Of Golf Balls and Footballs

The controversy over DJ's one-stroke penalty continues. Today I'd like to clarify what I believe are the three major questions that the golf community -- and the USGA in particular -- have to answer if they want to prevent these kinds of problems in the future.



1) Why put a rules official with each group if that official's ruling isn't binding?
This is the most obvious question that needs to be asked. DJ's official ruled that there was no infraction, to play on. The ball was NOT replaced, which an infraction demanded. Therefore DJ couldn't possibly avoid a penalty if the decision of the official APPOINTED BY THE USGA wasn't binding.

I'm reminded of the LifeLock commercials. For those of you, especially overseas, who may not have heard of LifeLock, they're a company that claims they monitor and prevent credit problems. Here's a typical commercial:



At least this guy is upfront about it -- unlike the USGA, he doesn't claim that his presence means anything. The USGA will have to address this problem if they don't want potential golfers to see golf as a game with impossible rules.

2) How can you demand the ball remain still when you want greens where the ball 'trickles' 30, 40, even 50 feet after it should have stopped?
This goes back to a post I did where I mentioned Phil Mickelson's misgivings about the speeds of classic green complexes. (The specifics about greens are near the end of that post. Geoff Shackelford has voiced similar concerns on many occasions.) Classic courses designed with more slope on the greens assumed much slower green speeds, perhaps 8-10 on the stimpmeter. But the USGA insists on speeding these greens up to 12-13, speeds where the ball can't be expected to stay still.

And even though the USGA said that Oakmont has faster greenspeeds "in its DNA", the fact remains that they estimated that the greens were only about 70% of the firmness and speed they desired. What would have happened if they had gotten the green speeds they wanted? Such disregard for simple physics is simply begging for rules violations like this.

3) Are we expecting too much from video replay in our rulings?
This is where football enters the picture. In case you don't watch NFL football, one of the most contentious areas of the rules there has become a real embarrassment for the game. And what is that problem?

Ironically, no one can say for sure what constitutes a 'catch' anymore. Before video replay, it was pretty easy to say when someone had caught a pass and when they hadn't. But now, with the ability to make extreme digital close-ups in ultra-slow motion, referees are forced to try and determine whether a diving catch was actually touching the ground a thousandth of a second before it was 'caught'.

In other words, the question used to be "Did they hold on to the ball when they hit the ground?" Now they can't even determine when the ball was actually caught, or even how much a ball might move in a player's hands when a catch is made and still be considered a 'catch'. And this confusion has already changed the outcome of games.

Take a look at this catch by the Dallas Cowboys' Dez Bryant in a 2015 Divisional Playoff game. Ten years ago this would have been ruled a catch; it's pretty clear that Dez is holding the ball in one hand when he hits the ground, and the ball stays firmly in his hand when he lays out on the ground. (He hit the ground hard enough for the ball to bounce loose at impact if his grip wasn't good.) But extreme slo-mo shows tiny wiggles that happen too fast for the naked eye to see -- and therefore wouldn't affect the ruling at regular speed. (And it's not that I'm a Cowboys fan -- I'm a Panthers fan. But this kind of thing is happening too often, and this is one play that I remember well enough to find easily.)

The answer to football's catch riddle -- and to golf's moving ball question -- is to create some simple criteria that are easily seen and verified in real time. In Dez's catch, the fact that he had the ball in one hand and it remained in that hand after he hit the ground should have been enough to say that was a catch. Instead, the Cowboys' run to the Super Bowl was ended.

The USGA should make a simple test for moving balls. Did the player ground his or her club behind the ball? That should be sufficient in most cases. If they need more, tell players not to make practice strokes within one putterhead length of the ball to either side. These are objective criteria, not "more likely than not" subjective criteria.

Here's MY rule for rules questions: If the test can't be a simple one, then the problem in question shouldn't be a rules infraction. If you can't KNOW FOR SURE that a rule was broken, then you don't need a rule in the first place.

These are the issues that the USGA needs to face concerning the Rules of Golf. If they don't, things are only going to get trickier going forward.

A Tip from This Week's LPGA Pro-Am

The LPGA is playing the JTBC Founders Cup this week, and I found this interesting little tip on the website.

And believe it or not, it came from football players, of all people.

Several football players took part in the Wednesday Pro-Am. One of them was Washington Redskins wide receiver and return specialist Andre Roberts. During a Q&A afterwards that included a couple of other NFL players as well as Juli Inkster and Nicole Castrale, Roberts had this to say:

"Swing easy,” Roberts said when asked of the main thing he learned. “Their swings are so easy and so smooth, and they get all the distance they need and all the accuracy they need. As guys, we always want to swing the club as hard as we can to get it to go far, and you know, watching the guys like Dustin Johnson just blow it past people swinging so hard, looks like it, but he’s probably swinging easy. But that’s one of the biggest things I see. They have got this smooth swing path. They swing easy and get everything they need out of it."

Got that, folks? Roberts is a fast, strong NFL player who weighs around 200 pounds... and he's impressed by how far the ladies hit it.

Please understand that he isn't saying that they make weak swings. Far from it! The ladies just aren't swinging as if they had to hurl a 20-pound ball and chain down the fairway. They simply keep their muscles as relaxed as they can, because relaxed muscles can move more quickly and create more speed. This is a basic tenet of martial arts, and it's one that more golfers need to understand because that's how you get more distance. Note that Roberts realized that even DJ must be doing the same thing; that's an athlete putting two and two together!

