Has John Daly’s Swing Gotten Shorter?

Have a look at John Daly’s swing in Konica Minolta Style 300 frames per second. Do you think it has gotten shorter?

No?  I didn’t think so either!

 

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GMac Recreates Good Morning Vietnam on Radio Show

On being Irish

“I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s just our upbringing. We come from fairly humble backgrounds, and I think it’s something about the country we live in, with its traditions and humility. You picture us storytelling in front of a fireplace with a pint of Guinness and a musician playing. There is that culture, and I think a lot of it is the characters, a lot of characters.”

On being in Major Contention

“I definitely missed it. I craved to be back in that kind of scenario. 2011 was a tough year, but I think I learned a lot about myself and handling my new-found position within the game, I suppose, and the higher world ranking and just my own expectations. I feel like since September of last year, I’ve really put these things into use. I’ve been playing very consistently now for close to 12 months. I’m very happy where my game is, and I’m looking forward to the PGA Championship, the FedEx Cup and the Ryder Cup.”

On Improving

“Pre-shot routines. I think my pre-shot routines in 2010 were really sharp but probably not as sharp right now. Just seeing shots, the imagery. I think I need to be a little more instinctive again; maybe I’m trying to be a little too perfect and prepare a little bit too well under pressure, instead of just letting the brain take over and being instinctive. That’s something I’m going to work on between now and the PGA.”

On Belly Putters

“I fully expect they’ll ban them at some point. It’s going to be interesting, but I would be in the camp where I would like to see them go. I don’t think Adam putted very well in the last round, so I don’t think it was an advantage to him. If it was that advantageous, everyone would be using them. But, yes, when it comes down to a 6-footer under pressure on a Sunday afternoon at a major, it might just be that little bit easier to have one part of extraneous movement taken out by anchoring the putter to your body. It makes it just that little bit easier under pressure, but you still have to get yourself there.”

 

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Phil On Math, Science and Being Downright Lazy!

Phil calls it lethargic.  Here he is looking dapper in a suit and speaking on CBS to Charlie Rose.  Watch how they spend about 30 seconds talking about the point of the interview, “Math and Science”, then ditch it and get on to important stuff. Golf!

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2012 RBC Canadian Open Tips On Newstalk Golf Weekly Podcast

 

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Dustin Johnson Gets Massive Break. Two Years Too Late

It’s one rule for one and one for the other.  Or is it?  Forget having to decide if belly putters should or should be legalized, what about the PGA changing their mind every five minutes on what is or isn’t a bunker?  Well maybe not every five minutes, but every two years.

The new ruling called the “Dustin Johnson Dictat” (by me) states that all bunkering at Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course which will host next month’s PGA Championship will be considered “sandy areas”.  That really means that all the sandy areas might look like bunkers, but will be played like waste areas, where players can ground their club, remove stones and bash about as much sand as they wish with their practice swings.

Basically there will be no bunkers on the golf course.

So you can imagine how Dustin Johnson feels having heard this rule.  Exactly two years ago he and a couple of hundred people were stood in what best can be described as a grassless cliffside at Whistling Straits only to have a fowl called on him for grounding his club in a “bunker”.

According to the PGA they didn’t change the rule to help everyone out or really annoy Dustin this year.  Apparently in Kiawah it has always been the done thing being that the course is set amongst natural sand dunes.  The same rule applied at the 1991 Ryder Cup. 

Dustin Johnson is 33/1 with the bookies to win now that he can bring his bucket and spade!

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Join Us In Ballyliffin For Europe’s Largest Pro Am This Weekend

It’s still not to late to enter a team in Ballyliffin’s Major Pro-Am this weekend.  Teams of three will be joined by the elite from the Irish professional ranks over two days of competition on the Glashedy and Old Links.

Entry also includes a pre tournament practice round and guaranteed 5-star hospitality.  It’s all shaping up to be one mammoth weekend in Donegal, on and off the course!

Download your entry form here or call  074-9378100 to book in by phone.

