Captain Love Contending at PGA

U.S. RYDER CUP CAPTAIN DAVIS LOVE III is playing good golf this summer. On Thursday Love fired a 2-under 68 in the opening round of the PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club, a round that included five birdies. Love won the 1997 PGA Championship at Winged Foot, his only major.

Love, who is currently 1 under on his second round, is grouped with Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington. Both Woods (77) and Harrington (73) are struggling to regain the form that won them multiple major championships.

Meanwhile, Love is a motivated 47-year-old veteran. Yes, he is the Ryder Cup captain. But he also wants to be a Ryder Cup player.

“I made 12 (Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup) teams in a row,” Love said, “and I’ve been frustrated ever since. I want to make another Ryder Cup team.”

Love made his first Ryder Cup appearance in 1993 at The Belfry. That was the last win for the Americans until 1999. He played on that ‘99 squad, as well as the U.S. teams in 1995, 1997, 2002 and 2004. Last year Love was an assistant to U.S. Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin at Celtic Manor.

Except for the Masters, it has been a solid year in the majors for the new American Ryder Cup skipper. Love finished in a tie for 11th at the U.S. Open and recorded a ninth-place finish at The Open Championship. He has made 10 cuts in 16 starts and is 86th in the FedEx Cup standings.

While Love is sharpening his game in the hopes of making his team, he will also be keeping a close eye on the other talent. He will have four captain’s picks to make next summer.

“What I’m going to be looking for are guys that are hot and that are putting good,” he said.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Brought to you by YourGolfTravel.com, the online destination for UK golf and golf Europe.)

(Photo credit: Keith Allison, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

Did PGA Identity Crisis Spawn ‘Glory’s Last Shot’?

WHEN DID THE PGA CHAMPIONSHIP become known as “Glory’s Last Shot”? Did someone in Palm Beach Gardens come up with that, or maybe an ad agency?

It’s a serious question. I’ve been watching all four majors for many years and I can’t recall when I started hearing the PGA slogan. Now I hear it all the time. Too much, really.

I took to Google to investigate, a cursory research effort, I’ll admit. I didn’t come up with much. Within the first two pages of search results there are references to “Glory’s Last Shot” dating back to at least 2006. That’s as far as I looked.

A 2008 Associated Press story titled “Disrespected PGA Remains ‘Glory’s Last Shot’” touches on the issue.

“Ever since scrapping match play as its format 50 years ago, the PGA Championship has suffered an identity crisis,” reads the opening sentence.

Ah, yes. If you were picking majors the way you choose teams on a school playground, the PGA would be standing self-consciously against the chain-link fence while the Masters, U.S. Open and The Open Championship were fought over. Those three don’t have nicknames or mottos. They don’t need them.

The Masters is associated with Augusta National and Bobby Jones. The U.S. Open is often thought of as the game’s toughest challenge. The Open Championship is the world’s oldest major and the only one played on a links course.

“And what does that make the PGA Championship?” asked the AP story.

“The other one,” Geoff Ogilvy answered with a grin.

Ogilvy was quick to add that it’s still some pretty good competition, which is a bit of an understatement. The PGA Championship often has the best field in golf. And the players certainly want their name on the Wanamaker Trophy, engraved alongside Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

Any major is a career-defining or career-enhancing victory, including the PGA Championship, which went from match play to stroke play in 1958. Dow Finsterwald won that year, his only major. Bob Rosburg won the next year, his only major. Jay Hebert and Jerry Barber won the following two PGAs, their only majors.

So, yes, it’s an important major, even if it does have an identity crisis and is propped up with a slogan. I liked the PGA Championship long before it was tagged with “Glory’s Last Shot,” a phrase that I expect to hear too often this week.

−The Armchair Golfer

The Rory McIlroy Guessing Game

Editor’s note: Brian Keogh is a golf correspondent for The Irish Sun and a contributor to The Irish Times, Golf Digest Ireland and other golf publications. The following excerpt from Brian’s Irish Golf Desk is used with permission.

By Brian Keogh
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

THERE’S A NEW GUESSING GAME in golf—what’s Rory McIlroy going to do next. In June he surprised nearly everyone when he followed his implosion at the Masters with an eight-shot US Open win. Fast forward six weeks and he’s overshadowed the return to Tiger Woods to PGA Tour action this week by announcing that he’s seriously considering rejoining the PGA Tour next season.

Nearly nine months ago, McIlroy gave up his card and said:

“I found myself in America last year, especially in the FedEx Cup play-off series, just not wanting to be there…. If you’re not playing well in the States it can be a lonely place. But if you’re not playing well on the European Tour you still have plenty of mates to hang out with. Holly also has another two years at university and we have two dogs, a nice house and I love my life back in Ireland. I don’t ever want to give that up.”

Fast forward to the eve of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Akron and the story is very different. Holly is history, he’s playing well and life in Ireland has become more of grind since his went from golf star to public megastar in the space of a few weeks.

“I spoke to a couple of the guys from the PGA Tour today about it, and I’m leaning towards taking my card up again definitely,” said McIlroy, who is involved a burgeoning romance with the Danish world tennis number one Caroline Wozniacki.

“I feel as if I play my best golf over here. I’m very comfortable in this country. I’m going to look at a few houses down in Florida after the (US) PGA.

“I might go and stay with G-Mac (Graeme McDowell) for a night at Lake Nona and see what that’s like and then down in West Palm Beach and Jupiter, around there. I’m definitely looking towards coming back and playing a full schedule over here.”

