LinksLifeGolf

by Jeff Skinner

The LPGA gets back in action this week at one of its premier events, The Evian Masters.  Last we saw the ladies Paula Creamer was working her way around Oakmont Country Club on the way to claiming the U. S. Open title.  The women move from the hardest course of the year to what many call the most picturesque.  The Evian Masters Golf Club in Evian-les-Bains, France sits at the foot of the Alps with gorgeous lakeside and mountain views.  It makes for some quirky holes but the scenery is remarkable.

This tournament has all the feel of a major.  It boasts the second highest purse of the year with the winner pocketing $487,500 and has an extremely competitive field.  All the top names are here and Ai Miyazato looking to defend her title and pick up her fifth win of the season.  Creamer joins her fellow American, Cristie Kerr in an attempt to keep an American face on top of the leaderboard.  Michelle Wie is in the field and hopes to shake off her missed cut at The U.S. Open. The ladies travel from here to England for The Women’s British Open next week so this will be a great tune up for their next major. One of the most memorable aspects of last year’s tournament was the commercial for Evian Water that featured the “Evian Water Babies.” This kids crack me up every time I watch them.

by Jeff Skinner

Earlier this week Ian Poulter said he thought the days of the Americans winning all the majors was over.  He may or may not be right but one thing is for sure: there are more talented golfers from outside the United States than ever before.  Take a look at the Open Championship leaderboard.  The United States was barely represented.

The World Golf Rankings aren’t much better.  The USA totals seven golfers in the top twenty but that includes a wounded Tiger and an injured Anthony Kim.  The English have five in the top twenty and continue to move up the rankings.  Thanks to Louis Oosthuizen, South Africa now claims three golfers in the top twenty.

Corey Pavin is starting to sweat as he looks at the potential lineup he will have to face.  The European team looks very intimidating and they are always motivated come Ryder Cup time.

by Jeff Skinner

We got to see some great golf this week at St. Andrews but that’s the norm for The Old Course.  I could watch golf on the Old Course forever and not tire of it.  Heck, I could just watch the course with no golfers on it and be just as mesmerized.  Even though “King Louie” took all the suspense out of the final round there was still plenty of excitement around The Old Course.  Rory’s 63, the wind, the rain, the Road Hole eating the players alive, Miguel’s trick shot off the wall, McDowell’s shot off the stick at 18, Tom Watson’s goodbye and Louie’s steady play were the moments I’ll remember most.  There was also something at this Open that we have rarely seen before.  For one of the few times in his career, maybe his life for all I know, Tiger Woods doubted himself.

Say what you will about the world’s number one, and we all do, but self-doubt is a trait rarely displayed by Tiger.  Even in his worst days on and off the course he always keeps up an air of bravado and confidence, some may even call it arrogance.  He was anything but confident this week.

Tiger isn’t afraid to tailor his game to a certain style of play.  He has won hitting driver on every hole and he has won using irons off tees to stay out of trouble.  He’ll pop a 2 iron or his five wood or another specialty club in his bag if he thinks he needs it.  One club he never tinkered with was his putter.  That changed this week.

Tiger elected to bench his Scotty Cameron putter (used in 13 of 14 major wins) for a new Nike putter.  His explanation was that on slower greens he wanted a club that got the ball moving faster so he wouldn’t have to adjust his tempo as much.  He thought the Nike gave him a better chance of putting the huge St. Andrews greens than his old Scotty Cameron.

It didn’t work out that way.  He changed back to his old putter for the final round.  So what’s the big deal?  He only made a little club switch, players do it all the time.  Wrong, Tiger never would consider swapping putters before.

It’s a sign that Woods is even more frustrated and confused than we thought.  We all know it’s been a tough year and season for Woods.  He has many distractions that obviously have affected his golf game.  His swing may or may not need fine tuning, depending on which talking head you listen to. But to me this is the biggest sign that he is so confused about his golf game that he is willing to try anything.

To paraphrase an old golf saying “it’s not the arrow it’s the archer.”  Tiger hasn’t just lost his swing, swing coach and his ability to put the ball anywhere he wants.  He has lost his confidence with the flat stick.  That was Tiger’s most important part of his game.  He could sink a putt from anywhere.  We all have seen it over and over again.  Now he has even lost confidence in his most reliable club.

