2008 Memorial In Photos

In addition to the Sergio Garcia images from Tuesday at the 2008 Memorial, I took a fair number of other pictures as well. Below, I’ve selected 56 random photos. Nearly all have a little commentary, and I invite you to check them out.

Mike Weir’s team would go on to win the $2000 first-place prize at -10 in the Wednesday pro-am. I believe they split the prize, but I’m not sure if the pro gets his $500 or if the three amateurs each get $667. Either way, the amateurs will stay well below the $750 limit imposed by the USGA.

Jack Nicklaus

The Memorial is all about Jack Nicklaus, and for Jack, it’s all about testing golfers and paying homage to The Masters. Jack also puts on a clinic each year, which Golf Channel quickly turns into two 30-minute shows. You can actually see me in several camera shots this year, sitting on the ground in front of the bleachers. These three shots all came from the clinic.

Jack is seen here demonstrating that he never worried about “retaining” or “releasing” his lag. He simply “let the golf club reach the ball. The downswing starts from the ground up: feet, knees, hips, shoulders, arms, hands, clubhead” he added.

Jack is a demonstrative talker, especially when someone asks him about the golf ball and modern technology. Bafflingly, Jack believes that a ball roll-back would benefit the average golfer. He says that with today’s “super balls,” the difference between the average amateur’s best and worst shots is greater than it used to be. “When a golfer really nails a modern ball, he gets 20 extra yards.” Jack said. “When a golfer really nailed the old ball, he got an extra five yards. Thus the old ball was better for golfers because it was more consistent.”

I’m not sure how much Jack really knows about the average golfer’s game, but the “average golfer” doesn’t play a premium golf ball – they play basically the same ball they were playing 20 years ago. Suffice to say I don’t agree at all with Jack’s ideas about the distance or forgiveness of the modern ball. The old balatas could be hit pretty badly, after all.

International Players

Aaron Baddeley hasn’t been a factor in very many tournaments since falling apart during the final round of the 2008 U.S. Open at Oakmont. Here he’s seen practicing his putting on the treacherous 18th green at Muirfield Village Golf Club.

Geoff Ogilvy cut a 255-yard 5-iron to the 11th green on Wednesday in the pro-am. The ball settled six feet from the cup. Sure, Geoff’s 5-iron may be the equivalent of a 4-iron in Jack’s day, but the clubhead speed Ogilvy generates is largely responsible for his distance.

Trevor Immelman made his first cut after winning The Masters at The Memorial. Here he’s seen walking up the 18th fairway.

Mike Weir had a good week, finishing tied for second, two shots back of Kenny Perry. Here he’ seen discussing the tee shot on the 18th hole on Thursday.

K.J. Choi may not know a lot of English yet, but he understands how to hit a golf ball, and he learned just about all he knows from Jack Nicklaus. Seen here, he’s demonstrating how to adjust the trajectory of a shot (his 7-iron). Note how his hands are at the ball, yet the clubhead is still two feet away.

American Players

Brandt Snedeker has yet to put together four solid rounds to get back into contention following the final round of the Masters. Here he’s seen driving off the 10th tee on Thursday…

… and he’s seen here hitting his fourth shot out of the greenside bunker at the short but dangerous par-four third hole at Muirfield Village. Brandt would miss the putt for five on Friday, but shoot 75 on a day when he had, at best, his C game.

Brandt, seen here through the crowd driving off of the fifth hole, is using an older Titleist fairway wood.

Briny Baird makes a good living on the PGA Tour, but rarely gets into serious contention. His last PGA Tour win? Never. He did win once on the Nationwide Tour, though, way back in 2000 at the BUY.com Monterrey Open. Baird is seen here pitching onto the green at the par-five seventh.

Charles Howell III spent a lot of time on the practice range at Muirfield Village, but couldn’t pull together enough game to make the cut, shooting 74-80 on Thursday and Friday. He’s seen here playing from the rough – where he seems to have spent most of his two tournament rounds – in the pro-am. His ball clipped the back of a gentleman’s head right of the 11th fairway, and Howell’s caddie gave the man three Bridgestone B330 golf balls.