You may not be tall and strong. You may not be superfast. But I feel pretty safe saying that you CAN swing smooth and easy.

BTW, GC will broadcast the first round of the Founders Cup tonight at 6pm ET. (More primetime golf!) And as usual, Tony Jesselli has done a preview of the event at his blog.

The photo came from the Andre Roberts profile page at NFL.com.

Azinger on Pitching, Take Two

I've been fascinated by the number of golf commentators who seem worried over Tiger's pitching woes this past week. You may have heard Geoff Shackelford on Monday's Morning Drive, adding his voice to those with serious concerns.

I'm reminded of the reaction Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers had to the concerns that wracked Packer Nation (that's their fans, for those of you outside the US) after the team started the season with a single win and two losses. On his weekly ESPN Milwaukee radio show he said:

"Five letters here just for everybody out there in Packer-land: R-E-L-A-X. Relax. We're going to be OK."

Since then the Packers have won 9 of their last 10 games and most football analysts expect them to make the Super Bowl in a couple of months.

Trust me, folks. Tiger will be fine. R-E-L-A-X.

But some of you may be struggling the same way Tiger (and most of the field) did this past week, so I felt it might be worthwhile to cover the basics of pitching again.

One of the most "hit" posts I've done was a summary of the pitching episode Paul Azinger did for the Golf Channel Academy series. (Here's the link if you'd like to check it out again.) In that show Zinger talked about the difference between chipping and putting, and I tried to include as much of his instruction in the post as I could.

Since Tiger was using chipping technique this past week when he probably should have been pitching, it would seem to be a simple mental mistake he needs to correct. (And let me repeat, Tiger wasn't the only one making that mistake. It's just that every one of Tiger's botched chips got TV time. Such is the burden of being Tiger.)

Ironically, GC hasn't seen fit to include any clips from Zinger's pitching show in the instructional videos at their site. But I did manage to find the following video that Zinger did several years ago. It's short but it's a very clear demonstration of the basic pitching technique he talked about on GC.



There you have it. Use the bounce of the club -- which you do by hitting the ball when the shaft is perpendicular to the ground, not leaning forward -- and keep your arms "soft" while you keep your body turning.

See? It's not so difficult. Tiger will be fine... and so will you, if you just put in a little practice time.

The Dangers of Social Media

After all the turmoil surrounding Ted Bishop's removal from the office of PGA President a mere month before his term was up, I think it's appropriate to revisit some advice from Herm Edwards.



Many of you probably don't recognize Herm Edwards, although he frequently shows up at celebrity golf events like the AT&T at Pebble Beach. Herm was an NFL cornerback with the Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Rams and Atlanta Falcons; he held numerous staff positions on NFL teams, including stints as head coach for the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs; and he's currently a football analyst for ESPN and a popular motivational speaker.

One of Herm's most famous quotes concerns the advice he frequently gives to athletes concerning Twitter: "Don't Push Send!" Herm is especially emphatic about not tweeting when angry about something.

Ted Bishop's life over the last couple of days is a classic example of why this is good advice for everybody. In all fairness -- and this speaks specifically to Herm's point -- it's worth remembering that the original tweet wasn't intended to be a a sexual slur at all. Ted was responding to Ian Poulter's "attack" on Nick Faldo (which was, in turn, a response to Nick's "attack" on Sergio back at the Ryder Cup), and it was also clearly influenced by what Ted saw as an attack on Tom Watson by Phil Mickelson (and those who sided with Phil) over the last few weeks.

But as Herm frequently points out, social media is a loaded gun and you can't afford to be careless with it. Ted's "little girl" remark was merely an emotional outburst, an extra little shot intended to embarrass Poulter... but he didn't think things through before he pushed "send."

The rest, unfortunately for him, is now history.

A few more mistakes followed fast on the heels of this ill-advised tweet:

• Ted not only tweeted the remark but also posted it on Facebook -- a double faux pas. The fact that it took extra time to do the Facebook post -- which was different from the tweet, so it wasn't just that his tweet automatically uploaded to Facebook -- made it much harder to say that the tweet was merely a momentary lapse of judgment.
• Then -- and perhaps most damning -- came the brief "apology" where he said he "may have chosen the wrong words." It sounded as if he was merely responding to criticism and still hadn't considered the import of what he had said.
• And later, after being removed from his position, he sent out an email where he implied that he was hoping for "due process" to give him a chance to prevent the inevitable result (yes, we all knew this would happen, didn't we?)... and then he chose to use the word "impeachment" to describe the result. An accurate word, but again word choice tells a story of its own. Clearly there's some anger and perhaps even bitterness over what has happened.

And it all came from the simple act of pressing the "send" button while in the heat of the moment, without taking time to consider the potential fallout from his tweet. I'm sure that wherever Herm Edwards is right now, he's shaking his head and wondering why we're so quick to hit the "send" button -- especially when we're upset about something -- and also wondering if we'll ever understand the dangers of social media.

It's certainly something worth thinking about, don't you think?

The Mental Game

I spent Saturday watching football. That's not typical for me. While I enjoy watching the NFL sometimes, I'm typically doing something else and biding time until the golf starts. Although I was working on my computer while the games were on, I watched a lot more than usual.

And I only checked in on the Sony Open from time to time. That's VERY unusual. But this week football might have taught us more about golf than GC's broadcast.

For those of you who don't keep up with the game, this weekend is the Divisional Playoffs. This weekend is when the Super Bowl contenders get cut down to four. Next week it's cut to two... and those teams will go to the Super Bowl on February 2. My Carolina Panthers are in the playoffs for the first time in several years. They'll try to get through today.

