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

This has been some week for golf.  Tiger and Paddy were in a final round showdown that has evolved into a slow play debate.  Tiger leveled some criticism at the call to put them on the clock and rumors flew that the PGA Tour was going to fine Tiger. Yea right! Tiger and Paddy are back at it this week at The PGA, so let’s hope the two of them can do battle again this time with no controversy.
Here are some of the players that will make this an interesting week.  Some will have a chance to win and some are just fun to watch.
The Favorite. Tiger of course is the favorite again.  I don’t care if he curses, slams clubs, plays barefoot or stands on his head when he putts.  We can always count on a few jaw dropping shots in every major.  I don’t care what he says to the press: if he doesn’t win this major he’ll feel his season is a disappointment.
Ready to take their first major. Lee Westwood has been so close recently it’s painful.  Hunter Mahan has four top tens in his last five outings.  He is one of the hottest Americans right now.  Sean O’Hair has cooled off lately but still has the game to compete here.  Steve Stricker has two wins this year and his playing great golf.  He is second to Tiger in scoring average and money on the PGA Tour.
Looking for major number two.  Jim Furyk is always a threat on tough courses.  His accuracy will do him well at Hazeltine.   Geoff Ogilvy flies under the radar, until Sunday afternoon that is.  He can win on any course.
Overdue to win their first.  Kenny Perry would love to win this one but he may have too many distractions on his mind right now.  The perennial contender to win his first major is Sergio Garcia.  He has been close lately and he has to win one sooner or later.  Doesn’t he?
Old Reliables. We can never count Retief Goosen or Vijay Singh out of any major.  They both have everything it takes to win on the biggest stage.  Angel Cabrera is the most over looked major champion in today’s game.
Out of the blue.  Could John Daly shock the world like he did in 1991? Oliver Wilson is one of the hottest Europeans right now.  He finished T11 at Bridgestone, T24 at The Open Championship and T32 at the US Open.  He can win here.  Camilo Villegas is certainly long enough to contend but he’ll have to keep it straight if he is to beat this course.
Most fun to watch.  Ian Poulter has played well under the spotlight and looks ready to break through.  No one enjoys life or golf as much as Miguel Angel Jimenez.  He’s fun to watch and the coolest guy out there.  Phil Mickelson has more shots than any one on tour and is never afraid to try them.  Phil doesn’t care if it’s a major or a practice round, he’ll try anything with that golf ball.  Let’s hope that Phil and his family have a great week.

Nicklaus, Woods, Palmer, Player, Hagen, Jones, Old Tom…the Magnificent Seven

by Jeff Skinner

Here is our “Best” list. These men had an impact on the game that went beyond their victory count.

The Best Player of All Time: Jack Nicklaus has to be considered the best player of all time. His eighteen majors are more than anyone. Jack actually considers his total twenty victories, because he won two US Amateur Championships. Jack accumulated 73 career PGA victories, not to mention nineteen second place finishes. He played against the most difficult competition and won consistently across three decades.

The Best Active Player: Tiger Woods is universally recognized as the best active player today. He has already won fourteen majors, not including his three US Amateur Championships. Woods has 70 PGA Tour wins and he is only 33 years old. He is the youngest winner of the career Grand Slam and in 2001 he was the only player ever to hold all four major championships at the same time.

The Best Sportsman of All Time: Arnold Palmer is acknowledged as the golfer that brought golf to the masses. As golf was gaining popularity in the early 1960’s Arnold Palmer was the face of golf. His swashbuckling attitude and rugged, movie star good looks made Palmer the most popular athlete of the day. Palmer won seven majors, plus one US Amateur and 62 career PGA Tour wins. He spent more time signing autographs and promoting the game of golf than any player in history. He single-handedly revitalized the British Open by playing in it when other Americans would not.

The Best Ambassador of All Time: Gary Player has been the de facto Ambassador of golf since he left South Africa to take his game to the world. He has traveled over 13 million miles to play golf and has accumulated 163 international victories. He won nine majors and the career grand slam on the PGA Tour and on the Champions Tour.

The Best Amateur of All Time: Bobby Jones won nine major championships as a lifetime amateur. During the 1920’s he won thirteen of the twenty-one tournaments he entered. In 1930 he became the only man to win all four majors of his day, The US Open, US Amateur, British Open and the British Amateur, and the Grand Slam was born. He stayed an amateur all his life and set an example of dignity and integrity for all golfers to follow.