David Duval is back to his top form… but in appearance only. Once he swings, look out, because even he doesn’t know where the ball is going most of the time. Still, some delusional fans believe he can make a comeback. Duval shot rounds of 80 and 78.

J.B. Holmes made a few appearances on the leaderboard, finishing T20 for the week, and is seen here practicing his putting on Tuesday afternoon.

A local favorite anywhere he goes, Jerry Kelly is one of the most expressive guys on the PGA Tour. That’s why so many people like him – he’s not the head-down robot many players are during tournament rounds. Jerry would miss a three-footer on the 17th hole on Sunday to get within a shot of Kenny Perry, eventually finishing two back and tied for second.

Jonathan Byrd is seen here wedging onto the ninth green on Friday. Byrd made a brief run and was -3 through six holes, but fell back to a 76 with two doubles on the back nine to fall out of contention and miss the cut by two.

Seen here during the pro-am on the 12th green, Zach Johnson cleans his ball and awaits the arrival and readiness of his amateur partners. Though Johnson hit the green, he would miss the putt. When asked what he was working on, he said “a consistent release of the putter head. I’m pushing everything right now, or over-compensating and pulling them.”

Stewart Cink hit wedges in the 2008 Memorial Clinic. He, like Paul Casey and Sean O’Hair, joked about the crane, which would often move in front of the golfers and nearly directly in the path of their golf ball.

Stewart Cink, seen here on the 11th hole hitting a wedge in the Wednesday pro-am. The ball finished disappointingly far from the hole for a guy who gave a clinic on using wedges only a day earlier. <grin>

Tom Lehman, driving with a fairway wood off the second tee on Friday, finished 19th after rounds of 76-70-72-71.

On Tuesday, Tom was joking with his caddie and some friends on the putting green about how a golfer would react if an someone moved mid-swing just as a baseball umpire goes into his squat behind the catcher mid-pitch. This, Tom said, was the look that golfers would give such a person.

Phil Mickelson got the Tiger Treatment this week in Tiger’s absence, as he was shown on TV coverage even though he was never within about nine shots of the lead. Here he’s seen signing autographs after completing play in Wednesday’s pro-am. Phil would finish T20, nine shots back.

Later in the week, Phil Mickelson had to gently scold a fan for yelling out “America hates you” to fellow competitor Sergio Garcia. Mike Weir joined the two for the Thursday and Friday rounds.

Ryan Moore’s famous Ping “painter hat” stood out this week. So too did Ryan, firing rounds of 73-71-75-69 to finish T10. His second-round 71 was particularly impressive given the scoring average for the day and the gusting winds.

Sean O’Hair’s clinic was on driving the golf ball, and he’s seen here driving the ball off the deck. He said “I like hitting driver off the deck, and if I can do it my swing is in good shape, because you’ve got to be very still to pull it off.” The ball flew about 270 yards in the air with a slight cut each of the three times Sean hit the ball off the grass.

Matt Kuchar, seen driving off the 10th tee in Tuesday’s practice round, was playing in a four-player scramble in which every hole on the front nine had been tied with birdies. The tenth was worth an amount I won’t disclose here. Betting during practice rounds is highly discouraged by the PGA Tour… but that doesn’t stop anyone.

Yes, folks, Lee Janzen is still playing on the PGA Tour. He won a pair of U.S. Opens what feels like 30 years ago, but he’s only 43 years old, so he won’t be out on the Champions Tour any time soon. Janzen made the cut and finished T69.

The winner of the 2008 Memorial, Kenny Perry. Seen here practicing his putting on Tuesday and addressing the media on Wednesday, Kenny spent most of his time in the media room talking about how much emphasis he was putting on making the Ryder Cup team. “Paul [Azinger] said you have to win to be chosen, so I’m trying to win golf tournaments” he said. “My game is good, solid right now and I’ve been home one day in the past six weeks.” Following disappointments at The Players and the Colonial, Kenny broke through to win The Memorial for the third time in his career. His celebration? He’ll take two weeks off – including the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines!

European Players

Paul Casey hit five-irons during his time at the clinic. In order to change the shape of the ball, Casey adjusts how far he stands from the golf ball. Most golfers adjust their stance slightly, opening or closing their body to the target line.