 

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2012 Austrian Open Free Golf Betting Preview And Tips

also check out my RBC Canadian Open Tips here

Thorbjorn Olesen 14/1

  Five top 10’s this season for Jacob including an exciting week at the Open where he played the third round paired with Tiger Woods.  Tiredness could be a factor for him in his fifth week in a row on the road but his recent form coupled with a win in Sicily in April make him the deserving favourite.

 

Thomas Norret 95/1

Norret lead by two after three rounds last year with some excellent golf but a final round of 72 dropped him to fourth.  Played well at the Nordea Masters in this calender slot last season, so I’m hoping for a good week from the Dane in Austria.

 

Bernd Wiesberger 19/1

  The powerful Austrian is the home favourite this week  and has kicked on from his four top 10’s last season with a win in the Ballantine’s back in April.  Form has been poor since with only one top 20 in Sweden but backed by the crowd and memories of his tied fifth finish here last year, Bernd should put on a good show.

 

Lorenzo Gagli 48/1

Plays his 62nd tournament this week in Austria and hasn’t quite found the formula for success. Yet! I saw enough from Gagli in his opening two rounds at Portrush a month ago to convince me he can win.  Scored five top five finishes last year in his first full season on Tour coming close at the Scottish Open and even closer at the Madrid Masters.  All that’s needed is a little step up from the Italian.

 

David Drysdale 32/1

O ne of the most consistent and underrated players on the Tour David has the chance to score big this week.  In his 17 events this season, the Scot has made 14 cuts finishing every event at par or better.  Back this week after a disappointing trip to Castle Stuart, Drysdale will be looking to recreate the form of Wentworth and Portrush and get into the mix come Sunday.

Best Of The Rest

Magnus A. Carlsson 25/1 has been on my radar with three top 10’s this season.  He’s certainly good enough to break through.  I’ll also be keeping an eye on gritty pro Robert Coles 95/1 who played well to podium in Morocco and showed signs of good things to come in Scotland last time out.

 

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The Feherty “Live Rattlesnake Video” Gets One Last Laugh

“Today Ernie Els will be putting with a live rattlesnake”, says David Feherty to the amusement of all at this year’s Tavistock Cup.  Looks like Ernie is having the last laugh now!

Watch it one last time in the first 45 seconds of this video.

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John Dooley PGA Pro Coaching Readers Prize and DECGA Winner

This week’s readers prize is a half day coaching with PGA professional John Dooley at his academy in Riverstown, Co. Cork, Ireland. The session, worth €250m, will cover all parts of your game and include high tec swing video analysis.

Here’s the itinerary:

9.00 am – 9.15 am, Introduction.

9.15 am – 10.15 am, Golf Swing Analysis with JC Video.

10.30 am – 11.30 am, Short Game, Pitch shots.

11.45 am – 12.45 pm, Short Game, Chip shots.

12.45 pm – 1.00 pm, Recap and Q&A. 

For more info on John’s services call 087-9277997 or mail johnny.dooley@gmail.com.  Enter the comp through the widget on the left hand side.

 

Last week’s winner

Congrats to last weeks winner Vivienne Arnopp who wins a fourball on any DECGA Course.  She gets to choose from the K Club, Carton House, Druids Glen, The Island and more!

 

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BBC Caught With Adam Scott’s Name On The Medal

The engraver at The Open is always under pressure at the end of the tournament.  Getting the winners name on the Silver Medal and the Claret Jug in time for the presentation is as stressful as it gets.

Then there’s the traditional shot for the BBC, of the engraver in action, beamed to millions across the world.

On Sunday, the BBC did the shot, and the medal had Adam Scott’s name on it!  Luckily however the name had just been traced, not engraved.  Blushes were spared on the engraving but not before the error was broadcast! 

The Open Fashion Medals. GMac By Kartel Apparel, Adam Scott’s Oakley Flak Jacket Shades and Daly’s Norway Trousers!

We’ve trawled the Open Championship images for the top three fashion statements of the week.  Here’s our top three with all the info and links you need to investigate further.

