The Ryder Cup matches were exciting this week, and ended up about as I had predicted; Europe beat America due to better putting, again as I had predicted. But the overall scoring was closer than I thought it would be.

This was my first Ryder Cup where I heard commentators at the Golf Channel discuss how Europe set up the course to give the European team the advantage. How did Europe do that? For example, the greens were slower than the PGA was used to putting. European Tour players are used to putting slower greens than are our American PGA Tour players, so the European team members had the advantage.

Also, the longer rough at the Ryder Cup matches penalized the American team more because the European team members are more accurate off the tee. The Golf channel commentators then asked each other why the United States doesn't do the same thing when the Ryder Cup is played in the United States every other year, and no one seemed to have an answer.

Are we just too nice, too fair, or too stupid to let Europe get away with such "gamesmanship"? Earlier last week I predicted that Europe would win simply because about half of their team members used oversize putter grips, where virtually all members of the American team used standard size putter grips. It has been proven that oversize grips help keep the wristiness out of the putting stroke, making each golfer more efficient at making putts.

Time after time the Americans rolled their putts toward the hole, only to come up two or three rolls short of the hole, while most European putts at least reached the hole and had a chance of falling in.

How close were the matches? The U.S. only needed 14 points out of the total 28 points to retain the cup, since it was last won BY THE United States. They fell short by 1/2 point!

How many additional putts did the U.S. team need to roll another two or three inches to the hole to have changed the outcome, and have the U.S. win this week's Ryder Cup matches over Europe? Just one!

Ryder Cup Matches

With the Ryder Cup matches coming up in a few weeks. I thought I'd investigate the potential use of "performance enhancing golf equipment" by either side. What I learned is worth mentioning, although most golfers will not recognize it as an advantage by the European side.

As far as the use of drivers, fairway metals, irons, and wedges is concerned, both teams seem to be using similar equipment. However, it is in the area of putters that the European team seems to have the advantage over the American team.

At least half of the European team members are using putters that have larger than average grips. That's right, their grips are fatter than usual.

How is that an advantage? As a manufacturer of one of the most performance enhancing golf putters of all time, the PROBE 2020, I know what can improve a golfer's putting stroke. My 2020 was inverted-shafted, where the thin end of the shaft was in the grip, and the fatter, heavier end of the shaft was in the center of the brass putter head.

This guaranteed a pure pendulum stroke instead of the usual jerky stroke encouraged by virtually all other golf putters. The well-known "yips" were virtually impossible to imitate with a PROBE 2020 putter.

We also made the 2020 with larger than usual putter grips, which encourages each golfer's hands and wrists to remain calm during the stroke. It was virtually impossible to "strangle" the fatter grip with too much grip pressure, which can cause the hands to push or pull the putter off-line.

I have noticed that European tour players use fatter putter grips then do most American tour players. When I tried to search for different putter grips online this past week, I was surprised at what I found, or should I say what I did not find.

I could not find any manufacturers of fatter putter grips listed on the Internet. I could find article after article about name tour players using a righthand low grip, or a lefthand low grip, or a claw grip, or whatever. That described how they all held the putter grip, but there was no mention about the thickness of the grips preferred by each player.

Could it be possible that the Europeans understand how the thickness of a putter grip can give a player an advantage, and that the Americans have no clue about the subject?

That alone could determine the outcome of the Ryder Cup matches this fall.

America vs. Europe!

What is the state of American professional golf at this time? The Ryder Cup matches are coming up in a few weeks, and the Europeans seem to be stronger than the Americans at this point in time.

As a manufacturer and inventor of revolutionary new golf equipment from 1987 through 1994, I noticed something I have never noticed before when I was watching the European tour event this morning on The Golf Channel. Two European golfers I was watching on one green were putting, back to back, with putter grips I had never seen before!

At that moment I asked myself whether European pros could be using golf equipment that was completely different from the equipment being used by American pros! That would seem to be almost impossible considering how small the globe is with the internet in this day and age.

But the thought lingered most of the day while I ran errands around Ashland, Oregon today. I remembered last year when K. J. Choi was seen using a fat, round, white putter grip at the Memorial. I had never seen that grip before.

So for the next week or so I am going to do some investigating to see what I can learn about the golf equipment European Ryder Cup team members are using, and whether it may differ from the equipment American Ryder Cup team members may be using in the upcoming Ryder Cup matches.

Golf equipment may seem to be the same, but subtle differences can make a huge difference in performance. For example, members on both teams may use Taylor Made drivers, but the shafts used can be different, and grips can make a huge difference. The putting grips I saw on TV this morning had flat sections running from the top of the grip to the bottom of the grip, and there were many flat sections. I would guess the grip, each one, had at least eight, possibly ten flat sections. I had never before seen such a putter grip.

The two putting grips I saw this morning were similar, but one was orange and one was white. They could be the same grip, except for the color. Then again, they could be entirely different.

Stay tuned for the next few days and I'll report what I am able to learn about the differences in golf equipment used by both the American Ryder Cup team and the European team members. This should be interesting!

PGA Tour back to normal!

The PGA Tour is finally getting back to normal. No more "Oost-who's" winning majors, no more Tiger Woods's missing cuts. Tiger is in the Ryder Cup and Phil once again misses out on his (many) opportunities to move into the Number One Golfer In The World position by missing two-foot putts because he has to play a Callaway putter! Will Phil ever put winning tournaments ahead of his endorsement of poor golf equipment?

Tiger's game is coming around just in time for the Ryder Cup in a few weeks, now that he is putting his personal problems behind him.

This weekend in the Fed Ex playoffs Phil Mickelson was contending until he missed a bunch of putts down the stretch on Monday's final round, including one from under two feet. Phil just doesn't have the mental strength to move into the Number One position every time he has the opportunity to do so.

This morning, Corey Pavin announced his choices to complete America's Ryder Cup team, naming Tiger, Ricky Fowler, Stewart Cink, and Jach Johnson to the team. Ricky fowler seemed to be the questionable pick to some in the golf media, but I think Ricky will bring youth and excitement to the team.

The American team needs to start building an experienced young team for the future as well as for this year's competition, and Ricky Fowler is a good place to start. The Ryder Cup is always exciting, if not too exciting when Johnny Miller's announcing style comes into play. If we listen to Johnny during the very first match on day one, each putt in his mind will decide the outcome of the entire matches on day three!

I hope Johnny relaxes a little this year and lets the television viewers relax as well. We don't need Johnny causing millions of viewers rushing to the medicine cabinet for their Valium thirty minutes into the first day's matches.

Don't worry about Tiger!

Tiger Woods got off to a terrible start in this week's Deutsche Bank Championship, being four over par after the first 7 holes before returning to finish at one over par for 18 holes. But that is understandable for a man who is making major changes in his swing at this time.

He followed up that round with a six-under 65 on day two. Tiger will recover from his poor golf at the beginning of this year now that his personal problems are more or less behind him. In addition to his new swing changes, his personal life is now making major changes as well, moving from Florida to New York to live, for example.

Give him a few weeks to settle down in his new environment, and the old Tiger will be back in stride. And now that he is a single man again, his game will return to its best once he can settle on a new, steady girlfriend.

I can't stress enough the importance of a man having a good relationship with a woman and a happy home life in order to play good competitive golf. Tiger must have many women practically throwing themselves at him since his divorce, so the sooner he can settle down with just one woman the sooner his game will be back with a vengeance.

Yes, Tiger is back!

For months, many months, eight to be exact, avid golf fans have asked, "What is wrong with Tiger's game, and when, or will, he ever be back?"

The answer is, "He has had personal marriage problems on his mind, and he will not be back until he can put them behind him."

Last week his divorce from Elin was finalized, and although he will still think about it often, his focus can now be directed back to his golf game. And, "Yes, he will be back to his winning self very shortly."

He will go on to pass Jack's record of eighteen majors, even though competition is getting tougher every year with the new young talent that is emerging on the PGA and European tours.

Last week in the first of four FedEx playoff tournaments Tiger finished seven under par, five shots behind the leaders. He is working on a new swing, and just one swing on Saturday, where his old swing got in the way, cost him three of those five strokes.

