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SPORTS/Clie Charlotte $asit
Thursday, February 22, 2007
BIRDIES AND BOGIES
Thumbs even
Phillip Archer, an unknown European Tour
player, shot an opening 63 at the Abu Dhabi
Golf Championship this year, taking only 23
putts as he made 10 birdies and one bogey
Archer jumped 138 places in the putting sta
tistics in 2006 as a result of putting lessons. So
what did this pro learn that turned his career
around?
“It’s common sense, what (my teacher) tells
you to do,” Archer said. “It’s got me better in
terms of my weight distribution over the ball,
and the big thing he changed was my grip.
He’s got me gripping with both palms facing
each other, so my thumbs are basically the
same height, and it levels up my shoulders.”
No Hogans, either
“I subscribe to the notion that Tiger Woods’
seven straight is as impressive as Byron
Nelson’s 11 consecutive victories in 1945 be
cause the competition is so much stronger
and deeper now. I’m not saying there are 100
Jug McSpadens on tour these days, but there
might be.”
So says golf writer Jeff Rude. And there
also m^t not be any Sam Sneads or Ben
Hogans on the current PGA Tour. In fact,
there are no worthy rivals at all for Master
Woods, so the case could be made that the rea
son Woods wins so much is that he doesn’t
have much competition—certainly an iffy
proposition, but at least as strong as Rude’s
dis of Nelson’s streak.
In 1945, Byron Nelson did something that
will probably never be done again: He won 11
straight tournaments. From March through
August, nobody could best him, and some of
those nobodies were named Ben Hogan and
Sam Snead.
Except for an eight-week break mandated
by the winter/summer schedule then used by
the PGA, Nelson teed it up in consecutive
weeks, most often driving in a car from stop
to stop. Golf balls were so hard to come by
that players beat them up pretty good before
changing balls, making the scores he shot all
the more impressive. He averaged 68.33.
Nelson had no swing coach, no sports psy
chologist, no regular caddy or personal fram
er and no corporate jet. He skipped practice
rounds and stopped practicing to conserve en
ergy and he played and won hurt—in one in
stance with a severely wrenched back he in-
jimed in a long-drive contest. During the
streak, he lost weight (more than 12 pounds),
and his stomach was so out of control that he
vomited before each round. But he kept on
playing — and winning.
Tiger’s streak is just that—Tiger’s streak.
It's an expression of dominance, but it’s not
in the same league with 11 consecutive wins
in the same year. Bottom line; Tiger’s streak is
not a rival to the Nelson streak.
How taxing was his streak of 11 in a row
and 18 wins in one year? Partially in response
to the incredible stress of 1945, Nelson retired
after one more year, at the age of 34.
SCHEDULE
All Times EST
WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS
Accenture Match Play Championship
• Site: Marana, Ariz.
• Schedule: Wednesday-Sunday
• Course: The Gallery at Dove Mountain,
South Course (7,446 yards, par 72).
• P'S/: Golf Channel (Wednesday 2-6 p.m.,
7:30-11:30 p.m.; Thursday-Friday, 2-6 p.m,,
8:30-11:30 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.;
Sunday 10 a.m.-l;30 p.m.) and NBC (Saturday-
Sunday 2-6 p.m.).
PGA TOUR
Mayakoba Golf Classic
• Site: Playa del Carmen, Mexico,
• Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.
• Course: El Camaleon Golf Club (7,060 yards,
par 72).
• TV: Golf Channel (Thursday
11:30 p,m.-l:30 a.m.: Friday 2:30-4:30 a.m.,
11:30 p,m.-l:30 a.m.: Saturday, 3-4:30 a.m.,
8:30-10:30 p.m.; Sunday, 2-4 a.m., 6:30-9 p.m.;
Monday, 2-4 a.m.).
CHAMPIONS TOUR
The ACE Group Classic
• Site: Naples, Fla.
• Schedule: Friday-Sunday
• Course: Quail West Golf Club (7,057 yards,
par 72).
• TV: Golf Channel (Friday noon-2 p.m.;
Saturday, 1:30-3 a.m., 2-4:30 p.m.,
11:30 p.m.-2 a.m.; Sunday 2-4:30 p,m,,
11:30 p.m.-2a.m.).