Gold: GMac By Kartel Apparel

 

Gold has to be Graeme McDowell’s for four days of dapper apparel.  The Portrush man launched his new clothing line website “GMac By Kartel” on day two of The Open and did a nice little trick of marketing by getting himself up near the top of the leaderboard!
You can get yourself kitted out in the GMac by Kartel apparel by following this link. http://www.kartel.ie/g-mac/ 

Silver: Adam Scott’s Oakley Shades

Extreme Bunkering For 2013 Open Championship Agreed Following Meeting

Royal and Ancient greenkeepers, Lytham ground staff and the head greenkeeper of 2013 Open venue Muirfield Links emerged from a meeting this morning declaring “a whole new world of pain” for any player who hits the ball into the bunker during next year’s Open Championship.

“We trialled putting water in the bunkers this year and it was a huge success”, said Paul Smith, head greenkeeper at Royal Lytham.  “However the players still found places in the bunker to drop the ball and some cases didn’t feel the full force of the hazard which we envisioned.  Next year we will be placing deckchairs, flip flops and used hypodermic needles in areas of bunker sand not already filled with water.  This, we feel, will provide a more exacting test befitting an Open Championship”.

Head of the R&A Peter Dawson clarified a decision to allow a player to sit on a deckchair in the bunker.  “The player finding his ball in a trap, may avail of a deckchair for a period of 30 seconds only after failing to extricate himself from the bunker after five strokes,”  Dawson said.

 

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2012 RBC Canadian Open Free Golf Betting Preview And Tips

RBC Canadian Open, Hamilton G&CC, Ancaster, Ontario, Canada.

Previously held the tournament in 2006. Jim Furyk winner.

Early odds on the exchanges

Click here or on pic for course guide.

Matt Kuchar 14/1

As always after a Major Championship, fatigue has to be taken into account not to mention the adjustment from links golf back to the parkland game. However Matt Kuchar should be reasonably fresh for the fight having taken a month off after a top 10 at The Travelers to tie ninth at Lytham. The Players champion has a recent best of tied fourth in The Canadian Open in 2010.

Bo Van Pelt 36/1

The RBC Canadian Open courses work very much on a rotational basis these past few years and this year comes all the way across from Vancouver to Ancaster, Ontario about 450 miles of New York city. Last year Bo Van Pelt held the lead going into the final round at the tough Shaughnessy Country Club but dropped into a tie for sixth after a final round 74. Though he missed the cut at Lytham, Van Pelt has been showing form of late finishing second to Tiger at the AT&T a few weeks back. Tied for 20^th in 2006, the last time the event was held on this course.

Scott Piercy 75/1

Followed a strong showing at The Greenbrier Classic where he finished just outside the top 10 with a third place finish at the John Deere Classic the week before the Open. Piercy tied for sixth last year and the calendar suggests he hits form around this time of the year having bagged the Reno Tahoe Open in August 2011. One to watch.

Troy Matteson 95/1

Embarks on his 201st (PGA or European Tour) Tournament this week and can be quite proud of his record with two wins at the Frys.com Open in 2006 and 2009. Matteson came so close to win number three at the John Deere until Zach Johnson’s wonder shot from the bunker beat him in a playoff. Made the field and then the cut at The Open finishing in a tie for 39^th. Tiredness may be a factor but Matteson is a form dog.

Kyle Stanley 42/1

This is more of a gut feeling tip rather than based on solid fact but based on what on what I saw of Kyle Stanley last week at Lytham he will come strong again on Tour. He’s been through a dismal few months since winning in Phoenix back in February but mixed a hatful of birdies with some naïve course management in the Open to tie 39^th. This could be one to back next Friday night if he’s in contention.

Long Odds Glory

Long odds glory hunters might have a quid on Scott Brown this week at 110/1. Scott might have missed 12 cuts from his first 17 PGA Tour starts but he seems to be getting the hang of it with a seventh at the John Deere and a tie for fifth in the True South Classic which ran parallel to the Open.

 

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What’s In The Bag 2012 Ernie Els, Open Champion

Here’s what in the bag of 2012 Open Champion Ernie Els.

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Everything You Need To Know About Dr. Sherylle Calder Ernie Els’ Putting Visualization Coach

Ernie Els thanked Sherylle Calder during his acceptance speech at The Open Championship today  for having helped him regain confidence in his putting stroke.  Here’s a little background on Dr. Calder and what it is that she does.

