Congratulations to Ai Miyazato, who shot a pretty spectacular 63 to overtake Suzann Pettersen in Thailand. Ai had so much pressure from her home country of Japan when she started a couple years ago, it was almost impossible for her to play well. She was like the Elvis of the golf world with about 100 photographers following her every step. It was a site to see for sure. Anyway, good job Ai, I'm happy for you.
Updates
George will be available for instruction in Tampa and Orlando from January 1st - April 30th 2010. Schedule a lesson using calender below
Student News
Congratulations to Jin Young Pak...
Congratulations to Jimin Jeong...
Congratulations to Rick Kittelstad....
I’m a big fan of the LPGA Tour and get excited when a fresh young American starts their career. Today, I’ll focus on Mallory Blackwelder and let her do all the talking.
Here’s her first blog on LPGA.com
Hello Everyone!
My name is Mallory Blackwelder and I am about to begin my rookie season as a touring professional. I will be playing on the LPGA Tour, Ladies European Tour, and Duramed FUTURES Tour this year. I just wanted to tell you all a little bit about myself!
As some of you may know, my mom, Myra Blackwelder, played on the LPGA Tour also. She was Rookie of the Year in 1980 and played full time until 1992 when my brother Myles and I started school. We are actually the first mother – daughter members of the LPGA. That is something I’m very proud of!
My dad has also been very involved with LPGA Tour life. He has caddied for several years for some of the best players in the game. He’s caddied for Dottie Pepper, Cristie Kerr, Natalie Gulbis, and Juli Inkster.
The Phoenix Open. I mean The FBR Open. Sorry…I mean The Waste Management Open…is one of my favorite events of the year. It’s a beautiful place, with perhaps, the most fun fans in golf. I love the last four holes, as they lend to so much excitement down the stretch. But I suppose the 16th hole gets most of the press. And rightly so — it’s nuts! People get there first thing in the morning and hang out all day. They play drinking games such as — chug a beer for all birdies. Needless to say, most are quite gone by the time the leaders come by. But you know what, that’s okay. For one tournament a year — I say more power to them. Make some noise!
CBS golf analyst David Feherty turned briefly serious and emotional Tuesday as he officially became a U.S. citizen. Feherty said he was ‘honored and humbled’ to finally become a citizen.
After the official ceremony, Feherty, 51, was surprised by his wife, Anita, with a party. The participants included longtime friend and golf legend Tom Watson and several wounded combat veterans. Feherty has been active in supporting charities that help wounded soldiers, including organizing golf tournaments and traveling to Iraq with other golfers.
Several of the wounded soldiers came down from Walter Reed Army Medical Center outside of Washington, and others came in from Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.
Watson, Feherty and long-drive champion Art Sellinger have all been to Iraq together to visit the U.S. troops.
“It was a very special and emotional day for David and all of us,” said Sellinger. “You know how passionate he is about our military. All of his special friends were there, and it is no secret how close he and Tom are.”
Congratulations David! You’ve probably been more patriotic than 99% of existing American citizens over the last 10 years. The work you’ve done with our military has been fantastic and all the accolades are well deserved. We need more like you.
A classic David Feherty description of another Tiger Woods’ miracle.
As of today, Tiger Woods has made no contact with Augusta National, or given them any indication that he’ll play…or not play…in this year’s Masters Tournament. Usually, in big events, such as the U.S. Open or British Open, a player must officially enter by 5:00pm on the Friday before. But the Masters lets a player enter, as long as he’s eligible that is, right up to his tee time on Thursday. So theoretically, unless he makes a statement saying otherwise, we won’t know if Tiger is skipping this year’s Master’s until he doesn’t show on Thursday.
When asked about Tiger, Masters spokesman Steve Ethun said…
“We have yet to hear any word. They do have to register before their tee time.”
Personally, I still don’t think Tiger is going to play. I just can’t see him being ready and up to his ridiculously high standards by then. Unless this latest stint in rehab is only a week or so, Tiger won’t even get out until a week or so before the event starts. And although Augusta is one course that he knows like the back of his hand, he still needs to prepare. Augusta National puts a premium on two things — putting touch and distance control with irons. And those are two things that you can’t just hop back into. You need a little bit of work to know your three-quarter 8-iron flies precisely 153 yards in the air. And at Augusta, if you don’t know that, you can’t compete. A tour player could hit 18 greens at Augusta and shoot 75 easily. It’s more about placing your second shot in the right spot to have a reasonable putt. And you cannot do that unless you have complete distance control. And very few players have complete distance control when they’re rusty. Even Tiger.
