Tiger Woods' Tour Championship Game Plan Can Help You Win at Golf

There was always a mystique that surrounded Tiger Woods; whether he won or not in golf, throngs of fans have followed his progress (and decline) through a five-year winless streak on the PGA Tour. The influence Woods has had in over the past twenty years has changed the face of golf.

The outcome of the Tour Championship changed both our perception of the former number one player in the world as well as his own self-esteem as he smiled broadly during his round knowing he also had the slim possibility of a FedEx Cup victory.

Tiger Woods' Strategy for Tour Championship victory

Woods looked like the Tiger of old as he proceeded to implement his plan for victory and he could not hide his joy as he stepped out onto the 18th green, sunk a par putt, and accepted his reward for a job well done.

"The game plan was to shoot under par, and I birdied the first hole right out of the gate,'' Tiger Woods said after winning the Tour Championship. "I just had to suck it up and hit shots."

But there was more to Tiger Woods' plan than to shoot under par and "suck it up" on the course. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced amateur, creating a strategy before playing your round will benefit you by lowering your score.

Below are three golf tips which Tiger Woods implemented at the Tour Championship.

1. Leave your ball below the hole - an uphill putt is better than a downhill slide as you can give the ball a good, solid roll as opposed to tenderly judging your speed.

2. View putt from behind the hole. Tiger Woods looked at the green from several angles to determine the lie and angle of his putt.

3. Place your tee shot on the correct side of the fairway to give yourself the right approach onto the green. Take trouble out of play and visualize your next shot.

Tiger Woods went back to the basics to win after a five-year drought - if he can do it, so can you.

Although Justin Rose struggled to a FedEx Cup victory while Tiger Woods dominated at the Tour Championship, Golf for Beginners wishes hearty congratulations to both the current and former world number-one golfers in the world.

Did PGA Tour Championship or Fed Ex Cup mean more to Jim Furyk?

A dejected Luke Donald concluded that the double bogey on the 15th hole on Saturday was why he lost out on a $10 million Fed Ex Cup prize to Jim Furyk. Furyk, on the other hand, was busy trying to lift both the PGA Tour Championship and Fed Ex Cup trophies, while trying to decide which meant more to him.

Pointing to the Fed Ex Cup Furyk said,

"They both mean a lot, to be honest with you, but this one is a season. ... I focused all week on trying to win this one (pointing to THE TOUR Championship trophy) and hoped this one (the FedExCup) could come true."

Perhaps Furyk now has another trophy in his sights, namely the Jack Nicklaus Trophy as the PGA Tour's Player of the Year.

Jim Furyk is now moving on to the 2010 Ryder Cup and, if 2008 Ryder Cup action is any indication of how he'll perform, I suspect Team USA will be taking home the trophy once again!

Here is last year's picture of Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods with their respective Tour Championship and Fed Ex Cup trophies. Doesn't this take you back to a time before all of the Tiger Woods drama?

From PGA Tour Championship to Ryder Cup to Caddyshack, Golfers Quotes before FedEx Cup

From defending Tour Championship golfer Phil Mickelson to first-time Ryder Cup nominee Matt Kuchar, PGA Tour players had plenty to say going into this week's golf tournament with an eye on winning the $10 million prize and FedEx Cup bragging rights.

 

Here are a few golf quotes from Mickelson, Kuchar, Hoffman, Casey, Johnson and a long-winded Steve Stricker.

 

Q. Several things could happen this week. If you win you'd be the No. 1 player in the world, you'd be the only guy ever to successfully defend this championship, probably be Player of the Year, and yet still all of the stars would have to align correctly in order for you to win the FedExCup. Do you think that's right, or is there another tweaking in the system that needs to be made so that those kinds of year-long things matter more than these last four events?