(also check out my Ernie Els winning equipment post here)

Calder is a former elite athlete, scientist and visual skills coach.  She played international hockey and now works at the Sports Science Institute of South Africa.  Ernie Els was introduced to Calder by a mutual friend Johann Rupert at at the Volvo Golf Champions at Fancourt where she was working with Robert Karlsson and Retief Goosen among others. Ernie was in the doldrums over not having been included in the Masters field and the pair decided to work together.  Their sessions included a 10 day intensive camp in the USA after which Els noticed a significant improvement in his PGA Tour putting statistics.
 
Sherylle Calder is a renowned visualisation coach and is a household name in South African sport for well over a decade.  She has worked with several of the nations top rugby players including Bryan Habana and Percy Montgomery.  When the Springboks won the 2007 World Cup Calder met Nelson Mandela but needed no introduction as Mandela declared ‘Of course I know who the “Eye Lady” is.’
 
Calder teaches a visual performance programme, the Eye Gym, which she claims can give athletes an edge and “lift their performance”. She believes that in sport negativity is present at the highest level of competition, this is rooted in poor visual skills.  Among those she professes she would to work with in the future are tennis player Andy Murray and Tiger Woods.
 
After Ernie’s success at Lytham, somehow I can visualize that happening.
 
Below is Dr. Calder’s blog post on her work with Ernie Els

When Ernie Els finished his final round at the U.S. Open last month, he had every reason to be filled with fury. He bogeyed two of the closing three holes at the notoriously unforgiving Olympic Club course in San Francisco and squandered his chance for a third U.S. Open title.
In 2010, Els, burning with frustration, had marched past the swarm of press after a similar back-nine failure at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

10 Things We Learned From The Open At Lytham

1. Never mind what nutritionists say about onions. A little bit of wind is always welcome.
2. This Open wasn’t really lost with a bogey. It was won by a birdie.
3. Belly putters really do work.  Bradley, Simpson and Els, that’s three of the last four.
4. Life really does begin at 40.
5. Wayne Grady should never organize a party until his guy has actually won.



6. The compensation for getting hit by a ball has just gone up.  It’s now a glove AND overnight accommodation.
7. Interviewers need to know that “bogeys dont help”. Birdies do.
8. There are bunkers and there are Lytham bunkers. Complete with rising water.
9. Getting into the mix like GMac is the best way to plug your new clothing line.
10. Caddies really shouldn’t declare themselves “great front runners”. It will come back to haunt them.

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Well Done Ernie Els Open Champion

What an Open it turned out to be.  Sad for Scott but delighted for Ernie.  This Open was won by a birdie, not lost by a bogey.

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GMac Funny: Leave The Gear Alone You TV Muppet!

Great stuff GMac. Classic!

2012 Open Championships Third Round Highlights

Its all to play for today at Lytham when we might finally see some flags fluttering in the wind.

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Birdman In Lytham. Ready to Pounce Or Whatever It Is Birds Do.

Here’s birdman in the VIP lounge at Lytham with 7 foot 11 inch celebrity caddie, basketballer and all round giant Dave McNally. Birdman has been brought in by Peter Dawson to present the Claret Jug,  ‘coo’ and protest against deforestation in whatever way he sees fit tomorrow afternoon at the prize giving ceremony.

God- “Torn between Tiger and Stevie”. Has Soft Spot For GMac

In an unprecedented move God himself came to out tonight to declare his position ahead of the final round of the 2012 Open Championship.

In a statement released through the Baptist Bishops of Blackpool, known locally as the the BBB, God said “Obviously I have the power to make crazy stuff happen. move balls in the air and stuff, make putts veer into the hole etc, but I’m torn between Tiger and Stevie; both are sinners of the lowest order, beyond redemption in my book , and hey I’ve forgiven a lot of bad shit.”

God went to praise Graeme McDowell, intimating he might be the the beneficiary of any kind final round bounces.  “Far be it for me to interfere with the final round of a Major but GMac is a good God fearing lad just like his mum and dad. He has a nice low draw off the tee which suits Lytham so he doesn’t really need me, but if push comes to shove, let’s just say the McDowell’s have never missed a Sunday at Mass and do a lot of praying and stuff. That’s all I’m saying.”

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