The Golf Blog: Golf coach Sean Foley defends Tiger Woods from relentless criticism
The Golf Blog says: Sean Foley stepped in to defend Tiger Woods from criticism of his play and etiquette at the Masters.
Foley said: “”Tiger is a wonderful person, and he is a good dude, and he lives a complex life. I think things have got to slow down, and it has got to stop, the daily referendums and the criticism….I realize it is 2012 and we have dotcoms, and you have to write five articles a day, and you run out of things to write about. But we should be in a position where we are trying to help and lift up and support a player like Tiger Woods instead of tearing him down, because everyone in the golf industry is better off because of his existence.”
Foley did not refer specifically to Hank Haney’s book The Big Miss, but it would have been interesting to hear Foley’s thoughts about Haney’s book.
The Golf Blog: Should Tiger Woods boycott Jaime Diaz interviews because of The Big Miss book?
The Golf Blog says: Jaime Diaz, the new Editor in Chief at Golf World, is one of the most respected golf writers in the business. He’s had unparalleled access to Tiger Woods starting when he was a teenager. For 8 years, Diaz wrote year-end articles about Tiger for the Golf Digest based on in-person interviews. Click here for list of articles.
Diaz helped Hank Haney write The Big Miss. Diaz revealed that Haney had been planning a book possibly from the start of his coaching relationship with Tiger or at least a significant part of it. Diaz admitted that he knew he might be giving up his relationship with and access to Tiger by writing the book, but felt that it was unlikely that Tiger would be opening up with his thoughts in the near future and that the opportunity to be a part of the book was too hard to pass up. (Click here for Diaz explanation)
Diaz’s admission that he knew he might be burning bridges with Tiger by writing the book raises the question whether Tiger should end his grant of interviews to Jaime Diaz, and possibly anyone else at Golf World and Golf Digest. Please send us your comments.
The Golf Blog: Did Phil Mickelson goof by using 64 degree wedge to hit right handed on 4th hole of Masters?
The Golf Blog says: Phil Mickelson lost his chances of winning his 4th Masters title and green jacket on the par 3 4th hole on Sunday. Phil’s tee shot ended up in some bamboo (who knew it grew in Georgia), and Phil elected to try to hack his ball out of the woods instead of going back to the tee on the 220 plus yard hole (click here for the video). Of course, many questioned Phil’s decision not to go back to the tee and try salvaging the hole from there. (He must have felt that he might miss the green again and end up making double or worse.)
No one on CBS, The Golf Channel, or in the golf media has questioned, however, whether Phil Mickelson used the wrong club in trying to hack out of the woods. He used his 64 degree wedge. True, the club has a bigger head than other clubs, but it also has a pretty severe angle that makes it ridiculously difficult to get a flat surface on the club. We tried it with our 60 degree wedge, and just hitting the ball was no guarantee. Phil’s club had even more loft! If you remember, Phil almost whiffed the first time and the ball squirted way left the second time. Part of it might have been the bamboo, but part of it might have also been the weird angle the 64 degree wedge lies.
Normal grip with 60 degree wedge (right handed club), from opposite (lefty) side trying to hit ball with club upside down
Of course, you could try to change the grip so the club face is straight. But the angle is so severe, you would have to be well ahead of the ball at a very acute angle. Hitting the ball at this angle is even more difficult. (Mickelson, in fact, was well ahead of the ball on his first attempt, and he almost whiffed. Part of the reason was the bamboo. But the acute angle probably made it more difficult.)
Attempting to make the 60 degree wedge straight or perpendicular to the ball, from opposite (lefty) side
Instead of using a 64 degree wedge, it might have been better for Mickelson to use a 7 or 8 iron. Here we used our 5 iron to show that it is much easier to get square from the opposite side.
5 iron from the opposite (lefty) side, normal grip, club upside down
We wonder why Phil, who is a short game genius and who probably has practiced these shots, made his decision so quickly to go with the 64 degree wedge without even any thought. The fraction more of club surface the 64 degree wedge has seems to be negated by the incredibly acute angle the club lies, especially from the opposite hand. The video shows clearly that the acute angle on the 64 degree wedge caused the ball to squirt left immediately after impact. If all Phil wanted to do was to hit the ball hard enough to get into the bunker, the most important thing was making direct, solid contact on the ball and have it roll into the bunker. A 7 or 8 iron would have given Phil a much better chance of accomplishing that task. (We also wonder why all the TV golf pros like Nick Faldo did not even raise this question.)
We also wonder why Phil didn’t consider hitting the ball with the normal club face, but simply standing with his back to the hole. That topic, though, is for another day.
UPDATE: Thanks to some friends on Twitter, we realize that our original post incorrectly indicated that Phil tried to hit the ball from the right hand side with the back of his wedge. In fact, he used the club face with the club turned upside down. Our original analysis about the club angle, however, still applies, as shown by the updated photos above.
The Golf Blog: Video Brian Gay’s caddie chases away alligator at RBC Heritage
The Golf Blog: Kip Henley, Brian Gay’s caddie, went above and beyond the duty. He chased away an alligator at the RBC Heritage. Wow.
The Golf Blog: Video Magic and Bird on David Letterman
The Golf Blog says: Magic Johnson and Larry Bird are featured in a musical on Broadway now. They appeared on Letterman last night.
The Golf Blog: FOX News Jenna Lee interview Bubba Watson
The Golf Blog says: Bubba Watson is an emotional guy. FOX News Jenna Lee interviewed Bubba following his victory at the Masters.
The Golf Blog: Video Bubba Watson and Piers Morgan putting contest and interview
The Golf Blog says: Bubba Watson got emotional, nearly crying, talking about his wife and new son.
