Ha Na Jang Shines in Singapore

How about that Ha Na Jang?  She breezed her way to a second win this year at the HSBC Champions in Singapore, making an eagle on the last hole to add the exclamation mark to a wonderful week of golf.

This young lady seems destined to be a big star in the women's game; and what's not to love about this smiling, bubbly young lady?  She's an absolute delight for the fans.  She's obviously delightful to play with as well, smiling, encouraging, and acknowledging her playing partners' good play. 

These Korean and Asian gals are really dominating the game.  Most of them seem to have the perfect attitude for the game, never seeming to lose their cool.  Of course our little Canadian gal, Brooke Henderson, had another pretty good finish and looks to be on her way to becoming the best player we've ever produced in the ladies' game.  And there was a rather dominating performance by a certain young American phenom, Lexi Thompson, last week, so I guess it isn't going to be all about the Asians as the women's game continues to grow.

What is abundantly clear is that the game can be fun and friendly, while played at a very high level.  You needn't put on a game face, and scowl your way around the links like certain players who's names don't have to be mentioned.  

I also love watching these women play because they constantly remind me that force doesn't have to be added to the equation when swinging the club.  They are a fine example to anyone who thinks you might need to add a little extra just prior to impact.  If these little gals can crank it out there 270 yards, with such little effort, maybe an old fart like me can do better by just swinging club.

These girls are good.

Left Hand Low is the Way to Go

I wrote an article a few weeks ago called "Careful Jordan," which included a picture of Rory standing watching Jordan Spieth putt.  The gist was that, if Rory started putting anything like Jordan, the boys were in big trouble.  If Rory gets the putter going, he's going to be back to lapping fields and winning Majors.  He's that talented.

Sure enough, this week at Doral, Rory has gone left hand low with the putter, and after a mediocre first round on the greens, is starting to roll his rock again.  Rory was quick to say that the reason he had resisted going left hand low was that he didn't want us to think he was copying Jordan.  Rory had putted left hand low in his first year on the European Tour.  So he wasn't copying Jordan, he was going back to it.  Sounds good to me.

The fact is this left hand low putting method seems to really work.  We see more and more players on all the tours using it.  Apparently Arnie and Jack have both said that, if they were just starting out again, they'd both putt left hand low.  That's good enough for me.  I'm going to make the change, even though it's tough to teach an old dog new tricks.

As for Rory, if he keeps putting like this, he's going to be back to being the top dog.  We'll see how it holds up under Sunday pressure today at the Blue Monster.  So far, so good.

It's All on the Greens

One of the best known quotes in golf is attributed to Bobby Locke, who apparently first coined the phrase "you drive for show, and putt for dough."  In the end, it always comes down to the putter.  Many say Bobby Locke was an absolute putting genuis--perhaps the best ever.  I can't really comment on that, never having seen him play.  But he certainly understood the importance of making putts, as does every great player.

The two best putters I've ever seen have to be Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.  Both of them had the ability to bear down and make putts when they most needed to.  It's no coincidence that both are also the guys who've won the most Majors.  I must say, Tiger had to have been the best putter I've ever seen from six feet and in when he was at the top of his game.  He was absolutely bullet-proof from six feet in his prime.

Raymond Floyd believed the most important shot in golf was the six foot putt, and I think he's absolutely right about that.  Dave Pelz conducted studies and found that the pros, on average, made fifty percent of their putts from six feet.  That might have been true; but we can also be certain the contenders every Sunday are making more than fifty percent of their six footers that week.  When he surveyed the pros, he found that Jack Nicklaus was one of the very few who accurately guessed what the average was.  Most pros thought they holed a higher percentage of them.  Most amateurs also greatly over-estimate their ability to hole shorter putts; or at least think they should make more six footers than they do.  This often negatively affects their attitude.  I know I have been that way.

Perhaps it would be good for all of us to remember what Walter Hagen, another great putter, said about missing short ones.  He said: "There is no tragedy in missing a putt, no matter how short.  All have erred in this respect."  The fact is we're all going to miss some short ones, and sometimes it won't even be our fault.  It just happens.  It's part of the game.  And, while that is true, Tiger surely missed fewer short ones than anyone I've ever seen; at least prior to 2008 he did.

Gene Sarazen said: "In golf, the first thing that leaves you is your putting."  But there are lots of old timers who can still putt lights out. I just wish I was one of them.  There is nothing better than making putts; and the truth of the matter is you can practise hitting balls and become a great ball striker, but if you can't putt, you're going to be losing to guys you think you should beat.

As Tony Lema said: "You don't necessarily have to be a good golfer to be a good putter, but you have to be a good putter to be a good golfer."  So, I guess I just need to work on my attitude towards putting.  I need to be more accepting of the fact that I'm going to miss my share of short ones, and not get as discouraged as I have been inclined to do on those days when I miss more than my fair share.  I need also to relish the opportunity to try to make putts, rather than seeing putts as an opportunity to miss.  I'm planning on practising my short putting much harder this year, and asking my playing partners not be as generous with the gimmees.  I need to learn to enjoy the challenge of trying to make a three footer, instead of secretly hoping someone will say, "it's good."  They're never good when the money is on the line. 

They say Ben Hogan was a terrific putter who became resentful in later years of the importance of putting.  He apparently ended up playing games where putting was eliminated in favour of who got their approaches closest to the pin.  He was quoted as saying: "There is no similarity between golf and putting; they are two different games-- one played in the air, and the other on the ground."  Oh, but were that only the case.  The fact is--whether we like it or not--putting is a huge part of the game of golf.

Tom Weiskopf pretty much summed it up when he said: "Make what you want of it, but it's all on the greens--and half of that's in your head."  Ain't that just the truth.

