I feel polluted writing my thoughts about the Open at Turnberry. Polluted by hundreds of articles I’ve read written by others to describe how they feel about Tom Watson losing to Stewart Cink.

Some say the Open will be remembered more for the man who lost at Turnberry, much like we remember the man who melted down at Carnoustie back in 1999.

Some say the constant mention of Watson’s age made it sound like he was overcoming a handicap.

Some say, “shut up” about Watson’s loss and start celebrating Cink’s win.

Most say his loss was a huge let down, and recovering from the emotional experience is akin to overcoming a hangover.

In a Fox Sports poll, 90 percent said they were disappointed Watson didn’t win the Open.

That was obvious at the Open. Quoting from the blogger Lawrence Donegan’s blog at guardian.co.uk:

“Over in the tented village, where thousands had gathered to watch the play-off on giant television screens showing the BBC's coverage, the crowds were urging Cink's ball to go into bunkers and screaming for his putts to slip past the hole. By the time the two players had reached the green on the 17th hole – the third of four in the play-off – the deflated hordes were streaming towards the car-parks.”

Deflated. I knew there was a word that described perfectly how I felt by the time I watched Watson hit his ball from fescue to fescue. The guy was playing amazing, dead bang on golf – until he missed that putt on the 18th for bogey and went into the playoff with Cink.

Audio Clip (.swf)

Listen to Tom Watson during the post play off news conference - a heck of a story

Watson was playing perfect links golf. From fairway to green, avoiding those terrible bunkers and that terrible long rough you could lose a baby in. He didn’t have to recover from most of his shots because he played them perfectly for the next shot.  His strategy, his game plan, was perfect. It was his putter that failed him. Twice he missed very close putts and he choked on the final hole of regulation play. But during the playoff, Watson’s game plan fell apart. He couldn’t avoid the fescue, the bunkers or missing the putts.

One of the ABC TV cameras was focused on Mrs. Watson’s face as he miss-hit that putt. Her face fell, she looked down and I knew it was over. I didn’t need to see the play off to know the outcome.

But the whole time I was watching, “IT” was always in the back of my mind. Who is going to steal this incredible moment from Watson?
First I thought it might be Ross Fisher. But no, that couldn’t be. He was willing to give it all up to be with his wife when she went into labor. I admire the man for his commitment to his family. Somehow it didn’t feel like his heart was in it.

Audio Clip (.swf)

Stewart Cink talks about how amazing it was to play against Tom Watson

There is Matt Goggin. Strong Australian making his move into history. But his moves were not strong enough. He seemed to be hesitating, almost willing to succumb to the fans who obviously wanted the Watson win.

How about Lee Westwood. He would have been the first Englishman in decades to win the British Open. Again, the charge was made but without the follow through.  He couldn’t stay out of the bunker.

In the end, it was Stewart Cink. He was there the whole time, in the background, playing his game, ready to make his move when the time was right and relishing the opportunity when it game. He bounced like the true winner he is. It was painful for many of us.

Watching Watson play those final playoff holes was much like watching Tiger Woods play 7-over par through 6 holes on the second day of the Open. It was a disaster.

As Watson said, “I’m afraid I didn’t give him (Stewart Cink) much competition.”

Another blogger put it thusly:

“Those four holes will rank in the annals of sporting cruelty along with leaving Willie Mays in center field when he could no longer shag a fly ball, letting Joe Namath heave interceptions for the Rams or, worst of all, standing by while the great Ali was pummeled by unworthy hacks like Trevor Berbick.

By the time Tom Watson, his legs shot, butchered the third playoff hole — handing the Claret Jug to Stewart Cink — and then sent his tee shot on the final hole sailing into the stands, I wanted to run out onto the Turnberry links, throw down a white towel and whisk him away.”

Tom Watson talked about his loss a couple days after:

He says messages of support from American troops he visited in Iraq have helped him put his Open disappointment into perspective. Watson admits his feelings "are still bitter-sweet" after his heroics at Turnberry.

A visit to US troops in Iraq back in 2007 has helped him get back in the right frame of mind to compete at Senior Open Championship presented by MasterCard, a tournament he has won three times in the past and just a week after the Open.

"The last two days my computer now no longer has enough memory to operate with all the emails I've received," and "There is still quite a vacuum in the stomach. I'm not crying but I've been affected by it to a certain degree. But this, too, shall pass. Honestly it's not the most important thing in life.

