IndacupGolf Blog

Truth & Rumors: Schwartzel wants BBQ for Masters dinner

2012-01-22T09:46:00.000-06:00

Reigning Masters champion Charl Schwartzel doesn’t want to just host this year’s Champions Dinner -- he wants to prepare it. The 27-year-old has visions of grilling up a braai [right] -- a sampling of traditional South African meats -- under the iconic oak tree outside the clubhouse. Call it Pit Masters: Augusta National Edition. Global Golf Post has the details:

“We’ve put in the request and are still waiting to hear from them,” Schwartzel said. “But I’d love to be able to braai there. I want to braai everything myself, but we just have to see if that will be possible with the number of people there. I could end up with a very sore hand at the end of an evening turning all that meat.”

Schwartzel has already started planning his Masters braai. “I’ll keep it very simple. Ideally I would like to have a few lamb chops, some fillets and of course some boerewors (a traditional South African sausage).”

According to Scott Michaux of the Augusta Chronicle, Schwartzel would be the first champ to trade his green jacket for a green apron:

In general, the club balks at outsiders cooking in their kitchens. Other than Vijay Singh famously bringing in a prominent Atlanta restaurateur to prepare his Thai menu in 2001, Augusta National has used its own chefs to prepare whatever the host champion desires (with the possible exception of Sandy Lyle’s haggis).

New year, same old Phil

Phil Mickelson picked up his 2012 season pretty much right where he left off his 2011 season. An eagle here, a three-putt there, tee shots everywhere. It all resulted in a two-over 74 at the Humana Challenge on Thursday, a discouraging opening round at La Quinta Country Club that included a pair of out-of-bounds tee shots. Mickleson looked at the bright side:

"The round wasn't indicative of how I know I was playing. I've been playing really well heading in. I played well the front nine, made some good birdies."
"And then the back nine those couple out of bounds, one was a matter of two feet and a couple of inches on the other and those could have been a big difference."

Mickleson, who dabbled with a long putter toward the end of last season, has returned to an Odyssey blade, which is “very similar to the putter I grew up with as a kid just going back to that type of freer motion.”

“I feel really good with the putter. And that was the one area that I was concerned with. I spent the whole off-season working on that, deciding on the direction I was going to go, with what putter and what have you.
“I'm trying to make, I feel like I can make everything on the greens. I had a couple 3-putts ... my speed was off on a couple, but really excited with the way it was transpiring and given the way I've been hitting it the last couple years I know I'll get that fixed and I can start shooting some numbers.”

Lefty's last win came the week before the Masters, at the Shell Houston Open.

Tiger says he’s executing “all the shots”

Hank who? After 17 months under the tutelage of swing coach Sean Foley, Tiger Woods says the Tao of Foley is finally clicking in an interview with ESPN's Bob Harig.

"Last year at this time I didn't truly understand what Sean was trying to teach me," Woods said. "I was very one-dimensional in my ball striking."

One-dimensional? Where does that leave the rest of us?

“I had this baby draw, didn't have a fade, and when I got to Dubai, my second tournament, the wind was howling and I couldn't hold the ball up against the wind with a fade.”
"One of the things we had to work on through the year was hitting all the shots. It didn't really start happening until the fall. I started picking up some good, positive momentum with the exhibitions I did in Asia, Australia and then winning [the Chevron World Challenge]."

Woods also revealed the genesis of his much-ballyhooed pairing with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo in next month's Pebble Beach pro-am.

"He called me when I was in Australia [in November] and asked me if I was playing Pebble," Woods said. "And I said yes.” He said, 'I'd like to throw my name in the hat as a possible pairing.'
“I thought about it…"

What’s to think about? Who’s a better option? Darius Rucker? Kenny G?

"…and then I called him a day later and said, 'All right, you're in if you want to be in.'"

Gee, Tiger, way to make a guy feel good about himself. Romo later admitted that he hadn’t been that nervous since he asked Betty Finkelstein to his seventh-grade dance.

Tweet of the Day

John Daly runs out of balls during tournament, walks off course after Tin Cup-esque hole

2011-11-10T13:52:00.000-06:00

The casual golf fan absolutely loves watching John Daly when he's in the tournament field. Want to know why? It's because he's the everyman golf pro; sure, he's going to have his moments of sheer brilliance, but sooner or later you know he's going to do something that will make you say "Hey, I could do that."

Well, friends, Daly had another one of those moments on Thursday at the Australian Open. Playing in the event on a sponsor's exemption, he had the opportunity to pocket a nice check at a world-class tournament in Oz.

But in typical Daly fashion, he found a way to ruin the tournament's generosity in spectacular fashion. After knocking his ball into a bunker on the 10th hole, Daly inadvertently hit the wrong ball out of the sand -- hard as it is to believe, the ball he hit was actually one from the range -- to take a 1-stroke penalty. That's where things went horribly wrong.

Frustrated with the penalty on the 10th, Daly came unglued after hitting his first ball into the water on the par-5 10th hole. After taking a drop, Daly then hit six more balls into the water. For a brief moment, it seemed like golf fans were watching a real-life "Tin Cup" moment.

The only problem was that unlike Kevin Costner's character, Daly didn't hit his seventh, and final, ball on the green. It found the water, leaving Daly without a ball. He immediately shook the hands of playing partners Hunter Mahan and Craig Parry and stormed off the course.

"[W]hen u run out of balls u run out of balls. yes, I shook my player's partners hands & signed my card w/rules official," Daly tweeted on his Twitter account.

Things got even worse when Daly's girlfriend, Anna Cladakis, took a swipe at a television camera, leading the Golf Channel announcers to lament the entire situation, as a camera followed Daly off the course.

Of course, tournament officials were extremely unhappy with Daly's antics. Trevor Herden, the tournament director for the Australian Open, told reporters at the tournament that Daly wouldn't be coming back to Australia anytime soon.

