J.P.

I don't think this reflects bad on Tiger. He gives the media a good amount of time. I watched him lose last year at La Costa outside of San Diego to Chad Campbell and also the year before to O'Hearn. On both occaisons, as he walked by patrons after being shuttled in to the club house, you could tell he was very angry - just the way he walked and moved. The fire that burns inside this guy is extremely intense. I think we underestimate the amount of "desire to win" and "hate to lose" that it takes to be Tiger Woods.

Let’s see, 4 PGA West Stadium LaQuinta, Ca 31 Wolf Creek Mesquite, NV 33La Purisima, Lompoc, Ca No question that PGA West was most difficult. Dye is one of the few designers that will put trouble IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FAIRWAY. Be it a mountain of 20 or 30 feet or moguls a skier would be proud of, he does it. Wolf Creek is simply majestic. Teeing off a few hundred feet above the fairway with sweeping desert vistas etc. . . distance control can be a bit hard. La Purisima is sea level, long, and windy. It has hosted Q-school rounds a while back I believe.

They probably do something like machinists do when they have to get a broken bolt out of a tight spot. Maybe they'll heat it and drill a large threaded bit into the remaining shaft and pull it out. I would leave it to the pro's though, oh, and get a new friend.

I am not sure the CBS team knows how to take Faldo yet. CBS broadcasts golf almost with an air of reverence sometimes. (aside from David & McCord). I mean, so far, Faldo is not anywhere near as serious as I think the staff is used to in that chair. Did you see the shot where he grabbed Nance's jacket and shook him a bit a few weeks back??? He is constantly making funny references and talking in feigned accents. At times, the golf seems incidental to him. Over at NBC, the entire staff seems to understand that Johnny Miller is the "expert" / he is quite focused on golf - and they defer to him and generally provide comments/answers directly to him. I suspect, over time, CBS & Faldo will all develop some chemistry and all will be well. Either that, or he will be let go after a dicey comment at the Masters . . .

I can see what you are saying, but. . . She is very young, wants it very bad, and has to watch Michelle being given everything she is working so hard to earn - then to top it off, the media reminds her about it. Ask her about anything but Michelle and she probably will light up like a daisy!

Well, first of all, regarding Tiger, I think he just had a bad day. His swing was not with him early, and it gave confidence to O'Hearn. As I recall, Tiger did win 3 US Amatures - match play. It could be that the rest of the world has caught and passed the US players. A quick glance at the World Rankings finds Americans 1, 2, and 3 between Woods, Furyk, and Mickelson. That's it in the top 14!!! No more Americans until 15 with Davis Love, 16 Charles Howell, and 19 David Toms! Dimarco shows up at 23 and Cink is 26. That's only 7 players in the top 25!!!! Why do we wonder when we get beat??? At the top, we are very good, despite the most recent results, but after that, we are not.

Looks like some kind of promo/publicity shot at the Palms casino in Vegas. Palms has a some kind of business agreement with Playboy. They are all over the hotel. Anyway, she is holding a Callaway bag of clubs. It may be hers or not - don't know. I have no idea why she did this.

No question! I am very happy for CH III. He has put in some effort this past year - going back to Leadbetter and all. It must be gratifying to see the results of his hard work paying off this season. I typically don't see results to my hard work. Maybe not working hard enough. Interesting that on 18 in regulation, and 18, the first playoff hole, Phil's drives were both left again, ala US Open. Result was the same.

No question, e-bay is the place to look. Look at x-flex or senior flex stuff. Far less demand may bring price down low enough for you to replace the shaft with a nice aftermarket Regular for almost the same price as a stiff if you get lucky! callawaypreowned.com also sells stuff besides callaway - check it out.

Great Point!!! Where are the female celebs??? Anyway, Danny Gans, Murray, Lopez etc . . . think that THEY MUST perform for us. They think that is why they have been invited. I don't know if that is why or not, but it looks like they come to the course thinking that they have to put on a show. This is in stark contrast to people like Tom Brady, that played no football for us, or the the surfer guy who didn't surf for us. Chuck Schwab gave us no stock tips. Kenny G did not play the sax, and Micheal Bolton didn't sing. For some reason, the comedy guys feel the need to act out. I enjoy the event, and overall, enjoy the celebs, but I could do without a few of them.

I did see that on tv as well. I don't know if it is a violation. He was disgusted with putt one, then reached across the hole to almost "drag" in the 2 footer (putt 2). That rolled 4 feet by back to where he originally putt from. Putt three looked like putt one - two feet by, then he again reached across and "dragged" in putt four. By the way, that one nearly missed too. It could be some violation if there is anything about a "traditional" or "not unusual" stance, but I have not heard of any rule like that with respect to stance before. That was a shame - if you are going to wear pants like that, you better not four putt.

I'm a big Phil fan too, but let's hold on a minute! Pebble Beach is a SOFT, WET course! The roll is not getting away from him like it has at hard fast courses ie . . dry desert courses ie Bob Hope in Palm Springs, FBR Open in Scottsdale - even the US OPEN last year when he hit a 4 iron of one tee and still couldn't keep it in the fairway. I watched him in San Diego at the Buick, and he is driving it much better, but no need to wake up Fred Funk to get him worried about his accuracy title.

For me, 1. Must be consistent and predictable for greenside shots. 2. Must have somewhat low spin off the driver - (helps minimize side spin) 3. Must be solid and stable, able to hold its line in the WIND Callaway HX Tour is that ball for me. One must consider the considerable effect of wind on your ball flight out here.