As time passes Tiger will think less and less about his personal problems and more about his golf game. He will stand up to each shot and visualize the shot, where it will fly and where it will land. He will not stand up to many shots and wonder where his kids are, or what is Elin doing at that moment.

Tiger is confident his game will be back very soon, as evidenced by the $54 million mortgage he took out last week on a new home for the future in Jupiter, Florida. In the meantime he has moved into a bachelor pad in New York where he can start a new life with new friends and get away from his memories of the last ten months.

Yes, Tiger is back, and back to stay.

Is Tiger back?

When Tiger Woods shot 65 the first day of the Barklays at Ridgewood Country Club on Thursday, he was leading the tournament. Surprised? Many spectators were, while some were not.

It was no surprise to me at all. Tiger and Elin were in court on Monday, ending their marriage for good, and all the emotions that have plagued Tiger since last November should have finally ended for the better.

On Wednesday a People Magazine article and interview with Elin hit the newsstands and caused a little stir among the golf media, but the emotions finally took a new turn. Tiger could now concentrate on playing golf as a single man for the first time in six years, and his old winning attitude took over.

We all know how golf is a mental game first and foremost, and the last eight months has been mental torture for Tiger. Let's hope he can put it all behind him now.

If he completes this week's tournament well he would be a good Captain's pick for the American Ryder Cup team next month, and the American team can use all the help it can get.

New PROBE 2010 putter.

I have been deluged with emails from PROBE 2020 putter users asking me when PROBE GOLF, www.probegolf.com, will be releasing its new PROBE 2010 inverted-shafted, center shafted putter.

From 1992, when PROBE GOLF first introduced its patented PROBE 2020 putter, through 1996, when we ended its production, over 120,000 golfers purchased a 2020.

Today we still receive emails from former customers telling us that no matter what new putter they may try, they end up going back to the 2020 for its superior feel and control.

Former PROBE 2020 customers will be glad to learn that PROBE GOLF has just signed a manufacturing contract with a foundry to produce its new 2010 putter head. Just as 2010 vision is superior to 2020 vision, the new 2010 PROBE putter head will be wider than the original 2020 head to incorporate longer alignment lines so it will be easier to line up at the target.

Alignment was the ONLY negative comment we ever received from 2020 customers since its introduction in 1992. The original 2020 head was too narrow to accommodate longer lines.

The 2010 will retain its heavier weight that virtually all customers liked in the 2020, as well as the inverted shaft to insure its true pendulum stroke with no opportunity for the "yips" to enter the stroke.

Finally, the 2010 will include the center shafting just like the 2020, to allow each player to intentionally put side spin on short breaking putts to reduce or eliminate the break, thus making it easier to make those putts.

The PROBE 2010 will be introduced this fall to the golf industry. Inquiries may be emailed to contact@reciprocalgolf.com.

Who is at fault at the PGA?

If you are an avid golf fan, you already know about the fiasco that took place on the final hole at the PGA Championship yesterday! The question that is on everyone's mind is, "Who is at fault?"

Dustin Johnson waded through thousands of spectators to the right of the 18th fairway to find his tee shot. He had a one-shot lead over two players in the clubhouse, and all he needed was a par to win his first major. Virtually everyone was rooting for him after what happened to him two months ago at the last major, the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

Dustin found his ball when the crowd opened up and he saw some rough ground about six feet by six feet in size. The crowd covered the ground around that spot, thousands of them.

It took about ten minutes before enough of the crowd toward the green could move and give Dustin a target to shoot for. He looked over his shot, then hit a thundering five iron 237 yards to a heavy lie 20 yards over the green. He lofted a wedge to six feet of the pin. One six-foot putt to win his first major. He didn't quite hit the putt firmly enough, and it fell short to the right. He tapped in for bogie, then headed to the scoring trailer to sign his score card, and then he would be going to the tenth tee for the three-way, three hole playoff for the championship. WRONG!

A PGA official walked up to Dustin at greenside and informed him that there might be a problem with a penalty being incurred during his second shot on the 18th hole.

After the smoke cleared about fifteen minutes later it was decided that Dustin was in a sand trap on the right of 18 and he had grounded his club, which is a two-stroke penalty. He thus took a triple-bogie, and was not in the playoff!

The reigning PGA official walked in front of the cameras with a "rules sheet" they had handed out to each player on Monday listing the special rule that applied for the week regarding the bunkers. When he read the rule, it seemed to appease everyone, including myself.

Then the media interviewed several tour players, who said, "They hand out such a rules sheet every tournament, and nobody reads them."

Then the regular tour commentators asked the PGA official about that rules sheet, and such questions as, "What about the fact that the spectators were standing in your so-called bunker? How can it be a sand trap when 25 spectators are standing in it?"

The official again stood by his rules sheet, which technically is the final say in that situation.
Then he was asked about the PGA official who was walking with Dustin's twosome. "Why didn't he step forward when Dustin found his ball and tell Dustin he was in a sand trap?"

The head official then said, "We don't want our officials hovering over every player during a round; we just want them nearby if a player has a question about the rules."

The whole situation is frustrating to everyone, players and spectators. Please allow me to give you my take on it all.

Back during the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, I predicted on Tuesday, two days before the tournament started, that Dustin Johnson would win the Open. He had a three-shot lead after Saturday's round. I told my son who was sitting beside me that if I was Dustin's caddy, I would tell him to leave the premises and go to dinner with some friends and relax, and get away from any press. He had been relaxed all week, and led the tournament as a result.

Instead, Dustin responded affirmatively to all media requests for an interview, which was a huge mistake on his part. The media told him that his being relaxed was all wrong, that his leading the U.S. Open required that he be nervous beyond belief! The result was nervousness on Dustin's part starting Sunday morning, and he blew up to an 82 in the final round!

Yesterday, when Dustin and his caddy walked up to his drive among all those spectators, the first thing that should have happened was Dustin's caddy letting him know he might be in a bunker, and then they should have called over the PGA official that was walking with them.

Yes, that's right. I blame the caddy. These guys carrying the bags on tour are not simply bag carriers, they are their player's manager and adviser as well. Their job is to do the thinking for their player, so all he has to do is swing the clubs that are handed to him by his caddy.

Dustin is a nice guy, a "country bumpkin" in my opinion. Thinking is not his strong point. Golf, as I have stressed for months, is played between the ears, and is 90% mental, and 10% mental. That is the reason Tiger is playing poorly this year, his mind is on his personal problems, his divorce, his children.

Tour players have to think about one thing, hitting their golf ball. Whatever their caddy can do to keep them from thinking about or worrying about anything else is tantamount to their winning tournaments.

Dustin's caddy needs to learn that, and learn it quickly. If he does not, he should learn another profession.

PGA Championship week!

Today the PGA Championship starts, the last major of the year, and I hope we see a continuation of last week with a tour star winning the championship and not another unknown!

I'm amazed at some of the names that writers are picking to win the PGA this week, such as Vijay Singh. Singh has had a tough year, but this writer picked him simply because he won at the same course, Whistling Straits, the last time the PGA was played there. But that was the year Vijay was the leading money winner on tour.

Then there is the writer who has picked Y.E. Yang to repeat his PGA victory from last year when he held off Tiger Woods for the win. Yang is a scrapper, and it will take a scrapper to conquer the tough conditions expected this year.

There is also the writer who has picked Phil Mickelson to win the PGA, even though Phil announced this week that he has Psoriatic Arthritis! Phil told the media on Wednesday that the symptoms came on right before this year's U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, and plagued him during the tournament and then got worse during a family trip to Hawaii. At one point Phil said he couldn't even get out of bed!

And there are writers who are betting that now that Tiger has hit rock bottom after his worst tournament as a pro last week at Firestone, he will rebound if just from pride if nothing else and play well at the PGA.

Let's watch today's opening round and see what we can learn about Tiger's play.

Congratulations to Hunter Mahan!

The PGA Tour returned to some semblance of normalcy yesterday with Hunter Mahan's victory at the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club, and it didn't come any too soon!

For months now professional golf has had one relatively unknown player after another win tournaments, including two majors, with the television ratings dropping as a result. Not only did a name player, and an American, win at Firestone, but the next six place finishers included five recognizable American players and one two-time U.S. Open winner.

