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by Jeff Skinner

The name “Woods” carries a lot of weight in the world of golf. It is said that Tiger Woods is the most recognized athlete in the world and that he is the driving force on the PGA Tour. That may be the case but the name Woods seems to be helping out another golfer named Woods, Tiger’s niece, Cheyenne Woods. Ms. Woods was offered and accepted a sponsor’s exemption into the Wegmans LPGA. Cheyenne is an up and coming freshman at Wake Forest University. She is a very good player, but not a great player, yet. She may grow and mature into the next Annika, but for now she is a freshman in college and not even the best golfer on her team. The Wake Forest team has at least three or four players on the team with better records this year. There are dozens and dozens of female college golfers that have had more distinguished seasons than her, but her last name is a calling card that few can match.

I understand the need for tournaments to sell tickets and to get publicity for the tournament in order for it to be a success. We see it with John Daly on the PGA Tour (before his suspension) and the European tour. We have seen it for years with Michelle Wie, who not only was getting exemptions into LPGA events, but she was getting them for men’s PGA events. It was not until this year that Michelle earned her tour card through Q-School. She had been in so many tournaments the past years it appeared that she was a full member of the tour. Tournaments are about making money: money for the players, money for the charities and money for the tour. However, is someone going to buy a ticket to see Cheyenne Woods at this stage? I’m not so sure. What I am sure of is this. Someone in the “Woods” camp should take some time to consider where and when Cheyenne plays outside of college. Michelle Wie started playing in tournaments way above her skill level at a young age. She has struggled on the LPGA Tour and has suffered in the men’s tournament she played in. She has yet to recover from a career that has more ups and downs than Augusta National.

Cheyenne has said that Earl Woods was an influence in her life and that Tiger has helped her out on her game. Take a lesson from the master, and I don’t mean Tiger. I mean Earl. He had Tiger compete at all levels of golf. He stayed at that level until he dominated it and then he moved up to play with older and more experienced golfers. Earl never let him get in over his head where he would be overwhelmed and therefore discouraged. Michelle Wie was not so lucky. She moved into tougher levels of golf so quickly that she was never given the chance to be a dominating champion and it has hindered her career. She may very well overcome it this year but it has been a struggle. That happens when huge expectations are placed upon a person.

Cheyenne Woods seems like a mature, composed, polite young lady. Watch the video. Her golf career is all ahead of her now. She is at a great school and has a strong support system I am sure. She should take great care in deciding which tournaments outside of college to compete in. It may seem like the fun thing to do now, but beware. Whose path would you rather follow: Michelle Wie or Uncle Tiger?

“Hooks and Slices” will bring you our view on whats happening in the golf world.

This week’s golf action includes a Lord, a Major Championship, the end of an era and the Coolest Guy in Golf.

The PGA Tour honors Lord Byron Nelson at the HP Byron Nelson Championship at the TPC Four Seasons Resorts Las Colinas. Byron Nelson holds one of the records in sports that will never be broken. He won eleven straight tournaments in 1945. Tiger never taped that record to his bedroom wall. That one will be around forever. Adam Scott will need to break out of his funk to defend his title.

The Seniors Champions Tour kicks off their first major of the season with the Senior PGA Championship. Jay Haas is the defending champion and he will be tested by plenty of players gunning for their first Senior Major. Major winners like Norman, Mize, Lehman and Bernhard Langer will be trying to unseat Haas and take the first major of their season.

The LPGA is ending its thirty one year run at the Corning Classic. In 1979 Penny Pulz pocketed $15,000 for the first win. The winners over the years have been Caponi, Sheehan, Carner, Bradley, Daniels, Jones Inkster and Sorenstam. Twenty eight of the top thirty in the world will send the Corning Classic out in style, including Paula, Brittany, Cristie and Michelle Wie who is trying to make the last Classic her first win.

On the European Tour, The Coolest Guy in Golf will be defending his title at the BMW PGA Championship at the Wentworth Club in England. Miguel Angel Jimenez, without a doubt the Coolest Guy in Golf, will be in a grouping that features Masters winner Angel Cabrera and new Hall of Famer, Jose Maria Olazábal. Major Champion, Hall of Fame inductee and The Coolest Guy in Golf, those fans will be getting their money’s worth from that one group.  John Daly will try to keep his comeback on the right track.

The news that Amy Mickelson has been diagnosed with breast cancer brought an out pouring of concern and best wishes for Amy and Phil. It hits many of the touring professionals and their wives hard. Amy is one of the more visible and involved wives on the tour. The news also puts into perspective how delicate life really is. Phil and Amy have been living a golden life. Phil’s success has made their life a dream come true. They have three healthy children and a strong, vibrant marriage. This next phase of their life will certainly be a test but both Phil and Amy are strong, positive people and that will help them through this.

