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by Jeff Skinner

Here’s my new name for Phil Mickelson: “Stock Market Phil.”  He has more ups and downs than Dow Jones.  Bogeys, double bogeys, pars, birdies and burrowing animal holes made up Phil’s day not to mention his cardio workout.  He ran to the 18^th tee after holing out on the 17^th so he and  Dustin Johnson and Rickie fowler could tee off and finish their 18 in the disappearing daylight. Go Phil.

Rickie Fowler is trying desperately to grow a bit of facial hair.  Maybe he sees the success that Johnson Wagner has with his 80’s style stache.  My advice to Rickie is to give it up, maybe in a few years it will resemble a real mustache.  Don’t rush it, soon enough you’ll be wondering why that thing is gray.

The drunks in the crowd waited in the approaching darkness on 16 for Phil and the boys to show up and there weren’t disappointed.  Phil, DJ and Rickie all hit the green but Phil was the only one to hear the cheers for a birdie.

If Dustin Johnson had a short game he would win everything.

Webb Simpson looked liked Phil Mickelson out there for a bit today: hitting it OB and missing some short putts but he managed to get it back and finished T3.

The 16^th hole is absolutely crazy.  I know some traditionalists may not care for it but for one week a year it is great.  It’s great to have a lot of noise and plenty of fun.

Gary McCord did a great job in covering the 16^th but as the day wore on even his wife was wondering if he was all right.  She texted him with the question, “Are you drinking?”  His response was “I try so hard.” Snagged Gary!

I appreciate the effect that NBC Universal has had on the Golf Channel but where is Jeff Rude and John Hawkins?  I only hear The Hawk on Morning Drive and Golf Central and Rude is gone.  That’s too bad, they were great together.

I bet that if twenty years ago you asked David Feherty where he would be in 2012 he never would have said hosting a live TV show the night before the Super Bowl.  This guy has gone from a partying player that lost trophies and weeks of his life at a time to a depressed addict that was out of control to one of the most popular faces in golf.  He’d be the first to say he lives an amazing life and God Bless America.

by Jeff Skinner

We golfers are a passionate group.  The truly passionate never want to leave the course and Donald Trump has come up with a plan to keep golfers on the course forever, literally.

Trump has a plan to add a 1.5 acre cemetery to his very posh and very private Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.  The Donald is a man that has everything, well almost everything.

Trump has been given permission to submit a plan to the New Jersey State Cemetery board to set develop a cemetery on the property of his exclusive club.  Members pay upwards of $200,000 to join Trump National Bedminster and $20,000 in yearly dues and the plan would allow those members to buried on their beloved course, for another fee of course.

The town council has approved a plan for 500 graves on the site but still needs approval from the state board.  Included in the plan is a section for The Donald and his family.

Trump is never shy about proclaiming his courses are the best in the world and while this will not affect the layout of the course it certainly will make it unique.  Not only that, Trump has found a new revenue stream for a few acres of his property.  There is no truth to the rumor that he has a separate plot for his hair, not yet anyway.

by Jeff Skinner

The Solheim Cup is still over a year away but with the U.S. having named Meg Mallon as their captain for the 2013 Solheim Cup the speculation persists as to who the European captain will be.  On today’s Morning Drive Annika Sorenstam said she had been asked if she “would do it.” 

Gary Williams and Erik Kuselias were caught a bit off guard as Sorenstam made her regular Thursday appearance on the show.  During a discussion of the Meg Mallon captaincy Sorenstam said she had been asked and that she is still considering the decision.  When pressed by Williams she said that she had been asked again to reconsider and that there were still factors to weigh in the decision.  She spoke of the time commitment required by a captaincy and when asked if the decision on the design team for the Olympics had an effect she responded with a quick yes.

My take on the exchange was this:  Sorestam has been asked but won’t make her decision until she knows if she and her design partner, Jack Nicklaus are designing the Olympic course.  It looks to be one or the other.  With all the irons that Annika has in the fire, being a Solheim Cup Captain and designing the Olympic course may be too much for anyone to do well.

See the interview here.

by Jeff Skinner

Phil Mickelson leads a life that most people only dream about.  He’s a top golfer and spends his work week flying his private jet to the most beautiful places in the world to play a game for a living.  And he earns millions and millions doing it.  He has become one of the most recognizable faces in sport and there are days he certainly enjoys it.  But being in the spotlight like Phil has been for the last two decades gives people the chance to throw stones and the internet has given them a bigger forum.

Phil has initiated legal action against ISP Videotron S.E.N.C. a Canadian internet service provider to find out who is responsible for posting vicious comments about Phil and his family on the internet.  The postings have appeared on Yahoo Sports and called Phil an adulterer and a gambler among other things.

Phil has had enough of these postings and will take whatever legal action he can to find the responsible party, stop them and maybe even prosecute them.

Let’s get something straight here: these remarks have appeared as comments in response to articles posted on Yahoo Sports by golf fans (if you want to call them that) in response to legitimate articles.  Jay Busbee, Shane Bacon and Jonathan Wall do a great job writing and blogging on golf at Yahoo and these comments are from some psycho with an axe to grind at Phil.

