19 May, 2011 - 22 May, 2011
Wentworth Golf Club, Surrey
The fine West Course at Wentworth has hosted this flagship event of the European golf tour since 1984.
The Wentworth Golf Club has three championship courses, set in Surrey heathland surrounded by ancient, deciduous woods. The West Course was designed by Harry Colt, and was recently modernised by Ernie Els.
Wentworth is a members' club, but welcomes visitors year-round. The Wentworth Grill, which is run by Caprice Holdings (of Ivy and Le Caprice fame), provides gastronomic dining in elegant surroundings.
It has been the scene of legendary battles between such notables as Jacklin, Langer, Ballesteros, Faldo, Montgomerie and Woosnam. The 2009 tournament was won by Paul Casey.
The BMW Championship is the beginning of the championship golf season in mainland Britain, and a must for golf enthusiasts.
In 2010 the champion was the English player, Simon Khan. 2011 dates are provisional.
http://www.wentworthclub.com/championship
BMW PGA Championship, Wentworth
Top Newsmakers: No. 3, The Ryder Cup
By RANDALL MELL
Senior Writer, GolfChannel.com
All the fans jammed on the hillside above the 18th green at Celtic Manor in Wales could have testified to the special nature of the Ryder Cup before it even began.
As Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell settled over an approach shot at the end of the event’s final practice round, you could feel goose bumps rise on the back of your neck.
With the Welsh National Anthem rolling across the hillside as Ryder Cup officials prepared for the opening ceremony, the sense that something spectacular was in the making rode the air.
The soul-stirring music touched so many of the folks there.
“I was getting teary,” said Mark Roe, the three-time European Tour winner and Sky Television reporter who walked with McDowell’s group in that practice round.
Thanks to McDowell, there were a lot more tears in the end.
Tears of joy and heartache.
Through a difficult week, through two days of showers, through downpours that ignited an American raingear controversy, this Ryder Cup’s terrific closing act made all the trouble worth enduring.
With rain delays squeezing these matches into four sessions instead of five and pushing the singles over to an extra day, the heart-thumping Monday finish made the trek through the muck more than worth the journey.
Graeme McDowell and Hunter Mahan battled in a decisive final match that made this Ryder Cup finish among the best in the 83-year history of the competition.
McDowell’s heart-thumping 15-foot birdie at the 16th green would prove to be the decisive blow in Europe’s 14½ to 13½ victory. It set up Mahan’s heart-wrenching disappointment. At the 17th, Mahan flailed at his tee shot, then futilely stabbed at a chip, chunking a shot that will be remembered for bringing the curtain down on this drama.
The nature of the aftermath captured just what makes the Ryder Cup golf’s most riveting spectacle.
European fans swarmed McDowell and his teammates and paraded with them to the clubhouse.
It was a day so compelling, nobody in the crowd of 35,000 seemed to want to leave when it was over. They stayed around to celebrate Europe's fourth victory in the last five Ryder Cups. They sang and chanted with their heroes, who sprayed champagne down on them from a clubhouse balcony in a raucous victory party.
“I’ve never felt nerves like it in my life,” McDowell said of the tension surrounding his dramatic putt at the 16th. “The U.S. Open felt like a back nine with my dad back at Portrush compared to that.”
McDowell, winner of this year’s U.S. Open, doused teammates with bottles of champagne. You don’t see scenes like that in major championships. You don’t see the depth of emotions stirring players and fans alike at the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open or PGA Championship. You don’t see so much winning and losing, so much joy and misery packed into one day of golf like the final day of a Ryder Cup.
You also don’t see defeat quite the way you saw it among the Americans.
Mahan was so choked up with tears meeting the media that he could barely speak.
It inspired his teammates to rally around him with Phil Mickelson, Stewart Cink and Jim Furyk defending Mahan.
“I’ve never cried after losing, other than the Ryder Cup,” Furyk said.
The Americans haven’t won a Ryder Cup in Europe since 1993.
“It was one of those Ryder Cups that had everything,” Europe’s Lee Westwood said.
And he meant everything.
The week started with American captain Corey Pavin forgetting to introduce one of his players (Cink) in the opening ceremonies.
“We’re 1-up,” European captain Colin Montgomerie cracked afterward.
