As I watched Feherty spend an hour with Ken Venturi, all I could think about was what it would be like to play 18 holes with him whilst he spun stories for 4 1/2 hours. Seeing that Venturi is one of the few people still alive who has played or met every great golfer since Ben Hogan, the yarns he spun on Feherty are merely the tiny tip of the iceberg. While famous for his participation in “The Match” (the legendary foursome of Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson and Harvie Ward), Venturi has a stable full of stories and anecdotes spanning decades and including icons from every industry (including old blues eyes himself, Frank Sinatra).

Typically, my blog posts from the Feherty show consist of a bit of history about the guest, some of the shows highlights and a dash of my own opinion. The problem with writing about Ken Venturi is that you need about 40,000 words to begin to capture the man. I mean he won 14 times one PGA tour, including a US Open, and then spent 35 years in the broadcast booth becoming the voice of golf. There is just no way to sum that up in 400 words. To his credit, Feherty understands this and does a great job of just listening to Venturi (which of course is what many of us did on Sunday afternoons in between napping on the couch).

So if you want to get some golden snippets from Venturi, go watch the episode, or you can do what I am going to do, read more about Ken Venturi and some of the other legends of golf. Yes, I have read “The Match”, “Five Lessons” and a few other golf books, but a short hour with Venturi has re-ignited my interest in hearing about Bing Crosby’s “Clam Bakes”, Hogan’s temper, Nelson’s pure swing and all of the other characters of the game.

Fortunately, Wade is a big golf historian and will surely have some reading suggestions, but I would love to hear your input as well.

Well folks, another Masters is in the can, and aside from the missing azaleas, this tournamet had it all. Couple of quick thoughts on the tournament as we try to recover from an impromptu Masters party at the Three Guys clubhouse:

Who’s the man? I’m the man.

1) Bubba! It sure looked like Oosthuizen was going to run away with this thing after the double eagle and then a few rock solid par saves while others floundered. But then there was Bubba. I think it’s a cool thing for the Tour that Bubba won – he has the flair and game to get people excited, and he’s got those crazy eyes that will always keep us guessing. I’ve read a lot of articles about Bubba Watson in the past – apparently he’s so gifted that he doesn’t even have any thoughts about swing mechanics, he just decides he wants to hit the ball right-to-left or low-then-high, etc. and his body just swings that way. In fact, after one practice round a veteran that played with him came in shaking his head saying “man, if that kid ever figures it out between his ears, we’re all in trouble”. In hindsight, it seems like Bubba should have always been a favorite to win the Masters, given his ability to bomb and work the ball. I think Bubba stands out from other recent first-time major winners because there is the potential that a flood gate just opened and he’ll win a few more. Guys like he and Phil, and probably Dustin Johnson, just have such overpowering game that as long as they don’t self-destruct they will always be a factor.

2) I could be way off base here, but I sometimes still get the feeling that Phil Mickelson is almost underrated. He’s obviously known as a great golfer, and fans love him, but critics always want to fault him for not being as robotically dominant as Tiger was over the past 15 years or so. And as an admitted Tiger groupie, part of me is fine with Phil remaining in his shadow. But I think Saturday’s flop shot on 15 was the kind of thing that should earn him permanent legendary status. Sure everybody went nuts over that shot, but I think only an annoying person like myself can spend 20 minutes thinking about how sweet it truly was. It’s not the fact that he can hit that shot, but the fact he has the craziness in his game to have that shot be his #1 option as he walks towards his ball, and the stones to actually try and pull it off. I think commentators tend to overdo the “greatness” of some of these guys’ chips and pitches – I know these guys are awesome but sometimes Gary McCord goes gaga over a 20 yard pitch that I’ve seen my buddies make 100 times. So I don’t want to sound like I’m jumping on the general flop-shot bandwagon, as folks tend to be more impressed the higher the ball goes, but in this case I think Phil’s shot transcends. He’s like our modern-day Arnie, and he is obviously so insanely good at golf that he’s been hanging around the tops of leaderboards for like 20 years now. I think if you’re a young PGA player and you get paired up with Ernie, Phil, Kuchar, Furyk, Vijay, or any other successful veteran that’s not Tiger, from a game standpoint only Phil gives you the feeling that you’re playing with Darth Vader.