Now things are getting better on tour. With the PGA this week, the last of the four majors of the year, I hope this trend continues.

And what happened to Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson this last week? Tiger understandably is still fighting his mental demons from his private life even though he is blaming it on something else, lack of practice. When your mind is troubled in golf, it is even hard to concentrate on practicing.

Phil played fairly well for the first three days, but then his having to play Callaway equipment caught up with him one more time, and he ballooned to a 78 on Sunday, one higher than Tiger's 77! And these are the two best golfers in the world?

With Phil, it is just one more example of golf equipment companies trying to pull the wool over the golfing public's eyes, paying tour stars millions of dollars to tell the world that Callaway golf equipment is the best, while each player's game suffers from having to play Callaway.

It reminds me of the days when I worked the Senior Tour back in 1991 through 1994, when Callaway first introduced its Big Bertha driver on tour. I watched the likes of Chi Chi Rodriguez, Jim Dent, Bob Murphy and Jim Colbert try the Bertha on the driving range, and one after another had its face cave in! The Callaway tour reps said, "No problem, here's another one!"

The same was true of the Callaway irons at the time. The players complained that they could not work the ball left to right, or right to left. Callaway rushed to solve the problems the tour players had with the irons while at the same time they were advertising to the public in golf magazines and on television how many tour players were playing those irons!

For a game that advertises how golf teaches us honesty and integrity, I wish there was some honesty and integrity among the equipment manufacturers.

Then, and only then, will golf truly become the greatest game ever played.

Will a tour star win at Firestone?

The other day we discussed the fact that the PGA Tour needs its stars to play well to keep spectators interested in watching golf week after week. No spectator wants to see "Oost-Who" come out of obscurity to beat all the tour's stars, and then disappear, only to have another "Oost-Who" win the next week.

I mentioned that maybe, just maybe Tiger Woods would come back to life at the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone this week since he has won the tournament seven times in the last ten years. If he did, it would do the tour a world of good. Unfortunately, it is not to be.

After three rounds at Firestone. Tiger is ahead of just two players. If there had been a cut after two rounds, Tiger would not have been playing on Saturday. Fortunately, there was only one player on the leaderboard after two rounds who is not readily recognized, and that is Peter Hansen. So the odds that some name player will win the tournament are pretty good, and that is what the tour needs right now.

A Justin Leonard, Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker or even an Adam Scott winning this week is what the tour needs to bring some reality back to professional golf, and all four are on the front page of the leaderboard after two rounds. The leader by one shot, Retief Goosen, is a name player who has won two United States Opens.

With the year's final major, the PGA, just one week away, spectators need to get excited again about watching professional golf. Ernie Els is also near the top after a 64 on Saturday, and he still leads the tour this year in the chase for the Fed Ex Cup.

Unless another nobody comes out of nowhere tomorrow to capture the title, this week should go a long way to bring some semblance of normalcy back to the tour, and the Tour needs that more than ever right now.

There is also the very good chance that Phil Mickelson will become the Number One golfer in the world after this week. He has to finish at least fourth this week and Tiger has to finish around 34th or worse for that to happen. Tiger is doing his part in that equation, since he is around 78th out of 80 players after three of the four rounds. Phil is tied for tenth after three rounds, so he has his job cut out for himself on Sunday.

But if he does not become Number One after this week, it will probably happen next week. I am confident Tiger will not play well at next week's PGA, and Phil should play well enough to gain the points he needs to finally break into the Number One position.

Tiger has been asked by a multitude of reporters if he will accept a captain's pick for the
Ryder Cup if it is offered to him by U.S. Captain Corey Pavin. Tiger's reply has been the same week after week, "I plan to play my way onto the team."

That might have been believable up until this past Wednesday, but not any longer. His play this week at Firestone leaves one to wonder if he will even be offered such a spot. I for one think it would be a major mistake by Pavin to take up a spot on the team with Tiger.

No stars on the PGA Tour!

A month ago I asked the question "Who is the best golfer in the world?" The Sony rankings showed that Tiger Woods is the best, but that is only because he had such a large lead in points, no one could catch him for a while no matter how poorly he played, and how well everyone else played.

Let's face reality; no one individual has played well enough to be considered number one, or number two, or number three in the last few months. And that, in the long run, will ruin professional golf!

Yesterday I started reading some of the other golf blogs on the internet, and was pleased to see many others agree that without its stars, golf fans will not watch televised golf, and without viewers the ratings for pro golf will dwindle away, and without ratings professional golf tours will cease to exist.

Tiger recently stated to the press that he is playing poorly because he is not practicing as much as he should, and he went on to say that he will never practice in the future as much as he should practice because he is spending time with his kids. That statement surprises me simply because he is now divorced from Elin, and their kids are with her most of the time, which means that Tiger's time with his kids has to be limited.

I think a more correct statement would be that Tiger's mind is on his kids, and therefore his mind is not on golf, and we have mentioned for months that "golf is 90% mental, and 10% mental." Until his mind can forget his personal problems, he will not continue to be the best golfer in the world.

Then there is Phil Mickelson, the supposed Number Two golfer in the world. I don't know about you, but I am tired of hearing every week the TV announcers stating the same identical thing as that week's tournament is about to start, "Phil is threatening to pass Tiger and take over the Number One spot in golf!" I'm sorry, but Phil is not threatening to do anything!

I have mentioned for months now that Phil Mickelson should be the Number One player in golf even if Tiger's mind were clear and concentrating on his golf 100%. Phil has more talent than Tiger. His problem is the people around him, his ambulance-chasing attorney who threatens any golf manufacturer who attempts to get better golf equipment in Phil's hands, and his endorsement contract to play Callaway golf equipment.

As long as Mickelson puts endorsement money ahead of winning majors he will never play to his potential, and I am afraid that will be Phil's legacy to the game when he retires.

So, what tour player is going to step up to the plate and excite the spectators like Tiger used to excite them, and keep professional golf from dying a slow death? Women's professional golf was near death ten years ago when they had no American golfers to excite the viewers. Then a few young American women who had game and were pretty showed up on the LPGA Tour, and women's golf got a shot of adrenalin.

The PGA Tour has a chance this week to gain new life itself due to the playing of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone, where Tiger has owned the tournament for years. If Tiger can take advantage of his past domination at Firestone and do it once again this week, he has the chance to revive the PGA Tour and save what will otherwise be a very boring season.

You would not believe what goes on!

Based on the kind of comments I receive from readers when I write about life on the PGA and Senior PGA Tours, I have come to believe that most golfers among the general public have no idea what professional golf is all about!

For example, I was in the contestants' locker room one week at a Senior PGA Tour event, working with one of the players while fitting his PROBE driver to exactly what he wanted in the way of performance. A network reporter came into the locker room and asked the player for an interview. It was that player's second event on tour since he turned 50 years old, so the reporter wanted to know about the player's initial experiences on the Senior Tour.

I sat on a bench next to the player during the interview. The reporter asked the player, "How do you like being out here on the Senior Tour, playing once again with players with whom you once played on the regular tour?"

The player looked at the reporter and answered, "Don't think these guys were friendly to me just because they shook my hand when they saw me again, and the cameras were on them. Most of these guys would not throw water on me if I were on fire!"

The reporter was shocked, and looked at his cameraman with a bewildered look in his eye, not knowing what to say. I sat there and watched the reporter, wondering what he would do next. I was not surprised at the player's comment, because I had seen it all before.

Most of the players on tour, both the regular tour and he Senior Tour, renamed the Champion's Tour a few years ago, put on one face when in front of the cameras, and are completely different when off camera!

If you don't believe me, pick up a copy of my new novel, LOVE WAS NOT ENOUGH, and learn for yourself what your own idols are like when off camera. The book is based on my true experiences while promoting my PROBE golf equipment on tour for many years during the 1990's.

In addition to learning about what goes on at PGA Tour events, you will learn other valuable lessons about life, such as how to make a marriage work when the husband is self-employed and motivated to be a successful entrepreneur, and his wife wants him to put her ahead of his career.

