I don't know why I get Golf Digest.
What I do know is that it will never stop coming. It was a charitable thing, as I recall.
Oh well.
Anyway, month in and month out there are two relevant things in pretty much every issue. The first is My Shot (which is excellent this month) and What's in my bag?
This month, David Eger's My Shot retells the story of the Tiger Woods Dropgate incident with an interesting aside about the rules mastery (or lack of same) possessed by chairman of the Masters competition committee, Fred Ridley.
I never liked Eger much as a player, but he's willing to say what he believes so he has earned my respect. He'll earn even more if he manages to beat one of my least favorite Champions Tour players, Kenny Perry.
134 pages and about 8 that are worth reading?
Seems fair to me...
The low point of every issue are the swing sequences.
They are so static and rote as to be meaningless.
Here's a great, numbingly dull quote about Billy Horschel that gets the feel across:
"A good look at setup: He stands in a balanced and athletic position."
Imagine a player on the PGA Tour with a good, athletic setup.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
The SeeMore PTM1 / Precision Tour Milled
My feelings about SeeMore putters should come as no surprise to my readers. After years of fooling around with this putter and that, seemingly ad infinitum, a humble FGP from a local used putter bin showed me the way to the hole. Since then, there's been no holding me back. Quite simply, with the FGP I make putts that I used to miss. After a while, a sense of confidence sets in and, since it's a confidence that's based on success, that confidence itself leads to more putts holed. My original FGP is a brass model from back in the day. It's a modest looking putter but its lines are clean and purposeful. The lack of adornment makes it easy to keep your eye off the putter itself and on the line of the putt.
The PTM1 shares the shape of the old FGP, and also starts as a casting, but its face, sole, bore and RST lines are CNC milled. It's relevant to note that the PTM1 is made from stainless steel rather than brass. This leads to different sound at impact anywhere on the head. The brass FGP is especially resonant on putts hit on the sweet spot while the PTM1 sounds slightly more muted.
You can see the results of the face milling are pretty slick looking. While everyone pretty much ignores the original FGP the PTM1 gets plenty of compliments. The face doesn't matter much to me, but I appreciate the new battleship gray powder coating on the top line and cavity of the putter. It keeps the PTM1 even more neutral looking than the original's black finish especially when the sun is very bright. SeeMore lets you custom order putters down to the half inch so I ordered my new PTM1 at 33.5" (my old FGP is 34") and it's perfect. You also have your choice of covers. Me? I'm a basic black with an American flag kind of guy!
Whenever anyone will stand next to me long enough to listen, I tell them about the SeeMore FGP and now the PTM1. I've never been an ambassador for anything, ever. In fact, for years I made my living reviewing products. Let's just call my reviewing style unbiased (even though some thin-skinned folks called it critical).
Look, I'd be happy to be critical of SeeMore putters if I could but, if I'm honest, I can't. If more people used a SeeMore putter, they would make more putts.
I'm sure of it.
The PTM1 shares the shape of the old FGP, and also starts as a casting, but its face, sole, bore and RST lines are CNC milled. It's relevant to note that the PTM1 is made from stainless steel rather than brass. This leads to different sound at impact anywhere on the head. The brass FGP is especially resonant on putts hit on the sweet spot while the PTM1 sounds slightly more muted.
You can see the results of the face milling are pretty slick looking. While everyone pretty much ignores the original FGP the PTM1 gets plenty of compliments. The face doesn't matter much to me, but I appreciate the new battleship gray powder coating on the top line and cavity of the putter. It keeps the PTM1 even more neutral looking than the original's black finish especially when the sun is very bright. SeeMore lets you custom order putters down to the half inch so I ordered my new PTM1 at 33.5" (my old FGP is 34") and it's perfect. You also have your choice of covers. Me? I'm a basic black with an American flag kind of guy!
Whenever anyone will stand next to me long enough to listen, I tell them about the SeeMore FGP and now the PTM1. I've never been an ambassador for anything, ever. In fact, for years I made my living reviewing products. Let's just call my reviewing style unbiased (even though some thin-skinned folks called it critical).
