Doesn’t everyone just love and underdog and hate whomever is #1? Why is that? At the gym today, I overheard a woman talking about how she hoped that Tiger would lose today (he did), saying to her friend on the treadmill that all he cared about was the money.

I hate that line of thinking. I hate it about golfers as much as I hate it about baseball players and pretty much any other professional athlete. There is no way a performer can get to the top without loving his or her sport deeply and being fully committed to it for their entire lives. When I was a kid, all I wanted in life was to be a pro baseball player. Money wasn’t even a thought. What I couldn’t reconcile was that the amount of work I needed to put in didn’t match my true desire. I didn’t have what it took.

Guys like Tiger and A-Rod don’t do what they do for the money - that’s a by product of a person pursuing their true calling in life and dedicating their entire lives to that pursuit. Because of how markets work, they get the loot. But I doubt that any of these guys ever starts out thinking about money. Performing at the top of any profession is hard enough, but put a microscope on an individual performance and it’s an entirely different ballgame.

It’s human nature, but it’s not fair. I wanted to tell the woman to shut the heck up, but I left it alone. Turns out she is a Red Sox fan too, and as we watched the highlights of the Red Sox beating the Yanks 4-3, I had to eat it and admit that Paplebon was…. “OK, I guess."

In other news, I’m playing Tidewater tomorrow (can’t wait) and very much enjoyed the Masters. I’m still waiting for Tiger to make his move.

It’s Masters week. yep. Blah blah blah blah, Tiger, blah blah blah Phil, blah blah blah, Jack. Tiger, Tiger, Tiger, Tiger slam, blah blah blah.

I’m watching as much as possible sure, but am more excited to play some courses in South Carolina this week.

A bit more on my new grip… my hands HURT like hell! I asked my wife if 38 was too young for arthritis and after she laughed at me, I realized again at how oddly I had been holding my clubs. The joys of getting the right grip, swing and tempo. I’m trusting it though, my game is about to get to another level.

I think there is a big PGA Superstore in Myrtle Beach - I hope to get there this week and will try to get some good pics of the joint. Maybe they have some Masters specials.

Blah blah blah.

Totally forgot to blog about my most recent lesson… the pro told me that I was using my right thumb to press down on the club and it was causing me tons of inconsistency. I hit a bucket of balls with him looking on and started to really feel that the proper (and new) grip was allowing my arms to release. When I managed to hit the ball square, I could feel the extra power and saw the results immediately. Problem was, my hands feel so weird!

Besides the grip, he has me bent over way more than I was in a much, much more athletic position. I hope that it will stop me from swaying, which apparently is the cause of most of the chunking that I do during a round.

We’ll see how this plays out - I’m in Myrtle Beach next week playing courses way, way harder than my home course. Uh oh :)

Yes, I had to do it… I’m reading Ekhart Tolle’s A New Earth and doing Oprah’s web master class to boot. I’m very much enjoying it and learning a lot about myself and my ego. I will try to blog more about A New Earth later, but wanted to connect the dots to my current golfing obsession with a quote from a golf book I just finished.

Bob Rotella’s Golf is a Game of Confidence is a terrific book (read more here on my golf blog). I read it while on a trip to Seattle while I was finishing up the Rotella book. In a chapter about how Byron Nelson won eleven straight tournaments, Byron told Rotella that he never knew how he had scored until after his round. “He felt as if he played in a trance."

The book goes on however, and startlingly hits one of Tolle’s key concepts right on the head.

“I would come in and I’d have to go hole by hole on my scorecard, carefully, to realize what I’d shot. I didn’t ever know if I was five under, three over, or whatever it was. I never carried that in my conscious mind,” he said. “I never knew where I stood in a tourament."

I recently finished reading Rotella’s Golf is a Game of Confidence and have to say… I think the guy is right! I took a few keys from this book that I put into practice yesterday on the course that I felt like helped me immensely.

First, I’m developing a pre-shot routine that involves a look down the course from behind the ball, picking out a specific target, lining up my shot, one practice swing and let it fly. Trusting the shot helped me a lot. On the course yesterday, I actually hit my targets more than ever before, even if the ball flight wasn’t perfect, somehow the ball went to the target.

Secondly, I am really learning to accept each shot and move on. When I played last week, I actually cursed out loud and embarrassed myself with how I behaved. This week, I hit the shot, watched it and started immediately thinking about the next shot. Only when I got home did I think back about mechanics during the round. I’m trying to NOT adjust things on the course but to play with what I have that day.

Third, and perhaps most important, the book taught me to get creative. I started chipping with my 8 iron and played a couple of terrific bump and run shots up the fairway to the green. I still need to work on distance control, but it feels good to know I can hit a simple shot when I need it.

I broke down badly on the back 9, it started to get cold and my endurance isn’t up to par yet. However, I shot a 49 on the front 9 and struck the ball extremely well. In fact, on the first hole of the day, a long par 5, I was about 155 yards out and hit a 6 iron. As I stood over the ball, I told myself that the worst thing that could happen was that I hit it pure and would be 10 yard long. I guess I visualized the pure shot, cause that’s what I hit. The 54 on the back was pretty horrible, my short game left me wondering what the heck… I chunked about 5 wedges which explains the scoring in the simplest of terms.

