Barack Obama swings left on the course. Kodak waves checkered flag for PGA Tour. We have the fix for your mental game.

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It has been said that you can tell a good deal about a person by the way he/she plays golf, and former Presidents are no exception. Which of our Commanders, for example, exemplified the integrity of the game and which men have bent the rules in their favor?

In his book, "First Off the Tee: Presidential Hackers, Duffers and Cheaters From Taft to Bush", Don Van Natta Jr's neatly organized categories helped define Presidential proclivities noting that more than just a few in the top job have "improved their lie" during a round.

Both Clinton and Nixon made it into the book's "Hail to the Cheats" category with number forty-two often giving himself "billigans" and "Tricky Dick" often not counting wayward shots. FDR, Ford and Kennedy, on the other hand, were considered "purists."

So, where does that leave President-elect Barack Obama?

According to a golf swing analysis by Top 100 Teacher Brady Riggs, Obama is a good study of preparedness however the outcome lacks aggressiveness, pushing his shots far left. Perhaps that makes the future president just like the "Average Joe"?

The category which President-elect Obama falls into will eventually become apparent as the story unfolds.

In addition to our assessment of Mr. Obama, we also discuss techniques for positive thinking from William Oliver's new book, the "Law of Focus for Golfers". A few fixes from his ebook, "Master the Mental Game of Golf" are also mentioned.

Kodak, the EWGA and a notable distinction for Turning Stone Resort round out our News summary.





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European Tour Shanghai's PGA Tour golfers on road to Dubai. Mickelson swing changes tested at HSBC and Thumb Caddy training aid

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The European Tour is sending a message to PGA Tour players, loud and clear, that a new era in golf is beginning with the 2009 season.

A new spruced-up tour, in which the European Order of Merit has been replaced with "The Race to Dubai" offers a $10 million pie at the end of the season with another shared purse after the season-ending Dubai World Championship.

Phil Mickelson may be defending this week at the first stop on the Euro Tour, the HSBC Champions in Shanghai, but guys like Anthony Kim and Camilo Villegas are ready to pounce. Villegas, for example, is not content to just play, he's "definitely going there to win." Mickelson, on the other hand, is hoping that swing changes he has been working on since 2007 will finally take effect. We discuss a few of these swing changes in this week's show.

With players like Padraig Harrington, Sergio Garcia and Adam Scott working towards another FedEx Cup-like purse on the European Tour, how soon will it be before golfers like Anthony Kim "jump ship" entirely and shift alliances? Or, perhaps one day, the PGA Tour might be forced to "merge" with the European Tour forming one huge conglomerate. Then there would be no more "off-season", no more "silly season" and viewers would be able to watch their favorite golfers throughout the year!

As Garcia noted, "Some of the tournaments we play in the Middle East ... are bigger than the ones they play in the U.S. You get good players there, so world rankings points increase. At the end of the day, that's what the big players do it for."

Of course, if Tiger Woods has any input, his new golf course in Dubai might just host one of these events. Woods' foray into golf course design is yielding several new courses, possibly with a consideration towards building his own "mini-tour". It is conceivable that Tiger could one day be "tapped" as the head of this global Tour...perhaps aptly named the World Tour! Who knows...stranger things have happened!

We also review Thumb Caddy, an inexpensive training aid which helps keep hands in their proper position throughout the golf swing.

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

Subscribe to our weekly podcast through this RSS feed:http://feeds.feedburner.com/golfforbeginners or through iTunes.

Subscribe to our newsletter!
Click Here to receive our archived podcasts and 100's of easy golf tips free!

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

This podcast is supported by Premier Golf, 888-439-1831.


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