A number of high end private and resort courses like Oak Hill in Rochester, Somerset Hills in N.J., The Country Club in Brookline, Mass, Royal Oaks in Dallas, Long Cove in Hilton Head, Bandon Dunes in Oregon, and others have broken the mold and allowed the use of hand carts at their facilities setting a new precedent in support of the health and well being of their members and patrons.  For anyone who has travelled across the pond you know that walking with “trolleys” is part of the fabric of golf throughout the British Isles.

Other courses around the nation are starting to change their view that hand carts  are pedestrian and allow those playing their courses to get the full benefit of a good walk spoiled without continuing to stipulate they carry their own bags.  For the over-50 crowd the orthopedic price of carrying for 18 holes can be a deal breaker.

Our club, Woodmont Country Club outside Washington, D.C., has recently followed this lead with the bold step of instituting a test program allowing our members to walk our golf course with the assistance of hand carts.  As you can see from this picture we still have our standards-we insist that our members wear traditional golf garb and have fun while they are out there.

Private clubs steeped in tradition will continue to resist this change.    In our health conscious society it swimming against the tide to deny people the pleasure of the golf walk and the calorie burn that goes with it.  Those clubs with progressive views that support the best interests of their members will soon realize that the future is now when it comes to modifying their stance on this issue.

December, 2012

He may not be the most talented guy out there, he hits it short, misses lots of greens, but as we have seen in his Ryder Cup performances Ian Poulter is a possessed junkyard dog when he sees a title within his reach. His 65-65 over the weekend at the HSBC Champions in China slung him around the pack on his way to grabbing this trophy by the scruff of it’s neck.

There was red everywhere at the Olazabal Course at Mission Hills-birdies were coming in bunches from the entire field on Sunday. Jason Dufner shot 8-under, Scott Piercy 7-under, Nick Watney 10-under, Adam Scott and Ernie Els 5-under. But it was Ian who put his short game and decisive putting to work making 8 birdies through the first sixteen to create a gulf that others could not seem to traverse.

Eerie and unexplainable things started happening to all the pursuers, especially starting at the pivotal par 5 15th hole.

Lee Westwood, who led at the beginning of the day, hit an amazing approach to the par five out of a stepped lie in and out of the fairway bunker. It travelled over water, reeds, and a bevy of bunkers leaving a routine green side up and down for birdie. He proceeded to chunk his pitch short of the green, skinny a pitch over the green, stub a chip onto the green on his way to an untimely bogie. Lee goes into Roberto Duran mode around the greens.

Martin Kaymer, the defending champ seemed to be in deja vu mode as he was storming from behind as he had in last year’s final round. Five birdies on the first seven holes of the back nine got him within shouting distance at 18-under when he hit it a leaky fade into the green side bunker on the par 3 17th. He then skulled his bunker shot across the green into the high grass on the other side, Misty May-Trainored it back into the same bunker on the next pitch, finally found the putting surface, but barely. A two-putt triple bogey six ended his challenge.

Mickey, a two-time winner of this event, had put together six birdies in the first fifteen holes and looked like he was going to grab Ian by the tail and reel him in. Hunting the flag with a routine knock down approach into sixteen he misjudged the bounce on the front of the green leaving himself a monster two-putt for par from the back edge to stay alive. Then on the par 3 17th he hit a left handed draw that didn’t and missed the green entirely into the gnarly grass below the green side bunker. His first pitch was a near fan job on a change-up that did not get out of the batter’s box to reach the putting surface. Even he could not avoid the evil decree and make the par pitch, so his bogey left him two afar with one to play.

Poulter’s bogey on seventeen and missing the approach to eighteen into the green side bunker gave a ray of hope to those behind. But as he had done all day he deftly pitched it to about twelve feet and buried the par save to guarantee the win and take home the $1.2 winners check.

In vintage Poulter style he said, “I’ve already spent the check last week. Yes, it was a vehicle and yes, it was very expensive”.

