LinksLifeGolf

by Jeff Skinner

While Spencer Levin and Kyle Stanley lit up the north course at the Farmers Insurance Open with opening 62’s Phil Mickelson had a poor round over the south course that left him confused and 15 strokes off the lead.

Mickelson, who admitted to coming into Torrey Pines with high expectations shot a stupefying 77 on a course that he knows better than anyone.  The tally wasn’t good by any measure: six of fourteen fairways, nine of eighteen greens and 32 putts.  Mickelson was as puzzled as all of us with his performance.

“I went in and had a good weekend, good final few rounds at the Hope,” Mickelson said. “I had some good days of practice and I was ready to play. I don’t know what happened. I just wasn’t able to focus.

“Obviously, I made some bad swings just in the wrong spots and so forth. But I felt like my game was ready heading in, and I don’t know what to say about the score because it was pathetic.”

The best thing we saw from Phil was the familiar profile of him using a regular putter as he finally has switched back from the belly putter he was experimenting with.

by Jeff Skinner

The youngsters had their way with the course at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on Friday as the world’s most famous golfers were still trying to find the secret to the desert course.  Danish golfer Thorbjorn Olesen, 21 shot a 67 to jump up eight slots and take the lead by a stroke.  Nineteen year old Matteo Manassero shot the low score of the tournament with a bogey free, seven under 65 to vault himself into a tie for second with Gareth Maybin.

While the kids were making a move today the featured threesome of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Luke Donald weren’t as fortunate.  Donald had a lackluster round of par which left him six strokes back and T32.  McIlroy also carded a 72 but he could have been in a tie for first had he not incurred a two stroke penalty for brushing sand off the ninth green while his ball sat off the green.   McIlroy admitted to knowing the rule but just suffered a brain lapse as he surveyed his shot.  He did manage to bounce back with three birdies and one bogey over his remaining holes but without that penalty he is sharing the lead.

Tiger Woods saw a bit of a change in his round two game as he putted better, 28 putts, but still needs to improve his short stick if he expects to win here.  He sprayed his ball a bit more today only finding six fairways and thirteen greens.  But Woods is playing his best golf in a long time and he managed to pair two bogeys with five birdies for a three under 69 and lies only two strokes off the lead.  Afterwards, Woods said he hit the ball about the same as the first round but was still struggling with the large greens.  He said they were “tough to read” and even though he was better on the greens today he knows that he’ll need to sink more putts.  But he has to be happy with two solid rounds of golf and sitting a few strokes back with plenty of golf still left to play.

by Jeff Skinner

You have heard it a million times: “drive for show and putt for dough.”  That’s the case at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship where Tiger Woods drove the ball well but could not find his putting stroke.  He needed 35 putts to get around the course and still shot a very respectable two under par.  If he putts like this over the next three days he won’t be putting for much dough on Sunday.

Tiger set himself well all day by hitting 10 of 14 fairways and averaged 300 yards with his driver.  And he hit an amazing 17 of 18 greens.  But that’s where his game left him.  35 putts left him muttering about how grainy these greens are and how he couldn’t find the speed of the greens.

Conversely, one of his playing partners, Rory McIlroy who shares the lead with Robert Karlsson at -5, only hit six fairways and 12 greens but only used 25 putts.  Leader Karlsson used one less at 24.  Drive for show, putt for dough, was never more appropriate.

by Jeff Skinner

This week the professional golf season starts to heat up as many of the bigger names in the sport get off their couches and get back on the course.  Torrey Pines plays host to the PGA Tour at The Farmers Insurance Open and half way around the world The European Tour moves from its South African swing to the United Arab Emirates for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.

Tiger Woods has taken some heat for passing up a PGA Tour stop to play the European Tour but appearance fees will do that to a golfer.  The European Tour operates differently than the PGA Tour as they pay many players for merely showing up.  The PGA Tour only pays those players that make the cut.  It is a formula that works for the European Tour as they are able to tap into plenty of cash from all around the world.

And they play literally all around the world.  A name change may be in order for the Euro Tour as they crisscross the world touching down on every continent except South America and Antarctica, and if they could find a sponsor they’d tee off at The Penguin Classic.

The European Tour, if they still insist on calling it that, has 46 tournaments on its schedule in 25 different countries.  Only 22 of those tournaments are actually in Europe.  And the country that hosts the most tournaments in Europe is not, Scotland or England.  It is Spain, with four tour stops during the season.

As a matter of fact the United Arab Emirates has as many events as Scotland with three.  South Africa has four, England, Italy, France, Portugal, China and South Korea all host two apiece.

Amazingly, the country with the most official events on The European Tour is its biggest rival, the USA and its PGA Tour.  Since three of the four major championships and three of the four World Golf Championships take place in the U.S, the U.S. is the country with the biggest piece of the Euro Tour pie.  Strange isn’t it.

