Reciprocal Golf Problog

Who's the world's best player?

2010-07-29T09:01:00.000-07:00

For a decade we golfers knew that Tiger Woods was the Number one golfer in the world. For a few weeks Vigay Singh had more points than Tiger in the Sony World rankings, but we knew the truth, didn't we?

We knew that Phil Mickelson was the #2 in the world, and that Steve Stricker was #3. Paul Casey was 4th, etc. But who is #1 now? Sure, the Sony rankings claim that Tiger is still Number One, but come on! He hasn't played like the best golfer in the world since last fall.

Yes, I know his mind has been in turmoil due to his marriage problems, and I know as well as anyone how the mind can upset the golf swing, but really? With such an opening, I would think Phil would have come on strong and overtaken Tiger during his time of weakness. But has that happened? NO!

And it won't happen as long as Callaway owns Phil Mickelson. It seems Phil can't think for himself without consulting with Callaway or his ambulance chasing attorney, Glenn Cohen in Jacksonville, FL. As long as Phil plays Callaway drivers and the Callaway (Odyssey) putter, he will not come close to the golfer he should be. All just to con the public into believing that Callaway golf equipment is the best in the business!

I can read Phil Mickelson's head stone right now: "Phil Mickelson. He should, and would have been the best, but for Callaway Golf."

The fourth major championship of 2010, the PGA, is approaching, and is anyone favored to win it? I wouldn't be surprised if another nobody European wins the PGA. There is no American player who has stood up this year and claimed he is Number one.

But I am willing to make a prediction. Lee Westwood will finish runner-up at the PGA! That seems to be his mission in his life.

Oosthuizen holds on in Sweden after Open.

2010-07-25T08:56:00.000-07:00

Last week at the Open Championship I was surprised to see Louis Oosthuizen win it, especially by such a wide margin. I attributed the win to his lucky round on Friday when he was able to miss the 50 to 60 MPH winds that hit most of the field that day.

I predicted that he was just a "flash in the pan" winner, and that we would not hear much more from Oosthuizen in the weeks to come. I may have been wrong!

Instead of taking a week off to celebrate his victory at the Old Course at St. Andrews, Oosthuizen entered the Nordea Scandinavian Masters in Sweden this last week, and was tied for the lead after the first round. I was especially impressed with his reason for playing. "It is good for the European Tour."

Oosthuizen continued to stay close to the lead through three rounds. In following the tournament, I was surprised to see that no Americans were entered in the field. KJ Choi from Korea was entered, which surprised me, because he has played so well for years on the PGA Tour.

The ultimate winner was Sweden's own Richard Johnson at 11 under par, and Oosthuizen finished a respectable three shots back.

The Senior British Open

2010-07-21T10:35:00.000-07:00

This week the Senior British Open is being played at Carnoustie in Scotland, and Tom Watson who also played in the Open Championship last week at St. Andrews is in the field. One American who was scheduled to play this week is Mark O'Meara, but he canceled the trip after his Dad passed away. He decided that his place was with his family instead. It should be an interesting week watching the seniors play Carnoustie.

I also noticed that last week's Open Champion, Louis Oosthuizen, is playing at the European Tour event in Sweden this week. I would have expected him to take a week off after his first major victory, but according to the commentators he chose to play because, "It will be good for the European Tour."

That's commendable, and Louis made the most of the first round by shooting five under par and was tied for first when they went off the air. A few days ago the Golf channel commentators were taking bets as to whether Oosthuizen's win at the Open championship is a "flash in the pan" victory, never to happen again, or if he is the real deal, and will go forward and continue to win on tour. I personally think he got tremendously lucky when he missed most of the high winds that hit St. Andrews last Friday, and that lucky day led to his victory.

Time will tell if his swing and his mental game take him to new wins in the near future.

Oosthuizen's major victory also started an argument among the Golf Channel commentators about the status of American tour pros, and whether anyone would once again dominate professional golf in the near future like Tiger dominated prior to last year's indiscretions.

The consensus seemed to be, "No, no one player will dominate the tour for some time." Phil Mickelson's game is hurting, due in my opinion to his endorsement contract with Callaway. Phil is forced to play golf equipment that is in my opinion second-rate, especially his driver and his putter. I explained two months ago why I am no longer a Phil Mickelson fan, because tour players owe it to themselves and to their fans to play the best they can play, and not put endorsement money ahead of performance.

Steve Stricker is supposed to be the Number 3 player in the world, but his game varies tremendously depending upon the course he happens to be playing at any one time. Then look at the European players who have won recently. Justin Rose won twice on the PGA Tour, then McDowell won the U.S. Open, to be followed by Oosthuizen's win at the Open championship.

Lee Westwood finished as the runner-up for the umpteenth time, and in my opinion will do so for the rest of time. He just doesn't have the mental strength to see himself as the best, only the second best!

The upcoming PGA Championship may bring out a player who separates himself from the pack, but I doubt it. I wouldn't be surprised if another "nobody" takes that major as well.

Does the PGA Tour control players?

2010-07-20T08:46:00.000-07:00

I remember the first time I saw a PGA Tour player on TV during a tour event with a significant growth on his face. That's right, a beard! I thought to myself, "Wow, this guy is going to get in trouble with the PGA Tour."

For some reason I thought there must be a rule on tour that no one could grow a beard, that all players had to be clean shaven. After all, what would happen to professional tour golf if a bunch of hippies showed up to play?

Then, when I didn't hear any comments from TV commentators about the beard, I saw a player with long hair on tour. I thought to myself, "Now this guy has done it! He's going to catch it for sure." But then nothing seemed to happen to him either.

