AmazingWhacker

Yes - he's totally done. Until he wins again and then he'll go back to being The Next Tiger. This will sadden Rickie Fowler, who is only 1 win away from being the temporary "Next Tiger" himself. You know who I blame for the above? Golf media. They are so desperate for "The Next Tiger" or the next "Great Rivalry" to come along that they pretty much announce it's arrival weekly.

"Dislike" might be a strong word but, if any of these 3 guys are in a playoff, I'm rooting for the other guy: 1. Kevin Na 2. Jim Furyk 3. Bubba Watson 3 of my favorites: 1. Tiger 2. Rory 3. Jordan Spieth (although if he doesn't turn it around he may slip off my radar). For the record, I dig Patrick Reed. I don't care if he's obnoxious or cocky or fat or whatever. I would like to see stronger play from him, for sure, though. He could easily be my #3 favorite if he was playing better. And like I said before .. I'm not sure "favorite" or "least favorite" or "like" or "dislike" really apply here. I don't really "dislike" any golfers . . but the 3 I listed I just find annoying to watch. Especially Kevin Na. I can't stand watching his slow-play and fidgety behavior. My issue with Bubba is that he has too much talent not to play better. He wins once or twice a season just because he's better than the field but he is not much of a competitor, in my opinon . .and super whiney at times, too. Watching Furyk is like watching paint dry . .plus my Aunt hates him because she said she's met him in person and he was an ass. I don't know .. she's getting on in years . .I'm not positive she's ever really met him.

Yeah - that's one thing I really like about him. He was a former world number 1 but he doesn't come off like he could run down from the booth and show us how it's done (Miller? Faldo?). Brandel doesn't do that, of course, but he knows he was never that good and makes up for it by being annoying in other ways.

I really like David Duval as a commentator. I didn't think I would and he does have a kind of reserved presence on camera but he's really grown on me. Feherty, on the other hand, has kind of worn off on me over the last couple of years. I watched his show for a season or 2 but it got a little tiresome. I got a little tired of hearing the same jokes over and over interwoven with stories about his drinking/drugging/experience in rehab. McCord is worse, in my opinion, but I really don't prefer the "schticky" commentators. If they were really that entertaining they'd be entertainers of some sort. As it is, they have some novelty at first but quickly wear off on me. I guess there's a place for them but I'll take Jim Nantz, any day.

It's probably technique. 4 years ago, my 6 iron was my 150 yard club. I was hitting my drives around 180-200. After 4 years of on-and-off lessons, my 8 iron is my 150 club although I could probably reach it with a really hard 9 if I wanted to. Driver is now around 240-250 (on a good drive, not avg).

I'm a Tiger fan but my interest in him starts and ends on the golf course. Unless he has somehow gained some kind of food credibility that I didn't hear about, I'm not really interested in his restaurant. I've been to a couple other sports star restaurants and they're pretty much all the same. Now, if I was invited to go out to The Woods then, sure, I'd go .. but I would not choose to go there, if it were up to me. Thanks for the review, it was definitely a good read and great pics. I noticed some of the waitresses at the bar looked disappointed, lol . .I guess Tiger's on the wagon again.

I thought Tiger's performance showed some solid improvement but Sunday's round showed there is still much to do - probably a good portion of it mental. The "old" Tiger Woods always came out strong on Sunday. Another thing - I think he needs to give up the red and black on Sundays. He's been doing it forever . .it's not as cool as it used to be when he's in contention and it seems really out of whack when he's T40 or something. Other than that, I thought the tournament was kind of ho-hum. Good for Davis Love III, of course. I don't know exactly why but the age thing doesn't impress me *that* much. Maybe there aren't that many 50+ year old winners but a lot of guys do well at pga events during their first year or 2 on the Champions tour. This was a field where many of the best and longest drivers were not present and that's probably the biggest handicap of age.

There have been periods of time where I kept score by the found balls vs the number of strokes, lol. "How'd you do today"? "Great! 2 new pro v1s, a couple of hex chromes in decent shape and no Top-Flites!".