Guess he had a premonition.

November, 2012

The UPS Green Monster is at it again.  Louis Oosthuizen shoots 63 in round two of the HSBC Champions World Golf event in Shenzhen, China yesterday to distance himself from the field with a five-stroke lead over Adam Scott and Ernie Els.  His 16-under total is the best two round scoring in WGC tournament history.

I remind you that this is a guy who won the British Open at the home of golf in 2010 by 7 shots.  He would have won the Masters this year if he had not run into the Bubba Express on Sunday.  Hell, the name on his website is “Louis57Oosthuizen.com” to commemorate a 57 he shot at the Mossel Bay Club in South Africa back in 2002.  Now that is a gaudy lapel pin for your internet site if you ask me.  This is a man with confidence and some swagger.

Over the first two days Louis has owned the five pars on the Olazabal Course at Mission Hills.   He is 11-under on the five-pars with nine birdies and an eagle.  When he starts hitting his irons close to the hole this guy can go low and stay there.

Ernie Els played out of his mind yesterday as well matching Shrek’s 63.  Ernie’s 29 on the front side matches his personal low 9-hole score in a PGA Tour event.

Adam Scott who was tied for the lead after day one, made four birdies on the outward nine to keep pace with the leader.  But to Stevie Williams’s chagrin Adam made 3 bogies on the inward half and had to settle for 68 and a second place tie at 11-under.

Phil might have been the story of the day but on the 18^th hole Phil was, how shall I say it, Phil as he made an awkward double bogey in his own amusing way.  After leaving his approach in the heavy rough in front of the green literally between a rock and a hard place (he had one foot on a rock and the other on the hill) he totally missed the ball on his first attempt.  This is a guy with his name embroidered on the side of his bag whiffing like a hacker in a Barclays commercial.  Phil can be so refreshing some times!

With guys shooting in the mid-60’s no lead is safe.  But Louis has his foot planted to the floor at the moment and is unlikely to let up unless someone Tanya Harding’s his ankle over the next two days.  If you can set your alarm for midnight you will likely see more fireworks over this weekend.

November, 2012

With his wire-to-wire win at this week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland, the young 24 year-old South African Branden Grace has capped an incredible run from surviving the qualifying school to amassing four victories on the European Tour in the last 12 months.  Four European tour wins in a year puts him in some rarified air with guys like Seve, Tiger, Ernie, Sir Nick, Monty, Bernard Langer, Lee Westwood, and Martin Kaymer.

Grace wins $800,000 for his wire-to-wire 22 under score in this prestigious event played over the Old Course at St. Andrews, the Championship Course at Carnoustie, and the Kingsbarns Golf Links.  He set the tone early with a sizzling 60 at Kingbarns on the first day and held a four-shot lead going into the final round at St. Andrews.

But it would be no cake walk with Denmark’s Thorbjorn Oelsen nipping at his heels making three birdies on the front side and pulling even for the championship when Grace bogied the 11th.  He gathered himself making birdies on the next three holes rebuilding his advantage and played even down the last four to hold on for a two-shot win.

This championship has been a site for some heart stopping duels of late.  As recounted in this moegolf post of the 2012 Championship,  an unheralded Northern Irishman, Michael Hoey, outdueled the two previous U.S. Open champions, fellow countrymen Rory McIllroy and Graeme McDowell, to win the top prize.

A product of the Ernie Els development program in South Africa, Branden Grace is in the mold of Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel as possibly the next great player from a country that has produced so many distinguished global champions.

Maybe the most impressive stat is that Grace has won 100% of the time he has had or shared the lead going into the final round of a European Tour event.  No one will challenge his ability to close.   You have to think this young phenom has his eyes on a spot on the President’s Cup team for 2013 and some solid performances when he gets invites to the World Golf Events and Majors next year.

