As golf fans, sadly, we spend most of our time focusing on the best of the best, much like Feinstein’s golf books. That’s a shame because even journeymen pros usually have a good story to tell. Any dictionary you might use will roughly define journeyman as experienced & skilled but only competent or undistinguished. So the first thing we must remember when discussing journeymen is just how good these golfers are. For instance, to qualify for the PGA Tour, they are better than 99.9999% of all the golfers in the world. This word, then, will not satisfactorily encapsulate the career ... full post »

We should have known something sinister was underway when the typically generous Florida Swing courses of the PGA Tour were playing nearly as tough as US Open venues. Results from the Masters just confirms it. 2007 will be forever known as the year of Tough Golf. Only the strong will survive. If you think Augusta National played hard, wait until you get a look at the revamped Stadium Course for the Players Championship. It has been redesigned to ensure hard & fast playing conditions which always drive up the scores at this target-style course. Then we have Oakmont, where they will hold ... full post »

There are many forms of choking. The most obvious is the jerked, pushed, woefully short or too long putt under pressure. Those are visible – like Scott Hoch in the 1989 Masters. Nerves can betray a golfer on delicate touch shots around the green. Usually those are detectable as well – like Thomas Bjorn in the 2004 Open Championship. Full shots are generally exempt from the choking label unless they are horribly executed like a duck-hook or near-shank – like Lorena Ochoa in the 2005 US Women’s Open. Very rare for professionals, not so much for amateurs such as we. ... full post »

As stupid as predicting the outcome of golf tournaments is, I thought I’d chime in with a prediction before heading out of town tomorrow morning for several days of playing golf in the morning and watching the Masters in the afternoon. The betting odds on Tiger Woods winning the 2007 Masters is 5 to 4 according to Ladbrokes, arguably the world’s best source for such things. (I’ll be interested to read what our own PGA Punter has to say about this but I’ll wager a large sum that he won’t want any of that action. I see only two bets that ... full post »