Prevalence Under Pressure!

Congratulations to Angel Cabrera on winning the Masters and his second major. It's true what they say about the Masters, "It all comes down to the back nine!"  The difference this year was that it all came down to the final two holes. Seventeen and eighteen favor a straight or left to right ball flight and I believe that really made all the difference in the outcome. The major players were Cabrera, Perry, Campbell and Mickelson. Cabrera was fading the ball comfortably all day, Perry and Campbell are known drawers of the ball and Lefty had his fade working. Mickelson attempted three draws on the back nine, all with poor results - tee ball @ 11 (trees), tee ball @ 12 (water) and tee ball @ 18 (bunker). Every other tee shot on the back nine played into his fade perfectly.

Perry and Campbell started to come unglued down the stretch with typical mistakes that drawers of the ball make - blocks and hooks.  They both hit a few of each and it was clear that the recent constriction of 17 and the fade required off 18 did not fit their eye. Now, they both hit the 18th fairway in the playoff, but the doubts raised by their earlier mis-steps remained and eventually proved to be their undoing.

Cabrera was a different story. His fade seemed to hold up when he needed it most (18 in regulation and the second at 10) and with a few saving par putts he was able to keep himself in the game. What a beautiful shot he hit into 10 for his second!

Here are a few points that caught my eye during yesterday's broadcast:

• A fade holds up better under pressure as there is less timing required
• There is no such thing as a perfect swing, only a functional one
• Never give up! No matter how many trees your ball hits you are never out of a hole
• Once the Tiger and Phil show ended it was nice to watch the Masters
• I like Billy Payne - I think he will do a great job for Augusta National
• Phil is now officially longer than Tiger (even when he fades it!)
• Tiger curses on live television more than anyone I have ever seen!
• I would like to play Augusta National every day!

Remember this - draws go further, but require more timing and are thus less consistent. Fades finish straighter, require less timing and are thus more consistent! Every good golfer I have ever taught is seeking consistency.

Welcome to my Blog!

Welcome to my blog and thanks for checking in with andrewricegolf.com! It is an exciting week on the golf calendar and I am honored to launch this site in conjunction with the first major of the year - the Masters! I would like to encourage anyone who loves the game and is keen on improving to subscribe to my RSS feed using any feed reader (even email!) by clicking on the subscribe button to the right. Every few days I will post on all things golf - with a definite slant toward swing mechanics and philosophy (sounds intimidating doesn't it?).  Many of you who know me, know that I am not a fan of deeply complex or intricate swing jargon (what with being fairly simple minded and all!) and will thus strive to keep it real - real as in, this is something that is simple to do, easy to comprehend, and it works!

I will also sound off on my opinions pertaining to course architecture (old school rules!), teaching technology, PGATour players (these guys do not know how good they have it!), where golf is headed (?), fantasy golf, golf fashion (beware the white shirt and khaki brigade...) and a quandry of other meaningless topics that include the word golf.

My thoughts on the changes at Augusta National and the Masters are echoed here in this quote from Ben Crenshaw:

(I hope that Billy Payne will slowly get the course back to the old risk-reward beauty that it used to be!)

The old Augusta was a tightrope, where risks were encouraged but a fall could hurt. "You always felt at Augusta you could take a chance on something, whether it was a tee ball or a second shot," Crenshaw says. "You had more room to play, and more people could play dangerously. It was totally different from any challenge in the world." To Crenshaw, the narrowing of the fairways from the equivalent of wide boulevards to country lanes altered things dramatically. "The second cut on lots of holes—that's first and foremost, because the course went from here to like this," he says, moving his hands very close together. "I think they needed to do something in the way of length, [but] I wouldn't have constricted it as much.

"There is no question it has become more of a defensive proposition," he continues. "The thing that set Augusta apart forever is that it's exciting and theatrical. People would pull off shots, but the flip side of that is that if you failed—and Jones wrote about this—it would tax you mentally. If you failed, it had a big effect on you. All I remember is how I felt there as a player [in my prime]. I hope the guys today are doing the same gyrations that we did. That, to me, is the question.

Thanks for reading and I hope to hear your comments!