Guide for Beginning Golfers

Tiger Woods larger than life personna has exuded an almost god like aura to us mere golfing mortals for the past dozen years or so. Now, almost everywhere you turn for the past 12 days, the hottest topic of conversation on Radio, TV, Cable, Newspapers, and even the casual gossip amongst friends has been focused on Tiger Woods, the premier, yet besmirched golfer, of the modern era. His supposed squeaky clean reputation as a golf athlete proceeds him and I, for one, would never have suspected Tiger to ever become embroiled in this type of controversial dilemma. I would assume that in general, the golfing and non-golfing public alike would surmise that an athlete of Tiger’s caliber and success would want for nothing. He has a beautiful wife, two adorable children, some of the most notable sponsors in golfing history, virtually all the money he could ever ask for and his achievements in golf history are rivaled by no one, but yet something was still missing in his life.
I am not making excuses for Tiger, but number one, he is a male and a rich and successful one at that. Combine that with the fact that he’s a world renowned athlete and you have an irresistible attraction for many members of the opposite sex. Given the fact that he is on the road away from his family much of the time, the premise can be a bit tempting to say the least. Once again, I am not condoning his actions by any means because he is a supposed role model for many youngsters. That is part of the responsibility that you assume when you are gifted with the caliber of talent that he has and are constantly in the public eye. But who are we to judge him as far as the whys and wherefores of his actions? If the president of the United States can get caught with his pants down so to speak, and Clinton will not be the first or last, who will cast the first stone?  Not I, for I am not privy to any of the REAL information regarding the circumstances that may have led up to this unfortunate incident that has become fodder for comedic retorts throughout the media. If you tune in to the news or read the newspapers or tabloids, it would appear that almost every famous actor, actress, or politician is involved in one way or another in some sex related daliance. From Pam Anderson, Tommy Lee and Paris, to Spitzer and John Edwards, who are we to judge? It seems like sexual proclivity is the latest trend of the rich and famous who live life in the fast lane. Is this a strategic ploy to revive one’s career so to propegate more money, or is it the intense craving for the limelight that many stars, politicians and athletes are addicted to?

In Tiger’s case one may speculate that he was alone, away from home and the male ego got the better of him. Or maybe he was bored and the excitement of the chase and the possibility of getting away with it was the driving force behind his actions? Could it be that there is something missing in his relationship at home or a void he is trying to fill since the loss of his dad a short time ago? The possibilites for what has occurred are endless so let us speculate no further. This incident occurred and I’m sure he’s sorry for his actions as he’s already expressed openly to the public. I wish him much success in his efforts to mend his relationship with Elin. Tiger has a long road ahead but I am still a huge fan and the world of golf would be remiss if they did not forgive and forget this unfortunate occurrence in the life of the world’s finest golfer. His sponsors should cut him some slack to give him the benefit of the doubt and forgive this digression from his long standing status of role model for the golfing public. What is the saying ? “To Err is Human, To Forgive Devine.” and he deserves another chance. Having his reputation tarnished in this manner and the repentive road back to mend his relationship with his wife and family are punishment enough for him to deal with at this critical time in his illustrious career.   

I’m looking forward to Tiger’s return, with his golf clubs in hand, as his presence on the links would be sorely missed if he could not overcome perhaps the greatest challenge of his career as a sports legend. Tiger, we wish you well. Happy Golfing to All!

I must admit I’ve been disappointed watching the Major Tournaments all season because the two best golfers in the world have not been able to capitalize when in the hunt on Sunday. Tiger Woods is recovering from ACL surgery on his knee after last year’s U.S. Open when Rocco Mediate played out of his socks to give Tiger a run for the money and force a playoff on the Monday after a tie for 72 holes in regulation – Good for you Rocco. As far as I’m concerned Rocco still had no business being there as Tiger Woods was well ahead of the field of many players much more statistically better than Rocco and on any given day could beat him handily, but Rocco was there and he gave Tiger some stiff competition. He knew in the back of his mind that this may be the only chance he would ever have for an opportunity like this and he did well to make the best of  it. We all know how it turned out but Tiger is back and Rocco deserves some credit for his tenacity in battle!

In this year’s Tour Championship and Fed Ex Cup, a number of great players also had a shot at either title. Because of the new reset format it gives players who are close in the standings an even better opportunity to win the Cup. But finally the cream rose to the top. I’ve been waiting patiently all season as Major after Major have slipped out of the grasp of the world’s two best players, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. I’ve been rooting for these guys since the Masters, when Phil made a charge reminiscent of Jack Nicklaus in the 86 Masters and Tiger stayed right in the hunt with him but neither of them could seize the moment.  Phil Mickelson also had a good shot at the U.S. Open when he was playing his heart out for wife Amy, who had been recently diagnosed with breast cancer as was his mother shortly thereafter, but the distraction proved too much for him and understandably so as he dropped out of contention on the final nine on Sunday.

