gtggolf-blog

[gtggolf-blog]

We have moved!

Hello to all of our viewers. Our blog has now moved to www.gtggolfblog.com We appreciate your continued support and we hope that you will continue to follow our blog in the future. We would also like to hear your thoughts. Anything we can continue to do or you would like us to do, we want to hear about it.  -GTG Golf Team  

[gtggolf-blog]

Gearing up for Quail Hollow

As the Wells Fargo Championship rolls into GTG Golf’s hometown of Charlotte, NC, we figured we’d take the time and have an Inaugural Quail Hollow player pick for this week. The pickers include Bob “Bellymaster” Selby, Adam “Taco” Zeck, Michael “Crash” Bland, Ryan “Grim” Ripa, and Tim “Big Guns” Martin.   Rules were to pick three players based on total accumulated earnings from the event. Bellymaster: Steve Stricker, Phil Mickelson, and Sang-Moon Bae Taco:   Rory McIlroy, Jim Furyk, and Vijay Singh Crash: Bubba Watson, Lee Westwood, and Rory McIlroy Grim: Webb Simpson, Bill Haas, and Hunter Mahan Big Guns: Bo Van Pelt, Hunter Mahan, and Jim Furyk The winner here will receive the GTG Golf Green Jacket for the rest of the calendar year. Keep your eyes on the leaderboard this weekend and see who picks like a pro.  

[gtggolf-blog]

Sorry, Arnie...

The Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill has long been viewed as one of the top stops on the PGA Tour early-season schedule. And why not? Great course, great atmosphere, great sponsorship... and until now, great field.

How could you not like this tournament, hosted by "The King," Arnold Palmer? He has already done far too much for golf, not to mention the countless efforts he and his wife, Winnie, have made in the medical community.

Unfortunately, the story this week is many of the world's top players skipping out on the event. Arnie, himself, has even expressed his "disappointment" towards the top players not entering this week's field as World No. 7 Webb Simpson is the top-ranked player in the field.

But (you heard it here), in this case, The King is wrong. The Masters is right around the corner and the guy who has four green jackets (Arnold Palmer) wants everyone to be fixated on his event?

The fact is, only two of the world's top-10 golfers are American. Europe is setting the standard for premier golf and they are doing it by winning major championships.

The world's current top four players (Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer)... are all taking a rest in Europe while preparing for The Masters. And even Arnie can not knock the importance of The Masters.

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Arnold Palmer Invitational: Players to Watch

Tiger Woods

How could you not lead off with him? Tiger's record at Bay Hill speaks for itself. He's won here six times and leads the all-time list of earnings at Bay Hill, with more than twice the amount of second-ranked Vijay Singh. But there's questions... oh, so many questions. Tiger's hitting the ball wonderfully. But once he's on the putting surface, it's still unravelling. Missed putts seem to stick with him throughout the round, and that's anything but "Tiger-esque." And then there's that awful achilles injury that prevented him from playing the final six and a half holes at Doral. Well, apparently it fixed itself in just a week as Tiger teed it up at the two-day Tavistock Cup earlier this week and is set to go the distance at this event. Miraculous recovery, or something else? You be the judge.

Hunter Mahan

The WGC Match-Play champion has been taking it pretty easy since tearing up the bracket in Arizona. In his only start since, Mahan posted a T24 at the WGC-Cadillac at Doral. He might as well just make a career of playing WGC events as two of his four career wins have come in those events and he always seems to pop up there. Mahan's resume at Bay Hill has been solid with three top-25s in his past four starts. This year on Tour, he's second in total driving and 15th in greens in regulation, which will be a big help at a course that puts a premium on accuracy.

Sergio Garcia

With Sergio, it always seems like it's one step forward and two steps back. Almost every week, a round that's closer to 80 than 70 derails Sergio's plans to ditch his multi-year funk and get back to where he belongs: lifting trophies. He's finally enjoying his golf again and his results have showed it. Two top-20s in his first four starts this year (including a T4 at the Northern Trust) suggest he's getting closer to breaking through again. And he's been better than good at Bay Hill in the past with six top-10s in 10 appearances. Could this finally be it?