More recently I learned that the PGA Tour pretty much keeps its tour players from being approachable by equipment manufacturers that want to show tour players new equipment that is intended to make each player a better driver of the ball, or a better wedge player, or a better putter. The tour's rules do not allow any equipment manufacturer from approaching any tour player unless that manufacturer already has a contract to play that manufacturer's equipment!

And when those kinds of rules apply to tour players, you know what happens, right? That's right, lawyers then run the tour. Lawyers that "represent" each tour player then dictate who can talk to their "client" on tour.

But what about each player's thoughts? Can the tour control what players are thinking? Can the tour control what each player says in front of a camera? Unfortunately, I believe the tour (PGA, European, Nationwide, etc.) not only can control what players think and say, they do control what they think and say.

Last week's British Open is an example. I watched virtually 100% of the telecast of the 2010 Open Championship, and have taken the position that Louis Oosthuizen was given a gift, and the victory, on Friday morning, when he finished the first two days with a huge lead over the rest of the field because the wind did not blow during the hours that Oosthuizen was on the course on Thursday and Friday.

Was that lucky for him? Yes. Does the PGA or the Royal and Ancient try to control the starting times to make the first two days' tee times as fair as they can each week for the entire field? Yes. But does that mean the weather will be the same both days? No.

It was obvious to me that Oosthuizen received the ultimate gift in a professional golf major championship, almost perfect weather for himself while most of the field suffered through tremendous winds that made the Old Course at St. Andrews virtually impossible to play for 95% of the field.

But did we hear any of the commentators speak up and tell the world of that gift? No. Nada. The professional tours have control over those commentators, as well as the players that tee it up every week. And telling the world that the winner was lucky is not in the cards. They MUST praise the winner as the one player who conquered the course in all kinds of conditions when the rest of the field, including the best players in the world, simply failed to measure up that week!

I was watching the Golf Channel's tape delayed interviews on Monday morning, many of which I had already seen Sunday evening after the Open had ended hours before, and I witnessed one interview where the actual truth almost came out about Oosthuizen seven-shot victory.

The media asked Rory McIlroy about the 80 he shot on Friday during the hurricane that blew most players off the course, when he had shot his record-breaking 63 on Thursday, and followed the 80 with two more rounds in the 60's on the weekend.

I could tell Rory was picking his words very carefully, trying not to mention the fact that Oosthuizen missed the 60+ miles per hour winds that almost canceled Friday's round because the tour considered the course unplayable. But he did, for one second, almost make the statement about Oosthuizen's amazing luck, but then changed his chain of thought and said Oosthuizen "held on like a champion over the weekend, and did not choke coming down the stretch" (with his seven shot lead).

Granted, the tour officials don't want a lot of name calling and sore losers on tour, but what about honest feelings and emotion on the part of players? Is the tour justified in trying to make tour stars appear dishonest, void of emotion, when the truth is so apparent?

I for one would like to see tour players tell it like it is for once, and not have the fear of suspension hanging over them every time they answer a question posed to them by the media.

Weather determined British Open Champion!

2010-07-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

In my 50 years watching 200 major golf championships, this is the first time I have ever seen the weather determine the winner! During a week when almost hurricane winds blew virtually 99.9% of the players off the Old Course at St. Andrews at one time or another, Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa played early Thursday in no winds, and then got lucky by playing during a lull in the weather on Friday.

To give you an idea how tough the conditions were for most players on Friday, the first round leader, Rory McIlroy, followed his opening 63 on Thursday with an 80 in the wind on Friday. He then shot in the 60's again on Saturday and Sunday.

Oosthuizen built up such a lead over the rest of the field the first two days that no one could mount a charge over the weekend to catch him!

And looking at the rest of the field on Saturday and Sunday, no one even seemed interested in trying to catch Louis since his lead was so large! Tiger Woods on the front nine on Sunday hit two very stupid tee shots with driver that he should have known would put him in two of the dangerous bunkers that cannot be played forward toward the hole.

Tiger had to play sideways out of both of those bunkers, wasting two shots when he needed to put up a charge to try to catch the players in front of him. He started birdie, par, birdie, then drove into one of those bunkers and made double bogey. Then he made two pars, only to make another double bogey from driving into another bunker! Tiger, Phil Mickelson, and the rest of those chasing Oosthuizen seemed to lose all common sense on Sunday, making one bad mental decision after another!

Here I am on Sunday morning watching the Open Championship, and with nine holes still to go I am giving the victory to Louis Oosthuizen.

Congratulations to Louis Oosthuizen! Take this gift and make the most of it with the rest of your career!

I'm heading to the golf course.

The weather may determine the winner at the Open!

2010-07-16T11:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I talked about the importance of today's weather conditions in determining who will have the advantage going into the weekend at the Open Championship. Friday's weather was not even close to being the same as Thursday! Very early players on Friday did get a tremendous break from the weather, as did the early players on Thursday.

Louis Oosthuizen, for example, received the gift of a lifetime Friday morning when he was able to play in no wind and light rain, so the greens actually held shots. The wind then picked up so quickly after he finished that the officials suspended play for an hour and six minutes. If the wind had not died down a little so play could continue, officials would have canceled the entire second round for Friday, canceling Louis's round of 67! As things stand as of this writing, Louis will have a tremendous lead over the field starting Saturday's round because players are fighting just to make pars Friday afternoon.

After play continued, the average scores increased by three shots per player over the players who finished before the suspension! Scoring difficulty increased tremendously after play resumed. Rory McIlroy, for example, had shot 63 on Thursday, 9 under par, but then hit the windy conditions Friday and was +8 through 16 holes for the day when I discontinued following Friday's round!

After all players finish their rounds Friday evening, it will be interesting to see what score is required to make the cut for the weekend.

First round of the Open Championship.

2010-07-15T13:43:00.000-07:00

The first round of the Open championship ended about as I had predicted, with most of the leaders playing early, before the wind picked up. Friday's forecast shows the weather will not be the same as Thursday, however, so conditions will probably not be equal for everyone after the first two days.

