Sergio a Sportsman?

Sergio Garcia recently won over some golf fans with his act of sportsmanship, I dissect why it was such a great decision.

Thrash TalkI think if you asked most American golf fans for their feelings on Sergio Garcia prior to this past weekend’s Match Play event, they would have given you a pretty negative opinion. Most would say he is a whiner, and that during his younger days he did a fair bit of pouting as well. It wasn’t all that long ago that he even dropped as low as spitting in a cup after pulling his ball out.

Sergio recently found himself in the middle of a spat with the World’s Number One after he claimed that Tiger interrupted his swing on purpose. He followed this up by making a comment about having Tiger over for dinner to eat fried chicken. Needless to say, it didn’t over well and he rightly apologized for the comment. I for one was surprised about that comment because Sergio is a serious soccer fan and FIFA has made a concerted effort to attempt to curb racist comments. Sergio did himself no favors with his handling of that situation. In interviews after The Players Championship he came off sounding like a whiner and a sore loser. Then in the subsequent interview for the Ryder Cup he only dug his hole deeper.

Titleist 714 AP2 Irons Review

Titleist releases a newer version of their wildly popular AP2 irons, I take them for a spin to see how they perform.

It seems to me that the Titleist designers who work on the AP line of irons subscribe to the theory that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The AP2 irons have been extremely popular irons for Titleist since their release in 2010. Although the design has not changed dramatically the designers at Titleist still find ways to improve upon these very popular irons.

The 2014 version of the AP2, the 714, had already won a major before they were made available to all of us regular golfers. Jason Dufner had them in the bag during his win at Oak Hill in the PGA Championship last September. There are a number of other professionals who have put them in the bag as well. They are and have been very popular with the touring pros all the way to mid-handicap golfers.

My first thought when I saw the irons was to ask what is different from these irons versus the model they released in 2012 (the 712)? The differences are subtle but according to Titleist they will help golfers of all skill levels. I took the 714 AP2s for a spin and got an up-close and personal chance to see how they play. With that lets take a look at my thoughts.

Volume Three Hundred Seventy-Five

From cacti to bikini shots, Michael Sam to Miguel Angel Jimenez.

Hittin the LinksHello fans of golf, and welcome to this week’s Hittin’ the Links. We take a look at the PGA Tour’s first great finish at 2014 at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, then meander our way from Michael Sam to Miguel Angel.

During a week when the northeastern United States experienced it’s first snow melt of the year, the PGA Tour heated up just as fast, thanks to a few unbelievable shots from Frenchman Victor Dubuisson. Let’s hit the links.

TaylorMade’s New Project (a) Balls

Whether you are a pro or amateur, TaylorMade says they have the right ball for you.

Bag DropLike most things, the golf equipment market tends to follow certain trends and this is no different with regards to golf balls. One of the trends that we’ve seen over the last handful of years is the development of “tour” quality balls built for the amateur. There are a lot of us that want to play the absolute best that we can get our hands on, but truth be told, many times balls in that upper echelon just don’t fit our games properly. New from TaylorMade this golf season are three new balls. For those at the very top of the game, they have their new Tour Preferred and Tour Preferred X balls. According to the company, these balls have over a decade of research in them and they believe that these are the best balls that they’ve created to date. In addition to the new Tour Preferred balls, the company has also released the Project (a). As you probably could have guessed, the (a) stands for amateur and TaylorMade says that these balls will give amateurs help where they need it the most.

Volume Three Hundred Seventy-Four

A major loss at a major venue and a past major winner finally wins again.

Hittin' the LinksThe winter weather continues to make news around the U.S., while in Sochi at the Winter Olympics, it seems like spring has arrived. If you are in the north (as we are), you are probably wishing for spring to arrive where you are. Well, fear not, the calendar tell us that spring is right around the corner, just a month to go.

Are your brackets filled out for match play yet? Play kicks off at Dove Mountain on Wednesday with the round of 64. But before we make our picks, let’s hit the links.

The Declining State of Golf

In recent years golf has been in steady decline, I discuss some of the causes and how we as golfer are responsible for turning this around.

Thrash TalkGolf, like any leisure activity, is very closely tied with the ups and downs of the economy. The economy in its current state appears to be making headway in the right direction; golf on the other hand has continued its decline. Mostly it is a decline of participation, more directly it is not attracting as many new golfers as it is losing. For us golfers, this is going to be a bad thing. More and more courses are going to be forced to close because they just do not get enough play to remain open.

When I think about how we got here, we must first remember that golf has gone through ups and downs in the past. This is certainly not the first decline. Likely it will not be the last and golf will grow again soon. But we should analyze why we have had this recent decline.

Volume Three Hundred Seventy-Three

Woods wins, Allen ties Champions Tour record, and “Are you choking? Well, are you, punk?”

Hittin' the LinksEven in the wind and rain, Pebble Beach is still an astounding location. And the fact that you can play golf there, makes it that much better. Even watching a bunch of famous and not-so-famous hacks playing forgettable golf is tolerable because of that spectacular backdrop. We’re glad it’s not every week of the year, but we are glad that it is one week of the year.

In case you missed it, Jim Renner and his amateur partner John Harkey, Jr., took the pro-am competition at -31. Here’s the rest of the week in golf in HtL

New Putter and 3 Wood from PING

PING adds to the True Roll putter line-up with the Ketsch as well as bringing back the Rapture fairway woods.

Bag DropComing this month, PING has announced two new products, the Ketsch putter and the Rapture 3 wood. PINGs new putter incorporates the company’s True Roll technology as well as providing a very high MOI all in a package that the company says is easy to aim and fits nearly any stroke. The new Rapture 3 wood is a great option for those who are looking for a driver alternative off the tee or want a hotter-faced fairway wood.

Volume Three Hundred Seventy-Two

The loudest hole in golf, the biggest crowds, and more stories about Tiger than his play this year deserves.

Hittin' the LinksWhat a great weekend of sports! You had the 25th Dubai Desert Classic with Tiger and Rory in the field and the Waste Management Phoenix Open with the loudest hole in golf. And then there was that football game.

Next week we get plenty of eye-candy with the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. While it’s not exactly what I’d call a deep field (the player photos are oddly entertaining), it does have its marquee names: Mickelson, Snedeker, Day, and Furyk, to name a few. There will even be Daly and Duval sightings. What we don’t get is Bill Murray. The comedian reportedly will be on the set of a movie. Though it would be just like Murray to show up anyway.

But that’s next week, let’s hit the links for this week: