How to Play Boring Golf Like Jordan Spieth

The game plan for Jordan Spieth last week at Pebble Beach was to play "boring golf" and it paid off, winning the AT&T, tying Tiger Woods for most PGA Tour wins before his twenty-fourth birthday and securing a bucket list dream.

What is boring golf and what tips can we take away from Spieth's AT&T Pebble Beach win to help improve our round?

1. On the tee box, Jordan's caddie reminded him to play boring golf, in other words, play it safe, don't be a hero. Remind yourself to aim for center of fairways, avoid trouble taking the correct clubs to go short of trouble and look to land in the center of the green, not necessarily right at the pin.

2. Be patient - Spieth spoke about taking calm and easy swings - improve your tempo and take a breath or two before you swing away.

3. Visualization: Jordan picks specific targets and stays with it. He didn't go for the pin, especially with Pebble Beach winds gusting, instead planning how to shape his shots so that they land where he wanted.

Watch Jordan's Spieth Pebble Beach Interview.

What can we learn from Spieth's overall return to the winner's circle?

1. Set goals each week and look to accomplish them.
2. Stay with the process - keep practicing what you need help with to better your game.
3. Hard work pays off - off-season, work on your long game, ball striking and putting, like Spieth did and you will see alot more fairways in the spring!

What do you do to play "boring" golf? Comment on our golf blog (below) and on Twitter @Golf4Beginners.

Mickelson and Singh pursuits fall short of Tiger Woods perfection. Getting out of a divot and onto the green, sweet spot myth and when balls collide

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Where an eleven on a hole is a mishap which any golfer would prefer to forget, Phil Mickelson will be reminded of his m/c at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am for weeks, even months to come. He wasn't even in the list of golfers on the cut line who got paid for their efforts and went home...nope, not Lefty. He made sure that this collapse would be one for the history books. Recall the 2006 U.S. Open? I'm sure talk of that previous loss will now be regurgitated along with this mishap throughout the golf season until Mickelson returns to form, does something spectacular and/or wins a major tournament.

And what about Vijay Singh who easily had the edge on Sunday but fell apart when his solid play needed to carry him to victory? Singh held a three-stroke lead with only five holes remaining...the deck was stacked in his favor! Defeated by Steve Lowery, a player who was 305th in the world rankings prior to this weekend and had a seven-year gap in the "win" column of his PGA Tour resume, this loss looks strangely familiar to last week's playoff defeat of Mickelson to relative unknown J.B. Holmes.

Singh stated, "One bad shot after another, three holes in succession." Phil's statement? He's says striking the ball well but he "never felt good on the greens".

Those words could have been echoed by either Vijay or Phil, take your pick. Playing aggressively instead of safely, choosing the wrong clubs, problems with the putter...these errors happen to even the greatest golfers. Well...almost all of the top golfers...all except Tiger Woods.

Tiger Woods has the mental game needed to rebound from a slight lapse in judgment. He doesn't dwell on his mishaps but uses quick thinking to adjust to his surroundings and overcome obstacles. Both Mickelson and Singh made errant shots which caused their following efforts to careen into a downward spiral in which they could not mentally recover.

This could be the difference between winning the Grand Slam this season and simply accepting loss as a part of the game. As Phil remarked, "Well, it's just the way it sometimes goes. Sometimes I just don't score well, and I try not to weigh too much into that because I hit a lot of good shots this week." Would Woods have taken an eleven in such a matter-of-fact manner?

This week's Golf for Beginners podcast is loaded with tips from the fairway to the green. What happens when your beautifully hit tee shot woefully lands in a divot? How do you recover? We also discuss the sweet spot myth with the assistance of LPGA Teaching Professional Lana Ortega and the Rules of Golf that pertain to hitting another golf ball either when chipping up, or, from on the green.


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Podcast: Woods and Wie take a break, "The Good the Bad and the Ugly" of celebrity golf, a putting tip for Clint Eastwood and Specfit

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The ATT Pebble Beach National Pro-Am is much like the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. They're both like "silly season" events, heavy on celebrities and good will, but top golf professionals are in attendance getting the rust off their games instead of being on the slopes awaiting a new year of challenges on the PGA Tour.

Giving the ATT Celebrity Pro-Am it's due, Barry and I discuss handicaps of some of the notables this week; who really takes it seriously and who plays there for the laughs and scenery of Pebble Beach.

Take, for example, the celebs who could really use a golf lesson. Clint Eastwood, although a respectable eleven handicap, "could be one of the worst putters I've ever seen" said Jesper Parnevik.

Not that Eastwood needs our help, but we dole out a golf tip that could improve his putting.

Amateurs should really make an attempt to watch these events because as celebrity swings are analyzed, we also can also realize the faults within our own games. One of the most noticeable problems for amateurs and celebrities alike has to do with trying to help the ball go up. Listen for this week's golf tip on how to stay down with your shot.

Best of the celebrities? That distinction goes to Kenny G., a scratch golfer!

Who rates the worst? Listen to this week's broadcast and find out!

BTW, I respectfully disagree with Brandon Tucker's blog which calls Danny Gans a "self-absorbed loser". I believe Gans is trying to cover-up his lack of golfing ability with his impressions but that's what he does to maintain his celebrity and that is what this event its all about. Getting more people involved in golf who normally wouldn't watch a televised event by merging comedy and sport creates more interest for newbies.

We also talk about the new Specfit headgear created by Rissotta, which allows you to hold sunglasses in place as well as pencils, tees and even unlit cigars (although I'm not a fan of "stogies"!)

The magnets sewn into the sides of the cap are great for anything metallic that you can think of, from ball markers to divot tools. We think this idea is creative and we give it "two thumbs up" for originality and ingenuity.

Finally, a hearty congratulations to my golf hero, Phil Mickelson, for being able to rebound and win his first tournament of 2007, the ATT Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. You are the celebrity, Phil, to all of your "Phanatics".

Mickelson tied the tournament record (20-under) with the low round of the day (66). He also won both the professional and amateur events with partner You, the first to do so since Fuzzy Zoeller over twenty years ago. This brings Phil's number of PGA Tour victories to thirty (his third win at this event) but I'm sure this is only the beginning of his 2007 win season.

Continue sending your golf questions and comments to golfforbeginners@aol.com.

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"Shiny Tech" courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)"

This podcast is supported by Pioneer Golf and Florida Golf Travel.