The three total makeovers of his golf swing that Tiger Woods, the greatest player of his generation, has done over the last two decades have defied logic to all in the know about the professional game.  Yet, as you can read in this article by Scott Eden in ESPN The Magazine called “Stroke of Madness”, the athleticism that Tiger was born with has allowed him to venture where few golfers have gone before.  The motivation for this madness, according to Tiger, is “only two players have ever truly owned their swings: Moe Norman and Ben Hogan.  I want to own mine”.

Blame the flaw on Earl at age 3 Tiger fights getting “stuck” (Mike Douglas Show 1978)

In 1997 after having won three U.S. Amateurs, five tour events (including a major), and being ranked #2 in the world, Tiger and Butch Harmon set about tearing down and rebuilding his golf swing to eliminate a flaw, getting stuck on the downswing, that Tiger had successfully managed from his earliest days of swinging a golf club.  In 1999 he claimed to his teacher that he “got it” and went on a tear of professional wins, including four majors in a row, that stunned the golfing world and vindicated his decision to mess with his swing. Butch, when asked at this point if there was anything Tiger should change replied, “The only thing I’d change right now if I were Tiger is the route I took to the bank”.

Yet in 2004 Tiger’s perfectionist mind was unsettled again in search of a motivating challenge and true ownership of his swing.  Version 3.0 was fashioned over the next five years under the watchful eye of Hank Haney as he rounded and flattened his swing, laying the club off at the top in an effort to improve his driving accuracy and eliminate his age old problem of getting stuck on the downswing.  Another impressive run of victories followed, and since the Haney swing change, he had won 31 more tour events, including 6 more majors and held the #1 spot on the World Golf Rankings for what seemed like an eternity.

By 2010 inject a knee reconstruction and incalculable mental baggage from the fallout of the fire hydrant incident in 2009 and Tiger was playing the worst golf of his professional career and searching once again for a swing makeover to take him back to the pinnacle of the professional game.  The unlikely choice to help him get there was the heady Canadian instructor Sean Foley, who preached a wonky version of the Stack & Tilt method.  This may have been the most radical change yet for Tiger and it clearly brought about the most vitriolic criticism.  Tiger was now preaching the value of TrackMan technology and it’s resultant data to corroborate improvements in spin rates, ball speeds, swing angles, and resultant trajectory from his latest technique.  A feel player most of his life he seemed to have traveled to the dark side accepting these “numbers” as the true metric of the state of his game.

The jury is still out on Version 4.0 as Tiger has made steady improvement the last two years but inconsistency in short iron distance control and putting in the big events have denied him from adding to his major victory totals in pursuit of the ultimate record, Jack’s 18 career major wins.

In this article, Eden concludes that Tiger’s quest is not over.  He says the flaw appeared for Tiger at age 3 in “the earliest footage of Tiger Woods’ earliest swing, a Zapruder film for golfing Nerds” from The Mike Douglas Show.  It still haunts him to this day.  Because of the obsessive nature of his perfectionist personality, Tiger seems destined to hounding a swing flaw he could “spend his entire career striving to erase”.

(Click to read Scott Eden’s “Stroke of Madness” from ESPN The Magazine)  

Scott Eden

ESPN The Magazine

February, 2013

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You can also view some great time phase photographs of Tiger’s swing development from 1992 to 2011 by viewing the moegolf posting called “Time Phase Tiger” based on a Golf Digest article from 2011.

(Click to see “Time Phase Tiger” from moegolf.net)

John Daly always makes his appearances with a bang…just look at the Loudmouth pants collection that is currently keeping him financially afloat.  It is difficult to recall that weekend in August of 1991 when a seriously unknown pro from Arkansas snuck under the radar to qualify for and win the PGA Championship by three shots at Pete Dye’s Crooked Stick in Carmel, Indiana.

As you can read in John Garrity’s Sports Illustrated article no one, absolutely no one, saw this coming.  Daly was the ninth alternate and did not know until Thursday morning that he would be playing in the spot of Nick Price (and borrowing the services of his caddie as well) who was skipping the event to await the birth of his first child.

