Spending a day at the Wachovia Championship was a great way to end the week and catch a few numbers in the process. Unfortunately, one is the number of days we got to go due to low number on the thermometer.
I had the pleasure of going to the Wachovia Championship this past week. If you’re wondering, I wasn’t one of the dedicated few that stuck it out on Sunday even though a few of us had tickets. I love golf, but not enough to stand in hard, cold rain.
So while I was watching Jim Furyk pour (no pun intended) in his par putt on the first playoff hole, I thought I’d run down a few of the numbers that stood out to me. This week it’s The Numbers Game, Wachovia Championship style.
Defending champion Ted Purdy will have plenty of competition at this weeks EDS Byron Nelson Championship, but that won’t include Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson.
Flash back to Sunday, May 15, 2005. I’m glued to the TV watching fellow Arizona native and good guy Ted Purdy come from two back and shoot a 5-under 65 to beat rookie Sean O’Hair by one and win his first PGA Tour title. Just two days before that (on Friday the 13th no less), Tiger Woods actually missed a cut for the first time since 1998. A streak that lasted with 142 events and beat the previous record of 113 held by Mr. Byron Nelson himself. Anyone for superstitions?
Can Europe win the Ryder Cup for the third consecutive time? Read the rest to find out.
I want to start by congratulating Jim Furyk on his win this past weekend at the Wachovia Championship. It was nice to see Furyk put one away because he has been struggling in that department lately. Speaking of the Wachovia Championship, it has definitely turned into one of the best non-major events on the PGA Tour schedule. There was only one round in the 60s on Sunday, and that’s what I love to see.
Now, on to this week’s article. Last week’s Thrash Talk focused on the current United States Ryder Cup team. There is still a lot of time left, but I believe the team isn’t looking very strong right now. This week we’ll look at their likely opposition on the European side. The rivals from across the pond will be looking for their third straight triumph in Ryder Cup competition.
In an era of increasingly strange looking high tech woods, Bobby Jones Golf and Jesse Ortiz are delivering the latest technology in a package that harkens to the sweet shape of persimmon.
In these days of marquee designers like Vokey, Cameron, Wishon, and Cleveland, it’s interesting to watch as their creations evolve to incorporate new technologies and materials. But perhaps the most extreme example of design evolution over time is that of a club maker whose work has spanned the transformation from wood to steel to exotic composites in drivers and fairway clubs. I had a chance this week to talk with Jesse Ortiz, try his new clubs, and see for myself the passion he brings to his craft and his role as vice president and chief designer for Bobby Jones Golf.
Continue reading “Bobby Jones Golf: Everything Old Is New Again”
Volume Fifty-Eight of this fine weekly article.
This week, I’ve wrangled up a hodgepodge of links from topics ranging from John Daly’s book to the passing of Earl Woods and grass that doesn’t need to be cut. Although the topics seem random, they all share one thing in common: they’re worth a look. So let’s get started…
After 20 years in the golf business, Tour Edge finally has a big stick to compete with the big boys.
Tour Edge Golf is celebrating 20 years in the golf biz this year – and the company is also celebrating its recent move from the value segment of the industry to the thick of the performance segment. After several successful years of selling solid products at a price below the big names, Tour Edge introduced its Exotics line of high-performance, premium-priced equipment last year. The first product was a line of fairway woods that garnered good reviews and a vocal group of fans.
New for this year is the Exotics driver. Does it live up to the promise of the Exotics fairway woods? Read on to find out.
Tour Edge has long had a well-deserved reputation as a hidden gem in the golf club market. The company has always made good equipment at reasonable prices, and in recent years Tour Edge has been tinkering with some cutting edge technology.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Woods family, but the show must go on. And so it does.
This week saw the passing of Tiger Woods’ father Earl, and it’s a main discussion topic this week in the Golf Talk Podcast. Also this week, Wie in the U.S. Open, Chris Couch wins the Zurich Classic, John Daly losing $60 million gambling, the fall of Annika Sorenstam, and a whole lot more.
You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 021 as an MP4 file. For those who want to subscribe to us in iTunes, click here.
For this week’s Show Notes – links to articles we discuss in the show and additional information – just read on.
TaylorMade updates the “TP” irons with what’s best described as “tradition meets technology.” The RAC MB TPs are a winner.
We’ve all seen the commercials. And they’re true: TaylorMade, for all intents and purposes, “owns the tee box.” Having established a dominant position in drivers with the r5 and then the r7, TaylorMade is making believers out of even the staunchest of opponents. Dave Koster, who has used Titleist drivers much of his life, recently put the r7 460 in his bag after reviewing it.
Leveraging the success TaylorMade has had with drivers, the Carlsbad, CA company is seeking to “own” other product categories as well. They make great hybrids (their “Rescue” clubs) and are widely regarded as the leader in that category. They recently introduced “TP” golf balls to compete with Titleist, Callaway, and Nike. Even their putters and apparel (via Adidas) have gotten a fair amount of acclaim.
Lost in the shuffle a bit have been TaylorMade’s irons. Despite tremendous retail success with the higher-handicapper irons (see our RAC LT review), the company’s better irons have fought an uphill battle against the likes of Titleist and Mizuno for the attention of lower handicappers. With the 2006 revision to their high-end model, TaylorMade’s RAC MB TP irons what may be the best irons they’ve ever produced for better players.
Just about all types of golfers will have over 50% of their shots from on or near the green. So why don’t most of us practice that way?
Over the past year, we’ve seen how hitting greens is the best predictor for success on the PGA Tour and, ostensibly, in general. The problem is that most of us amateurs don’t have the luxury of being so accurate with our irons. So what are we to do?
Accept it. If you play a lot of golf and work on your game, it will get better. The great equalizer is a great short game. You will find numerous players that don’t hit it long and may not hit a lot of greens, but can get up and down from a bucket. This week in The Numbers Game, I’ll show you just how important the short game is and it may change your approach to how you practice.