Seen on the 11th hole in the pro-am on Wednesday, Casey went for the green with a long iron but left himself just short and on the fairway. He would chip on and make four.

Justin Rose, driving off the 18th tee on Thursday, had a good week. He finished T2, two shots back of Kenny Perry. Some day, perhaps, Justin will notch a win on the PGA Tour, but rounds of 68-73-70-71 were not good enough to get it done this week.

Justin Rose checks the yardages on the sixth hole during his Thursday round of 68.

Ian Poulter drove right in the first round at the sixth hole, punched out, then fatted his third into the greenside bunker. He exploded to six feet, missed the putt, gave the ball or hole his middle finger, then earned his way into my own personal hall of shame, losing anywhere between 1 and 100 fans in the process.

Equipment and Practice

Zach Johnson, 2007 Masters champ, spent over an hour on Tuesday working on his putting.

Woody Austin has put a Scotty Cameron “Fastback” prototype putter into play recently. Woody finished the week in T73, +19 after rounds of 71-76-76-84. For the week, Woody averaged a paltry 1.952 putts per GIR.

Jim Furyk put a Scotty Cameron TeI3 putter into play this week, and was concentrating heavily on releasing the toe of the putter in a good arc stroke. Every time his caddie Fluff would hand him his putter after hitting a green, Furyk would work on his putting stroke. Jim has used a center-shafted Two Ball putter for several years, but recent putting woes have prompted this fairly dramatic change.

The “rails” or “arcs” are popular putting devices on the PGA Tour. Tom Lehman used one on Tuesday (while wearing his Ryder Cup garb), along with his Scotty Cameron putter. That makes three guys, all with competing company sponsorships, all using Scotty Cameron putters. I didn’t take pictures of Cameron users on purpose – they’re just so popular, the odds are you’re going to get a Cameron picture.

And when you don’t get a picture of a Scotty Cameron, you get… a Guerin Rife putter? Justin Rose – and caddie – worked on his putting stroke all week too. Justin was taking the putter back too straight, which is outside the line for an arc stroke, so he had his caddie squat behind him as he putted five-footers on the practice green.

Scenery

Sergio Garcia, signing autographs on Wednesday during the pro-am, as he walks from the 11th green to the 12th tee.

The fairway bunker rakes, seen here right of the 18th fairway, have tines spaced 2¼” apart. That size represents roughly an average of the previous two years. In 2006, the rakes were too penal; in 2007, not penal enough. Jack thinks they’ve got it figured out this year. I just wish other PGA Tour events would use Jack’s rakes.

Just a face in the crowd; one of many fans following Phil Mickelson during the pro-am on Wednesday.

The yearly Memorial Clinic is a great – and free – way for fans to learn a bit about golf from some of the greats. At the end, Jack Nicklaus often takes questions from the fans. If you’ve got a good question to ask Jack, attending the clinic is your best opportunity.

Doug Ferguson covers the PGA Tour for the AP. He’s seen here talking with Phil Mickelson’s caddie, Jim “Bones” MacKay.

If you want to get a good seat, arrive early. You shouldn’t have much trouble.

If you’re a serious PGA Tour fan, you’ve probably heard the name “Joan Alexander.” She moderates most of the press conferences, and is seen here (left, of course) moderating the press conference Paul Azinger gave on Wednesday at The Memorial.

Matthew Goggin hit into the muck just beyond the water on the ninth hole on Friday en route to an even-par 72. His playing partners and caddies are seen here trying to find the ball. After returning to the far side of the water hazard, Goggin began to measure two club lengths before his caddie stopped him. You don’t get two club lengths from a water hazard (yellow), of course; only from a lateral hazard (red lines and stakes). A rules official quickly cleared up the rules for Mr. Goggin.

Phil Mickelson is seen in the background of these two photos signing autographs for about 20 minutes following his play Wednesday in the pro-am.

Sometimes, volunteering is a lonely job, but I hope you’ve enjoyed these images from the 2008 Memorial.

All Photos © 2008 The Sand Trap .com.