how prestigious they may be for their tour, because they generally don't have the field strength of a regular PGA or ET event.

I'm not counting the Grand Slam of Golf as a win in my rankings. I've decided that 4 players isn't a large enough field to give it the weight of a win against a larger field. However, I do take a win there into consideration in my rankings, much as I do money title or scoring awards. Other limited-field events (up to maybe 24 players or so) are counted as wins if the player also has an official win on the "big tours" but they only get a single point. The OMEGA Mission Hills World Cup (the 2-man team event) counts in this category.

And because of a strange quirk on the ET site, I've decided I have to specifically state that a tournament win can only count once. Therefore, to avoid possible confusion, I'm just telling you that the RGWR says you can only win a tournament once at a time.

As usual, although the point totals (and even the number of wins) a player has affects my rankings, they don't override my personal opinions. It's my ranking system, after all:

Luke Donald: 4 wins (1 WGC, 1 BMW), 10 Top5, 4 awards, 45 points. Luke got off to a slow start this year, but after last year -- and with only one start in 2012 so far -- I'll give him a pass.
Rory McIlroy: 3 wins (1 major, 1 other), 7 Top5, 28 points. Rory came in 2nd at Abu Dhabi and could have won if he hadn't had sand problems in the second round.
Steve Stricker: 3 wins (1 prestige), 1 Top5, 15 points. It's a little strange -- Stricks doesn't have many Top5s, despite the 3 wins. Hopefully he'll do better now that he's got the Hyundai under his belt.
Lee Westwood: 3 wins (1 prestige), 4 Top5, 15 points. Lee's another guy who got a slow start but it's early in the year yet.
Branden Grace: 2 wins, 2 Top5, 10 points. Another South African apparently shooting out of nowhere, Branden won back-to-back in January. That's definitely the kind of performance I take notice of!
Thomas Bjorn: 3 wins (1 prestige), 2 Top5, 15 points. After several quiet months, Thomas came out and got a Top5 against the stacked field at Abu Dhabi. Again, that's something I notice -- especially when you've got 3 wins already
Brandt Snedeker: 2 wins, 4 Top5, 14 points. A new entry for the month. Whether you think he backed into his win at the Farmers or not, give Sneds credit for making the most of the opportunity.
Robert Rock: 2 wins (1 prestige), 8 points. I have to give Robert credit for a prestige win, given the depth of the field in Abu Dhabi.
Alvaro Quiros: 2 wins (1 prestige), 2 Top5, 12 points. He won the biggest "legit" tournament of December in Dubai.
Louis Oosthuizen: 1 win, 2 Top5, 7 points. I know -- you wonder why a one-time winner makes the RGWR when some 2-timers like Mark Wilson, Webb Simpson, and Johnson Wagner don't. The reason is simple: Last month I predicted that you should watch out for him as he defended at the African Open because he seemed to be on the upswing. Indeed he was and, although it doesn't show up in my stats, he followed up with a 7th at the Volvo World Champions. I like what I'm seeing.

Players to watch:

Keep an eye on Robert Rock. Although he didn't post any Top5s between his two wins, his win in Abu Dhabi was huge. It could be the very thing he needed to convince him he can be a more consistent performer.
Louis Oosthuizen: I think he could be a force on Tour this year. That swing of his looks as sweet as ever.
Tiger Woods: Tiger's showing consistency in his play now. I couldn't help but laugh at the irony -- a few months ago the guy missed the cut at the PGA; last week he got criticized because his worst round of the week was PAR. I'm predicting a win before the Masters.

Rock Solid

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Robert Rock didn't even show up on most golf fans' radar until he got his first win at the 2010 Italian Open. That win got him into the U.S. Open the very next week and he rushed to get over here. It cost him around $24k to get the appropriate visa and another $1k for a very long taxi ride from Newark NJ to Washington DC. Not only did he shoot a 70 after getting virtually no sleep, but he made the cut and finished in 23rd place.

