Weekley’s loveable namesake

Chants of “Boooooooooooo” were cascading through the tree lined alcoves of Colonial Country Club all day Sunday as Boo Weekley put on a shot making clinic on his way to winning his third PGA tour event at the Crowne Plaza Invitational.  If there are horses for courses than Boo looks looks good in a tartan horse blanket because his previous two wins at Harbour Town and this one at Colonial have been on courses requiring driving accuracy, precise iron play, and a taste for a little something in a tartan plaid sports jacket.

It was a bit of a roller coaster for Boo who made two birdies and two bogies in the first seven holes.  He then went on a tear with birdies at 8, 9, and 10 and buried a 22-footer at 14 to take the lead for good at 14-under.  His iron play all day was so precise he was knocking down flags sticks coming down the stretch like star high school quarterback takes out stacks of milk bottles at a Midway.

But as Feherty and McCord were saying all day Boo is one of the best ball strikers out there.  Other pros stop behind his slot on the driving range to just listen to the pure sound of the ball coming off the center of the club face time after time.  He showed this in full flourish with umpteen opportunities for birdie on the back nine today.  If he could putt a lick he would have won by six.  Unfortunately for Boo he has a bit of Roberto Duran’s “hands of stone” when it comes to plying the flat stick.

The affable Boo has been a crowd favorite since his popular appearance in the Ryder Cup in 2008 but he has not won in five years.  Finally moving past a number of injuries that have hampered him the last few years he has been on a mini-tear this year making 12 of 14 cuts and finishing top ten three times on his way to winning over $900,000.  The $1.1 million he raked in for today’s win and moved him into 6th place in the FedEx Cup Standings.

Matt Kuchar, the leader going into the final round, was Boo’s stiffest competition but his game was a bit out of round in a number of areas today and he wobbled home with a 68, never really threatening the lead, to lose by one.  He must have gotten a bit tired of the droning of Boooooooooos that he was hearing  in front of him all day.

May, 2013

After his wet and wild performance on the 17th at the 2013 Players Championship Sergio Garcia should fully expect to be served a notice of copyright infringement by Kevin Costner’s lawyer for impersonating to the tee Roy McAvoy, Costner’s character in Tin Cup.

And people wonder why Sergio is not a great champion?  Simply because he is incapable of thinking like one. Like McAvoy in Tin Cup, Sergio is his own worst enemy.

The two greatest champions of the Modern Era, the Golden Bear and the Tiger, have played the major championships-all five of them-with a plan….a simple plan.  Don’t beat yourself.

Nicklaus has said on many occasions that he won more majors by letting the others lose them.  His philosophy on tough Sunday pin placements at the major championships was to play at the center of the green and try to curve it in the direction of the flag position.  If it didn’t move he had a 25-footer from the center of the green.  If it did move he might have a putt at a birdie.

Tiger on his way to 14 majors has always played the percentages.  Don’t take chances if you do not need to.  He only wins about 90% of the time if he is leading after 54 holes because he knows that if he can play aggressively the first few holes on Sunday and build a lead of 3 or 4 he can put it on autopilot-hit fairways and greens-and cruise to the trophy presentation making par after par while others crash and burn trying to catch him.

The final round in The Players was a perfect example.  Tiger played the first seven holes to get to 13-under and the lead.  He added one more birdie on 12 to get to 14-under and all of a sudden was 3 clear of the field with six holes to play.  Even after an uncharacteristic stumble on 14 when he balloon hooked what was supposed to be a stinger 3-wood into the water off the tee and made double he just drubbed the field with all pars and one more birdie coming in.

Most telling was that when he hit it in the heavy rough on 16 he found a way to muscle a long iron about 230 into the front bunker from which he knew he had a good chance to get up and down for a birdie and get back to 13-under.  He then stood on the tee at the treacherous Island 17th and aimed at the center of the green, ignoring the sucker pin hanging out over the water.    There was no way he was aiming at that pin.  Another par….one step closer to the trophy.  Splitting the fairway on 18 he took dead aim at an accessible flag to try to squeeze one more stroke out of the course.  His birdie putt edged the hole…one more par…one step closer to the trophy.

Now we have El Nimnod, one hole behind Tiger watching his every move and ignoring the example.  He too made a birdie on 16 to get it to 13-under and tie for the lead.  Standing on the tee at 17….looking at the inaccessible flag waving over Pete and Alice’s Pond….McAvoy, I mean Sergio, could not bring himself to aim at the center of the green and avoid pushing the self-destruct button.  His thought was, this hole has been good to me over the years why not put the tournament away right here.  Dunking two in a row into the water put it away alright as he headed for the 18th tee three out of the lead, handing Tiger the trophy.