McIlroy fired a 68 in the first round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and trails leader Adam Scott by six shots. Scott blistered Firestone Country Club with an eight-birdie, no-bogey 62.

Brian Keogh covers golf for The Irish Sun and contributes to a variety of golf publications. Pay him a visit at Irish Golf Desk.

2011 U.S. Open: William Cauley In, Tiger Woods Out

A FRIEND ASKED ME last Friday at our local Lion’s Club tournament if I thought Tiger Woods would tee it up at Congressional. “I don’t know,” I said. “But I won’t be surprised if he doesn’t. Tiger isn’t right.”

I meant physically—the left knee and Achilles tendon. It’s one of multiple obstacles to regaining his form. A huge one. It seemed to me that Tiger would be smart to get healthy before playing more tournament golf, even if it meant missing the national championship.

Today Tiger announced at his website that he won’t play in this year’s U.S. Open.

“I am extremely disappointed that I won’t be playing in the U.S. Open. But it’s time for me to listen to my doctors and focus on the future. I was hopeful that I could play, but if I did, I risk further damage to my left leg. My knee and Achilles’ tendon are not fully healed.”

Tiger isn’t Superman anymore, if he ever was. He’s damaged goods. He can’t will his way around the golf course like he did at Torrey Pines in June 2008. This was the only sensible choice after the re-injury at the Masters and the forced 9-hole march at The Players Championship last month.

Tiger added that he hopes to play at his AT&T National Tournament, as well as the British Open and PGA Championship. The wait-and-see game continues.

U.S. Open Qualifying

Meanwhile, with Tiger out, a bunch of other players are in, such as the one noted in the headline—William Cauley. I picked Cauley’s name off the lengthy list of those who made it through Sectional Qualifying because he posted one of the lowest scores—132. And not just in Memphis, where he qualified, but anywhere.

Cauley tied for low man at Tunica National with 67-65 in a Sectional Qualifier that included many tour pros. One other thing stood out about Cauley: he’s an amateur.

Following are some notable (or known to me) names who are headed to Congressional.

Thomas Levet, France 66-71--137
Johan Edfors, Sweden 70-70--140
Sam Saunders, Orlando, Fla. 69-72--141
Kirk Triplett, Scottsdale, Ariz. 69-64--133
Fred Funk, Ponte Vedra, Fla. 67-68--135
Ty Tryon, Orlando, Fla. 71-64--135
Chez Reavie, Scottsdale, Ariz. 69-63--132
Brandt Jobe, Westlake, Texas 62-70--132
Robert Garrigus, Charleston, S.C. 67-66--133
Nicholas O'Hern, Australia 68-67--135
D.A. Points, Windermere, Fla. 68-68--136
John Senden, Flower Mound, Texas 68-68--136
Marc Turnesa, Jupiter, Fla. 69-67--136
Marc Leishman, Norfolk, Va. 68-68--136
Webb Simpson, Charlotte, N.C. 68-69--137
Tim Petrovic, Austin, Texas 69-68--137
William Cauley (a), Jacksonville, Fla. 67-65--132
Fredrik Jacobson, Hobe Sound, Fla. 67-67--134
Sergio Garcia, Spain 68-67--135
Brian Gay, Windermere, Fla. 68-67--135
Chad Campbell, Andrews, Texas 66-69--135
Briny Baird, Palm City, Fla. 68-67--135
Todd Hamilton, Cleveland, Ohio 67-68--135
Harrison Frazar, Dallas, Texas 72-64--136
Greg Chalmers, Colleyville, Texas 66-70--136

I was also going to list notable names that didn’t make it, but now I don’t have the desire or heart to do it.

I’m In

I’ll be at Congressional next week, my first U.S. Open as a credentialed media member. I’m not sure how I’ll cover the action. But I’ll definitely show up and post my dispatches from the year’s second major. I’ve been looking forward to it for quite a while and can’t believe it’s almost here. If you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to email me at armchairgolfer@gmail.com.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Photo credit: Keith Allison, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

Ray Ainsley’s Historic 19 at Cherry Hills

WHEN I HEARD ABOUT Kevin Na’s 16 in the first round of the Valero Texas Open two weeks ago, I thought of Ray Ainsley. Ainsley holds the record for the highest single-hole score in the history of the U.S. Open: 19.

It occurred in 1938 at Cherry Hills Country Club outside of Denver, the first National Open played west of the Mississippi River. Ralph Guldahl was in the midst of a four-year tear during which he won three consecutive Western Opens, two consecutive U.S. Opens and a Masters. Guldahl was cruising to a six-stroke victory as the field played the customary 36 holes on the final day.

The lanky Texan strolled along the par-71 layout without a hair out of place. Guldahl, you see, was a compulsive hair comber. It was his way of easing tension. “On an important shot,” he said, “I try to steady my nerves. That comb has saved me many a stabbed putt.”

(Photo: Ralph Guldahl. While Guldahl won the Open, Ray Ainsley won notoriety.)

Yet it was Ainsley, a club pro from Ojai, California, who may be best remembered from that first U.S. Open played in the West—and for all the wrong reasons. He dunked his approach shot into a creek that bordered the green on the par-4 16th. You can probably see what’s coming. The club pro was determined to hit out of the creek. There was a problem. The ball was completely submerged in water.

According to a Cherry Hills historical account, Ainsley attacked the ball like a “wild man.” This went on for 30 minutes. That’s right, half an hour.