Phil Mickelson showed why he can't score at the British Open when it is windy, because he can't hit the ball low when necessary.

Two of the players I mentioned yesterday that we should watch out for are Ernie Els and Justin Rose. Both players shot under par today.

Tiger shot well as he always does at St. Andrews, and a nice surprise for American viewers was John Daly's six under par start.

The leader after the first day, Rory McIlroy, represents one of the young players in the field this year.

Six of the players on the first page of the leaderboard are Europeans with whom I am unfamiliar, but unknown Europeans near the lead on day-one of the Open Championship is nothing new. They usually fade after the first day, so it will be interesting to see if any of them remain near the top after Friday.

One reader commented to me that Edoardo Molinari should be among the top picks to win after his performance last week at the Scottish Open, and I agree. Edoardo shot three under on Thursday.

After Friday's round, and we get to see if the same weather holds as Thursday, we will have a better look at the leaderboard and the potential outcome.

The Open Championship!

2010-07-14T14:17:00.000-07:00

The 150th British Open starts tomorrow, and predicting the winner at this time is impossible, obviously! The day before the U.S. Open started, I picked Dustin Johnson to win, and after three rounds, he had a three stroke lead. But then the press scared the *&#$ out of him Saturday night, telling him he was not human if he was not scared to death as the leader of the Open!

But the British Open is not so obvious to me. Experience versus youth, the weather, and who is hot right now all have to be figured into the mix.

The weather, to start with, often helps break winners away from the rest of the field. There are specific players who simply hit the ball too high to play in the wind. Others can't play in the cold, or the rain. So until tomorrow, and we get an idea of what the playing conditions will be, we will just have to wait and see.

I'd prefer to look at the list of players who are hot going into the event to try to pick a winner this early. Among hot players this year we have Ernie Els, and he is experienced at St. Andrews. This week is his fourth trip to St. Andrews.

Steve Stricker is hot right now, coming off a record-setting win at the John Deere Classic last week. He is ranked Number 4 in the world right now.

Many odds-makers give Phil Mickelson a good chance to win, but I think he hits the ball too high to win if the wind blows at all.

I think Justin Rose will have a good chance to win this week. He already has two wins in his last three PGA tour events, and this will be his ninth British Open. Although this is his first trip to St. Andrews, he knows how to play British coastal links courses.

Congratulations to Paula Creamer!

2010-07-13T09:07:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Paula Creamer for her victory at the Women's United States Open! If you will recall, Paula is one of the women that I mentioned months ago who has an unusual quirk in her neck when she makes contact. The other two are Lorena Ochoa and Natalie Gulbis. Paula has always tilted her head to the right and dropped it toward the ground at impact.

Commentators talked this past week about how Paula was holding her head more upright at impact this last week, making her more consistent. That must have been something she has been working to correct if the change was that apparent to the course commentators.

I remember mentioning about three weeks ago that it is good that Lorena Ochoa was retiring at the young age of 28, because she might break her neck if she continues tournament golf much longer!

No matter who the golfer is, holding the head still during the golf swing is probably the most important thing you can do to be a consistent golfer. Everything else in the swing revolves around the head.

Now back to the Men's PGA Tour, and the upcoming Open Championship at the Old Course at St. Andrews.

I finally learned where Tiger woods is. He is at St. Andrews. How long he has been there is the question I asked last week. Tiger won the last two Open championships that were held at St. Andrews, by eight strokes and by five strokes respectively. No one has ever won three consecutive Open championships held at St. Andrews, so Tiger has the chance to be the first.

Yes, he is still recovering from his personal problems and his divorce from Elin, which will make concentrating on golf difficult still. But maybe the Open at St. Andrews is important enough to him to be able to put that behind him and let him concentrate.

St. Andrews has been lengthened since the last Open there, and the key to winning the Open will be the ability of the players to stay away from the deep bunkers on their tee shots.

I for one am looking forward to watching the Open this year due to the number of new young players that have invaded the tour in the last three years. Weather will be a factor as well as it always is at the Open. I have not heard what the weather is forecasted to be this coming week, so it will be interesting to see the results of round one on Thursday.

That should tell us a lot about what we can expect for the rest of the week.

No One Knows Where Tiger Is This Week?

2010-07-11T17:48:00.000-07:00

I asked earlier this week what Tiger woods was doing to prepare for the Open Championship at St. Andrews next week. No one seems to know!

I haven't been able to find any article online all week long that mentions where Tiger has been this week, or what he is doing to prepare for the next major championship.

There has been talk about his divorce from Elin, and that she may only be awarded $100 million from their divorce instead of the $500 million that the golf media was ready to give her six months ago. But judges usually know more about after-tax income and expenses than the typical reporter knows about that kind of thing.

If I were Tiger, I would be quietly playing the Old Course at St. Andrews this past week, in preparation for the Open Championship that begins Thursday, July 15.

So, assuming Tiger shows up on the first tee on Thursday, what are his chances of winning? He has won the Open Championship twice on the Old Course already.

I have already answered that question before, and I'll say it again; "It depends if he has put his personal problems behind him."

He already showed signs that he had done just that with several spurts of magic on the course in the last month; he just hasn't won yet this year. This will be a tough week to show his on course magic due to the publicity surrounding his divorce settlement that has been in the news.

I personally think he will play well this coming week, but not well enough to win his 15th major championship. I don't think he will be able to put his divorce out of his mind that soon.

Does it Pay to Prepare for the Open in the UK?

2010-07-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

How many PGA Tour stars flew over to the United Kingdom early to prepare for the Open Championship this year, and did it pay off?

In the last few years quite a few American PGA Tour players have flown over to the UK a week before the Open Championship (British Open) to play in the Scottish Open, to prepare for the next week's Open Championship. In the past, several Americans have done very well in the Scottish Open.