Sleeper: Jeff Overton

It sounds odd to list "Boom Baby" as a sleeper. But the fact remains, Overton has never won on the PGA Tour and will be stuck in that category until he does. And it's just a matter of time. Like Sergio, Overton has slowly been inching there after a rough start to 2012. Three straight top-20s have Overton coming to Bay Hill as one of the field's most in-form players and a win this week would forever abolish his "sleeper" status.

[gtggolf-blog]

One Hard @$$! Hole

One day. One hole. The world's top 74 players... 55 over par.

But just how hard was the 18th at TPC Blue Monster at Doral during the first round of the WGG- Cadillac Championship? If you examine the numbers, you'll find that it was darn near impossible.

As many birdies as triple bogeys (2). 29 bogeys to 30 pars. Add in 11 double bogeys and you've got yourself one beast of a hole.

With today's wind coming in from the right, an already tough tee shot was amped up to 11, pushing over a quarter of the players' drives into the pond (even steady ol' Webb Simpson pumped one into the exact center of the water with land nowhere in sight). So, the answer is bail out right...

...Right?

Wrong. Roughly 30 players put their drive into the right rough on Thursday. Exactly zero of them hit the green.

Even from the fairway, the pond was a factor, as recent world No. 1 Luke Donald dunked one from a near perfect position. Thanks to a bottleneck tee-shot, most players were left with 200+ yards in, with danger everywhere around the green and wind howling above.

Still not convinced? Examine the elite names who took double-bogey (or worse) on this fiery gauntlet of a golf hole: Luke Donald, Jason Day, Webb Simpson, Gary Woodland, Sergio Garcia (triple), Alvaro Quiros, Darren Clarke (triple), among many others.

In the feature group of Tiger Woods, Nick Watney and Sergio Garcia, Woods and Watney bested the hole with bogeys. And both were lucky to do so.

When in these conditions, the closing hole at the Blue Monster is just that, a BLUE MONSTER, and could provide us one of the most exciting/heartbreaking finishes of the year.

But where does it rank on the list of toughest finishing holes on tour?

[gtggolf-blog]

It’s never too early to start thinking about The Masters

In what is shaping out to be the best year in the history of the PGA Tour, it becomes increasingly exciting to think about The Masters.   This year’s blend of new and old favorites rounding into form figures to be the most compelling story of the Spring.  If you are a novice fan of the sport, I suggest you don’t turn that dial.

The Facts:

Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will be the clear favorites.  Tiger has not won a sanctioned event since 2009, a major since 2008, and The Masters since 2005.  Phil has finished in the top 5 an astounding nine times since 1995 (3 wins).  Rory has four top 3’s in just 13 career major championship (1 win).  Fuzzy Zoeller remains the last first timer to win.

What We Know:

Rory is the best player in the game.  Tiger is finding his game.  Phil remembers how to putt.  Lee Westwood still has doubters until proven otherwise.  Luke Donald needs to win a major to secure his legacy in the game.  

What We Don’t Know:

The weather in Augusta, GA the second week of April.  

Phil is the only “bomber” to win The Master’s with a winning score in single digits (2004, 2006) since 2000.  It is becoming a trend that the harder the course plays, the more likelier we are to ending up with a Charl Schwartzel, Trevor Immelman, Zach Johnson, Mike Weir type of player winning.  

Assuming we get typical Georgia weather, expect the cream to rise to the top.  If not, consider it a toss up.  One thing’s for sure, we’re in for a heck of an event.  

My predictions: Show: Phil Mickelson - True to his pedigree, will be in it on the back 9 on Sunday.  If he shows up with his Sunday at Pebble game, look out.  

Place: Rory McIlroy - His impressive course management is what sets him apart from other players his age.  His confidence is growing in front of our eyes.  Like many great ones that came before him, it will take another year of seasoning before he slips on the Green Jacket.  

Winner: Tiger Woods - All signs are pointing towards a Rory-Tiger battle.  With his game improving on a week to week basis, it’s hard not to pick Tiger’s peak at The Masters.  In historical fashion, don’t be surprised with a slow start.  Tiger always find a way to the top of the leaderboard come Sunday.

