Golf Talk

This is becoming a bigger story as the hours go by. Jim Rome is talking about right now on his radio show. What happened was Jay Williamson fired his caddie mid-round, after the 14th hole specifically during the first round of the Canadian Open last week.

Jay Will then found a 69-year-old from the gallery to finish his round.

The word is that Jay Will caught Mike Mollet firing off racial slurs and so Jay Will confronted Mike and the situation escalated.

I love one of the comments at the end of the ESPN story,

Once per tournament a pro should fire his caddy and choose somebody from the stands. Golf crowds would double instantly.

Jay Williamson, Canadian Open, Mike Mollet

Congrats to Natalie Gulbis for her first win last week. Today, we look at Natalie and Paula Creamer’s famous dip driver swing. The amazing thing I find is the balance that they both have after dipping their head so severely. If I tried that, I’m pretty sure I would fall over every single time.

Natalie Gulbis, golf tips

A selection of quotes from last week’s Canadian Open Championship.

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Ever wonder what goes into those thousand dollar clubs that you still can’t hit properly?? Today, I bring to you a clip that is a behind the scenes look at PING’s factory headquarters in Phoenix Arizona and how their putters and clubs are made. It’s a fascinating look at what it takes to make a set of clubs.

PING factory, golf equipment

I told you all to watch out for a Singh/Furyk showdown and indeed, that is exactly what happened. It was a good final round Sunday as Jim charged out ahead early while Vijay stumbled and lost his lead. In the end Jim rallied to defend his title beating Vijay by one stroke.

One of the guys on my fantasy list, Hunter Mahan finished third so that gave me a good boost. In fact, Camillo Villegas shot a final round 5-under par to get to 10-under. Overall, I had a really good week, I had my guys finish 1, 2, 3 and T-10.

Stephen Ames finished as the best Canadian as I predicted. A lot of people are making a big deal about his comments on the soft greens, I happen to agree with him so it’s not that big a deal.

Meanwhile, when I woke up on Sunday, there it was, Natalie Gulbis had won the Evian Masters. Good of Nat to get the first win and monkey off her back. She has the talent, just not the focus. Perhaps she has turned the corner there and is ready to focus more on golf rather than her swimsuit calendar.

PGA Tour, Canadian Open, Jim Furyk, Vijay Singh, Evian Masters, Natalie Gulbis

As I predicted yesterday, Vijay Singh continued his strong play through to today and if it weren’t for a couple of bad holes on 17 and 18, would’ve had a sizeable lead going into final round Sunday. I have to say though, Vijay got extremely lucky with his tee shot on 11, it hit the rocks near the water twice before bouncing back onto the first cut of the rough.

Other strong play included Hunter Mahan who bounced back after a terrible second round. The second round leaders, Steve Allan and John Mallinger played well, but not well enough to win this thing. Jim Furyk is dangerous, sitting at 9-under and only 3-back, I’d be worried about him.

Mike Weir had a solid third round, he’s too far away to win, but his 4-under round today was good enough for him to tie Stephen Ames for top Canuck.

A little controversy after the round when players were criticizing tournament officials for the super-soft greens and odd hole locations to compensate. I have to concur.

Tomorrow will be good to watch, if it comes down to Vij and Jim, it’ll be wire-to-wire.

I apologize for the lack of Evian Masters updates as I simply haven’t watched any coverage or highlights. I’m liking the way Annika is playing though. A quick scan of the leaderboard and I saw some horrendous scores, Michelle Wie shoots +12, Suzann Pettersen +9, Brittany Lincicome +10, ouch…

PGA Tour, Canadian Open, Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk, Evian Masters, Annika Sorenstam, Michelle Wie

Let’s take a closer look at your third round leader of the Canadian Open, Vijay Singh. This was taken some months ago at the Arnold Palmer Invititational which he won.

Just a very fluid swing all the way through. His backswing is smooth and he has excellent acceleration at impact. He really turns his hands over at impact and you can see his right hand bent at the follow through.

Vijay Singh, golf tips

It’s pretty late and I have an early tee time tomorrow so this update will be short and sweet. Vijay Singh methodically worked his way up the leaderboard, he’s just 1 behind the leaders who are a couple of journeymen. It certainly looks good for Vij right now for the Canadian Open.

Mike Weir was lucky to make the cut, and no, I don’t think he’ll make any charge on the weekend. Camilo Villegas and Mark Calcavecchia are doing pretty good so my pool is doing OK.

Didn’t watch any coverage or highlights of the Evian Masters, but I hear that Annika Sorenstam was the big mover of the day. Michelle Wie broke par since forever and made the cut as well.

Anyways, talk to y’all tomorrow…

PGA Tour, Canadian Open, Vijay Singh, Evian Masters, Annika Sorenstam, Michelle Wie

I don’t watch the ‘Family Guy’ regularly so I don’t know which episode this is from, but nevertheless, it’s a really funny golf segment. I love the part when they say, “Look it’s Richard Nixon, wait, it’s a black guy!! Nope, it’s Richard Nixon.” Or “What’s your handicap?” Enjoy…

Family Guy golf, Quagmire, funnies

This is a good analogy to use when hitting the driver off the tee for beginners who are struggling with how to hit. Imagine if you will that you are hammering a nail through an imaginary horizontal plane of the ball. So, basically you have to hit the nail square or it will go wonky on you. Same thing with the golf ball, watch the video and learn….

hammer the nail, golf tips

Shooting a Canadian Open record 62 on the first day of action, Hunter Mahan got the best of Angus Glen with a 9-under par round to lead all scores. Meanwhile at the Evian Masters, it’s a three way tie between Patty Hurst, Brittany Lincicome and Eun-hee Ji. Jump on the link for more details.

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I remember watching this shot I believe a year ago. Fuzzy Zoeller hits what looks to be a regular shot into the green but catches the fringe, after a few seconds, it starts rolling back down the hill, and the rest of it you know…

Fuzzy Zoeller lucky shot, funnies

Suffering from a little British Open hangover, it’s easy to forget about that little tourney we like to call the Canadian Open happening this week at Angus Glen Golf Club in Markham (ON). Just like the rest of us, many of the big names forgot about it too and are thus not joining in on the fun. Regardless, a number of talented pros like Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh will be on hand and I’ll let you all in on my picks, jump on the link below to read away.

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Taken in much the same way that you’d see a segment on America’s funniest home videos, this short 5 minute clip show a bunch of home golfing bloopers. It’s pretty funny, enjoy…

home golf videos, funnies

Found this video that does a decent job at showing how to make good pitch shots and showing the flop shot technique. This is probably the most difficult part of the game if you ask me, the 50-70 yard shot into the green. Lots of times you’ll see people either chunk it 5 yards or line drive it 30 yds over over the green. It’s a critical part to keeping your scores on par and making birds, people don’t practice these shots enough…

pitching and flopping, golf tips