"I would say this would be the last time we see John Daly," he said.

Taking things to an even lower low, Brian Thorburn, CEO of PGA of Australia, made it clear that Daly shouldn't even bother hanging around to play the Australian PGA Championship, on a special invitation, in two weeks.

"The PGA does not need this kind of behavior tarnishing the achievement of other players and the reputation of our tournaments. John is not welcome in Coolum," Thorburn said in a statement.

If Daly hadn't burned all of his bridges yet, he certainly burned every one of them in Australia. There used to be a time when Daly was one of the marquee names in the game, but in recent years, he's turned into nothing more than a sideshow that people come to mock.

This was another incident that made you realize he's no longer good enough to contend on a weekly basis. If anything, he's just wasting a spot in the field. Running out of golf balls in a professional tournament should tell everything you need to know about the state of Daly's game. He's turned into a complete joke

Fred Couples Grants Tiger Woods Asylum????

2011-08-30T23:25:00.000-05:00

Corey Pavin, wherever you are, accept this belated olive branch.
Like many, I spent the latter half of 2010 having a field day with your captaincy of the U.S. Ryder Cup team, belittling the sieves that passed as team raingear in Wales, poking fun at your colorless quotes, making cracks about your height, questioning whether your wife was actually running the show.
There's only one thing left to say after the developments of the past few hours: Bring back captain Corey, because the guy steering the Presidents Cup team is steering the team headed toward the Great Barrier Reef.
U.S. captain Fred Couples, in a remarkable admission, said Thursday night in Seattle that he has already told Tiger Woods that he's assured one of the two captain's picks, even though Woods' season has been punctuated by missteps, missed cuts and missed fairways.
Couples is having none of it. Or all of it, whichever way you hook or slice it.
"In my opinion, when you’re the best player in the world for 12 straight years and you’re not on a team, there’s something wrong," Couples said.
That's the crux of the critical blowback here. Woods was indeed the best player on the planet for 12 years. Problem is, we're in Year 14 now.
“I don’t know how you can criticize someone for choosing Tiger Woods," Couples said. "If he goes there and doesn’t play well, I would be shocked."
Hopefully, Couples doesn’t scare easily, or he could be in for some fainting spells when the matches begin in Australia, based on the way Woods has played in 2011. Perhaps Couples missed the parts at the PGA Championship where Woods missed the cut, hit balls in 22 bunkers, and hit a 20-foot putt so fat, it came up six feet short of the hole.
Woods hasn’t won in 23 months in the States and others have blown past him so fast, he has plummeted from second to 36th in the world, a spiral that will continue because he is ineligible to play for four weeks and his last PGA Tour win is about to fall off his two-year ranking period.
Couples sounds about as stable as Captain Queeg, rolling around two ball bearings in his hand and trying to figure out who swiped the strawberry ice cream.
This call is wrong for so many reasons, it's nothing short of astounding. Let's list a few.
At No. 11 in points is Jim Furyk, who has had a forgettable season on the whole. But Furyk is the reigning PGA Tour Player of the Year, a guy who won the FedEx Cup last year after finishing with three wins. Furyk, unlike Woods, has shown far more recent signs of life, including T9 last week.
Keegan Bradley not only isn’t on the team, he's 18th in points despite two victories in his rookie season. Phil Mickelson noted this week that Bradley is the perceived front-runner for tour player of the year, opined that Bradley ought to be the first player named as a captain's pick. Oops. Mickelson and Bradley are represented by the same management firm, so there's a bias here, but Mickelson's got a point. No other American won a major this year. Woods hasn’t won a major since mid-2008.
Even though Bradley, now No. 18 in points, was unable to amass a single Presidents Cup point last year, he is 10 spots ahead of Woods in the standings. Woods is 28th and sandwiched between immortals Kevin Na and D.A. Points.
Couples, a guy who will never be confused for Vijay Singh for his work ethic, is taking the easy way out. The captain's picks are not set to be finalized for four more weeks, until after the Tour Championship in Atlanta. What, he didn’t want to face questions for a month about his two at-large options?
Even for those who believe Woods deserves a pick, there is absolutely no defensible reason to announce the selection a month early. Too many other players who play well over the next month could get left at the curb as they angle for the last remaining spot.
The doltish Couples move certainly underscores the fact that the Presidents Cup is an exhibition, and not held in nearly the same esteem as the Transatlantic swordfight called the Ryder Cup. Making the pick now makes the PrezCup, a thinly veiled Ryder knockoff, look even more farcical.
Think the PGA Tour, which invented and runs the Presidents Cup, wasn't giggling in the hallways when their savant captain tabbed Tiger on Thursday? Moments after Couples told reporters in Seattle that Woods was already a lock, the tour sent out Couples' comments in a blast email, cementing the deal and trumpeting to all the world that Tiger was on the team.
Twelve years ago, after watching a couple of balls take cruel bounces at the 1999 U.S. Open, David Duval stoically answered a question about the caprices that had just cost him the title. "There is no such thing as 'deserves,'" he said. Well, looks like he was wrong. In a game known as the ultimate meritocracy, Woods was grandfathered in based on his resume from two years ago. If he handed any employer a resume with a gap that large in is performance history, the boss would say, "so, what's the deal with the last two years?"
If Woods wanted to earn a spot on the team the right way, he should have played last week in Greensboro, his last chance to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs, which began this week at The Barclays. He was outside the top 125 positions required to make the FedEx series, tied in with rookie Will McGirt, who not only played well enough at Greensboro to get in the series, he was an overnight co-leader at The Barclays on Thursday night. Woods didn’t play. He said he had family commitments. Then he participated in a corporate PR stunt for EA Sports last Tuesday, sending a nice message of indifference while others were trying to grind their way into the FedEx picture.
Couples is so out of touch with affairs on the tour, he was unaware that Woods had not qualified to play in the FedEx series, and told him he wants him to add another tournament before heading to Australia to play in the Aussie Open (where he will receive an appearance fee) and Presidents Cup. Couples didn’t even wait to see whether Woods followed through and signed up for a Fall Series event before picking him. The Australian Open is Nov. 10-13 outside Sydney and the cup matches follow the next week.
Couples' assistant captain is Jay Haas, whose son Bill is 10th in Presidents Cup points at the moment. Guess who gets bumped if anybody makes the slightest move over the next four weeks and displaces him from the automatic-pick perch in the top 10? Right. Haas would then need to be picked to make the team. Awkward.
Plenty have compared Couples' decision to pick the skidding Woods as comparable to International team captain Greg Norman's decision to tab Adam Scott two years ago. Scott was in a months-long slump, and Norman figured being on the team might give the young Aussie a lift. What people forget is that Scott finished 1-4, however.
Picking Woods is akin to juggling dynamite. Couples, especially has ensured that a decent faction of Americans will be pulling against the U.S. team.
Nice call, captain America.

