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!