Matches to Watch on Day Two of Match Play Championship

With a wave of upsets yesterday (almost half of the lower seeds lost on day one), round two presents us with some matchups we did not expect.  Notably absent are Ian Poulter, Rickie Fowler and world #1 Luke Donald.

But that is not to say there are not some compelling matches to be played at Dove Mountain today.  Here are a few worth following closely:

1) Woods vs. Watney:  Tiger did not look great yesterday, and Watney did.  So Tiger needs to really bring it today if he wants to stick around for more golf.  But as we have seen with Tiger so far this season, his game can vary widely from day to day, so a nice rebound is certainly not out of the question.

2) Keegan Bradley vs. Miguel Angel Jimenez:  Keegan Bradley absolutely throttled Geoff Ogilvy yesterday.  Bradley has continued to show that his PGA Championship victory was no fluke.  He is a likeable guy and incredibly talented, and he is one of the main reasons the future of American golf is so bright.  Today he takes on The Mechanic, who is certainly one of the coolest men in the world.

3) Kyle Stanley vs. Brandt Snedeker:  A rematch from their tussle at Torrey Pines, where Stanley's 8 on 18 led to Snedeker taking the title in a playoff.  Stanley is playing really well right now, and is in good shape to exact a small measure of revenge today.

4) Matt Kuchar vs. Bubba Watson:  A match-up of two fun guys who will likely be perennial Ryder Cuppers for the US side.  There are few things more fun than watching Bubba play golf, where he can hit a 60 yard slice off the tee to find a fairway on one hole and then a 40 yard hook to get it to the green.  Kuchar has his work cut out for him.

Watch Live Coverage of Match Play Championship on the Internet!

For those of you, like me, who are sadly stuck in the office today and daydreaming about the Match Play Championship, the PGA Tour is going to be broadcasting live coverage on the Internet (and also on its PGA Tour mobile apps).  Coverage starts at 1 today and tomorrow and at 2 on Friday!  Here is the link.  Enjoy! 

The coverage will be from the par 3 6th and the par 3 12th.

Top Matches on Day One of Match Play Championship

It is one of the greatest single days of the golfing year - 32 matches involving the best golfers in the world.  The course is flooded with great match after great match and things change faster than a Tiger stinger.

Here are eight matches to watch as the Match Play championship gets underway!

1) Ian Poulter (#6) vs. Sang-moon Bae (#1):  If all golf tournaments were match play, Poulter would be considered one of the best players in the history of the game.  I love watching the intensity Poulter brings to match play and always wonder why it doesn't translate to all of the other events he plays.

2) Webb Simpson (#2) vs. Matteo Manaserro (#15):  One of America's best young players vs. one of Europe's best young players.  This is a match that you could very well see replayed in Ryder Cups for years to come.

3) Bubba Watson (#5) vs. Ben Crane (#12):  Two of the four Golf Boys square off against each other in day one.  Who will be singing the right tune at the end of the day?  In March Madness, the 5 seed is always the worst draw because the 12 is always the highest seed that is actually a team that can reliably win a big game, but Bubba should be able to dispatch his bandmate Crane in round one.

4) Tiger Woods (#5) vs. Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (#12):  I write a golf blog, and if Tiger loses on day one to a guy even I have never heard of, it should be panic time in Tiger Town.  You think Ryan Moore is sitting around thinking, I can't believe I couldn't get i to this tournament and this Gonzalo guy made it?

5) Sergio Garcia (#4) vs. Miguel Angel Jimenez (#13):  It is the battle for Spain! Sergio is on a roll and is coming off a closing round 64 at Riviera, after I dropped him for the weekend on my fantasy team because he barely made the cut - thanks, Sergio.

6) Lee Westwood (#1) vs. Nicolas Colsarts (#16):  Westwood has a fairly awful track record in this event, never getting past the second round in 11 starts.  Can he buck the trend and get off on the right foot?

7) Luke Donald (#1) vs. Ernie Els (#16):  Ernie got in courtesy of Phil not playing, and Donald is the most underrated and least talked about #1 player in the world since the inception of the rankings.  Oh yeah, and Donald is the defending champ, beating Martin Kaymer and his bizarre neck scarf last year.

8) Rory McIlroy (#1) vs. George Coetzee (#16):  I know that on any given day, any tour pro can beat any other tour pro, but I am betting Coetzee has already booked his return flight out of Phoenix for Wednesday night.       