When I started this blog I spent plenty of time reading the comments from the readers on other blogs but I had to stop.  The venom spewed from many of these “fans” is unbearable.   All I can say is that there are some demented people out there with way too much time on their hands.

Phil Mickelson leads a gifted life and he knows it.  Taking this action is his way of protecting his name and his family and all the power to him on that.

Link to Geoff Shackelford and the comments.

by Jeff Skinner

With all due Respect to Peter King, here are 10 things I think.

1.  It may be hard to tell who his competition is but Robert Rock has the best hair in men’s golf.  I bet he’s leaving some cash on the table by not taking a hat endorsement deal too.

2.  It was agonizing watching Kyle Stanley give the Farmers away.  But give the kid some credit.  He says he knows he’ll be back.

3.  Adding insult to injury the folks at Torrey Pines had already put Stanley’s name on the million dollar check.  Don’t feel too bad he walked off with $648,000.  That should ease some of the pain.

4.  So Tiger has a piece of the lead at the start of the final round and he ends up fading to a three way tie for third.  He’s still not the old Tiger, not yet anyway.

5.  As John Hawkins says they just aren’t afraid of Tiger any longer.

6.  Jack Nicklaus was all over the PGA Merchandise Show but he shocked plenty of us when he says his grandkids hardly play any golf at all. 

7.  We missed Phil Mickelson on the weekend at Torrey Pines but at least he was back at home with his daughter who gave him a scare earlier in the week.

8.  Why does the PGA Tour have to mess with Q-School.  The new plan looks convoluted, complicated and just plain unattractive.  Leave it as it is.

9.  21 year old rookie, John Huh tied for sixth at The Farmers and earned $208,500.  He went through all three stages of 2011 Q-School.  Under the new rules he couldn’t have even teed it up.

10.  So it’s not bad enough that we Jets fans have to watch Bill Belichick take his Patriots to another Super Bowl, now we have to watch him play at The Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Ouch.

by Jeff Skinner

Every win on the PGA Tour is certainly earned.  Brandt Snedeker certainly played well in his win at Torrey Pines at The Farmers Insurance Open.  He shot the low round of the day with a five under par 67 and came from seven strokes back to be there when Kyle Stanley imploded.

Snedeker out lasted Stanley for the win and he got a good break on the second playoff hole when he was given a drop from a CBS television tower.  He made a good chip then made his par putt.  When the shell shocked Stanley missed his par putt Snedeker earned his third and most unlikely championship.

Snedeker played well indeed but late on Sunday afternoon it seemed that the breaks went his way.  I am not saying he wasn’t a deserved winner but his tee ball on the second playoff hole was a poor shot.  He overshot the green and his ball was stopped by the tower.  Had there been no tower his ball would have traveled much further past the green as it was coming in very hot.  As it was, he got the drop and made two good shots for par.

Now let’s rewind to Kyle Stanley as he stood over his third shot in the eighteenth fairway on the 72^nd hole.  He hit a wedge into the green that landed some ten to fifteen feet past the hole.  At first it looked like the tournament was over right there.  But the spin on the ball pulled it back, first past the pin and then into the rough.  It kept moving and rolling until it passed through tens yards of rough and torturously slipped into the water.

Stanley had hit a good shot but with the rough shaved so closely it gave him no help.  Yes, he still had a chance to finish off the tournament but his good shot into the green was met with an undeserved outcome.  I understand the breaks of the game but it just seems unjust that a well struck shot could end with such a poor result.  The eighteenth at Torrey has seen this before with balls rolling off the green into the pond.  Maybe it’s time to rethink that setup.  A good shot into the back of that green shouldn’t have a chance of getting wet.

Some will say well, those are the breaks of the game.  And I understand that luck has something to do with where a ball ends up on occasion.  But in this instance there is a bit of unfairness built into that setup.  Anyone who watched Stanley’s shot get wet can see that.

Check out Stanley’s shot at the one minute mark.

by Jeff Skinner

It was supposed to be a walk in the park for Kyle Stanley but it turned into a walk off the plank.  It was going to be a victory lap but he stumbled on the home stretch.  It was supposed to be a very good walk but it turned into a good walk spoiled.  No one, including the Farmers Insurance Open Champion Brandt Snedeker could have envisioned what happened on the last hole of regulation.

Kyle Stanley was in the driver seat with a three stroke lead with one hole to play.  Snedeker finished eighteen with a birdie that put him at sixteen under par and was resigned to a second place finish.  Stanley hit two good shots to lay up on the eighteenth and was left with 77 yards to the hole.  A wedge in and a simple two putt gives him a par and his first PGA Tour victory.  He hit what looked like a good shot: it landed 10-15 feet past the hole and started to spin back.  But it spun and spun and rolled through the collar and the closely trimmed rough and slowly rolled into the pond that fronts the eighteenth.

Stanley regrouped and hit his fifth shot well past the pin.  Now he was left with 40 feet to the hole and needed two putts for a double bogey which would give him the win.  With the pressure wearing him down his left his first putt four feet short of the hole.  He slid his seventh shot past and finally dropped his eighth shot in the hole.  It couldn’t have been any worse for Stanley, or could it?

