Author: Erik J. Barzeski

Still Singh-ing in the Mercedes

Vijay Singh shot a “disappointing” 4-under par third round of 69 and goes into the final round with a one-stroke lead.

SinghI’ll admit, the title is a means to get full use out of the lame title we chose for yesterday’s coverage, but c’mon, cut us some slack! We’re not professional journalists!

Vijay Singh shot a “disappointing” 4-under par third round of 69. 15 pars, an eagle, and two birdies only served to shorten his lead to one shot from his previous two-stroke lead. “It’s a disappointing 4 under, but I’ll take it,” Singh said. “I’m still in the lead.”

Jonathan Kaye played excellently, advancing into the final group with Singh by shooting 7-under 66. In three consecutive days, Jonathan Kaye will have played with Ernie Els, Tiger Woods, and Vijay Singh, the numbers 2, 3, and 1 players in the world.

Continue reading “Still Singh-ing in the Mercedes”

Singh-ing Again

Vijay Singh holds a two-stroke lead over lefty Canuck Mike Weir going into the third round of the Mercedes Championships.

SinghVijay Singh holds a two-stroke lead over lefty Canuck Mike Weir going into the third round of the Mercedes Championships. Weird pulled to second place with a blistering 10-under par 63 in the second round. Ernie Els, Sergio Garcia, and Tiger Woods remain within five shots.

Singh opened his round by going six under through seven holes, then cruised to finish the round eight under at 65. “He shows no signs of slowing down,” said Weir. “It’s just a given he’s going to be there.”

Woods, currently at -10 and five strokes back, would be leading the tournament if he could figure out the grainy Hawaiian greens. On Friday, he missed three straight birdie chances from inside of eight feet on the front nine and three-putted for par on 18 from 35 feet. As noted here, Woods also missed eight birdie chances inside of 18 feet on Thursday.

Pos.  Player          Total     R1   R2   R3   R4  Total
1     Vijay Singh      -15      66   65    -    -   131
2     Mike Weir        -13      70   63    -    -   133
3     Ernie Els        -12      69   65    -    -   134
T4    Jonathan Kaye    -11      68   67    -    -   135
T4    Sergio Garcia    -11      68   67    -    -   135
T6    Chad Campbell    -10      69   67    -    -   136
T6    Tiger Woods      -10      68   68    -    -   136
T6    Stewart Cink     -10      68   68    -    -   136

Coverage continues on ESPN at 7pm ET both Saturday and Sunday.

Bad Balance? Here’s a Quarter

Do you play golf like you’ve just walked out of a bar after slammin’ back a twelve pack? In other words, how’s your balance?

Do you play golf like you’ve just walked out of a bar after slammin’ back a twelve pack? In other words, how’s your balance? Poor balance is one of the most common problems in amateur golfers. If you can’t stay balanced, you’re not going to play consistent golf.

Here’s a trick to teach you to stay a bit better balanced: put a quarter on the toe of your left shoe (for righties). Swing while keeping the coin there. After your swing, have a look at the coin. Still there? Good. Fell of? No good.

If the coin falls to the inside of your foot, you’ve probably rolled your front foot on your backswing. You’re shifting too much weight, making it difficult to move forward through the swing. If the coin’s fallen outside of your feet, you’ve rolled too far to the outside or towards your heel on your downswing and finish.

And that’s the best advice you can get for a quarter.

Shape your Swing with your Head

Can your shot shape be determined by the eye with which you watch the ball? You bet!

We’ve all seen Jack Nicklaus tilt his head just before starting his backswing. He’d cock it to the side a little, looking at the ball out of his left eye a little more so than out of his right.

It’s a relatively simple trick that can have a massive impact on your game. Looking at the ball out of your left eye (for right-handed golfers) forces the shoulders closed a little. Looking at the ball out of your right eye forces the shoulders open a little. Thus: look out of your left eye for a more inside-to-outside swing (draw or hook) and out of your right eye for an outside-to-in swing path (fade or slice).

I’ve personally used this drill to affect the shapes of my shots. The changes it makes to your swing are natural and need not be thought about while “the machine is in motion,” yielding consistent results. Give it a try and see if it works for you.

Free Two-Week TOUR Pass

TOURCast is offering a two-week special promotion. We think…

TOURCastI’m a TOUR Pass subscriber (hey, it was on sale!), and today I got an email that says:

For the next two weeks, PGATOUR.COM will be running an early-season free access promotion of TOUR Pass.