What happened over four days-21 birdies, an eagle, and a three-shot winning total of 12-under-is the stuff of fairy tales.  With a backswing that insulted parallel and a resultant ball speed that seemed to defy slow motion cameras Daly played without a dimmer switch on a course that Nicklaus called “the most difficult he had every played”.

After an opening 69 on a course he had never seen, Daly defied all logic grabbing the lead Friday morning.  As Garrity says “From the moment his name went on the leader board, the crowds at Crooked Stick thought he was a sand castle and the golf course a rising tide”.  His tour ranking of 185th in driving accuracy was not a prescription for success at a major, even if it had no rough.

Saturday he made it clear that the grip-it and rip-it mantra had staying power if only for this weekend.  A three-under stretch starting on the fourth was the behavior of a major champion and his legions, and their enthusiasm, began to grow.

As is always the case a Cinderella needs a little luck on the way to the ball and Daly got an extremely favorable ruling when his caddie unintentionally rested the end of the flagstick behind the hole as Daly lined up his putt on 11 on Saturday.  This is a clear violation of 8-2b that says a player or caddie may not touch the surface of the green along the line of the putt.  The two-stroke penalty that would have resulted could have been disastrous.

Fortunately, after reviewing the tape,the officials “honored the spirit rather than the letter of the law….and avoided what would have been the most unpopular rules decision since the Roberto de Vicenzo scorecard fiasco at the 1968 Masters”.

The rest is history, including Big John’s over-the-head whirly-bird fist pump after hitting his final approach into 18 on Sunday.  It was quite a show and it is fun to relive it, even if for just a moment.

(Click to read John Garrity’s “Over Drive” from the SI Vault)

John Garrity

Sports Illustrated

August, 1991

The hay, gorse, and ocean at Bandon is not for everyone.

Mike Keiser likes to say the “Retail Golfers” are the seven handicap and above guys who will travel to anywhere to play a golf course from the Golf Digest 100 Best List. They do this so they can return to the grill room at their home course and brag that they have just played the latest from Doak, Coore-Crenshaw, Nicklaus, Dye, or maybe a classic of the Golden Age from Tillinghast or Ross. The more peer envy then can engender the better.

But as Thomas Dunne, the accomplished golf travel writer, articulates in this article from Links Magazine the opinions on many of the top courses are by no means universally positive. Truth is the most famous courses in the world, St. Andrews, Muirfield, PInehurst #2, and TPC Sawgrass for example, can render the highest praise from some and the greatest disdain from others.

Sometimes it is circumstantial-the weather was lousy or the wind was up at Whistling Straits making it a virtually unplayable experience. They got goaded into playing the macho tees at the Ocean Course which would make it even more Dye-a-bolical than it really is. The course simply does not fit the eye or strengths of their game-they hit it long and the tight driving areas at Harbour Town take away that advantage. Or maybe, in spite of all the hype, the great course just doesn’t present spectacular. Pinehurst #2 has few memorable holes, St. Andrews looks like a moonscape, or Seminole is just another Florida course.

Dunne points out that great holes, great courses need to be played a number of times before they grow on you. Alistar MacKenzie said, “My experience of really first class holes….is at first sight excite the most violent spirit of antagonism….only after being played many times that the feeling of resentment disappears.”

Keiser’s intuition is correct though in that people will seek out the most reputable courses as must plays for their bucket list. Whether excited or disappointed by the experience it is the post play controversy with their friends that keeps the discussion, reputation, and the lure alive.

(Click to read Thomas Dunne’s Links Magazine article “The Polarizers”)

Thomas Dunne

Links Magazine

Fall, 2012

Let’s face it, it is not for everyone.  As Nick Seitz says in this archive article from 1992,
“At it’s best, golf in the winter is sublime…..at it’s worst, it’s vastly preferable to no golf at all”.

