Meg Mallon Unmarketable? Gee…

Meg Mallon lacks sponsors and “Golf for Women” writer Sally Jenkins wonders why. Gee, that’s a toughy!

In the September/October issue of “Golf for Women,” Sally Jenkins ponders why Meg Mallon doesn’t have any major sponsors despite her stellar year. I’ll ask the readers one simple question: which of the following would you guess is more marketable?

Meg Natalie Comparison

Instead, Jenkins concludes that Meg simply doesn’t have “it” – that special quality that “makes companies pay a lot of money to put their names on your hat and bag so that your smile and their logos will flash across billboards and TV screens together.” I disagree that Mallon doesn’t have “it” – she does. It’s just that my “it” is “an extra fifty pounds.”

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Lehman to Captain U.S. Ryder Cup Team

Tom Lehman is expected to be announced as the 2006 U.S. Ryder Cup captain tomorrow.

tom_lehman2.jpgGolf World is reporting that Tom Lehman has been selected as the 2006 U.S. Ryder Cup captain and will be announced as such Wednesday at Amelia Island where the PGA of America is holding its 86th annual meeting.

The PGA of America has a tradition of selecting captains who fit a certain profile – a major champion in his 40s with Ryder Cup experience. Lehman certainly fits this profile. He is a five-time winner on the PGA Tour including the 1996 British Open and was voted PGA Tour Player of the Year in 1996. He made the Ryder Cup three straight times, starting in 1995, compiling a 5-3-2 overall record and a 3-0 singles record.

“I’d be honored if they choose me,” Leman said two weeks ago at the Funai Classic at Disney. “But I don’t think it’s anybody’s place to lobby for that position.”

Presidential Sports

If John Kerry and George W. Bush could play one sport against each other, which would they choose?

Both John Kerry and George W. Bush were asked the same question: If you could play one game of anything you wanted against your opponent, what would it be?

Kerry: Tennis or horseshoes. What do they play up there in Kennebunkport? I don’t know?

Bush: With my opponent? I guess it would be golf on a beautiful golf course, kind of a nice warm afternoon to just be able to walk down the fairway hitting the golf balls, but not too often, and just reminiscing about the 2004 campaign.

Cast your votes today, folks.

Cheat on Short Breaking Putts

It’s possible to cheat within the rules of golf… and make more short, breaking putts when doing it!

Putting CheatingIt’s quite possible to cheat within the rules of golf… and make more of those testy short, breaking putts when doing it. To the right you see a putt that breaks to the right a few inches (obviously not everything is to scale). You see the paths of three balls: the red ball was struck ¼-inch towards the heel, the blue ball ¼-inch towards the toe, and the white ball dead center. All were struck with the same stroke and speed.

Two of the balls go in the hole. The white ball – a stroke with perfect sweet spot contact – went into the hole, as did the red ball. The blue ball missed low, even though it missed the sweet spot by the same margin as the red ball. How is this true?

Shots struck off-center are weaker. On a breaking putt, a weak putt breaks more. Shots struck off-center also start offline (see the three lines): towards the heel, putts start left and towards the toe, to the right. A slightly slower putt that’s given more room to break (red ball) goes into the hole while a putt with the same diminished speed started below the perfect line misses completely (blue ball).

Use this to your advantage on the course: when you’re faced with a short breaking putt, set up with the ball not on the sweet spot of your putter, but slightly to the high side just under ¼ inch. The “high side” is the opposite of the way the putt breaks: the heel on left-to-righters, and the toe on right-to-lefters (for right-handed putters, anyway).

Building in this small “margin of error” allows you to get the ball on a line and with a speed that rolls the ball into the hole far more frequently. We guarantee you’ll make more of these putts… simply by “cheating” legally!

Take a Lesson

Just take a lesson for Pete’s sake!

Today’s tip of the day is a simple one: take a lesson. A new driver costs you about $400. You could get eight pretty good lessons for that price, and your old driver – I guarantee it – will work better than the new $400 one. And so will every other club in your bag.

Qualifications

Parnevik and Ridings must wait to see if they make 2005 PGA Tour.

Vijay Singh was not the only person thrilled with the outcome at the Chrysler Championship this week. Here’s a rundown of key money list spots that were affected by this week’s play. Keep in mind that the top 30 are eligible for the Tour Championship next week in Atlanta. The top 40 get into the Masters and the top 125 get their tour card next year.

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Perspective on Vijay’s Season

Is Vijay’s 2004 better than Tiger’s 2000? We don’t think so… and the numbers back us up.

Not to take anything away from Vijay’s amazing season, let’s take a look at a few facts and compare Vijay’s 2004 to Tiger’s 2000:

  • Tiger won three majors, Vijay one.
  • Tiger won two of his majors (the US and British Opens) by record margins.
  • Tiger closed in the PGA with a 67; Vijay with a 76.
  • Tiger’s year-long scoring average was 67.79 – a full stroke below Vijay.
  • Tiger averaged $459,000/event, Vijay is averaging $382,000.
  • Tiger had a 2:1 money lead on #2; Vijay 1.8:1 (both times Phil Mickelson).
  • Vijay’s last victory was his 24th, 16 shy of Tiger’s total. Vijay is 13 years older.

Of course, both Tiger and Vijay have nine-win seasons, something Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer never accomplished. When comparing Vijay’s season to any other 41-year-old’s in history, 2004 may be the best ever, but Tiger still holds the lead in our minds for the best season of all time.

Satterfield Surprise

Kirk Satterfield of Manhasset, N.Y., became the second member of the Deepdale Golf Club staff to win the TaylorMade-adidas Golf PGA Assistant Professional Championship on Sunday. Satterfield roared from eight shots back to defeat V.J. Trolio by a shot.

Kirk SatterfieldKirk Satterfield of Manhasset, N.Y., fired a 6-under-par 66 in Sunday’s final round to capture the TaylorMade-adidas Golf PGA Assistant Professional Championship at PGA Golf Club. Satterfield entered the round eight strokes back in a tie for seventh at 4-under 212 before leapfrogging the competition, winning by one stroke over V.J. Trolio of West Point, Mississippi. V.J., it seems, could not play like Vijay.

“I knew that I needed to play well and I felt that if I put some pressure on the field early, then I had a chance to make a move,” said Satterfield, assistant pro at Deepdale Golf Club in Manhasset, NY. “I am happy with my round, especially since I played a bogey-free final round.”

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PGA Tour Puts on Pressure

Ernie Els – no longer a member of the PGA Tour? It could happen if Finchem and his cronies don’t back off a little.

Ernie ElsIncoming European Tour front man George O’Grady has described the pressure being put on Ernie Els to play more events in the US as “extraordinary.” Els was clearly angered two weeks ago when he told reporters that the PGA Tour had sent him a letter demanding more appearances if he wished to retain his PGA Tour membership.

“It seems like quite an extraordinary pressure to put on a player of his level who plays usually 17 or 18 tournaments in the United States anyway,” said O’Grady. “He’s always prepared to listen if we need him to play somewhere, but he’s a very hard man to tell to do something. You do ask him, usually politely, and sometimes he says yes.”

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