Look, I'd be happy to be critical of SeeMore putters if I could but, if I'm honest, I can't. If more people used a SeeMore putter, they would make more putts.
I'm sure of it.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Homemade Tour Swings
With the exception of Jim Furyk's, I love a homemade swing that's good enough to make it to the tour.
That said, I'm always worried that one of the more interesting swings could run headlong into a swing guru and get changed forever.
Rickie Fowler: I know, his swing really isn't homemade but his long time coach isn't a well-known guru, so I'll count his. I hope Fowler is confident enough to resist because I really like his swing.
Bubba: Like Daly & Furyk, I think Watson's swing is pretty much hard wired at this point, for better or worse.
Sergio Garcia: Scar tissue, overt personality defects and all, I am a Garcia fan. I watched him for four days at the Torrey a few years back and his ball striking was dazzling. The sound of his iron shots sound a lot like Trevino's. I think he could get desperate and get a swing & head guru and that would be the end of him. He'd go from near-great to mediocre; from a sometime artist to a mechanic. Think Charles Howell III...
The LPGA & Champion's Tours are even more rich when it comes to homemade swings. I don't much like the big, slow-tempo swings of most Korean players. Michelle Wie may end up being something of a cautionary tale; it's not hard to look at what happened to her game while under the ongoing influence of a guru and want to avoid the same fate.
I'm not sure how the swings of Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel & Natalie Gulbis came to look the way they do. Each has been around a guru or two, yet their swings keep their unique look, which is very cool.
The guys on the Champion's Tour would probably be more guru-prone but I most of them lack the flexibility to rebuild their swings. That's good news since old-school and homemade swings are far more interesting.
That said, I'm always worried that one of the more interesting swings could run headlong into a swing guru and get changed forever.
Rickie Fowler: I know, his swing really isn't homemade but his long time coach isn't a well-known guru, so I'll count his. I hope Fowler is confident enough to resist because I really like his swing.
Bubba: Like Daly & Furyk, I think Watson's swing is pretty much hard wired at this point, for better or worse.
Sergio Garcia: Scar tissue, overt personality defects and all, I am a Garcia fan. I watched him for four days at the Torrey a few years back and his ball striking was dazzling. The sound of his iron shots sound a lot like Trevino's. I think he could get desperate and get a swing & head guru and that would be the end of him. He'd go from near-great to mediocre; from a sometime artist to a mechanic. Think Charles Howell III...
The LPGA & Champion's Tours are even more rich when it comes to homemade swings. I don't much like the big, slow-tempo swings of most Korean players. Michelle Wie may end up being something of a cautionary tale; it's not hard to look at what happened to her game while under the ongoing influence of a guru and want to avoid the same fate.
I'm not sure how the swings of Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel & Natalie Gulbis came to look the way they do. Each has been around a guru or two, yet their swings keep their unique look, which is very cool.
The guys on the Champion's Tour would probably be more guru-prone but I most of them lack the flexibility to rebuild their swings. That's good news since old-school and homemade swings are far more interesting.
Friday, April 19, 2013
The best & worst about Tiger Woods and The Ruling
The best...from Gary Van Sickle at Sports Illustrated:
"We learned that 33-7 isn’t the score of a football game but a rule that, if applied universally the way it was to Tiger Woods in Augusta, means no player guilty of a rules breach found after-the-fact should ever be disqualified for signing an incorrect score again. Of course, that’s not how it is going to work for the rank and file. There will be more DQs for wrong cards following post-round penalties. The Masters bent the rules for Tiger. Let me simplify the whole supposedly complicated Tiger issue for you: Yes or no, did Tiger sign for an incorrect score? Correct answer: Yes. He agreed that he took a wrong drop and should’ve had a two-shot penalty included. Tiger should’ve been disqualified. The rest of the story is smoke and mirrors and the more Fred Ridley talked, the worse it sounded. What a stain it would’ve been had Tiger won. He would’ve had to get to 20 majors to beat Jack because this one wouldn’t have counted in the eyes of a lot of observers. Luckily, that’s a moot point now."
