Let's Do Lunch

I recently read an article by Doug Ferguson about a lunch meeting that I would have given an arm, a leg and maybe a vital organ to attend. The sit-down was alas, a private one. Rory McIlroy, my hero, had a some contacts and they got in touch with some people who arranged for this lunch with none other than Jack Nicklaus. The purpose was for Rory to get some time with the greatest major winner of them all and find out his philosophy and mental tricks to closing the deal. McIlroy may have tried to arrange a similar meeting with Tiger Woods, but as we know Tiger doesn't answer questions.

McIlroy would reveal tidbits of the conversation the most interesting of which to me had to do with allowing the competition to wilt.  Jack told him one of the tricks was patience, playing well but waiting for the field to make a mistake. Nicklaus said it was how he won the bulk of tournaments, rarely did he actually have to 'win' to win. The Golden Bear even went so far as to say that the best tournament he ever played he finished runner-up, the 1977 British Open at Turnberry.

The admittance of waiting for fellow competitors to "wilt" should bring some validity to the strength of today's tournament fields. The knock on today's Tour Pros has been that they hand Tiger tournaments by giving up a stroke at crucial moments or just plain folding when he is in contention. With what Nicklaus said he admitted that the players he faced in his day did largely the same thing. Shouldn't this quiet the question of if Tiger surpasses Jack with the most majors won that maybe he did so against lesser competition? Who actually beat the better players?

With what Nicklaus told McIlroy the parallel has been created between the Bear Era and the Tiger Era. Sure Tiger and Jack both have made clutch shots and clutch putts to win, and both have lapped the field a time or two on the biggest stages; it's what separates them from the rest. However, it's the amount of times the two have played well and waited for a mistake from the closest challengers that levels the fields. It makes the contemporaries of Woods and Nicklaus, well, contemporaries.

What do you think?

The Back Nine: Honda Classic

My predictions for the Honda were stamped with comic book sound effect words. Ironically, despite all of the 'Zaps' and 'Pows' I neglected pick eventual winner and obvious comic book choice, Camilo "Spider-Man" Villegas. I actually had him starting on my fantasy squad last week which looked like a great pick until he decided he couldn't break par on the weekend. Regardless, Villegas has been playing great golf so far in 2010 but had yet to close the deal. With a five shot victory at the Honda the deal was closed with vigor.

Alright so I didn't have the winner in my Front Nine, again. Here's who I did have:

1. Lee Westwood - Although he finished eleven strokes behind Villegas it was still good enough for a top ten. The final round 68 came on a day when rounds under par were few and far between. Leap frogging twenty spots to finish T9 saved this pick.  Grade: B+

2. Rory McIlroy - The third round was a killer for my hero (have I mentioned that he's my hero). The five over 75 left him in nowheresville. A closing 69 did vault him twenty-five spots to a T40, but you should finish better than tied for two score when you climb that fast.  Grade: C-

3. Y.E. Yang - Oh boy. Last year's Honda champion opened with 79. He missed the cut, which was +3 mind you, by six shots.  I give him a Y if it were a qualifying grade, but this will have to do.  Grade: F-

4. Ernie Els - The Big Easy finished T5...as far as last place is concerned. He made the cut on the number and decided not to stray to far from the back.  Grade: D-

5. Paul Casey - A rough 73 to open the tournament was amended by two of the next three rounds in the 60's during a difficult week. A closing 67 jumped Casey six spots to a T4.  Grade:A-

6. Charles Howell III - Chuck sorta gritted it out this week, never getting much going but not letting it get away from him either. The T26 inspires such descriptors as okay, alright and ehh.  Grade: C

7. Anthony Kim - I predicted Kim would not have another third round 76 like he suffered in Phoenix. I was right, he shot 73 instead. An even par third round would have at least made a tournament out it. However, Kim once again was showed up by a player who is honing his skills with the clubs, not honing his game at the clubs. Despite it being on talent alone, AK still finished solo second.  Grade: A-

8. Graeme McDowell - 68, 67 to start made this look like a genius pick. 71, 76 to finish killed the dream. Plummeting twenty-three spots on Sunday to T31 made this a tough pill to swallow.  Grade: C

9. Jeev Milkha Singh - Honestly I picked JMS to complete a joke about name spellings. After the guy I comically picked one spot after McDowell finished one spot behind McDowell the joke was on me.  Grade: C-

This was my best overall week so far, and was a few strokes from being really solid. Quite the opposite of what you look for in a handicap I feel I am trending up.