The Best Professional of All Time: Walter Hagen won eleven majors, including 5 PGA’s, from 1914 to 1927. He was the first real professional to try and change the way the public perceived the golf pro of the day. He made professional golf a legitimate way to make a living. He stood up for players rights and was believed to be the first athlete in America to earn over one million dollars.

The Best Legend of All Time: Old Tom Morris was the most influential man in early golf history. He won four Open Championships. He was a great player, greenskeeper, club maker and course designer. He was a pioneer in course maintenance and designed or remodeled 75 courses. Old Tom’s touch is still felt by golfers today.

by Jeff Skinner

There aren’t any words left to describe what Tiger Woods continues to do on the golf course.  The dictionaries are packed with adjectives and superlatives that all have been used to describe Woods and his accomplishments.  Unbelievable, awesome, great, incredible, astonishing…take your pick and apply any others you like. Woods is better than that.  Each week he amazes us with his skill, creativity, focus and determination to show that he is the best golfer alive.
At the Bridgestone Invitational Woods came out with guns blazing as he opened with a 30 on his front nine.  The best Padraig Harrington could do was par on the front and Woods took the lead at the fourth hole when his birdie put him at -11.  Tiger had his putter working as he made birdie putts of thirteen, twenty seven and seven feet to go along with his eagle on two from twenty four feet.  Harrington finally got his first and only birdie on eleven.  When Tiger stumbled with bogeys on thirteen and fourteen, Paddy was back in the lead by one.  What had turned into a match play between Tiger and Paddy ended on sixteen, the 667 yard par five.  Woods drove into the left rough but was undeterred and played to the fairway leaving him a third shot of 181 yards to the tucked pin.  He then hit another classic Tiger shot.  He pumps an eight iron a little past the hole and draws it back to one foot from the cup.  His birdie put him to eleven under.  That was the easy part.  The hard part was watching Harrington take an eight on the same hole.  Harrington’s third shot landed in thick rough behind the green.  His fourth shot flew the green and landed in the pond.  He was done.  His valiant effort for the week nullified with a triple bogey that cost him the tournament.  The two major champions always seem to take their time on the course and Sunday was no different.  There were timed all day and put on the clock at the sixteenth.  That would have been something to see; Woods and Harrington getting penalized for slow play.  Could that have taken Harrington off his game?  He said afterward that he rushed his second shot and didn’t hit a good shot.  In typical Tiger fashion he went on to birdie eighteen and finish at -12 twelve, four shots clear of Harrington and Robert Allenby.
Tiger has now won 70 PGA tournaments in his career.  He needs three to catch Nicklaus and twelve to catch all time leader Sam Snead.  There are thirteen PGA tournaments left in the season, including the Fall Series.  The way Tiger is playing he could probably break Snead’s record this year if he wished.
One thing is for sure.  As long as the tour plays at Firestone, Tiger will be there. Tiger absolutely owns Firestone.  This is his seventh win at the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone.  He is the only player ever to win a stroke-play event seven times at the same golf course.  There are certain courses on the PGA Tour that Woods thrives on.  He has six wins at the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines and he has six wins at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.  Over three courses Woods has nineteen wins.  Nineteen of his 70 wins on just three courses…heck, Woods could break Snead’s record if he just played these three courses for the next few years.  Compare that to the combined total of the number three, four and five players in the world.  Paul Casey has one PGA win, Kenny Perry has fourteen and Sergio Garcia has seven.  That’s twenty two combined PGA Tour wins for their careers.  Woods has nineteen wins on three courses.  Amazing, stupendous, unbelievable, insert whatever adjective you wish.  He is that good

It looks like a showdown at Firestone as Padraig Harrington has a three stroke lead over Tiger Woods going into the final round. Harrington has been searching for his golf game all season and it appears he has found his stroke, at least for the weekend. Harrington realizes that the final pairing with Woods has melted plenty of players. Harrington has been there before with Woods and knows what to expect. A win by Paddy would be vindication for a season of swing changes. It would give Harrington a huge boost before next week’s PGA Championship. If Tiger could win it would be his fifth of the year and his seventh victory at Firestone. Tiger’s putter was magic on Saturday as he needed only twenty three putts. He has used the same model putter forever; Scotty Cameron is the only one that can pry Woods away from his Nike clubs. Who knew the Bridgestone Invitational would be such a great a warm up for the PGA?