It was his efforts, which showed his appreciation for the chance to play, that made him a minor star here in the States. His 2nd win this past weekend, beating most of the world's best, jumped him to #55 on the OWGR and probably guaranteed that he'll be on everybody's radar from here on out.

Let's take a quick look at the swing that took down Woods and McIlroy. Because Robert's a fairly typical 5'10" tall -- a bit unusual in this age of giants -- there's a good chance most of you can learn something from him. And I find his swing to be very interesting.

First, here's a video showing both face-on and down-the-line views of Robert hitting a 7-iron:

Robert has a reputation for being extremely involved in the technical aspects of the golf swing. That in itself is very interesting because his swing is so simple and smooth that you'd never know it! There's a tip that all of you can take to heart: If you're trying to make a swing that confuses you or seems too complex, you may need to reassess whether it's the right swing for you. Your swing concept should be very simple and easy to understand. You want to focus on where the ball is going, not what you have to do to make it go there.

As far as the technicals go, the main thing Robert does differently from what I normally like to see is his early wrist cock, which just means that his wrists are almost fully cocked by the time his hands reach waist high in his backswing. That, in turn, simply means that his right elbow bends earlier in his swing than I try to get you to do. Let me be perfectly clear that there's nothing wrong with an early wrist cock/early elbow bend. I've just found that when players have trouble with an over-the-top swing, they tend to bend that elbow early because they twist their forearms, which makes the OTT move worse. Clearly Robert's not having that problem!

Otherwise his swing looks pretty much the way I've been suggesting for all of you. Note that Robert sets up with his hands over or just in front of the ball as I recommend. In doing this, he gets the shaft pretty much in line with his left forearm. That's the position it will be in when he actually hits the ball.

He starts his backswing by turning his shoulders, not just bending his elbow and lifting his hands, and you can see on the down-the-line view that his forearms don't twist during his swing. (If he did, the shaft would lean over, more parallel to the ground.) He simply lets the bending of his elbow and cocking of his wrists combine with the turning of his shoulders to create his swing plane.

In addition, his triceps and chest stay "connected" almost all the way through his swing, and there's no excess hip slide -- that is, his right hip doesn't move backward over his right foot on the backswing and his left hip doesn't slide past his left hip on the downswing. His body stays pretty much centered between his heels. This is a very simple move that makes you much more accurate because it stops you from leaning too much one way or the other.

Now here's a face-on view of him hitting a driver:

Note that the ball is more forward in his stance, but the shaft still forms a straight line with his left forearm. Except for the ball position, the mechanics of his driver swing are almost identical to his short iron swing. This is what I find most interesting about Robert's swing. The swing is longer -- that's because the longer shaft gets him standing a bit taller, making it easier to turn -- but otherwise the swings look the same. He doesn't try to swing faster or harder with the driver.

If a pro who's known to be a mechanics freak can end up with a swing this simple, shouldn't you do the same?

American fans will probably get to see this swing more often this summer. Robert was already trying to get into the Pebble Beach tournament in a few weeks, and he's positioned to make the Accenture and maybe even the Masters. If you get the chance to watch him, you definitely should.

A Rock solid swing isn't beyond anybody's reach.

The Limerick Summary: 2012 Farmers Insurance Open

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:41:00 +0000

Winner: Brandt Snedeker

Around the wider world of golf: It was a week for unexpected victors. Robert Rock showed both Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy how it's done as he got his 2nd European Tour win in a year at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship; and Lydia Ko became the youngest winner ever (only 14!) of a professional golf tour event, taking the ALPGA's Bing Lee New South Wales Open by four strokes. She beat a few no-names like Katherine Hull, Melissa Reid, and Laura Davies.

Apparently when it comes to the world of agriculture, Kyle Stanley doesn't have a green thumb. First Steve Stricker took his John Deere away, then Farmers Insurance foreclosed on him. (I wonder if they cover that?)