I kinda don't get the Ryder Cup Captain thing . .it's always made such a big deal of but I don't see how it matters all that much who is Captain. I say we pick somebody from outside the world of golf - somebody who is maybe a winning coach in another sport or maybe even a business person. Definitely not Donald Trump, though. And not John Daly, either. The Ryders Cup Captain does sort of "represent" the US . .so we need to make sure we don't pick a clown. What about Michael Jordan?

I wouldn't bet against him making the cut. I'd say you were 100% right if it was almost anybody else but Tiger's got a very strong "fight" mentality . .if the field starts losing ground, Ha! That's exactly how *I* feel. The only thing keeping me from winning every major ever is just one thing . .sucking at golf, lol.

Tiger never fails to surprise me . .just the wrong kind of surprises this year. I'm still scratching my head at how he goes bust . .comes back to win 5 times and then immediately goes bust again. As my wife says just about every time we see him on TV "Poor Tigey" (I know, I know).

+11 83 for Faldo today. I'm sure he didn't hold illusions of contending on Sunday . . but that's got to hurt.

Whatever you do, don't attempt #1. You've probably been in enough people's ears about the rules that, if they see you break one, they'll be sure to mention it. You won't be able to claim ignorance, either. 2 seems impossible. Even if you found all those people I think the dude in the letter is correct . .you'd need on-course rules officials to run the league like you're wanting it to run. I never quizzed anybody but I doubt anybody I see on any golf course I play knows all the rules . .most probably don't even care. They know the basics and then just improvise the rest as they go. Like I said . .2 seems impossible without significant prize money on the line. I would say go with 3 or 4 . .probably 3 unless it's a rule that nobody follows that will make you seem like a tool . .such as *not* treating OB like a lateral hazard if everybody else is. Think about it this way . .who wins or loses at a Wednesday men's league doesn't matter at all. It would be cool to do well, sure . .but it's not worth getting stressed that you are being put at a disadvantage by cheaters nor is it worth cheating to do well.

It happened to me at the range a long time ago. It was before I actually started playing . my brother and I took our Dad's clubs down to the range to hit a few. Of course, the head of his 3 wood came off and went flying down the range. Neither one of us could hit a golf ball back then (he still can't, lol) but we weren't being abusive with the club or anything. It was a large, busy range - we never got the head back . .my Dad took it pretty well, though.

There's a lot of talk on this site about pace of play - people griping about slow players, people griping about "speed demons", discussing round times, yada yada. It's really simple, though . .you are supposed to stay "in position" with the group ahead of you. If you walk to the tee and there is nobody on your hole (and it's not a par 3), you are "out of position". If the course is packed, you should work to get back into position asap. If you just can't do it, you should skip a hole - especially if you are a beginner/very high handicapper. If you're not a beginner or very high capper, you should be able to get back in position if you try. Of course, sometimes the course is empty and there isn't anybody directly in front of you . . in this case, if a group is pressing from behind, invite them to play through and keep on at your own pace. If the group in front of you is slow but in position with the slow group in front of them who are in position with the slow group ahead of them, yada yada - all you can really do is curse your bad luck or try playing different times/courses. This is when marshals should come into play . .if you're lucky enough to be at a course where marshals will address pace of play. Somebody up there is holding up a bunch of other groups and should be told to pick up the pace. Either that or the tee times are too close together.

If I was the PGA, I would want to sever ties. Now, I realize The Donald has lots of money and there might be implications for the PGA that I'm not aware of . . but just on the face of it .. I would severe ties. Not for the latest dust-up but for all the past dust-ups and for being the kind of person that generates controversy on a far too regular basis. One of these days he's really going to do or say something crazy and go full Ted Nugent. The PGA doesn't want to be anywhere near him when that happens. Trump would be a better ambassador for the WWF.

