harmon and leadbetter on Tiger

You may have missed it, but over the weekend and Monday, both Butch Harmon and David Leadbetter were asked to comment on Tiger's swing "problems." Harmon was interviewed by NBC during the telecast of Sunday's victory by Adam Scott, his current star pupil. Harmon graciously said a few good words about how Tiger had helped Adam along when he had taught both. But then he commented on Tiger's swing plane, and how Tiger's hands, arms, and body were not properly in synch. The critique was short, and I got the feeling that Butch did not want to say too much bad about Tiger. And, anyway, his star pupil Adam Scott was still on the course.

David Leadbetter was asked the same question by The Golf Channel. Leadbetter gave a fuller critique. He also said how Tiger's swing was out of "synch" and commented how his clubface at the top appeared to be shut at times. On the downswing, Tiger was coming too much on top of the ball, which sometimes produced, when his body was out of synch with his arms, the open clubface at impact and the ball heading right. Leadbetter, though, was very careful to say that he thought Tiger didn't have any serious problem and that he was confident that Tiger would work things out. Tiger always had some tendency to get the clubface shut at the top, Leadbetter suggested, and it's normal for golfers to have old habits creep up.

Based on the two short interviews, and the fact that 23-year-old Adam Scott is now driving up in the rear view mirror, I'd be giving Leadbetter, not Harmon, a call.

daly in, duval out

So John Daly made the Masters. David Duval, however, has decided to sit this year's out, to find his swing and enjoy his marriage to his new bride, a mother of three.

It is interesting to compare the careers of Daly and Duval. Daly has won 2 majors, and Duval, just 1 (although Duval more tournaments). Both players have somewhat unorthodox swings and great short games, but, right now, Daly's game is head-and-shoulders above what Duval's was last year. To be fair, Duval had a bunch of injuries plaguing him all year. If neither player won another major (let's hope that doesn't happen), Daly might get a slight edge for having the better career. And he surely is the fan favorite.

Duke's Other Dynasty

The Duke Blue Devils are known for their basketball program and Cameron Indoor Stadium and having one of the worst college football programs in the country. However, many people don't know, Duke's women's golf program has been on one of the most impressive runs in college golf history. Having won 7 consecutive tournaments, the No. 1 ranked women's golf program suffered their first defeat of the season finishing 3rd in the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic hosted by the University of Georgia. What is impressive is that they were short two of their best golfers who were playing at the Kraft Nabisco Championships. Granted Freshman Brittany Lang won the tournament at 9-under par, the Blue Devils only had 4 players where the rest of the field had 5. (College golf involves a scoring system where 5 play and you count the low 4 scores, so Duke had to count each player's score regardless of what they shot). I feel it would be nearly impossible for the Duke Basketball Teams to play without 2 of their starting 5, while playing a man/woman down and still finish 3rd. The Duke Women's Golf program is amazing and this is where the teenage girls go if they do not decide to go pro!

Daly Makes the Masters

John Daly will be playing in the Masters after finishing in the top 10 on the money list after the Player's Championship. I'm glad that he has finally be able to turn his game and life around and now is reaping the benefits. The course should be a good fit for his game and "grip it and rip it" mentality. Anyways, I am excited not only for the commercial free coverage of the Masters, but the chance to watch Big John go around amen corner with the "patrons" cheering his every move!

go John!

monday recap: scott-free and a walk in the park

PGA: So it was easy to predict Adam Scott would win the TPC after Day 3. He clearly had the most consistent swing, it was just rock solid. For 71 holes, Adam Scott seemed like he was cruising...

But the reason I love golf is that things can change in a heartbeat. Just when you are soaring, it can mercilessly bring you to your knees. No one's immune. Not even the best golfers in the world.

On the 18th and final hole, Adam had a 2 shot lead at -13. Padraig Harrington shot an incredible 66, to finish earlier at -11 (his putt on 17 almost went in!). Adam hit a very safe 2-iron off the tee on the 18th, safely into the fairway. He then proceeded to hit his worst shot of the day, a 5-iron pulled badly left and into the water. That 2 stroke lead suddenly didn't look safe. Padraig Harrington's caddy gave him an incredulous look on the driving range as the two clearly could hear the moans emanating from the 18th.