October, 2012

The colossal collapse of the American Ryder Cup team at Medina this weekend is wrought with all kinds of hubris.  Down 10 to 6 going into the Sunday Singles the Europeans gathered themselves winning 8 of the 12 matches outright to snatch victory for the jaws defeat and return the Gold Cup to European soil for the next two years.

So many personal vignettes from this weekend-below are reflections on some of them.

Jose Maria Olazabal: A direct connection to Seve who remains the heart and spirit that drives the European Ryder Cup successes.  Some delayed gratification to Jose for having to putt through the American footprints at Brookline in 1999.

Ian Poulter: The flashy duds are just a distraction.  There is a heart of a champion burning in his chest and the Ryder Cup is a personal display case for this.  He just cannot seem to hasten it in the Majors but maybe it is just a matter of time.  In retrospect, Poulter’s late birdie run in the exhilarating comeback in Saturday afternoon’s four-ball match against Johnson and Dufner may have been the turning of the tide.  Four wins this week and 12-3-0 overall in the Ryder Cup is an impressive resume.

Justin Rose: This man will win a major in the next 18 months.  His gutsy performance making the par saving putt on 16 and the two daggers on 17 and 18 to pull out the seminal singles match against Phil should dispel the notion that Rose cannot putt when it matters.  The bigger the stage, the more difficult the track the better this man performs.

Rory McIllroy: The yoke of #1 in the world can be heavy but he has proven time and again this season that he is strong enough to bear it’s burden.  Besides the small matter of not being able to set his alarm clock for his Sunday appointment, at 23 years old he was a true leader for this team.  He came through with Poulter on Saturday night and had a convincing win  against Keegan on Sunday that helped right the European ship.

Sergio Garcia: He cannot ever make up for his perception as an underachiever because of his lack of a major victory, but the Ryder Cup has always been his forte.  Teaming with Luke Donald they beat Tiger-Stricker in the other key Four-Ball match on Saturday and a gusty back nine performance Sunday outfitted Jim Furyk for the another goat costume in the singles.  Sergio may not believe in himself but the Europeans sure believe in him and were sure glad to have him back on the team.

Luke Donald: May not be a true #1 in the world but you could see throughout this competition that his competitive grit and amazing short game make him a formidable foe.  He surely silenced the babbling Bubba as the first match out this Sunday.

Nicolas Colsaerts: His 1 and 3 performance as a rookie was only so-so but an eight birdie-one eagle performance to single handedly beat Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker in the Friday Four Ball is a thing of Ryder Cup lore.

Martin Kaymer: Proof that, if you have the right stuff, you can 180 a bad career trend in one afternoon.  His steely five-foot par putt on 18 against Stricker erased some bad German memories from the 1991 War By The Shore and put the Cup back in a first class trans Atlantic seat for the ride home.

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Davis Love III: He brought the right temperament to the U.S. squad to make these show ponies feel comfortable.  Some will second guess a couple of line up moves but winning the first three sessions you have to think he put the Americans in a position to be successful.  The abject failure of his hottest players to win a point in the first five matches on Sunday has to fall on the players not the coach.

Steve Stricker: Next time you see him at a team event he will be wearing an earplug as a captain’s assistant.

Tiger Woods: 1/2 a point contribution….really…you have to expect more from your top stallion no matter how poorly his support staff supports.

Zach Johnson: Testimony that it is not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog that matters.  His two wins with Dufner may have lacked sizzle but they helped build a formidable American advantage through two days.  A sound drubbing of a struggling Graeme McDowell may have been one of the reasons that the competition came down to the last three games.

Keegan Bradley: The crazed look, the boundless reservoir of energy makes him the ultimate warrior to have with you in the fox hole.  He single handedly revived Mickey’s Ryder Cup performance and that was no small order.

Phil Mickeson: In some ways he may be the greatest sportsman of this golf generation.  There is so much Arnold fire and Nicklaus grace sewn into his competitive personality.  Phil handled the Justin Rose onslaught on the final three holes of their singles match with dignity and aplomb worth sharing with your children.