Tiger has played in seven tournaments, including three majors so far this season and has no wins. His last major win was the 2008 U.S Open.  He has one more chance at a major this year and he looks as unsure of himself on the course as he ever has.  If he is to salvage his season a PGA Championship win is the only way.

Undoubtedly, Tiger will be trying his hardest to regain his game and that should start with his putter.  That’s the easy thing to do: go with the club that won you all those tournaments.  That’s only part of his troubles.  Tiger still needs to do is get his head on straight.  That’s his toughest challenge yet.

by Jeff Skinner

On Sunday Louis Oosthuizen, the newly crowned Champion Golfer of the Year certainly didn’t look like the same golfer who had missed seven of eight cuts in his first eight major championships.  He was the most consistent golfer all week and he looked like a golfer that had years of experience leading in the final round of a major championship.  He drove the ball straight and long, put the ball in the right places, putted well, stayed out of trouble. When he did slip up with his first bogey on number eight he immediately recovered in the most dramatic fashion with an eagle at number nine. Fittingly the ninth hole is named “The End” and the championship was essentially over right there. Paul Casey had pulled to three strokes behind Oosthuizen but when Casey found the gorse on the twelfth hole and took triple bogey the engraver could start his work on the Claret Jug.

Afterward, a personable Oosthuizen displayed all the poise and sportsmanship we want in our major champions.  He appears to be a confident but humble man with his family as his main priority.  His life will change in a major fashion now that he has won his most coveted championship but his agent Chubby Chandler says he is sure Louie won’t be changed as a person.

It was an amazing display of solid golf on Sunday and Oosthuizen’s score of 16 under par and a seven stoke gap on second place is startling.  If Tiger Woods had finished with those numbers it would be touted as an historic victory.  As it is, Tiger was nowhere near the Claret Jug this week but the question remains:  Is this Oosthuizen’s break through to being a threat at many majors to come or is he a flash in the pan?  Will Louie stay among the elite golfers of his day or will he join the ranks of “one and done” Open Championship winners like Paul Lawrie, Ben Curtis and Todd Hamilton?

It is hard to win a tournament on any tour.  It is extremely difficult to win a major and that is why major victories are so cherished by the players. But there are dozens of players that have found a way to win a single major and then never been able to win another.  It is that second major and beyond that truly separates a player and puts him in that immortal class of golfers. Louis Oosthuizen has taken that first step, a huge first step.  Winning at St. Andrews is his dream come true.  Now he’ll get to celebrate and relish his monumental win but the work towards his next major starts soon enough.  One Open Championship win is historic but a second win will make a formerly unknown South African golfer immortal.

by Jeff Skinner

Louis Oosthuizen just became my favorite golfer!  Check out these pictures of Louie celebrating his Open Championship win. He has The Claret Jug and that cool red Championship Belt that the R & A gave him for the 150th anniversary of The Open and he is partying with the blokes at the Jigger Inn.  Way to go Louie!

by Jeff Skinner

Each year watching The Open Championship is a joy and seeing it at St. Andrews is always fantastic but this week had numerous disappointments.  It was hard to watch Rory McIlroy balloon to 80 in the second round after a record 63 in the first.  Watching Tom Watson miss the cut was difficult but his farewell on the Swilcan Bridge eased the pain.  All the big names that missed the cut was tough to take, Ernie, Paddy, Justin, Furyk all disappointed us.  Some would say that John Daly’s pants were the biggest disappointment of the week but I found them at least a little interesting.

For me the absolute biggest heartbreak of the week was the poor play of Phil Mickelson.

Phil came into this week declaring his love for St. Andrews and links golf even though his performance in past Open Championships had been miserable.  With only one finish in the top ten over 17 Opens he was still sure he had figured it out.  His titanic length and magical short game would now be combined with his refined distance control and trajectory.

His win at The Masters had put him fractions away from supplanting Tiger Woods as the number one golfer in the world.  He was convinced this was a good track for him and was sure he would contend.

At the end of round one he was ten shots back and his bid for an Open Championship was done.

All aspects of his game let him down.  Tee balls either missed the fairways or were on the wrong side, his short game looked average and his putting was abysmal.  As is the case when Phil’s flat stick is off he missed short, makeable putts during every round.  Phil made only 12 birdies and one eagle all week.  Combine that with 9 bogeys and three doubles and you have a bit of mediocrity.  Mediocre golf doesn’t win The Open.