Stanley misses on 2nd playoff hole

He went from having the tournament in his pocket with a seven stroke lead during the final round.  But even with his back nine collapse (which included two bogeys along with his triple) he still had a chance to win the tournament.  He looked to have shaken off his troubles when he matched Snedeker’s birdie on the eighteenth in the first playoff hole but his luck once again turned bad when his par putt on the next hole slid by and Snedeker claimed his third tour win.

It was painful to watch and Stanley was indeed stunned afterwards he was “kind of in shock right now. I don’t really know what to say.”

Snedeker recognized the absurdity of the finish, “It’s just crazy,” Snedeker said. “I was literally in the media tent watching Kyle play 18. It’s hard to get my mind around what happened in the last 30 minutes. My heart goes out to Kyle.”

by Jeff Skinner

As Robert Rock stood on the eighteenth tee at The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship he had earned a two stroke lead over Rory McIlroy and three over Tiger Woods.  Rock had played steady golf and looked to be as solid as his last name.  He had five birdies to go with only two bogeys for the day and had reached 14 under par and gained his cushion going into the last.

But a poor driver off the eighteenth tee put him in the hazard with a difficult shot off the beach that rims the pond with his ball perilously close to a rock and a bush.  Rock was biting his lip as his caddie convinced him to take a drop behind the hazard and play down the fairway from there.  Rock should kick his caddie a little extra cash as the strategy worked and he beat the greatest player of his generation and claimed the biggest win of his professional life.

Rock knew when he teed off today that he had a huge task ahead of him.  When Tiger Woods is in the final group players have a tendency to fold under the pressure.  Woods had shown glimpses of his old form all week and Rock had never been in this position in such a big tournament.

Rock was certainly up to the task as he matched Woods with birdies at the second and third holes. But Woods wasn’t as solid off the tee as he needed and with consecutive bogeys at the next two holes Rock had the lead.  Tiger had trouble finding the fairways today as he only hit a pair of them and that left him out of position all day.  He couldn’t manage any birdies on the back nine when he needed to put the pressure on Rock and ended the day at even par and a tie for third.

Rock stumbled at bit with a bogey on the thirteenth which let Rory McIlroy back in the race but bounced back with birdies on fourteen and sixteen.  That looked to give him the cushion he needed but the errant tee ball at eighteen caused Rock to scramble for the win.

After getting on the green in four shots he had two putts to win.  As he lagged his first putt to 3 inches the first sign of a smile appeared on his lips.  After Tiger tapped in for his par and Rock approached his final tap in both golfers shared a smile at each other as if Tiger was saying “good job” and Rock was saying “finally.”

This is Rock’s most impressive performance to date.  He broke into the winners column at last year’s BMW Italian Open.  Rock had to feel the pressure of being in the spotlight with a 14 time major winner and U.S. Open Champion Rory McIlroy breathing down his neck.  But Rock performed like a champion and other than the misstep at the eighteenth played superb golf.

It wasn’t long ago that a day like today was just a dream for Rock.  As a club professional near his hometown he would give lessons at The Swingers Golf Center in Litchfield and dream of playing on The European Tour.  Rock recognizes the path he has travelled and remains humble and loyal to his original golfing roots. “I really can’t believe I have done that today.”

“I was just very happy to be playing with Tiger. That’s a special honor in itself.”

This may very well have been the best field of the year for the European Tour.  With four of the top ten golfers in the world and Woods playing in the desert it is possible that only the Open Championship will boast as stronger field.  But this day wasn’t one for the top ten golfers.  It was a day for the 117^th ranked golfer in the world to show his mettle and claim victory on the biggest day of his professional life.  Robert Rock proved he can go face to face with the most intimidating golfer of this era and still come out smiling.

by Jeff Skinner

It looks like the European Tour and the folks at The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship made a smart investment when they decided to pay Tiger Woods a few million dollars to play in the desert.  Woods has given them a grand return on their investment as he shares the lead going into the final round.

Woods has improved his score each round and today he managed a bogey free, six under 66 to move up three slots and share the top spot with Robert Rock who matched his 66.

Woods started with a birdie at the first but could only manage one other at the seventh to finish the front nine in 34 strokes.  He warmed up on the back nine with four birdies and went out in 32 to have his best round of the tournament.

This third round was reminiscent of his first where he drove the ball well and found the greens.  Today he hit 10 of 14 fairways and 16 greens in regulation but his putting still isn’t up to his high standards.  He needed 30 putts today and considering that Rock only used 25 it is a case of what might have been if Tiger could figure out the greens.

Tiger and Rock have a two stroke cushion over a quartet of players: Peter Hanson, Francesco Molinari, Paul Lawrie and Rory McIlroy.

It will be an interesting final day as Woods tries to put an exclamation point on the first week of his new season.  Woods is actually looking for his second consecutive victory as he won his Chevron World Challenge at the end of 2011.  But this isn’t a limited field of 18 golfers.  This event has a full field of world class golfers with four of the top ten players in the world.  Woods not only would vault back near the top ten in the rankings but a win here would be an extremely bold statement that he is certainly back on top of his game.