But give props to Adam Scott for digging deep and hanging on. He collected himself, dropped near the green, and then pitched to 6 feet. Johnny Miller said no one has read the break of that putt all day -- it's a "trick putt." Not to worry, Adam and his caddy read the putt correctly. And Adam pured the putt right into the center of the cup. He raised his clenched fist twice and yelled, "C'mon."

Well, Adam is coming on strong now. Tiger, you better be working out the kinks in your swing soon because you have stiff competition for all those majors you want to win.

LPGA: Grace Park won her first major at the Kraft Nabisco. But she, like Adam Scott, needed to hole a putt on the final hole to clinch a victory. Playing in the same group, 17-year-old Arie Song put the pressure on Grace by nailing a 50-foot eagle putt on the last hole. Wow. But Grace was up for the challenge. She rolled the 5-footer in the center of the cup. Afterwards, she confessed that she was shaking all over before the putt. That's what golf will do to you. Congrats, Grace and Adam!

great scott!

There are plenty of interesting stories that could be written today at the TPC. Kenny Perry has his 18 year old son caddying for him. Jerry Kelley, Frank Lickliter, or Kevin Sutherland could claim an important "major" like victory, as could Phil Mickelson. Els and Singh, a Ponte Vedra resident, could add to their already impressive career records (3 and 2 majors respectively). And, of course, Tiger could come back from 6 behind to win the tournament, a la Jack Nicklaus at the '86 Masters.

But perhaps the most intriguing victory of all would be if the 3rd round leader wins: Adam Scott. The 23-year-old, who is coached by Butch Harmon, would lay his claim to be being the best golfer younger than Tiger. Better than Sergio. Better than Charles Howell. Better than Aaron Baddeley. Better than Matt Kuchar, Justin Rose -- you name them. What is scary about Scott is how solid his swing looks. Butch Harmon says it's better than Tiger's, and so does Johnny Miller. The guy has hit the most greens in regulation this week, and doesn't seem to hit that errant shot that Tiger seems to hit once or twice a round these days.

So take your pick. There are plenty of good stories to write at the TPC.

michelle wie in contention

The women are playing their first major of the year, the Kraft Nabisco Championship. And look who's in contention: 14 year old Michelle Wie is only 2 strokes behind the leaders, 17-year old Arie Song and veteran Grace Park. There's also Karrie Webb at 2 behind the leaders -- remember Karrie? She was the David Duval of women's golf. Once No. 1, but overtaken by Annika. But now Karrie may be back.

So if Michelle should win, what happens to the prize money? And then why wouldn't she just turn pro? All very intriguing to think about, but let's not jump the gun.

TPC, round 3

I watched Round 3 of the TPC, although Tiger had finished by the time NBC went on the air. It's amazing: Tiger's right back in it, at 4 under par. Too bad he bogeyed the last two holes coming in -- his iron shot on 18 was sliced right about 5 rows deep into the grandstands.

Adam Scott is the leader at -10. There's Ernie, Phil, and Kenny Perry at -7, and Vijay at -6. Here's the leaderboard. Really not much excitement today, but this is shaping up to be a great tournament with all the big names on the leaderboard. I hope it lives up to its potential. Would be nice to see a playoff among some of the big guns!

TPC: tiger makes cut

As I said yesterday, never count Mr. Woods out. He shot a 3 under par today to make the cut at the TPC. He hasn't missed a cut in 6 years. Yes, 6 years. Count 'em. No one else is close to that number.

TPC: Tiger shoots 3 over in first round

The Tour Players Championship begins today. It has perhaps the strongest field in golf, and the most memorable short par 3 in golf, the island green on the 17th -- where the fans line up waiting for a train wreck.

Tiger is a slow starter and usually doesn't shoot all that well in the first round. Well, today, he remained true to form and shot 3 over par. Adam Scott is the leader at -7. Yes, if you've been following The Golf Blog, that's the same Adam Scott who is coached by Butch Harmon and whom Butch thinks has a more technically sound swing than Tiger.