Phil had squandered one of his best opportunities for an Open Championship.  Much is made of Phil’s quest for a U.S. Open and with five second place finishes he has been excruciatingly close to winning one.  Contrastingly, Phil has never been close to a Claret Jug.  His chance at a career grand slam is fading fast.  If he was to join Sarazen, Hogan, Player, Nicklaus and Woods this was his best chance to notch an Open Championship.  More major wins are probably in Phil’s future but a victory at The Open Championship isn’t very likely.

by Jeff Skinner

No one appreciates the fact that Miguel Angel Jimenez is the Coolest Guy in Golf more than we do at Links Life Golf.  We know he’s James Bond with a golf club.  He proved it again on Saturday when he used his creativity to play an historic shot at The Road Hole.  With his ball against the stone wall that borders the famous 17^th at The Old Course he proceeded to bank it against the wall and land it on the green.  Well played Miguel!

It doesn’t matter that he took double bogey on the hole; he is still The Coolest Guy in Golf.

by Jeff Skinner

Each day The Open Championship has given us something shocking.  On day one it wasn’t just John Daly’s pants, it was his play also.  His opening round 66 brought back memories of ’95.  On Friday The Old Course itself was the story of the day.  With a morning rain giving way to an afternoon wind that halted play and ballooned players’ scores to well above par.  On Saturday there was a surprise of a different kind.

The entire golf world was waiting for the second round leader, Louis Oosthuizen to succumb to the pressure of leading his first major.  Oosthuizen had his own plan.  He would try and control his emotions and play the same steady game that had put him in the lead.

After an opening hole bogey he played splendid golf, hitting fairways and greens and showing a clutch putting stroke that should keep him in good stead for the final round.

Oosthuizen started the day with a five stroke lead and only Paul Casey was able to pick up any strokes on that gap.  Casey shot a 67 to leave him four strokes back and the only real contender to what looks to be Oosthuizen’s Claret Jug.

It remains to be seen if the first time major leader can withstand the pressure of holding a big lead going into the final round.  It was only one month ago that Dustin Johnson imploded at the start of the last round of the U.S. Open.

Oosthuizen showed no signs of nerves on Saturday but Sunday will be a different test.  It’s The Open Championship and it’s his to win.  All he needs is one more solid round to fulfill his dream of an Open Championship at the home of golf.

by G. Rennie

When the best men in the sporting world tee it up for the Open Championship at The Old Course many of us can fall victim to the mythology of golf, with no place more steeped in legend, tale and rumor than St. Andrews and we feel that, truly, the game is immortal, having been played for all of time. Howling winds off the Firth Of Tay from the North Sea that test the mettle of each golfer seem a taunt from the gods, who, on occasion, like to mock those impertinent enough to claim mastery of their precious maiden. The Old Links lay defenseless on Thursday and many took advantage. But on Friday the Old Broad had her way with most, if not all the many players (see Louis Oosthuizen).

Caught in the torrent was one who has, in his own time, raised himself to the status of legend. Tom Watson walked these links for his last competitive round and bid the home of golf adieu. He stood on Swilcan Bridge for a brief moment, let the photo press take their fill, and took his last long looks of the course and the Scots who lined the road and filled the bleachers. And then he nearly worked one last piece of Open wizardry by nearly holing his pitch from the left of the Valley of Sin for an eagle 2. Birdie 3 for his last hole at St. Andrews, like his great friend Jack scored in 2005, seemed only just.

Five times Champion Golfer of the Year, Tom Watson’s accomplishments on the Open Rota courses are only exceeded by his personal comportment. His burning desire to win surely helped him achieve rare feats in the game of golf and assure him a place with the great enduring champions of all time. But his competitive fire never overtook his sense of fair play and his belief that the game was bigger than any individual. The esteem all the golf world has for him is his reward for doing his business with humility, respectfulness, great flair and talent and unbridled joy in the playing of the game. As the Scots would say, “We won’t see his like again”.

by Jeff Skinner

Say hello to your Open Championship leader.  He’s Louis Oosthuizen and he has a five stroke lead going into the third round at St. Andrews.  Oosthuizen is the 54^th ranked golfer in the world and has one European Tour win, the Open de Andalucia de Golf this past March and he seems like a pretty likable guy.

Can he withstand the onslaught the best golfers in the world are ready to unleash on him?  We’ll see today but if there is a repeat of the weather that hit on Friday that five stroke lead could be tough to overtake.