It got worse for Pavin on the first day of competition when word spread that some of his players were complaining that the rain gear he and his wife selected was leaking. On the other side, Montgomerie was looking like a genius who was leaving no detail to chance. Frustrated that the electronic scoreboards weren’t sufficiently conveying the impact of Europe’s commanding three-point lead going into Monday’s finish, Montgomerie ordered the boards to be reconfigured overnight. He demanded a board that would more prominently display the Euro advantage with more blue European flags.
In winning five of the six third-session matches and halving the other, Europe strongly tilted momentum its way.
But the unforgettable nature of this Ryder Cup’s finish was set up by an American charge.
Dustin Johnson sparked the American rally, giving the USA its first singles point by routing Germany’s Martin Kaymer, 6 and 4. Moments after Johnson’s point registered, Steve Stricker closed out his match, beating Europe’s best player, Westwood, 2 and 1.
Tiger Woods fueled the American rebound with a 4-and-3 thumping of Francesco Molinari. Woods holed a shot from 133 yards for eagle. He made seven birdies and an eagle in a performance that rivaled any he’s delivered at the height of his powers. He was 9 under over 15 holes.
Jeff “Boom Baby” Overton came from behind to win three consecutive holes and beat Ross Fisher. Phil Mickelson delivered, too. He ended his streak of four consecutive Ryder Cup singles losses by defeating Peter Hanson.
For the remainder of the year, GolfChannel.com is counting down the Top 10 Newsmakers of 2010. For a list of the complete top 10 and the scheduled release dates, click here.
American rookie Rickie Fowler embodied the resilient nature of the American team. Four down with six holes to play against Edoardo Molinari, Fowler birdied the final four holes to gain an improbable halve. He rolled in 18-foot birdies at the 17th and 18th holes.
When Zach Johnson followed with a victory, this Ryder Cup was tied at 13½ with the outcome down to Mahan vs. McDowell in the anchor match.
“There were a lot of points where I thought we weren’t going to win,” Westwood said.
McDowell wiped the doubt away rolling in his 15-foot birdie at the 16th to go 2-up on Mahan with two holes to play.
The emotional weight of the dramatic finish hit Mahan hard after his chunked chip led to a concession.
Still, it was in Mahan’s tears, in the way his teammates rallied to his defense, that golf fans appreciated just how much both sides care about this event.
“We know what it means to us,” Furyk said. “Whatever you all thought in the past, whatever you've all written in the past, it's your observations, the way you feel. But that judgment . . . we know what it means.”
The Single Pivot Swing
I have seen great players play off their left side, but never off their right side. Hogan, Nicklaus, Trevino, and Venturi all appeared to reverse their weight on the backswing. They did not; they merely stayed on their left side.
The single-pivot is not new; many of today’s players do it in some form. Watch the right hip of the long hitters and the direction the right hip goes in the backswing. Then watch the right leg to see if it gets steeper during the backswing. I think you will be surprised at what you see, which is only what you did not notice before.
Let’s define the single-pivot swing. The single-pivot swing turns the right shoulder and hip behind the spine and into the left side brace during the backswing. The downswing and the follow-through are the result of the left shoulder and hip pulling behind the spine, taking the right shoulder and hip through impact. An easy analogy is to picture a door, which is hinged on one side. The door opens and closes on one axis. This is the principal applied with the single-pivot swing.
When the right hip and shoulder turn behind the spine, the left hip and shoulder turn in front of the spine. There is no need to be concerned with what the hands and arms are doing after they have been set in their position at address because they are just reacting to the right-side coil during the backswing.
After moving into the left side brace by the backward coil of the right hip, all that remains is to rotate the right hip around and through the left side. All swing parts will be pulled through impact as a reactionary move to the rotation of the left hip and shoulder behind the spine in the direction of the target. Meanwhile, the right hip and shoulder follow through, rotating around the left leg.
Tony Manzoni, original co-founder of Callaway Golf and for decades an established golf instructor, is head coach of the men’s golf team at College of the Desert.
Golf's Toughest Competitor: Lloyd Mangrum
by Ried Holien
People say Tiger Woods is golf’s fiercest competitor, but such talk would just make Lloyd Mangrum laugh. You see, Mangrum was, is, and likely always will be golf’s toughest tough guy. Tiger stares down 3-foot putts; Mangrum stared down death.
Contemporaries called Mangrum “Mr. Icicle” for his cool confidence under pressure, and for his frosty personality. So quiet as to appear condescending, Mangrum showed little emotion. Other golfers respected his ability and feared his temper.
Sam Snead remembered sitting with Mangrum at a restaurant once when Lloyd accidentally tripped a passerby. The irate man rose and started yelling at Mangrum. The golfer listened for a minute, silent and stone-faced. Then, in a flash, Mangrum picked up the sugar bowl and slammed it into the man’s face. Crunch, crash, splattering blood.
Years later, after Mangrum died—which meant he was safe saying it—Snead revealed: “Some of us weren’t sure he was quite right mentally because of what he went through in the war.”
Decorated Soldier in Patton’s Army
Lloyd Mangrum earned four Battle Stars and received two Purple Hearts fighting in World War II. Serving in a forward reconnaissance group of the 9th Division of General Patton’s Third Army, Mangrum landed on Omaha Beach as part of the D-Day invasion, helped win the Battle of the Bulge, and fought to the war’s final days in Czechoslovakia. Of his original platoon, only Mangrum and one other man survived the war.
Enduring such hardships, Mangrum returned home to find that, “Golf is a cinch compared to what I went through in the war.” He went on to win 36 tournaments, ranking him in the top 15 of all time. He twice earned the Vardon Trophy for the lowest scoring average, tallied an incredible record on four Ryder Cup teams (once serving as playing captain), and, in 1998, was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Yet despite all these accomplishments very few golf fans today know anything about Lloyd Mangrum. Sportswriter Jim Murray dubbed Mangrum “the forgotten man of golf.” Certainly, his reputation suffered because of when he played. Sam Snead, Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson all collected more victories, and even Hogan (nicknamed “the Iceman”) possessed a warmer personality.
Mangrum detested giving interviews, hated signing autographs, and often refused to shake a person’s hand. At the 1996 Masters, Byron Nelson moved about the practice facilities and asked “young pros if they ever heard of Lloyd Mangrum, and they never had.” Nelson felt that a cruel slight. Nelson lamented, “Lloyd’s the best player who’s been forgotten since I’ve been playing golf.” And it’s true to this very day.
Texas Born, Southern California Grown
Lloyd Mangrum was born on August 1, 1914, in Trenton, Texas. In truth, though, he was a southern California boy, attending James A. Foshay Junior High in Los Angeles, and spending most of his adult life in the area. He turned professional when only 15-years-old, working for his brother Ray (himself good enough to get 4th place at the 1935 U.S. Open) who was then the pro at Cliff-Dale Country Club in Dallas. Returning to California in 1934, 20-year-old Lloyd married a widowed mother of three young children. Her name was Elita, but Lloyd called her “Maw.” They proved inseparable.
While practicing to become a touring professional, Lloyd scraped together money working odd jobs during the Depression. Along with his pro duties, he parked cars, drove a taxi, sang in clubs, worked as a bouncer, and caddied. This last vocation taught him invaluable skills.
Although he never took one official lesson, Mangrum copied great golfers. “I decided the way to learn was to study the best players,” he explained. “I figured Horton Smith was the best putter, so when I carried for Horton I studied every movement he made on the green, every flicker of his muscles. Johnny Revolta had the best short game, I figured, so I did the same with him. After I’d watch him, I’d go practice for hours on end and try to do the same things he did. When I first saw Sam Snead, I knew he had the sweetest swing I’d ever seen, so I started copying him down to the way he turned his head and cocked his eyes. Golf is a mimicking proposition, anyway, I think. Maybe you don’t look like you’re copying someone, but in your mind you do and that’s what’s important.”
After some time copying these greats, Mangrum tested his own skill on tour starting with the 1936 Southern California Open. He finished sixth, collecting a $50 check. That humble beginning inspired him to try a full tournament schedule in 1937. He struggled, finishing the season at the St. Paul Open with no money in his pocket.
Flat Broke 2,000 Miles From Home
Desperate, he asked Scotty Chisholm, the tour’s radio announcer, “What does a guy do when he’s flat broke and 2,000 miles from home?” Chisholm advised, “You go back and get together another few bucks, laddie.” Himself nearly broke, Chisholm offered Mangrum a ride back to L.A. in his car. “To save buying food, we drove back to L.A. almost nonstop,” Chisholm remembered later. “We rolled up to Lloyd’s modest little joint in Monterey Park with $1.90 in the kick, dead tired, dirty and hungry.”
Undeterred, Mangrum hustled money in matches with well-heeled locals. Betting suited his personality. “I’m better under pressure than most,” he explained. “I’m also a gambler at heart, and I’ll take a chance rather than play it safe. It’s always better to be a winner.”