You will learn how to raise your children so you are proud of them in this age of peer pressure among teenage young men and women. What I learned under those circumstances is simple to recognize and put into practice, and it is true for all couples. It does not take years of education and a ton of psychological mumbo-jumbo to write about what makes a marriage work.

If you like a good read that teaches you important lessons about life, pick up a copy today. You will be glad you did.

No top players anymore on the PGA Tour!

My last blog asked who was the Number One golfer in the world. One reader answered by asking who could beat Tiger Woods at the PGA Championship, the next major on tour. My answer, "Any one of the top 50 players in the world can beat him."

Not a single golfer can claim to be Number One on today's tour. Not a single golfer can claim to be in the top three! No one single golfer has shown in the past six weeks that he stands out from the rest of the pack. When was the last time that was the case on the PGA Tour, or the European Tour?

Every week a new face shows up on tour, and makes himself noticed. The days of one or two players dominating the headlines has ended, at least for the foreseeable future. The question is, does the professional tour need stars, someone that we can call the best in the world, or is it all right to have a crap shoot at every event, with a different winner holding the trophy every Sunday?

Do you remember the last time Tiger Woods was not technically the Number One player in the world according to the Sony rankings? Wasn't it about five years ago that the commentators told us that if Vijay won the tournament that Sunday, and Tiger did not finish in the top five, Vijay would move into the Number One spot? Vijay won, and Tiger shook his hand, and it was announced at that moment that Tiger was no longer the world's best.

There was no official ceremony or exchanging of any crown, just the commentator's mention of the fact.

Then about six weeks later it was announced that Tiger was once again the world's Number One.
And Phil was Number two, which Phil will always be as long as he puts endorsement money from Callaway ahead of playing the better equipment that would take him to the world's Number One position.

Technically the press still lists Tiger as Number One because the Sony point system still shows him ahead of anyone else, but bet on Tiger to win the PGA? Not with my money!

Who's the world's best player?

For a decade we golfers knew that Tiger Woods was the Number one golfer in the world. For a few weeks Vigay Singh had more points than Tiger in the Sony World rankings, but we knew the truth, didn't we?

We knew that Phil Mickelson was the #2 in the world, and that Steve Stricker was #3. Paul Casey was 4th, etc. But who is #1 now? Sure, the Sony rankings claim that Tiger is still Number One, but come on! He hasn't played like the best golfer in the world since last fall.

Yes, I know his mind has been in turmoil due to his marriage problems, and I know as well as anyone how the mind can upset the golf swing, but really? With such an opening, I would think Phil would have come on strong and overtaken Tiger during his time of weakness. But has that happened? NO!

And it won't happen as long as Callaway owns Phil Mickelson. It seems Phil can't think for himself without consulting with Callaway or his ambulance chasing attorney, Glenn Cohen in Jacksonville, FL. As long as Phil plays Callaway drivers and the Callaway (Odyssey) putter, he will not come close to the golfer he should be. All just to con the public into believing that Callaway golf equipment is the best in the business!

I can read Phil Mickelson's head stone right now: "Phil Mickelson. He should, and would have been the best, but for Callaway Golf."

The fourth major championship of 2010, the PGA, is approaching, and is anyone favored to win it? I wouldn't be surprised if another nobody European wins the PGA. There is no American player who has stood up this year and claimed he is Number one.

But I am willing to make a prediction. Lee Westwood will finish runner-up at the PGA! That seems to be his mission in his life.

Oosthuizen holds on in Sweden after Open.

Last week at the Open Championship I was surprised to see Louis Oosthuizen win it, especially by such a wide margin. I attributed the win to his lucky round on Friday when he was able to miss the 50 to 60 MPH winds that hit most of the field that day.

I predicted that he was just a "flash in the pan" winner, and that we would not hear much more from Oosthuizen in the weeks to come. I may have been wrong!

Instead of taking a week off to celebrate his victory at the Old Course at St. Andrews, Oosthuizen entered the Nordea Scandinavian Masters in Sweden this last week, and was tied for the lead after the first round. I was especially impressed with his reason for playing. "It is good for the European Tour."

Oosthuizen continued to stay close to the lead through three rounds. In following the tournament, I was surprised to see that no Americans were entered in the field. KJ Choi from Korea was entered, which surprised me, because he has played so well for years on the PGA Tour.

The ultimate winner was Sweden's own Richard Johnson at 11 under par, and Oosthuizen finished a respectable three shots back.

The Senior British Open

This week the Senior British Open is being played at Carnoustie in Scotland, and Tom Watson who also played in the Open Championship last week at St. Andrews is in the field. One American who was scheduled to play this week is Mark O'Meara, but he canceled the trip after his Dad passed away. He decided that his place was with his family instead. It should be an interesting week watching the seniors play Carnoustie.

I also noticed that last week's Open Champion, Louis Oosthuizen, is playing at the European Tour event in Sweden this week. I would have expected him to take a week off after his first major victory, but according to the commentators he chose to play because, "It will be good for the European Tour."

That's commendable, and Louis made the most of the first round by shooting five under par and was tied for first when they went off the air. A few days ago the Golf channel commentators were taking bets as to whether Oosthuizen's win at the Open championship is a "flash in the pan" victory, never to happen again, or if he is the real deal, and will go forward and continue to win on tour. I personally think he got tremendously lucky when he missed most of the high winds that hit St. Andrews last Friday, and that lucky day led to his victory.

Time will tell if his swing and his mental game take him to new wins in the near future.

Oosthuizen's major victory also started an argument among the Golf Channel commentators about the status of American tour pros, and whether anyone would once again dominate professional golf in the near future like Tiger dominated prior to last year's indiscretions.

The consensus seemed to be, "No, no one player will dominate the tour for some time." Phil Mickelson's game is hurting, due in my opinion to his endorsement contract with Callaway. Phil is forced to play golf equipment that is in my opinion second-rate, especially his driver and his putter. I explained two months ago why I am no longer a Phil Mickelson fan, because tour players owe it to themselves and to their fans to play the best they can play, and not put endorsement money ahead of performance.

Steve Stricker is supposed to be the Number 3 player in the world, but his game varies tremendously depending upon the course he happens to be playing at any one time. Then look at the European players who have won recently. Justin Rose won twice on the PGA Tour, then McDowell won the U.S. Open, to be followed by Oosthuizen's win at the Open championship.

Lee Westwood finished as the runner-up for the umpteenth time, and in my opinion will do so for the rest of time. He just doesn't have the mental strength to see himself as the best, only the second best!

The upcoming PGA Championship may bring out a player who separates himself from the pack, but I doubt it. I wouldn't be surprised if another "nobody" takes that major as well.

Does the PGA Tour control players?

I remember the first time I saw a PGA Tour player on TV during a tour event with a significant growth on his face. That's right, a beard! I thought to myself, "Wow, this guy is going to get in trouble with the PGA Tour."

For some reason I thought there must be a rule on tour that no one could grow a beard, that all players had to be clean shaven. After all, what would happen to professional tour golf if a bunch of hippies showed up to play?

Then, when I didn't hear any comments from TV commentators about the beard, I saw a player with long hair on tour. I thought to myself, "Now this guy has done it! He's going to catch it for sure." But then nothing seemed to happen to him either.

More recently I learned that the PGA Tour pretty much keeps its tour players from being approachable by equipment manufacturers that want to show tour players new equipment that is intended to make each player a better driver of the ball, or a better wedge player, or a better putter. The tour's rules do not allow any equipment manufacturer from approaching any tour player unless that manufacturer already has a contract to play that manufacturer's equipment!

And when those kinds of rules apply to tour players, you know what happens, right? That's right, lawyers then run the tour. Lawyers that "represent" each tour player then dictate who can talk to their "client" on tour.

But what about each player's thoughts? Can the tour control what players are thinking? Can the tour control what each player says in front of a camera? Unfortunately, I believe the tour (PGA, European, Nationwide, etc.) not only can control what players think and say, they do control what they think and say.

Last week's British Open is an example. I watched virtually 100% of the telecast of the 2010 Open Championship, and have taken the position that Louis Oosthuizen was given a gift, and the victory, on Friday morning, when he finished the first two days with a huge lead over the rest of the field because the wind did not blow during the hours that Oosthuizen was on the course on Thursday and Friday.