PHIL MICKELSON: I haven't played well in the first three FedExCup events, and so you have to have some value to those events. And you can't have it all just be -- just come down to one event. I guess you could, but I haven't played well enough in the first three events. If I had played halfway decent, I would be in a position to control my own destiny. I started out third or fourth, started out in good position, but because of my play, I am where I'm at.

 

And then Mickelson regaled golf reporters with a little known fact about Caddyshack...

Q. I was talking to Corey Monday about the 30th anniversary of Caddyshack, and he picked you as the guy on his team this year that knew more about Caddyshack than anything else, that kept you guys going. Can you talk about why that movie has endured so much, and would you put your Caddyshack knowledge against anybody out here?

PHIL MICKELSON: No, there's guys that know more useless information than I do (laughter) --

 

Q. That's not what he said.

PHIL MICKELSON: But I will share with you a little tidbit about that movie that not many people know about, and the gentleman who created that movie, who wrote it and who I believe produced it and put it all together ended up killing himself before the movie was ever released, about a month before, because the critics had beaten it up so bad, and he was so overcome by this that he ended up taking his own life and not being able to enjoy the success that this movie has had, and I think that's too bad.

 

Q. If you were to win $10 million, what would you do with it?

MATT KUCHAR: I really don't know. I'd hope I could turn it into a lot more. That would probably be my thought. But there's nothing really that I need. There's nothing that I really want.

 

CHARLEY HOFFMAN: Ironically I haven't really thought about winning the FedExCup much this year. I really wasn't in contention to be here until a couple weeks ago when I won. I'm approaching it like any other tournament, trying to get the win, and obviously all the accolades will come along with that.

 

Q. What are the goods and bads of the FedExCup? What are the highs and lows and the up and downsides of it?

PAUL CASEY: I haven't really thought about it too much. Is the system perfect? Probably not. I don't know. I mean, certainly when we had the situation when Padraig Harrington missed the TOUR Championship, even though he was a double major champion. He was actually Player of the Year if I remember correctly. That wasn't right. But it's changed since then, I think, hasn't it? I don't know.

I'm sure FedEx would love to have had the defending champion of this event and defending champion of the FedExCup, both of them in the field. We've got Phil -- what is Phil? 10th or something? But without Tiger and Phil, it's going to be disappointing to FedEx. I don't know. I don't know how to -- the highs and lows?

I haven't really fallen afoul of the system, and as far as I'm concerned, it's an opportunity to obviously made an awful lot of money. So from my angle, it's all positives.

 

Q. When you look at your career going forward, has being the No. 1 player in the world ever been a specific goal?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: No, I don't set goals like that. Obviously if I win enough golf tournaments, if I play well the next year or so, it could be a possibility. But as far as my goal being the best player in the world, it's not one of my goals. You know, most of my goals are short-term goals, and I just try to give myself the opportunity to be there.

 

Q. You mentioned that your resurgence has sort of mirrored the history of the FedExCup. It's got enough age on it now that we can pretty much have a report card. What is your assessment at this point of the FedExCup and its history? Success? Not a success? And what are the best and worst things about it?

STEVE STRICKER: I think it's been a success. I think it's done what it was set out to do, and that's to gain more interest in our sport during a time period where our interests kind of went away a little bit because of the start of football season and college and the NFL. And I think we still get a lot of media, we still get a lot of exposure because of the FedExCup, and it gains -- we have some interest later into the season, where at the PGA it usually stops. So I think in that regard, it's good. And it's been good for the players. We're playing -- who can complain about playing for the type of money that we're playing for?

 

So all that said, I think it's been a good thing. But on the other hand, I think the point system quite isn't right yet, and I think we're going to address that again at the end of the year. No matter what point system we come up with, I think you're going to have issues or circumstances that are going to jump out and not seem quite right. And we've had it -- you know, even the last couple years. I think if we can keep tweaking it where it's a little bit -- I don't know what the correct word is, but to represent more of a guy who plays well all year long, but he still needs to play well in the FedExCup to win it all.