"These people I met at Walter Reed hospital, Bethesda hospital and all over Iraq, and many of them have contacted me and said, 'Congratulations. Oh by the way – when you're in a neck-high bunker and you have a four-footer, just remember – it's just a game'. I give them credit for keeping me on the straight and level here and not letting me get too disappointed.

"The joy of it has been some of the tears from my son and my friends, being able to kind of soothe them to a certain degree and say I did what I was trying to do, and it just didn't work out.

"There was one particular message from a young man by the name of Leroy Petry, who is up for the Congressional Medal of Honor, who saved a bunch of lives by taking a pretty direct hit from a grenade he was trying to throw, and it went right off in his hand. That's perspective."

One thing is certain. His wish the day of his loss at the Open will definitely come true.
Associated Press golfer writer Doug Ferguson explains:

“I want to assure him that his (Watsons) last wish as he left Turnberry will, without a shadow of a doubt, be fulfilled.  ‘When all is said and done," he (Watson) said, "One of the things I hope that will come out of my life is that my peers will say, you know, that Watson, he was a hell of a golfer.’” Doug Ferguson, AP.

Audio Clip (.swf)

Tom Watson talks about what he hopes the world will take away from the British Open

ON BEING A “HELL OF A GOLFER”

Fortunately for us, Watson, coming so close to winning (at his age!), gave a whole lot of people reason for staying, or getting back, into the game.  

I do have one piece of advice. If you are tempted to have that hip replacement surgery that Watson had, be sure you have the exact kind of hip replacement surgery.
Watson had anterior hip replacement surgery. The operation was performed on his front, and not from the side or from the back.

Operating from the front doesn’t require the removal of the major muscles surgeons have to get through coming in from the side or the rear. It’s those muscles repairing themselves that takes up most of your recovery time. Obviously. Look at what Watson managed to do less than a year after the operation. But also remember, Watson has kept himself in very good condition. So you might consider doing a little something to get into better shape before you tax your body.

I was touched by Tom Watson’s obvious love for where he was playing. He told one interviewer on ABC there was something special about Turnberry, something spiritual about the place that he felt a bond with.  Sure, he won the Claret Jug there 32 years ago against Jack Nicklaus but from the look on his face, I believe the bond goes deeper than that.

If you take a look at the live cam at Turnberry, I think you’ll catch just a taste of what he is referring to. The feel of ancient, the “mana” of the place, as we say in Hawaii, where deep roots from those who have walked there before can still be felt.

WHEN WILL WE SEE WATSON PLAY NEXT?



It won’t be at the British Open after 2010.  But he was out there the following week playing in the Senior Championship. And Tom Watson will return next year, if he chooses to, when the Open is played at St. Andrews. But because of the Royal and Ancient rules, he can’t play in the following Open. He’ll be too old. The age restriction was put in place to give the young guys a chance to play.

Tom Watson was one of the British Open champions consulted when the R&A debated the question of an age restriction. The R&A realized the game was getting “younger”. But that was before his amazing performance this past July.

"I'm sure if someone at age 59 had been winning the championship, bringing down the age limit would have been lower on the agenda," R&A chief executive Peter Dawson said Monday. "But we brought down the age limit in order to give more spaces in the championship to younger players allegedly in their prime to compete."

Bottom line isn’t it great that without Tiger Woods playing, the interest in the event was big. Not quite as big, but still big.
This is from Ryan Ballengee, better known to his Twitter mates as @waggleroomgolf:

OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP RATINGS UP 15% FROM 2008

“Tom Watson's meteoric run at Turnberry didn't bring in the same number of eyeballs that would be watching when Tiger Woods wins majors, but he was good enough to give the Open Championship at 15% hike over last year's win by Paddy Harrington over Greg Norman.

Sports Media Watch reports that the Sunday overnight was 3.9.  That was better than last year's 3.5, but worse than the 4.1 for Harrington's 2007 win.  SMW puts it into http://www.ajc.com/sports/georgia-tech/cink-finding-his-place-97293.html
To put the 3.9 in perspective, the men's final at Wimbledon drew a 4.2 overnight earlier this month. Additionally, the 3.9 for the British Open is lower than the overnights for several non-major PGA events this year, including the Arnold Palmer Invitational (4.9), AT&T National (4.6) and Players Championship (4.1).

