Outbursts!!!

Anyone who has teed it up before knows there's a bit of swearing on the course. Outbursts are quite common when there are errent shots. But listen, if you suck, you have no right to get mad. This game is way too hard for amateurs like us to get mad. I only mention this because it happens a lot with guys who think they're way better than they really are.

Sometimes the shots aren't even that bad and guys are dropping f-bombs all over the place. Look dude, you're lucky you didn't lay the sod over the ball. You're a 25 handicapper thinking you're a 10.

I absolutely refuse to torture myself for 4 hours with someone like that. That's my time to relax and if you take that away from me, you will be blackballed from my foursome.

I began to think what made people like that play golf. I wondered where the outbursts and piss poor etiquette came from. Nothing good comes out of it. If you need to get mad at yourself, do it quietly or occasionally, but not every damn shot.

I might catch a bit of flack for this but I think it might start from the tour. I liked rooting for Woody Austin, especially after his super clutch play at last years President's Cup, but his antics are growing old. He was known mostly for smashing his putter over his head and bending it, and not for his golf. He was offended by that and he had a right to be but it wasn't as if he was setting the world on fire due to his play.

So after battling Tiger at the PGA last year he became a fan favorite due to his fiery spirit and competetiveness. I didn't even have a problem with him saying he outplayed Tiger yet lost by 6 strokes on the round because he seemed like a straight shooter and not too delusional. So far this year he has done nothing but scream, rant, yell, blow up, and be delusional. He's crossing the line between competing and whining and I'm not certain if he's already lost his fan base he developed last year because no one can decide if he's fiery or a dick.

Another thing I'm already sick of is screaming at your ball on every single shot. I don't mind a 'sit!', or 'go!', or 'be the stick!'. But you don't have to scream on top of your lungs on every shot Sergio. Yep, I'm bitching about our favorite majorless player, Sergio Garcia. Hey don't get me wrong, he played awesome at the TPC at Sawgrass and congrats but man he's an annoying bastard. He hit the ball on the screws every day, even made a few putts, yet was still screaming at his ball on every shot. Nothing terribly bad but every shot was "SIT...SIT....SIT.....SIT....SIT...SIT!!!!!!!!!!" Or it was "GO......GO.........GO.........GO......GO!!!!!!!"
Or it was 'Bite' 7 times, or 'Cut' 7 times. No matter what he wanted the ball to do, he screamed it a minimum of 5 times.

Yo Sergio, once is ok. Even twice is almost understandable, but there's no need to scream the same thing over and over again every shot. And this is coming from a loudmouth like me. If I'm noticing you're too annoying you've got some serious problems. Not to mention he believes that the entire world is out to get him. A gust of wind, a missed putt, any bad break and he blames the entire universe. Dude, it happens to everyone, quit being a chump.

Which brings me to my current b/f, Tiger Woods. Stop swearing so loud. Hey, we all do it but there's a way to do it quietly and still get the word out. There's cameras all over the place dude, they're gonna pick it up.

I can't stand when the commentators almost praise him for it. He'll belt out a few adult words and the announcer says, yeah that's just Tiger being a fierce competitor. Does that mean everyone else who manages to swear under their breath isn't a competitor. Sometimes these people are just in a magic, fantasy world of flowers and balloons.

I can swear like a trucker on the course but if I shoot 100 I'm still gonna enjoy those 4 hours on the course.

It's Not Just Me Who is Scrutinizing the Masters

This is an article from espn.com. It was originally from April 14th but with the hoopla of the TPC at Sawgrass, ESPN's Bob Harig wrote this article and ESPN has reposted the article this morning. I'd leave the link but the page might not be there after a few days so here's the article exactly as it's printed.

Longer, tougher Augusta National has led to battles of attrition

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Roars have been replaced by moans, birdies by bogeys, thrills by chills. Maybe it is the blustery weather, a big factor in the past two Masters. But something is definitely missing at Augusta National, and perhaps it is as simple as subtraction by addition.

The golf course first made famous by Bobby Jones and where South Africa's Trevor Immelman claimed the green jacket on Sunday is a beast that measures more than 7,400 yards. It has rock-hard greens, extra trees and a "second cut" of rough that at one time did not exist.

And it once again did a pretty good job of beating up the best players in the world.

