Keep your lower body quiet to hit solid pitch shots.
Setup is vital when faced with a pitch shot. The clubface and your body should be set up slightly open. Play the ball in the middle of your stance and put your weight on your front side (left side for righties). The pitch is a mini-swing as far as hand and shoulder action goes, but keep your lower body quiet and your weight forward. Quiet, it should be noted, does not mean “absolutely still.”
Reports surface that Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren have called off their engagement.
I’ve been saying that for the last few years Tiger Wood’s golf game directly correlates to his love life. The minute he got himself a nice little blonde (Elin Nordegren) his golf game began to suffer. Since he started dating Elin three years ago, how many majors has he won? His game became worse once he proposed 10 months ago, barely making it to the weekend on several occasions. Needless to say, I was quite surprised at his impressive finish at the recent Deutsche Bank Championship. Now I know the reason for his good showing; reports have surfaced that he and his fiancée have called off their engagement! Now that Tiger can concentrate on his game again (instead of what china pattern to choose) will we see the return of the Champion?
The Ryder Cup is won – and lost – in the 4-Ball matches.
It’s often said that Americans have an advantage in the singles matches, but give it right back in foursomes and four-balls. Let’s have a look at the statistics since 1983:
Ryder Cup Performance, 1983-2002
Europe USA
Wins 5 4
Matches 123 116
Points 143.5 136.5
Foursomes 39.5 39.5
Four-Balls 49 32
Singles 55 65
The US is seven (7) points behind in the grand total, but seventeen in four-ball. Dead even in foursomes, the US hasn’t overcome the devastating four-ball performance with only a ten-point advantage in the singles matches.
Sunday may be the most exciting day of the competition, but the Ryder Cup has – at least in the past twenty years – been decided in the Friday and Saturday morning four-ball matches.
Take your grip after your stance when facing greenside bunker shots.
Many amateurs take too much sand from greenside bunkers, shoving their sand wedge deep into the sand. A fat sand shot, they’ve no doubt learned, is better than thinning it 40 yards over the green. The problem is not typically a matter of tactic (who has trouble hitting a shot fat on purpose?), but of setup.
The key to using the bounce that God (or Titleist, Cleveland, Ping, etc.) gave you is setting up left of the hole (for righties), aiming the clubface at the hole or slightly right, and then taking your grip. Opening the face of the club increases the bounce on your wedge. You can still slam the club down into the sand pretty hard, but with the increased bounce, it should exit the sand a little easier.
A consistent pre-shot routine helps to establish a rhythm and keeps your mind from worrying about the small stuff.
One of the things drilled into us in a series of swing classes I took over the past year is having a consistent pre-shot routine. Whether it be a cartwheel, two claps, address the ball and swing or stand behind the ball, hike up your pants, take your stance, waggle 40 times then swing, it should be the same every time. After a while, you stop worrying about things like standing too far away from the ball, position of the ball in your stance, etc. Those things will come naturally with a good pre-shot routine. Need a good example? Watch Mike Weir. That little pre-swing swing isn’t for his health.
The Ryder Cup means as much, financially, as the Super Bowl.
The Detroit News is reporting that the Ryder Cup will pump approximately $100,000,000 into the Detroit economy through hotels, bars, restaurants, caterers, limo services, and more. The article states that the Ryder Cup could bring nearly as much money to the area as the Super Bowl.
Michigan intends to capitalize:
In addition to the tourism dollars it draws, the Ryder Cup provides an opportunity for business deal-making and relationship building. The state convention bureau is flying in some 60 CEOs and other top corporate executives. They will be wined and dined as they watch top players from United States compete against the best from Europe.
Golf is big business, and the Ryder Cup is currently the premier event.
Virginia Beach Open: James Driscoll turns in final-round 68 to win first Nationwide Tour event at the TPC of Virginia Beach.
In a surprising finish, Kyle Thompson collapsed after a third-round lead by turning in a fourth-round 74 and leaving the door open for James Driscoll to breeze into his first Nationwide Tour win. The University of Virginia grad shot a final round 68 and held on to a four-shot lead to win the Virginia Beach Open this weekend.
Driscoll and Brandt Snedeker entered the fourth round at nine-under, two strokes behind Thompson. Driscoll fired off two birdies in the first five holes, then answered a bogey on the seventh hole with an eagle on the par five eighth hole to leave him three-under at the turn, and one stroke ahead of Thompson.
Driscoll bogeyed the tenth, but followed with two birdies to stretch his lead to two strokes going into the eighteenth hole. Thomspon double-bogeyed the hole, sealing Driscoll’s four-stroke win, and leaving Thompson in a three-way tie for second.
Victories for three of Europe’s team members in the last three weeks will surely give the side confidence, but is that enough to guarantee victory?
The last three European Tour events have now been won by three different European Ryder Cup team members. With Padraig Harrington’s victory in Germany this weekend (congratulations to him), Luke Donald’s last week, and Miguel Angel Jimenez’s victory two weeks ago, not to mention the numerous top ten finishes by European Ryder Cuppers in these three events, the confidence within the European team must be sky high.
Continue reading “Another European Victory Prior to the Ryder Cup”
Warm up and score better. It’s that simple.
Arrive at the course early. Stretch. Hit some putts, and then some chips. Move to the driving range and hit some soft pitch shots, progressing into full swings. Finish with your driver and/or the club you plan to use on the first tee. Move back to the putting green, stretch, and practice your putting a little more. It’ll relax you for your first tee shot anyway.
But warm up properly. It’ll save you five strokes a round… probably on the first three holes.