Right now every shot doesn't matter. You could finish 120-something on the list and still win the FedExCup. I think we need to do a little bit better job of having a guy who plays well all year long, still kind of staying in there towards the end, but give a guy a chance maybe further down the list if he wins a couple of these playoff events that he could actually win it all. I think it's a fine line there no matter what you do.

 

Q. One quick follow-up. If you ask any fan who's going to show up today, as much as they like the FedExCup and enjoy this event, none of them are going to put it on par with a major. Do the players feel the same way? Where does this rank? How many FedExCups equal a major?

STEVE STRICKER: Oh, I don't know. I don't think it's looked at as important as a major yet. Maybe some day it will if we continue on with it. I know if you ask any one of these 30 players here if they want to win it, I guarantee the answer is yes. Obviously there's a lot of money at stake. But it signifies that you played well, and I think that's the bottom line. I think it would be a feather in anybody's cap to hoist that FedExCup Trophy at the end of it all. It's something more for us to play for. There's, like I say, a lot to play for, and I think it adds excitement for us and fans alike.

 

 

Read the complete Tour Championship transcripts.

 

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Will Tiger Woods let the FedEx Cup slip through his fingers?

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Despite the fact that Tiger Woods missed his final putt at the 18th hole of the Barclays, he still made watching the event a nail-biting experience. Instead of fans cheering Woods to victory, however, this time his legion of die-hard followers were holding their breath as easy two-footers became part of his dilemma.

"Man," Woods said, "to miss as many putts as I did this week, to still have a chance on the last green with a putt, it goes to show you how good I am at hitting it."

Yes, Tiger is one of the greatest ball strikers of all time but it cost him just as much on the scorecard to slice one into the woods as to miss short putts. As Ian O'Connor mentioned, Woods' putter was "completely overmatched".

Could it be that Tiger has lost his moxie, is becoming less concerned about his game thus practicing his putting a bit less and is allowing his family to consume more of his time? Placing less importance on his game but savoring the important things in life could be the best thing that ever happened to Woods.

In spite of his misses, the number-one golfer in the world still has five wins to his credit this season as opposed to guys like Heath Slocum and Y.E. Yang who struggle to keep their tour cards each week. Woods is also leading the FedEx Cup playoffs in points and is still the hands-down favorite to win the $10 million prize.

So, Tiger Woods' "B" game is still strong enough to batter his opponents even though, on occasion, secondary Tour players shine. Every once in a while, a Riddick Bowe beats a Mike Tyson...that is what keeps fans coming out to watch.

As far as considering Woods' year a "letdown" (see link credit below) when comparing him to Roger Federer, each great player has had to defeat their "archrivals" but I believe that these enemies also come from within. Tiger Woods may be allowing this momentary lapse of career interest to occur only because, "our player career is a little bit longer than theirs (Federer)."

As for Jack Nicklaus, the jury is still out but, with time on his side, I think Woods will shake off his malaise and easily surpass the Golden Bear.

Even the Statue of Liberty s shocked that Tiger missed that seven-foot putt on 18!

This week on the Golf for Beginners podcast, we discuss if a tree is, in fact, 90 percent air and the odds of getting struck by lightning with the help of the Discovery Channel show, "Mythbusters". We also wonder if parents are doing enough to teach their children proper golf course etiquette after our twilight round this past week.

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"Letdown" link credit: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/golf/view.bg?articleid=1194377&format=&page=3&listingType=Golf#articleFull

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Miller sends Tiger Woods a "Dear John" letter. Aging Mickelson falls prey to Villegas, Kim. Nicklaus hits it big with Performance 18

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Golf Analyst Johnny Miller maintains that Tiger Woods was not missed at either the Tour Championship or the Ryder Cup. He has even gone so far as to blame Woods for Team USA's problematic history. I can understand Miller's Ryder Cup theory as Tiger Woods has rarely been known to be a team player but, taking his idea a step further, would the PGA Tour be better off with, or without Woods?