George Crump conceived of Pine Valley as a winter respite for his Philly golfing buddies because there was virtually no snow cover at the time in Camden, New Jersey just across the Delaware River.  Seitz’s relates of a friend still playing there year round, albeit “the greens were frozen and his approach shots bounded 40 feet high until he adjusted and began to play bump-and-skate shots.”

This is not a brand of golf for the faint of heart, it requires real dedication to go out when it is 40 degrees and a wind chill to boot.  There is no dress code, just have enough layers to peel off or add on to deal with the chameleon elements.

Since there are really no rules and a limited audience winter golf lends to real creativity.  Whether it is playing “hurricane rules” rather than preferred lies or test driving that redesign of your home course you have worked out so many times in the middle of the night, it is an opportunity to share a good walk with dedicated friends.

You don’t have to deal with tee times or crowds, and “nothing surpasses the supernal quiet and beauty of a blue-skied winter golf day”.  Best part is there is some warm soup or a hot toddie waiting for you when your day is done.

(Click to read Nick Seitz’s “The Bracing Joys of Winter Golf”)

Nick Seitz

Golf Digest

March, 1992

Waiting in line to get onto a plane recently the stewardess who was greeting the passengers made it a point to stop any person wearing a military uniform and thank them in a very personal way for all they had done for us in serving in our military.  It was a poignant gesture, one not lost on any of us who had to wait a few extra minutes before getting on our way.

The attached Golf World article, “Rewarding True Heroes”, by Roger Schiffman, describes his experience in a similar endeavor as he took part in a very special 12-day golf trip to Ireland with 11 of our soldiers.  There is something riveting in the juxtaposition described therein of courageous individuals who have suffered life changing injuries against the rugged and surreal landscapes of Irish links courses like Royal County Down, The European Club, and Waterville Golf Links.

Maybe more interesting is to try to get your head around how much golf, and the opportunity to play golf at such storied venues, has helped to put a semblance of normalcy back into the lives of these wounded veterans.  Through the great work of organizations like Jim Estes’s Salute Military Golf Association veterans returning from active military theaters find the opportunity to access professional instruction, playing opportunities, and the equipment aids they need reconnect to a game they love and the therapy it can provide.

At an SMGA Clinic last spring I was watching a young veteran balancing himself on his two prosthetic legs and a crutch struggling to roll putts one-handed with a conventional putter.  Noticing his frustration one of the pros grabbed a long putter and said to him “Try this”.  Discarding the crutch and anchoring the putter to his body he found his secure balance and a smooth stroke.  The ball started running true to the line finding the hole with gratifying regularity.  An ear-to-ear grin replaced the tensed cheeks on the vet’s face and it was something beautiful to behold.

Reading these stories of truly courageous individuals determined to take control of their lives is an inspiration to all of us as we consider the challenges that life presents us.  We should also be cognizant of the sacrifices these folks have made on our behalf and, as the stewardess on that plane showed us, take the time to thank them for all they have done in protecting the freedoms we enjoy.

(Click to read “Rewarding True Heroes” from Golf World Magazine)

Roger Schiffman

Golf World

November, 2012

(Find out how to support SMGA/Wounded Warriors or the Folds of Honor Foundation)

Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey finally took off the gloves, albeit after shooting 60 in the final round, to put his hands around the trophy he won capturing the McGladrey Classic this weekend.  It was the first PGA Tour victory for a guy who used get paid $8.25 an hour insulating hot water heaters and got his start winning the Golf Channel’s Big Break in 2007.  He has earned around $3 million in winnings in his last two years on tour.  Now that is a journey!

His phenomenal final round included eight birdies and an eagle to best by one tour veteran Daivd Toms who shot his own final round 63.  Gainey left in his wake Davis Love III and Jim Furyk whom he trailed by 7 shots at the beginning of the day-both seemed to experience unexpected turbulence down the stretch on Sunday.

After shooting 31 on the outward nine Gainey birdied 11, 13, and 14.  But it was his heroics on the par five 15^th that slung him to the top.  After hitting the green side bunker on this par five in two he lofted his bunker shot softly onto the fringe and let it trundle down to the hole where it obligingly fell in for eagle.  One more birdie on 16 and a par on 17 made it seven straight threes on his card on the back nine on his way to the 16-under winning score.