Was that lucky for him? Yes. Does the PGA or the Royal and Ancient try to control the starting times to make the first two days' tee times as fair as they can each week for the entire field? Yes. But does that mean the weather will be the same both days? No.

It was obvious to me that Oosthuizen received the ultimate gift in a professional golf major championship, almost perfect weather for himself while most of the field suffered through tremendous winds that made the Old Course at St. Andrews virtually impossible to play for 95% of the field.

But did we hear any of the commentators speak up and tell the world of that gift? No. Nada. The professional tours have control over those commentators, as well as the players that tee it up every week. And telling the world that the winner was lucky is not in the cards. They MUST praise the winner as the one player who conquered the course in all kinds of conditions when the rest of the field, including the best players in the world, simply failed to measure up that week!

I was watching the Golf Channel's tape delayed interviews on Monday morning, many of which I had already seen Sunday evening after the Open had ended hours before, and I witnessed one interview where the actual truth almost came out about Oosthuizen seven-shot victory.

The media asked Rory McIlroy about the 80 he shot on Friday during the hurricane that blew most players off the course, when he had shot his record-breaking 63 on Thursday, and followed the 80 with two more rounds in the 60's on the weekend.

I could tell Rory was picking his words very carefully, trying not to mention the fact that Oosthuizen missed the 60+ miles per hour winds that almost canceled Friday's round because the tour considered the course unplayable. But he did, for one second, almost make the statement about Oosthuizen's amazing luck, but then changed his chain of thought and said Oosthuizen "held on like a champion over the weekend, and did not choke coming down the stretch" (with his seven shot lead).

Granted, the tour officials don't want a lot of name calling and sore losers on tour, but what about honest feelings and emotion on the part of players? Is the tour justified in trying to make tour stars appear dishonest, void of emotion, when the truth is so apparent?

I for one would like to see tour players tell it like it is for once, and not have the fear of suspension hanging over them every time they answer a question posed to them by the media.

Weather determined British Open Champion!

In my 50 years watching 200 major golf championships, this is the first time I have ever seen the weather determine the winner! During a week when almost hurricane winds blew virtually 99.9% of the players off the Old Course at St. Andrews at one time or another, Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa played early Thursday in no winds, and then got lucky by playing during a lull in the weather on Friday.

To give you an idea how tough the conditions were for most players on Friday, the first round leader, Rory McIlroy, followed his opening 63 on Thursday with an 80 in the wind on Friday. He then shot in the 60's again on Saturday and Sunday.

Oosthuizen built up such a lead over the rest of the field the first two days that no one could mount a charge over the weekend to catch him!

And looking at the rest of the field on Saturday and Sunday, no one even seemed interested in trying to catch Louis since his lead was so large! Tiger Woods on the front nine on Sunday hit two very stupid tee shots with driver that he should have known would put him in two of the dangerous bunkers that cannot be played forward toward the hole.

Tiger had to play sideways out of both of those bunkers, wasting two shots when he needed to put up a charge to try to catch the players in front of him. He started birdie, par, birdie, then drove into one of those bunkers and made double bogey. Then he made two pars, only to make another double bogey from driving into another bunker! Tiger, Phil Mickelson, and the rest of those chasing Oosthuizen seemed to lose all common sense on Sunday, making one bad mental decision after another!

Here I am on Sunday morning watching the Open Championship, and with nine holes still to go I am giving the victory to Louis Oosthuizen.

Congratulations to Louis Oosthuizen! Take this gift and make the most of it with the rest of your career!

I'm heading to the golf course.

The weather may determine the winner at the Open!

Yesterday I talked about the importance of today's weather conditions in determining who will have the advantage going into the weekend at the Open Championship. Friday's weather was not even close to being the same as Thursday! Very early players on Friday did get a tremendous break from the weather, as did the early players on Thursday.

Louis Oosthuizen, for example, received the gift of a lifetime Friday morning when he was able to play in no wind and light rain, so the greens actually held shots. The wind then picked up so quickly after he finished that the officials suspended play for an hour and six minutes. If the wind had not died down a little so play could continue, officials would have canceled the entire second round for Friday, canceling Louis's round of 67! As things stand as of this writing, Louis will have a tremendous lead over the field starting Saturday's round because players are fighting just to make pars Friday afternoon.

After play continued, the average scores increased by three shots per player over the players who finished before the suspension! Scoring difficulty increased tremendously after play resumed. Rory McIlroy, for example, had shot 63 on Thursday, 9 under par, but then hit the windy conditions Friday and was +8 through 16 holes for the day when I discontinued following Friday's round!

After all players finish their rounds Friday evening, it will be interesting to see what score is required to make the cut for the weekend.

First round of the Open Championship.

The first round of the Open championship ended about as I had predicted, with most of the leaders playing early, before the wind picked up. Friday's forecast shows the weather will not be the same as Thursday, however, so conditions will probably not be equal for everyone after the first two days.

Phil Mickelson showed why he can't score at the British Open when it is windy, because he can't hit the ball low when necessary.

Two of the players I mentioned yesterday that we should watch out for are Ernie Els and Justin Rose. Both players shot under par today.

Tiger shot well as he always does at St. Andrews, and a nice surprise for American viewers was John Daly's six under par start.

The leader after the first day, Rory McIlroy, represents one of the young players in the field this year.

Six of the players on the first page of the leaderboard are Europeans with whom I am unfamiliar, but unknown Europeans near the lead on day-one of the Open Championship is nothing new. They usually fade after the first day, so it will be interesting to see if any of them remain near the top after Friday.

One reader commented to me that Edoardo Molinari should be among the top picks to win after his performance last week at the Scottish Open, and I agree. Edoardo shot three under on Thursday.

After Friday's round, and we get to see if the same weather holds as Thursday, we will have a better look at the leaderboard and the potential outcome.

The Open Championship!

The 150th British Open starts tomorrow, and predicting the winner at this time is impossible, obviously! The day before the U.S. Open started, I picked Dustin Johnson to win, and after three rounds, he had a three stroke lead. But then the press scared the *&#$ out of him Saturday night, telling him he was not human if he was not scared to death as the leader of the Open!

But the British Open is not so obvious to me. Experience versus youth, the weather, and who is hot right now all have to be figured into the mix.

The weather, to start with, often helps break winners away from the rest of the field. There are specific players who simply hit the ball too high to play in the wind. Others can't play in the cold, or the rain. So until tomorrow, and we get an idea of what the playing conditions will be, we will just have to wait and see.

I'd prefer to look at the list of players who are hot going into the event to try to pick a winner this early. Among hot players this year we have Ernie Els, and he is experienced at St. Andrews. This week is his fourth trip to St. Andrews.

Steve Stricker is hot right now, coming off a record-setting win at the John Deere Classic last week. He is ranked Number 4 in the world right now.

Many odds-makers give Phil Mickelson a good chance to win, but I think he hits the ball too high to win if the wind blows at all.

I think Justin Rose will have a good chance to win this week. He already has two wins in his last three PGA tour events, and this will be his ninth British Open. Although this is his first trip to St. Andrews, he knows how to play British coastal links courses.

Congratulations to Paula Creamer!

Congratulations to Paula Creamer for her victory at the Women's United States Open! If you will recall, Paula is one of the women that I mentioned months ago who has an unusual quirk in her neck when she makes contact. The other two are Lorena Ochoa and Natalie Gulbis. Paula has always tilted her head to the right and dropped it toward the ground at impact.

Commentators talked this past week about how Paula was holding her head more upright at impact this last week, making her more consistent. That must have been something she has been working to correct if the change was that apparent to the course commentators.

I remember mentioning about three weeks ago that it is good that Lorena Ochoa was retiring at the young age of 28, because she might break her neck if she continues tournament golf much longer!

No matter who the golfer is, holding the head still during the golf swing is probably the most important thing you can do to be a consistent golfer. Everything else in the swing revolves around the head.

Now back to the Men's PGA Tour, and the upcoming Open Championship at the Old Course at St. Andrews.

