Spyder

I voted no because I'm selfish. I enjoyed watching her on Morning Drive when I could watch it, not just for visually appealing purposes either, but she has a certain enthusiasm and energy that made some segments on GC more watchable. I'm not really a fan of Fox in general when it comes to sports, but I guess if it's a good move for her personally then that's great. Good for her, regardless!

Another dozen of Titleist NXT Tour S balls. Those should hopefully last 6-7 rounds.

Here are the rest of the betting odds for the The Open Championship 2014 at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Merseyside, England, courtesy of Golfodds.com . Justin Rose 12/1 Adam Scott 12/1 Rory McIlroy 14/1 Henrik Stenson 16/1 Martin Kaymer 20/1 Phil Mickelson 20/1 Jason Day 25/1 Tiger Woods 25/1 Sergio Garcia 25/1 Matt Kuchar 30/1 Jordan Spieth 30/1 Rickie Fowler 30/1 Dustin Johnson 30/1 Lee Westwood 35/1 Bubba Watson 40/1 Ian Poulter 40/1 Luke Donald 40/1 Angel Cabrera 50/1 Brandt Snedeker 50/1 Jason Dufner 60/1 Read more: Golf.com

I think it's special each and every time it happens because it's a hell of an accomplishment. Again, I don't see the point in over analyzing it. I just took it at face value as "Oh, sweet. That's pretty cool!". Everyone knows what the tournament is and understands the concept that an underdog player can play well enough to qualify to play in it. That aspect is made clear in the name of the tournament itself. It's still special though. If that was my friend, co-worker, family member or my son it would be extra special as well. Should my reply to them be "So what? Anyone could have made it if they played as well as you did"?

I find some of the comments in this thread to be odd. I see a lot of over analyzing and attempts to pick the story apart and break down too much. The guy is an average Joe as he does not make his living playing golf. Does he maybe bet on himself at local courses to supplement income? Who the hell knows. He's an average Joe by most people's standards as he's a blue collar factory worker who gets dirty for a living and obviously plays as much golf as possible on the side. There's nothing to critique or over-analyze here guys. He's a hell of a golfer with a full-time factory job and has a once in a lifetime opportunity to play in The Open. Good for him!

There have been nut cases outside his house all week. Crystal lake road has been a mess. He lives on the first street on the left about 6 miles from me too lol

I have to agree with this. I'm also a Clevelander and die-hard Cavs/Cleveland sports fan and I actually do like LeBron. I have to admit I was really pissed off when he left. Not to the point of the idiots burning jerseys and making threats, driving past his house with threats, etc. obviously because I have a brain. But I really felt let down because I do love my sports and anyone with common sense could see the upcoming atrocity that would be basketball in this town without him. You have to give this guy credit. From a very, very young age he was labeled "The Chosen One", became the Nike poster boy, has earned over $450M since his career began at 18, has started numerous charities and continuously helps children with hands-on time and hard work, etc. This guy has never once been in trouble (yet) for anything off of the court that could really be frowned on. I cannot say that I would have kept a level head myself, though I'd like to think I would. The percentage of most In my opinion, nobody knows him well enough to justifiably say they dislike him as a person, or his character. Jordan would be a whole different ball game, but that's besides the point. Anyway, I am one pumped up Cavs fan today and I am now praying that I see a Kevin Love trade pop up on my phone. Hell, bring on Birdman, Mike Miller and Ray Allen too. Do whatever it takes to bring that damn championship to Cleveland. I'm partying tonight for sure!

You're not way off and that is the benefit of doing DFS (Daily Fantasy Sports). You can either play for free, or you can wager cash. If you haven't done so, check out one of the DFS sites. I personally play DFS NFL and NBA on FanDuel and I love it. It does take some grinding if you're going to step up and take it seriously, so daily research could be necessary. For the most part, I know who I like and which matchups are favorable so my research time is limited to about 1-2 hours tops. Then, I simply start hawking the sports outlets (like RotoGrinders and RotoWorld) checking for injury updates during the last 30-40 minutes before tip off/kickoff. After that, you get to sit back and watch the action. Sorry I didn't help you with your dilemma at all, but this is one of the reasons I quit season-long fantasy sports. It's such a long, drawn-out process with inconsistencies between leagues and people you play with. DFS is constant in that the rules are the rules and it's very straight forward. Enter a tournament for $2, have the potential to pull $2K. If you don't like tournaments, do a 50/50 where the top half of the field profits. Or, simply go head-to-head. You also do not have any idea who your opponent is playing until the game starts and you're both picking from the same pool of players (no drafts involved, which is also nice).

