Mickelson

Keep Your Head Down

/ The Grateful Golfer / 4 Comments

While playing a round of golf this morning with a buddy of mine, we started to discuss our swings and how to break 100. As we walked and talked about what was important, my friend said something that has stuck with me, “watch the ball where it was, not where it goes!”

Basically, keep your head down and watch the club make contact with the ball.  Additionally, count to one before you see how fantastic your shot turned out.  Stay focussed on the point of contact.  This will help create a duplicatable swing.  Regardless of what it looks like, it is something the amateur golfer can start to build a solid game upon.

While watching the Web.com tournament today, I noticed that Phil, Tiger and Adam have different swings, chipping strokes and putting styles.  They all hit the ball where they intend and seem not to worry about what it looks like!  They do, however, keep their head down for a pause of one after contact.  A coincidence, I think not!

Next time you are on the course/practice round try keeping your head down and see the positive results.  I am a grateful golfer!  See you on the links!

Taking Your Medicine At The US Open!

/ The Grateful Golfer / 3 Comments

Wow what a finish!  The US Open was a race of endurance and skill.  Congratulations to Justin Rose.  I was rooting for Phil Mickelson, but he was destined to finished second for the sixth time!

The US Open did not disappoint any viewers this year.  It was excellent to watch the best in the world play on of the toughest courses laid out for the US Open Championship.  The rough was extremely long and greens crazy fast.  

It was amazing how often players had to just get their ball in play after hitting it into the rough.  The USGA stated that the penalty should add about one half stroke to someone’s score if someone had to play out of the rough.  This year, according to the TV announcers, the penalty was a full stroke.  Talk about taking your medicine.  This is a strong and important message to all amateurs who find themselves in trouble on the links.  The pros understanding of course management is a tribute to the pursuit of excellence.

The following are my highlights of the US Open this year.

Image from: http://caddieworld.me/about/

John Dempster, Caddy

Thanks to John Dempster, from Caddyworld, for providing thegratefulgolfer.com with an update on Peter Hedblom after a partial finish of the second round.  It must have been difficult to play split rounds and then wait to make the cut.  Congratulations to Peter Hedblom for making the cut; this is an accomplishment that is rewarding in itself.

An additional thanks to Rick Williams at mindbodygolf for discussing the pre-tournament aspects of the US Open.  His insights were helpful and I am grateful for him sharing what he saw!

Mike Weir.  He finished tied for 28th.  This is a great finish for Weir.  He has struggled over the past years and as one of the last entries, he demonstrated that he belonged with the best players in the world.  Also, being Canadian, he is an automatic favorite of mine!

Phil Mickelson‘s shot on the tenth hole from the rough in the fairway was exceptional.  It was one of those once in a lifetime shots that could have been a total game changer.  Unfortunately, Merion was too much of a lion and he could not fully recover from two double bogey’s on the front nine.

Shawn Stefani‘s hole-in-one.  It was awesome!  This shot will be all over, but watch it at the National Post.  Kissing the ground where his ball hit the bank and shot to the right and rolled in to the hole was very humorous.  It was the first hole-in-one at the US Open when hosted at Merion Golf Club.

Lastly, amateur Micheal Kim.  He played like a seasoned professional.  Finishing tied for 17th, it was great to see a non-professional play with poise.  Accomplishments like his offer hope for us hackers!

The US Open is a great tournament!  This year, all golfers were not disappointed!  For this and many other reasons, I am a grateful golfer!  See you on the links!

US Open Day 2

/ The Grateful Golfer / 6 Comments

logoWell the second day of the US Open proven to be interesting.  It seems everyone took a few steps backward.  This is not surprising given the tough conditions of Merion Golf Club, Ardmore, Pa.  The rough is long and the fairways tight…what a great course!

I was particularly impressed with a couple of amateurs; C. Pan and M. Kim, both shot 2 under.  How is that for playing under pressure.  I hope that the play well for the rest of the weekend.  Would the US Open truly be the US Open if an amateur won!

Phil Mickelson finished strong with a birdie on the 18th hole.  He made a long putt with authority.  Maybe this will be his trigger for success this year.  Mickelson has the game to play Merion only if he continues to hit most of the greens in regulation.

Mike Weir, another of my favorites, has a chance to make the cut.  As a past Masters Champion, he will have to play tomorrow morning because he finished on the 10th hole.  He was a last entry and again, as I love underdogs, it would be great to see Weir do great this year.   Weir also has a chance because he is a relatively short hitter, but is accurate and consistent (most of the time).

Lastly, the big three: Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Adam Scott finishing +3, +3 and +7 respectively.  They did not play bad or good.  They just stayed alive….especially Scott.  These three cannot be counted out, however my pick is McIlory.  He is ready for a breakout round and tomorrow may be it.

The US Open is a tournament that tests even the most seasoned golfer.  It is treacherous rough and greens slicker than your kitchen floor!  Tomorrow should prove to exciting as the course will dry out and speed up.  I can hardly wait!

I am a grateful golfer!  See you on the links!