Birdies & Bogies

Birdie Kim wins the Open, Bogey Jim loses at Westchester. I jest, of course, but it is funny that a player who has yet to make much of a splash on the LPGA Tour wins with a miracle birdie on the final hole, while a player who is known for his steady play loses with two bogies coming down the stretch.

Props to Birdie Kim.

Incredi-Ball

But... I can do this without having to buy any special equipment.

Moore Or Less?

I just read a great article on The Sand Trap about Ryan Moore and his turning professional this week. The question posed is whether Moore will go the way of past U.S. Amateur greats like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, or will his career fizzle like David Gossett and Matt Kuchar.

Back in the early 90's I was a huge NBA fan, and came to the conclusion back then that, as it relates to the NBA draft, any of the top 10 picks could end up being the next Michael Jordan. It didn't really matter whether you were the 1st pick or the 10th pick, as long as the desire was there to improve yourself and make it to the upper echelon of the league.

I think the same could be said for the PGA Tour. Some of these guys coming out are content with just making a living on tour, but if you want to work hard and really put yourself in contention from week to week, there is room there for you to do so. So I don't think the question is whether or not Ryan Moore has the talent to get there, it's whether or not he has the desire to be in the thick of things come Sunday afternoon. For that, we'll have to wait and see.

Campbell Wins U.S. Open

It was good to see Michael Campbell win one of the big ones yesterday. Obviously he played better than anyone else all week, but I thought in particular he had the best round of any of the leaders yesterday. On a day when everyone else was having trainwrecks, Campbell held it together and managed to play steady golf for 18 holes.

I know I've stated before that I don't like it when a 'nobody' wins a big event like a Major, but Michael Campbell is far from a nobody to me, and I'm sure the same goes for anybody who has been following the game for a while. Campbell is a superstar on the world stage who has just had some bad luck in his life. It's nice to see all his hard work and perseverence has finally paid off.

A New Obsession

Ok, I'm going to admit it. I have a new obsession, and it's called podcasting. No, I don't have a podcast. I have become obsessed with listening to podcasts. I have always liked to listen to talk radio, and also to bring some tunes, talk, or whatever with me when I'm playing alone on the golf course. And before anyone asks... no, I don't have a boombox strapped to the back of my cart. I have headphones.

Anyway, podcasts seem to fit well with me. Mainstream music is not all that great to me right now, and TechTV is gone, so I can't get any good tech content on TV. But I can download some good tech-related audio and maybe find some good independent tunes (not really found any good music podcasts yet, but I won't get into that right now) via podcasts.

Now, from the searching I've done, there seems to be a very small percentage of podcasts out there that are actually good, but there also seems to be something out there for almost anyone. I say 'almost' because I have yet to find a podcast relating to golf. It would seem that there is a lot to talk about with the sport. There's always tournament news, instruction, or maybe even dedicate each show to one specific golfer. I don't know. I'm not a producer or anything. I'd just like to be able to listen to golf while I'm playing golf.

For anyone interested in podcasting, there are several sites out there where you can find out what you need to know. My current favorite is Podcast Alley.

Site Update

The 'Sites I Visit' section has been updated with a new site I have found called The Sand Trap. I'm always looking for good golf blogs, and this one seems to fit the bill. It has a nice, clean look to it, and appears to have a good-sized staff to help keep the site updated often. Anyway, check it out... The Sand Trap. It's my new favorite.

This Is Sort Of Ridiculous

Watching the Golf Channel last night, they showed a package of Payne Stewart and Phil Mickelson's play coming down the stretch at Pinehurst in 1999. Then they went to an excerpt of Phil's press conference from Tuesday, I guess. Anyway, during the press conference, the Golf Channel was showing little graphics at the bottom of the screen such as "Lost to Payne Stewart at Pinehurst in 1999"... relevant to the situation, right? I mean, the event this week is at the same location, and Phil came in second in that particular event.

But the one that really got me was "Lost by 3 strokes to Tiger Woods in 2002 U.S. Open"... huh? What does that have to do with anything? If they want to show something of that nature that might have some relevance, why not say "Lost to Retief Goosen in 2004 U.S. Open"? At least that was the most recent U.S. Open.

Why pull 2002 out of a hat? Maybe because that was the last time Tiger won. Why not just put a graphic at the bottom of the screen and leave it on there 24 hours a day that says "Tiger Woods won the U.S. Open in 2002"? You really just want Tiger's name to show up somewhere on the screen anyway. Why try to disguise it by pretending it has some relevance to anything to do with this week?

I know one thing. The next time I see Tiger interviewed, I fully expect to see a graphic that says "Lost by 10 strokes to Jim Furyk in 2003 U.S. Open". Think I will? Me neither.

This Game Drives Me Nuts!!

Just when I'm ready to give up this stupid game, something happens to pull me back in. I played Sunday morning, had to play the back nine first, and had a horrible 9 holes... probably my worst of the year. I almost quit, but decided I'd go ahead and play the front nine. And of course, I had my BEST nine of the year.

