this week’s WGC-CA Championship at Doral will be a great tournament because in spite of all the “improvements” done to Dick Wilson’s superb design, Doral Blue is the perfect Florida course. In fact, most of the so called improvements have been tossed aside and Doral is closer now to the original grand design. Dick Wilson took 200 acres of everglades and designed a true test – one of the best flat courses in the world. Too much water for some purists but Florida golf requires water, they have to dig out lakes to use the fill for fairways and green sites. Next door to the Blue is the newest revised White Course, the Great White Course. It’s one of Greg Norman’s poorest designs, but he was limited to less acreage. The original White course was better in my opinion, but didn’t get much play as it didn’t have a celebrity name attached.

I’ve played the Blue Monster more than 100 times over the years – luckily I got to work there a few weeks in the winters helping coordinate IBM incentive groups. One winter I managed 6 straight weeks, and since every day we had a 1:00 shotgun for the IBMers it meant the course was ours in the mornings. Do you know how many holes 4 pros with 4 carts can play? too many. I remember playing the 18th hole (the real blue monster) 8 times in a row! 8 times in an hour! that’s a few balls.

Anyway, Camilo Villegas will probably win his second PGA Tour event in a row. The Columbian, playing both the European and PGA tours has the whole game and can read the greens since they are in Spanish. Not sure if you noticed but when he won last week he probably made only five conventional swings in four rounds, every shot was a different form of required punch, knock down or worm burner, brilliant! How would you club fit a player like him – the stiffest possible shaft but every swing is different.

Phril will be back to defend, and he might be the top American threat. Otherwise I see a lot of European tour players cashing in. It must be making Cory Pavin nervous as he thinks about the thrashing his Ryder Cup team will take in the mushy 2010 course in Wales. Of course, it’s a long time until September, could get worse. They say Cory is talking to the Olympic committee to see how fast he can get Camillo, VJ and a few others US citizenship. Oh, I just read you can’t pull that Olympic stuff in golf, not yet anyway!

Tell him to get a divorce, the kids will be well looked after. Then play every tour event that he has avoided over the years, in fact, play every week for a year. Win the Fedex Cup and the Road to Dubai.
Hire Fanny to caddy, if she’s not willing, get someone from Augusta. Maybe Bads is looking for a change.
Hang out every week with the guys on the tour, treat every week like it’s a Ryder Cup week. Don’t try to keep up to the Brits though, you’ll need your sleep to play more often, you are older.
Leave messages on Phil’s phone, he’ll be a wreck.

Within a few months you will be the most popular player in the world again. And having a great time winning.

cheers

I just heard a commercial on Golf Channel for their newest teaching video and for some reason as I looked at the screen there was a quote “88% of golfers do not aim properly”. Which means to me that maybe 12% do it properly!

The single biggest slow play cause is people trying to aim properly. On the LPGA Tour the caddies have to stand behind to tell their Pro when they are aimed correctly. This unfortunately is also catching on for the men’s tours too! Even golf balls have cheater lines which require “golfers” to line up their friggin balls, as if the ball will know to follow the line.

So how do you aim properly? USE YOUR EYES and then YOUR MIND – THINK ABOUT WHERE YOU WANT THE BALL AND YOUR SWING TO GO. Can you tell where Freddie Couples is aimed by the way he lines up? Do quarterbacks get a chance to line up every throw? Why can a good hockey player play golf almost instantly?Why do kids putt better than adults? Because they have the target clearly in their mind’s eye. TARGET is more important than alignment 9 times out of 10 (in my humble opinion )

If more golfers would just pick their target, step up to the ball and swing at their target, they’d improve. Making sure that your knees, and shoulders, and club, and whatever else is lined up will help, but only if you have an idea of T A R G E T !