Good Day golf fans and welcome to another edition of Hittin’ the Links. Its been quite a week for Bubba Watson. I have been following him on Twitter and he has been just about everywhere talking to just about everyone. What a guy, and what a shot he hit to win the Masters.
In this edition of HtL we begin with a look at one of Bubba’s events, then check out what’s going on with the World Golf Rankings, and find out who got married. Also, we investigate an alligator encounter, see what Tiger thinks about his play at the Masters, and do a wrap-up of the week’s events. Read on!
What if I told you that after the first five years of playing golf the odds of lowering your handicap by three strokes or more, is unusually rare? It almost never happens. The reason is because golfers revert back to our old habits. That’s why trying a tip in the latest golf magazine or listening to the Golf Channel doesn’t improve people’s games. Here to help is golf’s new training aid, the Benderstik. It’s designed to help you consistently working on a better motion by giving you instant feedback.
As I do nearly every year, I was quick to pony up a good deal of cash for the new Tiger Woods PGA Tour video game. Like with most good video games I’ve been engrossed with it since the day I bought it, but that doesn’t mean I love the game.
Golf is a game where progress and ability can be measured in many different ways. There is, of course, the raw score; whether one is a scratch golfer or shoots in the 100s, for many of us, this is the only number that matters to us.
Over the last couple of years in golf we have seen a couple of big trends pop up. One of them has been the introduction of adjustable clubs. Companies such as TaylorMade, Titleist and more recently Callaway have produced drivers, fairway woods, and the occasional hybrid that can be adjusted easily by the user. The other hot trend that we have seen is more and more players, both professional and amateur, making the switch to belly putters. With the introduction of the Nome 405 putter, PING has combined these two trends to bring about the first USGA approved adjustable belly putter.
As the first major of the year, The Masters is the year’s earliest test of the state of golf. A birdie-fest win at the tournament-formerly-known-as-the Bob Hope is one thing, but playing well at Augusta is another story entirely, and this year has been loaded full of weighty stories. Luke Donald began the year at the top spot in the world, but a resurgent Rory McIlroy quickly stole that away. Despite the young Ulsterman’s finishes of second, first, and third on the PGA Tour early on, Donald was able to take back the number one ranking with a victory at Innisbrook.
Augusta National has a solid front nine, but it’s the back nine where the course really shines. Every hole can easily lead to a bogey but each one is also birdie-able, as Charl Schwartzel and others showed us last year. Because of this, going into the back nine on Sunday everyone within shouting distance of the lead is still in the tournament.
The Masters truly starts the golf season. Sure there are plenty of events on the West Coast and the Florida swing, but that week in April with the beautifully manicured fairways at Augusta truly gets the season underway.