It certainly looked like one of those Farmers Insurance University commercials, didn't it? On the outside chance you don't know what I'm talking about, here's the most recent one:

I don't think Stanley would have been more surprised if "obscure space junk" had indeed dropped on him. He probably felt like it had. After getting out to a 7-stroke lead early in the final round, golf happened. A series of unfortunate events -- no relation to the children's books by Lemony Snicket -- came down on him as his ball started wandering all over the course. His lead fell to 3 strokes when he still thought it was 5 shots.

[cue giant hand-cranked jack-in-the-box]

Meanwhile, Brandt Snedeker casually enjoyed the beautiful California seascape. After all, he was 3 strokes off the lead and had no chance of even getting into a playoff.

[cue obscure space junk falling from the sky]

Then came Stanley's disastrous 8 on the final hole that wiped out his lead. Shades of Charles Howell III and Robert Garrigus! A stunned Snedeker was summoned to a playoff with the stunned Stanley, and the stunned audience watched both men in a two-hole playoff nobody expected. And on the second hole Snedeker got a fortuitous bounce off a TV tower, rather than a more likely unfortuitous bounce into the water. Snedeker got up and down, Stanley didn't. Snedeker sympathized -- he's been through this himself, you know -- then smiled and took the trophy and check.

[cue space monkey parachuting down -- "Moving on..."]

To me, the really eerie part of this was that Snedeker actually referenced "this monkey" when talking to Peter Kostis. He clearly meant the old phrase "get the monkey off your back," but the unintended appropriateness of it -- given the context -- was a bit weird even for me.

Kyle Stanley will win eventually -- he's too good not to. But this victory belongs to Brandt Snedeker, who collected the check from Farmers Insurance (they clearly covered that) and thus receives this shiny new Limerick Summary to go with his bonsai trophy -- an artificial tree that doesn't care whether you have a green thumb or not:

The Farmers was not kind to Stanley;
His three-shot lead should have won grandly.
Then SHOCK! Two holes later
His putter turned traitor
And Snedeker beat him quite handily.

The photo came from the PGATOUR.com home page.

Tiger's New Poker Face

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 06:11:00 +0000

By the time most of you read this, we'll know who won the Abu Dhabi tournament. In all likelihood, it'll be either Tiger or Rory. And then the debates will begin anew...

Is Tiger "back"? Has Rory "made a statement"?

It's pretty silly, of course. It's just one tournament after a brief layoff. If you've paid much attention, nobody's been particularly sharp. But nobody's been questioning Rory's ability to contend, so I'm going to focus on Tiger today and just make a few observations.

First, let's put that "is he back?" question to rest. I agree with Frank Nobilo -- no, Tiger's not "back" but he's definitely getting things together. You can see that Tiger is reasonably happy with his progress after he finishes a round. During the round, he's clearly not hitting shots exactly the way he wants.

That's probably as it should be. During the round he's "in the moment," just thinking about the shot at hand. After the round, he looks at the totality of the round and assesses his overall performance. I think that indicates that he's mentally "back in the game." All the questions raised in the media about his mental toughness were little more than ways to fill airtime. Let's not mince words here -- yes, he was mentally screwed over for quite a while; that was to be expected after his frustration over the mess he made of his life got magnified by his continued poor health.

Personally, I think the lack of focus vanished once he played the Frys.com and could still walk after four rounds. And I suspect his confidence started coming back after that final round at the Presidents Cup. That was where he was under the most pressure -- not only about his own game, but because he didn't want Freddie to look bad for picking him. The win at Chevron can be attributed to that performance as much as anything, because that's when he knew it was all starting to gel.

And I have to thank Tiger for making me look like I know what I'm talking about. In case you don't remember, all the way back in March 2011, I wrote that:

"...in the 'Foley' swing, he [Tiger] really is closer to his original swing than with either the 'Butch' or 'Haney' swing. This swing is very similar to his original swing except his weight is more on the left side than the right."

And then in December I wrote:

"It's no secret that I think Tiger and Sean have been trying to go back to his teenage swing -- minus that big move off the ball that Tiger eliminated under Butch Harmon's care."