The Tour Championship finally yielded the One Two Punch from the world’s two best golfers, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. With many of the world’s top players in contention for both the Tour Championship and the Fed Ex Cup, such as Jim Furyk, Kenny Perry, Padraig Harrington, Steve Stricker and Sean O’Hair, the lead exchanged hands a number of times between these players but Phil and Tiger showed them why they were considered one and two ranked in the world. Phil shot a final round 65, which was 4 strokes better than the rest of the field and good enough for a three stroke victory over the worlds best player Tiger Woods. Tiger’s statistical standings in all the important categories remain intact. He is # 1 in the world ranking, # 1 on the Money List, six victories under his belt this season on tour solidify his rank as # 1 in virtually any category that matters and now the Fed Ex Cup title and $10,000,000 dollars more in his bank account. What more can you ask for? Tiger is back and with a vengeance. As much as any normal human being would be satisfied with his accomplishments for this year I’m sure he has already strategized with his golf coach, Hank Haney, on how to ensure a few more notches in his Majors Belt for next year. Tiger is still young but impatient to reach the goal he had cemented in his mindset at an early age, tie and then beat Jack Nicklaus’s record 18 majors. He is well on his way with 14 but he may have a few more years ahead to reach his goal. There are many good players on the Tour who also want to win and who will provide Tiger with some stiff competition along the way but make no mistake about it he will be victorious in the end.

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The winner of the Masters this past Sunday, Angel Cabrera, ultimately deserved the title of Masters Champion. Having been in contention with his stellar play the first three rounds and playing steadily on the earlier holes on Sunday, he was all but out of the running a few holes later when he dropped from -12 to -9 with bogies but he never conceded to the competition. He rallied back to -12 under and seized every opportunity to stay in the game by making birdies when he needed to. It only goes to enforce the old adage that “Slow and Steady Wins the Race”. Even after he tied with Chad Campbell and Kenny Perry for a playoff he all but stymied himself when he hit behind a tree on the first playoff hole, #18. Chad and Kenny Perry were in the fairway in great shape but Masters Sunday nerves got the better of them. They both pushed what would normally be routine iron shots into the green to the left and right respectively leaving the door open for Angel. He seized the moment by first making a lucky punch draw shot that hit a tree and caromed into the fairway leaving him a clear shot to the green. He again seized another opportunity by executing an excellent lob wedge shot in an extreme pressure situation which put him on the green in three with an approximate 12′ putt, which he converted, to tie Kenny Perry’s par save and go on to the next playoff hole. Chad was not as lucky and unable to salvage par so it left Kenny Perry and his playing partner all day, Angel Cabrera, to duke it out once again only this time on the 10th hole which turned out to be the deciding hole of the Masters. Kenny hit his tee shot into the left trap while Angel hit safely down the middle of the fairway, he wasn’t going to make the same mistake as he made previously on #18 again. His second shot was safely on the green while Kenny had yanked his left out of the fairway trap, leaving himself with a very tough approach shot to get close enough to save par, which he needed to keep his Masters hopes alive. He left himself about a 25 footer and missed just short on the right while Angel easily converted his two putt for par and victory. Congratulations to Angel on his amazing victory but I must admit I was disappointed by the way things played out.

Had I scripted this Masters it would have gone something like this.

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson had teed off earlier and both started at -4. Phil’s rally on the front nine was reminiscent of the Nicklaus charge in the 86′ Masters and my favorite Masters to date of all time. This years Masters was a close second but anti-climactic because Phil, Tiger or Kenny were not victorious in the end. When Phil turned the front in 30 or minus 10 I thought to myself that this was far from over and could be one of the greatest Masters ever. Since I had tuned in, when Phil and Tiger first teed off, to the finale, I could not take my eyes off the TV screen. The steady and stellar play by Angel, Kenny, Tiger and Phil was riveting. The two best players in the world were going head to head and catching the the leaders after having been 7 shots back when they first teed off on Sunday morning. After Phil’s 30 on the front I knew Tiger had to make his move if he wanted to catch Phil who was now at -10. He accomplished this by eagling the 13th hole subsequent to Phil’s double bogie of 12 when he had made a mental error by not using enough club to  carry Rae’s creek and land on a safe part of the green. Tiger and Phil still both had an opportunity but they also both missed possible eagles on 15 which left them with more work ahead if they were to taste victory. Phil and Tiger had at one point reached -11 and -10 respectively and were both standing at victories door when they faltered at the end. Tiger bogied the last two holes in unTiger like fashion and Phil did not do much better. When they both came up short at 18, I was hoping that Kenny Perry, who has been playing some of the best golf of his life for the past two years or more, could become the oldest player at 48 years plus to win a major let alone the Masters. His -14 standing at the end of the 16th hole had all but sewed it up. A par on one of the last two holes would have clinched victory for him. He had not gotten a bogie for the previous 22 holes so why start now. But start now he did with two consecutive bogies to finish at -12 tied with Cabrera and Campbell and the playoff loomed. Kenny’s steady play had come to an end and the pressure of Masters Sunday finally took its toll on him. He all but handed the victory to Angel, who seemed more calm than the rest and just happy to be there in contention without succumbing as much to the pressures of the day.