Many of us get caught up in the daily business of life and sometimes we take “living” for granted. It’s easy to lose sight of what actually matters as we focus on careers and houses, etc, and all that distracts us from what is truly important. It took years and plenty of life lessons to learn what is really important in my life. I tell my kids each day, they laugh when I do, but they’ll get it one day: “If it doesn’t concern your health or the health of your children, it’s really not that important.”

by Jeff Skinner

This game of golf we all strive to master can be a fickle thing. You can shoot the round of your life one day and come back the next looking to repeat your same score only to be disappointed and end up scoring ten strokes higher. It comes and it goes, we all know that today’s birdie could be tomorrow’s double bogey. It is the same way at all levels of golf. The weekend hacker and the tour professional face the same dilemma although to a different degree. You stand on the first tee and wonder, “Will I have it today?” The it, is that indefinable thing or sense or feeling that lets us play our best and score well. It comes and goes each and every round. Pro players are not immune to losing it. Ian Baker–Finch and David Duval are two famous cases that have lost it. Baker-finch lost it quickly after his British Open win and left competitive golf. Duval was a former world number one after his British Open Championship and lost his game soon thereafter. He is still attempting to get his form back on the PGA Tour and insists he is close.

There may be a case on the tour today. We have seen Adam Scott drop from number three in the World Golf Ranking at last year’s US Open to a current ranking of thirty two. Scott was a much heralded talent when he started playing the world tours. He was called one of the best ball strikers on tour and his game was advanced beyond his years. Scott has accumulated twelve career wins and is always among those mentioned in the “Best Player Never to Win a Major” discussions. He became the youngest winner of The Players Championship in 2004 when he was twenty three years old. Scott has had one PGA Tour win in each of the last three years. This year he missed the cut at the 2009 Players Championship and seems confused about his game. It was his fifth consecutive missed cut on the PGA Tour. He had previously never missed four cuts in an entire season.

Scott will be defending his championship title at the HP Byron Nelson Championship this week. He has had some injuries this past year but insists he is healthy again. Scott has long time world class instructor Butch Harmon to help him on his swing. Scott and Harmon have changed his swing and this may the adjustment period. But you can sense Scott’s disappointment, “My golf swing is just horrible and I have no feeling of where the club head is and I’m hitting terrible golf shots. I get myself in so much trouble I can’t recover.” Harmon, who has coached Tiger Woods and is coaching Phil Mickelson, says, “He’s dejected and he knows it. If you had told me that Adam could miss five straight cuts I’d never would have believed you.” They both are certain that Scott is getting closer to finding it than his numbers indicate. “I need to work my way through it,” Scott said and Harmon confirmed the thought, “He’s going to work his way out of it.” On his Blog Scott stated that he “had a good off week and got in a few productive days of practice.  I’m looking forward to defending my title.”

Adam Scott is much too talented and much too young to be thought of as having “lost it” but you can see the concern on his face and hear it in his words. Hopefully he’ll get his stroke back and win again. This week is a good place to start.

“Hooks and Slices” will bring you our view on whats happening in the golf world.

• At the pre-tournament press conferences I watched Cristie Kerr walk into the press conference alone.  Before her, Lorena Ochoa, the best player in the world, comes in with one person accompanying her.  Michelle Wie walked in with a seven person entourage.  Compare that to the winner, Ji Young Oh, who barely speaks English, who came in all alone.  Come on Michelle!
• On the front nine of the final round Brittany Lincicome was well on her way to shooting forty.  It didn’t stop her from having fun.  On one green she was picking up those little “helicopter” seeds.  You know, when you were a kid you threw them up and they spun around like a helicopter when they come down. 
• Ji Young Oh gets her first Ace on the eighth hole in the first round.  
• The LPGA dream came true on Sunday.  The last two groups had “star power,”Wie, Creamer, Pettersen, and Linicome were in the last two groups.  Lorena and Cristie were the only ones missing.
• All the LPGA players were working the fans “outside the ropes.”  That’s their motto to get and keep the tour viable in these tough times.
• Paula’s pink balls on Sunday.
• Brittany looked like a NASCAR driver on Sunday: Left, left, left all day long.
• Helen Alfredsson going really low with a 62 on Thursday and walking thirty yard ahead of her slow playing partners.
• Suzann Pettersen and Brittany Lincicome having a long driving contest on Sunday.  Ji Young Oh driving it 240 and winning.
• I couldn’t tell when Suzann Pettersen was pissed off the most:  Her second shot on Sunday’s first hole getting wet, her bogey at twelve, missed birdie putts at 13,14,15, the missed two footer for par at seventeen, or having to talk about it all in the press tent.
• Each LPGA player was asked about Michelle Wie during their pre-tournament press conference, kind of like Tiger Woods without the wins.  Each player said about the same thing; she’s talented and they were glad “she earned her way on tour” through Q-school.
• Michelle Wie saying she still has interest in playing with the men and at the Masters.  Are you for real Michelle? First of all, you need to cut loose all those hangers on.  Second, please learn how to make a putt.  Finally, stop talking about the same old stuff and look at the golfers on your tour that win.  
• The best scene of the week was Ji Young Oh’s caddy giving her a big hug and lifting her up off the ground on eighteen; two happy professionals reveling in their day’s success.