"You don't shoot low rounds here anymore," Tiger Woods said last week, three days before he would finish runner-up for the second straight year. "You've just got to plod along."

Immelman's 75 matched the highest final round for a winner in tournament history -- yet he still managed to increase his third-round lead by a stroke. Only four Sunday rounds were under par, with just two in the 60s.

Of the top 22 players on the leaderboard after 54 holes, none broke par. The top 15 averaged 75.07 on Sunday, with just three players -- Woods, Phil Mickelson and Stewart Cink -- matching par. Brandt Snedeker, paired with Immelman in the final group, shot 77. The next-to-last group saw Steve Flesch shoot 78 and Paul Casey shoot 79.

Even with decent scoring conditions Saturday, only seven players shot in the 60s. Of the top 16 finishers, only two broke par, none in the top seven.

In the past two Masters, there has been just a single round of 67. Since 2002, there have been just four scores of 65, the past two coming in 2005 -- by Immelman and Woods.

"It's more like playing a U.S. Open than a Masters," Woods said.

"They've taken away a lot of choices," said 1988 Masters champion Sandy Lyle. "Before, there was always a little cherry dangling. For instance, on the first hole it was 265 yards over the bunker, so you looked at the wind at the pin position and decided whether to go for it. If it came off, you got your reward. Now it's 320 yards to carry that bunker, and it's scary.

"So I think they've spoiled the course a little bit and, although it doesn't necessarily play into the hands of long hitters, it means fewer guys can be competitive out here."

The first hole is not the only one that players have questioned. Since the par-4 11th has been stretched to 505 yards with trees added along the right side, it has received plenty of complaints. It played as the most difficult hole this week, averaging 4.306.

The seventh also got plenty of attention. Once a relatively short par-4, it has been stretched in recent years to 450 yards, despite having one of the tiniest greens on the course. For a good part of the tournament this year, tees were moved up because of windy conditions.

"It's too long," two-time Masters champion Ben Crenshaw said of the seventh hole. "Seven is one of the greatest greens I've ever seen, but it just doesn't have to be that long."

I think what has changed the golf course immeasurably is one hole, and it's No. 7," said Mickelson, who won in 2004 and 2006. "… The whole thought process of playing the golf course used to be, 'Get through the first six holes around par, and you can birdie [Nos.] 7, 8 and 9' … you turn at under par and then you shoot under par on the back side and you have a great round.

"Now 7 is one of the two toughest holes on the course. Between 7 and 11 -- those might be the two toughest pars on the course."

Gone, seemingly, are the back-nine charges we saw as recently as 2004, when Mickelson rallied with five birdies on the final seven holes to defeat Ernie Els, who managed only two birdies. Neither made a bogey on the second nine that day.

Ten years ago, Mark O'Meara birdied three of the last four holes to win by a stroke. In 2005, Woods shot a third-round 65, then Chris DiMarco shot a 68 in the final round to tie him and force a playoff.

The past two years, however, have produced battles of attrition. Snedeker's 77 still earned him a tie for third. Flesch's 78 tied him for fifth. Is that what Masters officials want? Or did the weather conditions make it unavoidable?

"They've taken the fun out of it," said former Masters champion Fuzzy Zoeller. "You got going around Amen Corner, you could make a run. Standing up at the clubhouse, you used to hear those roars, and the ground would rattle. You don't hear that any more. It's a different place.

"The fast greens have always been a part of this place. But it's very difficult to get the ball close to the holes for a decent birdie putt. Everybody's playing in that defensive golf mode, trying not to make mistakes."

"People want to hear roars," O'Meara said. "That's what I think is so great about the [British] Open Championship. They don't mess with the course that much. The weather and conditions dictate what the scoring is going to be like."

In some regards, that has been the case at Augusta the past two years. Cold conditions led to high scoring in 2007. A windy day Sunday meant more indecision and soaring scores.

But when conditions were nice on Thursday and Friday, scoring was not considerably easier. Nobody went lower than 68 on Thursday or Friday, and Flesch's 67 came on Saturday.

Billy Payne, the Masters chairman, said in his pretournament news conference that he was pleased with the setup of the course. But he also acknowledged that he keeps close tabs on every hole. And no doubt his ears will tell him that his tournament was not as loud this year.

"There was disaster around every corner," Immelman said.