3) Saturday and Sunday at Augusta are the best two days of golf in the year, according to  . . . me. There’s a perfect combination of shotmaking, crowd involvement, proximity of greens to tees and other greens – it’s awesome. And we are all familiar enough with the holes to know what we’re looking for, especially on Sunday when you know where the pin is on 16, etc. For some reason this year, however, I felt like Amen Corner did not get it’s usual fanfare from CBS or maybe even the golf itself, like nothing really felt crucial or important about those holes. Perhaps I have selective memory, but asides from Phil’s eagle putt on Saturday on 13 and Sergio and Rory’s makeout session on 12, I don’t think I ever saw much action on Amen Corner.

4) If you fancy yourself an equipment nerd at all, you gotta check out this link and scroll through the slides:  Players’ Bags at the Masters (and for you sock nerds you can learn more about Bubba’s Socks). I’ve wondered since I was a little kid why golf so adamantly steers us away from knowing what equipment these guys play. I’m sure with television it’s just a decision made long ago to avoid any potential conflict of interest issues, and I’m aware that Golf Digest does a What’s In My Bag thing in each issue, but that’s only one dude per month! I always want to know what these guys are playing, and finally someone fed my jones. And not that I’m trying to make a case for, say, a post I wrote last month cursing the adoration of blade irons, but did you notice how many guys are playing cavity back irons on tour? No biggie, just wanted to point that out.

I’m out! I hope that you enjoyed the Masters as much as I did, and that you drank less.

Man, every year I forget and then quickly re-learn how sweet the Masters Golf Tournament is. The reasons are too many to count, of course, but I’m sure a lot of it has to do with the fact that it’s at the same course every year – the consistency allows you to judge it as a truly pure contest of each player’s game. You hear a lot about how Augusta National is such a difficult test of concentration and precision, and because of the greens, this can only be deemed as accurate. But the fact is, from tee to green it’s simply not that difficult, which allows for some great shotmaking and, as a result, great television (as opposed to some U.S. and British Opens where I’m supposed to get excited over someone not being over par).  If only they would let us laypeople watch the whole day’s action! Tuning in for Tiger’s last three holes at the Masters is nothing short of torture, although I suppose the fact that I was able to watch Louis Oosthuizen play almost his entire round certainly made up for it (sarcasm). Anyway, I understand that Billy Payne has his rules and I will leave them be – for now just a couple of quick thoughts after 4 hours of semi-boring first day action.

1) CBS 1 – ESPN 0  — I won’t even bother to try and decipher the business deal that had day 1 coverage being televised by ESPN but produced by CBS . . . who knows what the heck is going on there. But did anyone catch the introduction to the broadcast, where Mike Tirico awkwardly walked us through highlights and Curtis Strange apparently decided to go on a SAG strike? I almost changed the channel twice simply because I couldn’t handle the uncomfortable silences – I’d have an easier time watching Peter Kostis do standup comedy.

Ultimately, CBS took over and it once again felt like the Masters. Say what you want about Jim Nantz, but that dude is definitely the voice of the Masters Tournament.

2) Someone’s gotta get a hold of Hunter Mahan’s fashion consultant and have a little chat. I technically have nothing against the guy – he’s a badass golfer, he’s an American, he lives the dream. Problem is, he looks like an absolute bozo in a way that doesn’t even knock on your door first before it punches you in the face. I understand that we’re not all Brad Pitts roaming the earth, but in Hunter’s case, just take it back a knotch, there’s no need to advertise that you are a dorky looking dude. I tried to find the best picture of him yesterday that I possibly could because I didn’t want to rely on an awkward facial expression to make my point:

Yikes.

Now I sound mean . . . I’ll get to my point: bend the brim of your hat. Bend the brim of your hat. For the love of all things sacred, please bend the brim of your hat. I can understand Justin Bieber’s success, I can almost endure Drake’s music, and I understand that the new generation always wants to establish its own idea of cool. This straight hat thing, however, is my Walter Matthau moment. It is so inherently uncool to have a straight brim (barkeep, can I get a better word than “brim” please?) that I still think this is possibly just one big joke being played on the world. And I have to ask a serious question – for the guys that wear their brim straight, do the manufacturers make the beaks even bigger than standard, or is this just an optical illusion? From certain angles, it looks like my kid could take a nap on the deck of Hunter’s lid.