Getting up at 8am to watch golf will do that to somebody.  Now you understand why the USGA likes their Opens to finish in primetime.
In the Open, a Woods win means a rating of 5.0 or better.  That's why TNT and ESPN put all of their eggs in the Tiger basket.”

(In Hawaii it meant getting up at 4 AM)

SO HOW ‘BOUT OUR FIRST TWITTER “MAJOR” VICTOR STEWART CINK


Someone said it's easy being a gracious loser because it happens all the time in golf. What is hard is being a gracious winner. Judging by his body language and his comments during the news conference after his victory, Cink was definitely the perfect gentleman.
 
He is of course our first "Twitter" victor. He was sending out tweets to all 500 thousand plus followers including snaps of the case his Claret Jug was stowed in above his head on his flight home. Nice box, Cink.
 
Once there, life went back to normal. The kids gaming and sleeping. Lisa Cink busy running errands.
 
Cink spoke with Doug Roberson of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Now I have an extra trophy that I didn’t have before,” Cink said Monday by phone from his porch. “I’m just so honored to be a part of it. I wouldn’t call myself a historian of the game, maybe a historian of the courses. Seeing the names on that trophy, going back all the way to 1872. That’s bringing out the golf historian in me. I feel like I owe it to them.”
But first, Cink has a few things to do.

He appeared on “Late Show with David Letterman” on Tuesday night to do one of the famous top-10 lists. He says that winning at Turnberry has opened up some other opportunities that he needs to consider. But first he’s got a few hundred e-mails, phone calls and tweets to return. A big fan of the Thrashers, he said he was thrilled to get a note of congratulations from Ilya Kovalchuk. Jack and Barbara Nicklaus sent him a note, as did Wimbledon runner-up Andy Roddick, which “definitely upped the coolness factor.”

He and his family are going to Montana for a vacation next week, and he will return to the PGA Tour at the Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio, in two weeks.
 
The question that has been asked the most is how did he win the Open.
 
He concedes that it is the last major that he thinks he could win. His game is built more for the Masters, which places an emphasis on power and touch. Links courses require the ability to hit straight shots, trajectory-control, and steady driving. None of which Cink said fit his game particularly well. He points out that in a practice round in Ireland the week before, at a links course named Lahinch Golf Club, he tried as hard as he could and still shot 6 over.
 
But he found something the Wednesday before the tournament, a “quick key” that he said he took straight to the first tee Thursday.
It helped him hit those two laser 2-irons off the tee at 18 on Sunday during regulation and the playoff.
 
But the most important key to his win actually came after his worst day this year, a 77 in the third round of The Players Championship in May.
 
It was then that he decided that changes were needed. He knew he could win, after all he has five victories and more than $25 million earned in his 14 seasons on the tour. But he realized that his putting was going to keep him from being the player that he thought he could be. It no longer was enough to make cuts, finish 30th, and bring home thousands of dollars. He wanted to win the big ones.
 
After playing with Zach Johnson that day at the TPC, Cink asked him if he could give Johnson’s psychologist, Mo Pickens, a call. Johnson said sure.
 
Cink went home and started stroking putts with a short putter on an artificial green in his basement.
Three days later, Pickens came from his home at Sea Island for a session that lasted all day.
 
The next day Cink went to Nike headquarters for a pre-arranged equipment testing session. He said they were surprised when he showed up with a short putter. They gave him a new one to try out. He liked it and told them to build one to his length and put a grip on it.
It turns out it’s the same model that Geoff Ogilvy used to win the U.S. Open, but it’s not on the market yet.
 
Cink said he leaned heavily on the thought processes and routines that he and Pickens discussed during the British Open, including the birdie putt on 18 that got him to 1 under and into position for a playoff.
 
“I treated it just like I treated putts all week,” he said. “I won’t say that’s why it went in, but that’s why it had a chance.”
Now, he says he’s ready for next month’s PGA Championship at Hazeltine in Minnesota.
He said he was thinking about that as he was unloading the car Monday.
“I’m raring to go,” he said. “It was just so much fun to be there. I just want another chance to come out on top.”

Here’s a link to the whole article:
http://www.ajc.com/sports/georgia-tech/cink-finding-his-place-97293.html

TIGER WOODS

Absolute hogwash. I could use stronger language but it would be inappropriate.
The issue: moving the Fourth of July Tiger Woods hosted event that AT&T sponsors to some time in the PGA Tour schedule that would be move convenient for the "big stars" and their schedules.
 