@late347 I think it depends on what makes you comfortable. For me, personally, it allows me to have a consistent "lie" on the tee. I control the height and I'm much more comfortable knowing that I have some additional room for error. I struggle with fat shots on a par 3 when I use no tee. The tee allows me to typically eliminate the fat shot. My mishit using a tee is a ball that is slightly farther up the face resulting in a higher ball flight and usually a little bit of lost yardage. It just puts me at ease and like most golfers, I play a hell of a lot better when I'm at ease and not approaching my shot, mid swing, with "oh crap.." feelings. That's just me and my own personal par 3 demons though. To what @Dave2512 he tees I play off of are pretty beat up on occasion. Using a tee, I don't have to search for the perfect nest of grass/lie for my ball. If the only patch of grass is right next to a tee marker, that will immediately get me thinking way too much.

I say you skip the next range session and try a local course. But, leave the predisposed feelings of a bad round and anticipation of playing poorly at home. Go out there, relax, get a drink (if you drink), take a deep breath before each shot and just calm down. This happens to everybody at some point. The biggest problem though is that too many people get burned out when it happens, rather than trying to keep a calm and cool head and trying to understand why this is happening. If you can get in a quick session with a certified professional, that's your best bet. If not, I think you should just hit the course early and play through a round. Even if you can only hit the range again, make it a constructive session and focus on simple, easy, and clear-cut objects. Focus on weight shift, or something that you can put 100% of your thoughts into while forgetting the other 1 million thoughts racing through your mind. Your mental game is equally as important and if you're feeling down, uneasy, nervous, angry, etc. before you even play... well, nothing good can really come from that (usually). Crack a cold one and hit the reset button. Things will turn around. • If you want more specific help, try filming your range session followed by posting a video of your swing in the My Swing thread. I know you're a Forum Leader, but if you haven't posted a MySwing thread, do that by following this: • Read this before posting in the " MySwing " thread. Once you've done that, read this: So You Just Joined TST and Posted a MySwing Thread

I use a tee. I can't see any reason not to. I'll take any benefit that I can obtain within the rules, while minimizing the risk of a bad shot, as often as possible. I'm also able to hit a more predictable shot in terms of height and spin, for me, and that results in more comfort and confidence which helps greatly. Calm seas between the ears is a great thing to have on the course in my opinion.

5th

I don't know, I wasn't there. I was just stating my opinion like you are. The kid is definitely not an intellectual on a professional level, obviously, so you can't accuse him of being smart for sure. He's absolutely idiotic, or at least acting like it, and that's my point. I wouldn't put anything past little Johnny at this point in time. It's just sad at the end of the day as I'm a die hard Browns fan and I was hoping for something much better. Who knows what will happen, but things are obviously not looking like too great right now.

Welcome! We're happy to have you and I'm sure you will have much more fun being involved, rather than lurking. I'm sure you have lots to contribute as well!

In all seriousness, how the hell do people know that he's not trolling the media by having someone take that picture? He's well aware that everyone takes his picture and sends it out and it makes ESPN/national news outlets. He's repeatedly complained about being followed 24/7, so maybe he's just trolling the hell out of everyone. He's not due for a drug test until April 15, 2015 but he can be forced to take a test at any time before that if there's incriminating evidence of drug, or banned substance abuse. If he's forced to take a test and passes, he'd easily get the last laugh versus the media. But, it would be a super douche move to keep feeding the fire. My personal opinion is that it is a staged photo and he's being immature and trolling people. I think the kid needs to get his clock cleaned a few times before he straightens up. Past greats like Aikman, Young, Favre and current great QBs have all said the same thing in different wording. He'll grow up at some point during the season if he's thrown to the wolves. If he doesn't, he may have a short career.