Long before the World Golf Championships and The Bridgestone Invitational, Firestone was hosting professional golf tournaments. In 1954 the first Rubber City Open was won by Tommy Bolt. In 1962 it was changed to the NEC World Series of Golf and that lasted until 1999. After that it changed to the NEC Invitational and finally in 2006 it was called the Bridgestone Invitational. In addition to that, Firestone hosted The American Golf Classic from 1961 to 1972, The CBS Golf Classic from 1967 to 1974 and three PGA Championships. It is the only course to host three PGA Tournaments in one year. Firestone also was home to some of the original made for television tournaments like The World Series of Golf. Take a look at this clip from The World Series of Golf when The Big Three were in their prime and the whole world lay ahead of them.

by Jeff Skinner

When Tom Coyne decided to write a book on golf in Ireland he decided to go all the way. No one can say that Coyne doesn’t immerse himself in his projects. In “A Course Called Ireland” he tells the story of when he looked at all the links courses rimming the coast of Ireland he thought of playing the island as one large loop. He would start from the south east coast of Ireland and then play his way to the north and follow the coastline until he returned to the same area and finish with a round at legendary Ballybunion. Sounds like the trip of a lifetime, but the kicker here was that Coyne would walk. He would not only walk the courses, but would walk the entire trip. When I first heard of his plan I had two thoughts: He must be crazy and will soon be divorced. As it turns out only one of these is true, he still is married.

Coyne combined his love of golf and his fondness for Ireland into a unique and inventive golf expedition. He gives us a good mix of golf, Irish culture and humorous anecdotes that keeps the book from being too much travelogue or a course by course, hole by hole description of his trip. You have to marvel at Coyne’s determination and adaptability. He travelled over a thousand miles, played fifty six courses over a four month trek that saw more rain than the Amazon rain forest. He spent most nights looking for the “craic” (fun) in local Pubs and stayed in Bed and Breakfasts. He came across many varied and formidable obstacles. From the full Irish Breakfast that some days weighed him down, Irish drivers running him off the road, to dogs, sheep and cattle, not to mention the blisters and chafing in places I won’t mention. In spite all of his difficulties Coyne tells the story of a country full of fun loving welcoming people and golf courses both grand and quirky. His trip reinforced his love of unspoiled links golf and brought him many new and interesting friends. Coyne was joined by his wife and friends for some legs of the trip and one can only assume that his wife is the most understanding woman, or she was glad to get rid of her golf crazed husband.

Coyne has done a marvelous job at retelling his adventures, golf and otherwise and selling links golf in Ireland. I’m convinced and I’m of Scottish descent whose only goal was to go play golf in Scotland. I’m ready to add Ireland to my list. With all respect to Mr. Coyne, I’ll walk the links but splurge for a ride to the course.

Purchase “A Course Called Ireland”

