GolfBookie

Anyone besides me tred of all the math lectures at the Players Championship this week? This point system is the craziest and most unfair model anyone could come up with. Also, as mentioned in my earlier posts, there is a real chance for players to unfairly influence who the winner is, by jockeying their final points totals by missing shots deliberately. Here’s my proposal: Keep the existing points system up until the Players Championship. At the players, change to a system whereby the top five point getters are awarded 0 strokes. The next five get 1 stroke added to their score; the next five get 2 strokes, etc, until the last five players get 5 strokes added. After that, whoever wins the tournament wins the FEDEX Cup!!

I'm looking for free advice for my Golf Buddy...we'll call him "Cosmo" Please look at his swing and critique it. -Thanks, the GolfBookie

One more thought on handicaps. Over the last 20 years, I've played in two different groups at Brookside GC in Pasadena, CA. The first group, a bunch of actors and Hollywood workers, alway has a standing medal bet of $10 to the low net winner, in addition to any number of match play bets. The second group is composed of other Pasadena residents, who never play a medal bet.....all bets are match play. The difference in play is that the second group "gives" many more putts....if you're playing a medal bet, every putt counts, so fewer putts are given. I estimate that the difference in recorded scores between the groups is at least two strokes per round per player. Thus, any group that bets on medal scores will have much higher indexes than a group which only has match bets.

SandBagging….Is There Such a Thing? I’m not so sure . In my experience, golfers prefer the bragging rights associated with a lower-than-actual handicap to the monetary and hardware rewards of a higher-than-actual handicap. In the (male) golf groups I’ve been involved in, the social pecking order has usually been set by handicap index….the lower the index, the higher the caste of the player. How many bad rounds are not recorded because under the 10 out of 20 rule “they’re not going to count” anyway? This common practice quickly leads to a lower index. In male golf groups, most of the handicaps are lower than they should be . All you really need to do to have an advantage is record all your scores, and your (actual) handicap will give you a slight advantage over others’ too-low handicaps. Does this happen in women’s groups? I wonder.

In fact, I got a call from him today :)

I don't buy the idea that it takes a pro a year or more to learn a new swing........if his leg is as bad as it seems, I think he should learn a modified "arms only" swing. I tried getting paid for my advice, but no takers!

I don't know, but whoever his new coach is, they need to find an action that keeps the stress off the left leg.

Here's my free advice to Tiger; I hope he will take it. 1) Drop Foley. It obviously isn't working . 2) Relax and enjoy your life for awhile. Read the Dalai Lama. Spend more time with your kids. 3) Research players, both past and present, that use a swing that creates the least amount of stress on the left leg and knee. 4) Find a coach that teaches that swing. 5) Trust in your inherent athletic ability to learn that swing. 6) Go forth and Play The Game.

7:30 AM: Prior to 3rd round of Masters. It was fun to watch McIlroy, Fowler, and Day play yesterday. They, along with Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson, Kaymer, Kim, and others make up what is shaping up to be a great new generation of golfers. If any of them want to be amongst the greatest golfers ever, however, they should hope that Tiger wins again . Why? Look at two different scenarios: 1) Tiger never wins again If Tiger fades away at this point, and one of these young players becomes the dominant player on tour, the likelihood that he will even approach Tiger’s record is pretty slim. That player will forever live in the shadow of “the Tiger in the room,” if you will. 2) Tiger wins another major If Tiger comes back, the young knights will have a dragon to slay. Tiger never had a real dragon ….. as Nicklaus had Palmer and Watson had Nicklaus….. Tiger’s dragon was Nicklaus’s record, and I believe he will slay it. Imagine the fun of watching a revived Tiger take them on, one by one or in groups….eventually one or two will emerge as real successors to the throne, and eventually Tiger’s age will catch up with him …….long after he has surpassed Nicklaus’s record.

Tiger is struggling, no doubt about it, but as of now, I believe he will get back on top. The reason I say that is that I see no diminishment in his desire to win, and that desire will overcome his present difficulties. That desire is what separates him from the field; it's as if he was born to play the game, and certainly his upbringing by his father reinforced that destiny. That intensity of desire is also what makes Tiger such a tragic figure. His fits of temper and general grumpiness show that unless he is winning, he is a very unhappy guy. His pain is visible for all the world to see, and sometimes it's hard to watch. I'd like to think that he can change and find some peace in his life, but until he does, he'll drive himself to win. When we see him "mellow out", then maybe he'll be done on the course, but right now I don't see it. Unlike Jack or anyone else who's played the game (except maybe Hogan??) it's hard to imagine Tiger without golf, and I don't want to imagine golf without Tiger.

I agree with you. What I was trying to describe with my post is the lack of consideration the "Speed Freak" has for the players he is playing with. If you think about it, the only entity with a vested interest in fast play is the golf course management; the slower the play, the less money they make. I assume most golfers, like me, enjoy the game and enjoy being outside with their friends, playing golf. Given that, why are they in such a hurry to finish? I get a sense that fast play is sort of a "macho" thing. I wonder if the women golfers are as obsessed with it? I'm not advocating slow play; I'm advocating courtesy to your playing partners.

The Speed Freak……every golf group has at least one. You know him. He’s the guy that freaks out if your group gets a half-a-hole behind. He’s constantly monitoring the group’s position relative to the group in front…..he pays more attention to that group than the guys he’s playing with. If the Speed Freak gets really pissed, he’ll forget about “honors”, jump on the tee, tee off, then grab his bag and stalk off down the side of the fairway before the rest of the group tees off. Everyone has trouble on the course sometime during a round. A lost ball or an especially tricky shot can result in a delay; it’s part of the game. The Speed freak has no patience for this……unless it’s him that’s in trouble. Not a peep about fast play then! My group plays public golf, usually at Brookside in Pasadena, CA. No matter where we play, the rounds are always 4-5 hours long…..golf is not a fast game, as games go. So why does the Speed Freak feel so compelled to finish in a hurry? And why does he always remind you that you’re playing too slow just before you’re about to hit an important shot or putt?

I think that Johnny Miller is the best golf commentator ever. How many of you while standing over an iron to the green ever thought to yourself...."green light situation here?" In contrast, I never got a positive swing thought from Ken Venturi. The Venturi quote that sticks in my mind is "Unless you've been there, you don't know what it's like." Not very inspiring. Johnny's commentary brings you into the action; Venturi's always reminded you that you were on the outside looking in.