Groovy
Tod Leonard, of the San Diego Union Tribune, wrote a great article about the size of the grooves on clubs (Click Here for a link to the article). The article described how the square grooves on the clubs are more forgiving on shots that lie in the rough. The larger grooves allow for more of the clubface to reach the ball, providing a solid shot.
It was refreshing to see Arnold Palmer, designer of SilverRock in La Quinta, take a strong stance on his opinion of the grooves, or the USGA’s lack of a rule against them. It would be great to see some fo the legends from other sports (i.e. baseball) stand up for the ingetrity of the game. Jack Nicklaus has also voiced his opinion on the issue, however he feels that the advancement of golf ball technology is more to fear.
The article goes on to show how driving accuracy hasn’t really mattered recently with Tiger Woods ranking 139th, Phil Mickelson ranking 160th, and Retief Goosen finishing 176th. I’ve been in the rough enough to know that I’d much rather not be there, so it would be nice to see that the pros put more of an emphasis on keeping it on the fairway and reward good shots.
O’Hern Knocks Woods Out of the WGC
Compliments of www.pga.com
Click Here for the Complete Article
02.23.2007 06:39 pm (ET)
MARANA, Ariz. (AP) — Tiger Woods’ winning streak is over no matter what tour he is playing.
Nick O’Hern became the first player to beat Woods twice in professional match play, losing a 3-up lead with eight holes to play before winning with a 12-foot par on the 20th hole after two gaffes by the world’s No. 1 player in the third round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.
Woods hit a wedge into 5 feet for birdie on the 18th hole to extend the match, and it appeared he would sneak off with a victory when he stood over a 4-foot birdie on the first extra hole. But he pushed it badly, then missed the green to the left on the 20th hole and chipped weakly to 15 feet.O’Hern blasted out of a bunker to 12 feet and made the par putt, sending Woods home a loser from a PGA Tour event for the first time since the Western Open in July.
Byron Nelson’s record of 11 straight tour victories in 1945 again looks as untouchable as ever.
Woods had won seven in a row — although the purity of the streak was in question because he had failed to win four times during that streak while competing on other tours — and he will have to start over next month in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Augusta, PGA Championship, or U.S. Open- The race to 8,000 has no winners
It’s a good thing the Guinness Book of World Records is updated frequently, otherwise readers would be mislead by gross inaccuracies when they came to the “Longest Golf Course in Major Championship History” section. Medinah, host of this year’s PGA Championship, will play to a distance 7,561, taking the place of the former record-holder(Whistling Straits)as the longest course in major championship history. And who knows- with the recent change in command at Augusta National, Medinah might even hold its position for a year or two. That is, of course, until the tournament returns to the Straits course in 2010 and they find a way to make the 18th hole even longer and less final-hole-of-a-major-championship-worthy than it already is.
The PGA, USGA, and members of Augusta will be faced with an interesting predicament in the coming years. It’s as though this decade has been a Cold War-style “space race”, with the different committees trying to see how much space they could actually cover with the golf course. It will be interesting to see which organization will allow its penis envy to force players into 8,000 yards worth of golf course.
At some point, the rapid increase in length will have to plateau in order to give the field a puncher’s chance. Regardless of technology, fitness, or performance enhancing drugs, there are limits to how far the golf ball can fly. I recently wrote that the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island is already more than the top players can handle if played from the tips(and I still believe that), but I’m already eager to see if all of the almost-8,000 yards are used for the PGA in 2012. I used to be an advocate of blood-bath style tournaments where the winning score was over par; while I still occasionally enjoy seeing a grown man cry during major championships, I’ve started to get bored when there are virtually no birdies on the course (See U.S. Open champ chipping-in for par on the 17th hole). If majors become as fun to watch as a Keanu Reeves movie, what’s the point in paying attention? Consequently, if people aren’t paying attention, are they even majors anymore?
Not that I condone gambling in any way, but as of the year 2010, I’ll set the over-under for distance of the longest major championship course in history at 7,745 yards.
Over or under? Which tournament will it be?
In the end it won’t matter- as long as the tournaments continue to destroy golf courses, limit birdies, and eliminate eagles, there won’t be any winners.
Europeans’ Ryder Cup run for Americans’ British Open dominance is not a fair trade
The following article is by Brandon Tucker, writer for TravelGolf.com.
Tiger Woods left his Sunday playing partner, European phenom Sergio Garcia, with trendy his yellow pants around his ankles by the third hole at Hoylake, thus continuing the United States’ dominance in their Open. Since John Daly won at St. Andrews in 1995, Americans have hoisted the jug all but twice.
Europeans however will be quick to point out their recent dominance in the Ryder Cup Matches, which are less than two months away. Since Justin Leonard’s Hail Mary putt in 1999 and the tasteless celebration that followed, Europe has won in 2002 and 2004, and the U.S. has been all but ruled out in 2006, thanks to a flawed selection system that rewards wins in weak fields over high finishes in majors.
From a U.S. standpoint, that’s a tradeoff I’d be more than content with. The Open Championship is a more legitimate test of golf and it’s still on European soil. Think about the system used in the Ryder Cup, featuring match play, best ball and alternate shot. Alternate shot? That doesn’t test “chemistry” or “teamwork,” it’s a gimmick. How much time - if ever - does any golfer really spend honing their alternate shot game? While there’s nothing more nerve-wracking than match play, best ball has little place and alternate shot has zero place in such an important international competition.
To make it a more credible team competition, the Ryder Cup format should be changed to something a little more similar to college and high school golf, at least one of the days. Have a day of stroke play. Take the top 10 scores on each side, add ‘em up and the winner gets a point per stroke differential. That would prove which team has the better top golfers - not whether J.J. Henry can bail out Chad Campbell’s poor approach shot.
While Europeans are a bit salty about the U.S. dominance in the Open Championship and Tour de France, they should point to things such as their triumphs in the World Cup this summer, efficient public transportation, better beer, strong currencies and nicer airports. I should also point out they need not worry about Michelle Wie winning the Evian Masters in France this week - or maybe ever.
Michelson Romps at Pebble
Phil went and grabbed another check Sunday, having an enjoyable romp at Pebble Beach on the final round going in with a 9 stroke lead. The television cameras actually caught him watching the windsurfers hit the waves off the 14th tee box. Nice….
Sunday, Pebble Beach, have a couple hundred grand waiting for you when your finished, can golf 7 or 8 over par and all those other poor saps are fighting it out for second place…..
This guys playing good, real good. But Tiger has taken a couple weeks off, so the early season showdown at La Costa is gaining some more intrigue.The last couple of years at the Accenture have been somewhat ho-hum as far as golf’sLuminaries go, seeing that Phil had an early exit last year, along with a lot of the higher seeds, so hopefully what we’ve seen this year bodes well for a semifinal or a final full of favorites.
Who knows? maybe even a Tiger Phil Showdown.