by Jeff Skinner

Golf is a game built on hundreds of years of tradition.  The rules and etiquette of the game have been passed on for generations changing only slightly over those years.  Change in the rules and etiquette of the game comes at a glacial pace.  Embedded in the fiber of golf is a code of sportsmanship and honesty that sets golf apart from other sports.  Golfers police themselves and are expected to call penalties on themselves.  At the same time golfers are expected to be respectful of and courteous to their playing partners and their opponents.   As fans we revel in the competition of the greatest golfers in the world and cheer for our favorite.  There seems to be an unwritten rule that has developed among golf fans.  Many feel that you have to be a Tiger fan or a Phil fan and you can’t be both.
Because Phil and Tiger are the best golfers in the world a rivalry is a natural occurrence. Like all competitors, each of them wants to win and that usually means that they are standing in each other’s way.  However, we should realize that their goal is to shoot the lowest score to win the tournament, not to beat any specific golfer.  Their goal is to beat all golfers.  Rooting for Phil and Tiger is not a mutually exclusive proposition.  We can cheer for Tiger to drop that thirty footer and at the same time root for Phil to drop that flop shot in the cup.
Too many fans feel that cheering for one prohibits them from rooting for the other.  Tiger fans love the fact that he wins so often and crushes his competition.  Tiger haters feel the same way.  In that respect he is like the New York Yankees, many fans choose to root against the best.  Phil’s fans love the fact that he’ll gamble on every shot and that he interacts with the fans.  Phil’s detractors argue that his gambling on the course costs him wins and that his low key, laid back persona keeps him from being number one.  What too few fans realize is that these qualities are what make each of them special and draws us to them.
Golf isn’t like other sports.  The Yankees have to beat the Red Sox to be successful.  The Steelers have to beat the Patriots to be successful.  In other sports your opponent lines up across from you and you are competing directly against them.  In golf your competition walks alongside you, trying to do exactly the same thing you are trying to do: get the ball in the hole.  As Bobby Jones said you are playing against “old man par.”  Par is the opponent on the course, not your playing partner.  All you are required to do is shoot the lowest score.  It doesn’t matter what the others do as long as you score the lowest.
I used to cheer for only one of the top two golfers in the world.  But I have seen the light.  I now cheer for both of them.  Honestly, I cheer for all golfers.  I want each and every golfer to make their best stroke on all their shots.  Whether it’s Phil or Tiger or Goose or Watson or Michelle, I cheer for them all.  It’s a joy to watch a tournament when you have so many golfers to root for.  More fans should try it.  You can be a Tiger fan and a Phil fan at the same time.  Tiger and Phil do not want for fans; they are the biggest draws in golf.  However, those fans that cheer for one and not the other are missing the point.  You can, and should be rooting for both Woods and Mickelson.  They are two different personalities and the best golfers in the world.  Try pulling for them both and you’ll see that they play golf against the course and not against each other.

The World Golf Championships pick up again this week at the Bridgestone Invitational at historic Firestone Country Club. I liked it better years ago when you said “Firestone” and you knew what it meant. But that’s another rant. This week gives us 49 of the top 50 golfers in the world at a classic course. Any guess who the favorite is? Of course it’s Tiger. He is fresh off his fourth win of the year, is primed to capture a major championship at the PGA next week and he has won here six times already. It would appear that everyone else is playing for second place. But, as the saying goes “That’s why they play the game.” You never know what may happen on a golf course. There are plenty of guys who can take Tiger down if he has an off day or two. These golfers will make it interesting this week, whether they win or not.
Phil Mickelson returns after six weeks off to tend to his family. It must mean that his mom and wife are doing well. There isn’t a person in this world that hasn’t been touched by cancer and Phil will be feeling the love from the crowd. Can he win? I don’t think he really cares. He’ll be tweaking that swing and preparing for The PGA.
Can Jim Furyk continue to come up short all year? He hasn’t won since The Canadian Open in 2007 and is playing too well not to get another win sometime soon. He is fourth in scoring average and sixth in putts per round.
Retief Goosen has found his game again and has finished second, T5 and T16 in his last three outings. He could be ready for his second win of the year.
Hunter Mahan is still a hot golfer. Ok, so he missed the cut at the Open, but so did Tiger. Prior to that he finished second, T4, T6, T14 and T27. He is in the top ten in scoring average, birdie average, and All-Around. It’s just a matter of time before he breaks through with a big win.
An unknown to US fans is Englishman Ross Fisher. He is 23rd in the world and has played well at the majors. He was fifth at the US Open and T13 at The Open Championship. He could be a player that sneaks up and steals it from the big names.