Currently, the TOURCast site mentions the 20% off annual pass ($59.95 down to $47.95), but no mention of the free pass. If you can find the two-week free trial, well, congratulations.

For those of you on Mac OS X, TOURCast runs only in Internet Explorer. Safari, Firefox, iCab, OmniWeb, and Camino all fail. Some pop up an empty window, others load empty regular TOURCast pages, and all manner of anomalies. Only Internet Explorer – a browser that has not been substantially updated within the last four or five years – works.

Natalie Gulbis and Big Ben, Sittin’ in a Tree

Big Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers is dating one of the hottest LPGA players?

Natalie GulbisThe Pittsburgh Steelers’ rookie Ben Roethlisberger has won thirteen straight games. And now he’s apparently won the heart of one very hot, hot LPGA Tour player: Natalie Gulbis. ESPN has the story.

Gulbis, soon-to-be 22 years old and called “The Anna Kournikova of Golf” (it’s true: neither Kournikova nor Gulbis has won much of anything professionally, and both are blondes, and both have their own calendars), has been dating Roethlisberger for five weeks or so. She may fly to Pittsburgh this weekend to hang out with Ben, but she’ll “definitely” be there the weekend after that.

And that’s all there is to that. But hey, because we can, here’s another Gulbis shot:

Natalie Gulbis Swimsuit

Those “Swing Change” Years

A comparison of Tiger’s 1998 and 2004 stats leads to some interesting conclusions.

Tiger Woods fans, we’ve heard your worries. “When will he win again?” “Will he be able to catch Jack now?” Last year’s Japan win and Target Challenge victory may have assuaged your anguish somewhat, but you know those weren’t your typical full-field PGA Tour event. We know you know they weren’t Majors.

Tiger Woods

Well, here’s our attempt to make you feel better: a comparison between Tiger’s 1998 and 2000 seasons:

            1998     2004
Events        20       19
Wins           1        1
Top-5          8        9
Earnings     4th      4th
Driving    67.9%    56.1%
GIR        67.6%    66.9%
Scoring    69.21    69.04

How’s that? If that doesn’t settle you down just a wee bit, well, I suppose only a Tiger victory in the Masters will calm you down. Here’s to that!

Feet Together for Balance

This drill is perhaps one of the purest drills for improving your golf game.

Feet TogetherWhen my swing feels rushed or I sense that I’m out of balance, I always revert to one very simple drill: I put my feet together and hit shots. The steps?

  1. Put your feet together
  2. Swing
  3. Don’t fall over

Start slow, and build up to faster swings. With your feet together, you’ll be forced to make a smoother, more balanced swing. Your tempo may improve, as any sudden changes will result in a loss of balance. Your head will stay more centered (if it sways, you’ll topple!) and you’ll use your shoulder and hip turn to generate power. You should be able to hit most of your shots at least 80 to 90% as far as normal.

This drill is perhaps one of the purest drills for improving your golf game.

Mercedes News and Notes

Random scraps of info about the first PGA Tour event of 2005: The Mercedes Championships.

A random smattering of notes leading up to this week’s first PGA Tour event of 2005, the Mercedes Championship.

  • Here’s our preview. And, uhh, well that’s all we have to say about that one.
  • Vijay Singh is going with a new caddie, having run into problems with Dave Renwick. Said Renwick, home in Scotland, “I’m not retired. I spoke to Vijay the other day and said I would call him the first week in March. If I don’t come back with Vijay, I’ll look for someone else.” Singh will use his trainer, Joey Diovisalvi, for now.
  • Todd Hamilton doesn’t like golf? Said Hamilton, “I didn’t like golf as much as I thought I did” said the British Open champion when asked about his busy silly season in which he played in India, Japan, Hawaii, South Africa and California.
  • Thank you to the commenters on the Grouchy Golf blog. We appreciate the kind words, and also think highly of Grouchy Golf and many of the other good golf blogs that are out there.
  • When the first person tees off, your chance to join our 2005 Fantasy League comes to an end! Instructions have been posted here in our forum.
Television Coverage
Thursday, 7-10:30 pm ET, ESPN
Friday,   7-10:30 pm ET, ESPN
Saturday, 7-10:30 pm ET, ESPN
Sunday,   7-10:00 pm ET, ESPN

Easy enough to remember. I’ll be watching quite a bit this weekend as my Steelers have the week off.