Tiger Woods not really winning a lot of friends over in the media

2011-08-11T07:51:00.000-05:00

Tiger Woods and the media have never really mixed, ever since that infamous 1997 Esquire magazine interview that showed Woods actually being himself, but it seems of late the relationship has grown even colder.

On Wednesday at Atlanta Athletic Club, Tiger took to the podium in his usual pre-major press conference, but didn't exactly divulge a lot of information, pushing away any question concerning the recent comments by Steve Williams.

Woods said he was, "not going to speculate on Stevie," and, "Those are obviously his feelings and his emotions and his decision to say what he wants to say," and even said he was "surprised" by what Williams said following the win on Sunday by Adam Scott.

This all comes on the heels of a story that the AP's Doug Ferguson published on Tuesday from last week, that had Tiger walk off from a Thursday press conference, muttering, "That's why you guys listen and I play," after someone asked if winning was still his number one priority at Firestone after a three-month layoff from golf.

It isn't new information that the media and Tiger aren't exactly exchanging Christmas cards, but it seems lately that Tiger has gotten even colder to the media, brushing off any question that isn't about the golf course or his goals, and looking irritated and downright bored through most of it.

My biggest problem with the way Tiger handles the media is that he is smart enough to realize that these people have a job, and Woods is Patient X to anyone with a golf windbreaker or handicap card that gets paid to print about this sport. While I can understand not wanting to answer certain questions about his past caddie/player relationship, it seems giving most of the questions the proper respect isn't hard and should be something he understands.

And as for the comments from the Bridgestone? This is something we battle with all the time between athletes and journalists. Writers and broadcasters have no idea what it must be like to stand on the free-throw line or over a 7-iron on the 18th hole, and that's true, most of us don't. But we do understand the game, and the players, and the situation, and most of the people sitting in that press conference room have covered as many golf tournaments as Tiger has played. While "the moment" might fly over our heads, the situation sure doesn't. Most have seen it all, and have tried to relay that action onto paper so that the person at home can see it and relive it. That's the job, and trust me, they all wish they could hit a 3-wood like any pro in the game. Some people run, other people write about it. That's just the nature of the business.

2011-06-21T06:47:00.000-05:00

Bethesda: The proof of Rory McIlroy's remarkable resiliency was the silver trophy at his side and the pages of a record book that he changed during four mind-boggling days at the US Open.

For his father, it was a phone call right after a most crushing collapse at Augusta National two months ago.

Poised to fulfill his potential and become the youngest Masters champion since Tiger Woods, McIlroy shot 80 in a final round that was painful to watch. Gerry McIlroy, who worked three jobs so his son could pursue his passion, was home in Northern Ireland when the phone rang some 20 minutes after it was over.

"I said, Rory, are you OK, son?' Because you always fear for your kids," the father said on Sunday. "And he says, 'Dad, um, I have no problem with it at all. I hit a few bad shots. And if you play golf, then you'll understand that.'"

The father had his country's flag draped over a green shirt during a momentous celebration at Congressional on Sunday.

McIlroy, the 22-year-old who can make golf look easy even in the toughest of circumstances, buried that Masters memory the way he buried his competition in a breathtaking performance filled with the promise of more majors to come.

"I felt like I got over the Masters pretty quickly. I kept telling you guys that, and I don't know if you believed me or not. But here you go," McIlroy said, gesturing to the shiny prize on the table. "Nice to prove some people wrong."

Four days of flawless golf finally ended when McIlroy polished off a 2-under 69 to shatter U.S. Open records that simply defy logic at the major known as the toughest test in golf.

The combined scores of the last 10 U.S. Open champions were 14-under par.

McIlroy was 16 under.

He finished eight shots ahead of Jason Day, whose score of 8-under 276 would have been enough to win 26 of the last 30 U.S. Opens.

"It's just phenomenal golf," Day said. "He lapped the field, and for such a young age, how mature he is. Golf right now is in a really, really good spot where Rory McIlroy is right now."

McIlroy nearly holed an impossible putt from the front of the 18th green to within a foot, and it was then he finally saw his father. He smiled and shook a clenched fist, and after tapping in for par, walked off the green and into his arms.

"Happy Father's Day," McIlroy told him.

It was the second straight U.S. Open title for the tiny country of Northern Ireland, and defending champion Graeme McDowell walked back across the bridge to the 18th green to embrace the new winner.

"You're a legend," McDowell told him.

Not many would dispute that now, not after a week like this.

Golf had been looking for a star ever since Woods' personal life and formidable game spiraled out of control 18 months ago. This was supposed to be the "U.S. Wide Open" because parity had taken over.

