Andrew's World, Volume II

Retief Goosen is singing the blues. The Goose has fallen to 31st in the World Rankings and is rolling the ball like he is using a broom as a flatstick. Davis Love is another decorated veteran who is determined to improve his status on Tour. DL3 has competed in 70 straight majors and is currently on the bubble for Augusta. I am rooting for Love and Colin Montgomerie (also on the outside looking in) on their quest for Augusta.

I love watching Golf Channel presentations of classic tournaments of days gone by. Jack wins his third and last British Open in 1978 at the birthplace of golf, St. Andrews. I really dig the fashion of those days: tri-colored golf shoes and argyle sweaters. There was an impressive list of players the Golden Bear vanquished on his way to the claret jug in '78: Seve, Johnny Miller, Hale Irwin, Lanny Wadkins, Isao Aoki and ultimately Simon Owen all fell as King Jack reigns supreme and captures his 15 major championship. The Nationwide Tour, formerly know as the Hogan Circuit, celebrates its 19th year in existence. The inaugural class graduated 5 players to the big show. Those golfers are Mike Springer, Jim McGovern, Dick Mast, Ed Humenik and the still active Jeff Maggert. Speaking of Maggert, remember when he hit himself attempting a sand shot at Troon in 04? Equally unexplainable, how did Todd Hamilton beat Ernie, Steve Elkington, and Frenchmen Thomas Levet in a 4 hole playoff? If I remember correctly, Els had a relatively easy putt to win and missed, resulting in his demise.

Remember the old CBS bit profiling young up and coming players called The New Breed? I would like to nominate Aussies Jason Day, Nick Flanagan and the slightly older John Mallinger and Steve Marino as the young guns on the Tour. I guess you could make arguments for Kevin Na, Anthony Kim and the photogenic Camilo Villegas for inclusion into this club also. Villegas is featured in a commercial for a device which is supposed to increase swing speed by utilizing a weighted stick as a training aid. The infomercial claims that this apparatus will allow its user to swing the club with the same swing speed that the Colombian generates, allowing you to strike the ball a country mile! But they never mention that Camilio has like a 31 inch waist and biceps the size of baseballs and no matter how many times I swing this heavy pole, I will never hit the ball like Villegas! All of the commercials I see always claim their product or device will grant you the ability to play the long ball. But isn’t the old cliché "drive for show, putt for dough" usually true? I would rather putt like Ben Crenshaw or even Loren Roberts, than drive the ball long distances. But Roberts missed the most important putt in his life at Oakmont in '94 at the 72 hole, a fairly easy 4 footer and the glory of being U.S. Open Champion. Well… I guess it's never easy to make a putt of any length to capture a major championship; Doug Sanders, Ed Sneed, and Scott Hoch all missed short putts to lose the biggest title they almost won. Ironically the men who benefited from their misses were Jack Nicklaus, Fuzzy Zoeller, and Nick Faldo, all of whom went on to win more majors.

Ever notice that one brother is always a much better player than their siblings? Tommy and John Jacobs, Dave and Mike Hill, Lanny and Bobby Wadkins, Curtis and Allen Strange, David and Danny Edwards, Tom and Curt Byrum, Jim and Jeff Gallagher and Kevin and David Sutherland. Sometimes the universe rights a wrong and the roles reverse on the Senior Circuit; at least they have in the case of John Jacobs, Mike Hill, and Bobby Wadkins. Does anybody know how many hours we have left until Augusta?
-Andrew