It's true that some of Miller's off-the-cuff commentary can be a bit absurd (Mediate "looks like the guy who cleans Tiger’s swimming pool, for example") but after watching up-and-coming flamboyant and charismatic young guns Anthony Kim and Camilo Villegas excite the crowd time and time again, some of Miller's musings are believable.

I disagree, however, that age played a factor with Mickelson, ever the punching bag, who was beaten over the head for being thirty-eight years old. Age is not the reason why Phil could not make putts, and I'm sure that V.J. Singh would concur with that fact.

Johnny Miller, whose ramblings are worthy of note (that's why he's a commentator), should aspire to change the FedEx Cup points distribution system. Under the close circumstances in which both Singh and Villegas came to their eventual respective positions, perhaps a play-off would have been in order to create that end-of-season fervor that the PGA Tour, and the fans, are desperately looking for?

In addition to our commentary about the Tour Championship and both Mickelson and Garcia's inability to win in the face of challenge, we also offer our experiences while wearing Jack Nicklaus Performance 18 apparel at Turning Stone Resort. Performance 18 offers Coolplus® technology, UV protection, is fashionable and lightweight and had me feeling so stylish and comfortable that I felt as if I was on the LPGA Tour!

A golf tip on how to hit a 460cc driver is also featured. With clubheads as large as garbage cans, it shouldn't be that difficult, should it?


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Photo Credit: © Outside the Beltway.

Woods and Mickelson unite, is your golf game stagnant and stop competitors from getting into your head

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Now that Presidents Cup fever has replaced FedEx Cup mayhem, it will be interesting to see how Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson perform as comrades uniting for a common goal.

Although Team U.S.A. has only five golfers ranked in the top-twenty of the PGA Tour's Official Golf Rankings, the combination of Woods, Mickelson, Stricker and Furyk will most certainly dominate at this year's event. With the addition of Scott Verplank and Stewart Cink, who always appear to keep cool under pressure, the "Internationals" will have a tough time holding on, in my opinion, even with Ernie Els leading the pack. Rory Sabbatini can't close a deal and gets flustered around Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh has missed his last two cuts and Mike Weir just hasn't shown much spunk this season. Hoping for Adam Scott and Geoff Ogilvy to hold off the Americans is like wishing for Colin Montgomerie to win an event on the PGA Tour here in the States...it just won't happen.

Phil Mickelson was featured in first few minutes of the latest Family Guy episode ("Blue Harvest") on the Fox Network (not available yet as a download). Actually, his wife Amy was the topic of discussion with Phil appearing as a cartoonish prop. The demeaning and vulgar commentary about Amy was too long, unnecessary and not really all that funny. Why did writer Alec Sulkin single out Mickelson? Could it be a weird twist on Mickelson's "family guy" image?

Or could it be because Elin Woods, a former bikini model, was just too easy a target and no one wishes to upset Woods, lest, in a fit of rage, Tiger decided to purchase the Fox Network and cancel the show!

Without watching the Turning Stone Resort Championship, it was totally up to the internet to provide us with Steve Flesch's terrific win. Congrats to Flesch although would he have had such an easy time if the top players in the world were competing at Atunyote? Or is this fall series, with the interest falling on keeping a PGA Tour card, more stressful than accruing FedEx Cup points?


Golf for Beginners podcast also discusses Mike Pedersen's new golf blog which takes us through the top reasons golfers just don't improve. In addition to these golf tips, we admit a flaw in last week's blog about the Solheim Cup and answer an email from a listener who asks, "how do you deal with playing partners who insist on keeping you up to date with your score when you'd rather not know your running score?"

Send your golf questions and comments to golfforbeginners@aol.com.

Subscribe to our weekly podcast through this RSS feed:http://feeds.feedburner.com/golfforbeginners or through iTunes. Nextel/Sprint cell customers type http://www.mymbn.com/podcast/ in your browser and click on "sports casts". Our station number is 1955.