by Jeff Skinner

John Daly has another meltdown on the course, his life starts to fall apart and he says he’s going to get help.  Have we seen this before?  Only a few dozen times.  We have watched him go in and out of rehab numerous times, get married and divorced every year it seems,  walk of the course, blow up on the course, drink too much, eat too much and just make a complete mess out of his life more times than it’s worth counting.   It looked like he had turned the corner.  During his suspension from the PGA Tour Daly spent much of his time in Europe playing the European Tour and dropping pounds from his lap band surgery.  He was playing better and better and getting his game back.  He also was saying all the right things when it came to keeping his life together.  He had sworn off his old group of hangers on, got a new coach, lost a bunch of weight and appeared to be an older and wiser John Daly.  He was working on getting ready for his return to the PGA Tour and trying to qualify for the Race to Dubai.  He even signed a deal with The Golf Channel for a new reality show.  Now he feels like he has lost it to the point he is wondering if he should quit golf.  “The last two weeks have been the first time in my career I didn’t think I could win,” Daly said. “I don’t have the feel I used to have. I don’t have the confidence. I just don’t have it. I tried my (tail) off and shot 88. I’ve thrown in the towel and shot 82 when I quit. But I didn’t quit this time. It was a weird feeling.”
According to his coach, Rick Smith, Daly is in trouble, “a toxic state” he called it.  It may be the combination of weeks of travel, losing too much weight too quickly, poor nutrition and lack of sleep according to Smith.  Whatever it is, Daly needs help.  Even he knows it.  He says he’ll see his doctor this week and see if he’ll be able to play in the PGA Championship.
This is usually the time the “Daly Bashers” line up and let loose on Big John.  I know, I was one of them.  I have killed Daly for his horrible and self-destructive behavior before.  In my opinion he was wasting his life and his talent as he drank himself into bad situation after bad situation.  This time I am not going to bash him.  Maybe I am still basking in the glow of so many great and genuine stories in golf lately.  Tom Watson, Fred Funk, Catriona Matthew and Tim Jackson are just a few of the players that tugged at our heart these past weeks.  So, I’m not going to kick Big John when he is down.  I’m going to cheer for him, and wish him good health and hope he can find himself one more time.  John Daly needs help.  That’s a sentence we have heard before.  This time it may be different.  I’m rooting for Big John and hoping it’s the last time he’ll need help.

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Check out this video that Devil Ball Golf and The Sporting Blog came across.  It’s great and shows how all our hard earned tuition money is being put to use by those golf crazy college kids.  I swear I thought I saw my kid in there.

How can anyone who watches golf not be thrilled by Fred Funk’s win at the US Senior Open? You have to love this guy. Sure he doesn’t have the swagger of Greg Norman or the legendary status of Tom Watson but he does have his ever present smile, the championship trophy and a perspective on life that we all could learn from. Funk is the ex-Maryland golf coach that almost gave up on playing the tour a few years ago. He made the right decision and he has blossomed as a late bloomer. This is Funk’s fifth Champion’s Tour title and his second major to go with his eight PGA Tour wins. Funk made up for last week when he lost the Senior Open Championship in a playoff. He’ll try to continue his hot streak next week when he defends his other major title at the Jeld-Wen Tradition in Oregon.
Funk appears to have put his injury and health issues behind although there still seems to be a hint of a limp in his gait. He had knee surgery, shoulder issues and an infection that was very serious. His recovery has allowed him to get back to what he loves doing, playing golf with his buddies. In fact he still competes with the young guns on the PGA Tour and says he’ll continue to play on both tours as long as he can. His win here gets him into next year’s US Open at Pebble Beach.
Fred Funk is known for his positive outlook and fun loving manner. He loves what he is doing and it shows. Always thoughtful and classy, as Dottie Pepper interviewed him after he sank his last putt his first thought was to ask everyone to keep Ken Green, Chris Smith, Phil Mickelson’s wife and mother in their thoughts and prayers. After he was done he gave Dottie a hug. How can you not love this guy?

Does this get old? Tiger wins another tournament. Tiger wins another tournament without his A-game. Tiger wins another tournament where his competition wilts under pressure. Tiger wins another tournament two weeks before a major. So Woods wins for the fourth time this season and he was not even playing his best. Four wins is a career for mere mortal PGA Tour players. For Tiger it’s a training camp for the majors. It’s like winning the Canadian Football League Championship. It’s nice but it’s not going to change your life. Tiger will take the trophy and cash the check, but the only thing that will change after this win better be his percentage of fairways hit. He barely hit half the fairways this week but was able to hit plenty of greens. You can do that in the Buick Open, but that will not work in a major championship like The PGA in two weeks. It’s all about the majors for Tiger. A season with half a dozen wins would still be a disappointment for Tiger if one of those wasn’t a major.
This wasn’t one of Tiger’s blow ‘em away wins. He did his low scoring on Friday and Saturday. His 69 was just a tad better than the scoring average for the field on Sunday. This was more a battle of attrition as Woods stayed bogey free (3 birds) and his challengers never made a real charge. Tiger collected his 69th PGA Tour win here and he’ll be playing in another of his favorite tournaments this week, The World Golf Championships at Firestone before next week’s PGA Championship. It’s just another tune up for his last chance to make his season a success.