Dark Horse: Sergio Garcia - Still one of the best tee to green players in the game.  Putter no longer a disadvantage? Want to see what I’m reading, writing, or laughing about: @gtggolfBigGuns

[gtggolf-blog]

Honda Classic: Players to Watch

Lee Westwood

The World No. 3 enters the week on the back of top 20s in each of his last five starts worldwide. He posted a tie for ninth at PGA National in 2010 and will be anxious to stop Rory McIlroy from snatching the No. 1 ranking he desperately wants to regain. This will be a strange week for Westwood, as he visibly put a ton mentally into his run at the Match Play Championship and seemed to stall just short of the finish line. If there's anything left in the tank, he could win. But if not, it could just as easily result in a missed cut.

John Huh

After an impressive start to his rookie season, the interesting factor this week will be how Huh reacts to his first PGA Tour victory last week in Mayakoba. Huh fired a 63 in the final round to earn a spot in a playoff, downing Robert Allenby in eight holes. Now, many of the big boys are back, having played in the Match Play rather than in Mexico. But that hasn't fazed Huh thus far, making the cut in all five of his events while posting two top 10s and an additional top 15.

Tiger Woods

Everyone else is watching him, so why not us? Much is being made about Tiger this week. Unfortunately, very little of it is actually about his golf. While the lion's share of the focus remains on former coach Hank Haney's upcoming book and the fact that Tiger is playing this event for the first time since 1993 as an amateur, his obvious flaws on the course are going largely unnoticed. His swing looks great, but the fact remains that Tiger is not putting like Tiger. He claims he can fix his performances on the greens in a day and this might be the week we find out if it's the truth or Tiger's ego getting in the way, not for the first time.

[gtggolf-blog]

America's New Sweetheart?

When many people think of Hunter Mahan, the first thing that shoots to mind is the image of a defeated young golfer sitting in front of a microphone, sobbing and blaming himself for America's 2010 Ryder Cup loss.

Thankfully, that can now change.

Mahan's demolition of last week's WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship bracket again proved that not only is he one of America's brightest young talents, but quite possibly the best.

And it's great to see, considering the heartbreak Mahan suffered after his flubbed chip on the 17th hole at Celtic Manor allowed European hero Graeme McDowell to claim the match and officially close the door on the American team's hopes to retain the Ryder Cup. It was the type of heartbreak that had the potential to haunt a career for its entirety.

But after examining Mahan's record since, it's pretty clear that this kid has a truly special resolve and will be leading the American charge for many years to come.

In 2011, Mahan posted nine Top 10s in 25 Tour starts while missing only three cuts, and was incredibly denied the FedEx Cup title by Bill Haas' once-in-a-lifetime, $10 million dollar shot from the water in the Tour Championship playoff (another heartbreak he's bounced back from). In addition, he banished his demons in the team format, helping America to win the 2011 President's Cup with a 4-1 individual record.

What's great about Mahan is that he keeps on coming. And when this guy gets going, everything goes in the hole (which was the case last week in Arizona), and he has the capability to win several events in a row, including multiple majors.

With Europe firmly in control of the Official World Golf Rankings, Mahan's re-emergence teamed with with his ability to dominate the big events gives him a leg up on the handful of other talented Americans with their eyes set on wrestling the No. 1 spot away from the Europeans.

Winning the Match Play Championship will feel like a major, but don't expect that to be the end of the noise made by America's new main man in this year's biggest tournaments.

[gtggolf-blog]

WGC Accenture Match Play Championship: Players to Watch

Rory McIlroy

Is anybody on the planet playing better golf recently? In his last 10 starts worldwide, he's posted two wins and nine top fives. Of the No. 1 seeds, McIlroy seemingly has the most manageable route through the brackets. In addition, he'll be anxious to redeem himself for the embarrassing second round 8 & 7 defeat to Ben Crane last year. A potential third round match-up with Sergio Garcia could be interesting, especially if Garcia reproduces the form that saw him fire a 64 in the final round of last week's Northern Trust Open. Luckily for McIlroy, Garcia's even less consistent than post-Thanksgiving Tiger.