This year, however, most Americans and other PGA Tour stars fared poorly in the Scottish Open, with most of them missing the cut! Some notables who missed the cut after Friday's round included Phil Mickelson, J.B. Holmes, Steve Marino, Lucas Glover, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, and Camilo Villegas.

One American who surprised everyone by making the cut was John Daly, along with Tom Lehman.

But does a player have to do well in the Scottish Open to do well in the Open Championship? Not necessarily. Keep in mind that by flying over a week early, players get the chance to get used to the time change and the weather a week ahead of time, so there are no last minute surprises.

Even if they don't make the cut at the Scottish Open, they get two additional days to visit the Open Championship site, which is the Old Course at St. Andrews this year, and become familiar with the course and the playing conditions a week early.

The question of the week seems to be, "Where is Tiger Woods this week?"

He did not enter the Scottish Open, and he is not playing in any tournament in America this week. My guess is that Tiger has gone directly to St. Andrews to prepare for the Open Championship. What is strange is that I can't find any mention online about what Tiger is doing this week to prepare, if anything.

I have personally been recovering from foot surgery lately, and have not been able to follow the golf news much in the last three weeks. St. Andrews is one of Tiger's favorite courses in the world, and if he is going to put his marriage troubles behind him and start once again making it his goal to surpass Jack Nicklaus' 18 major wins, next week at the Open Championship would be the perfect time for him to do so.

If anyone can enlighten me as to what Tiger is doing to get ready for the Open Championship this past week, I would be very interested in finding out.

Congratulations to Justin Rose!

2010-07-04T18:25:00.000-07:00

My previous blog on Saturday mentioned that Justin Rose had a four-stroke lead going into the final round at the AT&T National, and asked whether or not he could win while leading after three rounds, as opposed to coming from behind to win.

A week ago Rose had a three shot lead going into the final round at the Travelers Championship, and shot 75 on Sunday, losing the tournament by three shots.

Rose started off poorly on Sunday, but after nine holes he still had a five shot lead going into the back nine. The bad news is that he did not make a single birdie on the back nine. The good news is that he still won the tournament, by one shot!

Rose did not answer the question as to whether he can win going away, when entering the final round with the lead. He held on to win, but that is all we can say.

The mental side of professional golf once again showed us what "holding on", or "protecting the lead" can do to the leader. Golf is played between the ears, not just by tour professionals but also by everyday amateurs.

While Rose was "holding on", players like Ryan Moore, Jeff Overton, and J.B. Holmes were shooting five under, three under, and four under respectively on Sunday in an attempt to catch Rose.

That is the amazing thing about the mental side of golf. When a player is chasing the leader, he thinks about making birdies and eagles. If a player is in the lead, he usually thinks about making pars. Very few tour players who are in the lead have the mental strength to think about making birdies and expanding the lead.

Tiger Woods is one of those players who thinks about setting a new scoring record when he is in the lead, and not merely playing well enough to win. At the AT&T National, Tiger finished 14 shots behind Rose, because Tiger's head is still not over his personal problems yet.

But he will get his act together, and soon, possibly at the British Open coming up at the Old Course at St. Andrews.

Will Justin Rose hold on tomorrow to win?

2010-07-03T15:32:00.000-07:00

Last week Justin Rose held a three-stroke lead going into the final round on Sunday at the Travelers Championship, only to shoot 75 in the last round and lose the tournament. Missing a two-foot putt on the 9th green put a negative slant on the final round, and Rose followed it up with a terrible back nine!

This week Justin has a four-stroke lead going into Sunday. Will he hold on to win, or fall apart the final day like he did last week?

The mental side of professional golf is a mystery to many golfers, and to most of the viewers at PGA events. The crowd expects to see the greatest golfers in the world make one great shot after another, and can't seem to grasp the fact that these guys are only human.

A month ago Rose won Jack's tournament, The Memorial, charging from behind to take the trophy on Sunday. At the Travelers, he took the lead into Sunday. Is that the difference? He can charge from behind, but don't let him get in the lead, or he can't handle the pressure of being in the lead?

Believe it or not, most professional golfers do not feel comfortable leading a tournament. Look at what happened to Dustin Johnson when he took the lead into the final round of the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. He shot 82 on Sunday, the second highest final round by a leader in the Open since 1911!

I remember when I was young and was first learning the game. I could not put two good nines together. If I shot 36 on the front nine, I would shoot 42 on the back. If I started with 43, I'd shoot 35 on the back. It took me about four years of playing golf, from 12 to 16 years of age, before I could put two good nines together.

Why was that the case with my game?

When I got older, I would enter amateur tournaments, usually one-day junior tournaments, and if I shot a good first nine, my back was not very good. Then I would enter my golf course's Men's Club Championship, which was usually a two-day event. If I shot well the first day, and was near the lead or leading, I would fall back the second day. It wasn't until I was around 25 years of age before I could put two good rounds together, and start winning.

By the time I was 30 until I was 40, I won our Men's Club championship nine times out of 12 consecutive years. What made the difference? I learned to play the course, not the other competitors.

When I stopped paying attention to what others were shooting, and set my own goal of shooting under par, I started winning.

I have seen PGA tour stars interviewed many times, and a common question they are asked is, "Do you look at the leaderboard when you are in contention, or not?" Some professionals watch the leaderboard, like Tiger Woods, when many others do not look at the leaderboard at all. Tiger likes to know where he stands at all times, and he loves to go face to face with someone who is contending for the lead.

Many players do not want to know where they stand. That is probably because they do not handle the lead very well, so they don't want to know when they are in the lead. Believe it or not, most of the 156 tour players that tee it up every Thursday are very similar in their ability to strike a golf ball.