The final three holes at Sawgrass have a simple algorithm, especially on Sunday.  Find a way to make a four on sixteen or you will lose a shot to the field.  Hit it left of the flag on seventeen to make sure you still have a shot to win on the last.  Split the fairway on eighteen, don’t visit the water on the left or the rough on the right and you will have a chance to go hunting for what is always an accessible flag.

What the pros say about Thursday at most events, you cannot win the event on Thursday but you can certainly lose it, applies to the 17th at Sawgrass on Sunday.  True champions understand that you cannot win the tournament on 17 in regulation but you can certainly lose it there.

After two decades on the Tour El Nimnod has still not grasped this lesson and once again proved he lacks the discipline and judgement to be a great champion.  It is apparent to me that being a great champion is something he will never grow into.

May, 2013

One thing you can say about Lefty is that he thoroughly embraces the “fix du jour” for his golf game.  He is more optimistic than a door-to-door soliciting evangelist when it comes to whether the claw, the Super Stroke putting grip, or, now, the Phrankenwood is going to deliver his beleaguered golf game from the rubbish pile back to the mountain top.

After two rounds at the Wells Fargo Championship it looks like Phranken from the tee is making his putter respond…..you can connect those dots yourself.  His 28-under win at the Waste Management was inspirational and a third at the WGC Cadillac Championship at Doral are the lone season highlights in an otherwise journeyman’s performance so far this season.

Phil has been fiddling away with the technology trying to find the elusive consistency that can bring him what he really cares for…more majors.  Remember this is the guy who won the 2006 Masters with two drivers in his bag.  His garage is so full of previous game changing equipment iterations-the clutter must resemble Thomas Edison’s workshop in his prime.

We recall his brief interlude with the broomstick last year that was discarded with dismay.  The claw putting grip seemed to be to his liking and some of the moss magic returned.  Then he abandoned the claw a few weeks ago to embrace the oversized Super Stroke 3.0 Slim putting grip that once again seemed to make the 3-footers less harrowing.  But, as it has been throughout his career, his driver has been his dybbuk and errant drive positions have made it impossible for him to score consistently in the sixties.  Witness his T-54 in the Masters with at a course with virtually no rough to speak of.

Enter the “Phrankenwood”.  With the help of the Callaway equipment gurus Phil has put together a hybrid driver/three wood.  Almost a modern Brassie it has a three-wood 250cc head, most modern drivers are the full 460cc’s, driver loft and shaft at 8.5 degrees and 45 inches respectively.  From the mouth of Evan Gibbs, manager of Callaway’s performance analysis group, “the key for Phil was getting a club that let him hit down on the ball slightly (his personal preference) while also producing low spin and the ability to move the ball in both directions”.

Through two rounds it is frankly doing what he wants it to do.  “I like to hit shots…carving it certain ways to pins, changing trajectories, and so forth.  This driver allows me to do that, to hit different shots….and it reacts the same way as my irons”.  If he wins this week you can bet Callaway will have the Phrankenwood on shelves at Dick’s Sporting Goods across the nation by The Players.

May, 2013

Woodmont Country Club does not have a par three course like Augusta National or Bandon Dunes.  Yet this weekend our club hosted a Three Par Competition with over 60 of our members in attendance turning our storied North Course into a 2115 yard Par 54 championship venue.

After a Grill Room wide search, the D & D Design team, in their first collaborative effort together, was tapped to create an intriguing array par three holes with a blend of the characteristics of the Golden Age and a touch of modern design.  Using alternative routing the team discovered holes with playing lines never imagined by the original designer Alfred Tull back in 1950 .  Like all timeless designs, holes like Ode to Pine Valley, Redan, Blind Man’s Bluff, The Road Hole, Ball Washer, and Tear Bucket brought out the best the topography had to offer and provided long time members with shot challenges they had never experienced before.

Throw in chilly temperatures, a steady breeze off the Rockville Court house, and slick greens with double digit downhill readings and it was all the field could handle.  There was a lot of head shaking, mumbling, and staring up at the heavens as players meandered to the next tee.

For the men and women competing for gross and net honors holes ranging from 75 to 190 yards brought imagination and the full use of their shot making skills into play.

