Tailored Shorts- Padraig’s Prank, Perry Gets Payne Stewart Award, Sophie Gustafson Wins and Who is Going To Get a Ryder Cup Spot for Celtic Manor?

 

Prankster Paddy

  The Claret Jug, one of the most prized possessions in golf was the subject of a practical joke played by Padraig Harrington last Tuesday. Stewart Cink, this years Open winner had left the trophy in front of his locker at East Lake whilst waiting to attend an interview with PGA Tour productions. Recognizing the Jug’s case, Harrington quickly took it and hid it in his own locker. Cink assumed the interviewers had taken the Jug to the TV set. "I assumed they had gotten it and put it on their [interview] set, Cink said: 'So you guys already have the Claret Jug?' and they said: 'No'. Harrington was eventually rumbled by a locker room attendant who told Cink he saw him take the case. I guess you could say Cink got Punk’d!

Perry Honoured

With his mother suffering from blood cancer and his father also very ill, it has been a tough couple of months for Kenny Perry. He did however receive some respite last week after being honoured with the Payne Stewart Award, named after the three-time major champion who perished 10 years ago in a private plane crash. The award which is given for a player's commitment to charity, recognized Perry’s donation of 5% percent of his PGA Tour earnings to a scholarship fund for students from his home county in Kentucky. Perry's support stems from a deal made with a church elder, Ronnie Ferguson, who agreed to give Perry money for his third try at Q-school. No repayment was required if Perry failed to qualify, but Ferguson asked that Perry give 5% to Lipscomb if he made it on tour. Since then, Perry has earned more than $30 million and his honoured his vow. "Payne personified all the virtues the game of golf can teach us, so being recognized as a person who is worthy of an award created in his memory is incredibly humbling," Perry said. "This award is and will always be one of my greatest accomplishments."

Tour Wrap

Sophie Gustafson claimed her first LPGA Tour victory in six years, cruising to a four-stroke victory over Lorena Ochoa in the CVS/pharmacy LPGA Challenge on Sunday. The 35-year-old Swede shot a four-under par final round at Blackhawk Country Club and finished at 20-under for her first title since the 2003 Samsung World Championship. A delighted Gustafson high fived officials on her victory walk to the 18^th green.

It’s amazing how many Champions Tour debutants win first time out. Tom Pernice became the 15th player to win on his debut, holing a 35-foot birdie putt on the final hole Sunday for a one-stroke victory over Nick Price and David Frost in the SAS Championship. It sure brings added meaning to the phrase “50 years young”.

Ryder Cup Dreams

Watching the Vivendi Trophy last week got me thinking about next year’s Ryder Cup and who might be featuring on the European Team. First names on the team sheet have to be the seasoned campaigners Harrington, Westwood, Casey and Stenson. Then might come the young guns lead by Rory McIlroy and joined by Martin Kaymer and Ross Fisher. Also bidding to make it automatically will be the two Soren’s- Hansen and Kjeldsen. That leaves three Captain’s picks and all the hype that brings. Will Sergio make it, is Jimenez too old, can we afford to leave Darren out again and did Poulter’s heroics last time make him a cert this time? What about a newbie like Chris Wood? Whatever happens it’s going to be fun watching our European Team take shape.

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Alvaro Quiros’ Swing In Konica Minolta Biz Hub Swing Vision

 

Where does Alvaro Quiros generate all that power? Watch the swing sequence of the European Tour’s longest hitter in this week’s video.  Tiger Woods says Alvaro is “Stupid Long”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Alvaro Quiros Profile and What’s In The Bag

Date of birth: 21/01/1983

Place of birth: Guadiaro, Spain

Residence: Cadiz, Spain

Attachment: Golf Elite Management SL

Height and weight: 6ft 3in 13st (191cm 83kgs)

Interests: Football, music, friends

Turned Pro: 2004 (plus 4)

Alvaro Quiros is definitely licensed to thrill, the self professed fan of James Bond films is the longest hitter on the European Tour. Quiros claimed his third European Tour title when he won the 2009 Commercial bank Qatar Masters. “I saw The World Is Not Enough before winning (in Qatar). My favourite bond is Sean Connery. I don’t like Daniel Craig. I think I look more like Bond than he does” Quiros joked.

The fact that his desert victory came against the strongest field ever assembled at a regular European Tour event underlined the enormous talent of this swashbuckling Spaniard and saw him climb into the top 30 of the Official World Golf Ranking. That victory came only four months after he captured the Portugal Masters. Made the perfect start to his European Tour career by winning the 2007 Alfred Dunhill Championship on his first appearance as a full European Tour Member but the rest of that season was interrupted by injury to the tendons and ligaments in his left wrist during the Open de España which saw him sidelined for five months. Quiros is coached by former Ryder Cup player and four-time European Tour champion, José Rivero, whom he cites as one of the biggest influences on his career. Golf writer Steve DiMeglio wrote the following about a typical Quiros' driving range show stopping moment:

Quiros, who averages 315.6 yards with his driver to lead the European Tour, was hitting 280-yard rockets into a net at the end of the range on Monday — with a 1954 MacGregor Tourney M85 persimmon driver. Contact sounded like a baseball bat hitting a golf ball. The size of the wood driver head was smaller than his metal 3-wood. Quiros said he was hitting the ball as far as he hits his metal 5-wood. "I like it," Quiros smiled. "It sounds different, but good. The ball takes off."