What separates the Number one player in the world and the Number 100 player in the world is what lies between the ears. In other words, it is all mental.

So, where do you think Justin Rose lies in that mental game? Will he hang on to win on Sunday, or will he fall to his mental weaknesses like he did at the Travelers?

Let's watch him on Sunday and see if he appears to pay attention to the leaderboard, or if he seems to be playing his own game without wondering where he stands toward the final holes.

Dustin Johnson after the U.S. Open

2010-07-01T08:14:00.000-07:00

If you remember, I picked Dustin Johnson to win the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach two days before the tournament started, and Dustin had a three-shot lead over the field after three rounds. Then the press and the tournament commentators took him aside and told Dustin that he was not human if he was not shaking in his boots under those circumstances!

They convinced him on Saturday night that his calm, composed attitude was not natural, and that he was some kind of freak if he continued with that attitude. So, Dustin hit a wedge next to the second green into an unfair lie, thanks to the USGA, took a triple-bogey 7 on the hole, and Dustin could then relax and become human.

Dustin shot a closing 82, the worst finish by a leader in a U.S. Open since some unknown player shot an 83 in the final round in 1911.

How has Dustin handled "being human" since his disastrous final round at the Open?

From what I hear, he celebrated his 26th birthday on a boat, and then talked to Greg Norman about how to learn from a major disappointment. Greg has had a few major disappointments of his own, you will recall.

Then Dustin showed up at the next tournament site and ran into another recent failure on tour, Justin Rose. Justin had just choked his way from a three-shot lead at the Travelers Championship after the first three rounds to self-imploding on Sunday!

Dustin has taken the attitude, "You're not going to win every time." His final round 82 was sandwiched between two other collapses on tour. The week before the Open, Robert Garrigus had a three-shot lead going into the 18th hole, then hit his tee shot into the water, then into the trees. He made a triple-bogey and fell into a three-way tie after 72 holes. Then he was eliminated in a playoff.

Then there was Rose's collapse at the Travelers the week after the Open. Mental pressure on the PGA Tour can be hard to overcome, especially when a player is leading the Open and the press starts telling him how to think!

My advice to Dustin? The next time you are leading a major on Saturday night, go hide some place away from the tournament, and do not give interviews. Get in your own trance, think about shooting 65 on Sunday, which you should consider just another Sunday on the links.

I'm glad to see Dustin does not put all of his thoughts on golf these days. He just announced that he is getting together with a number of other tour players and buying a thoroughbred race horse that is in training at Hollywood Park! Dustin and his partners are trying to decide what to name the horse, since they don't like the horse's present name, "Bling Boy".

Dustin hopes to return from the British Open next month so he can watch his horse run at Del Mar.

How his horse performs down the stretch will be of particular interest!

Back from "Vacation"!

2010-06-30T11:49:00.000-07:00

I can't really call my absence from writing my blog a vacation, but things have been hectic for the last six days. My oldest son, Pete, (Rio Veradonir in the networking websites) got married last Saturday at the Nunan Estate in Jacksonville, OR, and I had family from all over the country in town for the festivities.

He and his wife, Talia, are now on their Honeymoon, and my youngest son, Bob, and I are moving out of the house in Ashland and into an apartment for him in Talent, OR. By the middle of July I expect to be moving back to Palm Springs, CA with Reciprocal Golf and Probe Golf opening offices there once again.

What has been happening in the world of golf? I see that Bubba Watson won his first PGA event after winning a playoff with Corey Pavin and Scott Verplank, after the leaders at the start of the day, Justin Rose and Ben Curtis, choked their way down the back nine. Congratulations, Bubba!

I read where Donald Trump's development company has been given the go-ahead to build what he claims will be "the world's greatest golf course" in the north-east part of Scotland. Trump called the land where he will build the course "the finest piece of land I have ever seen" in a recent news release.

The course is scheduled to be completed in 2012, and Trump stated he hopes to host the British Open there in the future. This year's British Open is being played at the "home of golf" in St. Andrews in about two weeks, and will be the 150th anniversary of the Open.

My son is getting married tomorrow!

2010-06-25T11:42:00.000-07:00

My oldest son is getting married tomorrow, Saturday, so I won't have another blog until Sunday. We have family visiting from all over the country for three days.

My son's "Professional name" is Rio Veradonir at Twitter, Facebook, and My Space, so anyone who'd like to wish him well may do so at those networking sites.

Pete

The PGA Tour has changed in 18 years!

2010-06-23T11:28:00.000-07:00

I learned something about the PGA Tour this week that is somewhat disturbing to me. I mentioned a few weeks ago here at my blog that I invented two new improvements to two of the most important clubs in your golf bag in 1991 and 1992, the putter and the driver.

At that time all I had to do to introduce my golf equipment to the tour players was to request a manufacturers' representative badge from the PGA Tour, and they sent me one. I could then show up at tour events, on all three tours at the time (PGA, Senior, and LPGA) and set up my golf bag on the range or the putting green, and let the tour players try them.

Johnny Miller in 1991 used my Probe driver, and knew it was better than any other driver in existence. He advised me, "Pete, just walk up to any tour player on the driving range and ask him if he would be interested in trying a new driver that would keep the ball in the air for 2 and 1/2 seconds longer and carry 30 yards farther than any other driver. They will try the Probe, and they will like it, but after that it is up to you if they end up playing it. Most of them will ask you how much money you will pay them to play your driver. If they are more interested in performance, they will play the Probe, but most of these guys are spoiled by the big companies, who pay millions of dollars to name players to get them to play their clubs!"

Johnny was absolutely correct, so I spent most of my time on the Senior Tour in 1991 and 1992, because most of those guys were more interested in performance than in endorsement money.

