I read about golf, and write about golf, and watch golf, and play golf. Also look for me (a.k.a. 4Checker) on www.thegolfspace.com.
Monday, November 30, 2009
C'mon, Man !?!!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
My Royal Links Experience
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Cute Culprit - Terminated Titleist
Sunday, November 15, 2009
I can't review this
Saturday, November 14, 2009
2009 Golf Turkey Of The Year Nominees
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Talk about your dream job ...
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
"Best Golf Drill Ever"
Friday, October 2, 2009
Was there ever really any doubt?
Thursday, September 24, 2009
In Defense of the Playoffs
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Good swing to study - Alvaro Quiros
- His setup looks a lot like Jack, with a straight back and lots of room for his arms.
- Full shoulder turn but very little hip turn.
- Beautiful lines where the club is an extension of his arms (shot 5 of 10 and 7 of 10).
- Smooth hip release.
- Belt buckle leading the swing (are you watching, Faldo?)
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Golf clothing for all climates
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Tiger stat of the week
Monday, September 14, 2009
Red River White Ball Shootout
Thursday, September 3, 2009
State of my game
Friday, August 28, 2009
Four Majors, Four Memorable Shots
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Ping Hybrids
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Sunday night, after the last interview
Friday, August 7, 2009
Moment of Putting Zen
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Jinx In Kilt
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Thanks a LOT GolfChannel
- Daly Show
- Old No. 7 at 8 (Eastern, 7 Central)
- Happy Hour with JD
- JD and Diet
- The Loudmouth Speaks
- The John
- The Round Mound of Career Rebound
I'm sure there are others ...
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Try spinning THIS
Ramblings from the Rough (7/8)
A word about Hunter Mahan. This guy's going to win soon, and once he does I think he'll start winning a lot. He has an uncomplicated swing, and cool demeanor. Three straight in the Top 6, along with five Top 20s in the beginning of the year. He had eleven Top 20 finishes last year, so he's definitely putting himself in position to win.
A couple of writers are throwing Mahan into the category of other golfers who were mowed over and left rolled up in the fetal position by another Tiger victory, but I feel like his situation was different last week. He came from so far back and posted a great number. It's not like he should have been expected to shoot a 61 to tie Tiger. He truly did everything he could on Sunday. Having said that, we CAN add AK to that list. He was clearly not up to the challenge on Sunday. Glad to see he's healthy, but he still has a long ways to go before he's a consistent threat week in and week out. I'm re-reading "Zen Golf". It's so good I don't even know that I'd be able to write a review of it. It's going to be one of those book I always want to have around. The lessons apply very much to life as well as to golf. More bad news for the Mickelson's. Phil's mom was also diagnosed with breast cancer, and will undergo surgery next week. Again, many good vibes to their family. The USGA are openly discussing having a course where par varies from day to day on the same hole depending on where they put the tee boxes. Have they completely gone off the deep end? It's not like players would play the hole any differently, and it wouldn't impact the end result other than the winning score in relation to par. Bad BAD idea. This week's indication the economy may be getting better: A convoy of four trailers carrying Beemers to the local dealership. Everytime The Open comes back to Turnberry I think back to Tom Watson's victory over Jack in 1977. He shot 65-65 on the weekend to beat Jack's 65-66 to win by one. Bowling balls!!! The Waggle Room blog has a picture of a golf bag that got hit by lightning. A pretty convincing argument for not being anywhere near if that were to happen. The LPGA seems to be in some kind of tailspin. They lost another sponsor, and there's a rumor that a group of top players wrote a letter stating their lack of conficence in their Commissioner Carolyn Bivens. This is very unfortunate, because inside the ropes there has been some very good golf played, and they have some great new talents that are playing well. Hell, even Michelle Wie seems to be improving every week (T23, T10, and T3 the last three weeks). I don't know about you, but I'm actually going to pay attention to the US Women's open this weekend, which is a first in a long time. Golf quote of the week: "Golf is assuredly a mystifying game. If would seem that if a person has hit a golf ball correctly a thousand times, he should be able to duplicate the performance at will. But such is certainly not the case." (Bobby Jones). The Devil Ball blog on Yahoo sports has been documenting a list of their top 18 golf holes in the game. It's good reading. The move to ban fans who yell "Get in the hole" at golf tournaments is gaining momentum. Couldn't agree more. That is all.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Tiger Stats with Tiger Stripes
(photo by TIM SLOAN/AFP/Getty Images from Yahoo Sports)
Now, one shot over a 72 hole tournament is a very miniscule margin, to say the least. Mathematically it's a fraction of a percent, and in golfing terms there were dozens of places where Tiger may have lost a stroke or Hunter could have gained one. In order to appreciate Tiger's greatness we can't just look at one tournament, but we need to take a step back and look at a larger body of work. When you do, you will realize that we'd better pay attention, because we're watching a domination of titanic proportions.