Back in the days when Nick Faldo was the best player in the world, there must have been a whole lot of impressionable young boys playing golf in England. And of course, the person making the biggest impression on those boys was —- you guessed it —- Nick Faldo himself. I mean, how could he not? There hadn’t been a golfing hero in England since Tony Jacklin, and that was in the early 70′s. But then Nick came along in the late 80′s — early 90′s, and with his great play, brought the center of the golfing universe back to the UK. That is when he wasn’t in Florida practicing with David Leadbetter. Or when Greg Norman wasn’t borrowing the center of the golf universe from time to time. Bottom line though — Nick Faldo was the greatest winner of that 10-year stretch from 1987-1996.
Let’s take a look back…
Nick won 30 European events. He also won 9 PGA Tour events and 7 other international events. But where he made the biggest mark was in majors. Nick won 6 majors in that time period and easily put his stamp as the best player of that 10-year period. Nick won both the Masters and The British Open 3 times each. He also had 3 other top-five finishes at The British in the same time — as well as 4 top-fives at The PGA and 3 top-fives at The U.S. Open. Basically, from 1987-1996, if there was an important tournament — Nick Faldo had a chance to win. Oh, did I mention his Ryder Cup record? It too was flawless, with more wins than any other European. Simply, Faldo was the man! And all the kids in England wanted to be just like him, which brings us to present day. Those kids are now grown up and playing some pretty spectacular golf.
First, we have Lee Westood, who is currently the 4th ranked player in the world. Lee was a teenager in the late 80′s and was certainly influenced by Nick’s dominating play.
Second, we have Ian Poulter, who is currently 5th in the world rankings. Ian is a couple years younger than Lee — but was also a teenager when Nick was #1.
And lastly, we have Paul Casey, who is currently 6th in the world rankings. Paul is one year younger than Ian and was also heavily influenced by Faldo.
I think we are seeing that same kind of influence now, except with Tiger Woods. But instead of being restricted to a single country, Tiger’s influence knows no bounds. Hence the reason for kids like Rory McIlroy and Ryo Ishikawa. I’ll be interested to see where this takes us over the next 10-15 years. But for now, with Britain enjoying it’s best representation in the world golf rankings ever, it’s all about Sir Nick. So England, when cheering on all of your many options — remember who you have to thank.
Radar Online, which has become somewhat of the “go to” golf source these days, say Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren are hanging out. Yep, hanging out. Apparently, they played an ‘hour of tennis’ together on Saturday before heading off to their private plane — with their kids — for a much needed family trip. Who knows if this is true, but I must admit, Radar has been right about a lot of stuff so far. I for one hope it’s true. I’d like to see the two of them work it out and move forward as a family. But let me ask you…if they do stay together, will there ever be a woman in the history of earth with more “hand” than Elin? (Sorry, random Seinfeld reference)
I mean, seriously. This girl will be the definition of “wearing the pants in the family.”
It’s been three days since Tiger Woods apologized to the world, and as you might imagine, opinions have been flying. I’ve watched his apology 3 times now and it got better each time. By that, I mean, Tiger seemed more sincere each time I watched.
I can honestly say, that after a few days to think about this — I miss Tiger Woods. I didn’t even know I missed him until I saw him behind that podium. In fact, I thought that “missing” emotion might have clouded my judgement when it came to Tiger’s apology. But then I thought about it some more and came up with this…
I love golf. It’s been a passion of mine for 20 years. Yes, at times, it’s been a love-hate relationship — but I truly love this game. And I, over the last few months, have gone through somewhat of a rebirth in that love. Basically, I’ve fallen in love with the game all over again, which makes me very happy by the way. But here’s the thing — you cannot love golf and not love Tiger Woods. That may seem like a bold statement and some may disagree — but it’s true. If you love golf — I mean really love golf — you love Tiger Woods. He may not be your favorite player and you may not root for him — but you love him! If you don’t, then you don’t love golf.
For me, I love what he’s brought to the game the last 15 years. I love watching him pull off amazing shots in the most pressure filled times. I love that he so inspired juniors to play at his level, that, over the next few years, we’ll be blessed with perhaps the greatest wave of talent in the game’s history. Players like Rory McIlroy and Ryo Ishikawa are the beginning of that wave. I love that he wins. I love that he brings out the best in players like Bob May, Rich Beem and Rocco Mediate. I love that he can sometimes bring out the best in Ernie Els — only for Ernie to find out his best wasn’t enough. (i.e. — Kapalua and The Presidents Cup). I love that through his sheer presence, a golf company (Nike) was born. And that company now provides jobs for hundreds of other people who love golf. I love that again, through his sheer presence, pros like me are able to train juniors and young professionals who want to be the “next Tiger Woods.”
Yes, he could be standoffish. But so could Ben Hogan. Yes, he could be robotic in his answers. But that only bothered us because we wanted to know so much more. And yes, he cheated on his wife way too many times. But that only bothered us because we thought he was perfect. Sure, it bothered some of us because we knew it was wrong. But it bothered all of us because it was him. He was our shining light. He didn’t do these kind of things. That’s why we made such a big deal out of it. If it were John Daly, it would have been a 3-day story. But it wasn’t Daly — it was our hero instead.