As you may remember, two weeks ago I mentioned that I wanted to let Phil Mickelson try my center-shafted, inverted-shafted Probe 20/20 putter, so he would make more short breaking putts, which has been his weakness for years. So I emailed the PGA Tour and asked for a manufacturer's rep tour badge. Their response to me was a shocker!

They said they no longer allow manufacturer's reps to introduce new equipment to tour players, on any of the tours. A manufacturer must already have one or more tour players signed to an endorsement contract, and playing your product, before they can get a tour badge to get access to his player(s)!

What a shock that was to me, because it is now apparent the PGA Tour itself is behind the dishonesty that exists in the golf equipment industry and its endorsement money paid to tour pros in this day and age.

I wonder what percentage of the public, the avid golf fans who pay the entry fees at tour events and make those events possible, believes that their favorite tour pro plays his golf equipment because it is the best equipment available? Most viewers probably believe their favorite tour players uses equipment that he feels is the best equipment! The public is obviously dead wrong!

That reminds me of the movie ROLLERBALL that came out in the late 1960s. Remember that movie? Athletic competition was no longer between countries, but corporations. Professional golfers no longer play for themselves, but for the golf equipment companies that have prostitutionalized the sport! Whoever has the most money to pay the top named tour pros to play their equipment will convince the public to buy their golf equipment!

Is there any honesty and integrity in golf anymore? It is a game that is supposed to teach us those qualities, supplied by equipment manufacturers that do not know the meaning of those words!

I, for one, choose the remember better times.

Glad you agree!

2010-06-22T08:10:00.000-07:00

I was glad to see so many readers agree with me that when the USGA makes a golf course unplayable, and brings a lot of luck into the equation, it spoils the event for the players, for the spectators, and the final results!

Growing the rough long in a U.S. Open has been done before, and penalizes the players if they don't hit the fairway. That is a justified move on the part of the USGA. But for a ball to roll away from the hole on the greens, and roll, and roll, and roll, and roll, and roll some more, is not the correct goal on the part of the tournament organizers!

The same holds true for the fringe around a green. The side of the green at hole #14 at Pebble Beach is not a green, it is rough, and should be grown the same length as the rest of the rough on the course. For a ball to roll ten feet past the hole to the fringe, and then continue rolling, and rolling, and rolling, until it comes to rest in thick grass forty feet away from the green, is no way to decide the best golfer in the event.

Golf is a game of skill, not a roll of the dice, and it is unfortunate that the USGA has not figured that out after all this time! Several times during the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach last week, commentators interviewed the USGA official on-hand, and asked him if he thought the conditions at #14 green were fair. Each time the official ansewered, "Yes, we feel it is fair."

That official should find another job, because he is a masochist ( and I do not mean in the usual sexual connotation)! I guess it would be more appropriate to call him a sadist. In any event, the USGA needs to reevaluate its definition of "fair".

I would like to hear what other readers have to say about this subject, so please reply to me if you have the time, and an opinion one way or the other. Thanks.

What a final round at the U.S. Open!

2010-06-21T09:00:00.000-07:00

Is there anyone else out there in Golf land who was as shocked and disappointed with the final round of the U.S. Open as I was? The final round at the U.S. Open was anything but expected, to say the least. The first subject I'd like to discuss is the unfair condition of the course as set up by the USGA.

Do you remember the Open where Payne Stewart came to the final hole and had a three-foot birdie putt? I think it was to win the Open, around 1997 or 98. He putted up the hill to the hole, and then the ball did a 300 degree turn to the left and rolled backwards 25 feet!

The conditions yesterday on the 14th hole were almost as bad, and the USGA should be ashamed of themselves. When you take skill out of the equation, and add blind luck, it is no longer a tournament. It is a joke!

The first hole where the unfair conditions became apparent to me on Sunday was hole #2, when the leader at the time, Dustin Johnson, was ten feet from the green in two and had an unplayable lie. He had to turn a sand wedge upside down and swing it left-handed, because the weeds he was in made it impossible to swing right-handed! He took a triple-bogey seven on the hole, and was no longer leading. In fact, the shock of the situation led to Dustin's total dismantling of his mind, and he was a zombie for the rest of the day!

In all fairness to the course conditions, Dustin had already been brainwashed by the media and the major tournament commentators from the time he finished his third round of 66 on Saturday and the time he teed off for the final round on Sunday!

Here was a young man who was playing better than anyone else in the tournament after 54 holes, who was ready to play just another round of golf on Sunday, when the media learned he was calm and collected on Saturday night. That was not normal U.S. Open emotions, so they had to bang on him for hours, mentally, one after another, until they made sure that he knew he was supposed to be a blubbering idiot with the shakes in every extremity because he was leading the United States Open going into the final round!

How dare he consider Sunday's round just another 18 holes of golf? He wasn't human, according to the media, so they had to do something about it. They all had to tell him he had to be nervous, shaking in his boots, before teeing off on Sunday!

All anyone had to do was look into the kid's eyes to tell he was totally bewildered from the first tee onward on Sunday, and for the rest of the day.

So, getting back to the unfair course conditions. The most apparent hole where the conditions were not fair all week was hole # 14, where the surface of the green was like putting on a rock hard table top, with nothing to keep any ball from almost stopping within ten feet of the hole, then picking up speed, and then rolling another forty to eighty feet from the hole!

If we could look at a video of every player who was within five shots of the lead, on any day of the tournament, we could see how many players lost the tournament on #14 due to the unfair conditions. That's not golf, that's a roll of the dice!

And forget the surface of the green for a moment. Consider the fringe and what is supposed to be the rough outside of the fringe. The grass outside the fringe is supposed to be longer rough, not cut so close that every ball continued to roll down the steep hillside until it stopped in thick rough to the point where the player could not get a club on the ball to loft it back onto the green so he could run up the hillside to the green and then watch his ball roll another 100 feet down to another impossible lie on the other side of the green!