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I mentioned Jack first, or should I say, Mr. Nicklaus in the title because alphabetically and historically I think he deserves that courtesy but they both should be credited with phenomenal accomplishments for their time in Golf History. I grew up with Jack for my golf hero just as I had Mickey Mantle as my baseball idol in my formative years. I have admired many ball players since but no one can take the place of Mantle in my book. There have been many great players both in his era and subsequently that may have even been historically and statistically better than he, but he still remains an all time favorite to me. As far as I am concerned, Mantle was the best and will always be the best, case closed. The same goes for Jack Nicklaus, he will always be number 1 in my book. Tiger is a phenom, no two ways about it and it would have been a heck of a battle to see Tiger and Jack go head to head in their primes. It would be like Mohammed Ali vs. Rocky Marciano – who was really the best ? We’ll never know for sure on either count but our minds can play it out and choose who we think would come out on top. I’m a big Tiger fan also and Phil Mickelson is not far behind, but watching Jack’s duels with Mr. Arnold Palmer, and I mention his name with all the respect it deserves, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, Gary Player, Johnny Miller and  Tom Weiskopf was incomparable to the modern day era of golf, at least in my book. I don’t mean to take anything away from the modern day PGA Pro - Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk and more than a handful of other players including Fred Couples and Davis Love 111, whose ability with a golf club would most likely allow them to be competitive in any era are all great players, it’s just not the same game to me. Through no fault of their own, the equipment and golf ball technology and advancement accessible for the modern day professional has made golf a different game than it was 20 years or more ago. I was a youngster at the time other golfing greats before like Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Bobby Jones ( actually a little before my time – I don’t want to pre-date myself ), Cary Middlecoff and the like were around but I can still watch some of their duels on “Shells Wonderful World Of Golf” and I would have loved to see them compete in the modern day era. These guys used wooden clubs and inferior golf balls and were still striping 250 to 280 yd. drives down the middle and shaping shots like it was second nature to them. My favorite is the duel between Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan at Pine Valley, New Jersey( rated # 1 course in the world )- I’ll leave it to your imagination to figure out who the winner was but BH were his initials. When I was following Jack or should I say Mr. Nicklaus in my youth, I never imagined that anyone could ever match his record let alone beat it. So many golfing greats had phenomenal records in their careers, ( Arnold, Gary, Tom, Ben, Sam, Byron, Bobby and the rest) but he was well ahead of the pack. Tiger has shown the world what the “Power Of The Mind Or Thought Can Do”. His dad Earl helped him establish early in his childhood, that if you want to be the best, to set that goal in his sights and contemplate on it every day and visualize yourself accomplishing that goal. It is public knowledge that Tiger had his sights and mindset on Mr. Nicklaus’ record at a very early age. It was an unreachable goal for most because they would not let themselves believe that it was possible, but not for Tiger and that’s what makes him stand out among the rest.

It is inevitable that Tiger will beat Jack’s record, as long as he remains healthy, and I wish him well on his quest. After all, records are made to be broken. He is a remarkable player and  I would like nothing more than to see him in action one day. My ideal foursome would be Mr. Nicklaus, Mr. Palmer,  Tiger ( I can say Tiger because he is more than a few years younger than I )and naturally myself. What a day it would be. I can hit the ball fairly well and I always wondered how I would fare against the best. In my younger days at Marine Park or Marine Dunes Golf Course in Brooklyn I hit the ball well and Par 4’s and 5’s were usually within reach on my second shot, depending on wind conditions. I know it may never happen but I can Dream, can’t I ? You never know. No one can stop you from dreaming. So, whatever your goals in life may be, whether it’s be to beat Jack or Tigers record, Jordan or Kobe in Basketball, Marciano, Ali or Roy Jones in boxing, Montana, Marino or Brady in football ( I had to mention some players from the modern era or I really would be dating myself ), or any other ideal, goal or person in a livelihood that you idolize don’t ever give up – Take a tip from Nike – “Just Do It”

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