Many true statements are included in this exhaustive research work to capture the essence of the insanity of golf:

Don’t buy a putter until you’ve had a chance to throw it.

Never try to keep more than 300 separate thoughts in your mind during your swing.

When your shot has to carry over a water hazard, you can either hit one more club or two more balls.

If you’re afraid a full shot might reach the green while the foursome ahead of you is still putting out, you have two options: you can immediately shank a lay-up or you can wait until the green is clear and top a ball halfway there.

The less skilled the player, the more likely he is to share his ideas about the golf swing.

No matter how bad you are playing, it is always possible to play worse.

The inevitable result of any golf lesson is the instant elimination of the one critical unconscious motion that allowed you to c ompensate for all of your many other errors.

If it ain’t broke, try changing your grip.

Everyone replaces his divot after a perfect approach shot.

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Steve Stricker had to birdie 4 of the last 5 holes to end his tournament drought of 146 tournaments over the last 6.5 years. He is really a great guy who knocked on the door all summer at major venues. Besides winning $1,260,000, Stricker also moved up to Number 1 in the FedEx standings. He is followed by K.J. Choi, Rory Sabbitini and then the no-showing Tiger Woods.

The next 3 weeks could be really fun watching Tiger try to win the season ending tournament. One thing you can say is that a number of PGA players are playing quite well now, making the watching even more fun.

Great job Steve and good luck at the President’s Cup!

For the entire article at Golfweek.com, click here.

 What a great story! Blind for 26 years as a result of diabetes, Sheila Drummond made a hole-in-one on the 144 yar,d par-three fourth hole at Mahoning Valley Country Club, near Lehighton, Pennsylvania. Now for all of you guys who bemoan never making a hole-in-one… there is hope. For all of the pros we so lavishly cover, this story is mch more inspring than anything you have done recently. So, congratulations to Sheila!

Blind Golfer Sinks Hole-In-One

“(CBS/AP) For an ordinary golfer, the odds of hitting a hole-in-one are more than 12,000 to 1.

But that’s nothing compared with the astronomical odds against one golfer in eastern Pennsylvania.

No matter, Sheila Drummond beat them anyway.

She didn’t need to see her hole-in-one. She heard it.

Drummond, blinded by diabetes 26 years ago, experienced the highlight of her golfing career Sunday, recording an ace on the 144-yard, par-three fourth hole at Mahoning Valley Country Club, near Lehighton, Pa.

Playing with her husband and coach, Keith, and two friends in a steady drizzle, and using her signature pink ball, the 53-year-old Drummond hit a driver on the hole. The shot cleared a water hazard, flew between traps and landed on the green, where it hit the flagstick before dropping into the hole. ”

For the entire article, click here.

Siting a body that is depleted from winning two tournaments in a row including his 13th major, Tiger stiffed the first leg of the Fed Ex Cup. Like Boo Weekley: “I can’t do the math”, I don’t know if that means Tiger has no chance of winning the season ending tournament that has been a source of season long touting by the PGA. But I’m not sure it matters. Tiger is number 1 and doesn’t need the annuity money being offered. He has such market power he didn’t even need American Express as a sponsor any longer. Who else on tour can say that.

So here we are at the end of another great PGA season and football season starts, so everyone runs to buy a big screen TV to see helmets clashing, not birdies dropping.

BTW: where are all of the birdies on the PGA tour. Making the courses harder has not enhanced the viewers interest. Who wants to see over par golfing anyway.

And boy did they ever Tiger-proof the courses. With a little luck putting, he would have run away with all 4 majors. Think about that for a change and the fact that he is really entering his physical and mental peaks.

Truly, Jack Nicklaus is his only competitor.

As usual I was mesmerized all weekend long watching Tiger bring it home. I think it unbelievable how he closes tournaments. His 63 on Friday bordered on the ridiculously brilliant, but his play over the weekend was no less astounding. It is so unbelievably difficult to finish off a tournament, but there he goes again. What is he now, 27-1 when leading after 54 holes? Wow. That is why the other golfers can’t believe he is for real. All of the other players have been in position to win, but none has ever done it with the frequency as Tiger.

Hey, and wasn’t Woody Austin’s play spectacular over the weekend. I love that he wore the same shirt on Sunday that he wore the Sunday when he shot the 62 in Memphis to win. He really looked like he was having fun and competing agains the best ever. I liked his acknowledgment of being nervous, but still performing.

And congratulations to Ernie Els, he looks like he is ready for the Majors circuit again.

For the entire Golfweek article on the PGA tournament, click here.

