Andrew Rice Golf

Posts Tagged ‘tiger’

Anyone up for 36 holes....?

• Could there be many things better in life than getting up early on a beautiful day to play 18 or 36 holes with close friends on a really fun golf course?
• The weather is getting better here in South Carolina and we are catching glimpses of Spring being just around the corner. I get the sense that most golfers have a case of “cabin fever” due to the taxing winter we have all experienced and are desperate to get out and play a little golf. Nothing turns my mind more to golf than warmth and sunshine after a long, cold winter.
• Jim Furyk and Ernie Els have won on the PGA Tour the last two weeks – is it really 2010? Its starting to feel a bit like old times. Even Vijay and KJ Choi have been playing better lately!

Tiger Woods

• As I’m sure you all know Tiger Woods is playing at Augusta. Tiger has surprised us all in many ways throughout his career, but this move truly puzzles me. I had always been under the impression that the man in the red shirt was about winning major championships, yet coming back at the Masters, instead of getting an additional prior event under his belt, tells me this is more about image and self preservation than major championship victories. What chance does he have of winning – really? By not playing at Bay Hill and starting at Augusta National he has said to me that he would rather preserve what is left of his “aura” (with substantial help from the good people in the green jackets!) than give himself another opportunity to get one notch closer to Jack.

• An interesting note from the Tavistock Cup – Elin was present without Tiger at the lavish party thrown for participants and sponsors at Isleworth last night. Tiger was practicing at Augusta yesterday so read whatever you want into that.
• My picks for Augusta currently are Phil and the Goose. Lefty has been very quiet lately but that frequently has no bearing on his play in the majors and the Goose has been resurgent with his new belly putter. The course suits his big power game and I really think he might do something there this year.
• If anybody out there would like a golf lesson to “dust the rust” from their frigid golf games please give me a call at  (843)247-4688 if you are within reach of South Carolina or if not, shoot me a video via www.v1golfacademy.com where I am listed as a V1 instructor. The cost for video lessons via V1 is $40 and turnaround time is 48 hours. I would appreciate the opportunity to help make 2010 a great year for golf.
• A recent quote from a golfer who purchased “It’s All About Impact”

“I have now read through your book, It’s All About Impact, twice. It is very well-done with good, understandable explanations, and the photos illustrate well and definitely define “a picture is worth a thousand words”! I had actually played Monday and just focusing on the 84 degrees and impact made a noticeable difference with balance and actual ball contact. I still have a way to go to get the correct divot but it sure seemed to simplify thoughts. I actually started hitting with more distance without trying due to the more solid contact. Every day is a different day but this sure helps consistency. Thanks!!” DB

 

I hope “It’s All About Impact” can do the same for you and your golf this year!

Please feel free to contact me with any golf queries, questions or ideas you may have. And thanks very much for reading!

That’s all she wrote!  The 2009 “official” golf season is in the books and while there were glimmers of excitement, I felt like the year was not one to write home about.  Here are a few thoughts:

• Tiger Woods eclipsed the $10 million mark again – Steve Stricker, his nearest challenger was more than $4 million behind!

Steve Stricker

• No majors for Tiger.  If he does not win at Augusta next year I predict Hank Haney will be looking for some new students.
• Biggest surprises in the top 20 on the money list: Kevin Na; Z. and D. Johnson; Y.E. Yang; Brian Gay; Lucas Glover.
• How about this list of golfers outside the top 125: Chris DiMarco; Carl Pettersson; Stuart Appleby; Rocco; Chez Reavie; Johnson Wagner; Trevor Immelman; Ken Duke and multiple other tour winners.
• The highest finish on the money list for a golfer playing fewer than 10 events: Tom Watson who finished 114th after playing only 2 events.
• Brian Gay and Zach Johnson had breakout years.  Zach Johnson, in particular, showed that he has the potential to be a top 5 in the world player.

Brian Gay

• Kenny Perry, Phil and Steve Stricker had big years. They all won multiple times, but could not win the all important major championship necessary to be able to begin to challenge TW.
• Rickie Fowler will be at the final stage of Q-school. His haul of $570,000 in three events was not enough to earn a card.  There is a good crop of exciting young bombers who should get on tour for 2010 – look for Fowler, Lovemark or Stanley to make a minor splash.
• Watney, Casey and Geoff Ogilvy faded badly after promising starts.
• Furyk, Toms, Tim Clark and Els win the Close but No Cigar/Check Casher award for raking in tons of $$ without ever having the final say.  Furyk and Els seem to be making a habit of winning this annual award.

