Written by Rob McGarr on Friday 19 February 2016
Vaughn Taylor hit a final-round 65 to win the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, securing his first PGA Tour victory for 11 years. A lot has changed since 39-year-old Vaughn Taylor’s last win, which came at the Reno-Tahoe Open in August 2005. The last time Vaughn Taylor won a PGA Tour event… Jordan Spieth was 11 years old And he’d only just turned 11.
Written by Rob McGarr on Friday 18 March 2016
We all know what it’s like to reach the turn after a good nine holes. “Just keep it going,” we tell ourselves. “Nothing silly on the back nine and this will be a great round.” Inevitably, the wheels fall off and we’re left struggling to make the buffer zone. So imagine what it would be like to play the first nine...
Written by Rob McGarr on Thursday 17 March 2016
By any normal person’s standards, Jordan Spieth hasn’t had a bad start at all to 2016. In seven starts, he has one victory, one second place, and a further top-five finish. By the standards of a man who won the first two majors of last year and picked up seven titles, earning over $23 million in prize money, however, he’s...
Written by Rob McGarr on Thursday 17 March 2016
The PGA of America has decided to permanently cancel the Grand Slam of Golf. The four-man, 36-hole event had been played annually since 1979 and typically brings together the four major champions from the previous calendar year. There was no Grand Slam of Golf in 2015. The PGA decided to pull the event due to be played at Trump National after Donald...
Written by Rob McGarr on Wednesday 16 March 2016
Last week, after a disappointing 76 in the opening round of the Valspar Championship, Jordan Spieth checked social media to find the PGA Tour insinuating that he might feign injury and withdraw from the tournament and a ‘fan’ describing him as “garbage” and that, putting aside, every aspect of his game is average. Spieth understandably took umbrage and reacted to both...
Written by Rob McGarr on Wednesday 16 March 2016
Who do you think is the best putter in the world? Jordan Spieth? Brandt Snedeker? Aaron Baddeley? Jason Day? Not even close. The above names are all fantastic with the flat blade, but they’re not a patch on Steve Stricker. It pays to be careful when looking at golf statistics, as they can easily be misinterpreted. Some people would assume that the simplest...
Written by Rob McGarr on Tuesday 15 March 2016
When you go for a golf lesson, the pro will normally ask you what you’re hoping to achieve. Almost everybody says, “more consistency”. It makes sense. There isn’t a golfer out there who hasn’t hit at least one shot they were happy with. It’s what keeps you coming back for more. If you could hit every drive like that one on the...
Written by Today's Golfer on Monday 14 March 2016
It’s hasn’t all been plain sailing for Keith Pelley, the new boss of the European Tour, since he took over last autumn. He made headlines when he bent the rules for Rory McIlroy, changed the Ryder Cup qualifying rules and pledged to tackle slow play – but Pelley is also thinking about the bigger picture… How’s it been so far? Very busy.
Written by Rob McGarr on Monday 14 March 2016
We feel sorry for Brandon Hagy’s golf ball. The 24-year-old American hits it HARD. During yesterday’s final round of the Valspar Championship, Hagy hit three drives on holes that were being tracked by TrackMan. One of them had a ball speed of 193.65 miles per hour, one was clocked at 191.32 mph, and even the slowest of the three was...
Written by Rob McGarr on Friday 11 March 2016
Jordan Spieth hasn’t been very Jordan Spiethy lately. He finished outside the top-20 at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, missed the cut at the Northern Trust Open, and finished tied-17th at last week’s WGC-Cadillac Championship, only registering one round in the 60s. It’s a long way from being a disaster – it’s not even a slump – but the world number...
Written by Rob McGarr on Thursday 10 March 2016
The Olympic Golf Course in Rio just hosted its first event, ahead of the game’s reintroduction to the Olympics this August. Five men and four women, all Brazilian professionals, took part in a test event designed to see how the course handles quality players and shots. Miriam Nagl was the best-performing woman of the day, shooting a 4-under par 67, while...
Written by Rob McGarr on Thursday 10 March 2016
Adam Scott, a man dismissed by many as a 35-year-old has-been destined for a life of misery with a short putter he can’t use, has proved his doubters wrong by winning the last two events on the PGA Tour. Scott, who now has 13 PGA Tour wins to add to his 10 European Tour victories and one major, won the Honda...
Written by Rob McGarr on Wednesday 2 March 2016
If there’s one part of Rory McIlroy’s sensational game that sometimes lets him down, it’s his putting. He’s ranked 189th in ‘strokes gained putting’ this year. The two players ahead of him in the world rankings, Jordan Spieth and Jason Day, are ranked second and 18th respectively for the same statistic. McIlroy’s 29.71 putts per round puts him 169th in that...
Written by Rob McGarr on Monday 29 February 2016
With just over a month until The Masters, we’re already getting excited about watching the action from Augusta National. Will Bubba Watson overpower the par 5s with driver-wedge? Will Spieth defend his crown and set up another shot at a grand slam? Will Rory McIlroy finally get the Augusta monkey off his back to pick up a green jacket and...
Written by Rob McGarr on Tuesday 23 February 2016
That sounds like a stupid question, doesn’t it? Doesn’t everyone look at the ball when putting? Well, no. Jordan Spieth looks at the hole when putting Jordan Spieth looks at the hole, rather than the ball, when hitting a short putt. “I think that the most important fundamental in putting is understanding where your putter is aligned,” explains Spieth. Golf’s most influential psychologist, Bob Rotella,...
Written by Rob McGarr on Monday 22 February 2016
In the past, anyone with two shoulders and the ability to grunt, “Aye, a seven’ll get there” could be a caddie. But things have changed. The role of caddie is now a highly technical, respected, and, in some cases, well remunerated one. In a world where one shot can cost you hundreds of thousands, the top professionals acknowledge that golf...
Written by Rob McGarr on Monday 22 February 2016
Bubba Watson won the Northern Trust Open in California for the second time in three years. Watson shot 68 in the final round to finish on 15-under for the week, one shot clear of Adam Scott and a further one ahead of Dustin Johnson. Here are the best shots from the Northern Trust Open: Ryan Moore made a lovely ace at the...
Written by Rob McGarr on Friday 19 February 2016
We’ve all turned to the internet for help when our golf game isn’t on song. Don’t believe us? 74,000 people a month search for “shank” on Google, and it’s not because they’re trying to buy some delicious lamb for their dinner. One breed of golfer we assumed was beyond search bar diagnosis was tour pros. After all, these are the world’s...
Written by Rob McGarr on Friday 19 February 2016
Some of the world’s top tour pros seem to win on an almost monthly basis, but for others, the gap between wins can be pretty long. Take yesterday’s Pebble Beach Pro-Am winner, Vaughn Taylor, for instance. Taylor, now 39, had to wait 10 years, five months and 24 days between victories, a drought that extended back to his win at the...
Written by Rob McGarr on Friday 19 February 2016
We’re only six months away from Olympic golf! The provisional schedule has the men’s tournament down for 11th-14th August, with the women’s event to follow on 17th-20th August. The top 15 players of each gender will automatically qualify for the Olympic golf event, limited to four per country. The remaining 45 spots will go to the highest-ranked players from countries that do...