Pavin The Way

Corey Pavin is on his way back. He probably will never equal the success of his mid-90's run, especially with courses getting longer and longer each year, but he is also no longer a player who is totally off the radar. Pavin's name has been mentioned several times the season... at Shinnecock, in Reno, at Buick IV.

 

It would be great to see Pavin return to the winner's circle, and it's great to see him playing well again. One of my most memorable Ryder Cup moments is his chip-in on Saturday at Oak Hill in 1995. I hope that Pavin will continue to gain consistency and will be able to finish his regular tour career strong.

 

Hasn't Pavin been working with Butch Harmon?

 

A Small Distinction

I got to thinking about something on the back 9 today. For probably 10 years now, I've been stuck in the ever popular "trying to break 90" category. Oh, I've broken 90 on several occasions, but I'm talking about doing it on a regular basis. I got to thinking today, though, that maybe I'm playing as well as I will allow myself to play.

 

What I mean is that, for years, I have tried to play "bogey golf". I use bogey as my par and if I can play a round of golf by averaging a bogey on every hole, I basically go home happy. But the bottom line is that I can do that fairly consistently now, and so to play bogey golf shouldn't be good enough for me anymore. I need to train my mind to think par instead of bogey.

 

I realized this after making birdie on the 12th hole to get myself to "one under bogey" for the day. I left the hole thinking "if I can finish off the next 6 holes well, I'll shoot 89". I was, without realizing it, talking myself into making bogey on the next 6 holes instead of trying to push myself to par the next 6... or at least go into each hole trying to make par. Instead of thinking 89, I should have been thinking "I'm 11 over through 12. I'm on pace to shoot 83".

 

It's a small distinction, but one that I think I need to make in order to take my game to the next level.

 

My Brain Was Getting In The Way!

I've been working pretty hard lately on the mental side of my golf game. Although my scores haven't improved hardly at all in the past 3 or 4 years, I do see improvement in the parts of my game that were weaker years ago. As a result, I have decided that my brain is the reason why I haven't seen some more improvement in my scores. I have historically had a decent short game, but with the improvement of the full-swing part of my game, the short game seems to have left me. I'm somewhat of a feel player, and I think that if I can just concentrate more on the course, I should be able to get consistently in the low 80's.

 

Although my scores haven't shown it by being lower, thinking better on the course has helped me to avoid (so far) the occasional mid 90's scores that I would achieve when I had a bad hole or two and let it ruin what would normally be an average or above average round.

 

Perfect example: Yesterday I was 2 over through 5 holes (pretty good start for me) when I pushed a 5 wood out of bounds on a par 5 that does not set up well for me. I realized pretty quickly that I was not totally commited to the shot and should have backed away. Frustration did set in for that hole and the next, but I was able to come back with a par on the 8th, and finish with a decent 44. A month ago, I would have let the "bad luck" of hitting O.B. stay with me and would have probably finished with something like 47 or 48. But yesterday I was able to re-commit myself to the mental side of my game and finish up fairly well.

 

It's difficult for me right now. It's a long process and I'm nowhere near where I want to be yet. But if I want to improve as a golfer, I think this is ultimately the path I'm going to have to take to get there.

 

Good Job

This morning European Ryder Cup Captain Bernhard Langer made his two wildcard picks, choosing Colin Montgomerie and Luke Donald to round out the European squad. With Montgomerie, Langer gets some valuable veteran leadership and, I think, a man that the rest of the team will look up to. And with Donald, he gets a young gun who is playing extremely well at present. As a matter of fact, I look for Donald to make some very valuable contributions to the European cause. Let's just hope they aren't too valuable.

 

By the way, for anyone interested, here's a great history of the Ryder Cup Matches.

 

Jake Trout Not Floundering

Peter Jacobson fired a 2nd round 66 to take the lead in the year's final major, the Jeld-Wen Tradition. After winning the U.S. Senior Open earlier this year, if Jake could pull off another major this season, he would definitely prove his worth on the Champions Tour. It's great to see someone who takes the time to have fun on the golf course having so much success in the 3rd round of his career.

 

It's Good To Be King

Tiger Woods is apparently the best at everything. Even when he's in a (gasp!) slump, he's the best. The current speculation is who Tiger can be paired with in Alternate Shot at the Ryder Cup because he's the only one "talented" enough to get out of the trouble he gets into. Now wait a minute. There are talented golfers all over the world, professional and amateur, at least 30 who are serious contenders in any major tournament... and Tiger Woods is the only player out there good enough to get out of trouble?

