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| Next 'Haney Project' Has Adam Levine, 3 More Celebs |
(Wed, 08 Feb 2012)
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| A quartet of celebrities face off for charity in the next The Haney Project on the Golf Channel, with rockstar - or should that be reality star? - Adam Levine ... Read Full Post |
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| Tiger Woods: Ban Long Putters |
(Tue, 07 Feb 2012)
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Tiger Woods believes long putters should be banned, and he's even talked to the head of the R&A about how do it.
Woods dropped that news into a press conference at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Tuesday, immediately sending a ripple across Pebble Beach's practice putting greens, where more and more tour pros can be seen using long putters - both belly and broomstick - each year.
Woods said that he's a traditionalist when it comes to putting, and believes the putting stroke requires moving both hands and the end of the putter. So Woods' idea is that anchoring a putter against one's belly or sternum should be disallowed; but that anchoring the putter shaft against one's arm would be OK.
The bigger idea from Woods on Tuesday, however, was a limit on the length of putters: Woods wants to limit putters to no longer than the shortest other club in a golfer's bag. And he said he's talked this idea over with R&A chief executive Peter Dawson over the past couple years. The idea has been kicked around enough, Woods said, that enforcement procedures - such as pre-round measurements - have even been discussed between Woods and Dawson.
Does this make a ban on belly putters and broomstick putters likely? I'm not ready to go that far yet; but it certainly makes it more likely than it appeared to be yesterday. When Woods talks, the game's bigshots listen.
It's important to note, though, that Woods is talking about tournament golfers playing tournament golf. Banning long putters for recreational golfers would be very difficult at this point, far more difficult than limiting putter length for tour pros. (Which doesn't mean it couldn't happen, of course.)
It will be very interesting to hear the reactions to Woods' idea from some of golf's elder statesmen, such as Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Sir Michael Bonnallack and David Fay.
What do you think: Do you favor or oppose a ban of long putters? Do you think such a ban will ever happen, or is the proverbial cat out of the bag?
Read more about Woods' suggestion |
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| LPGA Season Tees Off In Australia |
(Tue, 07 Feb 2012)
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The Women's Australian Open is cosanctioned by the LPGA this year, which means that when the tournament tees off on Thursday, so does the 2012 LPGA Tour season.
Some of the big names are playing Down Under: Yani Tseng, Cristie Kerr, Morgan Pressel, Brittany Lincicome, Jiyai Shin. Turning-17-year-old pro Lexi Thompson and 14-year-old amateur Lydia Ko. Others are waiting until next week's Honda LPGA Thailand tourney to tee off their seasons (including Na Yeon Choi, Paula Creamer, I.K. Kim, Ai Miyazato, Suzann Pettersen and Michelle Wie).
Regardless of whether the stars begin in Australia or Thailand, they are all chasing Tseng. Can anyone compete with her in 2012 for Player of the Year honors?
In 2011, Tseng won seven times on the LPGA Tour, including two majors. She lead the tour in money and scoring. Tseng also lead the LPGA in birdies, sub-par rounds, rounds in the 60s, Top 10 percentage and driving average.
I believe that Creamer has a big year - five or more wins, one or more majors - in her. But there's nothing pointing to 2012 being that year. I.K. Kim is a good dark-horse candidate to challenge Tseng, but Kim has never won more than once in a season and is coming off a winless 2011 on the LPGA.
How Shin will play this year is a bit of mystery. If she's the player we saw in 2009-10, then yes, Shin can challenge Tseng. If she's the player we saw last year - injury-plagued, short on confidence - no.
The best bet for a challenger to Tseng is Na Yeon Choi. She's shown herself capable of multiple-win seasons; she has a scoring title and money title in her pocket. She finished 2011 strong.
What do you think: Can anyone challenge Tseng this season, and if so, who will it be?
See also:
2012 LPGA Tour schedule |
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| Remarkable Reversal for Kyle Stanley |
(Sun, 05 Feb 2012)
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| Last week at the Farmers Insurance Open, Kyle Stanley - trying for his first PGA Tour victory - suffered a final-hole meltdown. Needing just a double-bogey or better to win, ... Read Full Post |
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| Effects of Using the Wrong Shaft Flex |
(Thu, 02 Feb 2012)
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| Your clubs will work much better for you if you are swinging clubs with shafts whose flex is appropriate to your swing. And not just your swing speed, but how ... Read Full Post |
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| 14-Year-Old Wins Women's NSW Open, Breaking Age Record |
(Sun, 29 Jan 2012)
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| Amateur Lydia Ko is only 14 years old, but she's been turning heads for a couple years already. One year ago, in the New South Wales Open on the ALPG ... Read Full Post |
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