Ode to Pine Valley-160 yards of carry over rough, trees, and a waste area of macadam rock and dirt-would feel right at home in Camden, N.J.

Gooseless, an homage to the tireless work of our Border Collie, had a phone booth pin location which only a man with a red cape could get at.

A true Redan this required a deft right to left curve landing softly on the top tier feeding to the pin below.

Pondering the line on the Tree Hugger seventh.

The green staff showed no mercy in setting Sunday pins throughout.

Pinball, in the finest Irish tradition, was a blind three-story pitch from 90 yards  requiring the creative use of side and back cushions to get a look at birdie.

Tear Bucket- a deft running pitch over water, rock wall, and a five-foot transition in the green to a shelved pin.

As you can see, the crew had the bucket surrounded.

At Wooten’s Worry players had to focus beyond the drop dead beauty of this green complex and hit one with sufficient enthusiasm to carry the false front and stay below the hole for a reasonable chance to convert a par.

At The End  the back bunker, which rarely comes into play on the normal line of this finishing hole, is the first hurdle. A green that steeply pitches away from this line means an effective shot has to be played away from the flag and rely on a ground fade to get it close.

All I can say is that based on the exit polls of the participants, this unique competition is a tradition in the making.

April, 2013

It has taken over a half a century to correct one of the great statistical anomalies in golf.  Australia, a sporting nation with a rich tradition of golfing champions, had never had one of it’s own fitted for a Green Jacket.  Until now.

Adam Scott, with a dramatic display of unflappable shot making and clutch putting, won the coveted Masters prize burying a 12-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole against two-time major champion Angel Cabrera.

Besides setting the historical record back on it’s keel, Scott swept away with his broom stick putter the haunting memory of his fold at last year’s Open Championship at Lytham and the notion that a guy with rock star looks and the talent to match could not win the big one.

On a soggy day in Georgia the leader board was full of Australian flags with Jason Day, Marc Leishman, and Adam Scott jockeying for position down the back nine with Cabrera, Tiger, and Sneds.  But most fell victim to the change of pace of rain-soaked greens or the rapid pace of their own heartbeats.

In the end it was just two guys-the Argentine and the Aussie-who played a sequence of riveting shots over the last four holes of regulation and two playoff holes in a most dramatic finish at a place known for dramatic finishes.  It would be a charismatic mano-a-mano duel of two of the most-liked characters on the global golf scene.

After a birdie on fifteen got him to 8-under Scott edged the hole on sixteen and settled for par, parred seventeen from the mayor’s office, and then set the mark at 9-under as he snuck in a dramatic 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th with Angel watching from the fairway behind.

Cabrera had a wrestling match with the five pars on the back nine and had fallen out of the lead until he buried a 20-footer on the pivotal par 3 sixteenth to get back to 8-under.  He burned the edge on seventeen and made a par.  After watching the hoopla of Scott’s heroics in front of him on 18 this great champion hitched up his pants and did his best Arnie imitation stuffing his approach from 165 to three feet to set off the crowd again and force the playoff with a matching birdie.

It almost ended in Angel’s favor on the first playoff hole when his birdie chip from in front of the green did a drive by, staring down into the cup before slipping by the right edge to the agony of the green side patrons.  The theater continued on the second playoff hole where both players nuked their drives and hit articulate irons to set up a putting duel on the stage of the tenth green.  Angel stroked another perfect putt, up the hill with a three-foot break from about 20-feet, just to see it skim the right edge.  The golf gods denied him again.

With the sage Stevie Williams hovering over his shoulder, a man with a closet full of positive Major experience under his previous employer, Scott heeded the advice and slipped the game winner into the front of the hole setting off a nuclear celebration down under.

Like so many of his country’s golfing greats Scott has won all over the world.  Nine wins on the PGA Tour, seven on the European Tour including the Alfred Dunhill in 2001, the Players Championship in 2004, the Tour Championship in 2005, the Australian Open in 2009, the WGC Bridgestone in 2011, and the Australian Masters last fall and now the coveted championship of the state of Georgia.

Scotty stands alone (wikipedia.org)

At the tender age of 32, with the old Tiger swing, the old Tiger caddie, and a refreshed confidence on the short grass with his walking stick, Scott has moved to third in the world ranking behind Tiger and Rory and is poised to fill his cabinet with many more major championship trophies over the next 10 years.  Kangaroos rule!!!!!

April, 2013