While I Was Away...
/...I can honestly say you guys and gals have absolutely no copying and pasting skills. Not one relevant story worth sharing? I make a simple request and this is what you offer up? Shameful!
(click image to enlarge)To settle the mystery of my secure undisclosed location, I've posted a photo of what I woke up to the last two days. And to answer the inevitable questions. I hit a hybrid where I always hit it, left at the ocean. Provisional made it on the fringe, but found the first one in a horrible lie and chopped it up for my tradition 5. I'm sure you know what hole I'm talking about.
Yes, it remains the coolest, prettiest, wildest place in golf. And I can now say that Room 4 is the best view in golf too.
Now to the most obvious and vital thing I missed today.
The wit and wisdom of TNT's crew. Based on the quotes, I can't wait for Friday's telecast.
From the TNT PR department:
Clampett on Sergio Garcia taking a break since the British Open, where he narrowly missed winning the Claret Jug: “Sergio (Garcia) has not played since the Open Championship. He spent a lot of time with friends and family, played a little tennis, hung out on the beach…just got away from the game and coming here is feeling a little more refreshed.”So he's not quite the
Kostis on missing the fairways at Southern Hills: “Boy, miss the fairways here at Southern Hills and you have stress. You think the heat is a problem, no way (compared to the fairways).”
That certainly might make sense to someone from...Jupiter?
Kostis on Masters Champion Zach Johnson bogeying hole No. 1: “Only good news about bogeying the first hole is you’ve got 17 more to make it up!”
The insights you glean!
Kostis on John Daly not being the prototype player you’d pick to win in the intense heat of Tulsa: “Leave it to John (Daly) to go against the norm. The conventional thinking here is don’t bet on anyone but a thin guy who’s in really good shape because of the heat; that’s not John Daly.”
Ditto the previous pithy comment.
Johnson on John Daly’s approach to golf: “Think back to what John (Daly) said in Carnoustie on the range as he held his Diet Coke and cigarette; he said ‘caffeine plus nicotine equals protein,’ and here he is leading the PGA Championship (as he finishes his first round).”
Okay, I'm thinking back. Now what?
And now we take a break for something worthwhile...
Feherty on how the relationship between a golfer and caddy has changed over the years: “I used to hire caddies for their entertainment value. I figured I was a professional golfer, I played golf for a living and I wasn’t going to ask someone for advice that had been up all night drinking cleaning products the night before. Having said that, caddies have really changed over the last 15-20 years. There are a lot of very professional people out there that take their jobs really seriously and are of terrific help. (Mickelson’s caddy) Jim MacKay and Phil are one of the great pairings out there, and when you do see a caddy that has stayed with a player for a long time you know that’s a special relationship.”
Feherty on the piece showing footage from 1970: “Watching Dave Stockton win back in 1970, that was polyester (he was wearing)! You add polyester to 103-degrees and we’re talking about an entirely different situation.”
Well you knew the fun could only last so long...
Clampett on how to gauge the focus of young players such as Graeme Storm who is leading the first round: “One of the things I look at in a young player when he grabs the lead of the tournament is the speed on his putts. If he’s controlling the speed on the putts, he’s really controlling his concentration and his feel.”
Or drinking lots of Diet Coke?
Kostis on an assertion that David Toms might be looking toward the Champions Tour: “That move right there (bending down for a ball) showed me (Toms) is still on the regular tour because on the Champions Tour when you get to that age, you don’t bend down like that, you tilt your head, keep your legs straight…you don’t get down because you don’t know if you’ll get up again.”
I guess you had to see that one. Tomorrow!