See the man in the picture above Tiger Woods is giving a golf ball to? He is just one of the reasons why Woods chose to host the event over the July 4th weekend. It's to recognize the many men and women, who are serving in the Armed Forces, have sacrificed their bodies, their families and their lives to heed the call of their country.
 
Move the event to May? Why? As long as Woods plays in the event, it's going to get all the press it needs. As Tiger said, he doesn't like to ask his fellow players to "please" play in his event. He knows they plan their schedules in advance around their own preferences, whether it be the style of the course, frequency of play during a period of time, or their own family needs.
 
So leave it alone. The event won't be played at the Congressional Golf Course for the next couple of years because the course is committed to other previously planned events, like with the USGA. But it will be back and that's where and when it belongs if Woods is going to remain true to the purpose of holding the event in the first place.
 
Moving it is almost as stupid as the blogger who claimed Tom Watson winning the British Open would be bad for the sport of golf. I think he said something like it would "damage golf’s credibility as a sport". His claim was something along the lines of how can you call something a sport if a 59 year old man can beat a bunch of teenagers, 20, 30 and 40 something’s. Has this guy ever played competitive golf? Has he ever played 18 holes? Has he ever played 18 holes 4 days in a row?
By the way, Tiger won.
 
THE LAST WEEKEND IN JULY

During the last weekend of July we had Pahoa’s Kimberly Kim in the final round at the U.S. Girls Junior championship, Honolulu’s Tadd Fujikawa playing at the top of the leaderboard at the Cox Classic on the Nationwide Tour, Honolulu’s Michelle Wie playing in the top 30 at the Evian Masters in France, plus Waikoloa’s Parker McLachlin and Dean Wilson playing at the rain plagued RBC Canadian Open.
 
The RBC Canadian Open didn’t finish because of my deadline. But we ended Sunday with Mauna Lani Resorts Dean Wilson tied for 37th and Waikoloa’s Parker McLachlin tied for 53rd trying to finish their 3rd rounds.

 
On the Nationwide Tour, Tadd Fujikawa was playing beautiful with a beautiful, consistent swing. His first round 64 was followed by 67 and finishing his 3rd round tied for 6th with a 69,


He struggled just a bit in the 4th round, finishing T 15. Nice job Tadd.


In France, at the Evian Masters, Michelle Wie was still having fun. She made her 12th cut in 12 starts. She is on her way to the Women’s British Open and adding to her Solheim Cup points. And she is making friends of influencing people.

She finished T23rd.

 
She was 5-under par for the tournament, 9 strokes behind Ai Miyazato and Sophie Gustafson who went into a playoff.

Ai Miyazato finished the tournament during the first playoff hole for her first victory on the LPGA Tour.


And then there are the parties. Here’s a shot of Wie all dressed up and ready.


Morgan Pressel provides us with some of the party pictures through her Twitter account.


Unfortunately, Kimberly Kim probably didn’t feel as upbeat as she might have had some won in her final 36-hole match play against Amy Anderson in the U.S. Girls Junior championship at the Trump International in New Jersey. Lot of people in the media were stunned that defending champion, and excellent player Alexis Thompson was eliminated. But I knew Kim Kim was going to be back in the final, just like she was in the U.S Amateur Public Links. I was also not surprised when she didn’t win. As I wrote about, with the help of the USGA Communications Director Rhonda Glenn, in my July newsletter, Kim left the game for about a year and a half to focus on having a life outside of golf, didn’t practice and went to public school.  I figure she hasn’t worked up the stamina it takes to pull off a five-day event, playing 36 holes day after day, in match play.


It’s only a matter of time before she gets that stamina back.


By the final day, Kimberly Kim just couldn’t sink a putt, no matter how lined up she was. Just one of those days.

SONIC GOLF GETS “LAW & ORDER” ATTENTION

“Golf In America” is a series that runs on the Golf Channel and it is hosted by Anthony Anderson, who you may know from the NBC series “Law & Order”. Anderson features incredible people and fascinating characters all linked by the game of golf in his series.

Here is a clip of Anderson talking about Dr. Robert Grober, the founder of Sonic Golf, and his product, the Sonic Golf System-1.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLgT_95hbT0

UPDATE MICKLESON

Phil Mickelson said on his Web site that his wife, Amy, and mother, Mary, are doing well during their treatment for breast cancer. Mickelson skipped the British Open to be in Houston with his wife and mother.