Bill Haas

Phil Mickelson failing to convert at the Northern Trust proved just how hard it is to win two weeks in a row. But Haas is the definition of a grinder, which is a big advantage in match play competitions. He's putting extremely well and also has a favorable draw through the first few rounds. Haas exited in the first round in his only start in this event last year after running into a buzz saw in Bubba Watson. While he faces another tricky opening match against Ryo Ishikawa, his steady nature could provide a good run.

Bubba Watson

A semi-finalist last year in his only appearance, Watson is the epitome of an exciting match play golfer. First, he rarely cards a par. The guy makes a ton of birdies and with his length, most par fives are eagle targets. On the other hand, he is also prone to a couple blow-up holes. To his credit, he's seemed to start limiting those mistakes recently. But with such a volatile player, you never can know what to expect. Second, his distance can take a toll on you. Imagine how frustrating it must be to be hitting five or six iron into greens while your opponent is throwing lob wedges in there and stopping it on a dime. The only negative for Bubba this week is that he's utterly surrounded by other strong match play guys. Should he get by his first round match with Ben Crane, Martin Kaymer, Matt Kuchar and Rickie Fowler all potentially await within the next two rounds.

Sleeper: Kyle Stanley

It's tough to imagine the top guy in the FedEx Cup standings to be a sleeper, but Stanley enters his first WGC appearance as the 13 seed in the Jones bracket. We know he has the game, and we thought it could take a while to recover from his Torrey Pines meltdown. But his win in Phoenix the very next week proved he has the guts too. If he can get past KJ Choi in the first round, a rematch with Farmers Open champ Brandt Snedeker could be next. Wouldn't that be something?

[gtggolf-blog]

No Love for the Lefties?

February is an awesome month for trying out new golf equipment. This is the month every year when local clubs receive all sorts of shipments containing the "it" drivers and woods of the year that will make you hit longer and straighter. Of course this year, it's TaylorMade's RocketBallz (the single best name for a golf club) and Ping's G20 and i20.

But which one's right for you? No worries, all you have to do is swing through your local pro shop on the way to the tee and they'll just give you one to hit for the day in a ploy to get you to dish your money to them rather than someone else. Make a weekend of it. Try them all. It's Awesome!

Unless, of course, you're left handed.

I challenge you to walk into your local pro shop of choice and search wall-to-wall for a left-handed club of any kind. To save some time, I'll give you the result now: you'll find none. But on the odd chance you do spot a backwards stick, under no circumstances will it be available for demo.

Heaven forbid we (that's right, I'm one of them) want to try out a club before we make the financial commitment to it, because that just isn't happening. That left-handed driver is the only one they have and if there's a chance you won't buy it, you can forget laying a finger on it. Meanwhile, there's five shiny new right-handed R11s behind the counter waiting to go out for their daily round with a new would-be suitor.

Instead, they suggest we're welcome mosey over to Dick's Sporting Goods or another chain outlet for a better "lefty experience." But in fact, it's there where the degradation hits its high.

Left-handed clubs are actually quite easy to find in these stores, because they all shove us into the small, dark corner in the back. So while we're in the corner perusing over the three sets of irons and a single rack of standard, consistently lofted drivers, all the beautiful, right-handed people stare and laugh at us from the rest of the store while pondering their limitless choices.

But what can be done about it? It's painfully true that we are the gross minority when it comes to golf club sales, because there's just not that many of us. If things are ever to change, we will need to grow the game to more left-handed people. And that starts with role models.

I play left-handed mainly because I am left-handed (however, many lefties today actually play righty due to lack of clubs and instruction), but also because I enjoyed watching Phil Mickelson growing up.

That's what we need, more Phil's. With Bubba Watson really emerging over the past few years, it's starting, as the PGA Tour now has it's highest ever count of truly elite lefties.

Too bad that number is still only two.

[gtggolf-blog]

The Belly Putter: A War's a'Brewin'

The recent success of the longer, non-conventional style putters has been undeniable. For instance, just look at last weekend's Northern Trust Open playoff where two of the three participants were swinging belly putters (and even Phil was a temporary disciple at one point last year). The trend is sweeping the Tour, and in turn, spreading to every local club across the globe.