McIlroy, who goes to No. 4 in the world, now stands above everyone going into the final two majors of the year.

"Nothing this kid does ever surprises me," McDowell said. "He's the best player I've ever seen. I didn't have a chance to play with Tiger when he was in his real pomp, and this guy is the best I've ever seen. Simple as that. He's great for golf. He's a breath of fresh air for the game, and perhaps we're ready for golf's next superstar.

"And maybe," he said, "Rory is it."

This was more than just one major. It was the way McIlroy decimated the field with a golf swing so pure that he made had only four holes worse than par all week.

McIlroy finished at 268 to break the U.S. Open record by four shots. That record 12-under par by Woods at Pebble Beach? McIlroy matched it in the second round and kept right on rolling.

"I couldn't ask for much more, and I'm just so happy to be holding this trophy," McIlroy said. "I know how good Tiger was in 2000 to win by 15 in Pebble. I was trying to go out there and emulate him in some way. I played great for four days, and I couldn't be happier."

He even tried to be like Woods in the final round, showing no mercy on those chasing him.

McIlroy opened with an 8-foot birdie and never let anyone get closer to him the rest of the day. Even when he made his first bogey of the final round at No. 12 that trimmed his lead back to eight shots with six holes to play, he wasn't happy. Woods kept his focus at Pebble Beach by trying not to drop a single shot. That's what the kid was trying to do.

"I was trying to go out and trying to make no mistakes, and really not give anyone a chance to catch me," McIlroy said.

When he arrived for his press conference, he took a picture of the silver U.S. Open trophy on the table and posted it on Twitter with two references that said it all: Winning. Bounceback.

"Going back to Augusta this year, I felt like that was a great opportunity to get my first major. It didn't quite work out," McIlroy said. "But to come back straightaway at the U.S. Open and win, that is nice. You can always call yourself a major champion, and hopefully after this, I can call myself a multiple major champion."

Since the Masters began in 1934, McIlroy is the second youngest major champion next to Woods.

Day, a 23-year-old from Australia, closed with a 68 and was runner-up for the second straight major. Unlike the Masters, however, Day didn't have a chance. No one did this week.

McIlroy opened with a three-shot lead, stretched it to six shots after 36 holes and eight shots going into the final round. No one got any closer over the final 18 holes.

Tributes poured in throughout the steamy afternoon outside the nation's capital — first from the players he beat, then from Jack Nicklaus and ultimately from Woods.

"What a performance from start to finish," Woods said in a statement. "Enjoy the win. Well done."

Nicklaus invited McIlroy to lunch last year in Florida and talked to him about how to close out tournaments. He apparently wasn't listening when he took a four-shot lead into the final round of the Masters, only to implode on the back nine and shoot 80.

"I didn't think it was going to happen again, and it hasn't," Nicklaus said by telephone to NBC Sports. "I think this kid's going to have a great career. I don't think there's any question about it. He's got all the components. He's got a lot of people rooting for him. He's a nice kid. He's got a pleasant personality.

"He's humble when he needs to be humble, and he's confident when he needs to be confident."

Just think: If he had avoided the collapse at Augusta National, he could be headed to Royal St. George's for the British Open with the first two legs of the Grand Slam.

Among the records he set in a U.S. Open unlike any other:

— The 72-hole record at 268.

— The 54-hole record at 199.

— The 36-hole record at 131.

— Most under par at any point at 17 under.

— Quickest to reach double digits under par — 26 holes when he got to 10 under in the second round.

McIlroy also tied Woods' record for a six-shot lead at the halfway point, and he joined Lee Janzen in 1993 and Lee Trevino in 1968 as the only players to post all four rounds in the 60s.

Some of that had to do with Congressional, which was softened by rain and cloud cover. The USGA did nothing to try to protect par, moving tees forward to tempt players to take on some risk. The result was a whopping 32 rounds under par on Sunday. The previous record of 18 final rounds under par was at Baltusrol in 1993.

But there is no denying that one guy played far better than anyone else — eight shots better. McIlroy became the first player since Woods in 2002 at Bethpage Black to go wire-to-wire in the U.S. Open without ties, and his best might still be ahead of him.

"I think he's still growing, and it's just scary to think about it," said Y.E. Yang, who played in the final group the last two days.

Amid the celebration of McIlroy came growing concern about the state of American golf. For the first time since the Masters began in 1934, Americans have gone five majors without winning. They were on the verge of being shut out of the top three for the fourth time in the last five majors until Yang made bogey on the last hole for a 71.

That put the South Korean into a tie for third with PGA Tour rookie Kevin Chappell (66), Robert Garrigus (70) and Lee Westwood (70).

"It says, I think, that the Americans struggle a little bit," PGA champion Martin Kaymer said. "Since Tiger has been on a — how you do say? — little down, nothing has really happened. We've just become so much stronger."

The game also is getting much younger.

McIlroy became the fourth straight player in his 20s to win a major, the longest such streak since 1897.

The drama Sunday was not who would win, but by how many.

There was simply no catching McIlroy, not when he was staked to an eight-shot lead while playing flawless golf, not on a soft course that allowed him to hit wedge into six greens on the front nine.

With chants of "Let's go, Ror-eee" coming from the massive gallery, and teenagers climbing pine trees to see golf's bright new star, McIlroy came out firing with a wedge that settled 8 feet from the pin for an opening birdie.

Twice when he faced putts from across the green, he holed 7-footers for par. He stretched his lead to 10 shots, and when he made the turn, his tee shot on the par-3 10th rolled down the slope and stopped inches away from an ace.

The way his week had been going, it was shocking not to see it fall.

Players Championship - An Early Battle

2011-05-11T06:14:00.000-05:00

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Miserable drive pushed left. Even more miserable, it hit a tree and bounced straight down in rough. Most miserable of all, he had a nasty lie and a whopping 251 yards to the front of the green at the par 5 16th.