Heck yeah I'm rooting for Jordan next week. I would be rooting for *anybody* who had won the first 2 majors of the year to win the 3rd. I don't care who does it - a grand slam would be exciting! I admit it . .I wasn't too impressed when he won The Masters. "Anybody could happen to win 1 major", I said to myself - you know, like Rich Beem or something (nothing against Rich Beem). When he won the US Open, though . .that started to peak my interest. The more I watch him the more I find myself pulling for him. I still am not sure if he's going to set the world on fire or if he's just having a great year . . but I'm definitely paying attention now.

I don't understand how an instructor can "ruin" a swing. Ultimately, it's the player whose in charge of their swing. I can understand how discouraging it can be for amateurs but Pros have been playing great for years . .they know how to swing a club. I just don't see how a bad teacher can be much more than an excuse for a Pro losing their game.

As far as I'm concerned, the debate as to whether the confederate flag is racist or simply represents Southern heritage and culture ends with this quote from William Thompson, designer of the confederate flag in 1863: “ As a people we are fighting to maintain the heavenly ordained supremacy of the white man over the inferior or colored race; a white flag would thus be emblematical of our cause. Such a flag would be a suitable emblem of our young confederacy, and sustained by the brave hearts and strong arms of the south, it would soon take rank among the proudest ensigns of the nations, and be hailed by the civilized world as the white man's flag ." But I wouldn't take the flag off the General Lee nor would I remove a Nazi insignia from a WWII relic. Nor would I elevate something like the Duke's of Hazzard into something meaningful. Let's face it, the flag is on top of the car because it looked cool . .not for any kind of symbolic reason. Also, Bubba's an idiot. I thought he was an idiot when he bought the car and I think he's an idiot now for changing the flag. That's just my opinion, though.

True fact . .I can hit the ball about 90% of my total distance just with a 9 o'clock to 3 o'clock swing. This is because with that short swing I'm not throwing away any power with crap technique. I had a golf teacher who was in his mid 60's that could hit the ball around 280-300 yards. He could hit it almost that far sitting in a chair . .which he did a few different times in my lessons to prove the point. So, with proper technique, it doesn't have to be an either/or thing. You can hit the ball pretty dang far for as long as you retain a decent amount of flexibility. And those guys swinging for the fences on the range mostly don't have a clue.

Here he is on his way to the press box . . .

Well . .I don't know first hand, the longest course I regularly play at is just over 5800 from my tees . . . but I found this handy chart over at: http://www.golfdigest.com/blogs/the-loop/2011/05/usga-pga-golfers-are-playing-w.html According to it, you need more than 250 off the tee for 6500 yards. LPGA plays courses that are longer than 6400 and 250 yards is a solid avg driving distance for them. I fit right in the chart - with a driving distance of 225 (not avg, though), I don't feel like driving distance is a problem for me on a 5800 yard course. Everything else is a problem for me, lol, but I'm good with driving distance.

Why no option for McIlroy and his wisdom tooth?

3 putt !?!?! Holy cow - I never saw that coming. As he was walking up to the putt I actually said to my wife . . "McIlroy or Woods, in this position, would drop the 12 footer . . .XYZ (pick your favorite Sunday collapser . .I won't mention who I said just because it doesn't matter) would 3 putt it and lose. Let's see what kind of golfer DJ really is". But I was not expecting him to 3 putt it! It was almost as if he just couldn't stand the idea of winning. I still won't consider DJ an "epic collapser" - at least not yet - but, man . . .that was an epic collapse.

I will come in on the side that doesn't like the golf course. Don't like the par4/par5 thing, don't like the radically different tee boxes, seen a lot of short putts staying out of the hole, seen plenty of shots that really should have stayed on the green not stay there. Some of those approach shots look more like pinball than golf. It reminds me of some kind of Las Vegas replication course crossed with something from a video game. It seems to play much tougher in the afternoons. I really don't like the layout for fans. I'd say it's fair because everybody is playing the same course - but I personally don't feel like it rewards the kind of play I would like to see in a US Open. It rewards the long hitters a little too much and it's just not the *style* of course I imagine a US Open being played on. You can kind of tell something's not right here because the course is getting as much attention as the play. Anyway - I can't wait to watch the conclusion today and I hope they find a better spot on the West Coast for future US Opens.