Author: Erik J. Barzeski

Best Players to Have Won Only One Major

The golf world loves to talk about the best players never to have won a major, but what about the best players never to have won a second major?

Trap Five LogoGolf has long had a title, “Best Player Never to Win a Major” (or BPNTWAM). Kinder souls prefer the label “Best Player Yet to Win a Major” (BWYTWAM), but the core truth remains: good golfers who have yet to break through to capture a Masters, U.S. Open, British Open, or PGA Championship.

Once players get the monkey off their back, why, they’re home free, right? Not so fast. This week’s Trap Five counts down the best players who have won only one major. Sure, the monkey may be off their back, but he’s still clinging to their ankles.

Winning one major demonstrates both skill and a bit of luck, but luck favors the prepared. Which active players are the best to have happened upon the confluence of skill and luck only once? Read on to find out.

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Quick Comment on Slow Play

Ben Crane takes all day to shoot a 62… but it’s because of a weather delay, not slow play. Or was it?

Slow play on the PGA Tour has gotten so bad that I read the following and chuckled out loud:

Ben Crane posted an 8-under 62 Thursday to lead the U.S. Bank Championship, though it took him all day to do it…

The quote of course continues:

…as two separate weather delays totaling about five hours turned the day into a miserable marathon that fewer than half the field finished.

Ben Crane, of course, was the recent subject of some inappropriate actions by Rory Sabbatini. That I immediately thought “slow play” and not “weather delay” demonstrates just how big an issue slow play has become on the PGA Tour, even if it still remains somewhat comical.

Expect a longer entry on slow play from us soon. For now, I’ll simply ask this: what are your thoughts on the pace of play on the PGA Tour? Five hour rounds are not uncommon, and that’s for threesomes and twosomes.

New Adidas Tour 360 and FootJoy GF:II Shoes Coming Soon

Your feet just got a whole lot techier – the Adidas Tour 360 and the FootJoy GF:II are about to hit the streets.

Adidas Tour 360Your feet are about to look a whole lot fancier on the golf course as industry leader FootJoy and TaylorMade-owned Adidas release new shoes geared towards merging fashion with function and form with flair.

The Adidas shoe – the Tour 360 – recently won the prestigious ispovision Global SportStyle Award for men’s footwear. The most unique feature of this shoe? The lack of a sole under the arch of the foot. It’s got a heel and plenty of spikes under the ball of your foot, the famous three-line Adidas acts as a support system. To quote Adidas:

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The Big 24?

Tiger Woods is out – once again – to a greater than four-point advantage in the Official World Golf Ranking. Time to expand: The Big 24 is now all the rage!

The Big Five? They don’t exist. It was a myth. It expanded in March or April or so to include Retief (remember “The Big Four?”), but it should have shrunk to “The Terrific Two” or “The Winning One” as Phil Mickelson has faltered, Ernie can’t win anything with a top-50 player in the field, and Retief falls apart whenever his calendar says “Sunday.” Vijay Singh hasn’t holed a putt for a month or two now.

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Biggest Golf Controversies

Golf is not without its controversies. Commentators, players, and even equipment have been at the center of a few storms.

Trap Five LogoThey say you drive for show and putt for dough, so that would make the putter many player’s “money club,” right? This week, we’re going to look at famous money clubs.

Putters, as we all know, come in many shapes and sizes. Putters can be shaped like Futura Phantoms or the Ping Docs and look perfectly normal sitting next to a Ping Answer or a Bullseye. Putters may be the most personal instrument in a player’s bag, with everything from the lie angle, face angle, grip, shaft length, and weight coming into play and combining to give that magical sensation – feel – to the player.

When the tournament is on the line, what famous putters stroked some famous putts? Find out in this week’s edition of Trap Five.

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Vokey Spin Milled Wedge Review

Bob Vokey is a renowned wedge maker, and in 2005 he introduced a spin-milled variation that adds spin but retains the shape and playability of the classic wedge line.

Vokey Spinmilled 250Next to putters, wedges may be the single most personal clubs in a golfer’s bag. Wedges come in a variety of shapes. They have different lofts, different finishes, different grooves, different bounces, different soles, and different weights.

For the better player, wedges are the truest scoring clubs. Every shot from 125 yards and in is hit with a wedge, including full shots, chip shots, sand shots, flops, pitches, and more. Tom Kite was one of the first players to put a third wedge in his bag, and today quite a few Tour players have as many as four wedges. Players may switch drivers or irons every few weeks – or even week to week – but wedges sometimes last for years in a player’s bag.

The wedge game is dominated by a few players: TaylorMade with their RAC wedges (specifically their Y-Cutter RAC wedges on tour), Cleveland with their CG10 and 588 wedges, and Titleist with their Bob Vokey designs. Relative newcomers (and “regular” clubmakers) like Callaway, Ping, and Mizuno are making inroads as well, typically with golfers who play the same manufacturer’s irons.

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Padraig Out of the Open

Padraig Harrington has withdrawn from the 2005 British Open due to the death of his father, Paddy.

Padraig HarringtonPadraig Harrington, two-time winner on the PGA Tour this year, has withdrawn from the British Open at St. Andrews due to the death of his father. More information is available here.

Paddy Harrington, a former policeman and an affable fellow, has been ill since February when throat cancer was found once again. Paddy had a bout with throat cancer three years ago as well. Some say the death is a blessing, as Paddy has been clinging to the last threads of life for quite some time. Those close to Padraig know that he is happy his father hung around long enough to see him win on the PGA Tour, but he’ll be saddened by never yet having won a major.

The Sand Trap would like to wish the Harrington family all the good in the world, and the best of friends and support in these trying times.

Photo Credit: © AP.

Titleist Performance Institute Begins New Season Tonight

The Titleist Performance Institute kicks off its 2005 season with 10 new episodes. When? Tonight!

Titleist Performance Institute TpiThe Titleist Performance Institute kicks off its 2005 10-episode season tonight on The Golf Channel. The first episode of the season, “Lower Back,” airs tonight (June 11) at 8:40pm EDT.

In its second season on The Golf Channel, Golf Fitness Academy Presented by Titleist offers a wide range of useful tips that directly relate to producing a more efficient swing, from conditioning exercises for all golfers which improve upper and lower strength, flexibility and endurance to identifying obstacles and prescribing solutions for specific categories of golfers, such as women, juniors, and players with bad posture.

Basically, it’s something you rarely see on The Golf Channel: informative, helpful programming that isn’t catered towards rich old guys or Tiger Woods fanatics. Perhaps the TPI will release a free DVD like they did last year… The full press release – and a guide to all of the shows and guests – can be found here at titleist.com.

The Distance Debate: Which Side are They On?

The distance debate is all about two things: the golf ball alone or all of technology. Some like things the way they are.

The distance debate has split the golf world in two. Some want to blame everything on the golf ball. Others want to blame “technology” in general. Some are fine with things the way they are.

The motivations are many. Former players may not like seeing the stature of their records diminished. Architects don’t like building longer courses because they cost more. And your average weekend duffer loves hitting the ball 270 yards when they really catch one (which, naturally, they rarely do).

This list doesn’t aim to look into all of the reasons behind someone’s choice of a side, but merely to list the side they’re on based on public comments and current events. The list will start out smaller and grow as we build upon it, oftentimes linking to our own stories here at The Sand Trap as “proof” of a person’s association.

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