But remember when you could count the pros who used the belly putter on one hand? It wasn't that long ago. And we all laughed at those guys who were so desperate to use that monstrous lever because their short games were so lacking that they couldn't putt into a tire.

Well, those guys now make up a large chunk of the Tour and many of them have established themselves as the more consistent putters out there after switching (i.e. Webb Simpson, Bill Haas, Adam Scott). And not everyone likes that.

Tiger wants them banned. Ernie too. Even world No. 1 Luke Donald is against them.

But how much of an advantage is really being gained?

Of the Tour's top 10 performers in terms of putts per round in 2011, exactly zero used non-conventional putters. Let that soak in for a moment. ZERO.

If they are that unfair, we could, at the very least, expect for a few long-putters to be sprinkled in there somewhere. But the bottom line is: if you can putt, you can putt. No matter what you're using.

And as far as banning long putters, it's such a slippery slope. Sure, Arnie and Jack never had the option to improve their putting with a long stick. But they also would be hard-pressed to hit one of those old persimmon woods 330 like Dustin Johnson and his sweet new 3-wood. Might as well go ahead and ban TaylorMade too for increasing everyone's distance year-in, year-out.

We applaud golf equipment companies for effectively making the game more enjoyable off the tee and in the fairways, why not embrace it on the greens as well?

[gtggolf-blog]

These Guys are Good

As if we needed a reminder. But Sunday's Northern Trust Open finale once again proved the PGA Tour's slogan with a jaw-dropping display of talent and sheer nerve that showed how great golf's upper echelon really is.

First, it was Sergio Garcia's blistering 64 (with two bogeys!) to hurl himself up the leaderboard, finishing joint fourth after only making the cut on the number. Garcia began his Sunday on the back and navigated that nine in a 30 that included two eagles and two birdies. I think I even saw him smile on the golf course for the first time in about seven years. But he'll be cursing a pair of missed short putts on No. 4 and 7 that could have potentially lifted him into the playoff.

And what Sergio lacked in composure over the late, big putts, a trio of steely-eyed potential champions more than made up for with an exhibition of what it means to be clutch.

Make no mistake about it, Bill Haas did not have the easiest of par putts on the 72nd hole to maintain his one-shot advantage. How many times have we seen a young player yip a short putt that really mattered. Luckily, Bill has been there, done that and put it right in the heart forcing the two guys behind him to birdie the hole that had only seen 28 threes all week.

Let's stop and examine that number for a moment. Throughout the week, the 18th hole was played by all players who began the event a total of 435 times before the final group on Sunday. 28 birdies. That's just over six percent! And now suddenly two of the last three guys out there need birdie to force a playoff. Pretty slim chance right?

But add the fact that both of those guys have won majors and the chances increase. Still pretty slim. Bill Haas knew they both were going to birdie as evidenced by his interview after walking off 18. Unfortunately for him there wasn't a casino in the clubhouse to run into before the playoff started because he was the only one who knew.

Maybe predictable was Mickelson rattling in his 29-footer from the fringe that sent Riviera into an eruption I'm sure they felt in Malibu. We all know what Phil can do and if you watched his entire round, you know he was due for one. More impressive was the 25-year-old Bradley composing himself to throw his 15-foot birdie effort right on top of Phil's to add himself to the playoff guest list.

But not to be outdone, Haas provided the largest fireworks on the second playoff hole, the sneaky difficult 315-yard par 4 tenth. As David Feherty joked (but not really) that bogey might win it after all three players drove it into trouble, Haas went ahead and drained a 43-foot birdie putt to win. Just like that, we went from everyone scrambling for par to "oh wait, Haas just won" in mere seconds.

With Lin-sanity sweeping the sports nation, Sunday's finish in Hollywood showed the PGA Tour is capable of un-Bill-ievable performances as well.