Along with the gambler’s mentality, Mangrum possessed the good looks of a movie star. A perfectly groomed pencil-thin mustache seemed drawn above his upper lip. He dressed in fashionable clothes that hung brilliantly upon his thin, muscular frame. His coal-black hair—greased down and center-parted—never had a single strand out of place. Indeed, by the 1940s, Mangrum supplemented his income by endorsing hair-care products like Vitalis. Had he chosen a different path, Mangrum could have doubled for Clark Gable, if not taken the role of Rhett Butler for himself.
Yet even more than his looks or personality, Mangrum became known for the cigarette always locked between his lips. A chain smoker, he seldom stopped even when swinging a club. Once, a female spectator scolded Mangrum, saying, “Athletes shouldn’t smoke.” Mangrum replied with a cold stare and deadpanned voice: “I’m no athlete, lady. I’m a golfer.”
And, by 1940, he proved himself a pretty good golfer. That year, he shot a 64 in the opening round of the Masters, which stood as low score at Augusta until Nick Price bettered it by one stroke 46 years later. (Augusta fit Mangrum’s game. He finished in the top-8 at the Masters every year from 1947 through 1956. Yet, there was no talk of Lloyd-proofing the course.) He finished tied for first at the U.S. Open, but lost in the 18-hole playoff to Lawson Little. Later that year, he notched his first professional victory at the Thomasville Open in Georgia.
Mangrum Refuses The Easy Way Out
Mangrum appeared ready for great things until the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. He enlisted in the Army. He served his country for the next four years. His golfing record would undoubtedly appear far more impressive had he not lost these years to war. While Lloyd was in combat fighting for his life out of bunkers, many golf professionals were in bunkers fighting to break 70 on their scorecard.
You see, as serious as war was, high-ranking personnel felt the need to occasionally relax, which they did at the officers-only golf courses that sprang up at almost all of America’s big training bases. Every course needs a pro, right? So, the army easily identified qualified candidates by an occupational code on their enlistment form that classified anyone as a “professional golfer.” Almost every tour pro escaped combat by accepting cushy stateside positions. For instance, when Mangrum was fighting the Germans at Bastogne, Ben Hogan was fighting his hook at the driving range.
Mangrum could have gone the safe route, but refused. When training at Fort Meade, Mangrum was offered the pro’s position at their course. When approached, a disgusted Mangrum let them know he enlisted to fight, not to golf.
History next spots Mangrum in France soon after the D-Day landings where a terrible accident nearly ended his golfing career. Racing along in a jeep on recon duty, his jeep flipped. Mangrum’s arm broke in two places, nearly shattering his shoulder. A doctor set his arm and told him: “You’ll be OK if you can raise your arm when the cast is taken off.” Eventually, after some rehab, he lifted his arm slightly. Mangrum recalled, “Not even the thrill I got from winning the Open equaled the one I got that day I found I could lift my arm. Imagine a golfer who couldn’t do anything but swing like a hockey player.”
Back in battle soon thereafter, Mangrum braved the line of fire to rescue a wounded comrade. A sniper’s bullet hit his knee. Again healing fast, Mangrum refused to be cowered. “One of our little buddies clipped me in the leg from about 300 yards while we were on reconnaissance,” he said. “He must have been a lousy shot. Imagine only nicking a guy from that distance. I could have done better with a driver and a rabbit ball.” Mangrum received his first Purple Heart for that incident. His second came near the war’s end when some shrapnel tore into his chin.
Perhaps needing to laugh at the danger, Mangrum turned both injuries into jokes. After the war, he said of his Purple Hearts: “Actually, I got them tripping over a whiskey bottle while running out of a whorehouse in Paris.”
Golf Compared to War Is A Piece of Cake
Having experienced real pressure in battle, Mangrum returned home to find golf not all that stressful. “I don’t suppose that any of the pro and amateur golfers who were combat soldiers, Marines or sailors will soon be able to think of a three-putt green as one of the really bad troubles in life,” he said.
Armed with this attitude, Mangrum went on to win the 1946 U.S. Open at Canterbury Country Club in Cleveland. No Open comes easy, however, and this one had its own fireworks…literally. After 72 holes, Mangrum stood tied with Vic Ghezzi and Byron Nelson. The three went into an 18-hole playoff the next day. All three men shot par 72s, which meant they teed it up again that afternoon for another 18-hole playoff.