by Jeff Skinner

Golfers over the years have always been captivated by the long ball. From Old Tom Morris to Bobby Jones to Jack Nicklaus to Tiger Woods, hitting the ball a long way has been a major goal of any golfer. No golfer has ever said,”I want to hit it shorter.” The evolution of the game from hickory shafts to steel and to graphite has enabled golfers to hit the ball much longer distances, especially with the newer drivers. Jack Nicklaus was hitting his driver longer at sixty years old than he was at twenty five. The professionals are driving the ball farther than ever before, but with that length comes a decrease in accuracy. Rarely do you see the driving distance leaders near the top of the leaders in driving accuracy. The leaders in driving accuracy and fairways hit are always the shorter hitters.

This past week on the PGA Tour and the LPGA the long drivers were on their way to the airport when a couple of shorter hitters were collecting their trophies. Both winners, Zach Johnson and Ji Young Oh, are shorter hitters but both rank higher in driving accuracy than they do in distance. Ji Young Oh, who won by four strokes at the Sybase Classic in New York, was out-driven by an average of thirty yards by her nearest competitor, Suzann Pettersen. Oh was hitting her driver an average of 237 yards and ranks 122^nd on tour in distance. Pettersen bombs the ball over 262 yards on average and is ninth on tour in distance. As far as their accuracy ratings: Oh has a 71% ranking which is T57 on tour. Pettersen has a 67% rank and is the 100^th ranked player in driving accuracy. Oh drove the ball very straight and was able to shoot an under par round while her longer foes played from the rough and couldn’t catch her. She beat the longer Pettersen for her second win on tour. Zach Johnson isn’t a terribly short hitter, but he’s not going to win any long drive championships. He has a 281 yard average and is 133^rd on tour, but he ranks 16^th in driving accuracy for a 70% rating. Johnson defeated James Driscoll in a playoff at The Valero Texas Open. Driscoll has a 287 yard average and is 76^th in tour rankings. His accuracy numbers are low. He has only a 57% success rate and is 142^nd on tour. Again, the shorter hitter comes out on top. So, maybe we need to think again about what’s more important off the tee. Is it the longest ball, no matter where it lands? Or is it a ball in the fairway with a longer approach to the green? Unless you’re Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson who can bomb it and then wedge it on the green from anywhere, and recently that doesn’t work anymore, isn’t it better to have a shot from the short grass? Ji Young Oh and Zach Johnson obviously think so, and they have two new trophies to show for it.

by Jeff Skinner

The LPGA got want it wanted to start the day. It had many marquee players in the last groupings all poised to take a shot at winning The Sybase Classic. Michelle Wie, Paula Creamer, Suzann Pettersen and Brittany Lincicome were all with in range of the lead, but none of them could make enough birdies to get close to Ji Young Oh. The young South Korean played a strategic game that kept her in the fairway and always within two putt range.

Suzann Pettersen had plenty of spots on the back nine to pull even with the leader, but the she couldn’t seem to sink any of the makeable birdie putts and left frustrated and disappointed. She said she had “makeable birdie putts on 13, 14, 15”…..and “pulled a two and a half footer on 17.” As for feeling good about second place, she wasn’t buying it. “I’m very disappointed. I gave away another win”.

Ji Young Oh played excellent golf. She shot 66, 69, 69 and a 70 on a day with tough conditions. The wind was blowing fairly well throughout the day and most players had difficulty getting around the course. It didn’t bother her. Oh’s tee to green game was great as she was down the middle all day long. She was out driven by Pettersen and Lincicome all day but was not fazed. “They are long drivers, 300 yards…my drive is 240, 250. But it doesn’t matter. That is my style…I have good irons…I stay focused.” She said she was a little nervous to start the round. “It was not easy… Brittany and Suzann are good players.” Two key holes were nine and twelve. Oh thought the pivotal hole was number nine. She made a great par save with a putt from off the green, made par, and saved a stroke. On twelve she hit a 195 yard seven wood to the green and parred while Pettersen landed in the rough and could only salvage bogey.