If only I played on the course as well as I practice on the range. Why is that?

It’s frustrating to say the least. I need to practice more for sure (that muscle memory is coming along nicely), but why doesn’t it transfer better?

That said, I simply can’t chip consistently. I need a chipping primer - anyone out there have the basics for me? Ball position, hand position etc? Every 3rd of 4th chip squirts off 90 degrees to my right. Nice eh? I felt like a real duffer today at the range - sticking 3 chips to 5 feet, then squirting the 4th or 5th ball 15 yards directly right. Yikes.

Let’s be upfront about things here, OK?

I stink. I love golf, but I’m just not very good. I played my first round of 2008 today in less than ideal conditions - it was darn cold out! So cold we had a freeze delay and my tee time was pushed back 45 minutes. Luckily for me, I’m a glutton so I hit a bucket of balls and froze my butt off. I should note, that I have never hit a better bucket of balls in my entire life. Absolutely crushed the ball and with accuracy.

We tee’d off with these two guys who I could tell were trouble from the get go… one guy was such a talker that at the turn we actually separated from them and replayed the front 9. Yea, that bad.

In any case, armed with my new 3 hybrid and Odyssey White Hot putter, I stunk up the joint with a +21. Yea, you read that right. Oddly, I drove well - but played my wedges horribly. I actually hit a shot that when at a 90 degree angle from me. Sideways! That hurts.

The 2nd time around, I played much, much better and finally found my swing again. I even hit 2 drivers in the fairway! The +17 wasn’t great, but I took a few things away.

1. Relax, it’s early. Lots of golf to be played.
2. Relax, it’s a game dummy.
3. I need more time on the range to work on building up muscle memory, especially with the pitching wedge.

I call my handicap a “cap” because I want to be cool like the kids. I found an absolutely incredible article on Golf.com from Dave Pelz that you have to check out. I hope it really will help me drop my ‘cap.

I especially love the graphics showing where pros hit their balls vs amateurs.

My favorite tidbits from the article:

Driving: Hit for accuracy
Do whatever it takes to hit the fairway, even if that means hitting 3-wood or a hybrid off the tee. If you give up 10 percent of distance for 10 percent more accuracy, you’ll shoot lower scores.

Yep… I started this trick at the end of last year by simply forgetting to pack my driver!

Par 3-Irons
Go long
Select the club that will get you to the back edge of the green. The ball will end up past the flagstick if you catch it pure, but no harm done since your shots are rarely straight enough for you to make the next putt anyway. Choosing a stronger club will carry your average shots closer to the hole, leave shorter putts and keep you out of hazards

Sand Shots
Play the ball forward
Try this: Hit a normal wedge shot from grass. Notice how your divot is forward (toward the target) of the center of your stance. This exact same swing which contacts the ball before it hits the ground on fairway shots can also serve as your sand swing. It will correctly hit two inches behind the ball in sand if you simply position the ball forward.

Putting
Pelz asks for favors this season: (1) Focus on rolling putts beyond the hole on average; (2) Allow for a little more break on every breaking putt you see; (3) Recognize that for every putt you leave short you’ve thrown away a chance of holing it; and (4) Realize that until you miss as many putts above the hole as below, you’re STILL not reading enough break on average. Do these things for me and you just may start putting like a professional.

Interesting… for me - I either leave putts way short - or they go a mile. Drats.

Read it, it’s good stuff!

Been working really hard on hitting better chip shots with my wedges. I’m so inconsistent!

I found a good note on Golf.com and thought I’d share. I’m going to try the one-handed drill Pelz recommends immediately (well, maybe this weekend).

Practice hitting wedge shots with your lead-arm only. When you first try one-armed swings, your shots may turn out badly. Don’t worry and don’t stop trying. Stay with it for a few sessions, making sure you move your body as normal. As your strength and timing improve, you’ll start hitting some reasonable shots.

and in the basement.

I managed to sneak away for 30 minutes and hit a quick bucket of balls tonight. I grabbed my PW, 5 and 7 irons and wanted very specifically to work on a 2-piece takeaway that I read about in a golf magazine. According to the article (I’m too lazy to go find the link right now), you take the club head back with your wrists first, then turn the shoulder.

I had great results with this move - I think it acts a bit like a timing mechanism for my body. The thing is, I really think I have figured out one of my major issues. When I take the club back, I sway quite a bit like I’m going to hit a baseball. I did in fact play baseball. After all these years I do believe I still have a tiny bit of muscle memory!

When I’m very conscious of the turn I feel like I’m on a pivot I hit the ball very, very well. I hit a 5 iron the furthest I’ve ever hit one today - it must have gone close to 170 yards. I was shocked because I didn’t even feel the ball on the club - just like in baseball when I hit a homerun. It felt great.

Then, tonight, I not only cleaned all my clubs with some soap and hot water, but I practiced putting a bit on the carpet in the basement. Totally loving my new hand on thigh, left hand low routine I’m developing.

I’m addicted, I know.

I’d blog a bit about this weekend’s golf action, but what’s to say other than I’d be very scared to play Doral. To me, it looks like a nightmare!