With six holes remaining, Mangrum’s chances looked bleak. He trailed Ghezzi by three strokes, and Nelson by two. Then a storm hit. Rain poured down. Thunder boomed. Lightning flashed. Unlike today when such weather suspends play, golfers then were forced to continue. The danger unnerved Ghezzi and Nelson, but it appeared to calm Mangrum. Writing for the United Press, Oscar Fraley observed: “The former corporal was just another G.I. again for a minute. His cream-colored sports shirt seemed to turn to khaki and to him it no longer was a golf course. That rumble was too familiar and it meant trouble. And that’s when Mangrum looked up at the flashes, laughed and really started to play.”
Lloyd Mangrum stormed to victory by birdying half of the final six holes, capped off by a clutch 7-foot par putt on 18. He carded a par 72, beating his competitors by a stroke each. “It was the greatest demonstration of courage I ever saw on a golf course,” commented two-time Amateur champion Bud Ward. “Mangrum wasn’t given a chance in the playoff. He needed a tricky seven-foot putt on a drenched green to win. He didn’t even hesitate, just stepped up like nothing was at stake and banged it in.”
Putting always proved one of Mangrum’s strengths. Bing Crosby (himself no slouch on the links), writing in the forward for Mangrum’s first instructional book, Golf: A New Approach, noted that Lloyd had, “an ideal golfing temperament, great competitive spirit and what most folks consider the finest putting tough in the game today.” Byron Nelson agreed, saying, “He was a tough competitor and an excellent putter. Any time you beat him, you could know you were playing well.”
Putting Tips From A Putting Great
Proving the point, Mangrum’s advice on putting still rings true today. He stressed “good balance as the first consideration in good putting,” and advocated having your eyes directly over the ball. At a time when almost all pros putted by flicking their hands back and forth, Mangrum wrote, “The cardinal principle of good putting is to keep the wrists from getting into the act.” Proving yet again he was far ahead of his time, he also preached that, “The tempo of the stroke should remain the same throughout.” Today, nearly all pros putt like Mangrum did.
With that silky smooth putting stroke, Mangrum started a serious trophy collection. He won seven times in 1948. He collected four victories in each year— 1949, 1951, and 1953—with five more coming in 1950.
He even won the 1951 St. Paul Open under the pressure of a death threat. Police guessed it came from gamblers who, the night before the final round, called Sam Snead to say, “We have lots of money bet. Now you get in there and start playing. We don’t want Mangrum to win.” The gamblers obviously knew little about Mangrum, as the threat just amused him.
At a time when even the tour’s leading money winner took outside jobs to make ends meet, Mangrum earned a fine living just by playing golf. As with putting, he proved to be ahead of his time with his pro career. For starters, he never gave lessons. He couldn’t stand teaching golf. “I charge $50 an hour so even my friends will leave me alone,” he said.
He played only tournaments and exhibitions, traveling over 80,000 miles a year. He won international tournaments (not counted on his official PGA total) in Australia, Argentina and the Philippines. A Time magazine article from January of 1953 entitled “Money Player,” reveals that, “Mangrum has long played in the shadows of the Hogans, Sneads and Nelsons [but still] manages to play in more tournaments and win more money than any other touring pro.” The article estimated Mangrum earned over $300,000 playing golf in the preceding five years, representing a lot of money over 60 years ago.
The article also told that despite Mangrum’s notoriously loner personality he did depend upon one person. It said: “Mangrum’s wife, his constant traveling companion, acts as business manager and secretary.” Mangrum is then quoted saying that, “I need her. This is big business.”
Besides the Masters, where he always played well but never won, Mangrum enjoyed the most success in his home area. He won four Los Angeles Opens. After his 1953 victory, L.A. Times writer Charles Curtis quipped: “Who said Riviera is Hogan’s Alley? Let’s rename it Mangrum’s Meadows.”
Yet through this success, danger never seemed far away from Mangrum. For instance, he lost a chance to improve his record at Riviera once because he broke his shoulder in a bar fight when someone twice his size threw him down a flight of stairs. That forced him off tour for six months.
Yet Mangrum’s legacy rests as much on his reaction to adversity as upon his reputation for danger, as revealed during the 1950 U.S. Open. Hailed as the glorious Open Hogan won after coming back from a near-fatal automobile accident, Hogan prevailed only after Mangrum (and George Fazio) forced an 18-hole playoff. There, on the 17th green, Mangrum lifted his ball to brush away a bug. Under PGA rules, which he’d been playing all year, cleaning the ball was permissible. USGA rules govern the Open, however, and they did not allow for such actions. Mangrum was penalized two strokes, ending his chances of winning. Instead of complaining (or killing some pencil-necked rules official), Mangrum simply shrugged and said, “Fair enough. We’ll eat tomorrow no matter what happens.”
