Big Easy makes a change
It was reported today that not only did Ernie Els make an early exit from the World Match Play Championships, he also made an early exit from his deal with Titleist. The world's sixth ranked player had one year left on his deal that provided him with clubs, balls, gloves and shoes.
Titleist's parent company, Acushnet, said the split was amicable. "Acushnet Company has reached a mutual business decision with Ernie Els to release him from his equipment contract effective immediately," the company said in a statement.
It's expected that Els will sign with Callaway in the coming days, the same thing Phil Mickelson did three years ago.
What's it mean? The best players in the world realize that many of the equipment makers are 'on par' with each other in regards to performance when it comes to balls and clubs. That makes them more willing to make a change, knowing that they'll be able to continue playing at the highest levels without much interruption.
While the move likely won't have much impact on either Callaway or Titleist, it could make a few weekend warriors change their minds when buying a sleeve of balls before their next. If Ernie can play Callway, why can't I?
Labels: Callaway, golf balls, Titleist
USGA finds a new groove
In announcing the results of a joint study with the R&A, the USGA has proposed rules changes for club face grooves. They say, though, that the rule changes would likely only impact the game's most skilled players.
“The skill of driving the ball accurately has become much less important in achieving success on Tour than it used to be,” USGA Senior Technical Director Dick Rugge said. “Our analysis of statistical data measured by the PGA Tour since 1980 shows that historically driving accuracy was as comparably correlated to winning as putting. Beginning in the early 1990s, however, driving accuracy became much less important. Today, the correlation between driving-accuracy rank and money winning rank on the PGA Tour is very low.”
Rugge said the objective of this change is to limit the performance of grooves on shots from the rough to that of the traditional V-groove design.
So what's it mean for the average golfer? Not much. The changes would have little effect on shots hit with surlyn-covered balls (the majority of balls sold in the US), meaning little change for the average golfer. Even players using urethane-covered balls will notice little change unless they posses the skills of a TOUR-caliber player.
It looks to me like a way to reign the game in on the highest level and continue to make the game interesting for fans.
Match Play Lessons
I'm sure I'm not the only person mentioning this, but the weekend's Match Play Championship put a spotlight on the glaring flaw with American golfers. They're not great match play players.American golfers have dominated the majors, all four-round stroke play events, but have fallen short in match play events like the Ryder Cup. I believe the discrepancy can be traced back to the way college golf is played and maybe even farther back for the Americans.Growing up and then playing at the collegiate level, all of our events were medal play (stroke play) events. I can probably think of two tournaments I played in which used a match play bracket. For golfers at the highest levels who have the most to gain from playing really well in stroke play events, it pays not to focus on match play and hone their skills to play against the course as opposed to play against a competitor.It took me a lot of tries to finally do well in a match play event after all those years of nearly exclusive stroke play. Imagine how much harder it is for a player who works on their game every day to get out of that groove and approach a tournament with a different mindset. Only the best Americans (Tiger) have been able to do it in recent years.The next time you're out, try playing your friends in a match play round and forget about overall score. It's harder than you think.Labels: Match Play
Ghosts of the US Open?
I understand that Phil Mickelson let another golf tournament slip through his fingers, but was I the only one that got tired of Jim Nantz and Nick Faldo talking about the skeletons in Lefty's closet? I mean, come on, the guy just won a golf tournament last week and looked pretty darn good doing it. He folded under Sunday's pressure, but that can happen to anyone.On another note, how great was it to see Charles Howell III break through and finally get his second win? Not only did he mount a great comeback, but he played through a few bad shots in the playoff and gained some great confidence for his shortgame. Could this be the year that he's a force to contend with in the majors?
Portland Golf Show Roundup
With nearly 8,000 patrons streaming through the doors, I didn't talk to a single exhibitor that wasn't happy with the show. And, with everyone walking around with two free rounds of golf in their hands, all those who paid to get into the show were happy, too.As with any golf show, you could find the usual assortment of manufacturers with demo clubs for all to try, the latest in golf gadgetry and even several skills challenges for you to compete in. This show, though, had a great 'clubhouse' area that featured daily Texas Hold'em tournaments and pool tournaments.If I was asked to pick one thing that surprised me, I would say it was the success of the Clicgear Golf Cart. It was named 'Best New Product' at the 2007 PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, but it looked like any other push cart. Until you got a chance to see how quickly and easily it broke down, you wouldn't be too impressed. But, hundreds of people got an up-close look at them and walked out of the show with them. Impressive.I'd like to thank everyone who made it to the show. We look forward to seeing you and all our other great readers out on the links this year!Labels: Portland Golf Show
USGA heading to Sahalee
The USGA is bringing another national championship to the Great Northwest. Sahalee Club will host the 2010 US Senior Open. Here are all the details from a USGA press release:Sahalee Country Club in the Seattle suburb of Sammamish, Wash., will host the 2010 U.S. Senior Open, the United States Golf Association has announced. The championship is scheduled from July 29-Aug. 1. It will be the first of the USGA’s three Open championships to be conducted in Washington.
Ted Robinson designed the original 18-hole course which opened in 1969. Rees Jones oversaw a redesign and renovations in 1996 in preparation for Sahalee’s role as host site for the 1998 PGA Championship.
Vijay Singh won that 1998 PGA Championship, the first of golf’s “majors” to be played in the Northwest since 1944, by two strokes over Steve Stricker. Four years later, Sahalee hosted the 2002 NEC World Golf Championship, won by Craig Parry.
I call this great news and encourage as many fans as possible to turn out for the event. It's time we showed the USGA that our region can support major championships and deserves to host a US Open in the future!Labels: golf, USGA
Women's Open gets changes
The U.S. Women's Open has a big change coming its way. The game's governing body here in the United States announced Friday that it would change the way playoffs were conducted for the women's championship.
Instead of a full 18-hole playoff on the day following the final round (of which there have been ten), those tied atop the leaderboard will move to a three-hole aggregate score playoff. After that, a sudden-death playoff will be conducted.
Said newly elected USGA President Walter Driver, "This makes sense for the players, fans, volunteers, vendors, the general media and our broadcast partners regarding the Women’s Open." The same format is also used for the U.S. Senior Open.
This style of playoff is similar to the one used by the Royal & Ancient in the British Open (both The Masters and PGA Championship are decided by sudden-death playoffs), the leaves the men's U.S. Open the only championship decided by a full 18-hole playoff. Could that change?
For now, Driver said the USGA has no plans to change the Men's Open. But, even if they did, would that be a bad thing? Many will argue that there's tradition in the 18-hole playoff, but I thnk it would actually be an improvement. Those who attend the final round will actually get to see who wins and TV viewship would probably be better than for those playoffs decided the following day. It's an extra day of championship golf, yes, but does it really get any better than Father's Day to crown our national champion?
Let me know what you think.Labels: golf, US Open, USGA
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