Deryck Griffith

Yes, that is correct. But as I said, in the case of this specific hole for my game, if I was feeling it with the driver that day, Option A would be yanking the driver out of the bag and blasting it into the front right bunker. However, if I'm having a bad driver day, or not really feeling it (for whatever reason) I would resort to Option B...6i off of the tee. Option A gets me as close at possible. Option B puts me in a position that is nowhere close to the hazards with a very manageable PW shot into the green. Both Options are the highest percentage for me making Par. Again, in the case of this "specific hole," I would rather have the 135 yard PW shot than the awkward 30 yard, severely below the green pitch shot from the rough on the left side of the green (I mentioned that my driver miss was a straight pull).

I'm upset I didn't see this thread until now. Being that I am a conservative player (even though I can hit the ball long), I don't think I would even hit as much as a 5i. I hit my 6i 185+ so, being that the hole is 320 from the back tee, I play the 6i to that nice fat part of the fairway before all the hazards, have 135-130 left which is a nice uphill PW to the middle of the green, two putt and RUN away with a Par happy that I didn't get suckered into the design of the hole. I would consider driver also BUT, my miss is a straight pull and if I'm at that point of the round having a difficult day with the driver, I don't want to miss long and left on this hole as Par from that position would be a very low %. I am confident in saying I have a 80% chance (maybe more) of putting the ball in the fairway with my 6i. EVEN IF I miss hit the 6i (say I hit it a little fat and am left with 150-160), that's still only a full 9i which still gives me a high % for the GIR.

It's nice to hear you are actually playing. Hopefully the scores you are laying down are matching the excellent improvements you've made in your swing.

I nominate @bplewis24 ; @RonTheSavage

Here it is and I always wonder why people say Tiger doesn't revel much? He was pretty open, honest and revealing in this piece he wrote. http://www.tigerwoods.com/news/2014/05/05/73724944/tigers-blog-rehab-going-well-but-is-a-slow-process/

Waton's position is a fair one and could be an attempt to motivate Tiger. That said, if Tiger doesn't earn enough points to make the team but is completely healthy by the time the Ryder cup arrives, it'll be EXTREMELY difficult to not choose him as a Captains pick; especially, considering if his ranking is still #1 or even top 5 in the world.

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/anthony-kim-28-old-golf-152100727.html

The more I think about it, only a magazine/company that is in decline would find the need to do something like this Just a guess (I could be wrong). That's all fine and dandy. Still doesn't explain why they couldn't have placed at least 1 LPGA golfer on their cover in the last 6+ years (that's what, +/- 72 covers or so and not at least 1 LPGA player). There is no excuse.

All of your points are valid if and only if, over the last several years GD had found it worth their while to place a LPGA player on their cover. I'm all for cross promoting to the general masses with celebrities (male or female) who enjoy golf and are involved with the game in some fashion (like Paulina is) but it's inexcusable to completely exclude relevant female golfers from the cover for this amount of time. The LPGA should be pissed. The leading Golf Print magazine hasn't thrown them a bone. Life as we all know is about balance. No one is saying to place a LPGA player on the cover ALL THE TIME. What the LPGA players are saying is "why not us to sometimes ?"

As a Canadian and to throw a couple of things into the conversation, all lot of Moe Norman's mental limitations / "madness" was mostly due to the fact that his social issues and difficulties apparently stemmed from Aspergers syndrome. From when he was born to the 50s and 60s when he was in his prime to compete, there wasn't much knowledge (if any really) on diseases / syndromes like Aspergers. So, back then, it would be easy to label him as a crazy man. Interestingly enough though, you can argue the social deficiencies of Aspergers hindered his ability to perform at the highest level with the highest amount of pressure BUT, those same lack of normal social abilities spawned a bit of his loner personality that allowed him put aside the endless amounts of hrs to obsess over hitting the ball perfectly. Basically, being the "stupid monkey" that Erik always talks about. Catch 22 really and something to think about and consider when looking back Moe. As for best ball striker ever, that's a stretch. Top 10 ever, sure. Top 5, maybe....

Touche.......

Instead of 1 2 3 4, you can put in that section their current strokes gained position in the tournament. Have the graphic in red (with the number of course) if they are in the negative in strokes gained and have the graphic in green if they are in the positive. If I tune in during the middle of a Saturday let's say, I can immediately see if the particular player I'm currently watching is hot with the putter (or not) and compare it to their position on the leaderboard which to me, is WAY more interesting than telling me 1 2 3 4. You can also place the graphic in a special color (gold or something) for the "leader" in strokes gained who could be a guy not leading the tournament but still leading in putting. Being that Tiger is always the main topic during tournaments when he plays, it would be cool to see his strokes gained position in that graphic in the tourney (especially majors) or any other big name player for that matter like Phil, Bubba, Luke Donald, etc etc....

I can only speak for myself but the issues I had revolved around weight shift and pressure. Erik can probably get into more detail but Pujols weight below at impact is much different than Tiger's at impact. You can get away with the Pujols position MAYBE with the driver (not even really) but with irons, not a chance. To hit the ball before the turf on impact with the golf swing, the way weight and pressure moves in the baseball swing is completely different and doesn't translate to the golf swing well. Also, look at Pujols wrist hands vs. Tigers.