How many times does this happen? Most of the time for me, it's reversed. A good front and bad back. I must say, if it has to happen, I much prefer to go home remembering a good nine. What I have to take from it is that, with the good nine, I know I'm capable of good things. No, it's not that I was just playing above my talent level. That's not possible. It's not that I was getting lucky bounces. I simply played a solid nine holes. The problem is that most of the time I'm playing below my talent level.

I've been working on improving my short game, as I've mentioned in earlier posts. While I've not made any major progress, I have been able to work on improving my technique, which has improved my ball contact. I'm still going to have to work on distance control, but with the improved fundamentals, I at least have more confidence in my ability to get the ball on the green from inside 50 yards. Naturally, that takes a little pressure off the other parts of my game and I think that's what directly lead to my improved scoring on the front nine Sunday.

What about the bad back nine? Well, I think I was just concentrating too much on technique and not enough on scoring. "Stick with the swing that brung ya" is what Harvey Penick says, and leave the practice for the practice range.

U.S. Open Coverage

With the U.S. Open starting this Thursday, I'd say I'll be spending most of my time at home this week on The Golf Channel. I think the "Live From..." coverage begins tonight, with Kraig Kann and the krew telling every story worth telling this week, and probably making up a few along the way. They're all very knowledgable, and I love hearing them go back and forth with pretty much every scenario that could play out this week.

You can bet the Big 4 will be a big topic of conversation, with Tiger getting most of the attention as always. Heck, they might even talk about Retief Goosen, what with him being the defending champ and all.

Dave Pelz will show his face at some point I'm sure, with his expert advice on how the "finesse game" will play into the final outcome. And he's right. From what everyone has been saying, the short game will play an important roll in determining the winner. But I've also heard that the rough is going to be pretty... rough. For that reason, I can't predict winners such as Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, neither of them being the straightest of drivers. I would probably pick Tiger over Phil, though, just because Tiger would have enough sense to hit a fairway wood or long iron off the tee, where Phil will probably take out the driver every chance he gets. "New Phil" or not, he still likes to come out of his shoes more than most.

Annika Dominating Again

Say what you will about the Big 4, or 5, or whatever you want to call them, Annika Sorenstam is currently the best golfer on the planet. It's unbelievable how she's dominating the LPGA Tour right now. She won 5 in a row, lost one, and now is on another streak. She's won the first major of the year, and is currently leading the second by two strokes with two rounds to play.

I read somewhere that someone suggested that Annika should be invited to join Augusta National. While that probably wouldn't make Vijay very happy, if it's going to happen at some point (and Hootie Johnson indicated that a woman would probably be invited to join sooner or later), I think Annika has definitely proven her worth.

Hall Of Fame aside, what kind of honor would it be to be the first woman invited to join the most exclusive Country Club in history? And how funny would it be if she declined the invitation? Oh well, I'm not holding my breath for either to happen any time soon.

Tiger A Nerd?

Heh. This is funny. Tiger Woods is #2 on the 50 Biggest Nerds Of All Time list. Other highlights include Dana Scully (#30) of X-Files fame (she's hot), Queen Amadala herself, Natalie Portman (#21, and also hot) and former Knick Coach Jeff Van Gundy (#48, and not so hot).

The Pelz Method

I've just recently purchased, and am now reading Dave Pelz' Short Game Bible. While I to try to stay away from the technical aspects of the golf swing (it tends to ruin my game even more, if that's even possible), I decided to get this book because I'm at the point where I'll try just about anything. I would have to say, having read only the first 3 or 4 chapters, I'm really impressed with the physics and statistics that Pelz puts into his method.

One example that I particularly like: tour pros, in Dave's research, tend to have a 7% variance on any full swing shot. That is, if the average pro hits a full wedge from 100 yards, he's going to be (on average) within 7 yards, or 21 feet of his target (keeping in mind, of course, the true target is not necessarily always the hole). Now, if that same pro hits a full 5 iron from 200 yards, using the same 7% variance, he would be (on average) within 14 yards, or 42 feet. So, 42 feet away from the target, maybe this particular pro lands in a bunker. Maybe he finishes the hole with a 5 instead of the 3 or 4 he would have gotten had he landed on the green. He goes to the next tee disgusted with the "bad" 5 iron he hit to get himself in the bunker. But statistically he was within the 7% average of tour pros. Had he had a stronger short game, he might have still been able to get that par.

It's a very interesting read. I would definitely recommend it. I would even go so far as to say I have seen some improvement in my short game already, without even having had the chance to practice too much yet.

The Return Of Push

Does anyone remember push technology from a few years back? It didn't go over too well back then, because it was a little before it's time I guess. If you think about it, it's the same thing that we're basically all after now, what with rss news aggregators, podcasts, Tivo, and now this new Akimbo IPTV-based set-top box on the horizon. We're all wanting to find new and better ways to get content "pushed" to us without having to go get it. It's just funny for me to think about something that basically flopped (as far as I know) a few years ago, is now the "in" thing.