But now is the time to put all that away. If you love golf — then everyone who also loves golf is part of your family. Those who really love the game know what I mean with that statement. There is a bond between us that cannot be broken. But just like our normal families, we can get disappointed and heartbroken by one of our own. And that is precisely what Tiger Woods did — he broke our hearts. But just like our normal families, we are to forgive. We forgive because we love them.
And whether you know it or not — you love Tiger Woods. So it’s time to forgive.
With a ridiculously poor 31-31 record in my match play pool, I humbly pick Ian Poulter to win the Accenture World Match Play over Paul Casey. My reason for picking Poulter? Well, I picked him to lose to Justin Leonard. I picked him to lose to Adam Scott. I picked him to lose to Jeev Milkha Singh. And I picked him to lose to Sergio Garcia. So, with perhaps the greatest example of learning slowly in bracket history — I’m finally picking Ian! If he wins, I’ll at least finish over .500. If he loses, I lost more than I won, which, to me, is pretty pathetic. We shall see. Make some birdies Ian!
Update: Yes! Ian Poulter won his match against Paul Casey, which earned him his first win in the States, as well as his first World Golf Championship —– but more importantly allowed me to finish this pool over .500. I can live with that I guess, even though I will be living with $100 less for losing. Still, I must ask this question. How can a man who sells medical supplies and knows next to nothing about golf — win our golf pool? Crazy!
“Mentally obviously he’s hurting — and it’s going to be a long road back for him,” said Harmon, who once served as Woods’ swing coach. “I don’t think any of us should expect to see him on a golf course any time soon because emotionally I don’t think he’ll be there.
“I personally do not think he will play this year,” he added. “I have nothing to base that on other than I think it would be very difficult if he is sincere about this process of healing and getting to the roots of his problem.
“Rehab takes a long time. It takes a lot of perseverance. It takes a lot of soul-searching. It just doesn’t end in a month,” he explained. “Whether he plays against this year remains to be seen. But I do not think we should be surprised if he doesn’t.”
Also, in a Sky Sports interview, he was asked if the location of this year’s majors would have any bearing on Tiger’s decision to come back — especially as he gets closer to Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 professional major wins. (Tiger has had record wins at 3 0f the 4 major venues this year –Augusta National, Pebble Beach and St. Andrews.)
In response to that question, Butch said…
“I can honestly tell you, the 10 years I was with Tiger Woods, I never heard him once say that (Nicklaus’ record) was important. Never. I know a lot is made of that, but the only thing he said was important was beating everybody he played against and trying to get better.”
He was then asked about the possible criticism or heckling Tiger could face upon his return.
“He’s going to take a lot of criticism, he’s going to get a lot of protesters and things coming from the gallery that he’s not accustomed to,” he said. “He has the strongest mind in the history of the game since Jack Nicklaus and Ben Hogan. Mentally, he’s probably strong enough to handle that.
“But I don’t think he can overcome this with the public perception of who he is. I think he’ll always be damaged that way,” he added. “I think, when we look at Tiger Woods, we look at him completely differently to how we did before.
“I thought one of the telling things that I took away from this whole thing (Woods’ public apology) was that his wife Elin wasn’t standing next to him,” he said. “I’m not sure if that’s good or bad, but I thought that was very unusual to see.”
I tend to agree with Butch and don’t think Tiger will play this year. That said, it wouldn’t surprise me if he did. But I think he has a long way to go with his wife and treatment, and neither of those should be rushed. So, if he gives those his full attention, he won’t fully prepare like the usual Tiger. And because of that, I think he’ll wait. I just can’t see him coming back until he thinks he can win.
The video below is one of my favorite drills for keeping a golfer’s arms and body in sync throughout the golf swing. I especially like it for better players who have a tendency to slide on the downswing and get their arms trapped behind them. This is one of my students, Rick Kittelstad, who plays for The University of South Florida performing the drill here. I don’t like how much he’s moving off the ball, but the rest of it is just about perfect. If memory serves, Rick had some flexibility issues when this video was shot — so that’s probably why he had to move off it a little more than I’d like. But that said, he does a good job of keeping his right leg braced all the way to the top of his swing.
Okay, to perform the drill, you’ll need a small rubber ball that can easily fit between your arms at address. You don’t want it to be so big that your arms get bowed at address. Usually I just deflate it slightly so there’s no issues. In fact, you can actually buy a ball especially designed for this drill. But to me it’s a waste of money. I think it’s like $50 or $60. This orange ball cost $1 at Target and does the same thing.
Once you’re set up with the ball between your arms, simply make your backswing. Take it to the top and pause for 2-3 seconds. Then release your stomach and chest level through the ball all the way to your finish. At first, it may be kind of ugly. But stick with it. You’ll get the hang of it within 100 balls or so. And once you do, look out!