You might be asking yourself, “Why didn’t the goofball simply take a drop?” Because he forgot that he could take relief from a water hazard. “I thought I had to play the ball as it lay all the time,” Ainsley later told a rules official.

Bud McKinney, Ainsley’s playing partner, said that once during the tragic ordeal scorekeeper Red Anderson laughed so hard he fell to the ground. At that point, Ainsley had taken nine swings at the waterlogged ball. On a few occasions, the ball made it to the bank, only to roll back in the water. Spectators screamed, “There it is! There it is!” when the ball crawled upon dry land. But it wouldn’t stay.

The water was flowing, too, so by the time Ainsley finally hit the ball out of the creek on his 17th stroke he had lost 75 yards in distance. He pitched onto the green and one-putted for a 19, although some thought he took a 21 or a 23. Ainsley finished his round with a 96.

It has been nearly 75 years since Ray Ainsley splashed down in that creek on the 16th at Cherry Hills. He still desperately needs someone to make a 20. But I don’t think it’s going to happen any time soon.

−The Armchair Golfer

Rory McIlroy Spotted ‘House Hunting’

WHATEVER YOU MAKE OF Rory McIlroy’s Sunday back-nine collapse at Augusta, the Irish lad certainly has a healthy sense of humor about his Masters misadventures. Accompanied by the photograph at right, Rory tweeted this on Sunday:

“Apparently I was spotted house hunting last week..... LOL!!!”

Now that’s funny. Of course, the image documents Rory’s unfolding disaster at the par-4 10th where he eventually walked away with a triple-bogey seven.

The Irish star again had difficulty closing out a win this past weekend at the Malaysia Open.

Leading on Saturday night and facing 27 holes on Sunday due to weather-related delays, Rory was overtaken by Italian phenom Matteo Manassero, who notched his second win in just 25 starts on the European Tour. Manassero closed with a 68 to finish at 16 under and edge Gregory Bourdy by a shot. The Italian teenager will turn 18 on Tuesday.

A three-putt double bogey at the 15th was costly as McIlroy completed his third round one stroke off the lead. Then a fourth-round rally that included three birdies in four holes on the back nine stalled at the 72nd hole when Rory carded a bogey. He shot a 69 and finished alone in third.

“I’m proud of the way I picked up myself from last week,” he remarked to the media.

Today, Rory was en route to his Northern Ireland home for two weeks of R and R.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Visor tip to Mike Walker at Golf.com’s Press Tent.)

(Image: Courtesy of @McIloryRory)

On My Golf Bucket List: Scotland and The Old Course

TODAY I WAS REMINDED OF my golf bucket list when my wife told me that her brother is heading to Ireland this August for a golf trip. A few years ago he went to Scotland. He brought me back a cap from Royal Troon. I still have it. I still long to go.

There are several things I’ve been able to cross off my golf bucket list. I’ve been to many golf tournaments and a handful of majors. In 2008 I finally made it to Augusta National Golf Club for the Masters. I was also fortunate to attend the Ryder Cup at Valhalla in Louisville.

What’s left?

I’ve always wanted to play Pebble Beach, as I mentioned not long ago. I don’t know if or when that will happen at this point. I’m no longer in the West Coast neighborhood and the green fees are five Benjamin Franklins. But here’s a big one: I want to attend The Open Championship. I also want to set foot on the Home of Golf, St. Andrews, the Old Course. It’s on my golf bucket list. I need to get there.

(Photo: The Road Hole at St. Andrews / courtesy of Melvyn Morrow)

I know golf in Scotland is like a pilgrimage. It’s something a golfer should do at least once in a lifetime, if at all possible. I could happily tour all of Scotland’s fabled links if I had enough time and money. But it seems to me that St. Andrews is the destination for those interested in a serious golfing holiday. After all, it’s where this crazy game began.

My dad went to Scotland and St. Andrews in the 1980s. He bought me a cap. As I mentioned, my brother-in-law went a few years ago. He bought me a cap.

I DON’T NEED ANY MORE CAPS.

I need to see the Road Hole with my own eyes. I need to walk across the Swilken Bridge toward the Valley of Sin. I need to hack my way out of one of those insane pot bunkers and play a Miguel Angel Jimenez carom shot. If you have played and watched golf much of your life like l have, then you’re nodding your head. This makes perfect sense to you.

I expect to accomplish this goal.

The Old Course isn’t always love at first sight. The great Bobby Jones was not impressed the first time he saw St. Andrews. Nor was Sam Snead. Scott Hoch called it “the biggest piece of mess I’ve ever seen.” A few years ago, a former tour and club pro told me, “I felt like Bobby Jones the first time he saw it. Thought it was a cow pasture.”

Yet, the Old Course won over Bobby Jones, and Bobby Jones won over the Scots, returning again and again and winning three Claret Jugs.

As for me, I’ll be glad if I can just go once. When I do, maybe I’ll buy someone a cap.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Brought to you by YourGolfTravel.com, the online destination for golf breaks uk.)

Rory McIlroy and the 900 Pound Putting Gorilla

Editor’s note: Brian Keogh is a golf correspondent for The Irish Sun and a contributor to The Irish Times, Golf Digest Ireland and other golf publications. The following piece from Brian’s Irish Golf Desk is used with permission.

By Brian Keogh
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

RORY MCILROY’S BACK ROOM TEAM needs to wake up and face the fact that he needs help with his putting. The Holywood star’s manager Chubby Chandler confessed after the Masters disaster that McIlroy had a problem, but then said he didn’t know what it was. Odd.