Jason Dufner: We have to accept his flat line TV persona as a genetic given but he shown in this Ryder Cup that he has the fire and talent set to perform at the highest level in the biggest events.  He, like Rose, will win a major in the next couple of years and maybe more than one.

Jim Furyk: Not withstanding the 5-hour Energy sponsorship, he is a tired figment of his former warrior self.  It has been difficult to watch him be placed in the cross hairs at a major golf competition so many times this summer.  Another one who may be better outfitted with a head set for the next international team competition.

In the end we have seen that the Ryder Cup remains a compelling piece of golf drama and that the Europeans continue to write the script.  They have won five of the past six and, more than anything, this means that home court advantage for the Americans is just a figment of our imagination.

September, 2012

Check out indelible images of the Ryder Cup 2012 from Guardian UK

With the deluge of Golf Channel pre-game coverage for the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah this weekend our heads are bursting from pundit past analysis versus future predictions…..Brandel Chamblee alone has compiled an encyclopedia of data to justify any outcome you could possibly imagine.

Bottom line is that based on history alone the European Team has the advantage no matter what soil the matches are played on.  It is going to take some very stellar team play, something the Americans have not proven to have an high aptitude for, by both veterans and rookies to bring this trophy by the American soil.

The secret weapon may be the putting of rookies like Sneds, Keegan, Webb, and Dufner.  Making putts wins Ryder Cups.

Here is the skinny on the basic stats in the last 13 Ryder Cup Competitions between 1985 and 2010.

…………………….United States     Europe…………………………..

Wins                              4                     8

Ties                                1                    1

Matches Won              142               175

Points Won                  171               193

Foursomes Points       48.5              55.5

Four Ball Points           41.5              62.5

Singles Points              81                  75

Besides the obvious that Europe in the Seve and After Era has dominated the results with a 66% winning percentage they have also won this thing three times on foreign soil.  They can handle the partisan crowds.  The Europeans have also won 56% of the matches outright which goes a long way to explaining the 22 points spread overall in the 13 appearances.

Maybe the most startling and unexpected difference is that the Euros have outscored the Americans by 21 points in Four Ball matches.  It is not obvious why the Europeans would have an advantage in Best Ball matches, the likes of which they have played their entire competitive lives back to the cradle.  Frank Nobilo’s theory is that the Americans do not communicate well with their partners and are not willing to defer their tactics to protect their partners in these matches.

The American’s 7 point edge in the Alternate Shot Foursomes is pretty hard to figure as well.  I guess there is no deference required there, you just have to hit it where your partner put it.

The slight edge of 6 points in Singles makes sense because this is the least team oriented format and, if as so many of these pundits have posited, the Americans are more lone wolves than team players they would fare best in the format where they rely solely themselves only.

Brandel had one very interesting stat he shared the other night.  According to him during this same period the team that won the first match in the first session won the Ryder Cup over 60% of the time.  He said no other first match in any session had such a distinct correlation to overall outcome.  I guess if I am Olazabal I am putting Rory and Graeme out in the first foursomes match on Friday morning.  Not sure who the best duo for DL III would be under this theory.

One last thought.  If the Americans fail once again to take back this piece of hardware home I think they should suggest changing the Ryder Cup format to a Golf-Ping Pong Biathlon.  According to this article, Matt Kuchar could be the Roger Federer of table tennis and Mickelson and Tiger are plus fours and would be a formidable combination in the Ping Pong Foursomes.

September, 2012

Brandt Snedeker controlled his own destiny going into the final stage of the PGA Tour Playoffs and proved up to the task on Sunday shooting a 2-under par 68 on his way to winning the Tour Championship and the Fed Ex Cup for 2012.

