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Mickelson is Master again! (AP)

Eighteen of the last nineteen years the winner has come from the final group out on Sunday at the Masters; Tiger has never won a major championship when coming from behind on a Sunday; Phil has three majors while Westwood only has a handful of close calls; we should have seen it all along – this was Phil’s event to win or lose and when he grabbed the event event by the scruff of the neck on the 13th hole Sunday with an emphatic six iron from the trees, he showed he had clearly opted for a courageous and thrilling victory!

While watching the broadcast I could not help but think back to the “old” days when players had legitimate shots at making eagles and birdies on the inward nine that always made for the most exciting finish in golf. The difference this year was that players seemed to have that ability on the front nine as well. I eventually lost track of all the eagles being made in my giddy stupor over how much fun this golf tournament was to watch. From the freak pine stamen event on the second green, to Tiger’s hole out on the 7th, to the most fun sand shot I have ever seen (Westwood, also at the 7th) the front nine gets my vote as the most thrilling nine holes of any major championship in recent memory.

If only the powers that be at Augusta National could comprehend how much the golf community enjoyed seeing Couples, Watson and Langer have a chance; how much we enjoyed watching the youthful passion of Anthony Kim shoot 31 on the back  to be in with a chance; and most of all some of the memorable shots that were played from the most improbable places on the golf course. This course set up, coupled with the near perfect conditions, made for a Masters of old - one where the roars replaced the groans and red replaced black on the large manually operated scoreboards. Please keep this balance between difficulty and achievability because it was so much better than what the last few years have held. Who cares what the winning score is? A week from now no one will remember. You got it right this year (with a little help from Mother Nature!).

Here are a few interesting points I noticed:

Choi and Woods were in sync all week (Tielemans/SI)

• KJ and Tiger played together all four days and matched each other on the scorecard every day. I wonder when the last time that happened was?
• The Phil Mickelson “pine stamen” incident on the 2nd green was the freakiest thing I have ever seen on a putting green – watch the footage here. Bobby Jones always spoke about destiny; what did this mean? Absolutely nothing in the end.
• Jason Dufner birdied the last three holes (16, 17 and 18) on Friday to make the cut at +3!
• When Anthony Kim gets hot lookout! I doubt if there are many players, Tiger included, who can match him shot for shot.
• Sergio Garcia scored 154 (+10) on the weekend in perfect conditions. Whaat? How can a golfer with such talent underachieve so well? It must be due to the fact he is playing against more than just the other golfers in the field each week…. Bad, bad attitude.
• It was good to see Adam Scott and Trevor Immelman hang in over the weekend and both finish in the top twenty.
• Y.E. Yang is a tough customer and never even got a glimpse or a mention – even after a solid 70 and another top ten finish in a major.
• Matteo Manassero is a name that we will be hearing for a very long time time. Not only did he post an excellent final score, but he did exceptionally well in most of the stat categories. He hit the second most fairways for the week!
• I find myself completely unable to root for Tiger Woods.

Stats for the top five finishers: (out of 49 players who made the cut)

Driving Distance

Mickelson 2nd / Westwood 6th / Kim 38th / Choi 42nd / Woods 19th

GIR

Mickelson 5th / Westwood 1st / Kim 10th / Choi 4th / Woods 17th

FIR

Mickelson 45th / Westwood 43rd / Kim 46th / Choi 24th / Woods 38th

Total Putts

Mickelson 13th / Westwood 36th / Kim 6th / Choi 5th / Woods 3rd

Quote of the Day goes to Phil Mickelson when asked about the difference between a great shot and a smart shot:

A great shot is one that you pull off and a smart shot is the one you hit when you don’t have the guts try it!

A Friend in Need..... (Getty)

Complete Final Leaderboard

Putt Like Phil by Dave Stockton Sr. (Phil’s new putting coach)

What’s in Lee Westwood’s bag

This Masters Week was Hard to Beat by John Steinbreder

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.

The Cover Shot

It has been a long road, but “It’s All About Impact” is finally with the editor and should be ready to go to the printer in 30 days if all goes according to plan.  Cindy Whitman, my editor has encouraged me to take a look at my writing and after she is finished tweaking and “grading” my work this book will be something that every golfer needs to have - a book that is completely true to it’s name, a book that really is all about impact!

This book has been written to show all golfers’ what style elements they can do without and what functional elements are integral to soundly struck golf shots.  What is pretty and what works?  Forget about form and focus all your attention on two simple keys that make all the difference in the world.  The same two keys that every great golfer has had in their golf swing – no matter how different their swings might look!  This book is about ball compression; trapping the ball; squeezing the ball off the turf; ball striking and really not much else!  Yet it will help your iron play, driving, pitching, chipping, sand shots and even putting because the strike and impact is what great golf is all about.  If you can hit the ball correctly, it will go straighter and further, more consistently and I haven’t met a golfer who does not want that in their golf game.

Do you know what makes up a correct impact position?  The same position Padraig Harrington has been working to improve all year.  Do you know what the primary factors that influence impact are?  After reading this book you will have a clear picture and understanding of what is required to hit the ball like some of golf’s all-time greats.

  “It’s All About Impact – The Winners of Over 100 Majors Prove It” will be available as a presale at this website on September 30th, 2009.  All readers who purchase their copy as a presale will receive a signed edition and have their shipping charges (within the USA) covered.

 If you do not have enough time to work on your game; if you are overwhelmed by the amount of technical information about the golf swing; if you regard yourself as a feel player; if you have taken a golf lesson and only regressed and yet you still want to get better then this book has been written on your behalf.

The book will be released online in November 2009.

•  While Tiger is very good for golf I thought it was fantastic to see Y.E. Yang take him down yesterday (in a major and while playing with him!). What a gutsy display!  Congratulations to Y.E., his coach and my former teaching associate, Brian Mogg and all of South Korea!
• I believe the win at Hazeltine will be worth $25 million to Yang!  As the first Asian born golfer to win a major it certainly has the potential to be the most lucrative golf tournament ever won.
• Lee Westwood was the bridesmaid of 2009, similar to what Ernie Els experienced in 2000.  I do believe the nine logos he wears above the waist might pay him enough to get over the agony.
• If only the “Big Uneasy” (Ernie Els) could have made a putt this year. He very well might have won two majors…..
• I still believe that Tiger Woods is a strong-minded, modern day version of Seve Ballesteros.
• What’s the over/ under on days until Hank Haney is shown the door? I do not think he’ll see the light of 2010.

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