Perhaps he’s nervous about adding fuel to an already raging bonfire after watching the 21-year old rack up a three-putt and a four-putt under severe pressure and miss more than half a dozen putts inside seven feet in the final round alone. Augusta National brutally exposes even the tiniest weakness and McIlroy’s putting, which is brilliant when he is in brimming with confidence, is hit and miss when the squeeze is on.

Instead of addressing that, Chandler spoke about McIlroy’s need to find a way of playing enough golf to learn how to win without burning himself out, which is ironic considering the moves made to reduce the youngster’s schedule this year.

Asked how McIlroy could recover from such a massive meltdown, Chandler said: “He is a smart lad, isn’t he? He knows there is a problem. But it is not an insolvable problem.”

So what’s the problem then?

“I don’t know what the problem is,” Chandler said as he dashed off to keep up with newly crowned Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, the latest client in his ISM stable to win a major. “I don’t know.”

What Chandler does know is that McIlroy is still a young man with lots to learn. But how much has been done to improve his short putting? The youngster has built several greens at his home practice facility near Belfast and worked with biomechanics expert Dr Paul Hurrion. But how diligently he has applied himself to the grueling monotony of practice putting drills is another story. Word is he found the grind a little boring when he was working intensively with Hurrion a couple of years ago.

The good news is that he has time on his side, as Chandler pointed out on Sunday night.

“It is just part of growing up,” he said. “He is just 21, don’t forget that. If he was in America he would still be at college. We are all thinking that he should have won the Masters. And he is No 9 in the world and we are all thinking he is underachieving. It is scary but that is how good he is.”

Having given up his PGA Tour card, ostensibly because the 15-event minimum forces McIlroy to play too often, Chandler instead believes that his golden goose will learn to win by playing and contending more often. But that doesn’t add up when it was decided last year to urge McIlroy not to retain PGA Tour membership and play just 23 events this year instead of the usual 30.

Playing less will take the pressure of the Holywood star’s body (he suffered back problems at the start of last year). But what he really needs is help with his pressure putting after a series of final day reverses when leading after 54 holes in his first three and a half years as a pro.

Chandler said: “The problem with Rory is that he doesn’t play a lot so you don’t get that much practice at winning. And that’s the balance now.

“How many times you should play to do that and yet stay fresh and focused? Because he came in here great, didn’t he. He was fresh every day. But you have got to learn to do certain things on the golf course.”

Putting apart, McIlroy made several strategic mistakes in the final round and paid the price for a pull-hook under pressure, taking seven at the 10th to kiss the green jacket goodbye. He is green as a professional but it was his form on the greens that really let him down on Sunday afternoon.

Brian Keogh covers golf for The Irish Sun and contributes to a variety of golf publications. Pay him a visit at Irish Golf Desk.

Tiger Crashes Masters Leaderboard

THE PUTTS WENT IN. After a sluggish start that included three bogeys in the first seven holes, Tiger Woods sank seven birdies in the last 11 holes en route to a 66 that moved him to within three shots of Rory McIlroy’s lead. Tiger’s touch on the glassy Augusta greens was back, like at 11 where he coaxed in a ticklish par-saver. His tee shots were still shaky at times, but many of his approach shots were on target, like at 18 where he carved his ball around the pines to set up a finishing birdie.

The look was also back as Tiger marched through the back nine and up the leaderboard late on Friday. On Saturday he’ll be paired with K.J. Choi, who posted a 70. The two played all four rounds together at last year’s Masters. They enjoy each others’ company.

Playing with leader McIlroy, Aussie Jason Day fired a brilliant 64, the day’s best round. Day is 8 under, two off McIlroy’s lead. Rory continued to stripe the ball, although the putts didn’t fall like they did on Thursday when he shot a 65. Rickie Fowler, the third musketeer, carded a 69 to keep himself in the hunt at 5 under.

After his second 69, Geoff Ogilvy is at 6 under along with first round co-leader Alvaro Quiros. Ricky Barnes, Fred Couples and Lee Westwood are tied with Fowler. Couples posted an age-defying 68. Freddie loves Augusta. It’s a crazy love. Phil Mickelson shot an even-par 72, and at 2 under has a lot of work to do on Saturday if he wants to crash the party.

The third round will be intriguing, for it’s a test. Will Tiger continue to hit good approach shots and hole putts? I think he can, especially at Augusta. On the other hand, Tiger hasn’t put together back-to-back rounds in a while. The pins will be tougher to get to; the greens will be harder and faster.

I’m also curious to see how the young bucks respond. For all the talk about Tiger’s intimidation factor being a thing of the past, I wonder if McIlroy and Day will have the twitches. My hunch is that Day will struggle. The Masters pressure might just beat him silly. Rory is a little more battle tested. But will he putt like Sergio Garcia?

As Rickie Fowler says, game on.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Photo credit: Gary Hisanaga, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

McIlroy and Quiros Lead Masters, Fowler to Wear White on Friday

THE 75TH MASTERS IS underway, golf fans, er, patrons. It was an especially gorgeous day at Augusta National, warm and no wind to speak of, a day for scoring. The field charged out of the gate like 2-year-olds at the Kentucky Derby. They’re all bunched up as they enter the first turn and it’s way too early to sort it all out.

But we know the horses leading the pack, a couple of strong thoroughbreds: Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and Spain’s Alvaro Quiros.