Tim Clark

• Players who Appeared Out of Nowwhere in 2009: Ross Fisher was the Robert Karlsson of 2008; Michael Bradley (where’d he come from?); Brian Gay; Mark Leishman; Matt Kuchar; James Nitties; and the biggest surprise of all Y.E. Yang.
• Players who Vanished into Thin Air in 2009, the “What was That Award?”: Aaron Oberholser (229); D. Hart (196); Shaun Micheel (180); Bart Bryant (167); and Trevor Immelman (156).
• The “UnderAchiever Award” nominees are: Vijay Singh; Aaron Baddeley; K.J. Choi; Anthony Kim and Adam Scott.

Aaron Baddeley

• The majors were a little uninspiring in 2009 with the winners being Cabrera, Glover, Cink and Yang.  With a little tweaking we could have had Kenny Perry, Phil Mickelson or a resurgent David Duval, the greatest victory of all time with Tom Watson at the Open and Tiger destroying all comers at the PGA.  I like the latter line up a little better.
• The greatest event of the year that never happened: The Barclays at Liberty National - Heath Slocum holed a par bomb on the 72nd hole to keep Tiger, Stricker, Ernie and Padraig in the club house and out of a text book 5-way playoff.
• Michelle Wie has finally won! Great news for both her and the sputtering LPGA.

Michelle Wie

• The longest hitter: Robert Garrigus (127).
• The straightest hitter: Joe Durant (182)
• GIR leader: John Senden (27)
• Best putter: Steve Stricker (2) I think this is a case for “drive for show and putt for dough!”
• Best Moment of the Year: Y.E. Yang’s birdie on the 72nd hole at Hazeltine in front of TW.

Y.E. Yang

• Classiest Player of the Year: Tom Watson at Turnberry.  It will be a long time before we see golf being played the way it was meant to be played, like the way Mr. Watson showed us.
• Worst Hole of the Year: The 72nd hole at Bethpage Black - when did you ever hear of a US Open Champion playing the final hole with a 6-iron and a wedge?

Bethpage Black #18

Predictions for 2010:

• Tiger wins a major after he boots HH (he goes it alone for awhile).
• Phil Mickelson makes a serious run at Tiger’s domination – he also wins a major!
• Ernie Els continues to make $$ and does not win a major – or any other US event.
• Tim Clark and John Senden win a PGA Tour event.
• Michelle Wie wins again.
• Annika Sorenstam plays more than one event on the LPGA tour.
• Lorena asserts herself as the queen of ladies golf – again!
• The LPGA tour actually finishes the season with the same commissioner it started the year with.
• Players who re-appear in the winner’s circle: Boo Weekley,  Jim Furyk, Sergio Garcia.
• The PGA Tour continues to struggle to find sponsors and finally agrees to lower purses at multiple events.
• The book “It’s All About Impact” becomes a hit and sells more copies than the publisher can print……;-)

Thanks for all your support this year.  Watch next week for a major Full Swing article.

Face On Camera Angle

• You do not need an expensive or HD video camera.  Anything with a shutterspeed of 1/1000th of a  second or higher should work nicely.  The camera I use every day runs $200!  Flip Video makes a functional and fun camera.
• A tripod is a must have!  And no, your golf bag is not a tripod! There are several small and lightweight tripods available that fit in a golf bag comfortably.  A tripod is important as it presents a steady image – any movement of the camera will render lines or reference points drawn on the screen useless.
• A good swing analysis software program is a must and I have found none better than the V1 Home system.  It allows you to compare swings side by side, draw lines (with angles!) and just about anything you could hope to do while viewing your swing.  Purchase and install this software on your computer and get to work!

Once you have the above items you are just about ready to begin.  When analyzing your swing it is very important that you establish a few rules and guidelines:

• Never over use your new technology! Remember you want to shoot lower scores, not make prettier swings.  Although the two might work hand in hand to a certain degree, never allow the look of your swing to take precedence over the function of your swing.  Only evaluate and analyze once a month.
• Make sure that your camera and tripod are placed in the same position every time.  Subtle changes here can result in large changes in the appearance of your swing.  Make sure that the tripod is positioned in the same fashion as the two photgraphs used in this post.
• It is very important for the ‘down the line position’ to be consistent.  Try to position the camera between the toes and the ball.  A little practice and you’ll have it down!

Down the Line Camera Position is Key

Get the correct equipment, record and analyze on a monthly basis, obey the guidelines you set out for yourself, and don’t try to be perfect – just better!