 

I understand that he puts himself in some precarious situations out there, and there's no doubt he's a heck of a scrambler. But maybe the thing we should be looking at here is that the reason Tiger is the only one who can get out of those predicaments is because he's the only one who can get into those predicaments.

 

I know this will never happen, but if Tiger can't get his swing straightened out in time, perhaps Captain Sutton should consider sitting him out in the Alternate Shot. If no one else is "capable" of getting Tiger out of the trouble he gets into, he's just going to be a liability anyway.

 

Interesting Fact

This story on Golf.com reports that , even though neither will be playing, Vigay Singh would have taken over the #1 ranking next week if Tiger hadn't made a birdie on the 72nd hole of the WGC-NEC Invitational to put himself into a tie for 2nd place. I thought I was pretty good at math until I started following the World Golf Rankings.

 

I Don't Really Believe In Handicaps

At last count, my handicap was teetering somewhere between 18 and 20. I've come to the conclusion that I don't really believe in handicaps as it relates to golf, or any other sport for that matter. Of course, most sports don't have handicaps, so it's not an issue. I just don't feel that someone should be "rewarded" for not being as good as someone else. I would guess my boss, for instance, is somewhere around a 7-10 handicap. I shouldn't be given free strokes when we have a match just because I'm not as good at the game as him. It's only my fault if I'm not as good. He practices more than I do, he plays more than I do, so he should naturally be better. If I'm not willing to put in the time to become a better player, he shouldn't have to pay for it. It's up to me to rise to his level, not up to him to be brought down to mine.

 

I understand what handicaps are for. If I want to have a match with someone who is either better or worse than me, we can both take our handicaps and have a good, competitive round. But to me it's not competition if you're not truly playing at the same level. Do the Lakers give a few shots to the Bulls because the Bulls can't play at the same level as them? No. So why should my local Club Champion give me a few strokes? It's not fair, to me or to him. He's just the same as being penalized for being the better player, and I'm not going to have the drive to become a better player as long as I know I have my handicap to lean on.

 

I've never been much of a tournament golfer and I've just about decided that my dislike of handicaps is one of the main reasons why. I don't feel that I should even compete if I don't truly feel that I have a fair chance. If you can't win, don't play. And if I have to use my handicap to facilitate a victory, to me that's not a victory at all.

 

Who's The Best?

Well, not the best. I got to thinking while watching the tournament today that the media hasn't really latched onto anyone to take over the title of "Best Player Yet To Win A Major". They're too busy scrambling around wondering if the sky is falling because Tiger is no longer dominating the tour. So I guess it's up to me to figure it out.

 

If we go simply by the Official World Golf Rankings, Padraig Harrington is the only player in the top 10 without a major. If we instead look at the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index, Scott Verplank and Jerry Kelly could make a case as well. Has Jay Haas won a major? Sergio Garcia and Robert Allenby are right there on both lists, and if Chris DiMarco has another season like this one (and doesn't win a major), he could well be the one with the monkey on his back by the beginning of the 2006 season.

 

It's a tough call, but strictly from a "newsworthy" standpoint, I would guess that if the media made a pick tomorrow they would go with Sergio. He clearly exhibits a lot more fire that the rest of the candidates, and would openly relish the challenge if it were put upon him. So I guess I'm going to go with Sergio too. In the end, it's all just media hype. And as I said before, they have plenty to talk about right now anyway.

 

Speaking Of Sam...

Who would be considered the modern day Sam Snead?

 

With his course management skills and domination of the game, Tiger Woods has always drawn natural comparisons to Jack Nicklaus. Phil Mickelson has garnered comparisons to Arnold Palmer, because of his go-for-broke style and his recent popularity with fans.

 

Ernie Els could kind of be compared to Sam, with his long, lazy swing. But because of his global travel habits, Ernie could also draw comparisons to Gary Player. If you're talking about personality, it's hard to find someone in the modern game that would compare to Sam. He was a relentless competitor who hated to lose, much like Tiger. And he was also quite the gambler, kind of like Phil.

 

So, it looks like there's a little bit of Sam Snead in everyone. But you would be hard pressed to find any one person who can truly compare to the country boy from Hot Springs, VA.