Rory McIlroy, grouped with Rickie Fowler and Jason Day, set the early pace with a 7-under 65. Fowler had a 70. Day carded a 72. Quiros, playing alongside fellow power rangers Jhonattan Vegas and Gary Woodland in the day’s last grouping, matched McIlroy’s 65. Previously, Quiros’ best trip around Augusta National was 75.

I enjoyed watching Quiros, Woodland and Vegas blister the back nine. Woodland salvaged a 69 by playing the last six holes six under par.

With 67s, Y.E. Yang and K.J. Choi are two behind the leaders. Matt Kuchar and Ricky Barnes fired 68s. Phil Mickelson and Tigers Woods had 70 and 71, respectively. World No. 1 Martin Kaymer stumbled to a 78.

The weather is supposed to be perfect on the weekend. The course will play firmer and faster as Sunday approaches.

Y’all know this isn’t a golf fashion blog, but the folks at COBRA-PUMA GOLF contacted me as they sometimes do. They wanted me to know what Rickie Fowler would be wearing all four days at the Masters.

Who am I to withhold this information from you?

So Rickie will slip into white with a blue-striped pattern on Friday, a green-striped polo with white pants on Saturday and his trademark all orange on Sunday. It might be the only thing I can say with any certainty about this year’s Masters.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Image: Courtesy of COBRA-PUMA GOLF)

Book Excerpt: ‘The Caddie Who Won The Masters’

Editor’s note: Three years ago I asked author friend John Coyne if he would be interested in going to the Masters. His response was an enthusiastic yes. He flew south from New York City, I picked him up in Charlotte, and off we went to Augusta, two longtime golf fans making their first pilgrimage to America’s famed cathedral of golf. For John, it was that and something more—research for the third novel in his popular “caddie” series. Today, I’m pleased to offer an excerpt from his just-released golf tale,The Caddie Who Won The Masters.

By John Coyne
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

Copyright © 2011 John Coyne. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

A PLAYER NEVER WINS the Masters on his own, as those of us who follow golf know well enough. But in all honesty, when I look back at my week in Georgia, I don’t know which one of those golfing legends helped me the most. Of course, my caddie played a part—that young kid who showed up out of nowhere to carry my bag. And certainly Kerry had more than her share of influence on how it all turned out.

Golf writers pointed to what occurred on the third round at Amen Corner, saying that was the turning point. Yet the truth is, so much more had happened to me before that afternoon out there at the far end of Augusta National that I can’t say my eagle on 15 was the decisive moment. Even though it was there—on the back side in the third round—were my game turned around in the fading sunlight of moving day, as Saturdays on tour are called, and I came into contention.

In retrospect I know that what transpired up in the Crow’s Nest of the clubhouse before the tournament was more important than any shot I made at Augusta National.

So when I put into place the bits and pieces of my time in Georgia, as if they were some sort of mythological mystery, all I can say for certain is that my life began to subtly shift the moment I stepped off the Washington Avenue bus at the front gate of Augusta National Golf Club on the Sunday afternoon before the opening round. I realize now I wasn’t in control of my own destiny that week, but, of course, others who have played the Masters have also said as much.

I do know that on that first day I looked more like a forty-year-old caddie than a player, standing there at the bus stop with a suitcase in one hand and my clubs slung over my shoulder. I was a wrinkled, unshaven mess, wearing baggy pants, beat-up New Balances and a golf cap jerked down on my uncombed, thick, salt-and-pepper hair. Anyone who was watching—though no one was—would’ve taken me for one of those old-time loopers who travel from club to club hoping to grab a bag and earn a few bucks to buy another bottle of booze. What separated me from the caddie yard were my sticks. One glance in my bag would have told any player that even if I wasn’t first class, at least the clubs were.

I stepped across the wide street and said hello to the uniformed Securitas guards standing in front of the white-brick gatehouse. I told them my name—Timothy Jack Alexander—and that I had come to play.

Cars filled with players, officials, reporters, and members of Augusta National were slipping by me at the entrance. The cars slowed, the people inside presented credentials, then they were waved ahead. The sleek automobiles rode smoothly under the speckled sunlight filtering through the canopy of those ancient magnolia trees that stretch from the gates up the famous drive to the white-columned plantation manor house.

I showed the guard my invitation. Every year, the winner of the U.S. Mid-Amateur is offered a chance to play in the Masters, and having won the tournament, this was my year. The letter was signed by Billy Payne himself, the chairman of Augusta National.

Next the guard wanted me to prove that I was really Timothy Jack Alexander. I showed him my Southern Illinois University faculty ID, with the mug shot of me looking as if I had just played thirty-six holes on a hot August afternoon.

“Would you like a lift to the clubhouse, sir?” he offered, comprehending now that I wasn’t a crazy old guy trying to crash the gates.

I shook my head, saying I wanted to walk onto the famous Augusta golf course. It was for sentimental reasons, I explained, but still the guard frowned. Who’d ever heard of a Masters qualifier wanting to walk down Magnolia Lane?

I thanked the guard, swung my bag onto my shoulder and, on foot, followed the limousines through the iron gates of Augusta National, the citadel of golf in America. I knew it was the home of legends. What I never dreamed was what the legends would mean to me.

Bestselling author John Coyne has written more than 25 books of fiction and nonfiction. To learn more about John’s new golf novel, The Caddie Who Won the Masters, visit JohnCoyneBooks.com or Amazon.

