Don’t ever let anyone tell you that Jean Van de Velde has unburied ghosts from his Carnoustie crash of 1999. Whereas he clearly did not have tha maturity to handle a three-stroke lead on the final hole, ultimately making triple, then losing in a playoff, the skies have cleared for the Frenchman. Sporting a four-stroke advantage with four to play, the master of the minuet eventually stood on the 18th tee three strokes clear of the field…and made double. Tears flowed from my sockets as I envisioned the maturity it took to make six on a par ... full post »

*It must have been ugly. 44 on the front nine, capped off by a quad on the relatively-benignth (get it?) hole. On the back, a double and two singles, sandwiched around his only birdie of the day, on the really-benixteenth (all right, that’s pushing it.) In “The tournament soon to be known as a major” (don’t get me started on that one…Finchem using his weasely lawyer muscle to invent a major makes me vomit), Davis Love III may have made his last stand. You don’t ever enter another prominent event and not recall an 83 ... full post »

After all the research that Dave Pelz did in the 1970s and 1980s on the short game, younger players still ignore its importance. Comments on another recent post got me thinking, and I can now predict that not only will Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia NOT win a major or any other event this year, they will fold under pressure of any sort. Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia have outstanding long games. From tee to green they are wonderful exponents of the game. At the Honda, Donald began to collapse on consecutive holes by making bogey from 60 yards out IN ... full post »

Gentlemen and Ladies, it’s high time we accepted the veracity of a number of statements, hypotheses, and postulations applied to the game of golf. Many have attempted to dispel them, but their efforts have been futile. Now, armed with no facts and little proof, I hereby decree the following to be 100% true, now and forever, ad infinitum, hocus pocus, ides of March. 1. Women are slow and incapable golfers. 2. Young golfers are rude and destructive. 3. The stiffer the golf shaft, the more appropriate it is for your game. 4. The harder you swing, the better ... full post »

1. How is it that Michelle Wie is shooting up the Rolex rankings when she pimps Omega watches? It’s a given that she is number one in the Omega rankings, ahead of such luminaries as Patty Berg, Betsy Rawls, The Great Gundy and The Babe, not to mention such current slackers as Annika and Paula, but so high on a rival watch company’s list? Hmmm… 2) How undesirable is this Honda Classic? It has been evicted from more courses than Cheap Bastard and Tim McDonald combined! The current course looks like more fun and excitement ... full post »

Take out two benign par three holes, and Tiger Woods is leading the Ford tourney by five strokes. Without the bogey on Friday and the double on Saturday, the artist formerly known as Eldrick has a clean slate for the week. The lethal combination of birdies (t1) and greens in regulation (t2) is offset by his being tied for sixth in double bogeys (LOL). What Tiger and others are doing to Doral is evidence that the Florida mainstay is outdated. Face it, what can you do to a flat golf course…fill in the fairways with sand, and dot ... full post »

The marquee pairing for Saturday at Doral will be Tiger and Phil, no doubt. Both posted -13 before Verplank and Villegas, so the brothers V should play in the penultimate pairing, while the brothers “me” should be the final twosome. Keep your eyes two guys tied for 9th, however, as it should provide an interesting matchup. Zach Johnson, 2004 Nationwide money winner, and Troy Matteson, 2005 cash king, are tied at -9, four shots back of the leaders. With Phil and Tiger atop the pride, it’s too much to hope for anything less than a 1-2 ... full post »

As Michelle Wie scales the LPGA ranking ladder, I remember the last time a young golfer ascended with such fanfare. Watching Curtis Strange condescendingly interview Tiger Woods, scoffing at the notion that he could attempt to win every time out, comes hauntingly back as bloggers, commentors, and others applaud and belittle the rise of Michelle Wie. If anyone deserves to be criticized, it is those who are not the golfers, who predict too much, too soon, or give credit/discredit for things that have not happened. Fortunately for Tiger and Michelle, they produced/have produced very quickly. There is no ... full post »