Volume Three Hundred Twenty Three

And the long putter just keeps on racking up those wins!

Hittin' the LinksIt was another hot week for the long putter; they racked up three more wins on the PGA and Champions Tours this weekend. I know its a hot topic but the USGA and R&A will be making a huge mistake in my book if they decide to ban the long putter. Too many people have been making their living using these things for a long time and many of the younger players have known nothing else. But hey if they want to ban something just because “it doesn’t look right” or some other idiotic reason then go for it. I personally would love to see them ban it and then the PGA Tour not abide by the rule.

Anyway, let me get down off my soapbox and checkout whats in this week’s Hittin’ the Links. We begin with a look at the golf whisperer, then find out who needs a star, and investigate whats up with David Duval. Also on tap, we checkout more belly controversy, take a peek at a subway made golf course, and do a wrap-up of the week’s events. read on!

Cobra Golf Release Two New Special Edition Drivers

Cobra Golf teams up with Ferrari to create a luxurious new driver and creates a special AMP driver to honor Rickie Fowler’s “Sunday Orange.”

Bag DropOver the summer, Cobra Golf will release two special edition drivers. The first, debuting in July, is a creation based on a collaboration between Cobra equipment engineers and aerodynamics engineers at Ferrari. The result is a fast, beautiful, and expensive driver that is the centerpiece of the Ferrari Golf Collection.

The second special edition on its way is an all orange version of the Cobra AMP driver. Much like the all pink driver that PING created for Bubba Watson, Cobra has essentially done the same with the AMP driver for Rickie Fowler. For those that thought that the original AMP was a lot of orange, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Tiger Struggling at the Weekend

Tiger has been out of character on the weekends of the majors. Let’s take a deeper look at why.

Thrash TalkThe last two majors we have watched Tiger go from playing very solid golf Thursday and Friday, then switching personalities and struggling through the weekend. This is so out of character to the person we watched play from 2000 to 2008 that it leaves golf talking heads blaming everything from his shoes to his swing coach. I actually think Brandel Chamblee looks forward to Tiger playing poorly so that he can tell the world what a lousy swing coach Sean Foley is, and how great anyone named Harmon is. I have almost started to root for Tiger just to have Brandel move on to different topics.

What catches my eye about Tiger’s struggles is his play on Saturdays. I think Sunday at both the U.S. Open and the Open Championship the weather was significantly different and Tiger was forced to press and play outside of his comfortable conservative strategy that he had planned for himself.

Nike VR_S Driver Review

Nike launched the VR_S driver with the claim that there were “none faster.” Read on to find out if they were right.

Nike VR_S Driver HeroSince Nike burst onto the golf equipment scene roughly a decade ago, they have been one of the more forward-thinking, technologically advanced companies around. They were among the first manufacturers to introduce square drivers with their SasQuatch line and jumped into the adjustability game early on with the original version of the Str8-Fit hosel.

Lately, all of the rage has been making the drivers as light as possible. The idea is is that the lighter they are the faster they can be swung and therefore the further the ball will go. The VR_S is Nike’s newest entry into this category of driver. The claim by Nike is that there are “none faster” and the company even held “speed trials” at golf shops around the country letting golfers around the country compare their current driver to the VR_S. Read on to find out if Nike has winner.

TaylorMade R11 Irons Review

Continuing on with the very successful R11 brand name TaylorMade Golf introduces the R11 irons.

TaylorMade R11 IronsWhen TaylorMade introduced the R11 irons, they claimed they were the only irons worthy of the R11 name. Of course the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of R11 is the very successful white matte drivers that have blanketed golf courses lately. It is very hard these days to play in a foursome that does not have a golfer with the R11, R11s, or RocketBallz driver in their bag.

TaylorMade has been translating the technology originally targeted for woods into irons for some time now. In this seasons offering there are already both Rocketballz woods and irons, and the very popular Burner series has also had both woods and irons. R11 looks to be taking off where the R9 irons were previously placed.

The Plight of the Runners-Up From Royal Lytham and St. Annes

Recapping the 141st Open Championship.

Trap Five LogoErnie won his second British Open and fourth career major last Sunday, but for much of the week Els was absent from the top of the leaderboard. Though I enjoyed ESPN’s coverage the first three days (day four’s coverage was downright horrible), the fact the we saw very few Els shots was something I pointed out in the forum and on the Sunday chat.

Els remains one of the world’s great ballstrikers, and though his 72nd-hole birdie putt put the pressure on Scott, if you were to go by ESPN’s coverage you would think all Ernie ever did was miss 15-footers.

Coverage gripes aside, the 2012 British Open was several times more enjoyable than last year’s, mostly thanks to the guys that didn’t win. First off was Adam Scott, the 18-hole, 54-hole, and 71-hole leader. Brandt Snedeker led after the second round, and matched the Lytham and St. Annes British Open course record that Scott set on Thursday.

For Tiger Woods the theme of the round was “gameplan.” Tiger routinely laid back off the tee, leading to 220-yard approach after 220-yard approach and a lot of long birdie opportunities. Closing out the top five and ties are Graeme McDowell, who spent most of the final round in second place, seemingly Scott’s only competition, and world number one Luke Donald, who picked up the Lee Westwood gauntlet of backdoor top tens.

The 2012 British Open will likely be remembered in large part for the players who didn’t win, so here are their stories.

Volume Three Hundred Twenty Two

Ernie Els, 2012 Champion Golfer of the Year.

Hittin' the LinksWhat a finish to the British Open! Heck, even the engraver had almost started on Adam Scott’s name before he began his already famous collapse. Congratulations has to go out to Ernie Els. He is a good guy and since he is older than I am, that makes me like him even more!

In this newest edition of Hittin’ the Links we begin with a look at Rory’s problems, and then find out who Andres Romero had as a caddy, and peruse Suzann Pettersen in the buff. Also, we investigate what is on the horizon for belly putters, take a look at the seven biggest chokes of all time, and do a wrap-up of the week’s events. Read on!

2012 British Open Final Round Chat

Join us for a live chat about the 2012 British Open from Royal Lytham & St. Anne’s!

Can Adam Scott hold off the challengers to win his first major? Can Tiger Woods mount an improbably comeback to capture his 15th? Or will someone else sneak in and snag the victory?

2012 British Open: Staff Predictions and Five Questions

The Open Championship heads to Royal Lytham and St. Annes, see who the staff thinks the winner will be.

Thrash TalkThis year the Open Championship moves to the site of David Duval’s only major victory – Royal Lytham and St. Annes. I truly enjoy the Open Championship because I can start watching the action as I sit down for breakfast in the morning and by lunch time the majority of play is over. The build up for this years event is great as well. Tiger is really hitting his stride aside from his missed cut at the Greenbrier, Phil cut his vacation short to play in the Scottish Open and played decently, all the big names are hitting their stride. With that lets see what the staff predicts for this year’s tournament.