LPGA TOUR
Fields Open
• Site: Kapolei, Hawaii.
• Schedule: Thursday-Saturday
• Course: Ko Olina Golf Club (6,519 yards,
par 72).
• TV: (jolf Channel (Thursday 6:30-8:30 p.m.;
Friday-Saturday 4:30-6 a.m., 6:30-8:30 p.m.;
Sunday, 4:30-6 a.m.).
Golfl’ Insider
BylJ.TOMASI
IT’S GOOD FOR YOUR GAME
PGATour pro
Hunter Mahan
definitely “owns the
ciub” at the top of his
swing. He has not
aliowed his hands to
drop back toward his
head — they’re as far
away from his chest
as possibie, creating
maximum swing
width.”
Own it
atthej^ WX
Y OU would think, after
watching the likes of John
Daly and Phil Mickelson,
that the longer a player’s arm
swing is, the faster his clubhead
goes, but that is not always or
even usually the case for frie av
erage player. In fact, it’s often
just the opposite—the longer
the swing, the less the power.
Granted, some pros have long
swings, but because of theirflex-
ibility and technique they only
sometimes come to disaster. A
less-accomplished golfer with an
overswing is rewarded with high
scores at the end of almost every
round. The bottom line is that
one player’s power source is an
other player’s power leak, and it
is control of the club that marks
the difference.
The key to controlling the
overswing is first and foremost
an understanding of a simple
concept: To play golf weU, you
must own the club at the top of
the swing. Clubs that twirl
around like a weather vane in a
ABOUT THE WRITER
Dr. TJ. TomasI is a
teaching professional
at Nantucket Golf Club
on Nantucket Island,
Mass.To ask him a
question about golf,
e-mail him at:
TJInsider@aol.com.
storm at the top of the swing are
the signature of mismanage
ment and should be brought to
heel as follows.
Turn with your chest
As you take away the club,
focus on tiuning your fchest
away from the target. Your
arms, hands and club are just
along for the ride. This creates
the controlled backswing plus
the con that you need for power
and accuracy
Keep your target arm firm
You create an overswing wheij
you collapse your target arm
and fold both your elbows on the
With both elbows bent
and his hands collapsing
back toward his head, this
young man better be
prepared for a long day of
“hit-and-hunt.”
way to the top of your swing.
Instead, maintain a firm fr’ont
arm and try to keep your hands
as far away from your head as
possible. This produces maxi
mum width and control.
DRILLS FOR SKILLS
Bump drill
The bump drill gives you the feel for proper
power management.
Swing to the top of yom swing and stop. Check
to make sure the center of your chest is over your
back foot so a line connecting the two through
your navel is vertical. Now bump (but don’t turn)
yoiu" hips and shift your we^ht to your front hip,
then stop and check to make siore the imaginary
line is now tilted away from the target, i.e. your
navel has moved out from under your chest. If it
has, then go ahead and finish the swing. You
should be able to hit it about 50 yards with a 7-
iron.
GOLF BY THE NUMBERS
The best major
Which major produces the best winner? According
to Golf Digest, it’s the Masters. The magazine created
the following chart of the highest average world rank
ing of the winners of each major since 1986, when the
rankings first began.
Masters
lt.05
U.S. Open
26.67
PGA
38.48
British Open
41.76
In one way this is surprising because the Masters is
an invitational field known for its lack of depth. It ex
empts past winners who are now on the Champions
'Tom’, amateurs and foreign players who are invited at
the “discretion” of the committee, all of which dilute
the field.
CURTIS COMPTON / Cox Newsservice
The early morning light hits
azaleas in full bloom in front of the
clubhouse at Augusta National Golf
Club, home of the Masters.
Has your golfing
routine crossed
into obsession.?
“The addiction to sports... marks
an arrested development in man’s
moral nature. Thorstein Veblen
It would seem that addictions are
everywhere. People are addicted to
chocolate, gambling, video games,
drugs, alcohol, and as the Robert
Palmer rock song goes, they are
“addicted to love” as well.
Mark Griffiths, a psychologist
and professor of gambling studies
at Britain’s Nottingham Trent
University believes that behavioral
addictions like gambling, shop
ping, exercise, the Internet and cell
phone texting are just as serious as
more conventional substance ad
dictions such as drugs, nicotine
and alcohol.