3) Tiger scratched and clawed his way to a halfway decent round after hitting what he called some of his “worst shots ever”.  You could go either way on this – it could be a good thing that even when he’s off he can grind out a respectable score, OR it could be a really bad thing that Captain Hook came to the party.

4) Jason Dufner is the man! Love that dude. It looks like somebody’s stoner uncle just rolled out of bed and decided to go low in a professional golf tournament for a change.

Well that’s Day 1 for you, hopefully some even better revelations will come out of Friday’s Masters action.

So after watching the Kentucky Wildcats hold off Kansas in the National Championship game, I just had to catch the Feherty show since I knew it was to feature Bubba Watson. God forbid I actually get some sleep . . .

Check out the Bushwood Tee Shirt!

While Bubba Watson may not be in my top 5 favorite golfers, he is definitely in my Top 10. I think part of the reason he does not crack my top 5 is because I just cannot put my finger on what he is all about. Feherty hints at this issue when at one point calls Bubba an enigma. It’s not that we don’t know Bubba, it’s just that we don’t understand him. For the past few years Bubba has become one of the big names in golf and has perhaps single handedly put Travis Mathew on the map. On top of that, he is one of the more active social media users (most noted for his Golf Boys Video to which Three Guys Golf Blogger Matt dedicated a whole post).

So let’s start with a few things we did learn about Bubba. First, we find that he has been buttoning his top button since at least his high school yearbook picture (seriously). However, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to figuring out why it is so hard to get a read on Bubba. I mean he is a good ol’ boy who owns the General Lee, but wears pink Kentwool Socks, has a pink driver shaft, a $500,000 watch and wears a visor. Speaking of which, the visor is definitely one of the reasons he does not make my top 5 (but I guess I am just jealous since my hairline no longer makes it a viable alternative for me).

Other items of historical note that popped out for me was Bubba’s clear devotion to his parents and his wife. Having followed Bubba on twitter for a while now, I know of his faith, but it is his tearful post Travellers interview and the clear passion for his wife that truely reveals his priorities. This would be one guy who I would be shocked to see go off the rails.

Back to golf, am I the only person who is annoyed to find out these PGA guys were insanely good at such a young age? I know they practiced more than most people, but there is no doubt guys like Bubba Watson were just born better athletes than 99% of us, giving further proof (if you need any) that the top PGA players are also world-class athletes.

In terms of childhood, we find out he hung out with young Boo Weekly and Heath Slocum and that his parents were instrumental in his sporting success. This combination or supportive families and chance interactions with future greats seems to be a very common ingredient that, while not a requirement for success, sure helps with the recipe.

Even though I may not have quite figured out the mystery behind Bubba’s crazy eyes, I am absolutely convinced he is not a flash in the pan. He has won numerous time on Tour and figures to be a contender in this week’s Masters. Whether his resistance to coaching or his occasional mental lapses will ultimately keep him from true greatness is yet to be seen, but his sheer ability and determination will certainly keep him in the game.

Moreover, I think episodes like his French Open media debacle and his not quite so perfect English (Matt will laugh at this since my grammar is horrendous prior to proofreading) help to give Bubba the “Every Man” charm that has served John Daly so well (just without the booze and cigarettes). The fact that he is not easily labeled keeps me interested in both his career and his personality – something that I cannot say about most of the “plain Jane” PGA players.

Perhaps one day I will get a handle on what makes Bubba tick but for now I am content to keep admiring his mind boggling drives, recognizable swagger and oh, that horrible visor!

“I feel exceptionally old” is what David Feherty says a few times during his interview with Michelle Wie and that is exactly how I felt as well. Even though we have watched Michelle play golf for over six years, she is still only 22 years old. So while she has been around the world, played on two Solheim Cups, teed it up with the men, in the end she is just 22 years old.

As a side note, I have never been one to get autographs. However, one of the very few autographs I do have is from Michelle Wie. During the 2007 Women’s US Open I was able to watch her work with David Leadbetter on the range while I sat barely 6 feet away. Now if you have ever been to a PGA event, you know that there is now way you get within 50 feet of the men so being close enough to actually hear the dialog between Michelle Wie and David Leadbetter was a real thrill. As it happened, I was able to get her autograph later in the day and still wear the hat every so often.