It’s 5 a.m.: Watching the Masters Down Under

(From the ARMCHAIR GOLF archives.)

“In arguably the most sports-obsessed country in the world, this may go some way to explaining Australia’s exceedingly high expectations in world golf. If we’re going to get up at these ridiculous hours to watch, our golfers had better put on a good show.”

By Michael Green
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

THE ALARM GOES OFF at 5 a.m., which is a lot earlier than usual for a Monday morning. The household stirs a little due to the slight disturbance, but I grab the doona (Australian for blanket), walk down the hall, switch on the TV and lay down on the couch.

I’ve still yet to open my eyes. The sounds of tinkling ivories soon come out of the TV and combined with shot after shot of flowering garden beds it’s almost enough to put me back to sleep. Thankfully, some golf is shown in between these images and my eyes begin to adjust to the picture.

The final round of the U.S. Masters is on TV. In Australia.

There’s a real skill to adjusting the volume to an audible level while keeping it low enough so the non-golf fans in the household aren’t disturbed. I have trouble speaking at that time of the day, and having to explain exactly what I’m doing in front of the TV so early would be near impossible.

This is the way I’ve experienced every U.S. Masters since I was a kid and the story would be very similar for many other Australian golf fans. All of the golf majors are experienced this way Down Under except for the British Open, which is a real test on a Sunday evening. The final round usually finishes around 4 a.m.

In arguably the most sports-obsessed country in the world, this may go some way to explaining Australia’s exceedingly high expectations in world golf. If we’re going to get up at these ridiculous hours to watch, our golfers had better put on a good show.

I’ve felt like I’ve wasted many hours of sleep only to see many Australians tumble in the majors. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy watching any golf, but we all have our favourites and the Australians are mine.

You need two hands to count the number of times Greg Norman has been in contention at Augusta. That’s close to ten weeks of my life I’ve felt cheated by getting up to watch The Shark fall at the last hurdle, none more so than 1987 and 1996. School and university were major chores during those weeks. It’s a wonder I passed.

Greg Norman’s amazing shot at the 2008 British Open was tough to take as he looked like he was winning for three and a half days, but it wasn’t quite as hard to take as the 2002 Open. Two Australians made the playoff and we still couldn’t win it.

Australians have usually played well at The Open, though. Peter Thomson won it five times, Norman won twice and Ian Baker-Finch chimed in with a win of his own as well. Wayne Grady and Steve Elkington grabbed a PGA Championship each in the 90’s but there’s a feeling that Australian golf has some even better results just around the corner.

Geoff Ogilvy’s win at Winged Foot in the 2006 U.S. Open was considered a shock to most fans. Australians knew him as another great young golfer with plenty of potential, but the circumstances of his win left many still wondering how good he was. His WGC wins and early 2009 form have laid any doubt to rest, and many sleepy Australian eyes will be on him at the U.S. Masters.

Regular tour players such as Stuart Appleby and Robert Allenby are still playing good golf, but it’s the new brigade that may lead to some big wins. Aaron Baddeley and Adam Scott are always on everyone’s list of “next Australian major winner,” and players such as Jason Day are still considered by many to be future stars.

This list does go on and we’re hoping they can erase some bad memories in future major tournaments, particularly at the Masters.

We can say the bad memories are in the past and something we’d rather forget. But these trials and tribulations have made Australian golf.

We’re a country that has always struggled with our identity. Isolated at the meeting point of some very large oceans on a piece of land almost the size of the continental United States—and with a population the same as New York—we’ve been punching above our weight in golf for many years and made a name for ourselves.

Those early morning heartbreaks still hurt, but with the likes of Ogilvy, Allenby, Goggin and even the old Shark showing some form, maybe those Monday mornings will soon be a little brighter.

I might even turn the TV up a bit. Let the rest of the house know what’s going on.

Michael Green writes about golf at Aussie Golfer.

New Putting Drill Has Tiger Ready for Masters

I KNOW THIS WILL arouse suspicion since today is April Fool’s Day. But I don’t consider it any more far-fetched than the daily hullabaloo about Tiger Woods’ swing. The original source is The Onion, America’s Finest News Source.

The putting drill is pretty simple. You putt a large baby into its diaper. It can be a baby boy or a baby girl (pictured). It really doesn’t matter. Make sure the baby is face up and the diaper is clean.

Devised by an unnamed putting guru, there are a few key ideas behind the novel drill:

1. It prevents your putting stroke from breaking down. The drill forces you to use the big muscles and follow through toward the target.

2. If you can get a baby rolling smoothly, then you can stroke any golf ball and master any putting surface with ease.

3. It builds confidence.

For Tiger, it’s all about the process, and this drill is restoring the kind of putting confidence that helped him win four Green Jackets. Don’t be surprised if next week at Augusta National you hear Tiger say, “Get in there, baby!”

You’ll know why.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Image: Courtesy of The Onion)

Phil on ‘PARADE’

THE PHIL MICKELSON INTERVIEW at Parade.com (Phil Mickelson: “I Couldn’t Be Any Luckier”) is a feel-good piece that covers a lot of ground many golf fans already know, with a few new anecdotes thrown in.

Phil says, “I’m much more emotional than Tiger.” No surprise there. And Lefty says he wants to make 2011 the kind of golf year he was expecting to have in 2010. He better get busy.

Following is one of my favorite paragraphs from the Kate Meyers interview. It really sums things up.