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

This podcast is supported by Florida Golf Travel.

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Tiger Woods captures virgin FedEx Cup, Team USA clobbers ROW to retain Solheim Cup, sweep uphill chips and how to acheive a winning attitude

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Tiger Woods took home a bevy of accolades yesterday, the culmination of a yearlong effort to embrace the virgin FedEx Cup and confirm his status as Player of the Year.

In addition to a $1.25 million purse from his win at the Tour Championship, Tiger also hoisted a beautiful crystal trophy (which will have to be either repaired or replaced as a part of it was damaged at the ceremony). But, the moment which placed the gleam in Tiger's eyes and a wide, Cheshire-cat grin on his face was when he caressed the still "never-been-kissed" FedEx Cup. The virgin trophy is now in the hands of the golfer who deserves it the most. As Tiger Woods recounted, "I think once you experience it, you want to have it again. It's like winning a major championship. It feels so good, you want to get another one." Enough said!

We discuss the defense of next year's title in this week's show as well as the inability of PGA Tour golfers to keep up with Woods.

Did the knowledge that they were to receive a FedEx Cup bonus of $2 or $3 million dollars in spite of how they played on Sunday curb the charge of Stricker and Mickelson?

Introducing the subject of frustration, Sunday singles matches at the Solheim Cup proved that Team U.S.A. is once again the dominating partnership, even when on foreign soil. From Morgan Pressel's confident thrashing of Annika Sorenstam right down to the final putt of Nicole Castrale which clinched the Cup, the ladies showed spunk and determination. Although European Team Captain Helen Alfredsson tried to put a good spin on the whole affair, I think she felt that being part of a team was the most important part of the experience.

Alfredsson stated, "They're very tough on their own, and we do enjoy a lot of strength when we are a team because we like to be a team. They are a lot more individual, and I don't have the answer to them, but, in a way I'm happy that we are the strongest team because that makes us be very fun."

If fun were one of the prerequisites to winning the Cup, I'm sure Natalie Gulbis and Paula Creamer would have had a grand old time but I'm also positive the Americans celebrated with the Cup in hand as a group!

As for Team Europe, there isn't much fun and to be had as 100,000 fans come to watch you sweat.

Our golf tips this week feature lessons from both Chuck Evans and David Leadbetter. Evans helps us to develop a winning mindset during a tournament and Leadbetter's instruction on how to sweep uphill chips will save strokes for those of us who play on courses designed for billy goats.

Send your golf questions and comments to golfforbeginners@aol.com.

Subscribe to our weekly podcast through this RSS feed:http://feeds.feedburner.com/golfforbeginners or through iTunes. Nextel/Sprint cell customers type http://www.mymbn.com/podcast/ in your browser and click on "sports casts". Our station number is 1955.

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

This podcast is supported by Florida Golf Travel.

This podcast is supported by New Roc Harley Davidson, your worldwide parts and accessories distributor. Great rides start here!.

Will Phil Mickelson's absence from the BMW Championship hand Tiger Woods the FedEx Cup, can the driving range hurt your game and redress at address

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This weekend the news on the PGA Tour wasn't necessarily that Tiger Woods won his fourth BMW Championship, his sixtieth event or even that he is close to overcoming Arnold Palmer's record but, rather, that he has all but locked up his bid for the FedEx Cup. For all of his grumbling in the past few weeks where Woods wanted to see the $10 million purse stacked up in cash at the first tee of the Tour Championship because as Tiger claimed, "I may not be around to collect it", there were no complaints yesterday as it was learned that only three golfers have a real shot at the deferred annuity next week.

The other two hopefuls will be wishing for a miracle this week at the elite thirty player field.