Don't count Tiger out yet. It will be a BIG day tomorrow.
More from Sports Illustrated on Tiger's poor round.

get well, Jim

The Golf Blog sends its best to Jim Furyk, who had arthroscopic surgery to repair torn cartilage in his wrist. Jim will be out of commission anywhere from 3 to 6 months. We wish him a speedy recovery.

news flash: Tiger says "no" reunion with Butch

Tiger has spoken up. Butch Harmon is out. And a reunion is out of the question. On the surface, Tiger says that his major work with Harmon on his swing has been accomplished, so now he can go it alone and do "maintenance" on his swing.

This explanation doesn't really make sense to me. It can't be the real reason -- or at least the only reason -- for dumping Butch. Golf is a fickle game; everyone can use a pair of professional eyes to help correct recurring swing flaws. Tiger's too smart to think a golf coach is so dispensable. Jack Nicklaus had swing coaches Jack Grout and then Jim Flick to go to throughout his career. And you know how much Tiger thirsts to surpass Nicklaus's major records. Moreover, Singh, Els, and Mickleson all have swing coaches.

So what's the explanation for the falling out? Sports Illustrated suggests that Tiger may not have liked Butch's coaching of other players, like Darren Clark, Justin Leonard, Jose Maria Olazabal, and Adam Scott.

I doubt that's the reason. Butch always gave Tiger No.1 priority. And these days any great swing coach has multiple players -- e.g., David Leadbetter. I think there may be something more serious for the break up. Given what Butch Harmon said about Tiger's swing in Golf Digest (see below), maybe Tiger just didn't agree with some of the things Butch was suggesting. Maybe Tiger lost faith in Butch, or didn't like Butch's critique of his swing flaws -- since Butch makes clear in Golf Digest that he believes there now are flaws.

All pretty intriguing to think about. But we'll probably never really find out the reasons from Tiger or Butch. I just wish Tiger would find another coach. Everyone can use a coach. Just look at Nick Faldo after he broke up with David Leadbetter. He went from winning majors to winning nothing.

UPDATE: We've started a new poll on this issue. Please vote!

where's vijay

Well, after much fanfare about competing with Tiger for No. 1 this year, Vijay Singh appears to have disappeared. Someone send out an alert: where's Vijay?

tiger goes to boot camp?

Speaking of Tiger, he's decided to go to army boot camp training right after the Masters. He'll do 4 days of boot camp at the same place where his father Earl did his, and Tiger will also throw a junior golf clinic.

The junior clinic I can understand. But the boot camp, why?

more on harmon

I watched the Butch Harmon and Darren Clarke appearance yesterday. Although Tiger's name popped up a couple times, Kelly Tilghman avoided asking Butch any question about Tiger. Kind of noticeable after she raised the question about Butch and Tiger on the air to her peers less than 24 hours before.

A former player herself, she's probably just too nice to put Butch on the spot. Where's Jim Gray when you need him?

so long, butch...

So Tiger made another first this weekend: first professional tournament where he's hit 3 rounds above par. That's not exactly the first he wanted (5 consecutive wins at one tournament). But, if you listened to his post game interview, he thinks he had one of his better driving weeks and, according to him, the things he's working on are "coming together."

This prompted a spirited discussion on The Golf Channel among Kelly Tilghman, Frank Nobilo, and Brian Hewitt about whether Tiger should reconnect with his former swing coach Butch Harmon. They also admitted that no one really knows why the two broke up their winning combination. If it ain't broke,...

My take: Tiger needs a swing coach. The game is too difficult, and competition too stiff, to be No.1 and expect to self-diagnose your own swing week in and week out. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Tiger's plaguing problem is his driver, which has a tendency to go right too often these days.

Whether the swing coach should be Butch Harmon is another question. Butch is obviously one of the best coaches out there, and he did work well with Tiger for several years.

But maybe the two have philosophical differences about what's best for Tiger's swing now. I'm only speculating but here's a piece of evidence from this month's Golf Digest from Butch Harmon. In it, Butch compares Adam Scott's 2003 swing to Tiger's 2002 swing. Here's what Butch says:

"Every time Adam Scott comes to see me, he looks at Tiger's swing from a practice round at St. Andrews in 2000--when I think Tiger was swinging his best. He cues up a tape of that swing and tries to mimic it. Ironically, Tiger should probably look at tape of Adam's swing now, because at this point in time, Adam is in better positions, especially at impact."

There's more. If you read the frame analysis, you can see Butch thinks that Adam's swing is more fundamentally sound than Tiger's, since Adam doesn't have to rely as much "on timing to square the clubface."