I finally learned where Tiger woods is. He is at St. Andrews. How long he has been there is the question I asked last week. Tiger won the last two Open championships that were held at St. Andrews, by eight strokes and by five strokes respectively. No one has ever won three consecutive Open championships held at St. Andrews, so Tiger has the chance to be the first.

Yes, he is still recovering from his personal problems and his divorce from Elin, which will make concentrating on golf difficult still. But maybe the Open at St. Andrews is important enough to him to be able to put that behind him and let him concentrate.

St. Andrews has been lengthened since the last Open there, and the key to winning the Open will be the ability of the players to stay away from the deep bunkers on their tee shots.

I for one am looking forward to watching the Open this year due to the number of new young players that have invaded the tour in the last three years. Weather will be a factor as well as it always is at the Open. I have not heard what the weather is forecasted to be this coming week, so it will be interesting to see the results of round one on Thursday.

That should tell us a lot about what we can expect for the rest of the week.

No One Knows Where Tiger Is This Week?

I asked earlier this week what Tiger woods was doing to prepare for the Open Championship at St. Andrews next week. No one seems to know!

I haven't been able to find any article online all week long that mentions where Tiger has been this week, or what he is doing to prepare for the next major championship.

There has been talk about his divorce from Elin, and that she may only be awarded $100 million from their divorce instead of the $500 million that the golf media was ready to give her six months ago. But judges usually know more about after-tax income and expenses than the typical reporter knows about that kind of thing.

If I were Tiger, I would be quietly playing the Old Course at St. Andrews this past week, in preparation for the Open Championship that begins Thursday, July 15.

So, assuming Tiger shows up on the first tee on Thursday, what are his chances of winning? He has won the Open Championship twice on the Old Course already.

I have already answered that question before, and I'll say it again; "It depends if he has put his personal problems behind him."

He already showed signs that he had done just that with several spurts of magic on the course in the last month; he just hasn't won yet this year. This will be a tough week to show his on course magic due to the publicity surrounding his divorce settlement that has been in the news.

I personally think he will play well this coming week, but not well enough to win his 15th major championship. I don't think he will be able to put his divorce out of his mind that soon.

Does it Pay to Prepare for the Open in the UK?

How many PGA Tour stars flew over to the United Kingdom early to prepare for the Open Championship this year, and did it pay off?

In the last few years quite a few American PGA Tour players have flown over to the UK a week before the Open Championship (British Open) to play in the Scottish Open, to prepare for the next week's Open Championship. In the past, several Americans have done very well in the Scottish Open.

This year, however, most Americans and other PGA Tour stars fared poorly in the Scottish Open, with most of them missing the cut! Some notables who missed the cut after Friday's round included Phil Mickelson, J.B. Holmes, Steve Marino, Lucas Glover, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, and Camilo Villegas.

One American who surprised everyone by making the cut was John Daly, along with Tom Lehman.

But does a player have to do well in the Scottish Open to do well in the Open Championship? Not necessarily. Keep in mind that by flying over a week early, players get the chance to get used to the time change and the weather a week ahead of time, so there are no last minute surprises.

Even if they don't make the cut at the Scottish Open, they get two additional days to visit the Open Championship site, which is the Old Course at St. Andrews this year, and become familiar with the course and the playing conditions a week early.

The question of the week seems to be, "Where is Tiger Woods this week?"

He did not enter the Scottish Open, and he is not playing in any tournament in America this week. My guess is that Tiger has gone directly to St. Andrews to prepare for the Open Championship. What is strange is that I can't find any mention online about what Tiger is doing this week to prepare, if anything.

I have personally been recovering from foot surgery lately, and have not been able to follow the golf news much in the last three weeks. St. Andrews is one of Tiger's favorite courses in the world, and if he is going to put his marriage troubles behind him and start once again making it his goal to surpass Jack Nicklaus' 18 major wins, next week at the Open Championship would be the perfect time for him to do so.

If anyone can enlighten me as to what Tiger is doing to get ready for the Open Championship this past week, I would be very interested in finding out.

Congratulations to Justin Rose!

My previous blog on Saturday mentioned that Justin Rose had a four-stroke lead going into the final round at the AT&T National, and asked whether or not he could win while leading after three rounds, as opposed to coming from behind to win.

A week ago Rose had a three shot lead going into the final round at the Travelers Championship, and shot 75 on Sunday, losing the tournament by three shots.

Rose started off poorly on Sunday, but after nine holes he still had a five shot lead going into the back nine. The bad news is that he did not make a single birdie on the back nine. The good news is that he still won the tournament, by one shot!

Rose did not answer the question as to whether he can win going away, when entering the final round with the lead. He held on to win, but that is all we can say.

The mental side of professional golf once again showed us what "holding on", or "protecting the lead" can do to the leader. Golf is played between the ears, not just by tour professionals but also by everyday amateurs.

While Rose was "holding on", players like Ryan Moore, Jeff Overton, and J.B. Holmes were shooting five under, three under, and four under respectively on Sunday in an attempt to catch Rose.

That is the amazing thing about the mental side of golf. When a player is chasing the leader, he thinks about making birdies and eagles. If a player is in the lead, he usually thinks about making pars. Very few tour players who are in the lead have the mental strength to think about making birdies and expanding the lead.

Tiger Woods is one of those players who thinks about setting a new scoring record when he is in the lead, and not merely playing well enough to win. At the AT&T National, Tiger finished 14 shots behind Rose, because Tiger's head is still not over his personal problems yet.

But he will get his act together, and soon, possibly at the British Open coming up at the Old Course at St. Andrews.

Will Justin Rose hold on tomorrow to win?

Last week Justin Rose held a three-stroke lead going into the final round on Sunday at the Travelers Championship, only to shoot 75 in the last round and lose the tournament. Missing a two-foot putt on the 9th green put a negative slant on the final round, and Rose followed it up with a terrible back nine!

This week Justin has a four-stroke lead going into Sunday. Will he hold on to win, or fall apart the final day like he did last week?

The mental side of professional golf is a mystery to many golfers, and to most of the viewers at PGA events. The crowd expects to see the greatest golfers in the world make one great shot after another, and can't seem to grasp the fact that these guys are only human.

A month ago Rose won Jack's tournament, The Memorial, charging from behind to take the trophy on Sunday. At the Travelers, he took the lead into Sunday. Is that the difference? He can charge from behind, but don't let him get in the lead, or he can't handle the pressure of being in the lead?

Believe it or not, most professional golfers do not feel comfortable leading a tournament. Look at what happened to Dustin Johnson when he took the lead into the final round of the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. He shot 82 on Sunday, the second highest final round by a leader in the Open since 1911!

I remember when I was young and was first learning the game. I could not put two good nines together. If I shot 36 on the front nine, I would shoot 42 on the back. If I started with 43, I'd shoot 35 on the back. It took me about four years of playing golf, from 12 to 16 years of age, before I could put two good nines together.

Why was that the case with my game?

When I got older, I would enter amateur tournaments, usually one-day junior tournaments, and if I shot a good first nine, my back was not very good. Then I would enter my golf course's Men's Club Championship, which was usually a two-day event. If I shot well the first day, and was near the lead or leading, I would fall back the second day. It wasn't until I was around 25 years of age before I could put two good rounds together, and start winning.

By the time I was 30 until I was 40, I won our Men's Club championship nine times out of 12 consecutive years. What made the difference? I learned to play the course, not the other competitors.

When I stopped paying attention to what others were shooting, and set my own goal of shooting under par, I started winning.

I have seen PGA tour stars interviewed many times, and a common question they are asked is, "Do you look at the leaderboard when you are in contention, or not?" Some professionals watch the leaderboard, like Tiger Woods, when many others do not look at the leaderboard at all. Tiger likes to know where he stands at all times, and he loves to go face to face with someone who is contending for the lead.

Many players do not want to know where they stand. That is probably because they do not handle the lead very well, so they don't want to know when they are in the lead. Believe it or not, most of the 156 tour players that tee it up every Thursday are very similar in their ability to strike a golf ball.

What separates the Number one player in the world and the Number 100 player in the world is what lies between the ears. In other words, it is all mental.