A few years later, still playing well, Mangrum was forced into early retirement due to a weak heart. He retired to a home across from the 18th tee at the Apple Valley Country Club in California. Mangrum fought his heart problems with the same tenacity he showed against barroom bullies and Nazi snipers. He survived 11 heart attacks. On November 17, 1973, at only 59-years-old, a 12th finally got him. It seemed a poetic end to golf’s ultimate fighter.
A Season of Giving
by: John Hawkins
T
he year began with Tiger Woods sacrificing his reputation and private life. It ended with him forfeiting a four-stroke lead at his own tournament, further proof that it’s not always better to give than receive. Happy holidays? Three things Tiger doesn’t need to find under his Christmas tree: another necktie, another swing coach, another gaggle of lawyers.
All the man needs from Santa is a breakfast ball. That Great Big Comeback would have worked better if it hadn’t spent most of the year traveling in reverse. How else do you explain claims of progress after frittering away four shots on a Sunday afternoon?
Not that Woods is by himself in the Land of Fallen Stars. If 2009 was draped in twisted storylines – Tom Watson headed an illustrious cast in a compilation of major-championship heartbreak – 2010 should be remembered for its competitive landmines. Phil Mickelson basically turned invisible after winning his third Masters. Lee Westwood missed six weeks in the heart of premium-field season, then returned to find the top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking waiting in his locker, his only triumph coming four months earlier after Robert Garrigus’ 72nd-hole collapse in Memphis.
Dustin Johnson? America’s most consistent leaderboard presence won tons of money and three truckloads of sympathy – lovely consolation prizes for anyone who vaporizes in the final round of a U.S. Open, then grounds his club in a fake bunker with a PGA Championship on the line. Now that Woods isn’t picking up a half-dozen or so victories and gaining a vertical mile on the climb up Mount Nicklaus, pro golf seems sort of rudderless.
We keep slobbering over the potential of Rory McIlroy, but in recent months, he has looked like just another kid with a balky putter down the stretch and a bottle of butter-pecan hair dye. Paul Casey didn’t take the next step. Padraig Harrington is still looking for that magical 2008 calendar – a very good player, not a great one. Geoff Ogilvy managed to go eight months without a top-10 finish. Anthony Kim? Never mind.
Poor Sergio. He spent the better part of 10 years hunting Tiger, sometimes with a butter knife, but if Eldrick Almighty’s career hasn’t been the same since the fire hydrant, Garcia seems to have suffered a head-on collision with a mid-life crisis. Woods made domination look routine, as if it was his divine right to leave everyone else feeling mentally and physically inferior. In a game in which all the random variables combine to undermine a competitive dynasty, Tiger ruled the earth for 13 years, give or take a week.
Name another athlete who ever pulled off that stunt. Didn’t think you could.
In the rare previous instances when Woods reached the crossroads, he’d take a deep breath, duck into a corner market and emerge with three or four new trophies. This time, in lieu of any real oncoming traffic, there’s a blinking yellow light. Earl and Tida’s kid is about to turn 35, no big deal, but more than in the past, Tiger seems preoccupied with the mechanics of the golf swing, as if you win tournaments by having the best form, not shooting the lowest score.
His latest coach, Sean Foley, is basically a swing scientist. Fifty-five percent of your weight here, then 80 percent of it there. . .from the sharp-eyed, old-school method of Butch Harmon to Hank Haney, who tutored under master instructor John Jacobs, Woods has found himself a dude with a slide ruler and a theory.
That’s not to say Foley isn’t an excellent instructor or that Tiger won’t turn things around under Foley’s watch. We’re talking about the greatest feel player of all-time, however, a guy with surreal golf instincts whose most amazing shots often come from the trees 25 yards right of the fairway. Tiger turns into Houdini when he’s in trouble, maybe because he’s forced to think about flight and shape instead of his position at the top of the backswing.
Now he’s plotting a much bigger escape – fleeing the land of the winless. His 2010 was a bust, but Woods can rationalize the poor season by blaming his personal problems or the swing changes brought on by a new coach, as was the case in 2004. He hasn’t won a major since the 2008 knee surgery, a drought due to poor putting more than anything, but again, Woods can look you in the eye and tell you he has gone 2 ½ years without winning a major twice before.