In his media presser after Saturday's round Tiger confirmed that he and Sean had done exactly that, and that Sean had actually pulled out old video footage of Tiger's teenage swing to help him see where they were going. As far as I know, I'm the only person who made the connection and put it in writing, so I'm feeling pretty smug right now. (And I'm enjoying it, as I don't get to feel smug very often.)

One more observation: I don't know how many of you have heard of Doyle Brunson, but he's a legend in poker circles. He quite literally wrote the book on poker... twice. After winning so much that he became a legend, Brunson wrote a book called Doyle Brunson's Super System: A Course in Power Poker. It's MASSIVE and it's considered THE textbook on the game. Many people expected him to retire. After all, how could he continue to win after divulging all his secrets?

It's simple -- he just figured out a new way to do it. And after he beat people that way for a while, he published a second book called Doyle Brunson's Super System 2: A Course in Power Poker.

Ironically, although he doesn't win as much as he used to -- internet poker has changed the playing field, tournaments that used to have 600 entrants now have 6000+, and Doyle himself is nearly 80 years old -- he still holds his own. Apparently he's continuing to find new ways to win.

Hank Haney was on Morning Drive last week and I thought he sounded somewhat disappointed in Tiger's new game -- not the swing, but the way he's approaching the game. Tiger used to shape every shot differently, now he seems to be focusing on that little stinger cut of his. The implication seems to be that Tiger's settling for a less impressive game.

Tim Rosaforte has noted that Tiger seems to be "more comfortable with himself" and is relating better to other players like Rory. Other commentators have noticed it as well. Everyone has commented that the new kids have learned from what Tiger did, so you might say the one or two guys who could compete has multiplied into dozens. The old intimidation is gone and, although it goes unsaid, I think most of them believe Tiger has just acquiesced to the fact that he'll never be the player he was.

It would appear that Tiger Woods's Super System: A Course in Power Golf has been a bestseller.

When I wrote about Phil's problems yesterday I said he would probably need to make some changes to his pre-shot routine to get his new mental approach to work. I think we're seeing some of the same thing with Tiger, except he's changing his playing strategy just like Brunson had to do. Tiger rewrote the book on how golfers prepare to play, so now everybody's training in the gym, improving their short games, etc.

Tiger's not "back" yet, folks... but books take time to write. We're only seeing the intro and part of the first chapter right now. Don't be surprised if this one turns into a bestseller too.

No Phil for the Game

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 06:22:00 +0000

At least, not this weekend. After shooting 77-68, Phil Mickelson tossed his bags in the trunk and headed on home. His +1 score missed the cut by 3 shots.

The irony here is that Phil says he feels pretty good about his game. He said Thursday's round was "pathetic" and he can only blame it on lack of focus. Friday he put it this way:

"I don't feel like there's any one area that I feel bad about my game. It's just that I'm not bringing it from the practice session on to the golf course yet. I'm not sure why that is, but the good news is in my practice sessions it's been great in every area, except that I'm not carrying it to the course and scoring and playing smart and putting the ball in the right spot and what have you. So that's probably the area that I'll be working on here this weekend now that I have it off."

Sound familiar? Some of you may think that's a cop-out, but I think Phil may be right.

I wouldn't call it a lack of focus though. Rather, I think it's a confusion of focus.

You may remember a post I did a week ago about Phil's debut at the Hope. One of the articles I referenced from Golf.com included this statement:

"Butch Harmon raved to Golf World recently about Mickelson’s improved outlook under mental coach Julie Elion and said Mickelson is making more putts."

And indeed, Phil did make more putts on Friday. But the rest of his game seemed a bit off.

An article in USAToday from last August had more detail on Julie Elion. It included this quote from Tim Rosaforte, which came from this Golf Digest post:

"Mickelson doesn't want to go into detail on what they work on, but inside the camp Elion is credited, in part, with Phil's enthusiastic attitude during tough links conditions that resulted in his T-2 at the British Open. Elion works with 10 players on the PGA Tour, including J.B.Holmes."