So, where do you think Justin Rose lies in that mental game? Will he hang on to win on Sunday, or will he fall to his mental weaknesses like he did at the Travelers?

Let's watch him on Sunday and see if he appears to pay attention to the leaderboard, or if he seems to be playing his own game without wondering where he stands toward the final holes.

Dustin Johnson after the U.S. Open

If you remember, I picked Dustin Johnson to win the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach two days before the tournament started, and Dustin had a three-shot lead over the field after three rounds. Then the press and the tournament commentators took him aside and told Dustin that he was not human if he was not shaking in his boots under those circumstances!

They convinced him on Saturday night that his calm, composed attitude was not natural, and that he was some kind of freak if he continued with that attitude. So, Dustin hit a wedge next to the second green into an unfair lie, thanks to the USGA, took a triple-bogey 7 on the hole, and Dustin could then relax and become human.

Dustin shot a closing 82, the worst finish by a leader in a U.S. Open since some unknown player shot an 83 in the final round in 1911.

How has Dustin handled "being human" since his disastrous final round at the Open?

From what I hear, he celebrated his 26th birthday on a boat, and then talked to Greg Norman about how to learn from a major disappointment. Greg has had a few major disappointments of his own, you will recall.

Then Dustin showed up at the next tournament site and ran into another recent failure on tour, Justin Rose. Justin had just choked his way from a three-shot lead at the Travelers Championship after the first three rounds to self-imploding on Sunday!

Dustin has taken the attitude, "You're not going to win every time." His final round 82 was sandwiched between two other collapses on tour. The week before the Open, Robert Garrigus had a three-shot lead going into the 18th hole, then hit his tee shot into the water, then into the trees. He made a triple-bogey and fell into a three-way tie after 72 holes. Then he was eliminated in a playoff.

Then there was Rose's collapse at the Travelers the week after the Open. Mental pressure on the PGA Tour can be hard to overcome, especially when a player is leading the Open and the press starts telling him how to think!

My advice to Dustin? The next time you are leading a major on Saturday night, go hide some place away from the tournament, and do not give interviews. Get in your own trance, think about shooting 65 on Sunday, which you should consider just another Sunday on the links.

I'm glad to see Dustin does not put all of his thoughts on golf these days. He just announced that he is getting together with a number of other tour players and buying a thoroughbred race horse that is in training at Hollywood Park! Dustin and his partners are trying to decide what to name the horse, since they don't like the horse's present name, "Bling Boy".

Dustin hopes to return from the British Open next month so he can watch his horse run at Del Mar.

How his horse performs down the stretch will be of particular interest!

Back from "Vacation"!

I can't really call my absence from writing my blog a vacation, but things have been hectic for the last six days. My oldest son, Pete, (Rio Veradonir in the networking websites) got married last Saturday at the Nunan Estate in Jacksonville, OR, and I had family from all over the country in town for the festivities.

He and his wife, Talia, are now on their Honeymoon, and my youngest son, Bob, and I are moving out of the house in Ashland and into an apartment for him in Talent, OR. By the middle of July I expect to be moving back to Palm Springs, CA with Reciprocal Golf and Probe Golf opening offices there once again.

What has been happening in the world of golf? I see that Bubba Watson won his first PGA event after winning a playoff with Corey Pavin and Scott Verplank, after the leaders at the start of the day, Justin Rose and Ben Curtis, choked their way down the back nine. Congratulations, Bubba!

I read where Donald Trump's development company has been given the go-ahead to build what he claims will be "the world's greatest golf course" in the north-east part of Scotland. Trump called the land where he will build the course "the finest piece of land I have ever seen" in a recent news release.

The course is scheduled to be completed in 2012, and Trump stated he hopes to host the British Open there in the future. This year's British Open is being played at the "home of golf" in St. Andrews in about two weeks, and will be the 150th anniversary of the Open.

My son is getting married tomorrow!

My oldest son is getting married tomorrow, Saturday, so I won't have another blog until Sunday. We have family visiting from all over the country for three days.

My son's "Professional name" is Rio Veradonir at Twitter, Facebook, and My Space, so anyone who'd like to wish him well may do so at those networking sites.

Pete

The PGA Tour has changed in 18 years!

I learned something about the PGA Tour this week that is somewhat disturbing to me. I mentioned a few weeks ago here at my blog that I invented two new improvements to two of the most important clubs in your golf bag in 1991 and 1992, the putter and the driver.

At that time all I had to do to introduce my golf equipment to the tour players was to request a manufacturers' representative badge from the PGA Tour, and they sent me one. I could then show up at tour events, on all three tours at the time (PGA, Senior, and LPGA) and set up my golf bag on the range or the putting green, and let the tour players try them.

Johnny Miller in 1991 used my Probe driver, and knew it was better than any other driver in existence. He advised me, "Pete, just walk up to any tour player on the driving range and ask him if he would be interested in trying a new driver that would keep the ball in the air for 2 and 1/2 seconds longer and carry 30 yards farther than any other driver. They will try the Probe, and they will like it, but after that it is up to you if they end up playing it. Most of them will ask you how much money you will pay them to play your driver. If they are more interested in performance, they will play the Probe, but most of these guys are spoiled by the big companies, who pay millions of dollars to name players to get them to play their clubs!"

Johnny was absolutely correct, so I spent most of my time on the Senior Tour in 1991 and 1992, because most of those guys were more interested in performance than in endorsement money.

As you may remember, two weeks ago I mentioned that I wanted to let Phil Mickelson try my center-shafted, inverted-shafted Probe 20/20 putter, so he would make more short breaking putts, which has been his weakness for years. So I emailed the PGA Tour and asked for a manufacturer's rep tour badge. Their response to me was a shocker!

They said they no longer allow manufacturer's reps to introduce new equipment to tour players, on any of the tours. A manufacturer must already have one or more tour players signed to an endorsement contract, and playing your product, before they can get a tour badge to get access to his player(s)!

What a shock that was to me, because it is now apparent the PGA Tour itself is behind the dishonesty that exists in the golf equipment industry and its endorsement money paid to tour pros in this day and age.

I wonder what percentage of the public, the avid golf fans who pay the entry fees at tour events and make those events possible, believes that their favorite tour pro plays his golf equipment because it is the best equipment available? Most viewers probably believe their favorite tour players uses equipment that he feels is the best equipment! The public is obviously dead wrong!

That reminds me of the movie ROLLERBALL that came out in the late 1960s. Remember that movie? Athletic competition was no longer between countries, but corporations. Professional golfers no longer play for themselves, but for the golf equipment companies that have prostitutionalized the sport! Whoever has the most money to pay the top named tour pros to play their equipment will convince the public to buy their golf equipment!

Is there any honesty and integrity in golf anymore? It is a game that is supposed to teach us those qualities, supplied by equipment manufacturers that do not know the meaning of those words!

I, for one, choose the remember better times.

Glad you agree!

I was glad to see so many readers agree with me that when the USGA makes a golf course unplayable, and brings a lot of luck into the equation, it spoils the event for the players, for the spectators, and the final results!

Growing the rough long in a U.S. Open has been done before, and penalizes the players if they don't hit the fairway. That is a justified move on the part of the USGA. But for a ball to roll away from the hole on the greens, and roll, and roll, and roll, and roll, and roll some more, is not the correct goal on the part of the tournament organizers!

The same holds true for the fringe around a green. The side of the green at hole #14 at Pebble Beach is not a green, it is rough, and should be grown the same length as the rest of the rough on the course. For a ball to roll ten feet past the hole to the fringe, and then continue rolling, and rolling, and rolling, until it comes to rest in thick grass forty feet away from the green, is no way to decide the best golfer in the event.

Golf is a game of skill, not a roll of the dice, and it is unfortunate that the USGA has not figured that out after all this time! Several times during the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach last week, commentators interviewed the USGA official on-hand, and asked him if he thought the conditions at #14 green were fair. Each time the official ansewered, "Yes, we feel it is fair."

That official should find another job, because he is a masochist ( and I do not mean in the usual sexual connotation)! I guess it would be more appropriate to call him a sadist. In any event, the USGA needs to reevaluate its definition of "fair".