As you can read in Farrell Evans’s article on ESPN.com, Tommy Two Gloves is just someone you want to root for.  As he says, “In a sea of Iron Byron golf swings and marathon range sessions, Gainey stands out for his individuality and commitment to a life in the sport unencumbered by pressure to do everything prescribed by a mental coach, a physical trainer, and swing coach”.  He marches to his own drummer and seems to be able to abide the cadence quite nicely.

Tommy fits into the mold of the old school stars like Palmer, Thorpe, Trevino, and Floyd whose swing mechanics defied the conventional logic but just knew how to put the ball in the hole.  Farrell quotes the sage advice of Harvey Penick who once said to his college players, “If a guy with a bad swing and a bad grip is at your level, he is a very dangerous man to beat”.

With this victory and a two-year exemption we are assured to see Tommy Two Gloves regularly in the near future.  No question, it will be fun to witness the next leg of this journey.

(Click to read the Farrell Evans ESPN.com article on Tommy Gainey)

Farrell Evans

ESPN.com

October, 2012

With the Ryder Cup on our golf radar screens this week Golf Channel is airing a documentary on the most memorable and infamous edition of the Ryder Cup played at Kiawah Island in 1991.  It was captioned by the American promoters at the time as “The War By The Shore”.   You can read in the attached article by John Garrity, who covered this event for Sports Illustrated in 1991, that in spite of what many feel was the most compelling golf competition ever played it had a dark side to it that hangs in the air like a bad pail odor.

Garrity says in his recollections,  “The ‘91 Ryder Cup stoked the competitive fervor…well beyond the norms for athletic rivalry….The opening ceremonies were a paean to the American War Machine…The European golfers, watching from the stage, looked like Soviet dissidents forced to witness a Mayday parade of weaponry in Red Square”.  “Once play got underway, the two sides went at each other with uncharacteristic fury.”  “But mostly I remember the fear, I had seen nervous golfer’s before, but nothing like the boys of Kiawah Island.  European dominance of the Cup had turned the matches into a test of national character, and it was a test that even the best players approached with resentment and anxiety”.

The excessive behavior was not limited to the participants, the fans from both sides displayed rowdy partisanship that was akin to an acrimonious soccer match between sectarian  rivals not a golf competition between friendly allies.  Unfortunately this behavior carried on for years on both sides of the Atlantic and many players were subject to personal verbal abuse at the Ryder Cup and other major competitions.

I distinctly remember watching this competition and sharing Garrity’s basic sentiment, I was appalled at what I witnessed.  It seemed to me that all the vulgarity that was overwhelming professional tennis at the time had finally spilled over into what had been previously a dignified sanctum.  For me the fault laid at the feet of the prime protagonists in 1991, Dave Stockton the intense American Captain and Seve Ballesteros, of blessed memory, whose tenacity and competitive drive had reignited the fortunes of the European Ryder Cup team through the 1980’s.  The characterization of the competition as a war fostered a contentious atmosphere of winning at any cost, without regard to the collateral effect of those costs.  It made for some unbelievable golf drama, but not without it’s very ugly moments.

I watched this documentary by Ross Greenburg which used original TV footage and interviews with the participants to do an admirable job presenting the event very much as it went down.  It was great to see the compelling golf performances but there were once again moments when I cringed and shook my head wondering “what were they thinking” when they behaved like that.

It has taken over 20 years for The Ryder Cup to get back a semblance of it’s dignity and it’s stature as a fairly played international sporting competition.  Jack Nicklaus once said that the thing he loved about golf is that you could spend four hours on the course trying to beat the brains out of the competition and then wrap your arm around the other guy’s shoulder afterward and have a beer together to recount how much you enjoyed the game.  It is my hope that what we will witness at this year’s Ryder Cup at Medinah will move this event closer to that norm.

(Click to read John Garrity’s recounting of the ‘War By The Shore’)

September, 2012