 

Anything To Win

I was reminded this morning of a great Sam Snead story that I had heard several years back:

 

Sam was playing a round of golf one day with a young whipper snapper on a course he had played several times in his lifetime. They came to a hole, a nice dogleg par 5 with several tall trees hugging the fairway on the inside of the dogleg. Sam nonchalantly makes the comment that when he was younger he used to cut the dogleg over the trees to give himself a chance to get home in two. It would take a heck of a shot to clear the trees, but the youngster, not to be outdone, teed up his ball and proceeded to knock it directly into the forest.

 

The kid sheepishly turned to Sam and asked, "How in the heck did you ever clear those trees?"

 

Sam replied with a smile, "Son, when I was younger, those trees were a lot shorter than they are now."

 

Some of the details are probably off. I don't even know if it's true. But it's a darn funny story any way you look at it. You can't beat Slammin' Sammy.

 

What About Loopy?

How about that guy, huh? Jim Furyk is out of the game for about 3 months with wrist surgery, comes back to defend his U.S. Open crown, makes the cut, has had 2 top 10's in 4 events since, and is currently tied for 5th place after the first round of the WGC-NEC Invitational. This guy is a horse, and for all the naysayers who say that an unconventional swing can't hold up at the highest levels, I say BALDERDASH!!

 

Who's to say what the perfect swing is anyway? We're all individuals, and we all have a unique, natural golf swing. You see it all the time on tour. Someone wins a big tournament, like a major, and they subsequently go into a 2 year slump because they start tinkering with their swing to try to get more "on plane" or whatever. They try to fight nature because (I guess) they feel that a major winner should have a swing that looks more like Tiger's. Maybe we should all quit worrying about that elusive "perfect swing plane" and just go with the swing that the Big Man gave us.

 

The Sorta 7

Just discovered this great blog called 'SortaGolf'. Everyone else probably already knows about this great site as I'm usually the last one off the boat on this 'sorta' thing, but it deserves a mention anyway. Although I, for the most part, try to follow the rules of golf to the best of my ability, I can't help but appreciate the logic of 'The Sorta 7 Amendments To The USGA Rules Of Golf'.

 

When the game has got you down, as it inevitably will, 'The Sorta 7' can be a beacon in the darkness. If you just can't seem to break 90 no matter what you do, go play a Sorta Round or two and see how great it will make you feel. And as far as being unfair, I don't see a problem as long as you're alone or with a group who are also following the same rules. It's all fair for everyone as long as you're in agreement on what the rules are before the round begins.

 

I think I'm going to support these guys by purchasing my very own SortaBag Tag. I encourage everyone else out there to do the same. Golf is hard enough as it is. Let's at least make sure we have some fun while we're doing it.

 

David Gossett

The Golf Channel has an article up about David Gossett and his struggles since his U.S. Amateur win a mere 5 years ago. I went to the Fed Ex St. Jude Classic in Memphis a couple of years back and man, this kid has got game. Of course, he's from the Memphis area and is probably more comfortable there than at other tour stops. Horses for courses and all that. But David has been struggling mightily this season, with only $21,250 in earnings and 2 cuts made. I guess it shouldn't amaze me that the mental side of the game figures so much in the pro ranks. I mean, everyone and their father seem to have near perfect swings these days, so the only explanation for why one guy is more successful than another is that some let their brains get in the way more than others.

 

I sure hope David gets out of his funk soon. He seems like a nice kid.

 

Who Will Be The First?

With the PGA Tournament over, the race is tightening up for the position of World Number One. Vijay Singh now sits only a fraction behind Tiger Woods in the World Golf Ranking. While the current ranking system may not be foolproof, Vijay is sneaking up on Mr. Woods in the superior Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index as well.

 

So the question is this: Not when or if, but who will be the first to take the position of World Number One from Tiger, and will it be this year? To the latter, just based on the number of tournaments he plays compared to the other contenders, I would have to guess that definitely Tiger will lose the #1 ranking some time this year. With the major season over and the pressure off, I expect Vijay to win one, maybe two more events this season. Vijay seems to not be worried too much anymore about the ranking, which could be a dangerous recipe for everyone else on tour.