Hey, it was a practice round, right? Pick it up and toss it in the fairway, right?

Wrong.

It was a practice day, but this was no practice round. It was Tuesday, but it may as well have been Sunday with the Players Championship on the line. So Phil Mickelson settled over his shot and took a mighty swipe, trying his best to chase something down the fairway and toward the green.

And just what was consuming Mickelson’s attention on a quiet Tuesday at the Stadium Course? The fact that he and Jeff Overton were locked in a fierce match against Dustin Johnson and Steve Marino, that’s what. It was a rematch of a battle waged at Whistling Straits during last summer’s PGA Championship; Mickelson and Overton won that one, but if they were going to repeat, they were going to have to scramble because things were not good here at the 16th.

Oh, did we mention that a few dollars were at stake? Nothing that would match this week’s purse, mind you, but surely this was not a $5 Nassau.

“Guys just don’t do this anymore,” said Butch Harmon, walking along to keep tabs on two of his guys, Mickelson and Johnson. “But this is good. You get to work on what you’re going to face in competition.”

Having been 2 up when Overton birdied the par 5 11th, Mickelson’s team was now in full hang-on mode. Marino had birdied the 12th to get one hole back and now here at the 16th, Johnson was the only one to reach the green in two. That pretty much put the pressure squarely on Overton, for after carving a second shot out of that nasty lie, Mickelson left his third shot short of the green and wasn’t in position to make birdie.

From a greenside pot bunker, Overton hit a terrific shot to 8 feet. But with Johnson already in for birdie, Overton could not convert, so the match was all square.

“It keeps everything fun, makes you grind and hit some golf shots,” Johnson said.

The tall and lanky one from Myrtle Beach did just that at the 17th, his wedge to the island green coming to rest some 20 feet behind the hole. Marino then went long and into the water. Mickelson followed with a similar shot, much to his dismay. And that left things on Overton’s shoulders, which is why on a quiet Tuesday practice round he backed off his tee shot not once, but twice, before also finding the putting surface.

Clutch stuff, eh?

“Hey, we don’t play a lot of team golf,” Overton said, “so it’s fun to do this, to get together and talk some smack.”

Chances are, you couldn’t have found this sort of action anywhere else at the Stadium Course. That’s because the business attitude has blanketed the tour, so many players following a ritual and a blueprint that calls for workout regimens, practice range time, couch work with the shrink, and appointments with the short-game coach, the putting coach, the full swing coach, the hybrid coach.

“But what these guys are doing,” Harmon said, “is what guys used to do all the time.”

Only thing is, with outrageous sums of money available, players don’t need the cash games like they once did, which is why guys such as Mickelson, Overton, Johnson, and Marino gravitate to one another. With Mark Calcavecchia on the Champions Tour, John Huston rarely in action, Paul Azinger somewhere riding his motorcycle, and John Daly more about selling merchandise out of his motor home than reviving his game, there are fewer and fewer candidates around to have matches like what Mickelson & Co. had at Whistling Straits at last summer’s PGA Champship. On that day, Overton matched Johnson’s birdie at the 17th to keep the match even and Mickelson birdied 18 to win.

The rematch was scheduled for Augusta, only rain washed it out. So it was agreed by all that early Tuesday of Players Championship week they’d gather at the first tee to continue the fun.

Fun, of course, being a relative term when competitive juices are flowing. At the par 5 11th hole, for instance, Overton missed the green to the left with his second shot and discovered casual water. He marked, inspected his options for so long, that Marino finally walked over.

“What’s going on? I’ve got to check on you,” Marino said.

At the par 3 13th, Mickelson was short of the green and pitched to 4 feet, then marked his ball. Conferring with Overton over a sliding 12 foot putt, Mickelson saw it moving to the left, his partner agreed, then rolled it. But he played far too much break and when it did move left, it took a slope, and rode hard down into a bowl some 40 feet away.

“Not quite that much,” Mickelson said, shaking his head.

No such problems at the 17th, because Overton cooly two-putted the island green to match Johnson, sending the competition to the 18th hole.

If you’re thinking the scenario was gift-wrapped for Mickelson, you’re right. He drove through the fairway and came to rest beneath a small tree. But after Johnson went long and Overton was short with easier shots, Mickelson did what Mickelson does best – created some magic. He hit a hard, low shot that hit short of the green and almost on cue from his urging it to “hop up there,” the ball did just that, then rolled right of the hole, turned left, and came to rest 12 feet away.

Johnson missed his birdie try, Overton covered that par, and no matter that it was just a practice round, Mickelson had the stage to himself.

And made the putt?

“Of course,” Johnson said, shaking his head.

So, it was sort of a repeat of Whistling Straits, eh, with Mickelson making birdie at the final hole to win?

“Let’s not talk about that,” Marino said.

But on a sultry practice day with so little going on, it was the only stuff worth talking about.

Golf Legend Ballesteros Dies

2011-05-07T07:03:00.000-05:00

MADRID -- Seve Ballesteros, a five-time major champion whose passion and gift for imaginative shot-making invigorated European golf and the Ryder Cup, has died from complications of a cancerous brain tumor. He was 54.

A statement on Ballesteros' website early Saturday said the golf great died peacefully at 2:10 a.m. local time, surrounded by his family at his home in Pedrena, in northern Spain.

Ballesteros, a two-time Masters champion and three-time winner of the British Open, was as inspirational in Europe as Arnold Palmer was in America, a handsome figure who feared no shot and often played from where no golfer had ever been.

Headlines such as "The Inventor of Spanish golf" and "Life of a Legend" were splashed across Spanish media websites as fellow golfers, athletes and figures from around the world paid tribute.

George O'Grady, the chief executive of the European Tour, said Ballesteros was the inspiration behind the tour.