I'm a big Butch Harmon fan, but maybe the relationship is no longer there with his former No. 1 student. I wish the two never broke up, but maybe now it's just better that Tiger moves on. But moves on to another coach, and not just to himself as coach. There are a bunch of other coaches out there who would die to coach Tiger Woods. It's time for Tiger to put someone else on his speed dial. Leadbetter may be a long name, but it abbreviates well.

UPDATE: Butch Harmon will be on with his student Darren Clarke on Academy Live tonight at 7:30 on The Golf Channel.

UPDATE 2: Johnny Miller said this weekend, "Tiger needs to go back to Butch Harmon. He's trying to be his own coach."

monday recap

Congrats to:
1. Annika Sorenstam for winning the Safeway International in her first event of the year and 49th tour win;
2. Chad Campbell for winning the Bay Hill Invitation, coming
from 4 back on the final day for his second career PGA win;
3. Colin Montgomery for winning in Singapore for a must win to
get him into this week's TPC at Sawgrass; and
4. Tom Purtzer for winning on the Champions Tour.

I was at the Kentucky-UAB game, so I missed most of the action. I think the most significant win on Sunday -- besides UAB -- was Chad Campbell's. He's putting his claim down as one of the game's top up-and-comers.

annika

Annika Sorenstam's leading the Safeway Invitational at -16. Michelle Wie is way back at -7. What's interesting about the LPGA is that Michelle, who is the most promising golfer out there, has perhaps the greatest women's golfer ever to contend with. Annika is dominating her tour in a way that Tiger did in 2000. But when Tiger first came out on the PGA Tour, Greg Norman was the world's No.1 -- the Shark was in no way the same dominating force as Annika is today on the LPGA tour.

Nicklaus had Palmer (Player, and later Trevino, Watson and others to contend with). When he first came out, Tiger really had no one big contender to deal with (although maybe that's changing). I think it's much better when there's a big rival for the world's No. 1. Would have been nice if Tiger came out when Nicklaus was still in his relative prime. The situation with Michelle and Annika may turn out to be that way. I hope so.

A joyous season opener

I just had the joy of my first round of the season -- on the Creek Course in a golf community named Carolina Trace in Sanford, North Carolina where my dad retired this past Fall. Despite the driving range being closed and thus not having a chance to work out winter rust, I managed to start with five straight pars, and made three birdies on the back nine to post a two-over 74. Perhaps this is an omen that I am going to have a strong golf season, or maybe it is all downhill from here. Whatever this season holds, it is wonderful three days after being under six nches of snow in Columbus to be trying to avoid three-putting.

I have at least 3 more rounds in line for the next few days -- wish me luck.

more on michelle

Nice article from the Denver Post about Michelle Wie today.

Interesting stats:
1. Hole in ones: Michelle Wie, 6 (by age 14). Ben Hogan, 0 (lifetime).
2. Longer drives: Michelle Wie, 5. Jack Nicklaus, 2. (9 holes, excluding par 3s)
3. 1st time shot 64: Michelle Wie, age 10.
4. Taller: Michelle Wie, over Tiger Woods.

UPDATE: I just heard that Michelle has been changing her swing plane under the instruction of David Leadbetter. By the accounts I heard, it's a big change. Kind of surprising to me, because her swing was so good.

this week: Bay Hill, Arnie's tournament

Oops. Yesterday, I jumped the gun to report about the TPC, when in fact the PGA Tour is at Bay Hill. What's special about this tournament is that it's Arnold Palmer's tournament. And also this year Tiger Woods will be going for his 5th consecutive Bay Hill championship. That would be a PGA Tour record. No one's won 1 tournament 5 times in a row. But Tiger's Tiger, so anything's possible.

Pro golf and family life

Here is a great (and long) article about juggling pro golf and a family (against the backdrop, of course, of Tiger's forthcomnig nuptuals). Here's one of the interesting statements in the article: "A good argument can be made that no athletes are more affected by marriage and what's happening in their personal lives than golfers." Do all agree?

stanford men's golf coach: I won't recruit Michelle Wie

Michelle Wie is on record as saying that she'd like to go to Stanford and play golf, like Tiger. There's been a lot of talk that she should play college golf with the men. Stanford men's golf coach Jeff Mitchell says, though, he won't recruit any women to play on the men's team. Are you serious? Michelle would beat a number of the people on the Stanford team right now. Give her 4 more years, and she'll probably be beating every single one of the men on the Stanford golf team in the future.