With Woods, Mickelson and Stricker as the only three players to have a real chance to win the FedEx Cup with a long shot stretching out to K.J. Choi and Rory Sabbatini, you have to wonder if the other twenty-five even want to show up knowing there is only about $1 million at stake during this final season tournament. With the outrageous purses growing exorbitantly each year, the only guys that seem to be interested in playing weekly are the golfers on the European Tour and those players with a fear of losing their card at the end of the season. Stricker hasn't seen a hefty payday in 146 tournaments (eleven years since he's won in the U.S.A.) so he's one of the few grinders looking forward to events with such payouts. Rory Sabbatini is just yearning to kick some Tiger butt, but is his trash talk the best part of his game?

On the other hand, not playing in the BMW Championship probably cost Phil Mickelson the FedEx Cup. If Mickelson wins the Tour Championship and Woods places second, Phil will lose the trophy, and the $10 million, by just twenty points! I wonder how that's going to sit with Lefty (and coach Butch Harmon), knowing that he won two of the four events and still came up short!

Perhaps Ernie Els said it best, "We love what the tour has done for us but we just need to get closer to the big decisions, because then we won't get into problems down the line."


Here is what the FedEx Cup boils down to this week:

If Woods wins the Tour Championship, he takes the Cup, the money and the glory of being the first to win this event.

If Mickelson wins this week, he has to hope that Woods doesn't finish in second place or Woods wins by twenty points.

If Stricker wins this week, he would take the FedEx Cup because he already won the Barclays, placing well enough in all four events to clinch the trophy.

K.J. Choi and Rory Sabbatini have an outside chance to win the FedEx Cup if Tiger Woods doesn't finish in the top-fifteen. What's the chance of that happening?


This week Golf for Beginners not only discusses backlash from top PGA Tour players about the FedEx Cup but also gives you some easy golf tips meant to help you both at the driving range and on the course. For example, what should you do if you are standing uncomfortably over the golf ball for what appears to be an inordinate amount of time? And, can any good come out of pounding golf balls at the driving range?

Send your golf questions and comments to golfforbeginners@aol.com.

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

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Is Michelle wie delusional, lag putt debate and how to hit fairway woods from different lies

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As Lorena Ochoa's star rises and her mental game grows stronger, Michele Wie's game continues to decline. The problem is that Michelle does not notice that she is on this slippery slope. She actually believes that her game is better than it really is! For example, when Wie missed the cut this week at the Safeway Classic, she actually thought that she was playing well and didn't really understand how her score didn't reflect her ability. As Michelle queried, "I felt like I didn't shoot this bad. But, like I say, the score didn't show how I played today."

Is Wie deluding herself into believing that she is still very much "in the game" or is she just putting up a facade for the cameras?

Can it really be just a single year since Michelle Wie admirably challenged the ladies on tour, finishing among the top five in three major events? Is this the same teenager who thumbed her nose up at the LPGA, believing that her future would be better served playing against the men on the PGA Tour? I'm not really sure if the LPGA would even want her to sign up at this point in her career!

Even websites devoted to Michelle Wie have stopped her promotion. There hasn't been an entry on Wieblogging.com since May (nothing to write about?) and although hometown newspapers like The Honolulu Adviser and websites like MissMichelleWie.comstrive to show Wie in the best possible light, it is becoming evident that there is little good news left to print about her golf game.

This week on Golf for Beginners, we discuss Michelle Wie's latest missed cut at the Safeway Classic and also offer a number of great golf tips from tee to green. Our disccusion on the lag putt should not be missed!

Congratulations to both Lorena Ochoa for her third win in a row and to Steve Stricker for his success at the Barclays! Here is a link to ease any confusion about the FedEx Cup.

Send 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 Golf Canada's WestMyrtle Beach Golf and Florida Golf Travel.

This podcast is supported by New Roc Harley Davidson, your worldwide parts and accessories distributor. Great rides start here!.