The best ball strikers in the game were reduced to rolling the dice, and bringing themselves down to the level of the lessor players. As a result, lessor players finished first and second. A perfect example of the unfairness of it all were the finishing putts on 18 on Sunday.

Tom Watson walked up to a one-foot putt on 18 and didn't even tough the hole with it. Tom has so much class that he blamed his missed putt on a mental lapse in his comment to the press, but it is obvious the ball bounced straight right when he tapped it.

And McDowell's tap-in par putt to win jumped dead right when he tapped it, and luckily it caught the right side of the hole and went in. Can you imagine what the comments would have been if it had missed from one foot, and went six feet past the hole, and then he missed the return putt?

Maybe that is what it will take to get the USGA to wake up and smell the rotten roses in the future!

Dustin Johnson right on track to win!

2010-06-20T07:43:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday I predicted Dustin Johnson would win this week's U.S, Open. I also mentioned why Phil Mickelson would not win, and why Tiger Woods would come close, but not quite win!

Tiger's back nine on Saturday gave us a sampling of what is to come right around the corner. When he tasted on the back nine at Pebble yesterday what it was like to be contending once again, he got that old competitive look in his eye that is the look of Tiger Woods.

Look out Open Championship at St. Andrews; Tiger is back. But not quite in time for the U.S. Open.

Johnny Miller would like to see some nervousness in Dustin's eyes Sunday morning, because "no one can remain calm at the U.S, Open." I hope Dustin does not begin to believe what the media will be trying to tell him overnight, that he should not remain calm when he is leading the U.S. Open. I hope Johnny isn't trying to jinx Dustin deliberately.

Even if Tiger makes a charge early on Sunday, playing in front of Dustin, I do not expect Dustin Johnson to give in to any pressure and fall back.

You Tiger fans, don't be stupid, expecting your man to rattle the heads of the rest of the field. Tiger is five shots behind Dustin, and that is too much for Tiger to overcome unless Dustin gets rattled, and I do not think that will happen.

I'm looking forward to watching today's round, because I expect most of the Tiger fans to think Tiger can rattle Dustin, and pass him. I do not think that will happen. I picked Dustin from the start, when most others picked Phil or Tiger to win.

I'm sticking with Dustin, and expect he will not only survive the lead, but will add to it!

Mickelson good or lucky?

2010-06-18T20:28:00.000-07:00

"Phil Mickelson, would you prefer to be good or lucky?"

I stated yesterday that Phil Mickelson was going to be in trouble during Friday's round at Pebble Beach, because he teed off early on Thursday, when everyone who teed off late on Thursday faced windy, dry, bumpy greens, with many three-putt greens.

He teed off late on Friday, so he was going to face those same windy, dry, bumpy greens on Friday, and score worst than he did on Thursday, right? Wrong!

Pebble's winds died down on Friday, and the USGA decided to water the greens on Friday so they would not be criticized once again about the terrible greens by the likes of Tiger Woods! But when the USGA decides to do just that, they change the odds in favor of some players, in this case Mickelson, and against others.

The result? Phil putted on good greens, and shot the round of the tournament for the first two days. Lucky? Definitely!

Now they go into the weekend, where the low 60 players and ties, all within ten shots of each other, will battle it out in fairly the same weather conditions. No one should benefit from better playing conditions than any of the others, period.

So who is favored from here on in? Pebble is playing tough, and the USGA will no doubt place the pins in tougher spots, and let the greens dry out even more. The rough is growing longer every day, so overall conditions will be tougher for the weekend.

Now the game will move from physical skill to the mental side of the game, and I have stated before who has the mental toughness on tour, and who does not have it.

Just look at the players who have made the cut for the weekend, and pick the ones who have been there before, and stayed the course to reach the winner's circle.

That will decide who wins this year's U.S. Open.

U.S. Open first round results

2010-06-18T08:40:00.000-07:00

Thursday's first round at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach went about as I predicted it would! Dustin Johnson was in the mix at even par, two behind the leaders, even though he didn't putt well.

Phil Mickelson putted "horribly" (in his own words), also as I predicted. The worst club in his bag is the Odyssey (Callaway) blade putter that he HAS to play according to his contract with Callaway!

About two weeks ago I mentioned here in my blog how Mickelson's attorney threatened me if I even thought about getting a better putter in Phil's hands, so he could finally become the Number One player in the world. I'm sorry, but I was a big Phil Mickelson fan until I learned how he has let Callaway run, or should I say ruin, his life as a professional.

Lee Westwood struggled, also as predicted, but made a few putts coming down the stretch to finish two over par.

And finally, also as I predicted, Tiger would be in the mix this week, but will not win because he would not be over the mental demons he has struggled with for the last seven months. Time heals all wounds, and eventually he will put his personal marriage problems behind him and get back to business.

Pebble Beach is playing tough with its fast greens and long rough. The wind also came up a little yesterday afternoon, making the greens dry and bumpy.

Mickelson yesterday played in the morning, so he will have it tougher today when he plays in the afternoon. Tiger played late yesterday, so he should putt better today.

I'm looking forward to watching today to see if the USGA does anything to try to make the greens a little smoother by applying some water during the round.

After today's cut, when (hopefully) the course conditions balance out for the entire field, the final two rounds should be more fair over the weekend.

The U.S. Open

2010-06-17T08:20:00.000-07:00

Today the golf media is giving Lee Westwood the nod as being favored to win the Open at Pebble Beach this week. But I stand by my guns when it comes to Westwood; he does not have what it takes mentally to close the deal when he is contending down the stretch!

Sure, he won last week, but he finished his round three strokes behind the leader at the time, Robert Garrigus. Westwood was heading to the airport when he heard Garrigus triple-bogied the last hole to fall back into a tie with Westwood and Robert Karlsson.