Saturday night I sat in amazement as quarterback Tom Brady led the New England Patriots to a 43-22 win in bad weather over the Indianapolis Colts.



This has been a rough year for the Pats. They've lost a lot of key players to injury, and they've had to fill in with a lot of rookies. The Pats have a fairly complicated system that some players simply can't learn. Most of Brady's favorite receivers have either been injured or lured away by other teams. And Brady himself is 36 years old; many teams wouldn't play someone that old. A lot of people didn't think the Pats could even make the playoffs.

But here they are, and they seem to be getting stronger as they go. The amazing thing is how they're doing it... and that's where we can learn.

You see, Brady is one of the best quarterbacks the game has ever seen. (I know there are a lot of Patriot haters out there -- you know who you are -- but even you have to concede that point.) He is one of those QBs who can make the big pass under pressure when it has to be made. This season Payton Manning (with the Denver Broncos) broke the record for touchdowns thrown in one season. That record had been Brady's.

The Pats scored 6 touchdowns in Saturday's game. Do you know how many of them were the result of Brady's throws?

ZERO. Brady didn't throw a single touchdown pass. He made a few critical passes but, for the most part, was content to hand the ball to his running backs and let them make the big plays. In fact, he only attempted 25 passes while the backs ran the ball nearly twice as much -- a very un-Patriotlike performance. In fact, I heard LeGarrette Blount (who ran 4 of those TDs in) say that if you had told him before the game that Brady wouldn't have thrown a single TD, he wouldn't have believed you.

But -- and this is what I want you to get from this post -- Brady has said he doesn't care about his stats. He cares about winning games, and that was the way to win this one.

How often have you addressed the ball, knowing that you just needed to hit a fairway wood off the tee... but you pulled out the driver because you could hit it so much further? Of course, you didn't. You probably sliced it into the trees and butchered the hole.

How often have you tried to get a fancy approach shot close to the hole when all you needed was a simple shot somewhere on the green? Bet you ended up missing the green entirely and racking up a big score, didn't you?

How often have you tried to ram a putt into the hole because you couldn't bear the thought that you might leave a short tap-in... and ran the ball ten feet by for a 3-putt?

Here's the big question: How many of those errors did you make simply because you felt like you "weren't trying hard enough" unless you did it the hard way? Or because you didn't want to look weak to your foursome? Or simply because you couldn't bear the thought that you might lose a shot by playing safe? (BTW, not playing safe cost you two shots... or three... or...)

Tom Brady and his team dissected the opposition because they looked at what they could do best and then DID IT. And actually accepting what we can and can't do and then playing that way is often the hardest part of our game. The mental game isn't so much about "gaining a winner's mentality" as it is about accepting our limitations and learning to exploit them so we get the best score we can... and that's way harder than reciting "I can do this" as you stand over a putt.

But taking what the game gives you can be awfully rewarding. Just ask Tom Brady.

The photo of Brady came from espn.go.com. It's a 2-year-old article, but I liked the picture.

Some Big Breaks Start Out Broken

I'm known to rant on occasion. It's not unusual for me to rant on this blog. And the targets of my rants are usually what I see as important issues concerning the game of golf.

But I'm sure this is the first time I've ever ranted about a reality TV show.



As you probably know, GC's Big Break NFL Puerto Rico ran its final show last night. This time around, the show put together 3-player teams consisting of 2 former Big Breakers (one male, one female) and a former NFL star/golfer. It sounds workable, right? It's definitely a twist on the show's standard format.

In this case, the final show came down to a battle between Team Rice:

• wide receiver Jerry Rice
• Emily Talley from Big Break Mexico
• Isaac Sanchez from Big Break Greenbrier

and Team Doleman:

• defensive lineman Chris Doleman
• Shannon Fish from Big Break Atlantis
• Brian Cooper from Big Break Greenbrier

Why am I ranting about this? Because the outcome of a show that's supposed to give a "big break" to aspiring pros was determined by the play of the football players.

Tim Doleman was a great player in the NFL, but he was a disruptive force on his team. There will be those who argue that he "toughened up his teammates." I don't disagree -- if they hadn't toughened up, they would have been forced to kill him in order to maintain their sanity. Doleman was an obnoxious partner.

But GC went further and made the NFL players the team captains, meaning that they could simply pull rank and order the professionals around. This is nothing against Doleman as a person but -- and this is putting it kindly -- he didn't seem to understand what would help his teammates. (He didn't even seem to understand that golf is approached somewhat differently than football.) For example, in one segment as they prepared for a putting challenge, Fish asked him what he saw in the putt and Doleman not only gave her no help but acted like she was asking a stupid question.

Not a week went by without several teams wondering when Team Doleman was going to self-destruct... and wondering how they managed to avoid getting eliminated when it was clear they wanted to eliminate each other.

But then, after he repeatedly "strongly implied" that he had helped his teammates grow up so they could "show up" when it counted, Doleman didn't show up at all for the final competition. The final challenge was set up in 4 quarters (like a football game) with each player facing their counterpart in a single hole of match play -- 1 point for a win, 1/2 for a halve, and 0 for a loss. The points from each of the three matches were totaled to get a winner in that quarter. The team that won the most quarters would win Big Break NFL. All 3 members played in the first 3 quarters, with only the two pros playing the final quarter.

