Month: November 2004

Cheat on Short Breaking Putts

It’s possible to cheat within the rules of golf… and make more short, breaking putts when doing it!

Putting CheatingIt’s quite possible to cheat within the rules of golf… and make more of those testy short, breaking putts when doing it. To the right you see a putt that breaks to the right a few inches (obviously not everything is to scale). You see the paths of three balls: the red ball was struck ¼-inch towards the heel, the blue ball ¼-inch towards the toe, and the white ball dead center. All were struck with the same stroke and speed.

Two of the balls go in the hole. The white ball – a stroke with perfect sweet spot contact – went into the hole, as did the red ball. The blue ball missed low, even though it missed the sweet spot by the same margin as the red ball. How is this true?

Shots struck off-center are weaker. On a breaking putt, a weak putt breaks more. Shots struck off-center also start offline (see the three lines): towards the heel, putts start left and towards the toe, to the right. A slightly slower putt that’s given more room to break (red ball) goes into the hole while a putt with the same diminished speed started below the perfect line misses completely (blue ball).

Use this to your advantage on the course: when you’re faced with a short breaking putt, set up with the ball not on the sweet spot of your putter, but slightly to the high side just under ¼ inch. The “high side” is the opposite of the way the putt breaks: the heel on left-to-righters, and the toe on right-to-lefters (for right-handed putters, anyway).

Building in this small “margin of error” allows you to get the ball on a line and with a speed that rolls the ball into the hole far more frequently. We guarantee you’ll make more of these putts… simply by “cheating” legally!

Take a Lesson

Just take a lesson for Pete’s sake!

Today’s tip of the day is a simple one: take a lesson. A new driver costs you about $400. You could get eight pretty good lessons for that price, and your old driver – I guarantee it – will work better than the new $400 one. And so will every other club in your bag.

Qualifications

Parnevik and Ridings must wait to see if they make 2005 PGA Tour.

Vijay Singh was not the only person thrilled with the outcome at the Chrysler Championship this week. Here’s a rundown of key money list spots that were affected by this week’s play. Keep in mind that the top 30 are eligible for the Tour Championship next week in Atlanta. The top 40 get into the Masters and the top 125 get their tour card next year.

Continue reading “Qualifications”

Perspective on Vijay’s Season

Is Vijay’s 2004 better than Tiger’s 2000? We don’t think so… and the numbers back us up.

Not to take anything away from Vijay’s amazing season, let’s take a look at a few facts and compare Vijay’s 2004 to Tiger’s 2000:

  • Tiger won three majors, Vijay one.
  • Tiger won two of his majors (the US and British Opens) by record margins.
  • Tiger closed in the PGA with a 67; Vijay with a 76.
  • Tiger’s year-long scoring average was 67.79 – a full stroke below Vijay.
  • Tiger averaged $459,000/event, Vijay is averaging $382,000.
  • Tiger had a 2:1 money lead on #2; Vijay 1.8:1 (both times Phil Mickelson).
  • Vijay’s last victory was his 24th, 16 shy of Tiger’s total. Vijay is 13 years older.

Of course, both Tiger and Vijay have nine-win seasons, something Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer never accomplished. When comparing Vijay’s season to any other 41-year-old’s in history, 2004 may be the best ever, but Tiger still holds the lead in our minds for the best season of all time.

Satterfield Surprise

Kirk Satterfield of Manhasset, N.Y., became the second member of the Deepdale Golf Club staff to win the TaylorMade-adidas Golf PGA Assistant Professional Championship on Sunday. Satterfield roared from eight shots back to defeat V.J. Trolio by a shot.

Kirk SatterfieldKirk Satterfield of Manhasset, N.Y., fired a 6-under-par 66 in Sunday’s final round to capture the TaylorMade-adidas Golf PGA Assistant Professional Championship at PGA Golf Club. Satterfield entered the round eight strokes back in a tie for seventh at 4-under 212 before leapfrogging the competition, winning by one stroke over V.J. Trolio of West Point, Mississippi. V.J., it seems, could not play like Vijay.

“I knew that I needed to play well and I felt that if I put some pressure on the field early, then I had a chance to make a move,” said Satterfield, assistant pro at Deepdale Golf Club in Manhasset, NY. “I am happy with my round, especially since I played a bogey-free final round.”

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PGA Tour Puts on Pressure

Ernie Els – no longer a member of the PGA Tour? It could happen if Finchem and his cronies don’t back off a little.

Ernie ElsIncoming European Tour front man George O’Grady has described the pressure being put on Ernie Els to play more events in the US as “extraordinary.” Els was clearly angered two weeks ago when he told reporters that the PGA Tour had sent him a letter demanding more appearances if he wished to retain his PGA Tour membership.

“It seems like quite an extraordinary pressure to put on a player of his level who plays usually 17 or 18 tournaments in the United States anyway,” said O’Grady. “He’s always prepared to listen if we need him to play somewhere, but he’s a very hard man to tell to do something. You do ask him, usually politely, and sometimes he says yes.”

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Singh Is PGA Tour’s $10 Million Man

Vijay Singh becomes the first player ever to top $10 million in a single season.

vijay_singh_pump.jpgIf there was any doubt earlier in the season about who should win the PGA Tour Player of the Year, it has been erased. Vijay Singh won his ninth title on tour this year at the Chrysler Championship pocketing $900,000 for the effort and becoming the first player ever to eclipse the $10 million earnings mark for a single season.

Singh’s win this week was a convincing one. After shooting a 4-under-par 67 on Saturday to take the lead (and to win the Crestor Charity Challenge for the fifth time this year), Singh birdied the first two holes on Sunday and never looked back. He poured in five more birdies and only had one bogey en route to a 65 that put him five strokes ahead of Jesper Parnevik and Tommy Armour III, his widest margin of victory since winning by six at the 2002 Houston Open.

Next week at the Tour Championship, Vijay Singh will go for his 10th win. His current nine wins ties him with Tiger Woods for the most victories in a single season since Sam Snead won 11 times in 1950. It took Singh 173 tournaments over eight years to earn $10 million for his career. He has surpassed that with one incredible season, his victory at Innisbrook pushing his total to $10,725,166. That’s more than $5 million more than Phil Mickelson, who is second on the money list and more than Tom Watson’s career earnings.

“It’s hard to swallow it right now,” said Singh “It’s incredible. I leave tomorrow to go to Atlanta so there’s no time to celebrate. I’ll get my time.”

Park Wins CJ Nine Bridges Classic

Grace Park banishes the memory of her Samsung collapse by winning the CJ Nine Bridges Classic in convincing fashion.

Grace Park TeeingSouth Korean native Grace Park shot a 7-under par 65 on Sunday to win the CJ Nine Bridges Classic by five strokes. Coming off a final-round collapse two weeks ago, Park closed this one in style, saying “I can’t describe my happiness with words.”

Park, who described her play as “really good today,” and her eight birdies in the final round helped her to repel the likes of Annika Sorenstam, who beat her two weeks ago at the Samsung. Sorenstam carded a 67 to finish in a tie for second with fellow Swede Carin Koch at 200. Defending champion Ahn Shi-hyun shared fourth place with Lorena Ochoa and Jeong Jang, six strokes off the pace.

This tournament was conducted at Jeju Island, South Korea. Stops on next year’s LPGA Tour include Mexico, Canada, and South Korea as well.