Chamblee on Weekley/First Day with the New Swing

As usual, I caught far too little golf on TV this past weekend.  Mid-April temperatures in the 70s up here will make that happen, of course.  But I did catch some highlights on GOLF Channel (tm) Sunday night.  They showed Weekley hit a handful of approach shots.  In most if not all of these shots, Weekley made an abbreviated 3/4 follow-through.  Of course, anyone who has played the game likely knows that he's not necessarily throttling back - rather he's working on extending through the ball and/or controlling the ball flight, something that is absolutely critical on Harbour Town's tiny greens. 

I guess Brandel Chamblee hasn't played the game much as of late.  He referred to these shots as "3/4 shots" implying that Boo was taking extra club and scaling back.  sfobv this wasn't the case.

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Sunday was my first round of the year at the home course.  Despite the word that the course came through the winter looking very good, there was quite a bit of snow mold and winter kill damage to some greens.  The good news is that, since I last set foot on the course last fall, the tree removal efforts have continued.  They've opened up more light and air flow to #8 and #13.  The better news is that, after just one lesson, my ball striking was dramatically better.  I still need to work on it, ingrain it, and trust it.  But when I execute it properly, the ball-flight is outstanding and those lost 10+ yards are back. 

I struggled a bit out of the gate, hitting some quick hooks (solidly struck shots but hooks nonetheless) into Holes 1-3.  I fatted what should've been a stock wedge into #4 and made bogey and stood at +2.  On #5 I pulled driver, but just barely had a shot along the tree line.  I needed to keep it low and had to avoid pulling it.  These obstacles were the trigger that I needed to pull off the swing I've been working on.  I fired a 9-iron from 140 to 10 feet and went drain-o for birdie.  It was on and off in the rest of the uneventful front nine and I closed with 39. 

On the back, things really started to come together on #11 where I pulled it left into the bunker, hit a decent shot but left another putt short on the very shaggy greens.  What's so special about this?  I hit 6-iron from 172 and flew it hole high.  I'm BACK, baby!!  After skanking out a par on the far too easy Par 5 12th, things got going.  I rifled a good drive on #13 into the wind, then hit a strong 9-iron just over the green, got it up and down and made par.  Over the green is good - solid contact pays off.  On 14 I fired SW from 90+ yards to about 8 feet, stopping it on a dime.  Left THAT short too.  Grrrr.  No such problems on #15 where I hit the shot of the day, a laser-beam 6-iron from 170+ into a slight breeze to four feet.  If I can hit a shot or two like this per round, life will be very good.  Wow.  Stiffed it on #16 too but again fell victim to the greens.  On 17 I got fast and loose with a 2nd shot 3-wood from 240 and skanked it into the trees, leading to a bogey.  A three-slap bogey on 18 rounded out a 77.  Still, that's a damn good score for me any time I tee it up pre-June, and a heck of a round given the putting conditions.  Very pleasing. 

Turd Leads in HarbourTown

Well look who is tied for the lead after a round in Harbour Town?  Yes, the Turd himself.  I caught only a few minutes of coverage last night, but I'll say this about the Turd - the new Oakleys don't match all that well with the red polo shirt and white pants.  Not.  At.  All. 

"Did you win that one?"

Epic. 

It's the fourth commercial, about 2 mins. into the clip.
http://www.geoffshackelford.com/homepage/2008/4/15/phils-crowne-plaza-ads.html

What's REALLY wrong with Tiger

A: "See, man.  I told you Tiger just can't do it in the clutch."
B: "What do you mean?"
A: "0-for-32 when trailing going into the last round in a major.  He doesn't have what it takes to come from behind, man."
B: "Yeah, but how many times of those 32 did he have a realistic shot?  He's probably 0-for-5 in reality"
A: "No way, man.  He just can't finish.  He's not the greatest, not even close.  Plus he plays against a bunch of folding nobodies.  Mickelson?  He sucks.  Els?  Him too.  Look at these major winners.  Some Argentinian dude.  A guy from Iowa.  Now a South African.  Where is Davis Love, man?  Where is Duval?  Where is Garcia?
B: "OK, listen up fucktard.  Maybe Tiger had a dismal SECOND PLACE at Augusta because of this."
A: (silence)

Clearly, I'm in "B's" camp. 

Verizon

Well, the relaxing Verizon Heritage Classic is next up and can Davis Love III add to his 19 Tour wins, where by the way, 7 of these are a combo of 5 here and 2 at Greensboro -- how can this guy seriously be considered HOF material given his Sunday meltdowns over the years? I think his win rate after leading after 54 holes is Cink-like. I believe it's less than 50%.