You can relive the final round below, just like the Post Game on Golf Channel but without the sophomoric blabber of Rich Lerner, Charlie Rymer, and Brandel Chamblee.
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Thursday September 20th before round 1

Fed Ex Kup Standings:

1st  Rory McIllroy
2nd Tiger Woods
3rd  Nick Watney
4th  Phil Mickelson
5th  Brandt Snedeker

All five can determine  their own fate.  Win the Tour Championship they win the FedEx Cup and all the semolians.  For Rory it would sear his brand on the #1 World Ranking.  For Tiger it would be his fourth win of the year and put him back in the discussion as Player of The Year.  This opportunity frames the hot new Rory-Tiger rivalry that has developed since the PGA Championship at Kiawah.

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Sunday 1:00 PM  before leaders tee off

Tour Championship Standings:

1st Brandt Snedeker -8   Justin Rose         -8
3rd Ryan Moore        -6
4th Rory McIlroy       -5    Bubba Watson    -5     Jim Furyk            -5

Snedeker has the most to gain with this win.  A quasi-major in the Tour Championship and a super major in the FedEx Cup and over $11,400,000 in cash would certainly change his life.

For Rose and Moore 24th and 28th respectively in the Fed Ex Standings at the beginning of the week the win of the Tour Championship would be a prestigious feather in their career cap and about $1.4 million in their bank accounts.   But they would need serious help to repeat Bill Haas’s accomplishment of stealing the cup from the bottom quartile.  It seems unlikely that McIllroy and Woods will both fall far enough from grace to give them a shot at the Overnight Delivery Grand Prize.

As this day has begun it looks like Mickelson and Watney are no threat to McIllroy. It is only Eldrick and Sneds that have Rory’s attention at this point.  Pretty confident that McIlroy is only seriously worried about the man in the red shirt.

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Sunday 3:30 PM leaders thru #8

Tour Championship Standings:

1st  Brandt Snedeker -8
2nd Justin Rose         -6
3rd  Ryan Moore        -6
4th  Jim Furyk            -5
5th  Bubba Watson    -4

After an early birdie got him to 10 under Sneds had his first hiccup with a nervous double bogie on six he looks shaken going to the seventh tee.

A great bounce back birdie for Snedeker on 8 asserting the long putting prowess that has buffeted him all week.  Justin Rose has struggled with two bogies so far but made a nice par save on the same hole to stay in touch with Snedeker.

Got to marvel at Ryan Moore handling this pressure.  With great focus he is finding fairways and greens.  So far the hole has been about 1/2 an inch too narrow to grace him with the birdies he has deserved with his aggressive putting.  But he is not going away.

At this point, McIllroy and Woods are both 4 over through the first seven and in a tandem nose dive to 11th and 14th respectively.  Not the start of the compelling duel between them that Tim Finchem was hoping for.

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Sunday 4:00 PM leaders thru #10

Tour Championship Standings:

1st  Brandt Snedeker  -8
2nd Ryan Moore         -7
3rd  Justin Rose         -6
4th  Jim Furyk            -5
5th  Bubba Watson    -4     Webb Simpson   -4     Luke Donald       -4

The pressure is starting to take it’s toll across the field.  Rose has had a number of chances to close the gap with some terrific iron play but his putter has lacked sufficient enthusiasm to cash in.

Moore just made a long birdie putt on the par three 11th to close within one shot.  But Snedeker answered with a clutch sand save on 10 right behind him-he is giving no quarter.

Jim Furyk is parring the course to death through the first 12 holes but him making pars does not make up any ground.

McIllroy finally made a birdie on 12 to stop the hemorhaging and settle back to 2 under.  Unlike the first three days, he looks uncomfortable out there, his distance and towardness control into the greens is sketchy and the ball on the green does not seem to have eyes for the cup.

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Sunday 4:40 PM leaders thru #13

Tour Championship Standings:

1st  Brandt Snedeker -9
2nd Ryan Moore        -8
3rd  Justin Rose        -7
4th  Luke Donald       -5       Webb Simpson   -5
6th  Bubba Watson    -4      Jim Furyk            -4

Luke Donald is proving he is still one of the best in the world on the greens.  With five birdies through 16 holes….only three bogies has kept him from from seriously threatening the lead.