Oh is one of many South Koreans on the LPGA Tour but she is too humble to say she is the best. This is her second win after winning the State Farm Classic last year. “We have many good players… we have been in competition mode growing up.” She actually says that she is more comfortable living in the U.S.” Living here, I’m more comfortable. Because the game of golf that I lone so much, I can play freely here anytime and anywhere I get a chance.” Young is working very hard on her English and did her best to answer all the questions she could without an interpreter. There were many Korean fans cheering her on and afterward she signed every last autograph and posed for pictures with many fans. It was an exciting match play like atmosphere right up to seventeen when Pettersen lost her chance with a bogey. Oh finished in style with a third shot on eighteen to three feet and sank the birdie. It was a fitting end to a day of precision shot making by the young South Korean.

It’s time for wind suits and ear muffs today at The Sybase Classic today.  I’ve been following the lead groups around the front nine and there is plenty of wind and cool temperatures to keep to ladies bundled up.  This looks like it is turning into a match play between Ji Young Oh and Suzann Pettersen.  Young holds a one stroke lead over Pettersen at the turn.  Michelle Wie is at nine under followed by Paula Creamer.  Young had birdies at 3, 5 and seven and a bogey at eight to shoot 34 on the front.  Pettersen stumbled at the start with bogeys on the first two holes.  She was not pleased to say the least.  She came back with three straight birdies on 5, 6, and 7.  Michelle Wie, who is drawing the largest gallery, had a bogey and birdie on the front nine.  Paula Creamer dressed in all pink and using her trademark Sunday pin balls, has fallen off the pace with three bogeys and one birdie after ten holes.  Brittany Lincicome has had a rough from nine shooting a forty.  Even with a poor start, she is still all smiles as she laughs with her caddy between shots.  

****Update @ 2:00…Young bogeyed 10…she and Pettersen are tied at -13 after 10 holes***

“Hooks and Slices” will bring you our view on whats happening in the golf world.

How hot can Zach Johnson get? He had eight birdies and an eagle for a ten under par 60 at The Valero Texas Open. Johnson has a three stroke lead on Paul Goydos and Justin Leonard who will finish their third round on Sunday morning.

The LPGA has got what it wished for at The Sybase Classic. There are plenty of stars on the leader board and the final round could turn into a shootout. Suzann Pettersen and Ji Young Oh are tied at twelve under, Brittany Lincicome is one back and Paula Creamer and Michelle Wie are three back at nine under.

At the weather battered 3 Irish Open an amateur is tied for the lead. Twenty-two year old Irishman Shane Lowry is tied with Robert Rock at sixteen under. He has won many amateur tournaments and is trying to join Danny lee as an amateur winner on the Euro Tour this year.

“Hooks and Slices” will bring you our view on whats happening in the golf world.

May 16^th 1959 was the day a love affair began. It was on that day a nineteen year old Jack Nicklaus played his first match in Scotland. He was playing for the United States Walker Cup team at Muirfield. The U.S. won that match and Nicklaus was a young kid with a bit of a chip on his shoulder. He had no idea at the time that he would grow to love Scottish golf more than any other. Nor could he have realized the love affair with the people of Scotland that would grow out of his visits to the home of golf. Jack chose to end his playing career at St. Andrews a place he learned to love and where the people loved him like one of their own. Mike Aitken talks to Jack 50 years after the love affair started.

Paul Goydos is a guy you have to like. He is one of the few guys on tour that everybody pulls for. He leads the Valero Texas Open by three strokes. The real story in Texas was Lance Ten Broeck. He played and caddied in the same tournament! That’s never happened on the PGA Tour before, at least no one can come up with anyone who ever tried it before. Lance is Jesper Parnevik’s full time caddy and a former tour player. The greatest thing about this is Lance beat Jesper by three strokes. Talk about bragging rights!

Brittany Lincicome shot a three under 69 to take a two stroke lead over Suzann Pettersen and Ji Young Oh at the Sybase Classic. Brittany has had a feast or famine season. She has two missed cuts, T65, T63, T39 and her first major, The Kraft Nabisco Championship. No one on the tour is enjoying herself more than Brittany. She seems relaxed, confident and happy. A major championship can have that effect on you.