Maybe it is time to consider jettisoning the name European Tour in favor of something that really reflects the flavor of the tour.  Maybe the “All World Golf Tour” or the “European Plus Everywhere Else Tour”.  Or maybe just one word would do it: “The European World Tour.”  That’s the ticket.  I’ll send that off to the boys at the Euro Tour, wherever they are.

by Jeff Skinner

I’m glad to see that PGA Tour stars make the most of their time off.  Bubba Watson spent some time and money this week at The Barrett-Jackson Automobile Auction and didn’t come home empty handed.  The self proclaimed ‘good ol’ boy’ took home the epitome of good old boys transportation.  Watson laid down $110,000 for the original General Lee, that is the car made famous in the old television series “The Dukes of Hazzard.”  Bubba likes to have fun and earning millions of dollars each year allows him to treat himself to what he calls his “dream car.”  You have to love Bubba, he likes to have fun.

The fans at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship will be treated to plenty of great players this week as five of the top ten golfers in the world play in the desert.  The power pairing of the first two rounds consists of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Luke Donald.  Tiger is the biggest draw in sports.  Rory McIlroy may be the second biggest draw as he is neck and neck with Phil Mickelson.  And Luke Donald is just the number one player in the world.  That’s not a bad group to follow.  The luckiest man in the field is world number two Lee Westwood.  Westwood is paired with Sergio Garcia and world number four, Martin Kaymer and won’t have to deal with the circus that surrounds Woods on the course.  That may be worth a half a stoke and at least plenty of aggravation as the players paired with Woods have to endure during each round.

Even with Tiger Woods passing on The Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines it will still be an interesting week in San Diego.  Hometown boy Phil Mickelson will try to win again at home.  He has won there three times when this was called the Buick Invitational.  But since Rees Jones revamped the South Course for the U.S. Open his best finish was second last year.  Dustin Johnson is the highest ranked player in the field at number nine and will be once again testing that surgically repaired knee which caused him to withdraw last week.  Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and David Duval will be trying to get their games in shape and show that they still have something left in the tank.  Young studs Keegan Bradley and Rickie Fowler will be there with Fowler playing with new Cobra clubs for the first time.  Maybe that will be the change that earns him his first PGA Tour victory.

What is the story with that clubhouse at The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.  It’s in the shape of a falcon but it looks like it could have been used in an old James Bond 007 movie or maybe an Austin Powers movie.  That thing is crazy.

All of us want to see some great golf this week and with all the big names playing we won’t be disappointed.  But if J.B. Holmes doesn’t get the biggest cheers of any golfer playing this week than something is wrong in this world.  The long hitting Holmes is back playing for the first time since he had brain surgery.  He had “brain decompression” surgery in September and is looking to get back to playing golf again.  Here’s hoping that Holmes can remain healthy and work his way back to the player he was.

by Jeff Skinner

It’s that time of year that millions of golf fans wait for all year.  No, it’s not The Masters, no it’s not the U.S. Open nor is it their first round of the year.  It’s when Tiger Woods tees it up.  For millions of casual golf fans who wouldn’t know Luke Donald from Donald Duck this is a special week as Tiger makes his first appearance of 2012 at The Abu Dhabi Championship.

Woods has elected to bypass the PGA Tour’s tournament at Torrey Pines where he has won six times to play on the rival European Tour and pocket a big check for just showing up.  Tiger puts a lot of thought into where and when he plays.  He won’t play any course he doesn’t like or go out of his way to play an event that doesn’t fit his schedule.  But the two biggest factors in determining if Tiger will play are simple:  Majors and money.  Of course he’ll play every major he is physically able to and after that it is all about the cash.  Hey, Tiger is a golfer but he is a businessman also and Abu Dhabi will pay him millions or so to be in the field.  Adding to that is the fact that HSBC and Rolex are both revenue streams for Tiger and his foundation.  Like it or hate it, it’s the way of the world and Tiger isn’t the only player that cashes appearance fee checks.

Tiger spoke to the press earlier today and after being asked at least six questions about the forthcoming Hank Haney book he grew more and more annoyed.  It’s safe to say he is not thrilled with Haney and there will be no Christmas card going out to the Haney House this year.

Tiger did say that for the first time in a long time he is starting this season healthy, “It’s been quite a few years since I’ve been physically fit,” Woods said. “So I’m looking forward to getting out there and giving it a full season, which I haven’t done in a while.”

“I’m looking forward to this year,” Woods said. “That’s something that I have to say, because I was able to prepare and get fit enough to prepare last year and towards the end of the year. I demonstrated to myself what I can do with implementing what (coach Sean Foley) wants me to do on the golf swing.”

Late in the press conference Tiger revealed something that actually made him sound human and something that many of us have in common with him.  He was asked why he loved golf and he said that he had played other sports, “I played baseball, I ran track, and cross country.  I liked doing it but I didn’t love doing it.  I love golf.”  He then reminisced about playing golf with his dad and even says he is now taking his young son on the course and relishes those moments.  If I didn’t know better I would think that Tiger sounded like a regular guy.  But I know better.