Believe it or not that says "Michelle Wie"

I digress. As Feherty reminds us, he is significantly older than Michelle Wie which I think makes for an interesting dynamic. For any of you who are over 40, you know speaking with a 20 year old is almost like speaking with someone from a different planet. While Michelle is quite interesting, smart, funny and charming, she is saddled by the fact that she only has a few short years of life experience to draw upon. For me, one of the great things about the Feherty show is that typically we get to hear from people who have 30-60 years of golfing experience and stories. So while I was very impressed with Michelle, at some level, I just find Feherty’s interviews with people over the age of 50 to be more substantive.

With that said, I was truly impressed by Michelle’s commitment to attend Stanford as a regular student. And when I say regular, I mostly believe that she lives in a regular dorm and goes to regular classes. We all know that big time athletes don’t go to college like most of us do (or even class for that matter), but I do believe that Michelle is getting basically a normal college experience.

I give Michelle and her parents a ton of credit for making the choice to go to Stanford and wait on a full-time golf career. While we will have to wait to see how Michelle’s career will play out, I believe her time at Stanford will serve her well. So despite her ups and downs, I very much expect her to be a champion on the LPGA Tour and I for one will certainly be rooting for her.

Tiger Woods wins Bay Hill:  Ok, we are self professed Tiger fans here at Three Guys Golf Blog. Despite a busy day, Matt and I were able to catch much of the final round at Bay Hill where Tiger Woods won Arnie’s trophy for the 812th time. Rather than give you the play by play, below is the text exchange that took place between 2pm and 10pm. We pick it up at the 1st hole where Tiger has 10 foot birdie putt and McDowell 14 foot par putt after a bad sand shot.

Matt: “Is McDowell trying to ice Tiger’s birdie putt?” 

  Adam: “Don’t worry Tiger is gonna crush him despite his ugly ass loafers. Is it too much to ask for Tiger to at least wear his black shoes?”

Matt:  “did Tiger 3 putt or something?” (Matt apparently stepped out of the room on the third hole)

  Adam: “yup, he looked timid”

Matt: “They gotta stop acting like this is McDowell vs Tiger, there are like 8 dudes that could get involved”

  Adam: “I love this sh&^, but it makes me have to go outside every commercial to swing the club”

Matt: ” Ok I guess it is just match play – these other guys are hehrting”

Matt: “Tiger’s back – smiling and in control”

Matt: “I think Miller has a thing for Arnie” (ok, I did a little editing here)

  Adam: “How long before Ernie throws his putter in the drink?”

Matt: “Is Arnie like Ted Turner rich from the Golf Channel?”

  Adam: “yup, except he also has Penzoil money  too”

Matt: “At my inlaws, basketball preventing channel hopping, I am getting violated . . . is Tiger just cruising?”

  Adam: “it’s over…”

Matt: “Suck it!”

Adam: “My Post on Tiger’s shoes is getting a ton of hits…how whacked is that”

Matt: “Was that a humblebrag? Yeah even my father-in-law was like “what’s the deal with those shoes?”, and that’s coming from a guy who wears birkenstocks”

Matt: “Just tell me that after Tiger wins two more majors you will repost my On the Record Post.  The non-believers will repent!”

Matt: “Dude I just watched DVR of the little smile/pump-up he had before his putt on 18 when he realized what he did – I felt like I was watching my son graduate from Harvard”

  Adam: “I am so jacked. Can’t wait to see him crush the field again”

Matt: “He didn’t just win that tournament like other dudes do, he owned that F’er.  Stingers, fades, draws. He’s a golf machine”

Matt: “Brandell Dorklee had the best comment yesterday morning – when you watch all 18 holes he plays, like we do because of television coverage, it looks like he’s not dialed in cuz a lot of his irons are like 20 – 30 feet from the pin, but he is the only guy since Jack Nicklaus who understands the game well enough to plan his round and put the game plan before his ego – he wants to hit those shots there.”

Well that’s it folks. Inside the mind of the true Tiger dorks! We hope to be writing a lot more about El Tigre in the near future (that means the Masters).

This week on the Feherty Show, David sat down for an interview with legendary swing coach Butch Harmon. While we all know Butch Harmon was with Tiger through 59 PGA wins and 8 majors we often forget he cut his teeth with some other pretty good players including, Phil Mickelson and Greg Norman. At one point, Butch says he just feels lucky to have been around so many great golfers but somehow I don’t think luck had much to do with it.