Tiger Woods cancels Barclays claiming fatigue, Michelle Wie wilts, easy tips from Sorenstam and Adam Scott

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Tiger Woods claims that he is physically and mentally drained after winning both the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the PGA Championship. The world's number one golfer announced on his website that his body is "spent" and needs time to recuperate.

With good intentions, Woods stated recently that his plan was to show for all four FedEx Cup playoff events but, with little notice, withdrew just prior to the first playoff. I personally don't think it's fair to either the PGA Tour, the sponsors of the event who announced (with regularity) that Tiger is coming to Westchester CC and certainly not to the New York area fans who probably got their tickets weeks ago in anticipation of seeing TW at the Barclays. But it appears that Tiger beats to his own drum now and seeks out tournaments which benefits his sponsors and charities.

Is this fair or should Woods be held to a more strict schedule for this FedEx Cup that he originally touted as such a great idea? He was "given" his own tournament in Washington D.C. this year by Tim Finchem (the Congressional) which seems to have taken the place of the now defunct International; should it now be payback time for Woods?

Not a chance, but Tiger is scheduled to play in the second leg of the FedEx Cup at the Deutsche Bank Championship which also happens to support the Tiger Woods Learning Center. Both the third and fourth playoffs are currently not listed on his schedule.

Another golfer who appears to have "wilted" under tournament pressure is Michelle Wie.

Unfortunately, Wie is fast becoming just another name in a large crowd of golfers catalogued under the "missed cut" section of the leaderboard, this week at the Canadian Women's Open. At least her caddies seem to be improving their status over time as former bag carrier Greg Johnson now loops for Ginn Open champ Brittany Lincicome and David Clark left before this event to carry the bag for PGA Tour's Greg Owen. Of course, with a current standing of 156th, did Clark really make that good of a decision or did he do it just to get away from Team Wie?

For example, does Bo Wie really need to place practice balls on the tee for Michelle? Can't seventeen-year-old Wiesy just bend down and place them there herself?

This week on Golf for Beginners, in addition to the latest about Tiger Woods and Michelle Wie, we also include easy golf tips from Annika Sorenstam and Adam Scott. A flagstick ruling also comes into question.

Subscribe to our weekly podcast through this RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/golfforbeginners or through iTunes. Nextel/Sprint cell customers type http://www.mymbn.com/podcast/ in your browser and click on "sports casts". Our station number is 1955.

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

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This podcast is supported by New Roc Harley Davidson, your worldwide parts and accessories distributor. Great rides start here!.

Will Daly's six-pack and Mickelson's roll of the dice challenge Woods for FedEx cup, RedEye i330 laser putter update, deep rough maneuvers and more!

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Even though Phil Mickelson resumed a practice regimen for the PGA Championship, it still wasn't enough to beat (or even compete against) Tiger Woods, who won his thirteenth career major after a sweltering weekend at Southern Hills.

Did practice make a difference for Mickelson or should he have taken the "John Daly approach", going in cold after a diet of casino play and cold beer? Both Mickelson and Daly finished with a +6 after four rounds of play and both appeared to be in good spirits afterwards with Phil claiming, "I don't want to be hard on myself because, for a couple, I wasn't able to make the swings and hit the shots I needed to try to hit," feeling that his Players Championship victory is "what salvaged the year for me."

John Daly, ever optimistic commented, "It was a good week, just take small steps."

Mickelson looked confused and tired. Should he have just said, "the heck with it" and played agressively this weekend? Mickelson would have probably had more fun and may have scored better! Although Daly's approach to Southern Hills finished with the same results, in the end, Daly looked like he played the better game.

So what's next for Phil Mickelson? He says he's excited about the FedEx Cup playoffs but will we see a showdown between Lefty and Tiger Woods? My guess is that Woods will walk away with the ten million dollars although Daly is always an unknown.


This week on Golf for Beginners we give you an update on Barry's progress with the RedEye i330 laser putter, golf tips on dealing with the rough and how to stop topping the ball.