It takes a killer instinct to win on the PGA Tour, and only a small percentage of the tour players have it. Lee Westwood has never had it and it would take a massive intentional move on his part to go through some kind of hypnosis or positive thinking training classes before he might be able to change his thinking process for the better.

Don't believe me? Just look at the gaze in his eyes the next time a TV camera zooms in on his facial expression and you will see what I am talking about. I usually see confusion in his eyes. What do you see?

A few days ago I mentioned that my choice for a winner this early in the week, before the tournament actually started, was Justin Johnson for a number of reasons. There is so much talent on the PGA Tour that we have to look at the body language and facial expressions of each player to see who is "up" for the tournament, and who has other things on their mind that may be non-golf related.

I remember last July at the Open Championship on Thursday and Friday, when I saw Tiger Woods slamming clubs, cussing, and throwing clubs. I was watching the TV and talking to my brother on the phone from 800 miles apart. I told him Tiger's mind was not on golf, but on other non-golf related subjects.

That was four months before the public learned about his fight with Elin that night in November. Who knows? He might have been arguing with one of his mistresses through texting messages at the time he was playing at The Open, and could not even think about golf. He went on to miss the cut due to something outside of golf bothering him.

Watch the U.S. Open this Thursday and Friday and look for signs in each player's body language to see if he is showing positive or negative vibes early in the tournament.

Whoever wins, it will be the player who is the most positive in his mental function that will be holding the trophy after 72 holes.

U.S.Open at Pebble Beach

2010-06-15T10:49:00.000-07:00

Before I get back to the subject of the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach taking place this week, I want to thank all the readers who have asked me about buying my new novel, LOVE WAS NOT ENOUGH.

In the last week I gave my readers a small sample of the stories in the book about the Professional Golf Tour stars with whom I have worked when demonstrating my new golf products over the last 25 years or so. I explained why I wrote the book, to share my experiences with running a golf business while finding a losing my best friend and soul mate five times in 16 years, the final time to a heart attack! I hope the lessons I learned about marriage, and raising kids will help all readers do the right things in the future in their own search for happiness.

Now, back to the Open. The golf media loves to talk about which player is favored to win, but they seldom take into account the mental side of the game when listing the favorites in the field. They are practically always listing Tiger and Phil as the favorites, just because they are the two best players in the world.

I'd like to state right now the reasons why I do not think Tiger or Phil will win this week. Tiger is on his way back from having all the demons in his head caused by his personal life and his marriage tormenting him, but I don't think he is completely back mentally. He'll have his moments this week, and will be in the mix on Sunday, but I predict someone else will hold the trophy when it is all over.

Phil will not handle the longer grass in the rough this week, which he will hit often because he has to play a Callaway driver. The USGA always grows the rough longer at the Open, so Phil's previous wins at Pebble are discounted this week. At the same time the greens should be hard and fast, again eliminating Phil due to his having to play the Odyssey (Callaway) blade putter.

As long as Phil Mickelson allows Callaway to own him contractually, instead of putting major wins ahead of endorsement money, Phil Mickelson will be the one of the biggest disappointments on tour to his fans over his career!

I'd keep my eye on Dustin Johnson this week if I had to pick a favorite to win. Dustin has won the last two AT&T National Pro-Ams, and has displayed his talents at Pebble in a variety of weather conditions the last two years. I have not yet checked on the weather forecast for this week at Pebble, so I thought it would be fun to make my predictions before researching how the weather might affect the outcome.

Before I meet with my metallurgist today about how we might make the new Probe 20/10 putter more different and beneficial to our customers, I think I'll research what the weather is projected to be starting this Thursday at the Open. It may change my predictions for the Open in tomorrow's blog.

Westwood backs into win on tour.

2010-06-13T18:28:00.000-07:00

I have said for months that Lee Westwood does not have what it takes mentally to win on the PGA Tour, or in a major championship for that matter. Every time he has come down the stretch in the final 18 holes, either leading or close to the lead, he fails to close the deal!

I cannot stress enough the impact that a player's mental game has on his scoring, and winning. Some golfers are simply not comfortable with the lead, or in the winner's circle.

Sunday at the St. Jude Classic, he had finished at ten under par, with the leader Robert Garrigus still out on the 18th tee, at thirteen under, with one hole to go. Westwood was about to head for the airport when PGA officials told him to stick around for a few minutes. Why?

Garrigus had led the tournament when the final round began, but he is another tour player who has never won on tour, and leading the tournament made him green around the gills. So he promptly played poorly until he was no longer in the lead.

Once he was back in his comfort zone, he relaxed and started playing good golf again. Standing on the 18th tee, Garrigus was once again hit with the reality of the fact that he had a three-stroke lead going into the last hole.

What did he do? He panicked and hit his tee shot left into the water. He then dropped back of the water and chunk-pulled his next shot on the other side of the water to the left. From there he managed to punch out over the water and back in the fairway. He was lying four, hitting five onto the green. He managed to two-putt for a triple bogey seven, and found himself in a playoff with Westwood and Robert Karlsson.

Garrigus promptly stood up on the 18th tee again, to begin a sudden death playoff with Karlsson and Westwood, and drove it through the fairway, up against a tree. He was SOL, with no shot to the green at all. He punched out into the fairway, then hit the green, two-putted for bogey, and his tournament was over. Westwood found himself remaining in the playoff with Karlsson, and managed to beat Karlsson for the win!

What will this win do for Westwood's mental side of his game? I don't think his backing into a win this last weekend will do anything for his mental toughness at all. But who knows? Maybe he'll start thinking he is the luckiest golfer on tour, and even thinking you are lucky can have its rewards.

But it will be interesting to watch his play in this week's U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. I'm looking forward to this week's tournament.