For a while now a “guy” I met somewhere online has been insisting Ernie Els was switching to Callaway Golf. I’m never scared to post rumors here but for some reason I didn’t. I just saw Ernie as a Titleist guy forever, like Davis Love III.

Here’s yesterday’s news from PGA.com showing that Ernie and Titleist parted ways.

Apparently I’d better listen the next time that guy gives me a juicy rumor because it looks like Ernie DID switch to Callaway.

Will he still play the ProV1x or switch to the HX Tour or HX Tour 56? What about the shoes? Will he still have a different logo on his hat? Will he do what Phil Mickelson did, and switch the day before some huge event? (Phil switched right before the Ryder Cup).

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Colin Montgomerie is lobbying to change the rules of golf to make errant drives more penal. Can’t say I disagree with this point. I’d like to see a premium put on driving accuracy. Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh and others may not win as many tournaments if they can’t get home from the rough like they do now.

Jack Nicklaus wants to gear back the ball and says doing so would resurrect 17,000 golf courses which are “obsolete to professional golfers.” That’s great, but there are a couple of hundred PGA Tour memebers, Nationwide Tour members etc. So we’re going to gear back the ball for a few hundred “pros” when there are tens of millions of amateurs out there?

I must also point out that the average score of the amateur golfer hasn’t changed for decades despite all this new technology and distance. So do we need to change the equipment for amateurs and pros alike or simply have a set of specs for the pros? Or do we need to do anything at all?

BBC article

ALS is the disease which took the life of Tom Watson’s caddie Bruce Edwards. Driving 4 Life is the premier fund raising campaign for ALS research. I recently met the director of Driving 4 Life, Derek Breau. I told him I’d put a post on my blog to help send some people to their site.

So go to http://www.driving4life.org right now and check out their site. If you have a couple of extra bucks, make a donation.

Below is a table of the top 12 players in the current PGA Tour FedEx Cup standings. I went down to #12 simply because Jim Furyk was #12. Tiger Woods is down the list at #8. There are some surprises so far like Charles Howell, John Rollins, Charley Hoffman and Henrik Stenson.

Let’s fast forward to say, the end of April. By then we’ll have a few more tourneys under our belt including the Byron Nelson and The Masters. (Just mentioning “The Masters” gives me goose bumps). So at the end of April will this list look the same? Will Howell Still be #1? Will there be a surprise, new player at #1? Does Phil win another Masters and take over #1 or will Tiger be sitting atop the list?

I’ve always been a fan of Ping Golf. They’ve been pioneers in golf engineering for decades. I still have a G2 driver and Ping Zing putter in my bag because no other offerings from other golf companies have been able to dethrone them. Any companies which want to submit their products to me in an attempt to dethrone them are welcome to, but no guarantees!

This review primarily is based on my experience with the G5 3-Wood but covers the G5 Fairway Wood line in general.

Ping G5 fairway wood technology

The G5 fairway wood has a stainless steel head and a high-strength 455 steel face. The G5 fairway wood series employs a “rocker sole” design which helps square the face up at impact from various lies. The face of the G5 fairway woods are milled and robotically welded which Ping says gives you more distance and better “feedback.”

The weighting of the G5 fairway woods varies depending on the loft. Ping uses “progressive weight pads” which are positioned for the optimal center of gravity. As the loft of the club increases the pads are moved farther back in the club head. The optimal weight pad position provides better control and spin.

Ping has done a lot of research on visual aids and has determined that a crescent shape helps the player align the club. You see the crescent shape in their CrazE putters and as alignment aids on the tops of their G5 fairway woods.

Specs

Feedback

“Feedback” in golf clubs generally refers to the feel and sound you get at impact. The feedback from the G5 fairway woods is terrific. I love the “pingy” sound they make when you hit the center of the club face. This sound tells you instantly you’ve made solid contact. You also get a great feel of the trampoline effect in the club face when you hit center. When you don’t hit center, the club lets you know with a different sound and feel. On off center shots the club is still very hot and accurate.