Dustin Johnson has not been a factor.  He did show a momentary spark with an eagle on 15 after knocking it in close and made a birdie on the tough 17th with a long range bomb from way uptown. But gave most of it back with bogies on 16 and 18.

Webb Simpson still has bad memories of blowing out all four tires in last year’s Tour Championship and setting up Bill Haas’s unlikely come from the oblivion win in the Fed Ex Cup.  His play today provides some redemption.  Five birdies, including one on the tough par three finishing hole, earned him a 66, tie for the low round of the day, and moves up to 4th in the Tour Championship.

Once again Sneds long putting is proving to be his own best friend making another improbable one for birdie on the 13th to assert his advantage back to two shots.

Ryan Moore is one cool cucumber with that smooth unorthodox swing and those unorthodox True Linkswear shoes.  He has shown his ability to cope with the challenge burying a long one on 14 to get back to within one and take over second alone at 8 under.

It is likely that scoring opportunities on the par five 15th will be pivotal for guys who are chasing.  Hitting the fairway on the water confined 17th and showing respect for the difficult pin placements on 17 and 18 will be crucial for the leaders trying to avoid a train wreck that could decide this championship.
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Sunday 5:10 PM leaders thru #15

Tour Championship Standings:

1st  Brandt Snedeker -10
2nd Ryan Moore          -9
3rd  Justin Rose          -8
4th  Luke Donald         -6
5th  Webb Simpson     -5      Bubba Watson      -5

A shout out for the Tour’s tribute to the military on the 16th hole where every player walking off the green has the opportunity to shake the hands of active military personnel and thank them for their contribution to the freedom’s we enjoy.

As predicted Moore carded a second consecutive birdie on the pivotal 15th, chasing a hybrid approach just past the hole and getting up and down from behind the flag for a four.  This threw down the gauntlet putting him into a tie at the top of the leader board at 9 under.

But Sneds answered the challenge hitting the green in two and lagging it for a tap in birdie to get the lead back alone at 10 under.

Rose had a little magic of his own with a sand save birdie from the front bunker on 15 to stay within two.

One last bit of heroics for Luke-he hits it to 10 feet of the phone booth pin placement on the finishing par three and buries it for one more birdie to shoot 67 and take fourth alone at this six under.

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Sunday 5:45 PM-The Finish

Tour Championship Final Standings:

1st  Brandt Snedeker -10
2nd Justin Rose          -7
3rd  Luke Donald        -6          Ryan Moore         -6
5th  Webb Simpson    -5          Bubba Watson     -5

Fed Ex Cup Final Standings:

1st Brandt Snedeker               2nd Rory McIllroy                   3rd Tiger Woods

Tiger reclaimed a little bit of the red hue in his Sunday shirt hitting it stiff on 18 and sending the green side crowd into a momentary delirium as he had a tap in birdie to end his day.  Mission not accomplished, his two over 72 did not do much to improve his position in this championship, the FedEx Standing, or the Woods-McIllroy Rivalry.

Rory never had it together today with three bogies and a double ending the day with a lackluster four over 74.   Because of the reset bias from winning two previous playoff events he still finished second in the Final Fed Ex standing.

In a quaint memory moment, Furyk had the identical bunker shot up and down on 18 that won him the Tour Championship and Fed Ex Cup in the rain two years ago.  But his two over score left him high and dry today.

Bubba Watson made a scintillating birdie on 17 but hit the green side bunker going for the flag on 18 resulting in his fourth bogey to go with his four birdies. Result was he treaded water at five under for fifth place in the championship.

In a sharp reversal of fortune down the stretch, Ryan Moore squandered his chance with back-to-back-to-back bogies on 16, 17, and 18 getting out of position and missing all three greens.  Ends up T-3 with Looooook.