“Things are going well here in Houston and we should be home soon,” Mickelson wrote July 16. “My mom had surgery yesterday. She was very brave and everything went well. We should get her pathology in a week and we are all optimistic. It meant so much to me and Amy to be there with her.”

It was reported July 6 that Mary Mickelson was diagnosed with breast cancer, less than two months after Amy Mickelson, who was scheduled to begin treatment July 1.

Phil Mickelson wrote:
“Amy is doing very well. The best news so far is that the cancer has not spread to the lymph nodes, which improves our chances of beating this in the short and long term. We’re awaiting one test result that will influence Amy’s treatment plan. The waiting and wondering sometimes can be the most difficult part but she has a very positive attitude and has handled all of this with her usual grace. I’m so proud of her.

“The kids were in Houston all week and I know that helped speed up her emotional recovery. They bring her endless joy. We could not have done this without the help of our family and friends. We appreciate everything they have done and continue to do every day. I don’t know what we would do without them.

“We continue to be overwhelmed with the support of our extended group of friends and family as well. The prayers, notes, articles, e-mails, texts, and packages get us through every day. We feel the support all around us. Our gratitude is hard to put into words.”

Phil Mickelson has not played since finishing runner-up in the U.S. Open for the fifth time in his career. He did not say when he would return to the PGA Tour.

UPDATE SEVE

Seve Ballesteros plans to return to major championship golf by this time next year and compete in The Open at St. Andrews. Ballesteros retired from competitive golf before The Open in 2007 because of constant back troubles. Now he is recovering following four opeartions on a brain tumor. As part of his recovery, he has targeted a return at St Andrews. "I would love to play there again next year for the British public," Ballesteros said in Spain. "It's an objective I would like to turn into reality."

"It would be absolutely fantastic if Seve could make it," said David Hill, the Royal and Ancient's director of championships. "He would be made very welcome by everyone at St Andrews and, of course, by the R&A."

Ballesteros was diagnosed as having a brain tumor last October. He has subsequently admitted that "my life was hanging by a thread" and underwent chemotherapy as part of his treatment. "When the doctors explained to me what they had done in my brain, it was like a miracle," he said.

Another month has raced by. We've got Tiger Woods in 3 events in August including his first appearance at Warwick Hills for the Buick Open since he won it in 2006. A couple days after Woods announced he'd play in the Buick Open, which means he'll probably be playing three weeks in a row in August, there were reports this would be the last Buick Open at Warwick Hills. The PGA Tour may have another sponsor lined up for an event in Michigan. That would be a godsend since the event draws nearly 100,000 people to the area and with Woods, that'll mean even more business. The Buick Open generates about $10 million dollars for the community, most of it spent in area hotels, restaurants and bars.
 
Justin Timberlake rescued a golf course in his native Memphis from developers, renamed it, pumped 16 million into it and turned it into the first "green" course in the U.S. Timberlake's course—formerly Woodstock Hills, now Mirimichi Golf Course—will feature native landscaping, irrigation systems that maximize the use of rainwater and electric golf carts powered by solar panels. It has received a LEED platinum certification and the Audubon International's Classic Sanctuary certification, the first course in the U.S. to do either.
 
Couple of things for you from “The Golf Club” radio shows this past month.

Jim McLean, the Golf Digest #4 ranked U.S. golf instructor, offered these gems:
1. Every body is different and everybody has their very own golf swing. Find an instructor to help bring yours out.
2. Get over being embarrassed about how you look playing golf. People really aren't standing around evaluating you, they're worried about what they're going to do when it's their turn.
 
Author Darrin Gee, "The Seven Personalities of Golf", is offering 50% off to kama'aina golfers who like to take his signature "Spirit of Golf Academy" half day clinic IF you tell him you heard about it on Danielle's golf show. http://www.darringee.com
 
Mental toughness coach Chris Dorris has a great book to help get your game, and your life, together. He offered this gift I'm working into my thinking "Ain't bad, just is" when something comes up and you find yourself thinking negative thoughts. "Ain't bad, just is." http://www.christopherdorris.com
 
Thank you to Sharon Namahoe and Deb at Avance for taking such good care of me, and to Gigi at Permanent Elegance.
 
Thank you for your Mana, and may you hit the sweet spot every time.
 
Danielle

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