Match Play Madness

The Accenture Match Play Championship once again showed golf fans that rankings don’t really matter.

Thrash TalkCollege basketball has March Madness, which happens to be one of my favorite times of the year as a sports fan. Golf fans get the Accenture Match Play Championship a month earlier than its basketball counterpart, and it has quickly turned into one of my favorite events of the golf season. I’ve showed my support for the World Golf Championship events before, but I want to take this opportunity to do it again. The WGC events get two thumbs up from me!

Golf Gods Launches New Site

Golf Gods .com is now all new. Check out the site and enter to win a Pinseeker Tournament Edition laser rangefinder.

Golf Gods LogoIn the 90s, the founders of Golfgods.com were among the first and best known of the Internet golf pro shops. Known mainly for their catchy name and for their “hot smoking deals” on golf equipment, Golfgods was a pioneer in the modern-day phenomena of “search engine marketing.”

This morning at 12:00 a.m. C.S.T. Golfgods launched a freshly re-designed web-based retail shop. The new site is a fresh look for the Minnesota-based retailer of golf equipment and a radical-change from their previous Yahoo-store. The site features many add-ons compared to the old site including tabbed product sections, brand stores, electronic buying guides which were written by the staff of The Sand Trap .com and a streamlined check-out process. The site is located at golfgods.com.

Cobra Strikes Quickly in Tour Return

Cobra’s return to tour prominence is getting a boost from some hot young players.

Bag DropIn the mid-90s, Cobra Golf was one of the hottest brands at retail and on Tour. Greg Norman was the face of the brand, and even a youngster named Tiger Woods used a King Cobra steel driver during his first years on Tour.

After several years away from sponsoring Tour players, Cobra is back on Tour in a big way. Bomber JB Holmes won the FBR Open, and Geoff Olgilvy downed Davis Love III to win the Accenture Match Play. Pretty slick start for the snake. How’d they do it?

Volume Forty-Eight

With some big shoes to fill, this volume gets it started off right.

Hittin the LinksWe can all agree that Josh did a great job with this column and since this is an interim issue of “Hittin’ The Links” (before Matt takes over), I think its time to show you some garbage I’ve been lookin’ at for a while – things I’ve found interesting or things I just thought noteworthy.

Let’s get started.

Weekend Triplet: Triplett, Ogilvy, and Lee Win Events

Despite a 66-66-65 start, Waldorf can’t get the job done. Meena Lee takes Fields Open. Ogilvy wins WGC Match Play.

Ogilvy: ChampionIf the audience of the 2006 World Golf Championship Accenture Match Play Tournament has learned anything, it’s that match play is ridiculously unpredictable.

Play started Wednesday with a couple of tournament records. Tiger Woods (1) broke the winning differential record with a solid trouncing of Stephen Ames (64). Tiger managed to win every single hole on the front nine before letting up and halving the 10th for a 9&8 victory. Asked his reaction to Stephen Ames’ comment that “Anyone can win in match play… especially where he [Tiger] is hitting it,” Tiger simply responded “9 and 8.” Scott Verplank and Lee Westwood tied a tournament record by playing eight extra holes for a total of 26, an exhausting day that perhaps contributed to both players’ early exits in subsequent rounds.

Episode 014

Tiger demolishes Ames, Paula Creamer changes the business of gal’s golf, and Michelle Wie is ranked THIRD in the world? Also the media’s distance bias, Daly and Olazabal on the HOF ballot, and Nikki of BBV infamy.

PodcastI guess this week we learn that even when trying to compliment Tiger Woods, you have to be careful what you say. Stepehen Ames now knows that. Other topics in this week’s podcast include Paula Creamer changing the business of women’s golf, Michelle Wie debuting at number three in the women’s rankings, Daly and Olazabal as possible hall-of-famers, and Nikki of the Big Break V. We also get into a debate on media bias when it comes to the distance debate: which side are you on?

You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 014 as an MP4 file. For those who want to subscribe to us in iTunes, click here.

For this week’s Show Notes – links to articles we discuss in the show and additional information – just read on.

Dick Harmon

Anyone who knew Dick Harmon came to know a man who was dedicated to helping people as much as he tried to improve their swings. He was one of golf’s greatest teachers for his knowledge and his character.

ProFilesA truly remarkable person passed away on February 10th, 2006. Dick Harmon, 58, was the son of golf pro and Masters champion Claude Harmon, husband to Nancy and father to Heidi, Richard, Chris, and Mary. Those closest to him say he was far more than a golf professional.” It was never about him,” said brother Butch Harmon. “It was always about someone else. He is a person that all of us are going to miss and we’re going to miss him in ways that have nothing to do with golf.”

Scratch Golf Wedge Review

Scratch Golf is a maker of custom-built wedges. Read on to see how do they rate against the big boys of wedge makers.

scratch_golf_logo.jpgI’ve never had a club built and constructed for me before. I’ve been fitted for proper shafts and things, but never have I had a custom club built to my liking. At some point I found out about Scratch Golf Wedges, who specializes in custom-built wedges. As you’ll remember from last week, I love wedges, so I had to get fitted for one of their wedges.

I don’t know how I found out about Scratch Golf, but I will say that I was slightly nervous, as I had no experience with them, nor had I heard from anyone who had a wedge built for them in the past. But at the risk of spoiling the rest of review, I wasn’t disappointed.

Michelle Wie and the PGA Tour

Michelle Wie may want to compete on the PGA Tour, but her game does not compare to Tiger, Ernie and Vijay. There are other golfers that she can model her game after if she continues competing against the men.

The Numbers GameSo is it possible? We’ve all had this discussion time and time again and we all know Wie is going to continue to try. After all, her ultimate goal is to play in the Masters. So not only is she going to have to play on the PGA Tour, she is going to have to be very good against those guys as well. I don’t think Hootie is going hand out any special exemptions to the youngster.

The best place to start with Wie is the numbers. There was a recent article by Mike Vitti posted on the PGA Tour’s website that did a great job on her stats and was able to post detailed info. The article ends by giving Michelle a few guys on the PGA tour to model her game after. I agree, but there is a better golfer for Wie to use as an example.