In retrospect it was apparent from the start that today was to be Snedeker’s coronation as a deserving champion of both the Tour Championship and the Fed Ex Cup.  The bounces went his way right to the end.  He banked his drive off the hospitality tents next to the driving area on 17 and then cleared the front bunker by two feet on his approach into the green.  He proceeded to replicate his hero Tom Watson’s accomplishment holing a short pitch for birdie on the 71st hole to seal the victory.  A safe bogey on the finishing hole and he had his arms around both trophies and a pile of cash.

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Snedeker’s stats for the week tell it all.

Number one in Birdies.
Number one in Strokes Gained Putting.
Number two in Putts Per Round.
Number three in Putts on Greens in Regulation.
Second in Fairways Hit.
Seventh in Greens In Regulation.
He only missed one putt from 8 feet or in all week.
That will get it done.

September, 2012

(For more background on Sneds read moegolf’s posting earlier this year)

The Ricoh Women’s British Open proved to be a pure test of will against the elements of nasty weather on the western coast of England at Royal Liverpool Golf Club.   Winds gusting to 50 m.p.h. forced cancellation of the second round of the year’s final major on Friday and set the table for a grueling  36 hole finish on Sunday for the championship.  The weather for the morning 18 was good, but during the lunch break a meteorological hell broke loose and the final 18 would turn umbrellas inside-out and make finding fairways and greens a very stern task.

Jiyai Shin shot 64-71 on Saturday and Sunday morning to take a commanding lead at 10 under going into the final loop.  With a triple bogey on the first hole in the final round it looked like it could be anybody’s ball game.  But all the chasers were having their own lorry wrecks as the sideways rain and the gusting winds wreaked havoc on their scorecards.  Continuing her fabulous play the last two weeks, Shin settled down and played steady golf in weather that could have parted the Red Sea.  She made five birdies over the next 17 holes to post 9-under and win the championship rowing away.

Shin won this same major at Sunningdale in 2008 as a 21 year-old LPGA rookie.  She is currently the hottest player on the LPGA Tour.   Between her 9-playoff hole win at Kingsmill last week and this performance at the British she is 25 under par the last two weeks on tour.  Shin is no stranger to the winner’s circle having 10 wins on the LPGA Tour and 38 tournament wins world wide.

The young 15-year amateur phenom Lydia Ko from New Zealand continued to impress the professionals winning low amateur in this major to go along with the same honor she earned in the U.S. Women’s Open.  With her performance this week Ko, who won the Canadian Open a few weeks ago against a very strong field, showed she has the mettle to perform in the most challenging conditions.

This win perpetuates the dominating trend of Asian born players on the LPGA circuit.  Women from the Pacific Rim have won all four majors this year and the last seven going back to 2011.  South Korea’s Sun Young Yoo won the Kraft-Nabisco, China’s Shanshan Feng the LPGA Championship, and South Korea’s Na Yeon Choi the U.S. Women’s Open in 2012.

Watching her poise in the adverse conditions faced at Royal Liverpool today had a Darwinian feel to it and speaks volumes to Shin’s resolve to become the next force in women’s golf.   Another win before the season ending CME Group Titleholders and Jiyai Shin could be challenging Yani Tseng for that Rolex #1.

September, 2012

This is what the PGA Tour pundits had in mind when they created these made-for-television playoffs-a Saturday leader board packed with names like Mickelson, Singh, McIlroy, Scott, Westwood, Johnson, McDowell, and that guy Woods harvesting birdies in bunches jostling for top position going into Sunday of the last qualifying stage for a limited 30-man Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta.