If the last 12 months taught us anything, it’s that the Dude in the Red Shirt played the game at a higher level than anyone has ever seen – and for longer than anyone could imagine. His shortcomings in 2010 provided a unique opportunity for his primary rivals, none of whom were able to assert themselves, which makes 2011 the Year of the Question Mark. Tiger has built a career out of exclamation points, but as the calendar turns, Woods finds himself with a challenge unlike any he has ever faced. Period.
Yani Tseng refused offer to become Chinese citizen
Taiwanese golfer Yani Tseng recently rejected a five-year NT$1-billion sponsorship deal offered by a Chinese enterprise, which required her to become a Chinese citizen, her father was cited as saying yesterday.
The business, which had been trying to woo the star golfer since last year, approached her again last month with a five-year contract worth US$25 million, plus the use of private jets and a luxury villa in Beijing, the father was quoted by Apple Daily as saying.
But the deal came with an extra term requiring Tseng to change her nationality to Chinese.
“We cannot change the nationality,” the father, Tseng Mao-hsin, was cited saying. “So we rejected it right away.”
The golfer currently is number four in the LPA ranking, having won many important championships.
Apple Daily said the Chinese enterprise hoped that Tseng could represent China in the 2016 Olympics.
Hsu Ya-tien, head of Taiwan's golf association, questioned the motives of the China offer.
Hsu said Tseng is Taiwan's most prized player, and the association would be glad to see a “pure commercial deal” done.
But if the goal is to make her play for China, the association would never make any compromises, Hsu said.
One Year After Scandal, Tiger Tries To Move On
Tiger Woods attends a news conference in Shanghai on Nov. 3 before the HSBC Champions event. A year after an early-morning auto accident led to revelations of marital infidelities, the world's former top golfer is trying to turn the page on his troubles
MELBOURNE, Australia - The dark sedan backed into a spot next to the clubhouse at the Australian Masters, trunk open, waiting to whisk Tiger Woods to the airport. Lingering behind the car was a friend who was still wrestling with divided loyalties - to Woods and his former wife.
They approached each other, awkwardly at first, then shared a quick embrace and quiet words.
Woods believes he finally is ready to move on after a self-destructive year that cost him his marriage, his mystique, millions in endorsements and, lastly, his No. 1 ranking.
What remains are relationships to repair, along with his golf game.
Still to come is Thanksgiving.
"I think it's going to be great," Woods said. "I'm going to be with my family. My mom is going to be there. We're going to have a great Thanksgiving. We've turned the corner, turned the page, and it's time to move forward."
He was not playing dumb.
Woods realizes the public might forever connect him and Thanksgiving with perhaps one of the most shocking downfalls in sports.
It started with the National Enquirer story of an affair with a nightclub hostess. Then came the still mysterious, middle-of-the-night accident Nov. 27 when he drove his SUV over a fire hydrant and crashed into a tree beyond his driveway. His wife tended to him in the street, the back windows of the Cadillac Escalade bashed out with a golf club.
On the 911 call was the chilling voice of his mother as she cried out, "What happened?"
One year later, that remains a relevant question.
No one really knew much about Woods except that he dominated golf like no one had before. Within weeks, everyone knew too much.
He was caught in a stunning web of infidelity, each discretion played out in public through voicemails, celebrity magazines, TV talk shows and even "sexting" on a porn star's website. He became a regular in the National Enquirer. He was on front pages everywhere, long after the major championship season was over.
Woods had spent 14 years carefully cultivating an impeccable image that brought him worldwide fame. Just like that, he went from being universally revered to roundly ridiculed.
"That's fine, totally fine," Woods said in Australia, leaning forward on a leather sofa, elbows resting on his knees. "I made my share of mistakes. People can look at that as what not to do, and if they choose to make fun of it, that's fine. I can't control that. All I know is that I can only control myself.
"And at that point in my life," he said, "I wasn't even able to do that."
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At a gala dinner in the Crowns Tower, the same hotel where the nightclub hostess was spotted a year earlier, Woods shared the stage with Shane Warne, known as the Tiger Woods of Australian cricket, on and off the pitch.
Warne built his legend as a wicked leg spinner - and a prolific womanizer.
"I think we've got a little bit in common," Warne said with a smile, pausing for effect. "I love golf, too."
Woods flashed an easy smile, breaking the brief tension in the room, and the audience quickly burst into laughter. It was the first time Woods has laughed publicly about such an embarrassing episode in his life, perhaps a sign that he had indeed turned the corner.