But what about golf — can it be
addictive? Take this quiz, and if
you answer yes to a majority of
these questions, you may well be
(scary music here) “addicted to
golf”:
1. Do you spend more time or
money on golf than you can afford?
2. Do you borrow money to sup
port your golf habit (golf trips,
equipment, etc.)?
3. Do you golf with money meant
for essentials, such as food and
rent?
4. Do you neglect important re
sponsibilities, such as work, school
or family, to play golf?
5. Do you lie about or cover up
the amount of time you golf?
6. Do you argue with your
firiends and family about golf is
sues such as starting times and
playing in the rain?
7. Do you think about golf — a
lot?
ADVANCED SIGNS
OF TROUBLE
1. At bars or at parties, do you
often talk about golf?
2. Have there been times when
you did not remember what hap
pened while you were playing golf?
3. Have lovers, friends or family
members ever told you that they
were concerned about your golf?
(More scary music here.)
4. Do you sometimes “hide” golf
magazines and teaching aids from
your lovers, friends and co-work-
ers?
5. Do you sometimes skip meals
at the halfway house to rush to the
10th tee?
6. Have you ever had a driving
accident or been arrested while
playing golf?
7. Do you sequester golf para
phernalia in the trunk of you car,
office and garage?
8. Do you prefer to golf alone?
9. Have lovers or friends ever
threatened to leave because of your
golf?
10. Do you sometimes play extra
holes to get rid of the after-effects
of a previous round?
11. Do you give yourself weird
nicknames like “Chimney Man” or
“Windbreaker” that help you deal
with loneliness, rejection or loss
caused by golf?
12. Do you display unexplained
silliness or giddiness on the
course? How about bursts of tem
per or bizarre behavior?
13. When things go very wrong,
have you ever fried to hide under
your golf cart?
14. Facing the stress of hitting
over a water hazard, have you ever
taken off your shoes and socks be
fore you hit?
15. Have you ever worn an adult-
style diaper so you didn’t have to
stop golfing to go to the bathroom?
16. Although you speak only
English, have you ever played golf
in a foreign language that sounds a
lot like Elbonian?
17. And the most predictive index
of them all (trumpets here): Have
you ever wasted precious time tak
ing a questionnaire to determine if
.you are addicted to iolf?
In the end, it aH comes down to
this: a paraphrase of Tallulah
Bankhead’s description of her co
caine habit: “Golf isn’t habit form
ing. I should know — I’ve been
doing itforyearl”
DON’T MISS IT
invia trove
Lovers of golf: Don’t Miss
‘A Disorderly Compendium
of Golf” — one of file worst
titles for one of the best golf
books on the market. Written
by Lome Rubenstein and Jeff
Neuman, two golf insiders,
the book contains records,
lists, anecdotes, humor and
so much minutiae that the
“pleasure is in the details.”
Here are a few examples:
the grfiitest golfer you never
saw; theite'orld’s most underrated golf destinations;
• famo(M®lf foods; famous penalties; what nobody
ever vou about Augusfr National.
It’s avaDOTle at amazon.com for $14.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“I like to feel my arms and chest
moving at a similar speed in my
backswing and forward swing.
When you get that combination right,
you will hit the ball a lot farther. ”
Stuart Appleby
GOLF SPOKEN HERE
“Just outside of friendship”
The distance of a putt that’s long enough to make your buddy putt it.
ASKTHE PRO
Stop the slice
Q: I just started playing
golf a few months ago, and
as most beginners, I have a
horrible slice on the ball. So
I was just wondering if you
might know any drills or
anything that I could prac
tice to cure my slice.
—Nick, from the Web
A: I recently covered the
three types of slices in
more detail, but here are a
few quick pointers:
1. Make sure your shoul
ders point slightly right of
your target,
2. 'Turn your clubface at
address so the toe is slightly
ahead of the heel (it’s called
“closed,” i.e. the face of the
club points to the left of the
target).
3. Swing back and
through on your shoulder
line—to the right of the
target.
4. Rotate your forearms
(not hands) as you approach
^ebali.
5. Let me know what the
ball is doing—feedback Is
key at this point.
Note: At first, just let it
hook—go for control later.
(Tb Ask the Pro a question
about golf e-mail him at:
TJInsider@aolcom.)