 

Viva Las Vegas

I don't know about everyone else, but I'm getting fed up with hearing "Viva Las Vegas" on the Golf Channel every other commercial. Yeah, ok, we get it. The Big Break II is coming and it's in Sin City this time. This time the stakes are higher. Yeah, we got that too. It got so bad during PGA Championship week that they would take time out of the Sprint Post Game to show the ad for the "hit reality show", then they would go to commercial and show the same ad again!

 

I liked the Big Break and all, and am looking forward to the second season as much as anybody. But if they don't cool it with the ads, they're going to turn me off and make me not want to watch the show out of spite.

 

While I'm on the subject, I'm pretty sure Jay McNair is going to be my guy this season. In the interviews I've seen so far, he seems to be a pretty nice, down to earth individual.

 

Also, that Lesley Swanson looks pretty hot.

 

It's On!!

With the PGA Championship finished, it's now time to turn our attention to the Ryder Cup, and to getting the Cup back.

The 10 qualifiers have now been decided, with Chris DiMarco and Chris Riley pushing Jay Haas and Steve Flesch out of the top 10 with their stellar play at the year's final major. So now all we can do is wait until tomorrow to see who Captain Hal Sutton chooses to round out his team.

In my opinion, the only 2 picks who can be made are Scott Verplank and Jay Haas. Verplank because he has shown consistency the entire year, and Haas for the same reason. Throw into the equation the fact that Haas can add some veteran leadership, and to me it's a no brainer. Being a lefty, I would love to see Steve Flesch on the team, but the fact of the matter is that Flesch didn't do what he needed to do under the pressure. Not that he doesn't deserve it, but a lot of players deserve it. When you only have 2 picks, you can't take everyone.

So that's my picks, and that's also who I think Hal Sutton will choose. We'll see tomorrow. I can't wait.

 

Old Rivals

I just set up a match for Sunday with probably my biggest golfing rival over the past 15 years. My ex-boss and I have always played at close to the same level, even though we haven't played much together since we parted ways about 7 years ago.

 

We were both at the peaks of our games about 10 years ago, a direct result of a weekly match play event with my dad and one of his friends. They were mutch better players than we were, and as we all know, there's nothing like good competition (and a little money on the line) to help raise the level of your game. But things happen, everyone drifts apart and we both came back down to earth as far as our games are concerned.

 

We only play about 2 or 3 times a year nowadays. But still, nothing gives me more satisfaction in my golfing life than to beat him just one more time, and nothing disturbs me more than to lose. I came away last season with the series, but who knows what this year will bring? Even though he (supposedly) hasn't been playing very much this year, we both somehow manage to raise our games when it comes to competing against each other.

 

Tiger Troubles?

According to PGATour.com, Tiger Woods currenly sits at +3 through 6 with the projected cut at +1. Things could change. The cut line may move up or down. But either way, if Tiger wants to comfortably make the cut, he's going to have to make a move soon. He's running out of holes, and from what I've heard, the course isn't playing all that easy this afternoon.

 

PGA Predictions

My boss and I were discussing our PGA Tournament predictions this morning. I always ask him his picks and, although he has yet to pick a winner this year, he usually manages pick someone who ends up in the top 5. We both agreed on Tiger Woods and John Daly. He added Vijay Singh and Kenny Perry. I know what you're thinking: "Kenny Perry? What the heck?". Let me explain that we are Kentuckians and I think Kenny is more of a wishful thinking pick than anything else. Kind of like always sending the Wildcats to the Final Four on the NCAA Tournament bracket. By the same token, I think I will add Phil Mickelson to my picks list. I've always been a fan of Phil's. He's a lefty like me, and I'd love to see him bookend his season with majors. So we have:

 

My Boss' picks: Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, John Daly and Kenny Perry

My picks: Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and John Daly

 

It's a longshot, but I would love to see Daly win the PGA, if for no other reason than to give him a better shot at the Ryder Cup. Some think that Daly has the potential to lose it in the Ryder Cup and therefore it would be a mistake for Hal Sutton to make him a Captain's pick. That may be true, but I think the fact that he's won 2 majors proves his ability to rise to the occasion in big events. Daly can be a train wreck, that's for sure. But so are we all. To see Daly perform well in the Ryder Cup, for his team and for his country, would make us all feel that given the opportunity, we could do the same.

 

The Ryder Cup & John Daly

The Ryder Cup is one of my all-time favorite golfing events, second only to the Masters. The idea of fighting for your country, coupled with golf being turned into a team event for 3 days... it just works for me. I mean, where else will you find Phil Mickelson rooting for Tiger Woods, or vice versa?

