Woodland Transitions into Winners Mindset with First Golf Victory

Playing against a group of fresh, up-and-coming PGA Tour golfers instead of the grinders whose names are regularly found hovering on the top-ten of the leaderboard was quite possibly the catalyst which helped Lake Nona golf pro Gary Woodland transition from competitor to winner.

Woodland said, after his victory at the Transitions Championship, that he has been learning a lot this year on the PGA Tour about "how to play this game", from controlling nerves to basic strategy. Even though he has been a pro golfer since 2009, Gary was sidelined with an injury that took him out of competition.

"Get it on the green and let the putter do the work. That's what I'm learning," said Woodland. "I'm learning you can't just come out here and fire at every pin and hit driver on every hole. I did that '09 and it didn't work out very well."

During this week, Woodland's name was clumped together with other golfers hard-pressed to be recognized on a leaderboard. PGA Tour events such as the Transitions Championship are training grounds for players battling to break out and shine while the more well-known draws like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson "rest up" before their next event (which will be at Bay Hill).

After this win, Woodland has moved up one hundred places in the world rankings (to 491st), has a spot reserved for him at Augusta and has gotten exempt playing status through the 2013 season.

The win this week has also given Gary Woodland the respect of the field, the title "PGA Tour Champion" and the notice of the fans.

Kathy Whitworth once said about Michelle Wie that, "at some point, for her sake, she needs to place herself in a competition where she is expected to win." Gary Woodland did this at the Transitions Championship: Woodland knew he was good enough, he just had to prove it to himself.

Has this victory given Woodland the confidence needed for future events against a more mature field like he will encounter at Bay Hill?

"I was athletic, but I didn't know what I was doing out here," Woodland commented. "I got hurt and I had to step back and really figure out how to play this game. And I'm starting to figure that out right now."

 

Voice your opinion on Golf4Beginners on Twitter

 

Read more Golf for Beginners blogs

 

 

Posted via email from stacysolomon's posterous

Tiger Woods Masters preview on Late Night Show?

A noticeably matured yet whiskerless Tiger Woods allowed himself to be the butt of Jimmy Fallon's jokes last night on 'Late Night' in order to push the latest EA Sports Game, "Tiger Woods PGA 12: The Masters" to a somewhat accepting audience.


Fallon used golf terms with double entendres such as "shaft" and "foursome" to force the seemingly stiff Woods into a smile. Tiger's tired eyes said much to his fans even though he appeared to remain a good sport all the while.


"And we laughed at your pain," needled Fallon. "I mean, not even making jokes. It kind of wrote itself."


It was the following segment, a demonstration of "PGA Tour 12: The Masters" on Wii, that was the real purpose of Woods' appearance. Tiger was there for the money shot, to be a walking billboard for EA Sports and to sell 'Late Night' viewers on the new game, not to talk about his personal life golf instuctor catfights or how his own golf game is coming round (although Woods was truly proud of his recently remodeled Jupiter estate, complete with four golf holes and four different types of sand in the bunkers.)


Amy Poehler, who looked as if this was the first time she ever picked up a golf club, was there to loosen up Woods (which she did when she swung the Wii controller) and to add further comic relief to Fallon's innocuous barbs.


The three played the 12th hole at Augusta National: Golden Bell. The shortest hole on the course and one of the three holes included in Amen Corner, Golden Bell is a deceptive par-3, 155 yard hole in which accuracy is key as winds and a narrow green complicate the shot.

Both Amy and Jimmy were feeding off of each other, trying to take Tiger out of his game while waiting for the big money shot to occur, perhaps for birdie or par? They hoped to see Woods loosen up and boogie down a bit but Tiger remained as stolid as if he were in real competition, game face on, not taking any prisoners.


After what seemed to be a hundred shots from Poehler who was desperately trying to get over Rae's Creek and with Fallon using his putter like a baseball bat, Woods finally got his chance to claim victory.


Standing over a three-foot putt, Tiger Woods confidently holed out...for a bogey.


Preview of things to come?


Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) related his feelings on Twitter:

First win of the year, unfortunately it was against @jimmyfallon.



Voice your opinion on Golf4Beginners on Twitter

Is cat fight over Tiger Woods golf game justified?

Past and present golf instructors of Tiger Woods have been taking trash talk to a whole new level with commentary, tweets and barbs aimed at character defamation and criticism over the former world number-one's golf swing.

Some say that Lee Trevino innocently started the 'battle of the golf coaches' when he suggested that Tiger Woods should "get his mindset straight and quit messing with all these instructors...then his winning ways will return."

Instead of reminding Trevino that every great golfer should have a teacher to guide and assist, and probably worried that Woods would listen and clean house, Sean Foley (Woods' current tutor) pointed the proverbial finger at former coach Hank Haney stating, "There was nothing about what he was doing in his previous swing that made any sense to me," mentioning that Haney built most of his teaching career around Woods.

Isn't making a name for himself using Tiger Woods as a springboard exactly what Foley is attempting to do?

In an effort to defend himself, Hank Haney came out swinging and, since he is getting accustomed to Twitter, answered his accuser with retweets from fans such as:

"Sean Foley=Clueless"

A vocal Butch Harmon has recently chimed into the conversation perhaps standing up for Haney (?) by pointing a finger at Foley with this barb, "it's not a good idea to completely do a redo" of someone's golf swing suggesting Tiger looked a bit like a "Nationwide Tour player trying to get his card."

The harsh roundtable criticism is childish, hateful and unnecessary. Haney was a good influence on Woods, helping him to win six majors "and 45% of the events he played grabbing a top-ten finish 85% of the time during the last three years he was his coach." Sean Foley has been instructing Woods for about a year now waiting to see his influence take effect...perhaps the reason for his war of words.

Tiger Woods is silent on the subject but should he speak up? Should he tweet, "stop the fighting already because it's not good for my game or for the game of golf?"

In my opinion, golf is supposed to be a sport of positive influence, where tipping one's hat and acknowledging good play is expected; in other words, spitting, throwing clubs and harsh words should be kept off camera and/or should be worked out in a constructive way.

With Woods making the talk show circuit on Late Night and on Morning Drive, it could be that the media will help set the record straight. Perhaps Jimmy Fallon will dig in and get answers on March 16th but it's more likely both will be content to allow the feud to propagate hamming it up instead with a few holes of mini golf.

 

Voice your opinion on Golf4Beginners on Twitter

 

Read Golf for Beginners blogs

 

 

Posted via email from stacysolomon's posterous