Subscribe to our weekly podcast through this RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/golfforbeginners or through iTunes. Nextel/Sprint cell customers type http://www.mymbn.com/podcast/ in your browser and click on "sports casts". Our station number is 1955.

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

This podcast is supported by San Diego Golf Central and Florida Golf Travel.

This podcast is supported by New Roc Harley Davidson, your worldwide parts and accessories distributor. Great rides start here!.

Tiger Woods' escape from deep rough, Zagat Golf Course Guide and Stan Utley's chipping drill

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Tiger Woods may not have had a stellar performance at the Players Championship (his putting let him down once again), but at least he came away with a smile on his face on Sunday after redeeming himself with a five-under-par 67.

Although Tiger might have difficulty putting, rest assured that Woods is one of the best putters around. He is also terrific out of deep rough. We give you a Tiger tip to assist you when the rough is as deep as it was at Winged Foot during the 2006 U.S. Open.

Also on Golf for Beginners, Barry and I look at the new Zagat guide:America's Top Golf Courses. With input from over 6,000 golfers (most were men) and a rating system similar to their popular nightlife and restaurant guides, this Zagat Guide is an interesting addition to their lineup.

Stan Utley is a professional advisor to Golf Digest. In this month's magazine he gives us a very easy-to-learn chipping drill. We pass it along to you.

Finally, congratulations to Phil Mickelson! Lefty is now second only to Tiger Woods in FedEx Cup points. The race for PGA Tour dominance is on!

With Butch Harmon on his team, is Mickelson now feeling confident enough to take on Tiger Woods head-to-head?


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

Subscribe to our weekly podcast through this RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/golfforbeginners or through iTunes. Nextel/Sprint cell customers type http://www.mymbn.com/podcast/ in your browser and click on "sports casts". Our station number is 1955.

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

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

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Podcast: Will Phil Mickelson be any competition for Tiger Woods in the FedEx Cup race, Sorenstam "flip-flops" on baby issue, a look at GolfSpan Mobile

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Vijay Singh began the golf season at the Mercedes-Benz Championship where he showed great form after the holiday layoff.

Second in the PGA Tour rotation was Phil Mickelson, who, although a bit rustier than Singh, provided viewers with more than just a glimpse of his spectacular drives and relaxed demeanor.

Finally, the time that golf fans have been waiting for is over: Tiger Woods is making his 2007 debut at the Buick Invitational. Taking the "gone skiing" notice from off of his front door, Woods readies himself for the long road ahead where he'll be challenging both Singh and Mickelson for not only top position on the money list but also for the lion's share of FedEx points.

Is a $10 million deferred bonus enough to make Tiger Woods get his head into the game or...

Could this tournament mark a change in interests for the reigning number-one golfer on the PGA Tour now that he has a child on the way? Will he be able to defend this week's title for the third time? I'm not so sure. Tiger Woods exclaimed on his website recently, "I just haven't been able to prepare. I usually spend one week working on my game before a tournament, and have been unable to do that this year."

Barry and I examine not only Mickelson and Woods' debut but also LPGA superstar Annika Sorenstam's retraction of a comment she made to a Swedish newspaper where she claimed she was ready to retire and have children.

Also on this week's broadcast, we take a look at GolfSpan Mobile, a new technology in which you can learn golf right from your own cell phone with the assistance of top PGA professionals such as Hank Haney, Jim McLean, Jane Blalock and more. Is this video technology too advanced for current wireless networks? We'll give you the pros and cons from our perspective.

Finally, we offer up a golf tip which is useful whether you're a beginner or even a professional golfer!

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

Subscribe to our weekly podcast through this RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/golfforbeginners or through iTunes. Nextel/Sprint cell customers type http://www.mymbn.com/podcast/ in your browser and click on "sports casts". Our station number is 1955.

You can also download our previous Golf for Beginners episodes by clicking here.