Coach Mitchell thinks that no men's program would recruit any women to play. Well, according to USA today, Beth Daniel already was recruited to play on her college team with the men. Coach, you have 3 years to wise up. You'd be lucky to have Michelle on your team.

A better playoff

Craig Parry certainly deserved a great reward for making a deuce on the 18th of the Blue Monster to win this week's PGA event. But, as he and Scott Verplank were preparing for their playoff, I decided that a sudden death playoff really is not the most exciting or most fair way to end an event. Though the 18-hole resolution used in the US Open is perhaps the most fair, it is usually not exciting. I like the British Open's 4-hole approach, and I think the PGA tour ought to consider at least a 2-hole or 3-hole format, which I think would be both fair an exciting (especially if more than two players are tied at the end).

Just a thought.

interesting tidbit: tiger's speed dial

Tiger offers an interesting tidbit in Golf Digest.
On his speed dial of his cell phone are:

1. Mark O'Meara
2. Notah Begay
3. John Cook
4. Charles Howell, and
5. David Toms

1,2, and 4 were no surprise, but John Cook and
David Toms were. Also surprising are the golfers
not on speed dial like:

1. David Duval
2. Darren Clarke

But not surprising are these people who didn't make
the list:

1. Phil Mickelson
2. Sergio Garcia
3. Vijay Singh

craig parry eagles the last

One of the purest golf shots I've ever seen. Craig Parry knocked his 6-iron from 176 yards out into the cup for eagle at the 18th yesterday, the first playoff hole against his competitor Scott Verplank at the Ford Doral Open. The eagle put a quick, but stirring end to the playoff. Parry gives unathletic types hope they can still win on the tour against all those other guys who are in the fitness mobile. Perhaps there's something in the name Craig because there's another Craig who was not into fitness either who's done very well for himself on the PGA and now Champions Tour.

Well done, Craig! You were contemplating retiring from the PGA tour in 2002 and almost missed your tee time on Thursday because of oversleeping. Well now you can put all those thoughts of retiring to bed!

bravo, mark o'meara

Upstaging his good buddy Tiger Woods at Dubai, Mark O'Meara clinched his first victory since his magical 1998 year in which he won his first and only 2 majors. Mark has a silky, rhythmical swing. This week, he changed his putting style to the "saw" grip -- with his right hand palm down on the front of the grip and his index and middle finger pointing down. Apparently, it worked! I'm sure he and Tiger will have a lot to say on Tiger's jet on the way home.

ken venturi: arnold palmer cheated to win '58 masters

I was not aware of this controversy involving Ken Venturi's claim that Arnold Palmer broke the rules to win the '58 Masters. Venturi says that Palmer never declared his intention to play a second ball after a rules official denied his request for a drop due to an embedded ball. Later, the rules official's decision was overruled, and Palmer got to count his second ball -- even though, according to Venturi, Palmer shouldn't have been allowed to play the second ball without declaring his intention before he hit his first ball.

My take: let sleeping dogs lie. Venturi's dredging this up again for his upcoming book, but what good will it do for the game of golf. You have to trust the integrity of the game to each individual golfer. If Arnold judged himself to have acted properly within the rules at the time and no rules official had reason to contradict him, then you have to leave it to Arnold's word and integrity. Since I really didn't see what happened (not being even born yet), I can't say who I believe was right on the call. But I do know that Mr. Palmer has proven himself to be one of the best ambassadors for the game of golf.

tiger on aircraft carrier

More special perks for Tiger: he got to fly off an U.S. aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf after giving a clinic there. What next? Appointed the Minister of Golf in the United Arab Emirates? BTW, how much golf do they play off of aircraft carriers?

seve

Seve Ballesteros is playing at the Doral, to get ready for the Masters. In his prime, Seve was one of the most exciting players to watch, given his imagination and short game. I wish Sergio would start winning like Seve did.

