Monthly Archives: April 2012

Jason Dufner wins and gets a monkey off his back

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Jason Dufner winning the Zurich Classic of New Orleans this weekend is a great example of finally getting a “monkey of your back.”  Why?  Because since the beginning of the golf season, Dufner had been labeled (by some golf analysts) as  “one of the best golfers who has not won a tournament.”

Dufner became a professional in 2000 and he has come close to winning.  One of the big heartbreaking moments was in August 2011, at the PGA Championship.  It looked like Dufner was going to win his first major because he had a five stroke lead with three holes to play.  Unfortunately for Dufner, Keegan Bradley played magnificently to tie Dufner and force a playoff.  Keegan beat Dufner on the third hole of the sudden-death playoff.

The media also started to focus on the fact that he would often times be leading going into the weekend but not be able to close.  No player wants to be viewed as someone who is not a closer.  This week, in New Orleans, Dufner had the lead on Sunday. The end of the tournament was a nail-biter but Jason won on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff with Ernie Els.  Another “Monkey off his back” — Dufner is a closer.

Now with these type of comments, from the media, you would expect to see some reaction for the player.  But not Jason Dunfer. He is the most laid-back, unemotional guy on tour.  Sure, maybe it would be nice to see a more animated reaction to good shots but his style is actually refreshing.  It is a nice contrast from the players that throw or break their clubs when they are angry or do excessive fist pumping when they make a good shot.

He did smile and raise his arms when he won but no major fist pumping or running around the green for Jason Dufner.  Below is a great cartoon tweeted by Steve Elkington from his website Secret In The Dirt (showing Dufner before and after the win).

Dufner CartoonTo me this is the greatest form of flattery. You can see more great golf cartoons at the Secret in the Dirt Cartoon Vault.

Let’s hope the quite, mild-manner Jason Dufner has many more great wins in the coming years.  And, although I’m a big fan of Keegan Bradley (after all he is from New England), I’ll be cheering for Dufner to win the 2012 PGA Championship.

What was the biggest surprise last week in golf — Curtis, Tseng, Wie, or Rio?

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I was watching Ben Curtis win the Valero Texas Open yesterday and the thought went through my head that he was a “surprise” winner.  He had not won since the Booz Allen tournament in June 2006.  The surprise about the lack of wins between 2006 and 2012 is fueled by the fact that Curtis is a “Major” winner (he won the British Open at Royal St. George in 2003.)  Curtis won just a few years after turning pro and then did not live up to the expectations of a “Major” winner.  Expectations that now Bubba Watson will have to live up to in the coming years.

But was Ben Curtis the biggest surprise?  If we look at the LPGA tour, we could list the fact that Yani Tseng did not win (she finished tied for 10th at the Lotte Championship in Hawaii.)  But it is not a big surprise to me because I may just be the one person on the planet that does not believe Tseng will win every tournament she enters.

Is the bigger surprise the fact that Michelle Wie missed the cut again (making it three missed cuts in a row?)  I don’t think so.  She has missed three in a row in previous years.  The expectation some folks had that she would come out of Standford University and suddenly be great was ridiculous.  Every top golfer in the world talks about the focus it takes to be at the top of their game.  Wie is struggling because she has not been focused on golf in the last few years and it is clearly showing on the course.  Give her time to get mentally “back into the game.”

I think maybe the biggest surprise for me this week was not how well or poorly a professional golfer played; but the announcement that the site selected for the golf course for the 2016 Olympics is under a land dispute in Rio.  According to an Associated Press article it threatens the ability for the golf course to be ready because if they can’t use the land, they have to start from scratch for the golf course design.  This is a big deal given the designer has stated plans to “break ground” in October 2012.

The article goes on to say that “Elmway Participacoes has been trying to claim ownership of the land for the past three years.”  Really?  You would think the city/organizers of the Olympics would not pick a plot of land that someone has been trying to claim ownership of for three years.  But who knows what is really going on behind closed doors.  But the article also stated that this is not the first time a land dispute caused delays for another major sporting event (world soccer) in Brazil.

Bottom line, I want to see my favorite sport in the Summer Olympics — after all, the last time it was part of the Olympics was 1906 — and I would hate to see “a land dispute” keep it from happening.  Let’s hope the golf course designer, Gil Hanse, doesn’t face too many more surprises.

Professional golfer’s new tool — A chainsaw for Kevin NA

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This week the PGA goes to Texas for the Velero Texas Open and the most written and talked about moment, prior to the tournament, is not about last year’s winner but about Kevin Na’s score on the par-4, 9th hole — the score was 16!  If you like to see “melt downs” watch the video.

So what will Kevin Na shoot on the 9th hole this week in Texas?  My guess is he will be happy with par but hoping to birdie the hole to show everyone that the 9th hole is not going to be his nemesis.  Na has a great sense of humor about it.  He went back to the place of his melt down this week and took a chainsaw to the overgrowth (photo from PGA tour).

PGA Tour Image of Kevin Na

Now that is one way to destroy your demons on the golf course.  And, now for a disclaimer — stunt by a professional golfer, do not try this on your home course.