Things to Ponder:

• Is anybody overly excited about golf making it to the Olympics?  Ho hum…
• I find it interesting that the top three finishers from Firestone, Woods, Harrington and Allenby are the top three players after round one of the PGA.  Supports the saying that golfers make 80% of their money in 20% of their events!
• When will architects learn that you do not make a course (Hazeltine?) better by making it longer?  How about a little creativity? Anyone seen the 16th hole this week?
• I am not a fan of the way Tiger is playing his golf at the moment.  Greg Norman and Nick Faldo played golf the way it was supposed to be played.  Tiger seems to overpower the course and by blasting the ball everywhere, getting it up and down and making putts he continues to win.  Almost like a modern Seve Ballesteros!  Successful but not proper.
• Is John Daly up to his old tricks again?  I noted a WD next to his name yesterday.  Maybe it was just that recurring rib injury he suffered when someone took a picture of him in his backswing……..?
• I look for Tiger to continue to lead after round two (71) and for Phil to close the gap with a 67 of his own in the morning……

Thanks for reading and enjoy the PGA.

Butch Harmon

David Leadbetter

• Watching the AT&T on Sunday looked like the King (Tiger) was taking his young Prince (Kim) out for a little schooling.
• Anyone got an over under on the number of days before Carolyn Bivens is out as the LPGA commissioner?
• Why when a golfer sets up with their body aiming left it is an ‘open’ stance and when their clubface is aiming right it is an ‘open’ face?  Blame the Scots and single malt whiskey for that one.
• I have a feeling Paddy Harrington will be back in contention at next weeks ‘Open’ Championship.
• A claim could be made that Phil has choked away both majors so far this year!?

Hey, thanks for reading and please tell your friends about this amazing new website that is the latest and greatest golf blog in the whole wide world!!

One of the greatest choking hazards a golfer faces is a large lead with 18 or fewer holes to play.  And here’s why; any golfer within 8 strokes of you has a legitimate shot at catching you!  When a golfer get’s out in front they often start to play a different style of golf and we have all seen the results of this change – Norman in ‘96 Masters  (I could put multiple events for Norman here), Van de Velde in the ‘99 Open, Palmer with a 7 shot lead and 9 holes to go in the US Open at Olympic……

(Did you know – Jean Van de Velde’s ball crossed the burn 8 times on the 72nd hole of the ‘99 British Open!)

With a big lead the mind and approach tends to change and when that happens you are in big trouble.  Think of it this way – if you were competing in a one round event against all the players within 8 strokes of you, you could play relatively well, yet still lose to one or more of the players in that limited field by more than 8 strokes!  And that’s without any change in approach!

If you ever find yourself in a situation where you have a large lead (and I hope you do!) forget protecting and go out and play golf the way you played to get yourself in that position! Play the event as if it were a one round shootout and all the golfers are tied with you starting the round.  A golf tournament is a marathon; you can only play protective golf (and get away with it!) with three  or fewer holes to go.

A FURTHER UPDATE ON THE “RELEASE THE PUTTER” POST:

I thought the following two photographs might clarify the difference between a proper release of the putter and a non-release.

I hope the above pictures help to clarify any confusion that there might have been.  The furthest point from the axis of a pendulum travels the furthest.

Let the putter head swing!

U.S. Open Notes:

• Tiger and Hank snuck out to Bethpage Black yesterday following El Tigre’s amazing finish at the Memorial.  Just listening to the commentary gives you an idea of what it must be like to play in front of NY sports fans!
• Here is a great photo blog by Barton Silverman on Bethpage Black.  Gotta love the local flavor!
• This is an interesting article by John Branch about what it takes to play the Black.
• Golfweek has some great insight from the Columbus, Ohio Sectional qualifier.
• Jim McCabe writes a nice piece on what it’s like to try to make it to the U.S. Open
• How about this:  Steve Marino (26), Charley Hoffman (20), Charles Howell III (28) and Kevin Na (13) all failed to qualify for the U.S. Open.  They are all in the top 30 on the money list and will be watching on TV just like you and me…..Crazy! So much for a world class field.
• Well done to former student Kyle Stanley on qualifying for the U.S. Open for the second year in a row!

If you are ever in the Hilton Head area and are looking to go and catch some fish please look up my friend Capt. Christiaan Pollitzer on the Bulldog.  I fished with him yesterday and we caught 6 cobia and a red snapper amongst various other denizons of the deep!  I actually invited friends to a cobia dinner before we even left the dock – the man is a fishing legend!