You may remember that Phil seemed to lose focus on the back nine at the Open as well. He missed the cut at the Greenbrier Classic and his best finish the rest of the year was a 10th at the Tour Championship.

We have heard some about what Phil is working on. Butch Harmon told GC that Phil was trying to freewheel it a bit more, which I guess means he's trying not to over-analyze his game so much on the course. My point here isn't that he's doing anything wrong but that, much like swing changes, mental changes can take a while to fully incorporate into your game.

To use the swing thought from yesterday's post as an example, when you try to focus on your target rather than your mechanics -- but you're used to thinking mechanics -- sometimes your brain sends mixed messages to your muscles. It can take a while to develop a new thought pattern, especially if you're still trying to figure out exactly what thoughts should be changed.

If you make changes to your mental game, you may find yourself with the same problem as Phil. Mental adjustments could be the hardest part of improving.

That's what I think is happening to Phil. He's so used to dissecting shots with Bones before he even addresses the ball that his brain ends up with extra time when he steps up to the ball... then his mind just slips into neutral for a few moments, so to speak, and he loses his train of thought. Being a creature of habit, I suspect he needs to make some changes to his pre-shot routine to eliminate that "dead spot" in his thinking. You may need to do the same thing when you take a new approach to your game.

But don't worry about Phil, folks -- he'll get it figured out. He figured out how to win the Masters, didn't he?

That Sneaky Lead Elbow!

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 06:24:00 +0000

Here's an image to help you make better contact and stay on plane throughout your swing.

If you've looked at the posts in the "basic principles of the game" category, you'll see that I have a real hang-up about twisting your forearms during your swing. Twisting your forearms (often called "releasing the clubface") is one of those things that most instructors casually assume you need to do during a good swing. Let me make this perfectly clear: You don't and you shouldn't.

Let me repeat that. You don't need to twist your forearms during your swing and you shouldn't. No less an authority than Ben Hogan backs me up on this. In his book Five Lessons, which is a bible for many instructors, Hogan writes:

"The action of the arms is motivated by the movements of the body, and the hands consciously do nothing but maintain a firm grip on the club."

That's on page 82 of my copy, and Hogan felt so strongly about it that he put the whole thing in capital letters. If you try to use your hands, you automatically twist your forearms.

Why is that such a big deal? There are several reasons, but I'll focus on just one today. If you start trying to twist your forearms during your swing, most of you will end up with a "chicken wing followthrough." And among other things, "winging it" will produce slices and topped shots.

When you twist your forearms, you point your hands and club shaft away from the ball and pull through the shot with your elbow leading the way. If you do that, your hands can't "catch up" and square up the club face, hence you slice. Then that bent elbow pulls the clubhead into a shorter arc and you hit higher on the ball, hence you top it.

I talk a lot about connection -- that is, keeping your triceps resting lightly against your chest as much as you can throughout your swing -- and you can keep your lead tricep resting against your chest all the way from address until you swing your club over your lead shoulder when you pose at the finish. Your lead shoulder is your left shoulder if you play right-handed, and it's your right shoulder if you play left-handed. This connected position keeps your lead elbow fairly close to your chest.

That's important because a connected lead elbow is pointed toward the ground all the way through your swing.

And if your lead elbow stays close to your side and points to the ground all the way through your swing, your hands and the club tend to stay in front of you. When that happens, the back of your lead hand tends to return to its address position and you square up the club. Your arm doesn't shorten its arc. You get a nice solid hit on the ball.

Best of all, no one accuses you of being Col. Sanders's next victim.

One of the best ways to get a feel for this move is to imagine you're throwing a Frisbee™ or hitting a tennis backhand. Most people naturally make the correct movement if they do that, plus they make the proper lower body move without sliding their hips too far forward during the downswing.

So pay some attention to that sneaky lead elbow and its tendency to move too far away from your side and lead your downswing. The only good chicken wing is an edible one!

