Hooked On Golf Blog

Below I break down the state of Tiger’s game coming into the US OPEN, and highlight what is truly the most improved component of Tiger Woods’ game this year.  I highlight the part of Tiger’s game which has been missing for years and is now in place.

It may not be what you think.

Q: What is the greatest improvement in Tiger Woods game this season?

Is it Tiger’s putting, scrambling, scoring?

This year Tiger Woods is 17th in putting, with 28.25 putts per round. Tiger is 5th in scrambling, 1st in scoring average.  All interesting stats I suppose.  None are the most improved components of Tiger’s 2009 game.

Is it Tiger’s driving?

Tiger switched drivers two weeks ago and hit a blistering 14/14 fairways in the final round of the Memorial en route to his 2nd victory this year.  His fairway percentage for all four days was 87.5%, the best of his career.  Hitting fairways in this week’s US OPEN is crucial and this bodes well for Tiger.  But is his driving the biggest improvement in Tiger’s 2009 game?  Nope.

Is the knee finally 100%?

Tiger’s knee finally looks good.  Earlier this year when Tiger struggled a bit, he said “the knee is fine” when asked by the brilliant golf media.  At the Memorial two weeks ago the knee really did look great.  Tiger contradicted his early season statements by saying that he has been able to get more practice repetitions in lately since the knee is now better.

So is his biggest improvement for 2009 the knee or his ability to swing without worry?  Is it that his lower body and general technique with his legs and hips looks better than it ever has?  Naaaa.

If it isn’t all those, what is it?

After Tiger’s amazing chip-in on the 16th at The Masters in 2005 I cringed when I watched the completely uncomfortable and terrible “high five” between Tiger and his caddy Steve Williams.  It was a complete miss.   Myself, Golf Grouch and many other web sites commented on this.

For the next 3-4 years I’ve nearly thrown up in my mouth on several occasions as I’ve watched terrible high five after terrible high five between Tiger and Steve.  Sometimes they miss completely.  Sometimes Tiger tries a high five but Steve grabs his hand.  Then Tiger pulls his hand away.  It really bothers me and looks very odd, like these guys are completely out of sync.

What I saw at The Memorial

At The Memorial I saw something different.  I saw Tiger and Steve actually land a perfect high five.  I rolled my DVR back in disbelief but sure enough, they really hit one.  I swear that was the first one ever between these guys.

A few holes later Tiger hit a great shot and they executed another high five.  Bingo.  They landed it again.  This was now not a possible case of random luck or a “blind squirrel finding a nut.”  It wasn’t a case of a “broken military clock being right once a day.”  They just nailed two in a row.  Perfect.  Flawless.

At that point I started to figure out that Tiger Woods didn’t just rehabilitate his knee in his down time over the last year.  Yes, he and Stevie have been working, practicing, drilling, perfecting their high fives and they’re peaking at just the right time for the US OPEN.

I’d witnessed two in a row, but after years of terrible misses I figured they’d miss the next time.  On the edge of my chair I watched as Tiger hit the incredible approach to the green on the 18th, Sunday at The Memorial.  He stuck it to about 14 inches, sealing a birdie and an amazing victory.  Tiger turned to Steve and landed yet another perfect high five.

I freeze framed the last set of high fives and made still images of them below:

Three in a row isn’t luck my friends.  The weakest part of Tiger’s game for years hasn’t been his wild driving and missing fairways.  It has clearly been his high fives with Steve Williams.  I’m proclaiming now that the final piece of the perfect golfer’s game is in place.  Tiger’s game is now complete.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru PGA Tour, The Masters, Tiger Woods Steve Williams, Tiger Woods, US OPEN

What a week

I’m coming down from a week long Masters high.  What a week.  So many great story lines in this years Masters.  Cabrera, Perry and of course the big Tiger/Phil pairing…

Blog break

I’m a bit down due to other non golf related issues.  Yes the dreaded “life” category.  I’m  going to take a short blogging break to clear my mind and reset.  I hope to be fresh when I come back.  Knowing me that break will only be a day or two, if I can resist golf blogging at all.

On the bright side there are only only 11 months, 24 days, 22 hours, 52 minutes until the 2010 Masters…

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Life, Site News, The Masters Life, The Masters

7:24pm ET – ANGEL CABRERA IS MASTERS CHAMPION

Kenny Perry lost his swing starting on the 17th hole and through the two hole playoff. Chad Campbell succumbed to the pressure as well, putting his approach shot into the right greenside bunker on the 1st hole of the playoff.