I like Billy Mayfair this week to contend. He has played well in the past here, losing in a Monday playoff a couple years back to Argentina's Jose Coceres, and is playing better of late. Throw in an average field and you get this average winner. But hey, he is the only one to beat Tiger Woods in a playoff.

Tiger, best clutch putter? My wife asked me (as only wives can do), "What does clutch putter mean?" I tried to explain that it means when you need it. On Sunday, she queried as she passed by the TV "Is Tiger the best clutch putter today?" Answer: Nope.

When he is putting well, he simply can't be beat. When he putts poorly (see Doral last month also), he finishes 2 back and 3 back. Pretty good stuff.

Masters Wrap-Up

When you've got two young boys and your wife bails out of town on Masters Sunday, you don't get to see as much of the action as you'd like. But I saw enough to warrant these thoughts.

1) I ALWAYS remember the Masters being about the back nine, and about guys going for 13 & 15 in two. Curtis would dunk it in the water and make a big round number while Couples would stiff one on 13 and make eagle. Now, it's an endless array of gap wedges launched into the greens. Granted the scores were much lower this year than last year, and would've been lower still had the wind not kicked up on Sunday. But can't they "modernize" the course without taking away the real charm and excitement of Sunday afternoon?

2) Everyone talks about what a great clutch putter Tig is - except for when he isn't. It's really going to stick in his craw how poorly he putted - especially since he ended up only three back.

3) I know full well that the Augusta National Golf Club (ANGC) runs the Masters, not the PGA, PGA TOUR, or anyone else that your average know-nothing thinks is prominently involved. Still, how the hell do Immelman and Snedeker get two full holes behind on Sunday and not get a warning? Immelman has a built-in hour glass and the sand has to make it all the way into the other chamber before he'll pull the trigger. Shameful.

4) Immelman's wife: Well Played, Trev.

5) TV never truly shows how significant the terrain is on any course. But the computer-generated fly-bys of ANGC made it look like some of the holes are on the sides of mountains. The truth lies somewhere in between, right?

6) Nice divot on the 72nd hole. Even better shot by Immelman to make it irrelevant.

7) Yeah, I could've kept Immelman for this year. And I didn't. But replacement keeper David Toms finally earned some money, so the glass isn't entirely empty. I guess.

Epilogue and Prologue

After watching a truly fascinating 3rd round yesterday, I sit here 3 hours away from network coverage and 2 hours west of Augusta watching the trees sway outside my office window in suburban Atlanta. Saturday at Augusta is traditionally called moving day and only two players seemingly moved up the board while many gaudy 'name' players slid back, the most notable being 2nd-ranked Phil Mickelson.

 

Phil's play was truly shocking. He easily threw away 4 shots on holes 8, 10, 15 & 16 and really it came down to really poor putting. Sure, he got robbed on his pitch shot on #8, but following up with a sloppy 3-putt is inexcusable for someone with his pedigree. Didn't this look like the 0-for-43 Phil forcing shots on #6 and #16? Winged Foot surely can't still be in his head, can it?

 

So who did move up the leaderboard into Sunday contention? Let's start with Englishman Paul Casey. A great 32 on the front nine was followed up by a 37 that included 3 bogies on the back nine. Casey's reaction afterwards with coach Peter Kostis? He was happy and content with his 69. Um, 3 bogies on the back nine while in contention is not really stuff of champions, Paul. I didn't like what I saw from this guy in the press conferences and I think he may not be a factor coming into the house on Sunday. Still too early.

 

Then there's Tiger, who claimed he couldn't have shot worse than the 68 strokes he posted. Maybe so, but he did pass 8 players and probably left #18 thinking he was going to be only 3 shots behind teeing it up today. Instead, he has to make up 6 strokes on Immelman. Still, with only 1 guy ahead of him ever to win a tournament with him in the field, he must think it's time to finally come from behind in a major to win #14 and get everyone psyched to talk Grand Slam.

 

Let's talk about the 6 stroke lead. After Tiger posted -5, it looked like perhaps these 4 guys ahead of him, Immelman, Snedeker, Flesch and Casey were actually going to come back to Tiger. Immelman seemed to be simply treading water, Snedeker bogied #11, #12 AND #13, Flesch bogied #14 and Casey, as mentioned earlier, had a couple himself. But wait...this wasn't your older brother's tournament of 3-4 years ago. Immelman plays the last 6 holes in -3, Snedeker bounces back with 3 birdies of his own in the last 5 holes and Flesch and Casey steady the ship coming in. Now we have an intriguing Sunday tournament. Will Tiger try to force the action? You know he wants to throw a couple of early birdies on the board to get the guys thinking, but he himself has said he needs to be patient this week and with the windy conditions, he may remain patient. But if he remains too cautious and the leaders continue to strike the ball solid and post 72 or 73, Tiger will not be in the mix. So I would love to know what Tiger's thinking strategy-wise about now.

