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With a performance reminiscent of old school Tiger Woods, Martin Kaymer destroyed a strong field at the HSBC Golf Championship in Abu Dhabi. Winning by eight shots, the victory vaults him ahead of Woods into 2nd in the world rankings. The win is his third at this tournament and 9th career victory on the European Tour. Coming off a win last year at the PGA Championship, he has kept the momentum going into 2011 and is playing like the true #1 player in the world.
Some pros like to keep things simple with their golf swings. Others don't. Take Padraig Harrington, who is currently working on a new set of swing changes.
What changes?
"I don't waggle over the ball anymore. I only look up once now. I get it right, I only look up once, instead of twice, or three times."
"I try to take the club away with my arms more now, and trying to leave my hips behind in the takeaway, and trying to stop squatting in my takeaway."
"I had to change my plane in the backswing because I don't have such a big hip turn from address."
"Quite a significant one was I changed my shoulder turn. I have recurring neck problems so I'm trying to swing my shoulder into my chin now and tuck my chin in more at the top of my backswing."
"And the downswing, I'm trying to get my hands a little bit lower and keep the heel down a bit."
Allright then.
So far, so good for Harrington as he just shot 65 in the first round of the HSBC Golf Championship in Abu Dhabi and currently is in 2nd place behind Charl Schwartzel.
Matt Kuchar 9-1
Bill Haas 18-1
Bubba Watson 20-1
Ryan Moore 25-1
Chad Campbell 25-1
Steve Marino 28-1
Jeff Overton 28-1
Rory Sabbatini 28-1
Stewart Cink 33-1
Charley Hoffman 33-1
Pick to win: Steve Marino
Marino has been very close the past two seasons, was close again last week at the Sony Open, and is bound to get his first win sooner or later.
Hopefully the "Superstorm" doesn't hit California when the tour hits Torrey Pines next week, because it sounds like there might be a small delay in play.
Steve Stricker 8-1
Jim Furyk 11-1
Ernie Els 12-1
Matt Kuchar 16-1
Adam Scott 18-1
Robert Allenby 25-1
Charles Howell III 25-1
Jonathan Byrd 28-1
Justin Rose 30-1
Zach Johnson 33-1
Jason Day 33-1
Pick to Win: Matt Kuchar
Last year's Fed Ex Cup champion started off the year with a T6 last week. He seems to be near the top of the leaderboard week after week and has become a top ten machine.
Geoff Ogilvy 7-1 Ernie Els 8-1 Steve Stricker 11-1 Jim Furyk 11-1 Graeme McDowell 12-1 Dustin Johnson 14-1 Matt Kuchar 16-1 Hunter Mahan 16-1 Ian Poulter 20-1 Adam Scott 20-1
Prediction / wild guess to win: Hunter Mahan
Mahan should be amped up to get back into competition after his tough experience at the Ryder Cup. Maybe he can begin putting that behind him with a big win to kick off the season.
Players to watch out for: Ogilvy has won this tournament the past two seasons. McDowell has been on fire since last summer and has been playing like a maniac.
“There isn’t enough daylight in any one day to practice all the shots you need to practice.”
BEN HOGAN
On the golf course, success can come down to how many shots you are capable of hitting. When you play, it’s you versus the course. The golf course has bunkers, water hazards, trees, hills, undulations, rough, and tricky pin positions. Also, on any given day, you may have to deal with wind, rain, cold, heat, or wet course conditions.
On the course, every shot you’ll need to hit will consist of varying circumstances. The more shots you are capable of hitting, the better you will be. No matter what your skill or experience level, you can always try to learn new shots or improve on specific shots.
Examples of shots to practice:
Putting: short, mid-range, lag, breaking, off fringe
Chipping: with all irons, wedges
Pitching: all wedges
Specialty shots: flop, bladed wedge, wood from fringe
The more shots you are capable of hitting, the better you will become. The crazier shots are also a lot more fun to practice than doing normal swing after normal swing on the range.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters, from EA Sports, will be available March 29th as reported by golf.com.
The game will feature the voices of David Feherty and Jim Nantz, and you will be able to compete against more than 20 PGA Tour and LPGA professionals, including Zach Johnson, the 2007 champion. Caddies will provide advice on green reading and strategy as players try to capture the green jacket.
EA Sports worked on site at Augusta National and used "state-of-the art laser scanning technology to replicate every hole featured in the game," according to the company. Every detail, from green undulations to azaleas, was captured, according to EA. The game will also let players try to match Tiger Woods's scores in all four of his Masters wins, will allow players in "career mode" to mirror a golfer's rise through the ranks, and will feature 16 courses, including Royal Melbourne Golf Club, Atlanta Athletic Club, TPC San Antonio, St. Andrews Links and Pebble Beach Golf Links.
“If you’ve ever wondered what magic threshold you must cross to become a first-rate player, it’s simple. You must control distance with your irons. You control distance by hitting the ball solidly and varying the length and speed of your swing. If you do that well, you become more precise, which rubs off on your direction, too.”
Johnny Miller
To become a better golfer, it's very important to know how far you hit clubs in different situations. These situations include:
hitting from the fairway
hitting from the rough
hitting from the bunker
hitting when the ball is above or below your feet
playing with the wind into you, behind you, or from the side
playing in extremely hot or cold conditions
playing in wet and rainy conditions
hitting to an elevated green
hitting downhill to the green
These are just a few examples of situations that arise while playing that can effect how far your shots go. As you improve, you will be able to hit full shots, 1/2 shots, 3/4 shots, knockdown shots, as well as many more.
It can be helpful to take mental note or jot down how far you hit certain clubs in specific situations. This will make it easier the next time a similar shot comes up.
The more you practice various swings in different situations, the better you will become over time and know what shot to hit when you need it.