Angel Cabrera has some big time kahunas and is Masters champion!  I’ll write more later, but there’s still daylight.  I’m off to the course to play until sunset.

6:46pm ET PLAYOFF

I think I’m going to have a heart attack.

Kenny Perry bogeys the last two holes.  We have a three man playoff between Kenny Perry, Chad Campbell and Angel Cabrera. Guess I’ll keep my clubs in the garage for now and crack open a frosty beverage.

6:21pm ET

17th fairway… Kenny Perry has a two shot lead after making birdie on 15 and nearly ACING 16.  I’m so happy for Perry, who will become the oldest major champion in the history of golf.  I just hope he finishes soon, so I can get out and play a few holes.  This is the only time of year I’d rather watch golf than play it, and I have the itch.

5:40pm ET

Kenny Perry just made a 3-putt par on #13 to stay at -12, but still holds one shot lead over Chad Campbell.  Cabrera still has a chance at -10.

Tiger and Phil both limped home, making bogey on 18.  Perhaps they just beat each other up today.  Tiger even knocked his 2nd shot off a tree trunk.  Phil’s 67 and Tiger’s 68 could have been 65’s or better.  I could have sworn I saw Tiger limping after the tree shot on 18.  Just like in football, limp after you make a bad play…

Read more…

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Champions Tour, European Tour, Golf Accessories, Golf Equipment, Nationwide Tour, PGA Tour, The Masters, Tiger Woods The Masters

Since it is Masters time, this is a great time to do a quick book review.  The First Sunday In April is…

“A collection of stories and insights from Arnold Palmer, Phil Mickelson, Rick Reilly, Ken Venturi, Jack Nickluas, Lee Trevino and many more about the quest for the famed green jacket.”

Essentially this book contains Masters stories as told by primarily golf writers and players.  Some of the stories are quotes from player biographies.  I like the way Don Wade describes the book in his foreward:

“…a literary stroll down Magnolia Lane.”

Coffee Table Book

Being just a collection of stories, this isn’t a book you need to read from front to back sequentially.  You can just pop it open and flip to a random page and read stories about the famed par-3 12th hole or many other happenings at Augusta.  Keep it on the coffee table like I do, and flip to a random chapter for a few minutes over coffee in the morning.

“First” Sunday In April?

Today is the final round of the 2009 Masters.  It is Sunday the 12th of April.  It is the 2nd Sunday in April.  Details details…

Conclusion

If you are a Masters fan like me, this is an enjoyable book to have around.  I love “stories” about The Masters and Augusta National and I eat ‘em up.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf Media, Golf Reviews, The Masters, Tiger Woods First Sunday In April, Masters Stories, The Masters

2009 Masters Round Three Leaderboard is below. Click read more to view…

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Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Champions Tour, European Tour, Nationwide Tour, PGA Tour, The Masters, Tiger Woods The Masters

6:30pm ET

Chad Campbell made a huge mistake on the par-3 16th.  He was in the back bunker with no green to work with.  Rather than playing safe, he went for the pin and left it in the bunker.  Then he missed the bogey putt.  He lost two shots to Kenny Perry, giving Perry the outright lead.  But while that was happening Cabrera was busy making birdie on #17 to tie for the lead at -11!  Boy is tomorrow going to be fun.

Furyk is in the house at -7 within striking distance.

5:00pm ET

The greens are soft and many players are throwing darts.

The leaders Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell have made the turn.  They’re both at -11 with Cabrera at -10 after he birdied #10.  Wait a sec.  Perry just made birdie so he’s alone in the lead now at -12 after 10 holes.

Stricker and Furyk are at -6 after 12 holes.  Mickelson birdied #15 to reach -5 while Tiger birdied #17 to get to -4.  I still think Tiger is too far back.

3:15pm ET

Tiger Woods has come back with a couple of birdies and is back to -2 after 9.  He doesn’t look like he’s controlling the spin of his approach shots though.  He’s spun several shots back too far and even off of greens.

The leaders Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell parred #1 and both birdied #2.  They’re now at -10.

Phil Mickelson is playing well and has it to -5 with a ton of other players including Stricker, Mahan, Furyk, Sabbatini, Katayama and Kim.