I would like to hear what other readers have to say about this subject, so please reply to me if you have the time, and an opinion one way or the other. Thanks.

What a final round at the U.S. Open!

Is there anyone else out there in Golf land who was as shocked and disappointed with the final round of the U.S. Open as I was? The final round at the U.S. Open was anything but expected, to say the least. The first subject I'd like to discuss is the unfair condition of the course as set up by the USGA.

Do you remember the Open where Payne Stewart came to the final hole and had a three-foot birdie putt? I think it was to win the Open, around 1997 or 98. He putted up the hill to the hole, and then the ball did a 300 degree turn to the left and rolled backwards 25 feet!

The conditions yesterday on the 14th hole were almost as bad, and the USGA should be ashamed of themselves. When you take skill out of the equation, and add blind luck, it is no longer a tournament. It is a joke!

The first hole where the unfair conditions became apparent to me on Sunday was hole #2, when the leader at the time, Dustin Johnson, was ten feet from the green in two and had an unplayable lie. He had to turn a sand wedge upside down and swing it left-handed, because the weeds he was in made it impossible to swing right-handed! He took a triple-bogey seven on the hole, and was no longer leading. In fact, the shock of the situation led to Dustin's total dismantling of his mind, and he was a zombie for the rest of the day!

In all fairness to the course conditions, Dustin had already been brainwashed by the media and the major tournament commentators from the time he finished his third round of 66 on Saturday and the time he teed off for the final round on Sunday!

Here was a young man who was playing better than anyone else in the tournament after 54 holes, who was ready to play just another round of golf on Sunday, when the media learned he was calm and collected on Saturday night. That was not normal U.S. Open emotions, so they had to bang on him for hours, mentally, one after another, until they made sure that he knew he was supposed to be a blubbering idiot with the shakes in every extremity because he was leading the United States Open going into the final round!

How dare he consider Sunday's round just another 18 holes of golf? He wasn't human, according to the media, so they had to do something about it. They all had to tell him he had to be nervous, shaking in his boots, before teeing off on Sunday!

All anyone had to do was look into the kid's eyes to tell he was totally bewildered from the first tee onward on Sunday, and for the rest of the day.

So, getting back to the unfair course conditions. The most apparent hole where the conditions were not fair all week was hole # 14, where the surface of the green was like putting on a rock hard table top, with nothing to keep any ball from almost stopping within ten feet of the hole, then picking up speed, and then rolling another forty to eighty feet from the hole!

If we could look at a video of every player who was within five shots of the lead, on any day of the tournament, we could see how many players lost the tournament on #14 due to the unfair conditions. That's not golf, that's a roll of the dice!

And forget the surface of the green for a moment. Consider the fringe and what is supposed to be the rough outside of the fringe. The grass outside the fringe is supposed to be longer rough, not cut so close that every ball continued to roll down the steep hillside until it stopped in thick rough to the point where the player could not get a club on the ball to loft it back onto the green so he could run up the hillside to the green and then watch his ball roll another 100 feet down to another impossible lie on the other side of the green!

The best ball strikers in the game were reduced to rolling the dice, and bringing themselves down to the level of the lessor players. As a result, lessor players finished first and second. A perfect example of the unfairness of it all were the finishing putts on 18 on Sunday.

Tom Watson walked up to a one-foot putt on 18 and didn't even tough the hole with it. Tom has so much class that he blamed his missed putt on a mental lapse in his comment to the press, but it is obvious the ball bounced straight right when he tapped it.

And McDowell's tap-in par putt to win jumped dead right when he tapped it, and luckily it caught the right side of the hole and went in. Can you imagine what the comments would have been if it had missed from one foot, and went six feet past the hole, and then he missed the return putt?

Maybe that is what it will take to get the USGA to wake up and smell the rotten roses in the future!

Dustin Johnson right on track to win!

Last Wednesday I predicted Dustin Johnson would win this week's U.S, Open. I also mentioned why Phil Mickelson would not win, and why Tiger Woods would come close, but not quite win!

Tiger's back nine on Saturday gave us a sampling of what is to come right around the corner. When he tasted on the back nine at Pebble yesterday what it was like to be contending once again, he got that old competitive look in his eye that is the look of Tiger Woods.

Look out Open Championship at St. Andrews; Tiger is back. But not quite in time for the U.S. Open.

Johnny Miller would like to see some nervousness in Dustin's eyes Sunday morning, because "no one can remain calm at the U.S, Open." I hope Dustin does not begin to believe what the media will be trying to tell him overnight, that he should not remain calm when he is leading the U.S. Open. I hope Johnny isn't trying to jinx Dustin deliberately.

Even if Tiger makes a charge early on Sunday, playing in front of Dustin, I do not expect Dustin Johnson to give in to any pressure and fall back.

You Tiger fans, don't be stupid, expecting your man to rattle the heads of the rest of the field. Tiger is five shots behind Dustin, and that is too much for Tiger to overcome unless Dustin gets rattled, and I do not think that will happen.

I'm looking forward to watching today's round, because I expect most of the Tiger fans to think Tiger can rattle Dustin, and pass him. I do not think that will happen. I picked Dustin from the start, when most others picked Phil or Tiger to win.

I'm sticking with Dustin, and expect he will not only survive the lead, but will add to it!

Mickelson good or lucky?

"Phil Mickelson, would you prefer to be good or lucky?"

I stated yesterday that Phil Mickelson was going to be in trouble during Friday's round at Pebble Beach, because he teed off early on Thursday, when everyone who teed off late on Thursday faced windy, dry, bumpy greens, with many three-putt greens.

He teed off late on Friday, so he was going to face those same windy, dry, bumpy greens on Friday, and score worst than he did on Thursday, right? Wrong!

Pebble's winds died down on Friday, and the USGA decided to water the greens on Friday so they would not be criticized once again about the terrible greens by the likes of Tiger Woods! But when the USGA decides to do just that, they change the odds in favor of some players, in this case Mickelson, and against others.

The result? Phil putted on good greens, and shot the round of the tournament for the first two days. Lucky? Definitely!

Now they go into the weekend, where the low 60 players and ties, all within ten shots of each other, will battle it out in fairly the same weather conditions. No one should benefit from better playing conditions than any of the others, period.

So who is favored from here on in? Pebble is playing tough, and the USGA will no doubt place the pins in tougher spots, and let the greens dry out even more. The rough is growing longer every day, so overall conditions will be tougher for the weekend.

Now the game will move from physical skill to the mental side of the game, and I have stated before who has the mental toughness on tour, and who does not have it.

Just look at the players who have made the cut for the weekend, and pick the ones who have been there before, and stayed the course to reach the winner's circle.

That will decide who wins this year's U.S. Open.

U.S. Open first round results

Thursday's first round at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach went about as I predicted it would! Dustin Johnson was in the mix at even par, two behind the leaders, even though he didn't putt well.

Phil Mickelson putted "horribly" (in his own words), also as I predicted. The worst club in his bag is the Odyssey (Callaway) blade putter that he HAS to play according to his contract with Callaway!

About two weeks ago I mentioned here in my blog how Mickelson's attorney threatened me if I even thought about getting a better putter in Phil's hands, so he could finally become the Number One player in the world. I'm sorry, but I was a big Phil Mickelson fan until I learned how he has let Callaway run, or should I say ruin, his life as a professional.

Lee Westwood struggled, also as predicted, but made a few putts coming down the stretch to finish two over par.

And finally, also as I predicted, Tiger would be in the mix this week, but will not win because he would not be over the mental demons he has struggled with for the last seven months. Time heals all wounds, and eventually he will put his personal marriage problems behind him and get back to business.

Pebble Beach is playing tough with its fast greens and long rough. The wind also came up a little yesterday afternoon, making the greens dry and bumpy.

Mickelson yesterday played in the morning, so he will have it tougher today when he plays in the afternoon. Tiger played late yesterday, so he should putt better today.

I'm looking forward to watching today to see if the USGA does anything to try to make the greens a little smoother by applying some water during the round.

After today's cut, when (hopefully) the course conditions balance out for the entire field, the final two rounds should be more fair over the weekend.