The worst...from Gary Player:
"In golf, we have a rules committee, and situations like this are exactly why. When a referee makes a ruling, you have to accept it. It doesn't matter what the commenters on the side say, so why make comments? It makes no difference who thinks Woods should have been disqualified, or who thinks he should have withdrawn. We have to abide the decision. That's how we play golf. Augusta made the final verdict: Tiger broke a rule, and he took his penalty exactly how it was given. No talking can change it, and amen to that."
I used to try not to think Gary Player was a holier-than-thou-chump.
I told him nice up & down once at Valencia Country Club during a Champion's Tour event and he said with a wink, "Thank's, laddy!" It was cool. I was like 40 years old at the time.
Still, what Player misses is that rules evolve from forces applied from both within and without a sport. No ruling body should or can do their work in a vacuum. Commentary, questions and criticism of the rules (and the rule makers) are more than necessary evils, they are the road to better rules.
"We learned that 33-7 isn’t the score of a football game but a rule that, if applied universally the way it was to Tiger Woods in Augusta, means no player guilty of a rules breach found after-the-fact should ever be disqualified for signing an incorrect score again. Of course, that’s not how it is going to work for the rank and file. There will be more DQs for wrong cards following post-round penalties. The Masters bent the rules for Tiger. Let me simplify the whole supposedly complicated Tiger issue for you: Yes or no, did Tiger sign for an incorrect score? Correct answer: Yes. He agreed that he took a wrong drop and should’ve had a two-shot penalty included. Tiger should’ve been disqualified. The rest of the story is smoke and mirrors and the more Fred Ridley talked, the worse it sounded. What a stain it would’ve been had Tiger won. He would’ve had to get to 20 majors to beat Jack because this one wouldn’t have counted in the eyes of a lot of observers. Luckily, that’s a moot point now."
The worst...from Gary Player:
"In golf, we have a rules committee, and situations like this are exactly why. When a referee makes a ruling, you have to accept it. It doesn't matter what the commenters on the side say, so why make comments? It makes no difference who thinks Woods should have been disqualified, or who thinks he should have withdrawn. We have to abide the decision. That's how we play golf. Augusta made the final verdict: Tiger broke a rule, and he took his penalty exactly how it was given. No talking can change it, and amen to that."
I used to try not to think Gary Player was a holier-than-thou-chump.
I told him nice up & down once at Valencia Country Club during a Champion's Tour event and he said with a wink, "Thank's, laddy!" It was cool. I was like 40 years old at the time.
Still, what Player misses is that rules evolve from forces applied from both within and without a sport. No ruling body should or can do their work in a vacuum. Commentary, questions and criticism of the rules (and the rule makers) are more than necessary evils, they are the road to better rules.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
ESPN's Rick Reilly on Sergio Garcia's Demons
This piece by ESPN's Rick Reilly annoyed me on both tone and style points, so I fired off this sharply tongued missive to him:
Dear Mr. Reilly
Really, it's hard for me to figure out why Sergio Garcia's attitude is so interesting to you. He's a golfer; would it be so wrong to judge him by his play rather than dredging up quotes and actions from him going back more than a decade?
Garcia is 33 years of age and has no majors. Then again, Brandt Snedeker is 32, also with no majors, but 3 fewer PGA Tour wins than Garcia. Should we talk about Sned's sunny disposition or his game? In addition to Snedeker, have you ever compared Garcia's career to that of Ian Poulter? Poulter may be trending in the press, but his record doesn't compare.
Garcia finished the Masters at -3, just like Lee Westwood and Matt Kuchar. Has anyone checked their attitudes lately? It would seem not.
I've watched Garcia since the days of his win at the British Amateur and his run at the PGA Championship. Like you, I've wondered about his life away from golf. Also like you, I've not walked a step in his shoes, so I don't question what I don't know.