On the course

The first thing you notice when you put the G5 fairway wood into play is how confident you feel. The look of the club at address is very pleasing to the eye. The weighting feels like it almost forces you to put a good swing on it. The sound and feel at impact are great.

I found the G5 3-wood to be one of the easiest to hit fairway woods I’ve ever played. It was even easy to hit out of the rough when the ball was sitting down slightly. I found the G5 fairway to be very long compared to many 3-woods I’ve played as well. The only problems I had with the G5 were the occasional miss left. I know that miss and it usually is the result of a closed face on the club, rather than neutral. I can’t find anything on Ping’s site regarding the this however.

Conclusion

The G5 fairway is yet another terrific feat of engineering from Ping. The performance, feedback and aesthetics of this club as as good as any fairway wood I’ve played.

You can find a great deal on the G5 fairway woods at Edwin Watts Golf.

Friday at the 2007 Accenture Match Play Championship

Finally “the streak” is over. I’m a big Tiger Woods fan but I was getting so sick of listening to the googling, Tiger slobbering “media” refer to “the streak” I was about to gag. The streak was over long ago in my opinion.

Tiger Woods: 18 Handicapper

Question: Who slices the hell out of his drives, missing 100 yard wide fairways and sending gallery members ducking for cover? Who knocks his ball into the desert, the cacti, shrubs, and bushes? Who tries to extricate himself from said shrubs and bushes, only to get a worse lie?

Answer: Tiger Woods, the 18 ‘capper.

Question: Who overcomes a four down deficit to Nick O’ Hern in 8 holes to bring the match back to square?

Answer: Tiger Woods

Question: Who misses a four foot putt to win the match on the 19th hole because he “failed to notice a fixable ball mark” in his line, then loses the match on the 20th hole?

Answer: Tiger Woods, the 18 ‘capper.

Tiger looked genuinely confused. He was taking dozens of practice swings and as the “never at a loss for words” Nick Faldo pointed out, his club face was laying way open at the top of his swing. Tiger’s driver swing wasn’t the only problem. His short game faltered down the stretch.

Credit to Nick O’Hern

Nick O’Hern moves on and is now the first pro golfer to have defeated Tiger Woods TWO times in match play.

Who is left?

Starting Saturday there are NO #1 seeds left in the Accenture Match play. As a matter of fact, there are no #2 seeds left either. The big names are gone and the TV coverage is sure to take a big viewership hit.

On the same day this week my “other” golf site The Golf Space reached some nice milestones.

1. The 1500th member signed up.
2. The 500,000th visitor visited the site.
3. The 200th golf related web link was added by a Golf Space member.

Other interesting stats:

4. Now over 770 golf related articles and blogs.
5. Now over 1000 golf images in two galleries by Golf Space members.
6. Two companies have offered a buyout, three others mentioned interest.

If you haven’t yet, head over to The Golf Space at www.thegolfspace.com and check it out. The Golf Space is a free golf social networking site where you can set up your own profile, blog, post images, connect with golf friends and golf businesses, keep your golf stats and handicap and much more.

My profile at the golf space: http://www.thegolfspace.com/tony

Tiger Woods is the only #1 seed left in the Accenture Match Play Championship. Phil Mickelson lost to Justin Rose 3 and 1 in round 2. Jim Furyk lost to Chad Campbell in round two on the 19th hole. Adam Scott lost in the first round to Sean Micheel. Other notables who are gone include Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Vijay Singh and Luke Donald.

The hottest player in golf right now, Charles Howell III is cruising along as well as U.S. Open winner Geoff Ogilvy. If I were to predict (or at least hope for) the semi final matches I’d say it would be Tiger Woods playing Charles Howell III in the left bracket and Geoff Ogilvy playing Chad Campbell in the right. As it sits now I wouldn’t mind seeing Tiger Woods playing Geoff Ogilvy in the final match, but Sean Micheel’s intestinal fortitude and toughness could be fun to watch against Tiger too.

Today should be fun to watch and see what unfolds.

Today’s coverage:

Friday 2/23 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM ET GOLF
Friday 2/23 8:30 PM - 11:30 PM ET GOLF