What Was Phil Up To?

Phil was recently quoted as saying the top young guns weren't anywhere near as good as Tiger in his heyday.  Not really a newsflash, but it received attention.  What was Phil up to?

It's no secret that there has never been any love lost between Tiger and Phil.  Phil probably feels comfortable in giving Tiger this compliment because Tiger is not presently a threat to him as far as winning Majors is concerned.  But Phil's compliment to Tiger was also a back-handed slight against the great play of Spieth, McIlroy, Day, and Fowler.  Trying to minimize what these kids have recently done by comparing them negatively to Tiger amounts to nothing more than gamesmanship on Phil's part.  

You needn't put these kids down to build Tiger up.  Everyone, including these kids, know how great Tiger was.  Phil wants to win more Majors-- especially a US Open.  If he can get into the heads of these kids--his chief rivals--all the better, I suppose.  But not, in my opinion, a very classy move.

Down the Fairway

If you haven't read Down the Fairway, by Bobby Jones and O.B. Keeler, you have really missed a treat.  I've started reading it again and am amazed at the insight provided by Bobby Jones, who wrote this at the age of 25.  

Here's an interesting sample to perhaps whet your appetite:

  "A fourth round of 72 would have won me the first open championship in which I played, and doubtless would have ruined me utterly.  Of all the luck I've had, and I've had a lot, the best luck is that I didn't win at Merion as a kid of 14 in my first amateur championship, or at Inverness, in my first open... But that tremendous finish at Inverness hypnotized me.  Think of it--five players having a chance to win, right up to the seventy-second green!  I concluded right there that the open championship was the thing.... I confess it still is my idea of a tournament.... I watched Leo Diegel play the last three holes, and I remember wondering why his face was so gray and sort of fallen in... I found out, for myself, later."

There virtually isn't a word, or a page, not worth reading in this wonderful book.  If you get a chance, I urge you to grab a copy.  This is what championship golf is all about, right from the pen of perhaps the greatest of them all.

I Never Rooted for Him Either

Arnold Palmer once said, "I never rooted against an opponent, but I never rooted for him either."  This says something about the great ones.  They want to win.  In his book, Golf My Way, in summing things up, Jack pointed to desire as being the most important thing a golfer needs to possess.

I just read another article about Tiger.  In it, Billy Horschel is reported to have suggested he wanted to see Tiger come back and "kick our asses."  Does Billy really feel that way?  Would any champion golfer ever actually hope another golfer would beat him?  Hardly.

All this talk about Tiger coming back is to be expected.  We are all interested in seeing whether Tiger can get back to playing the sort of golf he is capable of playing.  The real champions might be rooting for Tiger to get healthy, and return to golf.  The young guns might welcome the chance to test themselves against the legend.  But they certainly won't be rooting for him to win.  Not when they're in the field.

You can be certain Tiger never rooted for anyone to beat him.  Jack certainly never did either.  He may wish Tiger well, but even Jack, as gracious as he is, won't be rooting for Tiger to beat his Major record.  Champions just aren't wired that way.

How well liked Tiger is by his fellow tour players is debatable.  What they do appreciate is that thanks to Tiger they are playing for bigger purses and have more shiny cars in their garages.  They want to see him back.  But few if any of them want to see him come out and dominate like he did.  If they are rooting for Tiger to win, they're in the wrong business.

48 of the Top 50 at the Blue Monster

Well, politics aside, the show will go on at the WGC Cadillac Championship this week.  For the first time this year, all the big guns will assemble in Miami at Doral, and we will see who's who, and who's ready to head to Augusta.

After a super start to the year for Spieth and Fowler, Jordan seems to have temporarily lost the magic on the greens, and Rickie fell flat on the weekend after a great start at the Honda Classic.  We've seen very little of Jason Day; and what we have seen has not been suggestive of a big year for him.  

As for Rory, forget about it. Yes, he has looked buffed and muscular, but his work in the gym, other than added distance off the tee, hasn't translated into much touch around the greens. His missed cut this past week and his refusal to speak to the Press afterwards suggests he's not feeling very serene about things.  This has not been the start to the season he had likely envisioned for himself.

This week should provide a pretty good indication of whether we are going to be treated to another great year from the Fab Four, or whether we might have got a bit carried away with their success last year.  I think we will see good stuff from Spieth and Fowler.  Day is a bit of an unknown quantity given his limited schedule so far.  As for Rory, I hope for the best but fear the worst.  I have long been saying the same thing Brandel Chamblee said recently.  He needs to cool his jets in the gym and get back to working on his golf.  His putting is terrible.

Nice to see Bubba, Adam Scott, and Louis Oosthuizen in such great form.  One would not be far wrong to put a few bucks on them making another run at a green jacket this year.  We know what Bubba can do when his head's in the right place and his putter is cooperating, especially at Augusta National.  Adam Scott is swinging it about as well as anyone could conceivably swing it, and his putting stroke with the short wand looks smooth as silk.  Louis looked completely in charge in Perth this past week, hitting fairways and greens, and swinging so beautifully and within himself.  

With 48 of the top 50 in the field this week, anyone could win it.  As for me, I must admit that I wouldn't mind seeing Rickie Fowler make a birdie run down the stretch at the Blue Monster, like he did at the Players last year.  With a recent playoff loss, and a disappointing weekend at the Honda, perhaps he's due to finish the job this week.  I'm becoming a big Fowler fan.  I like everything about this kid.

Let's just hope this week's coverage plays up the Blue Monster and the great field, and doesn't focus too much on it's owner.  That's about as political as I want to get about it.