    

In Praise of the Short Par 4

Photos courtesy of www.therivieracountryclub.com

With the exciting finish to the Northern Trust Open at the short par 4 10th hole, it made me realize that the short par 4 can be one of the most fun and interesting holes in golf. 

Jack Nicklaus famously called the 10th at Riviera, a driveable par 4, one of the best short holes in all of golf.  There is nothing quite like the excitement of a par 4 that the pros can drive - it is always a highlight of tv coverage on courses where the possibility exists.  For the average golfer, a well-designed short par 4 can give you the opportunity to make a birdie - or if you are really striping it- an eagle - making you feel like you can play with the pros!

Take that finish on Sunday.  Three players - Mickelson, Haas and Bradley all stepped to the 315 yard 10th looking to secure the title on the second playoff hole.  All three players had the length to get to the green, but the decision was fraught with peril.  With a slick, thin green that was well protected by traps - there was little margin for error.  A miss right was potentially deadly because you would short-side yourself for your next shot, but tree trouble lurked to the left.  Mickelson and Bradley missed right, and neither could hold the green in regulation.  Haas missed greenside left and literally played away from the hole to leave himself a bomb of a putt because he didn't think he could hold the green by going for the pin.  So you had three of the best pros in the world, on one of the shortest par 4s they will ever see, and only one of them could hit the green in regulation after trying to drive it, and that was only because he played to forty feet away from the hole.  How cool is that?

Reports Of Tiger's Inability To Close Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

Photo: Jeff Gross / Getty Images

The Golf world is still reeling from the stunning turn of events that transpired at golf's most hallowed track (at least in the U.S.) last Sunday.  Phil's epic, come from behind closing round 64 to capture his 40th PGA Tour title would be enough to dominate the headlines, but when you add the fact that he did it while blowing the doors off of his playing partner, Tiger Woods - well, that was more than enough to send the story into orbit.  You can see the story from space, along with The Great Wall of China and Terrell Owen's ego.

Enough ink has been spilled lamenting Tiger's inability to close to fill all of the bunkers at Whistling Straits.  Tiger began taking heat when he lost to Robert Rock on a Sunday in Abu Dhabi, and has been getting pilloried after getting the beating of a lifetime from Phil on Sunday.

But is all of the doom and gloom reporting about Tiger's failure to close deserved?  It is not.

Here is what everyone needs to keep in mind.  Winning a big time golf tournament on Sunday, under pressure, is an acquired skill.  You have to learn how to close.  You know who knows that?  Kyle Stanley, Spencer Levin, and now Charlie Wi, PGA Tour pros who blew big Sunday leads in the last three weeks.  Yes, Tiger was at one time the best closer ever.  But he has spent the last couple of years rebuilding his life and then rebuilding his golf swing.  Is his confidence shaken?  Unquestionably.  Do negative thoughts creep into his psyche on Sunday afternoon far more often than they did five years ago?  Sure.  Does this mean he is done as being a dominant golfing force?  Not so fast, my friend.

Tiger needs to be in those pressure-packed Sunday afternoons in order to learn again how to close out a big win.  This ability is not like riding a bike.  You need to be back in the pressure cooker to remember how to deal with the nerves and the pressure that are part and parcel of championship caliber golf.  A couple stumbles out of the gate are not that big a cause for concern. Let's not forget that Tiger finished birdie-birdie and sunk a clutch putt to win the Chevron in December.  And he didn't beat some Nationwide Tour rookie to do it - he beat a major champion (Zach Johnson).  The swing is coming around, finally.  I expect the closing in the clutch to return soon, as he continues to get used to being back under that particular spotlight - perhaps just in time for Tiger's favorite stomping ground, Augusta National.

Interesting AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Celebrity Pairings

This is one of the most fun weeks on the PGA Tour (for the fans anyway; there are some pros who do not love the event and the additional hoopla, and slow play, that comes with the addition of the amateurs).  The pros pair up with amateurs, many of whom are well-known stars in the world of sports and entertainment.  Bill Murray making snow angles in bunkers and Ray Romano cracking jokes while putting makes for some good television, and is something that may make the casual fan tune in when they otherwise would not.  Plus, seeing Don Cheadle shank a wedge on national television tends to make us feel better about the shortcomings in our own games.