In this era of golf, Mickelson’s name will always come after Tiger Woods’s. He is the anti-Tiger, though not because he’s gracefully weathered the obstacles life has thrown at him while Tiger is still stinging from self-inflicted wounds. He’s the anti-Tiger because on the course he plays a mild-mannered, sometimes bumbling Clark Kent to Woods’s Superman. And fans love him for it. He never looks chiseled, never seems invincible, and—despite 38 PGA wins—has never been No. 1 in the world. He’s been faulted for taking too long to win his first major (in his 12th year as a pro) and for making too many suicidal shots at critical moments. But throughout his nearly 20-year professional career, he has had the same caddie, the same manager, and the same wife.

Does Phil have a chance next week at the Masters? You bet he does.

I don’t care how Phil is playing, the place energizes him. It offers the risk-reward shotmaking opportunities he lives for. And, of course, experience is huge at Augusta National.

PARADE’S photo shoot with Phil Mickelson

−The Armchair Golfer

(Image: Courtesy of PARADE)

‘Like’ Arnold Palmer and a $1 Goes to Palmer Medical Center

IF YOU LIKE GOLF LEGEND Arnold Palmer, you can make it count in a monetary way during the 2011 Arnold Palmer Invitational. For every “like” the Arnold Palmer Invitational Facebook page (facebook.com/arnoldpalmerinvitational) receives through March 28, MasterCard will donate $1, up to $200,000, to the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies.

The tournament known today as the Arnold Palmer Invitational began in 1966 as the Florida Citrus Open Invitational. Lionel Hebert won the inaugural event. Since then the annual tournament on the Florida Swing has gone through several name changes. It has been hosted by Bay Hill Club & Lodge, owned by Palmer, since 1979.

Palmer was recently named one of the 25 coolest athletes of all time by GQ. He won 62 PGA Tour titles, including seven majors, four of them Masters.

−The Armchair Golfer

My Happy Ignorance of Delayed Honda Coverage

ON SUNDAY AT 4 P.M. Eastern Time I tuned in to final-round coverage of the Honda Classic. This is pretty typical for me. I’m a lot like the guy who tunes in to the final quarter of an NBA game. I’m most interested in the back nine on Sunday, especially from 14 or so to the clubhouse. Besides, most weekends I’m just not able to invest long hours in front of the tube (unless it’s the Masters or U.S. Open or British Open or Ryder Cup). If I could devote that much time to golf viewing, then my daughters would already be at college and I’d be pondering my Medicare prescription plan.

I read this morning that some people were miffed about the tape-delayed coverage of the final round. As Mostly Harmless pointed out, this has been the case for most of the last decade at Palm Beach Gardens. The sun sets at around 6:30 p.m. in early March in Florida. Tournament organizers want to make sure the event concludes on Sunday. NBC has other obligations and wants to stick to the normal 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. time slot.

It had no impact on this armchair golfer. I wasn’t online so I didn’t know ahead of time that Rory Sabbatini held off Y.E. Yang to win his sixth PGA Tour title. I try to unplug on Sunday, a digital day of rest.

I was totally ignorant as the gentler, kinder “Sabo” survived the Bear Trap and his orange friend, Yang, to claim a one-stroke victory. I thought I was watching live television when Rory tearfully told Dottie Pepper how much he looked forward to Maui in January. (I, too, would shed crocodile tears if I could go to Hawaii in the dead of winter.)

I watched the Jackfest (Jack Nicklaus in the booth with Johnny Miller and Dan Hicks). That was nothing new. Johnny and Jack are like my golf uncles. I feel like I’ve heard every one of their stories many times. (Which must mean I’m really old.) It’s like a golf family reunion with Uncle Johnny and Uncle Jack.

Those shirts threw me, though. Johnny and Dan were wearing polo shirts adorned with Golf Channel logos. I know about the new partnership between NBC and Golf Channel. And I’ve seen the “Golf Channel on NBC” tagline. But I guess I still don’t get it. Not entirely. I certainly didn’t expect to see Johnny Miller and Dan Hicks wearing blue Golf Channel shirts.

Maybe I need to re-read that Golf Channel press release.

−The Armchair Golfer

George S. May, Hero of American Golf (Conclusion)

Between 1941 and 1958, some of the greatest golf tournaments in America were staged just west of Chicago at Tam O’Shanter Country Club in Niles, Illinois. The man behind them was the country club owner and tournament organizer, George S. May. Golf Magazine would name May one of the “100 Heroes of American Golf.” And Senior Golfer magazine said of May, he “singlehandedly lifted golf to prominence.”

Following is the conclusion of a two-part story on May. You can read Part 1 here.

By John Coyne
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

GEORGE MAY’S GREATEST MOMENT in golf came in July 1953 when The Tam O’Shanter World Championship became the first golf tournament to be nationally televised. By now, the winner’s share of the tournament had grown to $25,000, an amount higher than the total purse of every other professional tournament.

Fledgling network ABC became interested in the event because of the large prize and offered to do a one-hour broadcast of the final round if May paid $32,000. May understood the publicity value of televising the tournament, both in terms of the people watching and the print coverage of the broadcast.

(Photo: John Coyne)

It is said that an estimated one million people watched as a single camera located above the grandstand on the 18th green followed the conclusion of the tournament. There were only ten minutes left in the broadcast when golfer Lew Worsham, trailing by one shot, made a 115-yard eagle to win the tournament and the $25,000. It was great television and immediately showed the potential for golf on the medium. Not to be upstaged, May stepped onto the green to announce that the first-place prize for the 1954 tournament would be doubled to $50,000, plus the winner would also have the opportunity to play 50 exhibitions to promote his consulting company at $1,000 each.