It's not that he won by one stroke this weekend, or at Memorial, or at Bay Hill. It's that he just keeps finding ways to win much more frequently than anyone else in history. Over the past two years he's won 7 times out of 14 stroke play events, an amazing win rate. And when he doesn't win, he's usually close by, and he almost never crashes out and finds himself with time on his hands on the weekend. Not counting the US Open shortly after his father died Tiger hasn't missed a cut since 2005. As a point of comparison, Phil Mickelson has missed eight cuts in the past three years, and Padraig Harrington and Vijay Singh have missed 11 cuts each in that time frame. While it's true that most players play in more tournaments than Tiger does, you're still comparing their numbers to a goose-egg. Tiger is currently riding a 19 tournament streak of Top 10 finishes (again, looking at stroke-play tournaments) that goes back two calendar years. In the last five years, Phil's longest streak like this is four tournaments, Paddy's longest is three tournaments, and Vijay's longest streak is also three tournaments. I feel like this number is the most impressive of all at this time. Given how deep the PGA Tour is right now, to consistently keep yourself in the Top 10 out of 200 of the worlds very best golfers is truly astonishing. It's unfair to compare Tiger's performance now to his ridiculous domination in the beginning of the century. At that time he took the tour by shock and awe, raising the bar in ways reminiscent of when Babe Ruth took the home run record from 29 to 54 in one year in 1920. The rest of the tour has had some time to catch their collective breath and adjust their training, preparation, and focus to try to catch up, and a new generation of golfers is coming up who's never known a tour without Tiger as the dominating force. The fact that Tiger's still wins at the rate he does is truly remarkable. I lived in Chicago during the 90s, and I consider myself lucky as a sports fan to have gotten to witness Michael Jordan's domination of that decade, leading the Bulls to six championships. I feel like in watching Tiger play right now we're watching a very similar performance. I love Jack, and Bobby, and Ben and Arnie; but I can't imagine anyone convincing me right now that Tiger isn't the best ever.Thursday, July 2, 2009
Golf in HD
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Think this might be a little distracting?
Monday, June 29, 2009
Book Preview: "I Hit the Ball Great at the Driving Range, but ..."
Friday, June 26, 2009
You're entering a world of pain
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Golfer I Didn't Know - Brian Vranesh
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
TopGolf Review
Monday, June 22, 2009
Hmmm, I wonder what the weather will be like
Friday, June 19, 2009
My First Bridgestone Experience
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Bushwood Black Warning Sign
Golfer I Didn't Know - Andrew Svoboda
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Ramblings From The US Open Rough
Friday, June 12, 2009
US Open Pairings
Other interesting groupings:
- Three decent candidates to compete on Sunday afternoon are paired together at 7:55 as Geoff Ogilvy plays with Jim Furyk and Paul Casey.
- Three Uber-kids are teeing off at 1:14, with Dustin Johnson playing with Anthony Kim and Rory McIlroy.
- Watch out for far-flying golf balls in the other 1:14 PM pairing of JB Holmes, Alvaro Quiros, and Nick Watney.
- Lefty tees off at 1:36 PM with two-time US Open champions Els and Goosen.
- It's the official "Talented But Struggling" group at 1:25, including Sergio, Camilo, and Adam Scott.
- Golf's version of NHL Greybeards tee off at 1:36, with last year's hero Rocco Mediate playing with Kenny Perry and Tom Lehman.