From Golf.com today it is reported that John Day has lost 25-30 pounds. His secret for weight loss: “Stress.”! We would also suggest that when he loses weight he should buy some shirts that fit. He is leading the PGA but looks as sloppy as ever. Good luck John.

“John Daly is closer to the playing weight at which he won the 1991 PGA Championship. He looks considerably slimmer and said before his tee time Thursday that he’s lost 25-30 pounds, which should serve him well in the stifling temperatures at Southern Hills, home of the 89th PGA Championship this week. In fact the weight loss may already be helping. Daly, who has missed three cuts and withdrawn from one tournament in his last four starts, was 2-under-par through his first eight holes Thursday.

“I’ve still got another 25 or 30 [pounds] to go,” he said.

And how did he lose the weight? Atkins? TrimSpa?

“Stress,” Daly said.”

For the entire article, click here.

While I can take or leave Peter Kostis at times I was very impressed with his comments on SI.com today. he talked about Southern Hills course setup for the PGA and how the PGA gets it “right”. Then he goes on to describe a subtle change in Tiger Woods’ setup and why this allowed him to dominate at Firestone. I noticed that Tiger’s swing seemed freer during the WGC and he did not appear to be overswinging and getting stuck as in the past, particularly with the driver. I saw but obviously didn’t have Kostis’ expertise. Great job Peter.

“Hats off to the PGA
I noticed some adjustments to the 7th green, and the 8th and the 9th greens appear to have been re-contoured so the back areas are elevated and the fronts are lower. But the 18th will still be the hardest hole at Southern Hills.

The PGA of America gets it when it comes to setting up courses for major events. On 18, the landing area on the right side of the fairway has been widened to allow players to slice their tee shots around the corner. But, it’s still a tough, uphill second shot to the green on this 465-yarder. When the USGA set up the course for the 2001 U.S. Open, players had to hack out of the rough in that area, short of the water and sand, and then try to get up and down from almost 200 yards out.

Of the three majors that rotate courses — the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open and the British Open — the PGA has done the best job of setting up the courses over the past five years.

It’s Tiger’s world
Tiger Woods’s performance at Firestone last week was brilliant, and a lot of people have pegged him as the favorite here in Tulsa. Here’s the deal: when Tiger Woods plays to his full capabilities, he wins. If every player in the field plays his best, and Tiger does too, Tiger still wins.

I saw some things last week at Firestone that made me think Tiger will hit the ball better here than he did at Carnoustie. He’s moved closer to the ball at address, he’s not hanging back on his left side on the backswing, and his arms are much softer through the hitting area. His swing was a little more vertical, and that should lead to better distance control, better trajectory control and the elimination of the flip at the bottom of his swing.”

For the entire article, click here.

I had a ball watching the WGC, replay of the Women’s British Open, Reno-Tahoe and the Seniors. I think I watched golf for 6-8 hours both Saturday and Sunday. And, this was after playing 18 holes each day. (My wife was away for th weekend… wow, did I have fun.)
I thought Lorena Ochoa’s smile after winning was awesome. She deserved it and I think she is going to win many more.

I was really thinking about entitling this post: “Rory’s Mouth Stuffed Again by Tiger”… or “Things You Shouldn’t Say on Saturday About Tiger Woods When He is in Contention”… or something equally pithy. But boy was that fun seeing those great players getting the stick laid to them by Tiger on Sunday. WOW! He definitely is my hero.

Rory, put a cork in it.

I enjoyed seeing one of the other lefties on the PGA tour win at Reno.

And I thougth D. A. Weibring’s finish at the Seniors was really fun to watch.

All in all a great weekend of professional golf!

Any predictions as to the PGA Championship at Southern Hills?

Ochoa holds a 1 shot lead in the second day of the  Ricoh Women’s British Open. With Annika Sorenstam only 3 back, the weekend promises to be as thrilling as all of the women’s majors have been this year.

I am really pulling for Lorena. While not a fan of her swing, I think she has a wonderful temperment and terrific skills that will mean lots of majors in her future. I hope she gets the major monkey behind her and really snuggles into her number one ranking.

The Roar is back in Rory as he takes the lead at 6 under at the WGC at Firestone CC. Tiger needs 33 putts to shoot an even par 70 to finish 4 back of the Roar. If Tiger has even a normal putting round he is probably tied for the lead.

Firestone shows again why it is such an awesome course. With bent grass fairways, perfect greens and deep rough, Firestone is a perfect venue leading up to next weeks PGS Championship.

But the big story will be this weekend can Rory really outplay Tiger on a truly championship course and venue. Can’t wait to see the fireworks!