Seve raises some valid concerns about the way in which technology is taking over the game. I've always wondered why professional golf seems to be so permissive in allowing new balls, new drivers, and new clubs. In baseball, players still use wooden bats. In tennis, which is probably more comparable to golf in equipment changes, at least has a standard ball for each tournament. In golf, it seems that most everything is fair game, so to speak, within certain limits (.86 COR, e.g.). I'm all for improving the technology for us hackers and weekend golfers, but the pros should have greater limits imposed on them. We don't want to see every single pro golfer consistently driving it 320 yards or more one day.

phil's got a secret

Phil Mickelson is not in Dubai, but in Florida at the Doral. I watched part of his interview. You can tell Phil's really focused this year. He has a gag order on his swing coaches Rick Smith and Dave Pelz, told them that they can't talk about what he's working on to the press or public. And he himself ain't disclosing anything.

For a guy who likes to talk smack, this is a big change. I think Phil's doing everything he can this year -- getting back in shape, dieting, working on his swing -- to have a breakthrough year. I, for one, hope he does.

tiger hitting balls off the top of a hotel

So when you're No.1 in the world in golf and desperately wanted to play in Dubai, you can get just about anything. Tiger took a helicopter ride to the top of the tallest hotel in Dubai to hit golf balls off the roof and into the Arabian gulf. Now, that sounds like fun!

Tiger is going back to place where he had one of his worst (if only) collapses in losing a tournament on the final two holes in 2001. (Perhaps ironically, Thomas Bjorn won -- the same guy who had his own collapse last year at the British letting then no-name Ben Curtis to win.) After last week's Match Play tournament, Tiger should be raring to go. More about the red carpet treatment Tiger's receiving here.

Managing Editor WINS the PILF Challenge

I would like to congratulate Managing Editor for her super performance in the PILF Challenge. She was the only person who chose the final matchup (Woods v. Love) and also picked the winner Tiger. Congrats Managing Editor.

In other news, I find it humerous that I ran this pool and finished 2nd to last. Oh well, I guess I need to jump on the Tiger bandwagon.

Final Results:

Managing Editor - 20 + 12 + 12 + 16 + 32 + 32 = 124
Basement Full of Putters - 23 + 14 + 16 + 16 + 16 + 32 = 117
Extractor - 19 + 14 + 16 + 8 + 16 + 32 = 105
Mulligan - 18 + 12 + 16 + 8 + 16 + 32 = 102
Oakhaven - 21 + 12 + 16 + 16 + 16 = 81
Lost Cause - 22 + 18 + 16 + 8 + 16 = 72
OSLJ - 20 + 14 + 12 + 16 = 62
Pittsburgh - 20 + 14 + 16 + 8 = 58
My Favorite Boss - 15 + 10 + 4 + 8 + 16 = 53
CrimGolfer - 14 + 14 + 8 + 16 + 0 = 52
ZellMe - 20 + 16 + 12 + 8 + 0 = 48
CWRU Dropout - 19 + 14 + 12 + 0 + 0 = 45
RobertTrentJay'30 - 18 + 12 + 4 + 8 + 0 = 42
Donald's Driver - 20 + 14 + 4 + 0 + 0 = 38
ASP Treasurer - 19 + 14 + 4 + 0 + 0 = 37
ASUGolf - 20 + 8 + 8 + 8 + 0 = 36
Bull Who? - 21 + 10 + 4 + 0 + 0 = 35
Jasholn1 - 17 + 8 + 8 + 0 + 0 = 33
Baby on Board - 20 + 8 + 4 + 0 + 0= 32


Thanks again for participating

more on the golf blog magic

So if you are a follower of The Golf Blog, you will know that last week I suggested that there may be some "magic" to being listed on the "hot shots" category to the right on this blog. As of last week, 4 of our hot shots had won tournaments. Well, this week make it 5 with Tiger's win. OK, maybe that really shouldn't count because you can expect Tiger would win this year.

Perhaps the more freaky thing, however, was Aaron Baddeley's ("Badds") near win this weekend at the Chrysler Classic. As I mentioned last week, I threw Badds on our "hot shots" list just last week to mix things up. And, immediately, he ties his best finish at a PGA event (though squandering a tie for the lead on the last hole). Sure, it would have been better for The Golf Blog magic had he won. But there's still the rest of the season left!

If you wonder how we determine who the "hot shots" are, it's simple: whoever has his or her own website is eligible.