Category: Thrash Talk

The Curious Case of Jim Furyk

Jim Furyk’s recent play has warranted a deeper look as one Davis Love’s picks for the Ryder Cup. I explain why DL3 should look elsewhere.

Thrash TalkThe 58 shot by Jim Furyk earlier this year was pretty incredible. Yeah, he holed a shot, but even if you take that away he was going to be close and likely still would have shot 59, which is one small insignificant place below incredible. Pretty freaking awesome, maybe?

What it has done though is really made life a challenge for Davis Love III. To pick a forty-six year-old guy who at the start of this season was planning to help in an assistant coaching capacity is fraught with risk. Furyk’s Ryder Cup record is a train wreck. 10-20-4 for a winning percentage of .353. Among active golfers with more than fifteen matches played he is the worst. If you take a look at the all-time records of golfers with more than fifteen matches, only Curtis Strange at 6-12-2 with a win percentage of .350 is worse, and only by a few thousandths of a point. I hate to call out someone like this, but Jim Furyk is pretty awful when playing for his country against Europe.

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Reliving the Olympic Success

Golf returned to the Olympics for the first time in over one hundred years and did not disappoint. I review how it went and how it can get better next time.

Thrash TalkIt seems from the ratings that I have seen that, like me, there were a lot of people watching the final round of golf for both the women and the men at the Rio Olympics. The ratings for the men were in fact, second only to the Masters. That is truly fantastic to hear.

Going into this Olympics, at least on the men’s side, you might think that we were set for a complete disaster. All but a few of the high profile names dropped out for multiple reasons. Pika, safety, or the real reason – just plain tired. I suspect all that didn’t play sort of wished they did. They will come out and say that they didn’t miss it, because they don’t want to look stupid, but the reality is they probably have a pit in their stomach for missing the first Olympics in over 100 years. I am talking about Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, and yes I suspect even Rory McIlroy.

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The Events that Matter (and the 2016 Olympics)

In a press conference for the ages Rory McIlroy firmly planted his foot in his mouth and now looks like a spoiled, rich, professional golfer who is out of touch with the game he plays for living.

Thrash TalkOne of the things I like best about Rory McIlroy is his candor during press conferences. He is open, honest, and says what is on his mind. I love it. It is such a contrast to the robotic answers that we got for so many years from Tiger Woods. At the British Open Rory’s press conference was not only interesting, he lit the dang thing on fire.

The questioning was about his participation in the Olympics. Male golfers are dropping out at an alarming pace. Rory was not the first and he was not the last. In his initial statement he said he was dropping out because of the Zika virus. Almost everyone has cited the virus, or as Jordan Spieth calls it “health concerns” (we’ll get to him later). But during his press conference he seemed to backtrack. He basically said Zika was one of many reasons. I think he had to do this because the Zika virus is a really weak excuse. As a reporter I could have easily asked him why if he was so concerned about the virus did he go to the Bahamas on vacation a location where reported cases of the Zika virus have been found. Or stay at his house in Florida where mosquitos have been found with the virus. The virus was not a legitimate excuse and he probably knew it. Then he went down a path I would have recommended he not go down.

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TST Staff Predictions for the 2016 British Open

The third major of the season gets underway this week, lets see who the staff expects to play well at the British Open.

Thrash TalkIn my opinion Royal Troon is the perfect British Open golf course. It is a links course with a certain amount of holes where you can play well, and a some really really hard holes. I love watching the players play the postage stamp, just great viewing. Adding to this years event, many of the world’s best golfers are playing really well and we have recipe for an outstanding event.

Royal Troon has a history of winners that is very interesting. For one Americans have won there since Arnold Palmer in 1962. There is not a clear reason for this, but it is an interesting fact. It also has a history of crowning some unsuspecting winners such as Todd Hamilton. So we are likely in for an interesting tournament. Let’s see what the staff expects for this year’s event.