That was too little too late for the pros on Team Doleman. Doleman tied his first match with Rice then never found the fairway in his remaining two matches, which he lost. He kept hitting slices -- which, given his play in the other shows, indicated that he couldn't handle the pressure. Had it been only the pros from each team playing, the matches would have been tied after 4 quarters and gone to sudden death. As it was, Fish and Cooper went into the final quarter needing a win just to stay alive.

That's just wrong. If the goal is to give the pros a "big break," then the outcome should be determined by the pros. The winning NFL player got $50k to donate to a charity; but the winning pros got $50k apiece, entry into an LPGA or PGA event, and a club deal. Those pros had to earn a place on their original Big Break; I'm pretty sure the NFL players "earned" their spot by being former NFL players who played golf and had agents to negotiate the gig. I know the NFLers play pretty well, but it just doesn't mean the same for them. For the pros, this could mean their future; for the NFL players, this was a lark.

If the goal is to give the pros a "big break," then the outcome shouldn't be determined by the celebrities you brought in to get ratings. But that's exactly what happened... and it's why I'm so pissed off by Big Break NFL Puerto Rico. If GC wants to bring in celebrities to set goals for the pro challenges -- as Rodney Harrison did on one show -- that's fine. But let the pros determine who gets the break into the pro ranks, not celebrities who just want to say they were on Big Break.

Rant over.

Skunk Spray Makes You Run Faster

Since Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens was accused of having ordered deer antler spray and Vijay Singh admits to actually using it, I've been compiling my own list of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) that professional sports organizations should start testing for.

Please understand that I have no idea what banned substances these "drugs" might contain. All I know is that they clearly enhance physical performance in various ways.

• Skunk spray: Even animals that get sprayed with this stuff run faster than normal. One nice thing about skunk spray is that it would be pretty easy to test for: Just sniff the athlete.
• Habanero chile peppers: It's impossible to sleep for quite a while after ingesting one or more of these little babies. Isn't that the very definition of a stimulant?
• Buckthorn, senna extract, aloe vera, castor oil, etc: All of these are laxatives. In fact, all laxatives should be banned. Anything that forces you to run, whether you want to or not, should be considered performance-enhancing. (I had to take milk of magnesia often when I was little, so I speak from experience.)
• Altoids: Anything that can make the hairs inside your nose stand on end has to be one heck of a stimulant.
• Farts (from any source): According to SPIKE TV's show Manswers, it's possible to freeze farts, thereby concentrating them. (Does anybody find it strange that the name of the biochemist they spoke to is Michael Myers? Or that the freezing expert's name was Wiener?) Farts are a sort of reverse-PED, as they enhance the farter's performance by decreasing the performance of nearby competitors. Doesn't that give the farter an unfair advantage?
• Oysters: Just ask James Bond. He says they increase performance and he should know.

I suspect there are many other unregulated PEDs used legally by athletes. These are just some I'm familiar with.

As for that deer antler spray, that just sounds gross to me. Besides, I thought most guys were horny enough to begin with...

The Limerick Summary: 2013 Waste Management Phoenix Open

Winner: Phil Mickelson

Around the wider world of golf: Karrie Webb won the Volvik RACV Ladies Masters on the ALPG/LET; Shiv Kapur won the Gujarat Kensville Challenge on the Asian Tour; and Stephen Gallacher won the Omega Dubai Desert Classic on the ET. Plus, if you're interested, the Baltimore Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl (that's American Football's World Championship, in case you live in a part of the world where they only play soccer).



In case you think it's strange to mention the Super Bowl in a golf tournament summary, I should remind you that the Waste Management Phoenix Open is always played on Super Bowl Sunday and they set up the tournament so it finishes in time for the golf fans to get to a TV. It's part of their attempt to attract a good crowd despite being scheduled against another sports event.

I believe they said that, the last time Phil won this tournament AND the Super Bowl was held in New Orleans, the Ravens were in the Super Bowl and they won. It appears that it happened again!

Phil would have noticed because he's such a big sports fan. And like the Ravens, he led the tournament from start to finish. And also like the Ravens, he wasn't the favorite coming into the week after his poor finish at Torrey Pines last week. (I believe the 49ers were favored by 9 points or so, for those of you who are interested.)

But sports teams -- and Phil Mickelson -- have a tendency to defy expectations.

Phil flirted with records all week -- a 59, the 36-hole scoring record, and a 72-hole scoring record, to name a few. (Johnny Miller said that shooting 9-under on the par-3s may have been a record as well.) Phil even got through the week with just a single bogey and a single double. Has he ever done that before?

Was the sudden change of fortunes because of that emergency lesson he got from Butch Harmon? Or the time spent with Dave Stockton, working on his putting? Or was it that new Callaway driver he raved about all week? Does it matter, as long as he keeps it up for the majors?

Just imagine... Tiger, Rory, and Phil (among others) all in contention at the majors this year! Wouldn't that be something to see? The Ravens might enjoy it as well; a Phil win seems to be a good omen for them!

At any rate, this Limerick Summary salutes a surging Phil Mickelson who continues to leave us with the eternal question: What will Phil do next?

Phil played Torrey Pines without passion,
Then found a new driver for mashin’
The ball. Thus inspired,
He went wire-to-wire
And gave pros at Scottsdale a bashin’.

The photo came from the PGATOUR.com tournament page.

Wild Cat

In football, the wildcat is a special formation often used in the "red zone." (That's the last 20 yards before you reach the goal line for a touchdown.) The wildcat is designed to confuse the defense. They don't know whether to expect the quarterback to pass the ball or run with it or give it to somebody else so they can run it.