Following in May’s footsteps, the U.S. Open was nationally televised for the first time in 1954 and the Masters in 1956.

The end of professional golf’s association with May would come a few years later, in 1958, when he refused to meet the PGA’s demands for even more money. So furious was he at professional golfers, he put a sign outside the club’s main entrance banning any PGA pros from coming on the grounds.

May continued to operate Tam O’Shanter Country Club until his death in 1962. His widow eventually sold the property to a developer in the late 1960s. Today, a few of the old holes are still part of the public course run by the town of Niles, and George May lives on in the memory of those who were lucky enough to be around when he turned golf into a television sport.

John Coyne is the author of The Caddie Who Knew Ben Hogan and The Caddie Who Played with Hickory. His next book, coming this spring, is The Caddie Who Won the Masters. Learn more at John Coyne Books.

Olazabal Is Right Man for Ryder Cup Job

I’M A LONGTIME ADMIRER of Jose Maria Olazabal, who is being reported as Europe’s next Ryder Cup captain, according to various media outlets. The official announcement is expected on Tuesday at the Abu Dhabi Championship.

If Olazabal’s captaincy in any way mirrors his play in seven Ryder Cup appearances, Europe is in very capable hands. Olazabal was Seve Ballesteros’ other half of the most successful partnership in Cup history. Beginning in 1987, I watched Seve and Ollie beat the spikes off America’s best. The pair only lost twice in 15 matches. I didn’t like it one bit. But I always respected Jose Maria’s game. His driving could be suspect, but his iron game, chipping and putting were a thing of beauty. I’ve always thought of him as one of golf’s toughest competitors.

Olazabal also later formed a successful Ryder Cup partnership with Sergio Garcia. (If Garcia had Ollie’s grit, he’d have bagged a few majors by now.)

Now 44 and plagued in recent years by injuries, the two-time Masters winner is primed for the captaincy. He was a vice captain for European captains Nick Faldo and Colin Montgomerie at the last two Ryder Cups. His record as a player and experience as a vice captain have earned him a ton of respect in the locker room.

“When Jose Maria conducts a team talk or motivational talk, everyone listens,” Lee Westwood was quoted as saying by BBC Sport.

At the helm when Europe lost at Valhalla, Nick Faldo said competing on American soil presents additional challenges. (The 2012 Ryder Cup will be played at Medinah in Chicago.) Home-field advantage and course setup are huge factors.

“I think you need a big captain when you go to the States,” Faldo said.

Olazabal is the right man for the job.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Photo credit: Richard Carter, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

The Golf Shot of the Year Was Struck in April

IT WAS A WEIRD YEAR in professional golf, to say the least. Tiger, rules controversies and much more. There were dramatic moments and shots, as always, but there’s one shot that rises above all the others in my mind. It was a shot for the ages, as my good friend Jim Nantz might say, that ill-advised 6-iron from the pine straw on Augusta’s 13th hole in the final round of the Masters.

Here’s what I wrote the day after Phil Mickelson won his third Green Jacket:

Phil is going for it. That shot (above) off the pine straw through the trees over the water on 13? A Phil special. Bones was against it. Butch was against it. Millions of fans were probably trying to talk some sense to Phil through their TVs. “Lay up, Phil. Just lay up.” Phil’s NOT laying up. The 207-yard 6-iron was a gutsy and brilliant play that turned things in his favor.

Interesting to see that I wrote “gutsy” and “brilliant.” It seemed like everyone was on Lefty’s bandwagon after he pulled off the seemingly impossible shot that helped win him another Masters. There are also the many times he has gambled and failed—and gotten blasted for it. That’s all-or-nothing Phil. When he succeeds, our jaws drop. When he fails, many say, “What a bonehead.”

This is the shot I’ll remember for a long time. It’s the one we’ll see dozens of times in the years to come.

−The Armchair Golfer

Brothers Molinari Are Augusta Bound

THIRTEEN PLAYERS HAVE QUALIFIED for the 2011 Masters based on their Official World Golf Ranking, including Italian brothers Francesco and Edoardo Molinari, both members of the winning European Ryder Cup team at Celtic Manor in Wales. The Masters invites players who are in the world top 50 at year’s end. Francesco is No. 15 and big brother Edoardo is No. 18. It will be Francesco’s first trip down Magnolia Lane. Edoardo has played at Augusta National twice, in 2006 and 2010, missing the cut on both occasions.

(Photo: Tiger practicing, patrons gawking. / Keith Allison, Flickr)

Rickie Fowler can also expect his first Masters invitation after finishing his rookie season on the PGA Tour ranked 28th in the world. Other players who have qualified are Robert Karlsson of Sweden (No. 17), Charl Schwartzel of South Africa (No. 34) and Ryo Ishikawa of Japan (No. 36). A total of 92 players are in. Additional players can qualify if they win an early-season PGA Tour event or slip into the top 50 by late March.

It’s only 105 days until Phil Mickelson defends his title. The 2011 Masters will be played April 7 through 10.

As AP reported, Tiger Woods will attempt to end his longest stretch without winning the Green Jacket or a major. By April, it will have been six years since Tiger’s last Masters title in 2005. Tiger has also come up empty in his last 10 majors.

The 2011 Masters field, so far

−The Armchair Golfer