Does the 2011 PGA Tour season start in Kapalua or Torrey Pines?

With neither Tiger Woods nor Phil Mickelson starting their respective golf season until the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines and with a lack of "star power" in Kapalua, will the kick-off at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions become a non-event?

 

The Hyundai Tournament of "Champions", the PGA Tour's season-opener, will be short several winners including Mickelson (Masters), Louis Oosthuizen (British Open) and the big talk of the 2010 golf world, Lee Westwood. Three out of the four major's champions will not be in Hawaii at an event meant to bring them all together for the kickoff of the season.

 

Tiger Woods did not win a single event in 2010 and therefore was not invited to the season opener. Woods' return to Torrey Pines was carefully thought out as Tiger has won the last five events he has played there, including a U.S. Open.

 

Woods and Mickelson were more visible in tabloids and in tweets than on the leaderboard last year. Tiger's indiscretions overpowered his golf skills and Phil's (and family) medical problems overshadowed his single win at The Masters Tournament. The void left from both top PGA Tour golfers has golf fans searching for new heroes during the 2011 season.

 

At least 2010 U.S. Open winner Graeme McDowell will dazzle the crowd and show off his new Srixon golf equipment. "The golf ball is probably one of the things that attracted me most," said McDowell. "I felt like it was a golf ball I could get to the next level with."

 

McDowell is ready to perform in 2011 stating, "I want to maintain this World Ranking and prove that I'm a world-class player." 

 

Ernie Els will be in attendance as well as Geoff Ogilvy, whose 7:1 odds make him a favorite to win.

 

There will be a slew of terrific golfers this week at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions but the PGA Tour is going to have to pull a rabbit out of its hat in order to interest more viewers without relying on Woods or Mickelson to set the pace or the 2011 season may not pick up speed until it gets to Torrey Pines.

 

Credit

 

Posted via email from stacysolomon's posterous

How to avoid a snowball effect in your golf swing.

With the New Year upon us, golfers thoughts turn to fervid resolutions of more purposeful practice with the hopeful results showing through fewer strokes and a lower handicap.

 

Work and life get in the way and, for golfers who had glitches in their golf swing from the start, it is inevitable that those inconsistencies will creep back into the swing. Practicing the basics of the golf swing can save your season and can stop a small swing flaw from turning into into a swing hitch.

 

Golf for Beginners presents excerpts from an article by Brant Kasbohm, PGA Director of Instruction for FixYourGame.com called "The Snowball Effect".

 

What better way to start a New Year than with the fundamentals of a good golf swing?

 

The Snowball Effect, By Brant Kasbohm

 

We all know how (in our lives) one bad decision can breed others, or how one small white lie can lead to more & bigger ones. Such is true in the golf swing. One minor flaw in any of the core fundamentals will only compound and grow as you swing the club. This is the snowball effect—think of the cartoons of the snowball rolling down a hill getting bigger and bigger as it continues to roll. The problem (both snowball and golf swing) gets bigger and bigger the farther it goes.

 

So how do you stop the snowball from rolling when it comes to your swing?

 

You have to focus on the core fundamentals—grip, posture, alignment (aka G.A.S.P.). Most people grip the club poorly (commonly known as a weak grip) with the club in the palms of the hand. This limits the flexibility in your wrists and forearms, which inhibits your release of the club, which causes an open club-face, which causes a slice. People also have bad posture, with their spines crooked, and out of balance. This limits the flexibility and inhibits the torso rotation which reduces club-head speed, and can cause an outside-to-in swing path, which also causes a slice. To correct these flaws, people aim farther to the left to allow for the slice, and guess what happens? The farther left you aim, the more the ball slices. This is how the snowball effect works in golf. I’ve seen this happen hundreds of times.

 

Read the full article and view videos on FixYourGame.com

 

"Mr. Kasbohm's instruction philosophy focuses on the core fundamentals of grip, posture, alignment, weight transfer, and acceleration. These fundamentals are not sexy or exciting, but provide a solid foundation for a repeatable golf swing." FixYourGame.com

 

Posted via email from stacysolomon's posterous