Almost anything can happen when you run the wildcat. And the offense hopes that it results in a touchdown.

Wild Cat is also a good term to describe how Tiger played on Sunday. Nobody knew quite what to expect. Sometimes the ball was in the fairway, sometimes in the rough, sometimes in the sand, sometimes behind a tree. But the result was the same just about every time... birdies.



On Saturday I said that we should watch his iron play this weekend to see if he was making any progress. After watching him stick his wedge time after time, I think it's safe to predict a major this year. It was his wedge that killed his chances last year...

Looks like that's what will kill everybody else's chances this year.

Going into today's final round, Tiger leads by 6 -- which, ironically, is the same number of points in a touchdown. I don't think this one will go into overtime, though.

GC will begin coverage of the remainder of the final round at 1:30pm ET today. CBS will pick it up at 4pm ET. Unless something goes horribly wrong for Tiger and incredibly well for the rest of the field, it looks like Tiger will chalk up win #75 today.

I wonder... since Tiger said he'll be wearing his customary red shirt today, I wonder if that makes the final round at the Farmers his own personal "red zone"?

The photo comes courtesy of ESPN.

The Limerick Summary: 2013 Sony Open

Winner: Russell Henley

Around the wider world of golf: Louis Oosthuizen won the Volvo Golf Champions on the ET, so he'd have a new trophy to go with his new excavator; and Titiya Plucksataporn won the TLPGA & Royal Open on the LAGT.



Bear with me here. There's a reason behind my rambling...

The 2012 NFL Draft (for those of you unfamiliar with the Draft, that's when the various pro football teams choose new rookies from the college players who have decided to become pros) was considered one of the best ever, especially where quarterbacks were concerned. In fact, three of those rookie QBs actually led their teams into the finals this year. Two of them were knocked out in the first round. The one who was left got knocked out yesterday, despite breaking several records along the way.

His name was Russell -- Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks.

Many in the golf media think this year's rookie class of golfers may be one of the best in recent memory. One of them is also named Russell -- Russell Henley -- and he also broke several records this weekend. But he had considerably better results than the other Russell had, since he won the Sony Open.

Because the rookies in both football and golf are having such success, questions have been raised -- specifically, can you really call them "rookies"? Unlike rookies of the past, these new players have been prepared for the pro ranks in ways never dreamed of. Russell Henley, for example, won twice on the Web.com Tour last year -- the Chiquita Classic and the Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open. Can you really call him a rookie?

Well, I know what you can call him... DANGEROUS. Russell shot three 63s at the Sony! According to PGATOUR.com's wrap-up report:

Henley finished at 24-under 256, breaking by four shots the Sony Open in Hawaii scoring record last set by Brad Faxon in 2001.

It was the second-lowest score for a 72-hole tournament in PGA TOUR history, two shots behind Tommy Armour III in 2003 at the Valero Texas Open.

And that wasn't the only record.

Henley set tournament records for the low 36-hole score after his 63-63 start, he shared the 54-hole record with [Scott] Langley and set another tournament record with the lowest final round by a champion.

Does that sound like a rookie to you? Whether it does or not, I'm sure the word "threat" has been attached to his name by the other Tour pros.

So this week's Limerick Summary salutes the "rookie" who just made the rest of the Tour -- probably including last year's rookies -- feel very old indeed:

Russell’s first win caused quite the sensation
And the field came to this realization:
They must stop his low scores
Or become dinosaurs…
So they’ve asked for his swift deportation.

The photo came from the front page of PGATOUR.com.

So the 2013 Golf Season Starts When?

It's a good thing the NFL playoffs started this weekend because we're still waiting for golf. I saw both the Houston Texans beat the Cincinnati Bengals AND the Green Bay Packers beat the Minnesota Vikings. (I even got to see Manchester United squeak out a tie against West Ham in the FA Cup third round. Yes, I had a busy Saturday. ;-)

The reason for the delay? Wind. The sideways rain might not have been such a problem if not for the 40-50mph wind gusts. I snagged this photo off GC that shows the conditions. Look at them try to pour water into a cup!



When the wind is stronger than gravity, it's not a good day for golf.

At any rate, the Hyundai Tournament of Champions is now a 54-hole event, with 36 holes planned for today and 18 tomorrow. I suppose that's subject to change, depending on the weather. The word from the Tour was that today's wind would only be 5-10mph slower. I can only assume they believe the course will be playable in 30-40mph gusts.

I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Dustin Johnson remarked that he's done well in these shortened events, and I have to concur. I'm guessing either he or Webb Simpson (who played well in Friday's cancelled round) will -- pardon the pun -- blow away the competition.

And if they don't get to play today... well, at least there are two more NFL games scheduled.

A Rough Night for Phil

In case you hadn't heard, the NFL game between the San Diego Chargers (quarterbacked by Philip Rivers) and the visiting Denver Broncos (led by the already-legendary Peyton Manning) wasn't the only big thing going on in San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium. Phil Mickelson was trying to win $1mil for First Book, a non-profit organization which provides new books for children in need.

Here's the deal: During halftime, Phil was placed in one end zone; a 5-foot diameter target was set up in the other one. Mickelson was given a single wedge shot to hit the target and win the million bucks, which would have purchased around 450,000 books. According to PGA Tour stats, Phil makes that shot slightly more than 13% of the time.

However, Monday night turned out to be part of that other 87%. His shot went long -- still worth $50k (20,000 books) but clearly not what he was after.