What’s In Alvaro Quiros’ Bag

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Bloggy Underfoot: A Week Of Stars- The Vivendi Trophy and Tour Championship - Donal Hughes, Irish Examiner SpinDoctor

 

I have to say I was quite sceptical prior to the Vivendi Seve Trophy. I feared it would be a case of the lesser lights of the tour going through the matchplay motions. How wrong I was. A fantastic atmosphere surrounded the event from start to finish. Slickly staged on the Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche layout, the scoring on the GB&I side was as hot as the weather. It was less a case of the prabables versus possibles on the back pitch of Landsdowne Road and more that of a full blooded Autumn international with all the trimmings. Even though the GB&I and European teams seemed to know each other a bit too well to cultivate any real needle, some fascinating cameo’s emerged. We didn’t know last week how good Paul McGinley would be as a captain, he fitted into the role so smoothly. More a Torrance than a Faldo in the leadership style department, McGinley has to now be a nailed on certainty for future Ryder Cup captaincy.

It would have been nice to have seen more Ryder Cup heroes like Westwood and Garcia get involved in what is in-effect a Ryder Cup training camp but their absence gave some of those on the periphery a chance to display their CV’s for the apprentice role at Celtic Manor. One of those was Chris Wood and what a revelation he was? The towering 21 year old who has already nearly walked away with two British Open’s seems bornfor matchplay winning a shed load of points and could be a good bet for a Ryder Cup cap. Good to see Monty present also, next years captain is taking his job as seriously as he handles spectators who dare to move during his shots. On the Saturday he found some time to visit the Sky Sports commentary booth, where he offered a valuable insight into how he was dispatching his role of captain. One of his little nuggets of wisdom concerned Rory McIlroy, the star of the show who blitzed Henrik Stenson in the singles. Monty revealed his admiration for the Irishman by stating that if he were an amateur, he would “pay money” to watch McIlroy play. High praise indeed, that’s the first time in my life I have heard any touring pro saying he would part with cash rather than make off with it. On a more sobering note, it was sad that Seve couldn’t make an appearance, his absence is very worrying and I fear the biggest battle in his fight against his brain tumour is on the horizon. However as long as hope exists, that dream of seeing Ballesteros cross the Swilken Bridge with a club in hand at next summer’s British Open is alive.

Sunday night brought the conclusion of the Fed-Ex Cup on the US Tour. Hats off to Phil Mickelson on his win, three over par after the first round, he looked right out of it but a short game masterclass blew the field away. An emotional Mickelson, whose wife Amy and mother Mary are battling cancer, attributed his win in part to having reverted to the putting stroke he had used at the beginning of his career after working with coach Dave Stockton in the build up. “It's like teaching a fish to swim. They kind of know how to do it," Stockston said after reaffirming the value of Phil’s old forward press putting stroke. Mickelson may have stolen Tiger’s thunder, but Woods pocketed the $10 million Fed-Ex Cup. "It certainly doesn't feel like it did a couple years ago when I won the tournament by seven or eight shots," Woods said. "That felt a little bit better than it did today. … I'm a little disappointed I didn't win the championship, because I was right there." There’s just pleasing some! Finally, it will be great to welcome Padraig Harrington and Ronan Flood back to the European Tour this week. With results of T2, T4, T6, T4 in their last four events in the States, they are sure to be hot to handle and a win at this weeks €5 million Dunhill Links must be on the cards.

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The New Nike Victory Red Driver with Compression Channel, Fast Arms Game Improvement Tip and The Docs Rules Quiz

 

I Want One Of Those: New Nike Victory Red Driver

Big Twitter fan and bigger twit Paul Casey recently visited Nike’s development facility in texas, known colloquially as “The Oven”. Whilst there he was shown the new Nike Victory Red Driver and quickly presented it on Twitter. He wrote:

11:29AM At the Oven today. Checking out 2010 product with the sales team.

1:05PM Pics coming after lunch. Food always comes first.

At 3:25pm, the pics duly arrived

The orange area behind the face, according to Casey's Tweets, is the Compression Channel. Nike say it expands the sweet spot of the driver. The driver appears to have STR8-Fit, Nike's adjustable clubhead system that is currently available in the SQ Dymo STR8-Fit driver.

Dr. and The Medic: Fast Arms

Problem

You have always had a nice release but suddenly you are not feeling a natural release.

Cure

You might be whipping your upper body through the shot too aggressively or allowing the upper body to initiate the downswing.

Therapy

Relax and lighten your grip a little; this will allow you to release the club just a split second before impact for extra power. Focus on starting the downswing with your lower body. As you are shifting your body weight forward, remember to keep your trailing shoulder back. Avoid trying to swing your arms too fast; if you do, you will release your arms too early in the downswing and hook the ball.

The Doc’s Rules Quiz

Just for fun this week, have a go at our rules quiz. Questions from “999 Questions On the Rules of Golf”, by Barry Rhodes.

Q1. True or False? A player may not ask a fellow competitor the distance between his ball and the flagstick

Q2. True or False? In stroke play, a ball that is played from outside a teeing ground by a player starting play of a hole is not in play.

Q3. True or False? A player may return a scorecard different from the one issued by the committee at the start of the round.

Last weeks answers:

Q1. True or False? A player may remove a divot that is still attached lying just in front of her ball on her line of play without penalty. False- a player may not improve her line of play by moving, bending or breaking anything growing or fixed.

Q2. True or False? A player whose ball lies within a ditch designated as a lateral water hazard may drop a ball within the Rules on either side of the ditch. True

Q3. True or False? If a player’s ball is on a putting green he may mop up casual water lying on his line of putt with a towel. False- this is not one of the exceptions to the rule that a player may not touch the line of his putt.

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