Eh, who knows. I gave up on the Browns (again) after they took Manziel. I took up FanDuel DFS for the sole purpose of being able to enjoy NFL football in general since the Browns have been nothing but a disappointment during my 29 years of life. I'm having more fun watching the speculation on LeBron coming back to the only team I care about in this city now. The Browns are destined for another 4-12 season. 6-10 tops. EDIT: From the inflatable swan, to the money phone, to the stupid finger rubbing/cash thing, to this... I can only laugh. The dude needs to grow the hell up. I wish Ray Lewis was still in the league to clean his clock a few times. Hell, maybe the fool knows he's not going to get the starting job and he's in Billy Madison mode in hops of being traded asap. I just don't know, but I know he's immature and a douche from all of the obvious and incriminating evidence.

I didn't even see a beer in that photo. There's a beer and a golf club?

They're illegal here in Ohio too but we sell them. We have Phantom Fireworks and American Fireworks out here. People still buy and set off gigantic mortars and bombs. My buddy actually sells apple bombs, h100s and m1000s. The only thing I hate are the hillbillies who shoot guns in the air. Fireworks may piss off neighbors and dogs, but bullets come back down eventually and can do much more.

It won't be too bad for us. The course is "closed" to the public until 9ish AM to allow the 20-team scramble to finish tee'ing off with nobody in front of us. Ten foursomes basically, with 2-man teams.

Ha, when I told my wife I was in a 4th of July scramble - early AM, she just shook her head. I had to reassure her like 10 times that I would not be gone all day and that we would be done before noon. You can't go wrong with a lake on the 4th though!

H a p p y 4 t h o f J u l y T S T M e m b e rs ! I know, I'm a day early.. but whatever. It's Thursday (aka Friday for most of us working schleps - at least, this week it is anyway!). What are your guys's plans for the 4th? Hopefully lots of grilling and good food, good drinks (responsibly, of course!), family and friends, and of course golf! There's a 2-man scramble in the morning that I am entering with a buddy of mine. We anticipate 18-20 teams to be involved and it's $120 per team. There's usually about $1,000 in skins and $50 for each Par 3's Pin Shot out there. We did this on Memorial Day and came in third at -4, but we didn't make any money. It was still a blast, but this time around we are gunning for the money. Tee off at 6:45 AM, then it'll be a big cookout with family. We have 10 18oz. porterhouse steaks chilling out in the fridge just begging to be rubbed down with some granulated garlic/onion, salt, pepper, EVOO, and a dash of paprika! The beer is in the fridge, the Goose will be on ice and I'll be one happy guy! No fireworks, as usual, since we don't want to piss off any neighbors. The good thing is that we're only about 1mile from the highschool where the city holds their display so we can post up in the backyard and see/hear/feel the whole show. I hope all of you have a blast this weekend! Stay safe, enjoy the weather/drink/food/family and hit'em straight!

You're making 3 stand-alone picks. Not consecutive finishes or 1st, 2nd, 3rd finishes.

It's time for the Turbulator...!! I've never really been a fan of Ping, unfortunately. I'm sure it's a quality driver and I'm very interested to hear more about it and possibly demo one.

My doubts were expressed prior to a video being posted, or mentions of a 48" 5° driver being used. After I requested the video and the OP obliged, I admitted that my assumption was wrong.

It has nothing to do with handicap in general. The brightest red flag is the "averaging 330 yards" part, which is by far not common at all. Doing it on occasion, or doing it several times in your golfing "career" is one thing. Averaging 330 is a much different level. Again, look at what the PGA professionals are averaging. Bubba has been averaging what, 310-314 yards? He's also the longest on tour at this time. How quickly would you believe someone who walked up and said "Hi, my average drive on most days is 15 yards longer than Bubba Watson. 50 yards longer than him on a good day". I don't know about you, but I'd probably raise an eyebrow and walk away. Of course, I now understand the circumstances surrounding this claim. I believe I could average quite a nasty drive with a 4-5° driver as well. I know it would rarely be in play, but on a simulator I'll put numbers up that give the "holy shit" factor too. Then again, not all simulators are equal either (as I think most of us know). Haven't you been to a TM demo event in a Golf Galaxy or something? I remember hitting a few drives that were pushing 330 with a TM R11. It was really disappointing to see my current driver average 320 (even though I'm averaging 275-280 in real life) on that simulator by comparison as well. I dont' want to make this thread about something it is not about though. This guy needs help finding an island in the SF area that he can tee off, so I'll bow out and allow him to receive the recommendations he requested.