Unfortunately for Phil, the rest of the night didn't go any better. You see, he did a little pregame commentary for ESPN extolling how the Chargers were positioned to make mincemeat out of the Broncos. For what it's worth, the history between the teams was clearly on Phil's side.

As it turned out, Peyton set a few records during the game, including the first time any team has ever been down 24-0 at halftime and then came back to win by double digits. The Broncos won 35-24.

Perhaps the kids will get a chance to read about Peyton's accomplishments in the new books Phil just bought them. I'm sure that will excite Phil no end. ;-)

Here's the article where I verified my figures about Phil's attempt.

When You Look at the Pairings...

Well, the professional referees are finally back on the field for the NFL... and the professional golfers are finally on the course for the Ryder Cup.

We're in a really good spot right now. In the past, if teams had 6 or 7 good players, they felt they were lucky. The good players needed to play all 5 matches to give their side the best chance to win. Now we find ourselves looking at teams that are easily 12 deep -- the only exception being if a player gets injured or a virus after making the team -- and the only real problem is who will have to sit.

And as I've said before, I think the home team always has the advantage -- not just because they can set up the course (that's less of an advantage these days, at least for the US team) and because they have the home crowd.

Yet, I have to admit the first session pairings (foursomes or alternate shot, whichever you prefer to call it) give me pause:

1. Furyk-Snedeker vs McIlroy-McDowell
2. Mickelson-Bradley vs Donald-Garcia
3. ZJohnson-Dufner vs Westwood-Molinari
4. Woods-Stricker vs Poulter-Rose

I'm not questioning the strength of the US team. It's just that when you look at the names... well, the star power certainly seems to be on the Euro side. This is simply a matter of experience, of course; the big names on the Euro side are younger than the US stars. And the US has 4 rookies -- 3 playing the morning session -- while the Euros have one and he's sitting this session. The rookies playing this morning have a major, a FedExCup title, and 5 PGA Tour wins just during this calendar year.

But still... it's going to take some time before Snedeker or Bradley strikes the same fear into competitors as McIlroy or McDowell!

Welcome to golf's new generation. I can't wait to see if we have some new "big dogs" come Sunday night.

And remember that the Ryder Cup is being carried by ESPN today.

And So the Intimidation Begins...

Before I start, gotta send out a quick farewell to Pia Sundhage, the Head Coach of the U.S. National Women's Soccer Team for the last 5 years. Wednesday night was officially her last night as Head Coach, and the team gave her a proper sendoff by winning against Australia 6-2, letting Sundhage finish her tenure on a 14-win streak. Her replacement's gonna have some big shoes to fill!

And today Rory gets to resume his "intimidation" of Tiger. GC begins their broadcast at 11am ET. Well, technically that the pre-game show; GC lists the official broadcast at 1pm. The LPGA will be broadcast starting at 6:30pm.

I have to admit, despite being a huge Greg Norman fan, sometimes Greg says things that make me just bury my face in my hands and shake my head. (You really can do both at the same time, just try it.) Everybody seemed to be having fun with it Wednesday, especially Rory and Tiger. Rory says Tiger has nicknamed him "Intimidator."

Personally, I was relieved to find that Tiger would find it somewhat intimidating if Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis was coming at him. At least now I know Tiger and I have something in common. ;-)

Remember: Pre-game at 11am ET (they'll probably do some spot coverage during that broadcast) and the official broadcast of the first round at 1pm.

And also remember to tremble a little (for Greg's sake) when Rory gets some screen time... and don't laugh when you do. Be respectful.

Some Thoughts from Tom House

Monday I heard that Tim Tebow had been doing some work with a pitching coach named Tom House. You may be wondering... what does that have to do with golf?

House works with athletes in a variety of sports, helping them improve their mechanics. He did a brief phone interview Monday on ESPN -- primarily because he's working with Tebow and anything involving Tebow is news -- and he mentioned a couple of things that may help you improve your golf swing.

How long does it take for a new move to become... well, your new move? When does it become second nature? House said that research done on thousands of athletes from different sports -- and he specifically mentioned martial arts -- is that it takes 1000 perfect repetitions to master a new skill. I've heard the saying in a slightly form, that it takes 1000 reps to learn a technique and 10,000 to master it.

Still, this saying seems to match up with the idea that it takes anywhere from one to several months to "own" a new skill. If you made 100 swings a day -- and I'm assuming you took your time to make each one correctly, not just swinging a club rapidly -- it would take only 10 days to reach 1000 reps. You would reach 10,000 reps in only 100 days, just over three months.

And if each swing took only 10 seconds -- I'm allowing plenty of time to focus on doing each rep correctly -- your daily 100-swing routine would require 1000 seconds, or just under 17 minutes. Using that figure, it would take somewhere between 3 hours (1000 swings) and 29 hours (10,000 reps) to get that new swing motion down. That doesn't sound all that bad, does it?

Bear in mind that the figure assumes you focus on doing the correct movement each time. Tiger has said that it typically takes him 15 months or so to learn a new swing because, once he gets out in a tournament, he tends to slip back into the old swing. Then it takes extra time on the range to overcome the "backsliding" from improper practice.

House also mentioned that, at least when you're talking about throwing a football, inaccuracy to the left or right is usually caused by a posture problem and throwing too high or too low is caused by arm movement problems. Although I'm certain it's not nearly so clearcut with a golf swing, we do know that leaning backward can cause pushed shots and leaning forward (which happens during an over-the-top swing) can cause pulled shots because your posture has a huge effect on your swing path. And getting your arms out of sync with your body can certainly cause fat or thin shots.