"This is such a very sad day for all who love golf," O'Grady said on the tour website.

"Seve's unique legacy must be the inspiration he has given to so many to watch, support, and play golf, and finally to fight a cruel illness with equal flair, passion, and fierce determination. We have all been so blessed to live in his era. He was the inspiration behind the European Tour."

Spanish golf federation president Gonzaga Escauriaza said Ballesteros, an "icon" of Spanish golf, transformed the sport.

"Severiano Ballesteros was a unique, unrepeatable person," Escauriaza said. "We have to recognize we are where we are now, that golf is a popular sport ... in large part to Severiano Ballesteros. We all owe him a lot."

No. 1-ranked Lee Westwood wrote on Twitter: "It's a sad day. Lost an inspiration, genius, roll model, hero and friend. Seve made European golf what it is today. RIP Seve."

In a long list of spectacular shots, perhaps the most memorable came from a parking lot next to the 16th fairway at Royal Lytham & St. Annes in the 1979 British Open. Leading by two shots in the final round, he drove his ball into the lot, had a car removed to get his free drop, then fired his second shot to 15 feet and made birdie on his way to his first major.

"He was a man who got into trouble. Only for Seve, there was no such thing as trouble," Gary Player once said. "He could manufacture shots like a genius."

His last challenge came from an unbeatable foe -- cancer.

Ballesteros fainted in a Madrid airport while waiting to board a flight to Germany on Oct. 6, 2008, and was subsequently diagnosed with the brain tumor. He underwent four separate operations, including a 6 1/2-hour procedure to remove the tumor and reduce swelling around the brain. After leaving the hospital, his treatment continued with chemotherapy.

Ballesteros looked thin and pale while making several public appearances in 2009 after being given what he referred to as the "mulligan of my life." He rarely was seen in public since March 2010, when he fell off a golf cart and hit his head on the ground.

His few appearances or public statements were usually in connection with his Seve Ballesteros Foundation to fight cancer. He wanted but was unable to take part in a champions exhibition at St. Andrews in the British Open.

Such was his stature, even out of the public eye, that European players celebrated his most recent birthday -- the Saturday of the Masters -- as if it was a national holiday.

For such greatness, his career was relatively short because of back injuries.

Ballesteros won a record 50 times on the European tour, his first as a 19-year-old in the Dutch Open, his last when he was 38 at the 1995 Peugeot Open in his native Spain. That also was his last year playing in the Ryder Cup, where he had a 20-12-5 record in eight appearances. He was captain in 1997 when Europe won at Valderrama.

"He did for European golf what Tiger Woods did for worldwide golf. The European Tour would not be where it is today if not for Seve Ballesteros," Nick Price, whose brother died from the same problem last year, said from a Champions Tour event in Alabama. "His allegiance to the European Tour was admirable. The guy, he was an icon, just an incredible golfer."

Ballesteros was the reason the Ryder Cup was expanded in 1979 to include continental Europe, and it finally beat the United States in 1985 to begin more than two decades of dominance. While others have played in more matches and won more points, no player better represents the spirit and desire of Europe than Ballesteros.

Mark Calcavecchia, winner of the British Open in 1989, was awed by some of the shots Ballesteros produced.

"The best imagination. The best short game. You never really knew where he was going to hit it," he said.

"I think I played him twice in the Ryder Cup. I'm pretty sure I never beat him in a match. He was certainly awesome, and really very charismatic."

Ballesteros announced his retirement in a tearful press conference at Carnoustie before the 2007 British Open. Ballesteros had returned to Augusta National that year to play the Masters one last time, but shot 86-80 to finish last. After turning 50, he tried one Champions Tour event, but again came in last.

His back was ailing, his eyes were no longer as lively, and his best game had left him years earlier.

"I don't have the desire," said Ballesteros, who remained active in golf after he stopped playing regularly, mainly through golf course design.

His desire was as big a part of his game as any shot he manufactured from the trees, the sand -- just about anywhere.

Born April 9, 1957 in the tiny town of Pedrena, Spain, he learned golf with only one club -- a 3-iron -- that forced him to create shots most players could never imagine.

Ballesteros first gained major notoriety at 19 in the final round of the British Open at Royal Birkdale, where he threaded a shot through the bunkers and onto the green at the 18th hole, finishing second to Johnny Miller and in a tie with Jack Nicklaus.

"He invented shots around the green," Nicklaus said in the weeks before Ballesteros was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1999. "You don't find many big hitters like him with that kind of imagination and touch around the green. He's been a big inspiration to golf in continental Europe, more than anyone has."

Ballesteros went on to win the Order of Merit on the European tour that year, the first of six such titles. Two years later, he won the first time he teed it up in America, a one-shot victory at the Greater Greensboro Open.

Partly because of his humble roots, partly because of his Spanish blood, Ballesteros always played as though he had something to prove. Even after some called him "Car Park Champion" for his shot at Lytham when he won the 1979 British Open, the Spaniard showed that was no fluke when he arrived at Augusta National the next year.

He obliterated the field in the 1980 Masters, much like Tiger Woods did in 1997. Applying his genius to a course built for imagination, Ballesteros took a seven-shot lead into the final round and led by 10 at one point until he started spraying tee shots and won by four. Even so, at 23 he was the youngest Masters champion until Woods won at age 21.

Ballesteros won the Masters again in 1983, and he was equally dominant in golf's oldest championship. He won the British Open in 1984 at St. Andrews over Tom Watson, then won again at Lytham in 1988 by closing with a 65 -- the best score of the tournament -- to beat Price and Nick Faldo.

His career was marked by nasty disputes with European tour officials and PGA Tour officials. He quit the European tour in 1981 in a disagreement over appearance money, the only year he missed the Ryder Cup. He became angry with PGA Tour commissioner Deane Beman in 1985 for not playing the required 15 events for membership.

