British Open comments

This was an interesting British Open. For some reason, Royal Lytham and St. Anne's Golf Club produces a top notch winner every year it holds the Open Championship. This year was no exception and the leaderboard was stacked with big names every day of the tournament. In the end, Ernie Els, who has been snakebit as much as any golfer, came out on top when he played clutch golf down the stretch and Adam Scott could not hold onto the lead. Ultimately, the best ball striker of the week won the golf tournament. Els lead in Greens in Regulation by a wide margin, and if he had putted well, would have won by a wide margin. Fortunately for him, he putted well enough, especially on the 72nd hole. Questions remain with Tiger Woods game. Again, he displayed a lack of confidence in the driver on a day when the course demanded he hit driver due to the wind. The most telling shot of the day for me in Tiger's round was when he pulled out a 2 iron on a tee shot on a 462 yard par 4 that was playing dead into the wind. He left himself 240 yards to the green for his second shot. This was at a point when you figured he had no chance at winning, so why not pull the driver? Stunning. Given that the PGA championship will be played at Kiawah Island next month on a course that can stretch to 7,900 yards, and where the wind will likely be a factor, it is hard to imagine Tiger winning there while hitting 2 irons and 3 woods on every tee. Compare Tiger's effort to what Els did on 18 when he had to make a birdie. With a quartering wind in his face and from left to right, Els hit a fade over the left fairway bunker that required a carry of 285 yards. This left him a little wedge shot into the green that set up his winning putt. Until Tiger can do this consistently, he is going to come up short in most majors and will struggle at Augusta, where he has not won since 2005. Merion may very well be his best shot next year, since it is not long. Of course, with his ability, Tiger will likely at some point confound us pretend experts! In any event, it is always fun to watch the Open Championship as it is such a different brand of golf. Compared to the True South Classic which wrapped up today with Scott Stallings as the winner at 24 under, well, there is no comparison. Typical PGA Tour golf can be bit boring to watch as many weeks simply turn into a putting contest. Scott Cole www.yourgolfswingfix.com

2010 U.S. Open - Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda

I just witnessed a debacle of a final round at the U.S. Open, where it was clear no one was willing to reach out and grab their destiny. Starting with Dustin Johnson, on down to Phil Mickelson, and even Tiger Woods, it was clear the best players just didn't have the game to go out and win this golf tournament.

So, the tournament came down to a couple Europeans. One, a solid player from Northern Ireland, Graeme McDowell. The other, an unknown Frenchman, Gregory Havret, ranked 391 in the world. Havret played the steadiest golf of anyone in the final groups.

At one point in the round, Ernie Els looked like the man to beat, as he got it to -3 early. This was as Dustin Johnson decided he had no business competing for the title, and played himself out of the tournament with a triple bogey and double bogey early, on his way to a round in the 80s. He clearly didn't believe he belonged.

I have to say that this generation of golfers, while clearly having more depth, it's stars, except Tiger Woods of course, rarely show up and win...they typically back into winning these majors when Tiger has shot himself in the foot. Occasionally, we've seen some good golf to win, usually at the Masters or the British Open. Never have we seen any big head to head duals involving Tiger Woods and any of his chief rivals. The usually scenario was that he would make a birdie or two early and the others would wilt away. While I view Tiger as the most talented golfer the game has seen, Nicklaus had to fend off far more quality challengers such as Palmer, Player, Watson, Trevino, Casper, Miller, etc. Have we ever seen a true Woods-Mickelson dual in a major? Never. What about Woods-Els? Nada. How about Woods-Singh? Nope.

Greatness is evident when a player reaches out and grabs the tournament, or survives a tough challenge from a gritty competitor. Tiger has been great many times, but he was never challenged when he had his A game.

Today, there were four 68s and a 69 at Pebble Beach, but no one close to the lead even came close to breaking par. The winner, Graeme McDowell, backs into the win with a 74. Congratulations to him, but just once I would like to see the best players in the world all playing well at once in a major. Today, the best man did not win, but the last man standing simply choked the least.

Tiger Makes Presence Felt at Pebble Beach

Tiger Woods' golf game has apparently returned today, with a 66 in the third round of the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. In a stunning display of ball striking and clutch putting, Tiger should be a force on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Phil Mickelson was unable to follow through on his second round 66. Struggling from the start, Phil is fighting just to stay in contention. Ernie Els seems unable to make a putt, otherwise he would still be about even with Tiger.

So far, the leaders remain Graeham McDowell and Dustin Johnson. Which means, Tiger will be favored to win on Sunday.

Scott Cole
www.powergolftraining.com