What does this all mean to you? It sounds to me like short practice sessions spent making correct swings can get quicker results -- in a matter of weeks, in fact -- than hours spent smacking ball after ball with a sloppy swing. Work out when you're fresh and know you can make correct swings; quit when you start getting tired. And it also sounds as if you should focus on proper balance and posture during your practice if you want to make the fastest progress.

Just one more thought: It all sounds pretty sensible to me. But like I keep saying, golf isn't that difficult -- we just teach it that way. And while I know some of you think I'm crazy to say that, just think about this for a moment:

• It's not hard to learn how to play a decent game of basketball. It's just hard to learn how to play like LeBron James.
• It's not hard to learn how to play a decent game of tennis. It's just hard to learn how to play like Maria Sharapova.

There's a difference between developing a level of skill that lets you play well in an amateur setting and developing a level of skill that lets you play well in a professional setting. If you can agree with me about that -- and I think most of you would -- then it follows:

• It's not hard to learn how to play a decent game of golf. It's just hard to learn how to play like Tiger Woods.

Most of you are capable of playing better than you do. It's just a matter of focusing on learning the basics and not judging your performance against an unrealistic standard.

Maybe Age Really Is Just a Number

Lately I've been considering the saying "the golf ball doesn't know how old you are."

Although it gets batted about by the media quite often, I'm convinced that few of them really believe it. If they did, would they be so shocked when Tom Watson competes at an Open Championship? Would they gaze in amazement when Fred Couples shows up on a Masters leaderboard... or on any PGA Tour leaderboard, for that matter? Would they be so surprised at the number of wins Vijay Singh has amassed since the age of 40?

No, clearly the media still doesn't believe their own words. It doesn't matter what they say, their attitudes are proof that they truly believe golf balls know your age... and have a vendetta against seniors.

Older players who have become commentators -- as well as commentators who never played -- just can't believe it when an Ernie Els or a Steve Stricker pokes his nose into the Top 10 of a tournament. They keep speculating on just how long Phil can "hold it together" and "be competitive." I'm beginning to believe that most of them are now convinced that the game has passed them by and therefore it's only fair if it passes by the rest of us as well.

I've got news for you, folks. All that talk about how your putting leaves you when you get older because you lose your nerve or get too much "scar tissue" from missed putts is just so much sour grapes. Don't listen to those who lament how young players play with such confidence and how "those days are gone for us older folks."

Do you want to know why older players struggle with their games while younger players don't? It's because the older players have learned so much that they believe they can control every aspect of their games. They believe that if putts don't go in, it's because they didn't take something into account. They believe that if they don't take all those things into account, they are bad golfers and even worse people. So they "focus" themselves into a nervous mindset that won't settle for less than perfection. And this attempt to over-control their games eventually destroys their ability to play well.

But those are lies, folks -- pure boldfaced lies. You never control it all. You never did, and you never will.

Ernie Els and Steve Stricker aren't unusual in their passion to keep playing. They're just unusual in that they haven't given in to the lies that most golfers believe. They know the game hasn't passed them by. As long as you're reasonably healthy and willing to play the game with the same patience you need to live your life, the game will never leave you.

Even players in other sports are beginning to realize this. Payton Manning expects to make some waves with the Denver Broncos this year, and other "old" players are proving that they can still play football with the young kids.

I've been watching the NBA Playoffs as I write this. The Dallas Mavericks were supposed to be too old to win last year and after they did, the oddsmakers didn't even give them a fighting chance to defend. Well, here they are in the playoffs again and giving the much younger Oklahoma City Thunder a run for their money in the first game. Too old indeed.

Several of the young players on various teams are out of the playoffs due to injuries sustained during this shortened season. The Boston Celtics were written off early in the season because they were too old, and people laughed at the San Antonio Spurs when Tim Duncan sat out a game earlier this year and the listed reason was simply "old." But not only did both teams make the playoffs in relative good health, but the Spurs finished with the best record in the West and analysts are saying that nobody wants to face the Celtics right now.

Maybe age is just a number after all... and not just in golf. If I were you, I would ignore the people who tell you otherwise.

And if you suspect your golf ball really does know your age, just lose it. Ignorant balls are available by the dozen.

Linsanity and Golf

In case you haven't heard of Linsanity, let me give you a quick lesson.

The New York Knicks (basketball team, for those of you who don't follow the NBA) have been struggling. Their two main players, Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire, are out with injuries... and to be honest, the team wasn't playing too well before they went out. But a week ago an undrafted point guard named Jeremy Lin was picked up to try and help them through this rough period.

Lin initially got some attention simply because he doesn't fit the normal NBA mold. He's the first Asian-American player in the NBA (his parents are from Taiwan, just like Yani Tseng) and he graduated in 2010 from Harvard -- hardly a powerhouse of basketball. He's basically been bouncing around the league because nobody wanted him. The Knicks didn't really expect much from him when they put him on the court last Saturday, but they were playing so bad they needed to do something.

The result is a phenomenon called Linsanity. The NBA is playing a condensed schedule this year and since Lin started last week the Knicks have played 4 games. First they beat the New Jersey Nets, then the Utah Jazz, and then the Washington Wizards. He scored more than 20 points per game, even setting some records for undrafted players. Many analysts have been critical of all this excitement, though. The Nets, Jazz, and Wizards aren't very good teams, they said, and it proved nothing. He hadn't taken any shots more than 5 feet from the basket, so he clearly couldn't shoot. Just wait till he played the Los Angeles Lakers Friday night; he wouldn't look so hot then.