Mickelson, who has been the Nowhere Man all summer, suddenly came alive last week  at the Deutsche Bank Championship with a T-4 to move into the top ten in the Fed Ex Cup Standings.  The 42 year-old continued his fine play today as he rocketed up the leader board with 10 birdies on his way to shooting 64 to tie for the lead.  Mickey hit it in the fairway 70% of the time today and was very accurate in his iron approach game.  Using the new claw putting grip Mickelson made putts from everywhere gaining almost 3 strokes in the round on the rest of the field.  He is 13th for the week in Strokes Gained Putting and 5th in Putts on Greens In Regulation.  For the good of the game,  Mickey’s Mojo is back.

It was a page from the past for Vijay Singh who shot 68 to get to 16-under and the lead going into the final round.  Putting has been the dybbuk for Vijay the last few years.  At 49 years-old he still has the length and ball striking to play with the young bucks.  But he has tried more putters, putting grips, and putter grips than Ian Poulter has gaudy shoes in his closet in an effort to find his way back to the winner’s circle.  This week he has driven it down the sprinkler line and putted better than everyone else.  He has over 30 one-putts in the first 54 holes with an average of only 24 putts per round.  The key shot was on the par five fifteenth when he missed the green to a low hollow left of the green and holed an impossible pitch for a birdie to regain the lead.  Unfortunately his aging nerves gave way and two bogies in the last three holes provided some life for the chasing posse.

Young Rory McIlroy did not have his A-Game today but he somehow found a 3-under 69 between his wayward driving results.  He birdied two of the last four to leave himself only one back of the two geriatrics in the lead.  Lee “No Major” Westwood pitched in from behind the green on 10 for the first of his five birdies on in inward nine to tie Rory at 15-under.

Tim Finchem and the boys are smiling anticipating the star-studded Sunday shoot-out that will determine the winner of  this championship.  It will be interesting to see who will be successful strutting their stuff and Stayin’ Alive for the final lawn party at the Tour Championship in two weeks.

September, 2012

The indelible image Rory brings to winning these major championships in a rout is a huge smile, something fans find incredibly endearing and fun to root for.  His eight-shot victory in the PGA Championship at Kiawah this weekend makes him a “multiple major winner”, number one in the world golf ranking, and a shoe-in to dominate all golf discussion from now through the Ryder Cup.

Jim Nance said at the end of the broadcast that when Rory won the U.S. Open by 8 furlongs at Congressional last summer it brought a smile to the game.  Well if that was a smile then this time it is a Cheshire grin.  He was 11-under over the last 36 holes and completely dominated the best field of the year on a course that was borderline psychotic.  And this was the second time he orchestrated this scenario in a major in the last 14 months.

The fact is that he is just 23 years old and joins a very short list of Jack, Seve, and Tiger who have won two majors at such an early age.  He shares with these guys the rare ability, in the heat of a major championship, to hyper focus his attention, block out the distractions that are derailing the competition, and let the gift of his talents produce play that separates him from the field.

What ingratiates him to the viewing public is the unfettered joy he brings to the arena. In contrast to the other guy who wears the red shirt on Sunday and seems to want to strangle a rattlesnake in the process, Rory has a sublime sense of calm as he is disarming the golf course and the field of competitors in pursuit.  He has a respectful demeanor to his adversaries and an outward appreciation for the adulation of the fans who acknowledge his accomplishments.

In the post game interviews he shows equal measure of confidence in his ability and humility for what it all really means.  When his accomplishments are compared to Jack or Tiger his response is that he is flattered by such comparisons but he feels he has a long way to go before justifying such associations.

He is also cognizant of the fact that his accomplishments make him a role model to thousands of kids around the world who look up to him as the new wunderkind.   Instead of seeing this as a burden he says he sees it as an honor and something he keeps in mind as he comports himself every day pursuing his craft.

Anyone who saw his performance this weekend can only be in awe of his ability to compose his talents with such grace under pressure.  It is just possible that time and accumulated accomplishments will put him in the category of the greats who have ever played the game.  For now we will have to accept that this very bright star is illuminating the golf horizon, there for all of us to gaze on in wonder and thoroughly enjoy.

August, 2012