 

Even so, the matches have somewhat lost their luster for me in the past several years. Between hearing that some of the players think they should be paid for the matches, and also the controversy over Brookline in 1999, it's just not the same as it was before. To me, to bring John Daly into the mix would be a breath of fresh air. Daly could inject some personality into a U.S. Team that seems to have been a little bland in recent years.

 

I think Brookline was a good thing. Maybe it wasn't a good showing of sportsmanship, but it was a good showing of emotion. I think it was blown out of proportion. It was an emotionally charged situation and one can only expect the winning team to react the way they did. If they hadn't, I would have suspected they were all robots and not human beings. Win or lose, I want to see the human, emotional side of the players. I hope we will see that side of the U.S. Team this year.

 

Little Suzy

Suzy Whaley has an article in the Breaking 100-90-80 section of the latest Golf Digest. I fall into the Breaking 90 section and Suzy has some pretty good advice for me. I need to start thinking about laying back to a comfortable distance for my approach shots, instead of just trying to blast it as far as I can down the fairway. But that's not the real reason for this post. I just wanted to make the statement that there's something about Suzy Whaley that I like. She has some type of hotness that, to this day, I cannot explain.

 

Pouting Tiger?

Blogger Vance posted on his site about Tiger Woods' post-round interview with Peter Kostis yesterday, and about how he appeared to not be in a very good mood. I noticed the same thing, and I'm not a person who notices those types of things too often. Blogger speculates that Tiger is tired of having to answer the same tired questions over and over... "Why aren't you winning?", "The swing sure looks better. When are you going to win again?".

 

While I agree that he is probably tired of the questions, I would make the argument that Tiger needs to be willing to take the bad with the good. If he's going to be the top player in the world, he should expect that people are going to want to know why he's not at the top of his game. It's the nature of the beast, and I think Tiger is willing to deal with it. He's been very gracious with the media for the most part, and I think he's a very articulate, honest and accommodating person when it comes to interviews. I think something else is going on with Tiger that maybe we don't know about. I noticed at the British Open, in one of his interviews and on the course, that he looked totally worn out. Maybe he's tired of the grind. Maybe he wants to do a David Duval and drop off of the face of the earth for a while. I don't know what it is and it's really none of my business. All I know is Tiger doesn't appear to be enjoying the game like he used to.

 

And finally, I think the reason Tiger isn't winning more is because everyone else is better. Sure, Tiger's swing is off, but it seems that everyone else's swing is on. I was just thinking while watching the tournament yesterday that there are about 7 or 8 guys out there who, if they are in a tournament, you can just about guarantee that they are going to be at or near the top. A few years ago, everyone seemed to have a bad week now and then, but not anymore. Thanks to Tiger, everyone has brought their game up to a new level. Ironically, Tiger is the one having to deal with the repercussions.

 

Tommy Wins The Open...

Well, not really. Peter Jacobson won the Open. The U.S. Senior Open, that is. But Tom Kite was in contention for much of the day. Strangely, I found myself rooting for Tom, although it was ok with me that Jake won. Strange, I say, because back in the day, I didn't care much for Tom Kite. And I will admit to the fact that there was really only one reason why... I didn't think he looked like a golfer. Back in the late 80's and early 90's when I was first getting into golf, I watched players like Norman, Nicklaus, Crenshaw and Faldo and drew to the conclusion that this is what a golfer should be. Kite to me looked like a computer geek. How ironic that I would grow up to me a computer geek myself.

 

Anyway, my attitude of Kite changed when I picked up a copy of the Little Red Book (on audiotape), the first book by Tom's childhood teacher, Harvey Penick. Now, I'm not much of a technical person when it comes to the golf swing. I know how you're supposed to swing a golf club, but I just can't make myself think that way. I like to tell myself that I'm a feel player. I guess that sounds better than saying I'm a no-talent bum. I was never able to read or hear any instruction without it messing up my swing even more. That is, until Harvey came along. Harvey's way of teaching the swing was not to tell you how to do it, but to get you to thinking about something else which produced the same result.

 

For my fellow "feel" players out there looking for instruction on the game of golf, I'd suggest picking up a copy of Harvey's Little Red Book. It changed my game, and my outlook on the game.