With that backdrop, here are some of the All-Star pairings for the tournament that will be fun to watch:

-Tiger Woods and Tony Romo (Romo is playing at a scratch handicap, by the way)
-Defending Champs DA Points and Carl Spackler (wait - I mean Bill Murray)
-Ricky Barnes and Bill Belichick
-Bud Cauley and Nick Saban
-Aaron Baddeley and Kenny G
-Rickie Fowler and Lucas Black (also scratch)
-DJ Trahan and Aaron Rodgers
-Ryan Moore and Jim Harbaugh
-Trevor Immelman and George Lopez
-Tommy Gainey and Chris O'Donnell 

Review of the TaylorMade Rocketballz 3 Wood and R11S Driver

I have a newborn at home.  She is wonderful, but as all of you parents out there know, she is a handful.  So suffice it to say, Abby's mother and I haven't gotten out much since she was born.  Gone are the days of the two hours of pre-gaming in my Manhattan apartment before hitting the bars around 11, followed by private room karaoke until the sun comes up.

This is by way of introduction to saying that last Thursday night, the latest night out for me since Abby arrived last November, was not to meet friends at a bar, but instead, to attend the midnight launch party for the new TaylorMade R11S and the Rocketballz line.  Yes, that's how I roll.

It was a blast.  Got in line around 11:30 pm at my local Golf Galaxy, where there were already about forty equally obsessed souls freezing their hindquarters off on a cold February night.  When I got in the store, I made a beeline to check out the new Rocketballz clubs.  Since I recently purchased a Titleist 910 D2 driver, I was not in the market to buy a new driver, but I am looking for a new 3 wood and a new hybrid and was really intrigued by the rave reviews for the Rocketballz.  The name for the club actually came from tests that were done by Dustin Johnson, who after hitting a few with the protoype said that the ball was taking off from the face like a rocket.

The Importance Of Tempo Under Pressure

This just in - it is really, really hard to get your first PGA Tour win.  If you don't believe me, just ask Kyle Stanley and Spencer Levin.

Capping a wild week of blown Sunday leads on the PGA Tour, Kyle Stanley had a dramatic reversal of fortune when he came from eight shots behind to win the Phoenix Open yesterday, just a week after he blew his own seven shot lead in the final round.

From the beginning of the final round yesterday, it was clear that Spencer Levin, the man who dominated the tournament to that point, was in trouble.  His demise yesterday can serve as a great example to all golfers about the importance of tempo in the golf swing, especially under pressure.

Don't Be A Golf Jerk

Golf is a gentleman's (or gentlelady's) game.  Oh there are peaks and valleys to be sure, frustrations over pulled shots or missed putts that boil over from time to time.  But at the end of the day, it is incredibly important to remember that for the 99.9% of us that don't play golf for living (though desperately want to), this game is supposed to be fun.  Even though some rounds feel like you are spending four hours with a doberman attached to your hindquarters, this is recreation - it is what we are supposed to do to escape from the doldrums and stresses of our daily lives, like those that come from the office.

But at one time or another, we have all caught a round with the golf jerk.  You know, the guy that shows up with a popped collar, blades, and an attitude like calling it a birdie was his idea.  They look the part up until they tee off, at which point all wildlife on the course, no matter how far removed from the tee or the green, need to seek shelter from wayward projectiles.  But it is not the bad golf that causes me reflux - it is the barely on the edge of consciousness rage that the shot provokes in the golf jerk.  It is like being on the bag with Steve Pate (aptly nicknamed The Volcano).  There are thrown clubs, profanity-laced tirades with words you didn't even know existed, and grumbling and moaning that makes Grumpy from Snow White look like all sunshine and rainbows.

I don't mind bad golf - if I did, I would be the world's largest hypocrite, having practiced it myself on more occasions than I would care to count.  But what I do mind - and all of us should mind - is people who take the fun out of a round.  Newsflash, golf jerk - you aren't putting for the Green Jacket.  This approach shot will not secure your spot on the Ryder Cup.  Its Sunday - a weekend day where we are all just out here to have fun, get better, and enjoy the game that occupies our waking hours far more than we will ever admit to ourselves, or more importantly, to our significant others.

So please, golf jerk, I beg you, as my California friends would say, to please just "Chillax."  I enter this plea on behalf of myself, as a lover of the game, and on behalf of the countless victims you will randomly be paired with in the future.

Healthy Golf Obsession's One Year Anniversary!