Hey Fred! Well, "pulling" with the left arm will have the benefit of preventing the right arm/hand from dominating and throwing the club head past the hands/arms at impact. The important thing to remember however, is that this "pulling" is accomplished by the lower body leading, and the torso turning - first the lower body shifts laterally, then turns, the torso goes next, since the left arm is attached, it will go with the upper torso and lead the club to impact, handle first. No independent effort with the arms without the lower body leading. If you are still casting - club head passing hands - then I would think you need to quiet your arm swing - let the lower body pull it through. YOU are correct to think that most shots would go right - but thats why you have a strong grip, and turn down the knukles at impact - to close the face. Good Luck!

I HEAR YOU! Fact is though, the world of fitting may be a bit more art to some than science. Perhaps some clubfitters could comment, but I heard something about 1" addition in length is equal to adjusting the head one degree upright. Anyway, your last two fittings appear to be trying to achieve the same thing. More in common than less. What I mean is making the shaft longer has the effect of making the initial swing plane flatter. Adjusting lie upward means the impact may be a bit steep - out to the toe on the sole of the head. The fitters must notice a bit of a steep approach to the ball, and could be trying to flatten you out - one with increased length alone, the other with a combination. As far as the standard guy goes, that may have been suggested with the hope of a swing change in mind that would have you approach impact a bit more shallow. As far as your later comment goes, the guy teaching that added an inch - then tells you to grip down 3/4 - got me on that one. Did he really want your clubs 1/4 inch longer but couldn't do that?? Don't get frustrated. Ask the guy why. If you don't like the answer, move on. I love my teacher - he uses first rate video equipment and fundamentals. It is amazing to see on the video, how simple changes in grip and set up, change the clubface position and swing path, Hang in there!

Interesting that there is no category for Driving. No question accurate, long drives in the fairway directly affect the ease of getting your GIR percentage up, but, if you can hit greens from anywhere you drive the ball, driving is not so vital! Hmmmm. . . .

Maybe your instructor means "slow down" as in Ernie Els tempo. Slow from the start of the downswing building to fast at impact - not the opposite.

Think about those things you've always wanted. Goals you worked very hard for. Things you compromised family time etc. . . to put extra work in to achieve. Now imagine you had it . . . . in your grasp, and it got away. I know when I am busting butt for something, I want to see results - see a return on the investment. Boy, to get that close, and lose it, all you can think about is how hard you worked, how much energy you expended, and how you will have to do it all over again just to maybe have another chance. Makes me tired just thinking about it. I know all players are working hard, but most in a somewhat anonymous pursuit. For Phil & other top players, there is no hiding from failures of this magnitude. Tiger took a bunch of crap for missing the cut at that US OPEN as well. Phil will be better and better the closer we get to the Masters.

Thanks a million Gas_Can! I just finished doing my grips for the coming season myself! You guys were all correct in that it is rather easy! No question, one must be careful and take time in the cutting off old grip process. But man, once that's done, it goes rather quick! Add me to the list of guys who will do this themselves now thanks to you!!! THANKYOU!

Remember, Golf is a GAME! Have Fun!

IT'S COOL! Buy hey, the fans are not serious when booing. It's tongue in cheek. Evidence is the resounding Boos after Bubba Watson missed the green Sunday. They started booing, he takes his hat off and salutes them and waves. The crowd does a quick "about face" and they start cheering for him loudly. He then runs out to them and hands out a few autographed visors on the way to go finish the hole! COOL!

WoW! Your good if you can do that consistently! Why not just grip down an inch for every 10 yards you want to take off? It shortens the swing arc = shorter distance. I think many of us do that with wedges already.

Well, I have not used the Aldila shaft you mentioned, but I do have a UST V2 in my driver. It is the 76gm version with 2.2 torque. It is a tremendous shaft. Plays stiff, but would probably be a good transition if you are coming down from X flex. If you can load it, it accepts it willingly and is right where you expect it to be coming into impact. It is not wippy/wobbly and inconsistent like some of the Aldila shafts (not the specific one you mentioned) I have tried before ie NV. It is very good at limiting how far left, or right a miss hit shot will go. (torque) and when you hit it center face - well any shaft is good - but this one is really good. With driver though, do as others have said. Get to a launch monitor and see what each shaft produces - numbers wise. Then, outside, see what they produce in real life. It is such a big choice since you only carry one and there are so many good ones! Have fun testing!

Well, I guess you can call them foreign players, technically they are . . . but. . .many of these so called "foreign" players attended USA colleges to learn from our golf teachers, ie. . . Luke Donald (Northwestern), Paul Casey (ASU) etc . . . and others presently live here and learn from our premier instructors, ie Adam Scott (Butch Harmon), Geoff Ogilve (scottsdale). As soon as International competition comes around though, they are foreign.

No Question. I like Charles a lot. I had a chance to follow him & the other leaders on Saturday at Torrey Pines. He handled himself very well. He was clearly the "leader" in the the group, ie, most comfortable, and has a ton of game. Many people wish he would consider hitting an easy 8 iron 165 instead of forcing a 9 - but hey, Geoff Ogilvy won the US Open with a full swing on every shot. A factor to consider on Sunday, was Charles' relationship with Tiger. Many times we could see he and Tiger talking & laughing together, walking down the fairways together. When have you ever seen Tiger like that with someone that is right on his heels??? Charles does not get the same "game face" and "intimidation factor" that most competitors get when playing with Tiger. I think Charles will win this year. He already has 2 seconds!