Click here for Tiger’s press conference.

by Jeff Skinner

With all due respect to Peter King, here are 10 Things I Think.

1.  If anyone thought that Bill Clinton was going to host the Humana Challenge in name only think again.  Clinton was the absolute star of the show all week.

2.  As Mark Wilson stood on the 18^th tee with the pressure of the tournament sitting on his shoulders he laughed, joked and talked with his fellow players as they waited to tee off.  That’s the way to play golf: relax and have fun and then knock the heck out of it.

3.  Even with the dangerous desert winds postponing play on Saturday the tour was still able to finish on Sunday.  It was dark and a playoff would have been played by candlelight but they got it done on a great sports Sunday.

4.  The ratings for The Humana won’t be great but that happens when you are up against the NFL Championship games.  Especially when you have two great games but the Humana is back on the right path.

5.  Once again my case for multiple televisions was reinforced this Sunday.  Two amazing NFL Championship games may have stolen the show from the Humana but with two TV’s side by side in my living room that problem is solved.

6.  Right now Eli Manning is the most clutch player in the NFL.  He has had a better post season than anyone, including Tom Brady.  Manning and Tom Coughlin are two of the most underappreciated people in the game.  And that’s coming from a lifelong Jets fan.

7.  Branden Grace may have won his second straight tournament on The European Tour but it was great to see Ernie Els and Retief Goosen back on their games and push him to a playoff.

8.  Mark Wilson now has won three tournaments in 13 months and he gets to defend his title in two weeks at The Waste Management Open.  That’s pretty impressive.

9.  There were some players sporting new long putters at The Humana.  Camilo Villegas, Charley Hoffman and Robert Garrigus are some that made the change.  Is it nearing an epidemic yet?

10.  It was good to see Phil Mickelson back in the desert.  He looked a bit rusty but he’s off the long putter and back to his regular blade and his putting looked good.  That’s the way it should be.  Watching Phil use that belly putter was painful.

by Jeff Skinner

By any measure the newly reconfigured Human Challenge in Partnership with the Clinton Foundation has to be considered a success.  President Clinton’s presence and influence have set the former Bob Hope Classic on a successful path to recovery.

Mark Wilson may have carted home the hardware and the million dollar check but the star of the show was President Clinton.  Much like it had been during its heyday as The Hope the star was never the players.  It was always the host.  For decades Bob Hope was the face of the tournament and the reason this tournament had such panache.  Now, with Hope gone Clinton has stepped in to rescue this event.

There were many doubters, including me, when the tour announced the relationship with Clinton and his foundation.  It certainly looked like a case of strange bedfellows as the two term democrat would be smack in the middle of a travelling Republican Convention.  During Clinton’s campaigning days it is fair to say that the PGA Tour membership wasn’t giving him much support.  But that was then and this is now and Clinton still has that charisma that put him in office and more importantly he still has a passion for his projects.

It showed all week at The Humana as Clinton spent more time on the course than anyone.  He once again was a rock star. The players, the fans and The Golf Channel all wanted a piece of Clinton and he was more than accommodating.  During his weather shortened round on Saturday he made Phil Mickelson look like a wallflower as he signed autographs, posed for pictures and talked up the crowd like he still needed their vote.

Clinton worked his magic long before the first ball was struck as he used his connections to pump up the field with Greg Norman and Phil Mickelson. “They were the only two I personally recruited, but we have a lot of other good players playing here,” Clinton said “We’ll have to see. We won’t know probably until the year or the year after whether it works for the golfers.”   And while neither figured in the outcome it is a sign that there still is hope at The Humana.

Rome wasn’t built in a day and The Humana Challenge can’t be considered rescued after one successful week but this is a very healthy start.  Humana, Clinton and the PGA Tour signed an eight year deal to rebuild this tournament and few could have envisioned such a successful beginning.

by Jeff Skinner

During a very long day at The Humana Challenge Mark Wilson showed that you can’t give up hope.  At a tournament that previously was simply known as “The Hope” Wilson had faith in his game and hoped he could hold onto his lead as his competitors were bearing down on him while his game went silent.  His faith was rewarded as he birdied the eighteenth hole in near darkness to finish two strokes clear of a trio of golfers and claim The Humana Challenge and hoist the Bob Hope Memorial Trophy.

After playing the front nine in one over par Wilson found his game over the back nine where he carded four birdies. “It was a challenge,” Wilson said, “But I guess my experience helped me in this situation knowing that, Hey, there’s a lot of golf left, maybe I want it make my birdies at the end of the round, and thankfully that’s what I did this time.”

Wilson is a familiar face this time of year on the PGA Tour.  He won twice early last season at The Sony and The Waste Management Open.  It’s pretty amazing considering the native from Wisconsin spends his winters at his home in Illinois.  Wilson is a lot like Steve Stricker who also prefers snowshoes to Footjoys over the winter.  Two golfers that live in the frozen north have collected two of the first three tournaments of the year.  I guess you don’t have to live in a warm weather climate to get it done on the PGA Tour.