"The course needed to be changed," Crenshaw said, alluding to the length added in the past decade. "[But] I really don't think it's as interesting to play as it used to be. To be very honest, I don't think it is. But they've had to do a lot of things in defense of the game and the course."

Some would suggest they've gone too far.




This is exactly what we've been talking about. It's not to sound like a broken record but it bothers me because this is a lot of people's, mine included, favorite tournament. Let the US Open be the brutal course that tests the players resolve. Let guys go low at The Masters.

Regardless if it's Phil or Tiger, having the course decide the winner of the tournament instead of the players and their clubs takes all the drama out of the Masters. I don't care if it's Nick Watney and Dean Wilson coming down the back nine as long as they're battling.

Golf fans know good golf when they see it and as long as a few guys are grinding it out to win instead of just trying to not let the course win, the roars and excitement will soon return. If nothing is done, get used to having winners shooting over par and extremely conservative play in the final rounds.

How Would We Shoot???

We're in the midst of being treated to some awesome tournaments. We've had The Masters, the Wachovia Championship, this week is the TPC at Sawgrass (also known as the 5th major), the AT&T Classic, and next month the US Open. The awesome golf we've been witnessing got me to thinking about something. It's no secret that the pro's do things with the golf ball that we only dream we could. There are golfers that we've never heard of that can go out and shoot 65 at any moment so the point isn't to discredit any professional or low handicapper.

However, how would we shoot when the course conditions are perfect???? How would a 15 handicap shoot when the fairways are soft and spongy, the rough is actually rough and not patchy, and the greens rolled true and weren't a matt of hair compined with aeration or rolling marks? Length would still be an issue for us amateurs so I'm not being ignorant but there isn't a bald spot, bare patch, pitch mark, or tractor print anywhere on the entire course the pros play on. They wouldn't stand for it.

We, on the other hand, play on some dog tracks where the course conditions vary by the day. Yet we stil play the ball as it lies and we go through some rotten lies. I'm talking rotten lies in the fairway or not too far off it. Just once I'd like to play a course in tour like conditions just to feel what it's like to not hit off of any hardpan or have a putt that doesn't bounce 40 times before it comes to rest no where near it was aimed. Obviously not a course that's set up for a major or something like that. A course like the John Deere Classic with normal greens and mediocre rough.

Think we would shoot lower or do they play courses that are really that difficult?

Update: John Daly is Just No Good for Golf

Once again, John Daly is back in the news and once again, it's not for making a cut. The only plus side is it's not for withdrawing from a tournament either. Our lovable, regular guy gave an interview last week during a practice round of golf wearing no shirt or shoes.

JD is representing exactly how not to behave on the PGA Tour and is making an absolute mockery of everything the tour stands for. This is a guy that we all loved to root for but it appears he's lost just about every last fan he had. To actually give an interview without wearing shoes and a shirt is absolutely ridiculous and insulting to the PGA Tour standards and the USGA regulations. It's also insulting to every golfer, pro or amateur, to behave like that.

We all loved JD because he was a guy that a lot of us could relate too. But his antics are a far cry from what even regular guys act like. I guess you don't need a shirt when you don't have any sponsors to represent either.

In another twist, JD also mentioned that his former coach Butch Harmon had called and apologized for dumping him. Daly had told reporters that, "I called (Harmon) the other day and he said he realized he didn’t get the facts right and felt bad about it."

Daly was referring to Harmon’s decision to stop working as Daly’s swing coach last month. At the time, Harmon cited, among other things, Daly’s refusal to get help for his drinking problems.

Harmon refuted Daly's claim and had this to say when contacted by The Golf Channel on Wednesday:

“John Daly called me on Thursday and said he had lost all of his endorsement contracts because of me and my statements and asked if I could print a retraction. I said, ‘John, you lost your contracts because of you and not anyone else….you need to quit blaming everyone else….I wish you well and I hope you play well.’ ”

It's just really tough to root for him now and at this point I can say I won't be until he at least starts acting more like a professional and not a waste of talent. He has always been a big draw but you can bet that people are more than fed up with him at this point. I had touched upon this situation on March 11th when Butch Harmon fired Daly and the only thing JD has done since was prove my point.

Not to mention, the tour has a new lovable character in Boo Weekley.