So all he did was lead the Knicks to a 92-85 win over the Lakers and personally outscore Kobe Bryant, 38 to 34. And we discovered that he hadn't taken any shots over 5 feet from the basket because he hadn't needed to. In fact, he hit a 3-pointer to start the game and then hit shots from all over the place. And when ESPN's analysts questioned at halftime whether Lin could keep this up -- wouldn't the other players just "figure him out" -- Magic Johnson simply smiled and said, "He'll be fine. He uses his head. This kid's the real deal."

The Knicks are playing better than they have for a long time, and their coach simply says the team loves to play with Lin. They know he'll get the ball to them so they can shoot, and he gets everybody involved. The Knicks have even begun to play some defense -- a term previously unheard around this team!

Linsanity will probably be all over the news by the time you read this post. So why am I telling you about it?

Because Jeremy Lin said something at halftime that can improve your golf.

I'm sure you know that Tiger Woods is playing with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo at the AT&T Pro-Am this week. You probably also know that Romo is an extremely good player but hasn't been able to qualify for the US Open. It's because he makes mental mistakes. GC talked about Romo hitting a long club into a narrow opening on one of the par-5s and, while he pulled it off, he still needed a third shot to reach the green.

In other words, Romo took a risk that could have hurt his score without giving him an advantage when he was successful. He still hasn't learned some of the basic strategy he needs in order to make the best use of his skill.

Compare this to Lin. I actually heard this exchange on TV, but I'll just quote this USA Today post about Lin's play:

At halftime, the Knicks led 49-41, with Lin scoring 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, five assists and one steal.

Yet interviewed at the half, Lin was upset that he wasn't taking enough of an advantage of the Lakers' "big men sagging off me" to get his own big man, Tyson Chandler, the ball. And so, he told ESPN's Lisa Salters, he was going to take a look at the film at halftime.

Salters was about to ask another question — but stopped, eyes raised, and asked, "You're going to look at tape right now."

And, indeed, after halftime, Salters reported that Chandler said they DID look at the film.

Most players study game films the next day, not during the game! But Jeremy Lin got himself an unexpected break with the Knicks -- indeed, he's been sleeping on his brother's couch this week because he didn't know if he'd get to stay on the team -- and he's making the most of it.

If you want to get better at golf, you probably want to spend all your time hitting golf balls. But do you know how to use the skills you already have? If not, learning more skills probably isn't the most productive way to spend your time. I'm not saying you should become obsessed with the game, spending every spare moment thinking about it. But, like Jeremy Lin, you've got to learn to use your head to think your way around the course.

If you do, maybe you start your own brand of Linsanity among your playing partners.

The photo came from this SC Herald post.

A Quick Super Bowl Post

I'm not a football expert by any means, but I wanted to do a Super Bowl post anyway.

Let me say upfront that I don't really have a preference between the Giants and the Patriots. My team is the Carolina Panthers -- I live in North Carolina, after all -- and the team I root for when the Panthers aren't playing is the Denver Broncos. (Back before we got the Panthers, I was a huge John Elway fan.) And as far as Eli Manning and Tom Brady go, I like both QBs for the same reason: Each has had to prove himself -- one in the shadow of his older brother, the other because he went, like, 3056th in the draft.

That said, I do have a feeling the Patriots might pull this one out. I know the Giants are the overall favorite -- and if they had played the Super Bowl last weekend, I would have expected the Giants to win easily.

But, not to put too fine a point on it, something smells funny to me.

I think the week off will hurt the Giants more than the Patriots. The Patriots needed time to catch their breath and regroup, while the Giants would have liked their train to keep on zippin' down the track.

But it's the intangibles that bother me. For example, I keep hearing how Brady's lost his confidence since his poor game against the Ravens. He went to see his passing coach the next week to "get fixed," you know.

As a golfer, I don't see that as a lack of confidence. Phil won't play in Hawaii because the wind can cause him to make compensations in his swing that will have to be fixed. Brady -- also a golfer, in case you didn't know -- had an injured shoulder and always has trouble with the Raven defense. I'd be surprised if he hadn't made unintended compensations to protect that shoulder during the game, and just wanted to make sure they were fixed before the Super Bowl.

The whole Patriots team has somehow managed to come into this game as the underdog, despite being favored by 2.5 points in Vegas. They seemed a bit too relaxed all week; even Belichick was showing up for media gigs in purple shirts and making jokes.

And then there's the whole Chad Ochocinco thing. It bugged me no end when, in the Broncos game, they brought Chad in for one touchdown play when the game was pretty much over... then took him out immediately. All I could figure was that they were testing something. And all week I've had this nagging suspicion that Chad was going to play today, even though there was no word about it.

Until this morning. Wide receiver Tiquan Underwood got cut from the team last night, and guess who got added to the roster this morning?

To make a long story short... Suddenly the Pats have a wide receiver who is totally uninjured this season and of whom the Giants have virtually no film footage that might help them predict his role. Even if they did, they don't really have time to make more than minor adjustments.

So here's my prediction: The Brady-Ochocinco connection is going to play a big part in today's game. I look for Chad to provide 2 touchdowns and some crucial yardage in other plays.

I don't know what the final score will be, but I think the Pats are going to squeak past the Giants and win Super Bowl XLVI.