[gtggolf-blog]

Northern Trust Open: Players to Watch

Adam Scott

Making his first start in 2012, the Aussie has admitted he's been "itching" for tournament golf. 2011 was Scott's best season in several years and with Steve Williams on the bag, he seems to have found a winning formula. Australians tend to fare well at this event and Scott is no exception, capturing second in 2006 after being declared the unofficial winner in 2005 due to inclement weather shortening the tournament to 36 holes.

Kevin Na

Quietly lurking around, Na has posted fifth-place finishes in his last two events. That, teamed with his record at Riviera, could form the makings of a big week for the one-time winner. Na claimed third in this event last year for his second top-ten in as many starts. He's currently 13th in he FedEx Cup standings and with his normal solid week in LA, can vault himself into the top tier.

Luke Donald

Any time the World No. 1 is in the field, you can't just ignore it. Like Scott, Donald is making his 2012 Tour debut at Riviera. While he missed the cut here last time out, we can chalk that up to a rare fluke as second, tied for sixth and tied for third-place finishes occupied the three previous years. Donald is coming off a historic year, becoming the first to ever win the money title on both the PGA and European Tours. The question is, could he possibly do it again?

Sleeper: Fred Couples

Why not? There's a reason he's come back to this event 30 times. Every year, no matter how much Father Time creeps up on Freddie, there's a handful of events you just know you're going to see his name pop up on the leaderboard. The Northern Trust Open is one of them. Time to see how that blood augmentation procedure really worked out for him.

[gtggolf-blog]

Golf's Future Rides on New Shoulders

And it's on the pale, untrimmed shoulders of those pictured above (among others). So, time to hit the panic button? Absolutely not.

With golf in America falling into a significant rut over the past few years, a stern kick to the backside is needed. And while the PGA of America is spearheading a new campaign to increase play nationwide, Golf 2.0, Tour pros like Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler are doing their part to continue to grow the game throughout America.

Like it or not, the world is rapidly changing into an internet-based, social media experiment. Though golf often fancies itself as an old-fashioned sport, new technology time-and-again continues to improve it: live leaderboards, instant video highlights, shot trackers, etc.

Bubba has capitalized on the move towards technology as one of the first Tour pros to enthusiastically embrace the the Twitter phenomenon. Regularly tweeting funny videos and photos, as well as personally responding to everyone who writes to his Twitter account, Bubba has found a new way to connect with virtually everyone who enjoys watching him play. In doing so, he generates a whole new crowd of golfers who will want to be like him, especially the lefties who will be craving a new hero when Phil can no longer do it (though, judging by last week, won't be anytime soon).

Rickie, while being an integral part of the Twitter/technology revolution, just can't compete with Bubba in that regard. But his role in the growth of golf in America will potentially be the catalyst for the next twenty years. Rickie has a style that is all his own, and it's catching fire. Go to any PGA Tour event and, guaranteed, 90 percent of the kids aged 8-15 will be wearing Rickie's patented, flat-billed Puma cap in god-knows what outrageous color. And as silly as it may look, it's turning a whole new generation onto the game.

The last time we saw something like that, kids were running around golf courses wearing bright red Nike shirts and fist-pumping their way into the biggest boom golf in this country has ever seen.

And should guys like Bubba and Rickie start to win a few more tournaments (which they will), a similar boom will be on the way.

[gtggolf-blog]

Three Things We Learned at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am

1. Phil isn't finished

Despite a sluggish start to 2012, Mickelson used a blistering start on Sunday to vault his way up the leaderboard and eventually win by two shots over Charlie Wi. The Phil Mickelson we saw at Pebble Beach was a far cry from the Phil Mickelson that missed the cut at Torrey Pines just a few weeks earlier. But Phil has always been that special kind of player who can turn it on with the flip of a switch. At 41-years-old, Mickelson is not going to turn it on week-in, week-out anymore. He will continue to pick and choose his spots to really get up for. Shoving it in Tiger's face? You'd better believe he can still get up for that as evidenced by his final round 64 en route to victory.

2. Tiger is still vulnerable

A final round 75 was far from the level of Sunday excellence we've come to expect from the former No. 1. But maybe more significant than the scorecard, we saw something from him that just didn't exist prior to his very public unravelling a few Thanksgivings ago: Tiger was rattled.