The great, good, bad, and the ugly at the Masters

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Everyone that watched the Masters will have an opinion on moments that were great, good, bad, and ugly. There is no shortage of examples but I’ve picked one player for each category and I also share the player I believe manages to fall into all four categories.

First, the greatest moment had to be Bubba Watson on the second hole of the sudden-death playoff.  His 40-foot hook-draw shot from the trees, off the pine needles, on to the green to put himself in position to win was awesome.  Of course it ended in the most touching moment when he was embraced by his mother (normally, the wife is there to share the moment; but his wife was at home with their new baby son).

My vote for the number one good moment — the run that Matt Kucher was making on Sunday to finish with a 69.  When Kucher made an eagle on the 15th hole (par 5) and went to 4 under par it was just fun to see a player so happy.  There was no arrogance, just joy, in his response.

Unfortunately, the bad moments in professional golf tournaments are not always bad shots but bad behavior.  Tiger woods wins the bad moment award for drop-kicking his putter. Tiger later apologized but I am tired of professional athletes misbehaving and apologizing later.  These are “adults” and need to stop acting like children when something goes wrong.

My favorite player, Phil Mickelson, had the ugliest moment. His effort to try to hack the ball out of the bushes at the 4th hole resulted in a triple-bogey. What was he thinking?  I mean that would be the kind of stupid shot I would try (not because I could make it but because I am an amateur and don’t always make good decisions).  On the other hand, I’m not totally surprised by his choice. I like Phil because he is a risk taker and is exciting to watch.  Unfortunately, this time it turned out ugly.

So what could possibly be great, good, bad, and ugly?  It is the final round score card of the low Amateur, Patrick Cantlay.  Look at the card below — birdies, bogeys, double-bogeys, a quadruple-bogey, and eagles!  Most golfers would have fallen apart after what Cantlay did on the 13th and 14th holes (quadruple-bogey and double-bogey) but he turned it around on 15 with an eagle.  What a great final four holes — eagle, birdie, birdie, par!

Patrick Cantlay Score Card

Cantlay is viewed by many as the best amateur in the game right now and getting the “low amateur” trophy is a good indicator of his future. By the way, other past “low amateur” winners include Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.

There are no “gimme” putts in major tournaments

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The most amazing thing about watching the Kraft Nabisco TV coverage on Sunday was the sound — the sound of the spectators gasping in unison as they watched, what everyone thought was a “gimme” putt lip-out of the cup.  The sound of disbelief that the leader, I. K. Kim missed a one-foot putt.

Instead of winning her first major in regulation, Kim was now in a sudden-death playoff.  The players would play the 18th hole over and over again until someone won.  Well, it only took one playoff hole and it was heartbreaking to see how Kim looked so defeated.  As much as I’m sure everyone was hoping she would win in the playoff, it was not surprising to see Sun Young Yoo make a birdie putt and win.

Once again, we witnessed how golf tests the mental toughness of players.  First, the loss of concentration to miss a “gimme” putt.  It is called a “gimme” putt because it is so close to the hole that if you were playing for fun (not scoring for a handicap or anything meaningful), your friends would say “that’s a gimme” assuming you would make the putt.  So, you’d pick up your ball and move on.  But there are no “gimme” putts in majors.

Then, after such a monumental error, the player must have the mental fortitude to get prepared for the playoff.  You could tell from I. K. Kim’s body language that she was still in shock from what just happened a few minutes earlier.  Her first shot off the tee when left into the rough.  That is when I knew that mentally she was done and it would not be a multiple hole playoff.

Hopefully, Kim will move on and learn from this experience.  We have seen other players “shake it off” after a devastating loss.  I wrote a post about Kyle Stanley’s amazing comeback after losing at the Farmers Insurance Open and winning the next week at the Waste Management Open.

I’ll be watching now to see if I. K. Kim can over come her “big miss.”  Her next opportunity to win will be mid-April at the Lotte Championship when the LPGA goes to Hawaii.

A final note on human nature — the sad thing is that most people will not remember Yoo’s win; but they will remember Kim’s loss.

Fantasy Golf Results: Shell Houston Open

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Hunter Mahan won the Shell Houston Open.  If you have been reading my posts you know that Mahan is one of the Golf Boys.  This is Mahan’s second win this year so maybe I need to think about him in my fantasy picks more often.  My picks were not horrible this week but I was disappointed that one player missed the cut.

Here are my picks for this week:

(1)  Keegan Bradley — Keegan played well with a tie for 4th.  He shot the same score as the winner on Sunday (71) but his other rounds of 67, 69, and 69 were just not low enough to help him on the last day.

(2)  Kevin Steelman — Steelman missed the cut. This surprised me because I thought he would player better but it was not his week.

(3)  Henrik Stenson — My “what the heck” pick this week had a respectable showing with a tied for 21st place.  I’m happy with this pick.

(4)  James Driscoll — When I picked Driscoll, I stated that I hoped he had learning something from 2011 when he played the Houston Open and missed the cut.  Well, he certainly did learn from his past.  Driscoll played really well in round one and two (67 and 66) but on the weekend he shot 71 and 73.