Wildfires don’t care about big names. With brush fires raging out of control in California, no-one in their paths are spared.
Hollywood stars, the rich, the famous and even top golfers. Phil Mickelson’s family were among those forced to evacuate their homes this week because of the fire threat.
Amy and their three children fled their Rancho Santa Fe hillside home and went to their beach home in San Diego. Lefty himself was in New Jersey at the time playing in a corporate event but joined his family later.
According to a report on the PGA Tour website, flames reached within one mile of the Mickelsons’ home.
In safer surrounds, Spain’s Sergio Garcia will be among the top attractions this week at the Mallora Classic at the Pula Golf Club.
The 2004 winner has not finished outside the top two over the past three years and is hoping to continue that good form against tough competition, including Sweden’s Niclas Fasth.
There will also be a star element at the Pertamina Indonesia President Invitational in Jakarta with England’s Lee Westwood headlining the Asian Tour event.
European Ryder Cup golfer Westwood has been a strong supporter of Asian golf over many years and his participation in Indonesia is sure to boost the inaugural event’s standing on the tour.
Westwood’s presence is also a taster to a great few weeks of golf in Asia, when a series of tournament co-sanctioned by the European Tour will see a host of leading players from Europe playing in the region.
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I am working on the 4 majic moves. There is a lot to remember.The breaking of the wrists immediately after address and the turning /pressing down on the left thumb before beginning the take- away is difficult enough but the holding of this position- the initiating of the downswing by the pushing off of and the transfer of weight from the right side is indeed difficult for an old stiff body such as mine(I am now 74).
However I must do something to try to avoid the loss of yardage (particularly from the drive) I have experienced in the last year. I used to drive the ball an average of about 260 yards- today a good drive averages about 220. I wander if I should be trying to hold the ‘eternal triangle’ in place longer? Should I be trying to supplement the club head speed by pushing the hands through in the hitting area ( without trying to uncock the wrists or intentionally and conciously alter the eternal triangle)?
I have a 10.5 degree driver( new burner- regular shaft) that simply skies the ball when driving into the wind- the result is- it looks great but goes no where. I have tried teeing it down – placing the ball back in the stance etc. but the result is always the same. I remember in the old days we used to think of hitting the ball with the driver a little on the upswing- is this still the same with the newer balls and clubs? Our drivers were probably 8 degrees or less. I took out an old driver( probably 8 degrees- that I once promised I would never retire) that I used to hit 260 yards+ the other day and found I couldn’t hit it worth a darn. Have I changed that much or is it the balls?
I have great hope for your method even for someone like me, brought up on the concept that the take away has to be in one piece.
There was a time when many good golfers teed their ball quite high with the driver- I could never do this as it instilled a great fear in me of skying the ball. Now I believe some of the pros seem to be teeing the ball down and perhaps even hitting it slightly on the downswing. Is this an optical illusion or is it actually happening? I was at Royal Montreal the other day and noticed this phenomana at the President’s cup matches.
In any event our season is about over here. I am going to try to find an indoor driving range where I can see what I am actually doing and how far I am hitting the ball during the winter. At our club we have a practise range but you cannot tell whether you are hitting the ball 180 or 280 yards. I now know that most of the time it is the former.
Thanks for your help and the hope you have given me that perhaps all is not yet lost.
Frank