Butch came from a golfing family so it is really no surprise where he landed. His dad won the 1948 Masters and still holds about six course records and all 3 of his brothers have taught golf at the highest level. And, if you counted them up, Butch has probably played with nearly every great golfer since Ben Hogan (who was good friends with his dad). Yup, Butch knows golf.

From a golf standpoint, Butch talks about a number of golf philosophies but what struck me was his differentiation between learning a golf swing and learning to play golf. Butch references this notion at least three times and credits Ben Hogan for the term “getting back in the dirt”. While clearly treading lightly in terms of talking about Tiger, Butch Harmon does say that Tiger has become too much of a golf robot and not enough of a golfer. Beyond Tiger, Butch even blames this swing first, golf second coaching mentality for the period of decline in US golfing talent.

Speaking of US talent, Butch is another in a long line of experts who when asked about the next great group of golfers, brings up Rickie Fowler. Now I am a big Rickie fan, so this is good news for me, but if you look at the results guys like Keegan Bradley and Webb Simpson seem to be ahead of him at this point. Then again, this is why he coaches PGA players and I write a blog.

The two other swing notes that jumped out at me oddly enough came from Feherty. First, he said “just swing the club and let the ball get in the way” which is exactly what Wade tells me that Jim Colbert would say all of the time. The other interesting note, is that because of Feherty’s injury he cannot keep his left elbow straight which many people think you need to do in order to create power. Ironically, Wade just wrote about keeping a soft left elbow last week and judging from Feherty’s’ swing it is a perfectly fine way to hit a golf ball.

Back to the show: as you may know, Feherty has been very active with the men and women of the military. Given his involvement with the troops oversees, it was appropriate for him to be onsite for Butch Harmon to showcase his Troops First Foundation which hosts a golf camp for seriously injured soldiers. Expectedly, David is really great with these guys as he is totally at ease talking to anyone (it may have helped that he wore a ridiculously stupid hat during the entire segment). While clearly emotional during his conversation with a man who lost both legs, Feherty is able to keep his sense of humor as he tells one guy who had lost his arm “gimme none”. I give credit to the Feherty Show for dedicating so much time to this segment rather than re-airing 15 more minutes of Tiger highlights (even though that never get old).

My final note is something I also referenced in last weeks post. The opening monologue is just so bizarre. I am to the point where I actually enjoy its uncomfortable nature. This week on the Feherty Show I could swear David was channeling his inner Mr. Rogers as he sauntered around his office looking from camera to camera. Let’s see if next week he hangs up his jacket in favor of a sweater.

Golf Improvement tips from a Touring Pro:

Early in my golfing life, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to play with a number of touring pros as a result of my first marriage. Since then, I often get a lot of questions about how pros think about the game. While there are a number of differences, one surprising fact is that even pros think this game of golf is no easy matter. For example, I can recall a number of dinners when my father in law would scratch his head and exclaim with an absolute straight face, “Man, golf is a really, really hard game”. With that, here are a few nuggets I took from him.

Nugget #1  Don’t Forget that Golf is a Really Hard Game

It is that time of of year when many of us are working to get our golf game together in time for spring. This means swing fixes and outright overhauls are on the horizon. As you may recall from an earlier post about Bob Rotella’s book, amateurs tend to have little patience and expect change to happen, happen fast, and happen painlessly.

My father in law would tell me it took him at least three weeks of playing every day to incorporate one new idea into his swing. For those of you without calculators that’s 21 rounds of golf for a guy who played golf for a living. So if a guy who really knows his swing mechanics, and who has been a true student of the game throughout his career could hold out for 21 rounds before demanding improvement, do you think we can play some rounds and, god forbid, practice a bit before bailing on a swing change?

If you think this is hard, try golf

Nugget #2: Since golf is a really hard game, remember to have fun and make it easy on yourself when you can

You might be surprised to learn that when family was around and he was working on his game at home, my father in law would roll his ball around to get a good lie, even on the pristine fairways that we would play. I think he understood that the mental boost of confidence you get from hitting a good shot from a good lie was worth a lot more than many amateurs seem to undertand. Golf is hard enough without spending all of your time hitting out of bad lies, especially when you’re working on your game. Nicklaus actually recommends hitting off of tees with all of your irons at the driving range when you’re working on any kind of swing change to simply take the ground out of the equation. Of course, I’m not suggesting that my father in law rolled his ball when he was in a tournament, or playing in a more official game; but on his own time or with family and friends, he made it a little easier on himself.  I guess he figured he had to hit out of plenty of bad lies during his countless rounds on tour so why torture himself when he did not have to?