Haha. Those 4 days off are indeed great for the Golf game! I know some guys who played (and other who still are playing) in the Majors and the stories of the "pitchers" playing in between starts are good ones! I agree with the mental aspect; specifically, mindset. The one thing though when I started playing golf seriously 6 or so years ago; my muscle memory tendency to "push off" of the mound with the inner part of my right foot translated very well to Key #2 "weight forward." In some ways (important to say "some ways"), Key #1 "steady head" translated also as when you pick up your leg in the pitching motion, you must stay centered over the rubber (you can't really lean back outside your right foot. You can however turn your torso around towards second base, again similar to the golf swing, as you raise you leg WHILE STAYING CENTERED) and then "push off" from that point. Everything on the way down though from that point after pushing off (Inline Impact (flat left wrist), Diagonal Sweet Spot) does not translate from pitching much and definitely doesn't translate from the baseball swing.

I was fortunate to play baseball at a high level (Ontario Blue Jays followed NCAA Div 1). I was primarily a pitcher when I got to University but before that, both a pitcher and center fielder. From my own experience, without a doubt, my weight transfer in golf has everything to do with my experience as a pitcher and zero to do with my experience hitting a baseball. In fact, everything positive I brought over from baseball to Golf was from pitching. If you look at many of the good "former major league" baseball players who are all excellent golfers, almost all of them were pitchers (John Smoltz, Greg Maddux are great examples). The habits that are ingrained by the baseball swing are horrible habits for the Golf Swing and most times, a former baseball player who is "now a golfer" must exercise those baseball swing habits completely out of their muscle memory.

Interesting that Bubba withdraws because of "allergies" after a round where he drowned 3 balls into the water carded an 11 and isn't ripped for faking it, being a quitter or only "withdrawing" because he was playing poorly. It's just Bubba being Bubba... I was disappointed to see Ryo Ishikawa post a 74. He went out early today and had a chance to position himself very nicely for the weekend.

Hope you learned your lesson in all of this. Improvement in such a technical game/sport like golf takes work. You have to first commit to the work before anything else. Great to see you are finally starting to do that with Mike. Good luck - he will definitely get you going int he direction that you want to go.

I'm still on the wagon that Tiger still has a lot of time. We can cite Phil Mickelson as an example. He is 43 (turning 44 this year) and everyone still feels he has a LEGITIMATE chance of still winning majors. Let's not forget, a couple of years ago Phil had some major arthritis issues that raised questions on the state of his future and then boom, he wins the British Open last year and pretty much throws away the US open weeks before that...all at the age of 43. Ernie, who's game has been in shambles (serious putting issues) the last several years won the Open at 42, right in the middle of his struggles. During a major, anything can happen and I have a hard time believing at some point in the next 4-5 years that Tiger won't stumble into another major. If he didn't hit the flagstick at the Master's last year, what would have happened? You can argue the momentum he would have had if that shock stuck close and became a birdie would have propelled him towards his 15th major. We can have a very legitimate argument about getting to 18 but, getting to 15....it has to be a yes. He is 39 now and while his back issue is one to have concern for, he should be able to overcome it (even if it takes a year).

I played Lake Nona 5 years ago and loved the place. I would love to go back to play it a second time after basically having the first time be a blur... Enjoy it man and take some pictures of the course / holes if you can!

People put their "got to see it to believe it" guard up because there are many people who make these claims without realizing what a 300 yard shot really looks like. When measured accurately using GPS or a radar device like Trackman, many have been humbled to realize that what they thought was 300 yards was not even close. If what you say is true, then wonderful. I would suggest you film your swing, post it in the my swing section of this forum and show us. The beautiful thing is that the 5SK guys on the forum will be happy to help you with the deficiencies in your swing that you can work on and those suggestions will transfer over and help you with your 150-60 yard swing issues. Win win...

Unfortunately, the new greens are rock hard. Good Practice for the US Open?

You are hugely underestimating the pressure factor, distance they are playing from vs. you and their desire to position the ball in specific places off of the tee. Tiger and other players on the PGA tour hit their drives to specific positions on the fairway to give themselves varying angles to the greens and pin locations (if they are pin hunting). Because of this, the areas in where they have to land the ball is extremely small. In some cases, the position off of the tee may be in the rough (you would be surprised). If you had the opportunity play golf with Tiger in a "casual" round on a Tuesday morning or something like that, you would see the most incredible ball striking exhibition have ever seen in your life off of the tee. It would be so incredible to see that you would question if it's real. Really, that would be your reaction with most PGA Tour professionals if you ever had a chance to play casually with one. However, while in contention, Tiger and his caddie devise up their game plan and stick to it. That's what I notice about Tiger. When he has a game plan (even if it isn't working), he sticks to it and on days where he's not as accurate, you will see what you are describing. On days when he is accurate, he wins and wins allot (8 times in the last two seasons to be exact).

Congratulations!

Haha....I would LOVE IT if you guys came up! You do know though they are playing golf in the snow these days.. The things you do out of desperation! In all seriousness though, I would be more than happy to host some TST'ers here in the Toronto. Late Spring, Early Summer trip that involves golf, fun downtown and lots of booze! :)

Great review! Modern Golf is literally down the street from me as I live in Mississauga (which is the Toronto suburb that Modern Golf is in). I have been to Modern Golf myself and have had many friends get their clubs fit by them. It's great that you were able to enjoy the experience and it makes me smile to see a Canadian company get some love... If you are ever up here again in the summer, hit me up and I'll take you out. We have some really nice courses up here.