It started on seven when he yipped a tap-in par putt to start a three-hole bogey train. You could physically see the air rushing out of Tiger's confidence as he tumbled down the leaderboard, something we're not accustomed to seeing as he's been widely viewed as the mentally toughest player to ever play the game. When he holed out from the bunker for birdie on 12, there was a glimpse of that old flame as he was looking at a two-shot swing on Mickelson. He shot Phil a "Tiger stare" circa 2000 as if to say "here I come." But when Mickelson drained his bomb of a par putt to salvage the hole, Tiger's demeanor took a 180 again and two more bogeys followed as he limped in. Tiger's game is appearing to get there, but as strange as it may seem to say, it's currently his mind that's holding him back.

3. Winning ain't easy

For the third week in a row, the final round has seen the 54-hole leader falter under the pressure of trying to capture his first PGA Tour title. First it was Kyle Stanley's stunning meltdown on the 72nd hole of the Farmers, then Spencer Levin's slow and painful collapse at the Waste Management, and now Charlie Wi's stumble out of the starting blocks at Pebble.

Wi joining the ever growing list of players to fall apart when faced with the opportunity to win for the first time raises an interesting question: just how hard is it to win that first title? Credit to Wi, after four-putting the opening hole and falling to four-over on the day through six holes, he played brilliantly to get back to even par and capture sole second. But the revival of his round directly coincided with him losing the top spot on the leaderboard and with it the pressure. Suddenly, he was chasing with nothing to lose.

So if the last three weeks on the PGA Tour have told us anything, it's that the overwhelming pressure of the final group can never be overlooked, especially for the guys who haven't been there before.

[gtggolf-blog]

Westwood's Worst Shot Ever?

With a share of second place at the Dubai Desert Classic, Lee Westwood managed to leapfrog Rory McIlroy to reclaim the World No. 2 spot he relinquished just a few weeks ago.

But it was the way Westwood failed to capture the tournament title that was the biggest eye-opener as his performance around the 72nd green looked more like that of a weekend golfer rather than one of the world's elite.

Faced with a 30-yard pitch-and-run on the final hole of regulation, needing to get up-and-down to force a playoff with eventual winner Rafael Cabrera-Bello, Westwood inexplicably blew the chip 25 feet past the hole before missing the return putt.

What appeared to be a straight-forward shot was absolutely butchered by a man we call the second best the world has to offer, proving that in this game, anyone is capable of hitting horrendous shots. But to see it from the usually steady Westwood was surprising.

His lie was fine. There were no obstacles in between him and the hole. There were no massive ridges on the green to navigate. He just hit a bad shot, and at the worst possible time, no less.

It was almost as if he thought he needed to hole-out to force the playoff, so he decided there was no way he was going to leave it short and tried to jar it. Now, the chances that Westwood didn't understand the scenario are between zero and zero percent, but the shot he hit was certainly confusing.

But was it the worst shot ever hit by a top five golfer under pressure? I'm struggling to think of one that can beat it.

Meanwhile, Rory must be thinking "I lost my spot to that?"

[gtggolf-blog]

Phil Mickelson

Phil Mickelson starts his 2012 PGA Tour campaign at the Humana Challenge. People are wondering if Phil has anything left in the tank. Looking at last year, all the hype surrounded The Masters as Phil won the week before at the Shell Houston Open by 3 shots after firing a 7-under 65. He finished the season’s 1st major at a T-27, 13 shots off the pace.

Phil’s only other Top-5 finish came at The OPEN Championship where he found himself right in the mix after going out in 30 and birdieing 10 to move his round to 6-under. However a string of 4 bogeys in 6 holes dropped him to 2—under par, leaving him 3 shots short.

Mr. Mickelson never contended in another tournament last year leading fans to believe that his run is over. Battling arthritis and a wayward tee ball, Phil is going to need to hone in his go-for-broke attitude and take advantage of his stronger skills. If Phil could figure how to get the ball out in the fairway by either gearing back on the driver or hitting more fairway metals, he would become more of a factor. Giving himself chances to thrive on his iron and wedge play, more opportunities to score and ultimately win.

By the way…what was Phil thinking with that belly putter?