 

Before we talk about the other 3 leaders, shall we talk about the other top guns who did absolutely nothing on Saturday? This includes such luminaries as major winners Weir, Singh, Furyk and Goosen. I mean, it's hard to believe that all these guys, plus Ryder Cupper Westwood all played about even par or worse for the day. I really can't comment too much more since none of these guys had much air time, but it seems like Furyk is still in a putting slump and after his eagle on #13 to get to -4, Goosen must have hit a couple of wayward drives coming in. Did you see VJ's putt on #18? Pushed it about 6 inches...not even close. I think VJ has to be satisfied with his one green jacket, cause that's all he win ever win.

 

A changing of the young guard has arrived. Good-bye Sergio, Chucky Three Sticks and Adam Scott and hello Trevor Immelman, Brandt Snedeker and Sean O'Hair. OK, so Sergio and Adam Scott should get their major chances here and there, but they are almost considered veterans at this point and clearly are not delivering. Meanwhile, Immelman, who stared down Tiger at the former Western Open a few years back, his gleaned tremendous confidence from Gary Player's continued compliments, comparing his swing to Ben Hogan's and making him a President's Cup pick a few years back. I love Snedeker's pre-shot routine and this guy can putt. Sean O'Hair is coming into his own and tried to make a run Saturday before dumping one in the pond on #11 trying to draw one into the back pin, a mental error trying that shot.

 

Well, Sunday truly should be fun with the winds up, the pressure up and Tiger Woods right behind the leaders. Really, 2 of these 4 guys should perform well on Sunday. What to make of 40-year old Steve Flesch? He has 4 PGA wins, but they are all at 2nd-tier events (Yes, Colonial is a 2nd tier event now my friends). I think he can hang in there due to his prowess on the par 5's, but really, he has never seen a stage this big before. Paul Casey's over/under is truly 75 today. That leaves our two leaders. Immelman is bred for stardom and expects to be here. Will he want it too much or will his recent health issues give him the proper perspective to take it home? Snedeker seems to me to be living the American dream and has a "well why not" attitude to his play so far. I'm not saying he's immune to the pressure, but if he can get through the first nine at 35-37, he should be there until the end.

 

Besides the 5 guys at -5 or better, is anything else up to the task of making a run? The only one above 2 under is Tiger's Whipping Boy, Stewart Cink. I heard an interesting fact this morning. Tiger's last 4 wins have come with Stewart Cink his playing partner. Uh, Tiger is paired with Cink today. It couldn't be, could it? Nah, Tiger is 0-for-ever in coming from behind in the majors, right? Well, he is pretty good. Can't wait to watch it all unfold later today. A tradition unlike any other, Sunday at the Masters.

 

Masters Round 1 Recap

Yeah, I could've kept Trevor Immelman in fantasy this offseason, but he wasn't all that special last year, and had some mysterious growth on his ribs or something to put him on the shelf for the start of this year.  So I worked out a player-for-pick trade and got to hold on to David Toms.  Yea, howsthatworkinforya, moron?

And now Immelman is leading the Masters.  Sure, he probably won't be the guy to win it.  But still. 

Other thoughts:

• Justin Rose leads early.  This is nothing new.  I read that he did two-a-days this offseason to prepare for the Masters.  Is the place *that* hard to walk?
• Who is Brian Bateman and how is he playing, let alone contending, at the Masters?
• Furyk: a workman-like 70.  I love it.
  
• Goosen and Lefty check in with 71.  Yep yep.  But what is Mark O'Meara doing right there with them?  Has he done anything on the Nostalgia Tour?
• We have a Sandy Lyle sighting.  I predict 78+ today.
  
• The day I played Oakmont, one thing that was made perfectly clear was the pride the members had in their list of major champions.  John Mahaffey was kind of their black mark (at least 'til Angel last year).  I suppose the Green Jackets will frown more and more upon Mike Weir as time passes.  Just think - it could've been Len Mattiace.
• That 74 from Todd Hamilton must've felt like 62.
• Els & Paddy: 74.  Sigh.
• Adam Scott: 75.  He'll either shoot 67 or 77 today. 
  
• The Bitch shot 76.  He probably wore some putrid shade of green too. 
  
• The $12 Man, Fred Couples, fires a 76.  Gotta go hard to claim that cuts made streak, Freddie.
• Appleby: 76.  It's sad, really. 
  
• My brilliant waiver pickups of the Hansen boys, Soren and Anders (no relation) looks sharp.  Anders fires a Jerry Rice while Soren fires Mean Joe and is +5 thru 6 today.