Despite his five majors and 87 titles around the world, Ballesteros forever will be linked to the Ryder Cup. He developed an "us against them" attitude that became infectious with what had been an inferior European team. He made his teammates believe.

Ballesteros was headed for defeat in 1983 at PGA National, his ball beneath the lip of a bunker, some 245 yards from the green, when he lashed a 3-wood to the fringe and escape with a halve against Fuzzy Zoeller. The Americans narrowly won, but the Ryder Cup was never the same after that year -- and perhaps after that shot.

"His desire to beat the Americans was paramount, and probably the reason they beat us," Watson said. "The Ryder Cup became the focus of world golf, and Seve was right there as the leader."

He teamed with Jose Maria Olazabal to become the most formidable partnership in Ryder Cup history, producing an 11-2-2 record. In his final Ryder Cup, at Oak Hill in 1995, he was playing a singles match against Tom Lehman when Ballesteros drove wildly to the right.

A TV commentator said his only two choices were to pitch back to the fairway or play a big hook around a massive tree. Ballesteros studied his options, then hit over the green to the front of the green.

Such was the unpredictable nature of Ballesteros. There have not been many like him, if any at all.

"Seve is a genius, one of the few geniuses in the game," Ben Crenshaw once said. "The thing is, Seve is never in trouble. He's in the trees quite a lot, but that's not trouble for him. That's normal."

On Friday at the Spanish Open, Jose Maria Olazabal and Miguel Angel Jimenez -- good friends of Ballesteros' -- were in tears as they came off the El Prat golf course upon learning of Ballesteros' deteriorating state. Olazabal and Ballesteros combined to form one of the greatest Ryder Cup pairs in history.

"What he did in sport is unbelievable," top-ranked tennis player Rafael Nadal said on Friday. "These are tough moments."

Ballesteros and his wife Carmen divorced in 2004. They had three children together.

Observations of 3 Masters Champions

2011-04-12T12:19:00.001-05:00

As I sit here, I have no idea where to begin about this year’s Masters… that hasn’t already been said on every media source on the planet.

This was SUCH an interesting Masters and not just for probably the most exciting final round that I can remember…but also the multitude of side stories that went on.

From the Japanese players discipline and concentration while thousands lie dead at home, to the return of Amy Mickelson back to the Masters after her unfortunate illness. Freddy Couples great play in the first two days, only to be brought down by that nagging back.

Even the TV ratings made the news, while this year’s audience was down 13% from last years, I am sure it was not due to the play on Sunday, but more due to the huge audience that tuned in last year to see Tigers return to the links after his self imposed exile after single handedly destroying one of the most famous marriages in the world.

Maybe that’s where I will go with this….. the differences we saw between the new young sensations vs. the old young sensation.

Tiger, Charl & Rory

Despite Rory’s excellent play over three days and nine holes, his challenge, like so many other young players (since Tiger?) was denied….the grand course of golf beat Rory into submission, and what Augusta didn’t do, Rory did to himself… a classic melt down.

Tiger, especially on Sunday’s front nine showed life….but he also displayed the behavior that turned me off for years, the same behavior he swore he would never do again…. In his “determination” to be a better golfer, a better role model, a better person…etc.

We saw none of it.

Again he was not only disconnected with the gallery, he was icy cold, and removed from his fan base…. He has proven that he is still so self centered, he does not feel the need to repay, let alone acknowledge, those who supported him for years in buying into his endorsements, or those who cheered him on during the low time of his career.

Even in defeat, he refused to tip his hat (something he stated a person should ALWAYS do), he never complemented any players, instead he made excuses why he didn’t win.

On the flipside, Rory McIlroy granted and gave a great interview with Kostas…even though he looked drained and defeated in every aspect, he was gracious articulate and made no excuses…he even Tweeted a bit later: “Well THAT didn’t go to plan”…then went on to say “You have to lose before you can win” and “This day will make me stronger”.

Words of true class and a true champion… not the Champion of this Major…but he will win his share over the years to come, and it couldn’t happen to a better person.

I just saw another tweet from Rory this morning….as he was getting on the plane for next week’s Malaysian open, he found himself on the same plane with Charl Schwartzel and asked the new Masters Champ to have his picture taken with him! Then shared the photo to the world.

The Tweeted Image of Charl and Rory

Again, a class act, that typifies the fresh, mature attitude of a future Majors champion….something diametrically opposite of what the previous champion would have done.

If this is the direction professional golf is going, then I am all for throwing out the old and bringing in the new.

BREAKING NEWS! Common Sense Hits the PGA!!!!

2011-04-08T07:54:00.000-05:00

Who woulda thunk it???? I stated this should have been done many times and drew, lets just say, negative responses by Rules gurus who believe that "rules are rules" and should never be questioned.

Whereas our thought process is as the times and technology changes the scope of the game, so should the rules, in order to assure fairness for all. (see below announcement).

R&A, USGA revise decision on DQ for incorrect scorecard

FAR HILLS, N.J. -- The R&A and the USGA have announced a new interpretation of the rules that apply in limited circumstances not previously contemplated by the Rules of Golf where disqualifications have been caused by scorecard errors identified as the result of recent advances in video technologies.

This revision to Decision 33-7/4.5 addresses the situation where a player is not aware he has breached a Rule because of facts that he did not know and could not reasonably have discovered prior to returning his scorecard. Under this revised decision and at the discretion of the Committee, the player still receives the penalty associated with the breach of the underlying Rule, but is not disqualified.

In revising the decision, The R&A and the USGA confirm that the disqualification penalty still applies for scorecard breaches that arise from ignorance of the Rules of Golf. As such, this decision reinforces that it is still the responsibility of the player to know the Rules, while recognizing that there may be some rare situations where it is reasonable that a player is unaware of the factual circumstances of a breach.