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What the USGA Got Wrong at Oakmont

The USGA has an important job in the U.S. Open of doling out penalties, at Oakmont this year I explain why they did a pretty awful job

Thrash TalkDustin Johnson is no rookie when it comes to penalties assessed in the final round of a major. Who can forget his famous bunker episode at the PGA Championship a few years ago? At that time, he merely missed out on a playoff, but the rule was clear and even he himself admitted he’d made a mistake. There is no question he grounded his club and no question he was in a bunker. It was really hard to tell it was a bunker – I know I had no idea – but many people did and it is his job to notice such things.

Fast forward to this year’s U.S. Open. He was Dustin again in a rules quandary. Did he in some way cause the ball to move during his practice stroke on the fourth green? This is the question that everyone is interested in answering. Now that the dust has settled a little on this issue we are starting to see that some mistakes were made and many – far more than I thought – professional golfers are not clear on the rules.

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TST Staff Predictions for the 2016 U.S. Open

The 2016 playing of the U.S. Open is set to begin at Oakmont with just about everyone playing well. Let’s see what the TST staff expects for this year’s event.

Thrash TalkIf you love a good test of golf, then without question you love watching the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club. The members love to tell anyone who’ll listen that they slow the greens down when the pros show up. They love to test themselves and watch the professionals test themselves as well.

This season brings the three big names in golf – Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, and Rory McIlroy – all playing well and primed to contend on the weekend. Expectations could not be higher for a young gun showdown.

With all these exciting expectations lets see what the staff expects for this year’s event.

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Post Mortem on the Dan Plan

Sadly, the Dan Plan is over. I analyze what happened and what we can learn from one man’s adventure.

Thrash TalkAs a child I can remember wanting to be a professional baseball player. My mom told me that being a professional athlete was hard. Really hard. She told me to imagine filling a football stadium full of kids my age, and then selecting the one kid who was going to be a professional baseball player. The rest of us… we were going to be doing something else.

Dear mom was merely helping me set proper expectations. I know it is unpopular now to tell your kids that they can’t achieve their dreams. I see other parents telling their children that they can do anything they put their mind to. I get it. We are supposed to be supportive. Trophies for everyone!

You can read on the TST forum around once month some young kid will come on saying he wants to be a professional golfer. Most people say “follow your dreams,” some will say “good luck,” and one or two members will say something similar to what my mom said. A few years ago someone recommended to one of these hopeful people that they read The Talent Code. So I did. The author suggests that greatness isn’t born, but rather expertise is earned through hard work. I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

So when I first heard about the The Dan Plan, I was immediately attracted to the idea. One of the main tenants of The Talent Code is the ten thousand hour theory. Dan was going to test it. Perfect.

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Analyzing Jordan’s Epic Collapse

Jordan Spieth lost the 2016 Masters by making a number of really bad swings. I take a deeper look into his collapse.

Thrash TalkWinning a major golf tournament is an effort many years in the making. All of the practice fine tuning your swing, studying the course and pin positions. All of it take hard work. In 2015 Jordan Spieth had the golf world by the tail. He had won the season’s first two majors and was in the conversation at the British and PGA. It was a masterful year. All the hard work he had put in was paying off.

At the conclusion of the 2015 season, Jordan stated that he wanted to make some changes to his swing along with a workout plan to hit the ball farther. Nick Faldo, the guy who pretty much invented the long-term swing change, immediately came out and said Jordan should be careful to tinker too much.

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TST Staff Predictions for the Masters

It’s time to start the first major of golf’s 2016 season, let’s see what the staff expects for this years event.

Thrash TalkHello Friends, it is time for a tradition unlike any other, the Masters. I know for me watching golfer walk around such a beautiful setting like Augusta National is really a great way to get the spring season in gear.

This season has all sorts of intrigue with almost all of the young guns peaking at just the right time. Jordan, Rory, Rickie, Jason, all have either won, or been very close to winning and look primed to win the seasons first major. Even though Tiger will miss out, Phil looks ready to hold up the flag for old guard and might be a sleeper pick from the SandTrap staff.

Let’s see what the staff expects for this season.

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