My Overall Grade: C+

The Front Nine: Honda Classic

The Front/Back Nine was on hiatus last week due to an increased work load for the Golf Potato's alter ego. The Clark Kent Potato only makes money at the job and not from the blog so priority was taken. In addition to some extra work this week I have to start packing to move down the road in the next few weeks. So, my picks for the Honda will be laid out and the reasons will be as brief as possible.

1. Lee Westwood - #4 player in the world. Done.

2. Rory McIlroy - My hero. What.

3. Y.E. Yang - Won last year. Pow.

4. Ernie Els - Won the year before. Blammo.

5. Paul Casey - #6 in the world. Kazow.

6. Charles Howell III - Recently watched Tiger hit golf balls. Zap.

7. Anthony Kim - Disastrous 3rd round 76 last week won't be repeated. Shoom.

8. Graeme McDowell - Anyone so focused on their game they don't take the time to correct the misspelling of their first name is worth taking a look at. Zing.

9. Jeev Milkha Singh - Anyone so focused on their game they don't take take the time to correct the misspelling of their entire name is worth an even a stronger look. Hi-Oh.

Tiger Woods: The Speech

Okay, the speech was delivered. Tiger apologized to people, took the blame and wasn't sure when he'd back to play. Did we learn anything? Not much. Tiger delivered a speech, but he didn't say much of anything. Did he write the speech? Most of it? Some of it? Tough to tell.

Would he have even delivered a speech if it wasn't step 9 of the 12 steps? I don't think so. If he offered this speech freely and not as part of a program he would have and should have months ago. We would have received the same information a month or two ago so why wait? Because he wasn't to that stage of the program yet.

I'll admit I was a little confused when Tiger admitted to a "sense of entitlement" leading to his transgressions. The confusing part to me is that I thought he had a sexual addiction. However, he said today that essential he thought he had worked hard enough and achieved enough professional success that he deserved to get laid whenever he felt like it. The entitlement takes away the 'need' for sex. I actually appreciate the admission because it brings him to our level a bit more than being a sex addict did. He is ungodly wealthy, famous and as such had women throwing themselves at him and like many regular folks put in that situation he took advantage. 

The most disappointing statement of the speech was "This is a private matter between a husband and a wife". He basically said he will never answer a direct question about this fiasco, ever.

The overall feeling I got from this was that not much will change with Woods the way people wanted. He will not become more fan friendly, and certainly not more media friendly. Sadly he will probably become more publicly robotic than he had been before, and not the "real" guy we as golf fans hoped to see. He has every right to want to shield his family, but publicly Woods needed to become more open about himself. I fear the divide between Woods and his fans will become an intentional chasm, rather than a figurative embrace.

What do you think?

Front Nine: WGC Accenture Match Play

Rather than pick nine players to watch out for I have selected the outcome of all 64 matches. I did so last year and feel I should fail publicly one more time. Click Here to see my picks and feel free to laugh uncontrollably as my players fall like dominoes.

I'm not sure if you've heard but Tiger Woods is not playing this week. Neither is Phil Mickelson, World #3. Phil is on vacation with his family and Tiger is, well, let's not go there. In any case I still love this event because of the format as I have long been an advocate for more match play. The structure of the event allows for showcasing far more than a few marquee names who happen to be the afternoon tee times on a Thursday. With the top 64 players in the world playing head-to-head American fans are able to watch players from the European and other tours that they would not be exposed to normally.

Good luck to everyone who filled out a bracket this year and I look forward to a great week of match play!