This past weekend, HGO celebrated its first birthday!  Time flies when you are making lots of bogeys.  I wanted to take a quick moment to thank all of you for being loyal readers, and for posting your comments or sending me feedback via email or Twitter.  It is fun talking golf, and it should be interactive, so please stay in touch!  You can follow me on Twitter at @rtbgolfer or drop me a line at healthygolfobsession@gmail.com.

I also wanted to run down my five favorite posts of the past year - Enjoy catching up!

5)  Why You Must Care About A Ball Fitting - Get fit for a ball that fits your swing - you will like the results!  The ball is the only equipment in your bag you use for every shot! 

4) Golf Halloween Costume Ideas - These ones never go out of style, so check it out if you want to get a jump on planning for this year's party!

3)  The Bethpage Golf Experience - The only thing I miss about living in Manhattan is that Bethpage is no longer my home golf course.  This is a pilgrimage you have to make before your golf career is over especially to play The Black. 

2)  The Top 5 Coolest Shots in Golf - It does not get any better than hitting these shots.  This one is timely again since the inspiration for the article was the carnival-like atmosphere that surrounds the 16th hole at the TPC Scottsdale, where the PGA Tour stops this week.

1)  The Golf Lover's Manifesto - My heartfelt musings on why this is the best game ever played!       

America's 20 Toughest Courses

As golfers, at our core, we all have a little bit of a masochistic streak, right?  What else would drive us to come back time and time again to a game that causes ostensibly normal, successful, fully functioning adults to curse uncontrollably, throw and/or break their own property and engage in the type of self-berating and self-loathing reserved normally for those among us who are rightfully removed from polite society?

Even though playing a tough course can sometimes be like walking 18 in a bulap sack, when you hit a good shot, or make a par (or - heaven forbid - a birdie), you know that you can sit back and soak in that moment, because you deserve it!  Who cares about the three triples you made on the front?  You par 10, and you are even on the back!

With this backdrop in mind, Golf Digest recently released its list of America's 20 Toughest Courses, and I wanted to pass along the list to you.  And fear not, not all of the courses on this spectacular list are reserved for members only abuse; ten of the courses are open to the public!

So whether it is Bethpage, Torrey, Pebble, Spyglass or The Straits, put these courses on your bucket list so that you can get a taste of this country's stiffest tests!

Bob Hope And His Impact On Golf

This week, the PGA Tour heads back to California for the Humana Challenge, which is being put on in partnership with The Clinton Foundation.  Formerly the Bob Hope Classic, President Clinton stepped up last year to help save a tournament that was in trouble. 

With Hope's iconic name coming off the tournament this year, I wanted to take this opportunity to salute Hope's great contribution to the game that he was as passionate about as he was about making so many people laugh over the years.

Hope, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, was one of the greatest ambassadors the sport has ever had, and helped to popularize golf with the masses.  "Golf is my profession.  I tell jokes to pay my greens fees," Hope used to quip.  He hosted his own PGA Tour event since the mid-1960s, and made that tournament one of the can't miss stops on the Tour calendar.

Hope wrote an entertaining book - "Confessions of a Hooker" - detailing his life in the game and the memories he created along the way.  He has played with Presidents, Kings, movie and music stars, and regular people that he surprised on the course and joined their game.  Hope loved nothing more than to badmouth his own playing abilities, but don't let his frequent self-deprecation fool you - he could get around the course.  After all, he had seven aces in his career!

So as you watch the tournament coverage this weekend, tip your cap to the man who helped make the sport the success that it is today.  

Top 5 Golf Storylines for 2012

Golf is officially back!  With Stricker taking down the Tournament of Champions at Kapalua, the PGA Tour is now in the middle of its first full field event this week at the Sony Open in Hawaii.  With the 2012 season now on us faster than a Tiger stinger, let's count down the top 5 storylines as we head into this golfing year.

5) Lexi!  Let's start off with a nod to the LPGA Tour, which had a nice resurgence last year with an instant classic Solheim Cup and the sheer domination of Yani Tseng.  The LPGA is adding some events this year and they have a brand new star who Commissioner Mike Whan surely hopes will continue moving the positive press train.  Lexi Thompson, the 16 year old phenom who already has two professional victories under her belt, joins the Tour full time this year and is brimming with potential.  She seems to love the game and has a carefree attitude that shines through her game.  It will be exciting to see what she can do this year, and if she can emerge as a real rival to Tseng.