An Abu Dubious Start

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:36:00 +0000

I stayed up late tonight (Wednesday) to watch some of the Abu Dhabi HSBC.

The tournament is getting off to a slow start. I really expected some fireworks, given all the firepower in the field and the simple fact that this is desert golf with near perfect weather.

Instead, with a number of the big names already halfway through their rounds -- Kaymer and Westwood haven't teed off yet -- Gareth Maybin (who?), Michael Hoey (2-time winner last year), Anders Hansen, and Rory McIlroy lead at -3, with a group tied at -2. K.J. Choi and Luke Donald are in that group. Tiger and Jason Day are in another group at -1.

I understand that the course groundskeepers tried to toughen up the course this year because the scoring has been so low in the past. Thus far it looks like they've succeeded.

Given that no one is blistering the course, Tiger's -1 is obviously good. He looks a bit frustrated to me -- not quite happy with his execution -- although the same could be said of Rory. (I don't know if Luke ever looks rusty, even though he hasn't played for 5 weeks. That swing of his always looks the same, even when it isn't working well... and that's not a problem for him so far.) Overall, Tiger looks to be hitting the ball pretty well.

All of these players look a bit rusty to me. Of course, for most of the big names, this is their first competitive round in a few weeks, so I probably shouldn't be surprised. Still, last year's play (and, surprisingly, the first three weeks this year) have me expecting better golf from the top players.

How ironic. Tiger and Phil were basically "off" during 2011, and the other players convinced me I should expect more than I did before. Despite what I would call a lackluster round, I guess 2012 is off to a good start after all.

Ben's New Video

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:46:00 +0000

Well, the video didn't show up where I thought it would. At YouTube it has a message above it that says "This video is unlisted. Only those with the link can see it." Instead, you had to go to bencranegolf.com (at least there was a link at the YouTube channel) to see it there.

But now it's been released, and here it is:

Just one question remains: I wonder if all slow boars need crash helmets?

Will Ben Release It Today?

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 06:08:00 +0000

Today's post is very short for a simple reason...

Ben Crane's new video is due out and it didn't show up in time for me to post it!

All I know is it has something to do with being a gymnast. (!!!)

Here's the link to Ben's YouTube channel. When it comes out, it ought to show up there. At the time I posted this, the Golf Boys video was the featured video and the last video he posted (in the list beneath it) came out last November.

I can't believe this. Ben speeds up his play, only to slow down his video releases. Oh, the irony of it all!

Is It Just About the Money?

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:17:00 +0000

Tiger starts his year at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship this week. Of course, there's no question why he's playing there instead of Torrey Pines. Word on the street is that he's getting paid seven figures -- $2-3 million. That's a lot of good reasons to show up, especially since Tiger almost certainly has money concerns like alimony payments and those new digs down in Florida.

But are we sure that's the only reason?

Some have suggested that he's also bypassing Dubai since it's sponsored by Omega -- a move that might not set well with his new sponsor Rolex.

But is that all?

I'm sure both of those play a part in Tiger's decision to play Abu Dhabi this week. But I'm not so sure they're the only reasons.

Back in December I questioned how much the world rankings were really worth. I won't rehash all of that, but I can't help but wonder if Tiger hasn't chosen Abu Dhabi in part because he could make a huge move in the world rankings this week.

Look at it this way. According to this week's OWGR rankings, #1 Luke Donald has 9.89 points and #10 Jason Day has 4.93 points -- a difference of 4.96 points. But from Jason all the way down to #1001 Shamim Khan, at 0.06 points, there's only a difference of 4.87 points. There's more distance between #1 and #10 than between #10 and #1001!

Tiger is currently #25. He has 3.44 points. He's only 1.49 points out of the Top 10.

Now let's look at the fields. At Torrey Pines, Dustin Johnson -- #9 in the OWGR -- is the only Top 10 player scheduled to play. (And let's not ignore the fact that he had to withdraw with back problems last week. That could happen again this week, depending on how far out of shape he is.) Make it the Top 15 and you can add #12 Nick Watney and #15 Phil Mickelson.