This revision to Decision 33-7/4.5 is effective immediately.

"For some time we have been concerned that, in certain limited circumstances, disproportionate disqualification penalties have been required by the Rules," said Peter Dawson, chief executive of The R&A. "This carefully considered decision reflects our desire to ensure that the Rules of Golf remain fair and relevant in the changing environment in which the game is played today."

"This is a logical and important step in our re-evaluation of the impact of high-definition video on the game," said Mike Davis, executive director of the USGA. "We collectively believe that this revised decision addresses many video-related issues never contemplated by the Rules of Golf."

The complete language of the revised decision follows.

33-7/4.5 Competitor Unaware of Penalty Returns Wrong Score; Whether Waiving or Modifying Disqualification Penalty Justified

Q. A competitor returns his score card. It later transpires that the score for one hole is lower than actually taken due to his failure to include a penalty stroke(s) which he did not know he had incurred. The error is discovered before the competition has closed.

Would the Committee be justified, under Rule 33-7, in waiving or modifying the penalty of disqualification prescribed in Rule 6-6d?

A. Generally, the disqualification prescribed by Rule 6-6d must not be waived or modified.

However, if the Committee is satisfied that the competitor could not reasonably have known or discovered the facts resulting in his breach of the Rules, it would be justified under Rule 33-7 in waiving the disqualification penalty prescribed by Rule 6-6d. The penalty stroke(s) associated with the breach would, however, be applied to the hole where the breach occurred.

For example, in the following scenarios, the Committee would be justified in waiving the disqualification penalty:

A player makes a short chip from the greenside rough. At the time, he and his fellow-competitors have no reason to suspect that the player has double-hit his ball in breach of Rule 14-4. After the competitor has signed and returned his score card, a close-up, super-slow-motion video replay reveals that the competitor struck his ball twice during the course of the stroke. In these circumstances, it would be appropriate for the Committee to waive the disqualification penalty and apply the one-stroke penalty under Rule 14-4 to the player's score at the hole in question.

After a competitor has signed and returned his score card, it becomes known, through the use of a high-definition video replay, that the player unknowingly touched a few grains of sand with his club at the top of his backswing on a wall of the bunker. The touching of the sand was so light that, at the time, it was reasonable for the player to have been unaware that he had breached Rule 13-4. It would be appropriate for the Committee to waive the disqualification penalty and apply the two-stroke penalty to the player's score at the hole in question.

A competitor moves his ball on the putting green with his finger in the act of removing his ball-marker. The competitor sees the ball move slightly forward but is certain that it has returned to the original spot, and he plays the ball as it lies. After the competitor signs and returns his score card, video footage is brought to the attention of the Committee that reveals that the ball did not precisely return to its original spot. When questioned by the Committee, the competitor cites the fact that the position of the logo on the ball appeared to be in exactly the same position as it was when he replaced the ball and this was the reason for him believing that the ball returned to the original spot. As it was reasonable in these circumstances for the player to have no doubt that the ball had returned to the original spot, and because the player could not himself have reasonably discovered otherwise prior to signing and returning his score card, it would be appropriate for the Committee to waive the disqualification penalty. The two-stroke penalty under Rule 20-3a for playing from a wrong place would, however, be applied to the player's score at the hole in question.

A Committee would not be justified under Rule 33-7 in waiving or modifying the disqualification penalty prescribed in Rule 6-6d if the player's failure to include the penalty stroke(s) was a result of either ignorance of the Rules or of facts that the player could have reasonably discovered prior to signing and returning his score card.

For example, in the following scenarios, the Committee would not be justified in waiving or modifying the disqualification penalty:

As a player's ball is in motion, he moves several loose impediments in the area in which the ball will likely come to rest. Unaware that this action is a breach of Rule 23-1, the player fails to include the two-stroke penalty in his score for the hole. As the player was aware of the facts that resulted in his breaching the Rules, he should be disqualified under Rule 6-6d for failing to include the two-stroke penalty under Rule 23-1.

A player's ball lies in a water hazard. In making his backswing for the stroke, the player is aware that his club touched a branch in the hazard. Not realizing at the time that the branch was detached, the player did not include the two-stroke penalty for a breach of Rule 13-4 in his score for the hole. As the player could have reasonably determined the status of the branch prior to signing and returning his score card, the player should be disqualified under Rule 6-6d for failing to include the two-stroke penalty under Rule 13-4. (Revised)

Dan Quayle Supports Obama's Golf Habit

2011-03-30T10:27:00.000-05:00

I saw this in the news the other day....

"Dan Quayle stepped up to defend President Obama and his right to play golf. Donald Trump, who is considering running for president in 2012, criticized Obama for playing golf while there is a crisis in Japan. However, Quayle, a dedicated golfer himself, said that the president can find time to play golf while running the country."

I would never use this forum as a tool to share my political beliefs...but is it me? or does this seem like EXCELLENT material for Leno, or Letterman. Certainly they could get mileage out of this.... maybe golfer Rush Limbaugh did and I missed it?

And So it Begins.....

2011-03-23T09:30:00.002-05:00

Welcome to our new blogspot!

Since I am a complete "newbie" in the world of Blogness, I will ask you to be kind and forgiving as I fumble along the cart path of Blogland, in hopes to someday provide an actually informative, if not entertaining source for whats going on in the world of golf.

This includes current events in the PGA, LPGA, Nationwide and more....hopefully from a different angle. I will also try my best to let you know whats going on in the industry... new products, designs who's doing what...etc.

I will also editorialize in the same way many of you know me, for not mincing words; although I will refrain from profanity, as I see no reason to employ it to convey a thought....so this will remain "family friendly".

Lastly, I will occasionally share a bit of golf life here in my small corner of the world in eastern Iowa.

Here we go!