Hello and welcome all you Internet golfing fanatics to, yet again, another issue of Hittin the Links. I am on the job bringing you the very best stories from around the internet, so sit back and relax.
In this volume, we delve into Tiger’s world and what’s going on with his knee, listen to what Retief Goosen has to say about it, and for goodness sake will someone please tell Johnny Miller to shut up! Also, we see what got Phil back into the Skins Game, check in on this week’s tour winners, and read some other interesting tidbits from the world of golf publishing. Read on!
Hole 1: Tiger is Out for the Season
Tiger Woods is out for the rest of the PGA Tour season as he undergoes reconstructive knee surgery. [Link]
Hole 2: Then Again Maybe He Wasn’t Faking
South African Retief Goosen opened his mouth and inserted his foot when he made comments accusing Tiger Woods of exaggerating the pain in his knee. [Link]
Hole 3: If You Can’t Say Something Nice…
TV analyst Johnny Miller had to do some retracting of his own after he made some not-so-nice remarks about Rocco Mediate during the U.S. Open. [Link]
Hole 4: Lefty at the Skins Game
Phil Mickelson is returning to the LG Skins Game this year for the first time in five years. With Tiger out for the silly season, I bet Lefty’s phone is ringing off the hook. [Link]
Hole 5: With an Improved Putting Stroke it Seems Everybody Wants to be Justin Leonard
A Texas man has been arrested for stealing PGA Tour Pro Justin Leonard’s identity. [Link]
Hole 6: Destination of the Week: Bermuda
With nine golf courses and plenty of beautiful weather, Bermuda offers a lot to the traveling golfer. [Link]
Hole 7: A Caddy’s View
PGA Tour Caddy Michael Collins gives his thoughts on his favorite U.S. Open Memories. [Link]
Hole 8: Wegmans LPGA
South Korean Eun-Hee Ji captures her first tour victory at the Wegmans LPGA. [Link]
Hole 9: Travelers Championship
Tour veteran Stewart Cink returns to the winners circle for the first time in almost four years. [Link]
Time for Johnny Miller to pack it in. I’m sick of listening to this guy nit pick everything. Permanently replace him with Faldo or someone else entertaining! While they are at it, I never need to see Bob Costas again either.
Tiger Woods revealed recently he has been playing for at least 10 months with a torn ligament in his left knee, and that he suffered a double stress fracture in his left leg two weeks before the U.S. Open. PGA Professional Paul Casey provided the most graphic description of the injury, based on a conversation he had had with the caddie of Robert Karlsson, the Swede who played alongside Woods in the third round. “He [Gareth Lord] said there were actually noises coming from Tiger’s knee,†Casey said. “Clearly he was suffering. There was a moment where Tiger, I think at the 18th, stepped up to hit his tee-shot and backed off because of weird noises. They all chuckled and he said, ‘I shouldn’t hit this one too hard.’ He got it in play and made eagle.
It is interesting to consider Tiger’s performance in the context of the Now. In my book, “Peace and Par – Enjoying Golf in the Now,” I maintain there is no one who stays in the present, in the zone, better than Tiger. Many of us have played athletics with pain. I remember basketball games with a sprained ankle, and baseball games with a sore arm. I never had the illusion that these injuries did not effect my performance. I remember consciously favoring the injury as I naturally anticipated the pain. Tiger on the other hand goes to his own Being, the energy within him and stays in the moment. Tiger addressed the ball, took his normal, full backswing, transferred his weight, tourqued his knee and created
club speed that would tear your socks off if you stood too close, and finished with his classic follow through all in the Now. Even though somewhere in his long and short term memory bank there existed the knowledge: “the pain is coming”, Tiger did not hold the thought of this future pain. Tiger stayed in the Now shot after shot for five days. When the pain came at the end of the shot, Tiger endured it knowing all pain is going out. He then stood straight, handed his club to Steve and walked down the fairway completely focused on the task at hand, winning the US Open.
The ego and its partner, the pain body loves to anticipate the future and the potential for pain: the upcoming dentist appointment, visiting a critically ill friend or relative, or the golf match or lunch with the person who never shuts up. We miss so many breaths, so much of life in this moment because we embrace that future pain. Take a lesson in life from Tiger. The pain, like the future is an illusion. We only live in a series of “right nows”.
“I maintain there is no one who stays in the present, in the zone, better than Tiger.”
What puzzles me about Tiger’s focus is that he gets distracted easily by a shadow or a small sound from the crowd.
Hear, hear! Costas is good and bad but what about that other little, short guy? get rid of him too! NBC is bad, bad, bad! Oh yeah, Jimmy Roberts, Puuhleeeze!