How about Abu Dhabi? Well, I see Luke Donald (1), Lee Westwood (2), Rory McIlroy (3), Martin Kaymer (4), Charl Schwartzel (8), and Jason Day (10). That's 6 of the Top 10... and please note that 5 of these players are all ranked above DJ. You can add Graeme McDowell (13) and K.J. Choi (14) to that list if you go down to the Top 15.

I don't know exactly how the points for a win are assigned but I'm pretty sure that, with so many highly-ranked players in the field, a win at Abu Dhabi just might kick Tiger all the way back into the Top 10 in the world. A win at the Farmers Insurance Open probably wouldn't.

The list of events Tiger has committed to (listed at his website) only has two events so far -- Abu Dhabi and Pebble Beach. I don't know what the field at Pebble will look like, but the WGC-Accenture Match Play is only 3 weeks after Pebble. The major season gets started in earnest after that.

So maybe it's not just about the money after all. If I was Tiger and wanted to make a serious run at #1 in the world again, I'd play Abu Dhabi too.

But then, $3 million wouldn't hurt either.

The Limerick Summary: 2012 Humana Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:57:00 +0000

Winner: Mark Wilson

Around the wider world of golf: Several tours got back in action this week. Brendon Grace won the ET's Volvo Golf Champions, his 2nd win in 2 weeks -- a month ago he was in Q-School!; Karen Lunn won the ActewAGL Royal Canberra Ladies Classic on the ALPG; and Dan Forsman won the Mitsubishi Electric Championship on the Champions Tour.

Some very important people gave Hope to a struggling tournament this week.

Just last year, the future of the tournament formerly known as the Hope (thank you, Prince, for a joke that never dies!) was in serious doubt. It had no sponsor; it had no big names in the field; it had no panache.

And then the executive order came down -- "Save the Hope!"

Former President Bill Clinton and Humana signed up for long-term sponsorship. (Eight years is an eternity in pro golf.) President Clinton completely overhauled the format, called on some friends like Greg Norman, and personally contacted some big-name players like Phil Mickelson. More importantly, he showed up at the event and interacted with players and fans alike, just like Bob Hope had in those glory days so long ago.

Because of President Clinton's efforts, Mark Wilson hoisted his third trophy in 13 months, his fifth in his career. (Is it a surprise that the trophy is now called the Hope Trophy?) But it wasn't easy.

Wilson entered the final round with a 3-shot lead, but a bogey on the 3rd -- and the expected low rounds by the players behind him -- soon put him out of the lead. It looked as if his Hope was dashed. (Sorry, you're going to get a lot of bad Hope jokes today.) But then he reached the 11th and seemed to catch his second wind -- an appropriate thing to do at a tournament that's now dedicated to health awareness. He reeled off 4 birdies in the last 8 holes, including one on the 18th to dash everybody else's Hope of a playoff.

So here's to Mark Wilson and the fifth win of his career. This Limerick Summary is dedicated to him and all the folks involved, who proved that "The Hope springs eternal...":

Though briefly his lead took a dentin'
Mark's final-hole birdie putt went in.
His Hope was revived
Because new friends arrived—
Humana and President Clinton.

The photo came from the PGATOUR.com tournament page.

Monday Post Delayed by Power Outage

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:02:00 +0000

Pretty much says it all. ;-) I'll get it up later today.

The Third Master

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 05:31:00 +0000

Sounds like a sequel to my A Tale of Two Masters post, doesn't it?

Surprise! It is.

Of course, my original two masters -- 2010 Masters champ Phil Mickelson and 2011 Masters champ Charl Schwartzel -- continue to make news. I didn't realize the cut at the Humana Challenge was to come after 3 rounds. Yet Phil's news still isn't clear, as play was halted yesterday when winds made the La Quinta course too dangerous to play. Play on all three courses had to be stopped as a result, and Phil had 6 holes left to play. Phil has gotten better each day, and at -5 is a single stroke short of the projected cut. Of course, with better weather today, that cut may move up.