On the golf course? Not quite.
With two eagles on the last four holes of the Australian Masters, he at least managed fourth place, as good as he did all year. For the first time in his career, Woods didn't win a single trophy. Instead, he shot the highest 36-hole score of his career when he missed the cut at Quail Hollow, and the highest 72-hole score of his career when he nearly finished last at Firestone.
In so many ways, it was a year no one could have predicted.
"Frenetic would be a word that comes to mind," said Mark Steinberg, his agent at IMG.
Steinberg was in California when he received word that Woods had been in an accident. He was aware of the National Enquirer story that had been released the day before Thanksgiving, and he was about to learn of an Us Weekly magazine story involving a cocktail waitress, and a voicemail from Woods suggesting his wife was onto them.
For three months, that voicemail was the only time the public heard Woods speak.
As his world was imploding, he only spoke through statements released on his website - first a "situation" that was embarrassing, then "transgressions" he regretted with "all my heart." No one saw him. No one even knew where he was.
Every expert in public relations and crisis management had a field day, blasting his management team for keeping him in hiding as rumors and innuendo filled the void. A year later, Steinberg isn't convinced it was mishandled.
"First of all, I don't think anyone has ever experienced this. There certainly was not a road map how to deal with this," he said. "We consulted with some people who deal with crisis management, and that was the consensus we got."
But there was more in play. What began with one mistress, maybe two, soon turned into many more. How many? Who knows? Even if some of the alleged mistresses were making it up, it's not as though the Woods' camp was in any position to deny it.
Karlsson wins Dubai in playoff
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Sweden's Robert Karlsson won the Dubai World Championship Sunday, defeating third-round leader Ian Poulter in a two-way playoff after a bizarre marking blunder by the Englishman on the final hole.
Karlsson calmly rolled in a birdie putt on the second playoff hole after Poulter was given a one-stroke penalty for dropping his ball on his marker on the green, causing it to flip over and move from its original position.
Poulter spotted his error and reported it to the match referee, whose ruling left him with a long putt for par instead of a birdie. The putt came up a foot short, taking all the pressure off Karlsson. He then had two shots to clinch the victory in the season-ending $7.5 million tournament.
The 41-year-old Karlsson needed just one shot to secure his second European Tour victory this year and his 11th tour victory of his career. The former European No. 1 said this was one of his biggest victory his career and one of the most lucrative, earning $1.25 million.
It was Karlsson's third straight birdie on the 18th green, having caught up to Poulter on his last hole in regulation when his approach shot landed within a few feet of the pin. He rolled that in to close with a 5-under 67 and a 14-under total of 274.
Karlsson was aware of the penalty before Poulter putted, and said he would prefer not won in that fashion.
"These things happen in golf. It's not the way you want to win," he said. "The rules are there for a reason but some of them can be tough."
Poulter had a birdie putt for the victory at the 18th but missed it to force the playoff, where both players birdied the first hole.
Karlsson led after the first round but followed it up with a 75 on Friday to seemingly fall out of contention. But he recovered with consecutive rounds of 67, and started Sunday with consecutive birdies. His second shot on the par-4 third landed on the green and rolled in for an eagle.
He had two more birdies on the back nine before a fine approach shot almost hit the pin on the 18th, spun back and landed within a few feet of the hole.
Poulter came into the final round seemingly in control, with a two shot lead over Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee and fellow Englishman Ross Fisher. He had the momentum, having won last week's Hong Kong Open.
He struggled on the first nine with a bogey and only one birdie. But the 34-year-old settled down on the back nine, scoring consecutive birdies and making two pressure par putts on the 16th and 17th holes.
But with the title on the line, he couldn't sink a birdie putt on the 18th and struggled in the playoff.
Given the star-studded leaderboard that included the likes of No. 1-Lee Westwood, Karlsson's heroics came as a bit of a surprise. He came into the tournament admitting his confidence was not high, following outings in Singapore where he finished 115th and before that 34th in China.
Still, he said Thursday that he felt the course suited him and that he was starting to hit the ball well. He also said he finally had put his medical problems behind him, after suffering a bout of glandular fever in the spring that kept him out two months and a debilitating eye problem last year. He said he has been fit since June.
"I would say probably Memphis was the tournament I felt where I really started feeling good, but obviously it's a bit of a buildup, and especially being off for a while and not playing that great for a while," he said. "So the more often you are there, the more calm you are under the circumstances."
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