Why not? Because it would be like kicking a man whom I don't know. In the end, I was surprised of the mean-spirited feel to your piece. If Garcia has been hard on anyone, it's been himself. If he is man of great talent yet lacking commensurate confidence & joie de vivre, so what?
Why not just leave him to his demons?
But please, refrain from adding your own.
Dear Mr. Reilly
Really, it's hard for me to figure out why Sergio Garcia's attitude is so interesting to you. He's a golfer; would it be so wrong to judge him by his play rather than dredging up quotes and actions from him going back more than a decade?
Garcia is 33 years of age and has no majors. Then again, Brandt Snedeker is 32, also with no majors, but 3 fewer PGA Tour wins than Garcia. Should we talk about Sned's sunny disposition or his game? In addition to Snedeker, have you ever compared Garcia's career to that of Ian Poulter? Poulter may be trending in the press, but his record doesn't compare.
Garcia finished the Masters at -3, just like Lee Westwood and Matt Kuchar. Has anyone checked their attitudes lately? It would seem not.
I've watched Garcia since the days of his win at the British Amateur and his run at the PGA Championship. Like you, I've wondered about his life away from golf. Also like you, I've not walked a step in his shoes, so I don't question what I don't know.
Why not just leave him to his demons?
But please, refrain from adding your own.
Monday, April 15, 2013
2013 Masters: This year's tale of guilt.
In so many ways, Tiger Woods is the perfect counterpoint to Adam Scott.
His failure to hit the gas hard enough on Sunday was blamed on slow greens. Sure, they were trhe very same greens that Cabrera and Scott made epic putts on but, hey, they were just too slow for the stripped one.
Woods debacle at the 15th left me with only one question:
Why did Woods think it was OK to drop a couple yards short of the divot of his previous shot?
I haven't heard anyone ask this question.
In one respect, it doesn't matter: The fact is he made a bad drop and signed an incorrect scorecard.
Game over.
The additional fact is that was only the Masters Rule Committee's failure to identify the penalty in real time, and to notify Woods before he signed his card, that saved him from disqualification.
His failure to hit the gas hard enough on Sunday was blamed on slow greens. Sure, they were trhe very same greens that Cabrera and Scott made epic putts on but, hey, they were just too slow for the stripped one.
Woods debacle at the 15th left me with only one question:
Why did Woods think it was OK to drop a couple yards short of the divot of his previous shot?
I haven't heard anyone ask this question.
In one respect, it doesn't matter: The fact is he made a bad drop and signed an incorrect scorecard.
Game over.
The additional fact is that was only the Masters Rule Committee's failure to identify the penalty in real time, and to notify Woods before he signed his card, that saved him from disqualification.
2013 Masters: This year's tale of redemption.
When Adam Scott blew a four shot lead over the last four holes at the 2012 British Open I wondered if he would ever be able to redeem himself...to himself.
It was the kind of collapse that could have ruined the career of a player like Scott.
Now that Scott has exorcised whatever demons may have remained by his amazing win at The Masters it may be time to start to wonder about his potential to become the best player in the world. One major does not a number one player make, of course, still Scott's the perfect age to become a golfer in full to borrow from Tom Wolfe.
He's long and accurate driver whose short game and new-found fortitude could make him hard to beat. The folks at Nike would like us to imagine Rory McIlroy as his foil, but a slightly younger and just as fit Scott could be the genuine challenger to Woods and the other would-be Number Ones.
It was the kind of collapse that could have ruined the career of a player like Scott.
Now that Scott has exorcised whatever demons may have remained by his amazing win at The Masters it may be time to start to wonder about his potential to become the best player in the world. One major does not a number one player make, of course, still Scott's the perfect age to become a golfer in full to borrow from Tom Wolfe.
He's long and accurate driver whose short game and new-found fortitude could make him hard to beat. The folks at Nike would like us to imagine Rory McIlroy as his foil, but a slightly younger and just as fit Scott could be the genuine challenger to Woods and the other would-be Number Ones.
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