Cabrera back is at -8 and has shaken off the nerves after a birdie on #3.

1:30pm ET

Tiger Woods is likely toast for this year’s Masters. He double bogeyed #1.

Camilo Villegas is moving up the leaderboard, now at -4 after five holes.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Champions Tour, European Tour, Nationwide Tour, PGA Tour, The Masters, Tiger Woods The Masters

Once again, the leaderboard is quite long.  Click the read more link below to see the Masters leaderboard, who’s close and who missed the cut.  Some big names missed the cut.
Read more…

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru The Masters The Masters

6:30pm ET

Padraig Harrington’s ball moved on the 15th green after he addressed it due to wind.  One stroke penalty or he would have gone to -4 instead of -3.

Earlier Greg Norman melted down at 13, scoring a 7.  He’ll miss the cut.

Angel Cabrera is looking good at -7 despite a bogey on #15.  He has golf balls made of stone, no fear and plenty of power in his game for this golf course.  At this point he’d be my pick to win.   I like the look in his eye and the way he chomps his gum.

Phil Mickelson almost flew his ball into the hole on #13 for a double eagle and had a tap in eagle.  He’s back in red numbers but quite a way down the board.

It was a tearful ending for Fuzzy Zoeller my pal, and also Gary Player.  They both played their last round at The Masters.  I can’t imagine the emotion they must have felt walking up the 18th.

“It was the damndest feeling I’d ever had.” Zoeller on the emotions he felt walking up the 18th at Augusta for the last time.

4:20pm ET

Kenny Perry is playing a great tournament with a 67 today.  He and Chad Campbell are in the house leading at -9.

Tiger Woods bogeyed the 18th hole a 2nd day in a row to shoot an even par 72 and stay at -2 for the tournament.

Anthony Kim had only one par on the front because he had so many birdies.  He set a Masters record with 11 birdies to finish at -4.  How cool would it be to see AK win?

Todd Hamilton is in the house at -6.

It is looking like some big guns are going to miss the cut:  Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Adam Scott, Boo Weekly and Freddy Couples.

Read more…

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Champions Tour, European Tour, PGA Tour, The Masters, Tiger Woods The Masters

The Leaderboard is quite long and will stretch my site down to China. So click read more to check out the whole leaderboard!

Read more…

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru The Masters The Masters

Chad Campbell?  Wow.

Of all players, who would have imagined Chad Campbell would have come close to not only Masters low score record, but he’d flirt with the all time low score record in major championships.  He faltered at the end of his stellar round a bit, but still dropped a Masters leading 65.

Jim Furyk was on fire and held the lead for much of the day, finishing with a 66 as well as Hunter Mahan.  Furyk had NO bogeys.

There has been a TON of whining from the players and the media about Augusta National being too hard.  The last two years the weather has sucked, making the course longer.  Today showed that Augusta National CAN yield low scores and CAN produce roars.  There were plenty of players reaching par-5’s in two, but not too many.  There were many players who had fits on the slick greens, but many mediocre shots weren’t overly penalized.  The course was fair and perhaps a bit too easy.

Tiger Woods shot is best first round of the Masters in quite a while with a 70.  He could have gone much lower after lipping out a short birdie putt on 17 and air-mailing the 18th green enroute to a bogey finish.

Tiger fans need not worry.  He seldom gets off to a quick start at The Masters.

Greg Norman is right in the mix, tied with Tiger at -2 as are a handful of other players including Zach Johnson.

Perhaps even more surprising than Chad Campbell’s round is that of Larry Mize.  He shot a 67!

Paddy Wagon

Padraig Harrington sits at -3 and right in the thick of it.  I’m definitely a bandwagon jumper and I’d love to see him win his third major in a row.  I’m on the Paddy Wagon!

I stand to lose more than cash if Sergio Garcia wins the Masters.  I stand to lose my dignity, or at least risk exposing my “little secret.” Sergio knocked one in Rae’s Creek on #12 and sits at +1, along with Phil Mickelson.

Sadly enough, one of the “old” guys didn’t drop the worst round of the day.  That distinction belongs to the puzzling Michael Campbell.  He shot 80.

Full Masters Leaderboard Here

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Champions Tour, European Tour, Nationwide Tour, PGA Tour, The Masters, Tiger Woods The Masters