As for Charl... man, you just can't underestimate that guy! The course that the Volvo Golf Champions is being played on is par 73, and after a 75 on Thursday that left him 11 strokes back. Then he calmly shot a 67 and 68 to leave himself a single shot off the lead going into today! (I'll save you the math. The Day 1 leader was at -9; the Day 3 leader is at -10. They didn't exactly make it hard for him, did they?) The irony here is that Charl putted poorly, missing several short putts. He could have actually had a 2- or 3-shot lead going into Sunday!

But it's the third Master who made the real news Saturday. José María Olazábal, the 1994 and 1999 Masters Champion, sits just 2 off the lead... and, save for a double on the 17th, would have been co-leader going into today's round. The 2012 European Ryder Cup captain is more than a sentimental favorite.

You see, José María has had more than his share of health problems over the years. He's suffered from rheumatoid arthritis since the mid-1990s. Shortly after getting the captainship he told the Guardian (a UK site) that he would need to "manage my programme very carefully over the next 20 months" because of the pain. He also told them that at times over the past three years (the interview was done in January 2011) "I have been in such excruciating pain I was unable to do anything at all. All you can do is just sit or lie down and not move."

I have to confess that I'm pulling for JM to win the Volvo Golf Champions today. His last win came way back in 2005. After everything he's been through, wouldn't it be a cool story if he won again leading up to the Ryder Cup?

At any rate, José María Olazábal certainly deserves the title of Masters champ. Even thought I can't do anything else, at least I can pay him that much respect. Good luck, JM!

The photo came from JM's page at europeantour.com.

The Old Boys' Club

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 05:44:00 +0000

While Mickelson worked his way back under par in the desert -- he's now at -1 and only 15 off the lead -- and Schwartzel got himself within 8 of the lead in South Africa, the old boys started their season on the Champions Tour.

Anybody for a trip back to Hawaii?

The Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai -- the tournament names just get longer and longer, don't they? -- has only 41 players in its field but the scoring looks more like the Humana Challenge. The leaders are Tom Lehman and Bruce Vaughn (no relation to Vince, see picture below) at -7.

Brad Faxon is in a pack at -6. Tom Watson had it to -5 but three bogeys coming in dropped him to -3. Fred Couples at even par is feeling it in his back again and plans another trip to Germany, the mecca for ailing athletes. (You may have heard that even Kobe Bryant of the Lakers has been there for knee treatment. It's revitalized his career as much as it did for Freddie and Vijay Singh.)

I don't know what's up with Hale Irwin. He's bringing up the rear at +7. I looked but couldn't find anything to tell whether he had some physical ailment or just Mickelson Syndrome (medically described by Dr. Forrest Gump as "you never know what you gonna get").

The Mitsubishi's limited field is determined a bit differently than the PGA Tour's Hyundai ToC. According to the West Hawaii Today site:

"To play in the Mitsubishi Electric, golfers must have won a Champions Tour major tournament in the past five years, won a Champions Tour event in the past two years or received a sponsor exemption. [According to PGATOUR.com, 8 players received exemptions.]

"The players who receive exemptions must have accumulated either a minimum of 30 combined victories on the PGA and Champions tours or tallied 15 combined wins and at least one major championship."

The article also has comments from several of the players in the event, especially John Cook who is currently at -3.

It's no secret that the PGA Tour is looking for ways to increase attendance at the Hyundai. Perhaps they should consider expanding the Hyundai qualifications along the lines of the Mitsubishi. I had already considered adding winners of 9 or more events in an earlier post. Just expanding the field to winners from the last two years might be enough to get a decent-sized field, as many of the one-time winners would almost certainly want to start the year in Hawaii.

And I'm sure some of the old boys would enjoy joining the club as well. After all, with the Hyundai, the Sony, and then the Mitsubishi, what better excuse would you need to spend 3 weeks in Hawaii?