4) More McIlroy and Westwood in the US.  After the debacle about missing THE PLAYERS (the all caps comes from the Tour, not from me, I promise I am not trying to shout at you) last year, the 2012 PGA Tour will have two new high profile members:  Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood, who will be playing dual schedules (a la Luke Donald) this year on the PGA and European Tours.  This is great for golf fans here at home, who will get to see more of these stars in PGA events.  Westwood is still on his quest for a long overdue first major title, and is aiming to retake the World #1 title.  McIlroy is poised to launch into super-stardom, and can do so by following his big 2011 with a couple wins in 2012 - especially if one of the wins comes at Augusta.  He has to be the early favorite.

3) Will the Youth Surge Continue?  The biggest story of the year in 2011 was the changing of the guard that seemingly took place last year, with so many young first time winners, and marquee performances like Rory at Congressional, Keegan Bradley and Jason Dufner at the PGA Championship, and Bill Haas taking home the FedEx Cup and the Tour Championship.  Webb Simpson was one of the best players on Tour last year.  Nick Watney was stellar.  Guys like Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler seem poised to have a monster year.  These young guns are all giving Tiger, Phil, Furyk and Stricker all they can handle, and they have really become the new face of the PGA Tour.  It was sort of like when The Ultimate Warrior beat Hulk Hogan in Wrestlemania VI, signifying the new generation reigned supreme.  But I think Rors, Fowler and DJ have more staying power.  And they don't take steroids either, which probably helps.   

Hank Haney To Write Tiger Book

Hank Haney, Tiger Wood's former swing coach, has written a book about his time spent coaching one of the greatest golfers of all time.  Titled, "The Big Miss", the book is scheduled to be released on March 27, shortly before The Masters.

Some will say that insiders shouldn't do books like this because it violates the privacy of the people that they worked with, or that this will just be a self-serving defense of his own method with Tiger.  But as a golf fan, you have to be excited about this book coming out, and you can count me in as one of the people who will be eager to read it as it hits the shelves.

This book has real potential, but don't expect a tell-all of Tiger's dalliances.  What I think you can expect to find is some real insight - from a person who was incredibly close to the man - into how Woods thought about his game during his six years with Haney, how he prepared, how he won (29 tournaments including 6 majors during their partnership) and what motivated Tiger to be the best.  I think it will also be fascinating to hear Haney explain the mechanics of Woods's swing and what he was trying to accomplish with the changes he made to the swing that was already the best in golf.

Perhaps the thing to look forward to most is getting Haney's honest assessment of his dealings with Woods.  If the book is anything like his Twitter feed, Haney is not going to hold back or spare feelings in telling readers what really happened.  Tiger has conducted his public affairs in such a tightly spun cacoon that any insight into what made him great would be welcomed with open arms by the golfing public.

What does Haney have to say about it?  This is what he told the Golf Channel:  "If [Tiger] reads it, I don’t think it will be a book that bothers him. It’s hard to say.  I think anybody who reads it will think it’s interesting, very fair and honest, and that’s what I wanted to do. I was on that job for six years. There were 110 days a year I was with him. I stayed at his house for close to 30 days a year. You make a lot of observations.”

As a golfer, I really don't care how many Perkins employees Tiger slept with, but I do care about learning more about what made Tiger one of the greatest ever, and see if I can find any tips or tricks that will help me be a better player.  Haney is a great teacher (despite his failure to teach The Round Mound of Rebound how to swing like a normal human being) and any insight he can provide is worth the read.     

Tiger to Start PGA Tour Schedule at Pebble

Tiger Woods announced on his website today that he will be making his 2012 PGA Tour debut at Pebble Beach.  Tiger has not played the Pebble Pro-Am since 2002, so that has to make the organizers of one of the best non-major events on Tour even happier.  Tiger, who in the past has typically made his Tour debut at Torrey Pines, opted to skip that event this year to play in Abu Dhabi beginning January 26 for what is rumored to be a hefty appearance fee.  Rumors are already rampant about who Tiger's partner will be for the week, and The Golf Channel's Jason Sobel was tweeting that it could well be Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo.

I am excited to see Tiger at Pebble, a course he has dominated in the past.  He closed out 2011 on a high note with a win at the Chevron, and there is no bigger storyline in 2012 than whether Tiger can be Tiger again.