Finally, go easy on scoring snowmen. I can never recall a time he did not roll the ball back to any of us who were playing with him and say “that’s good,” when we were putting for a double bogie.  Perhaps the most valuable piece of advice he gave me was was that golf was supposed to be fun, and he knew that unless you cultivated it, the game could take it from you.

Feherty interview with Bill Russell:  One of the smartest things Feherty decided to do was not limit his show strictly to golf personalities. To that end, Monday night Feherty sat down with basketball legend Bill Russell.

Before I get into the interview I have one small nitpick about the show. For some reason David and his producer have never quite figured out how to always make the camera cut seamless when he is alone talking in his office. Instead it is the only time in which Feherty feels awkward and forced. Small issue but I am surprised they have not gotten it right.

As we open up with the interview two things jump out. 1) holy cow Bill Russell is tall and 2) Bill Russell has perhaps the best laugh ever. Some people seem to just get the whole package, I mean it’s bad enough that George Clooney is good looking and is a great actor, but does he also have to be cool guy to boot?

Back to the interview – we get to see Bill beat David in a chipping contest to which Feherty tells Russell – “F$%*  You!” (don’t hear that too often from a host). We learn Bill was cut from the JV basketball team (who are these guys who cut Jordan and Russell?).  In terms of golf, Bill relates that he got down to a 7 handicap but admits that it is a double edged sword when you become good enough that even small errors will result in a disappointing round. A point that should not be lost on any of us searching for a single digit handi and a warning to keep “fun” in the equation.

Russell also recalls a time in which he played a round of golf with Michael Jordan. Think on that for a moment..there are just some rounds of golf I would kill to be a single. As they say, hearing Russell chide Jordan about the fact he will never break his records -Priceless.

As we learn more about Bill’s life it hits me how different of a world a man only 30 years my senior grew up in. To me, this just makes his accomplishments that more impressive. While men like Russell become legends for what they do on the court, it is the Medal of Freedom that he is ultimately most proud of (actually 2nd to hearing his father tell him how proud he was) – exactly the reason he is such a dignitary of men.

Thankfully, Feherty gives us a full hour of material so I will not give it all away – find it, DVR it, watch it! Note to Golf Channel-lock down Feherty’s contract before NBC swoops him up.

Feherty Show – Sergio Garcia Recap: So I finally got around to watching the season premier of Feherty and I now predict every PGA pro who is having reputation issues is going to be scampering to book a spot on the show.

Let’s face it, Sergio Garcia is not exactly the most liked pro on tour- okay he probably does not even make the cut. However, after an hour with Feherty, Sergio has gained at least one more fan or at least has lost one more hater. Like many, I always viewed Sergio as a spoiled rich kid with a bad attitude; while that may still be true, I walked away from the show impressed with his strong sense of family and community.

Sergio post Feherty interview

While I cannot exactly put my finger on why the Feherty show works, I think it comes down to David’s ability to humanize his guests. In part guys like Sergio fall victim to the fact that no one ever talks to them like a person. As Matt pointed out, David is on par with many of his guest in terms of resume and in some cases, like with Sergio, he is a longtime friend, which gives him a huge advantage as an interviewer. I mean who else would admit to breaking wind during an interview with the likes of Greg Norman?  Certainly not Jim Nantz, but somehow Feherty pulls it off. In an age of stodgy reporting, Feherty’s willingness to poke fun at himself and play the clown is a perfect cover to draw out his guest and get them to talk like a normal person rather than a robo-athlete.

In any case, it’s refreshing to hear guys like Sergio Garcia speak candidly about their life and career. Typically, I am not one to watch interview shows, but Feherty nails it every time with his ability to get his guests to speak from the heart and open up on under-reported subjects.

Finally, lest we ever feel bad for Sergio, don’t forget that the guy has it made. I think as Americans we tend to believe there is no other place worth living outside of the US, but judging from the Sergio compound, he is doing pretty well in Spain.

2012 Northern Trust Open: Since it was 65 degrees on Saturday I did not see much of the Northern Trust Open, but on Sunday, thanks to my having a few too many the night before, I was able to watch the entire final round (less a 90 minute nap). So With Mickelson set to win his second tournament in a row, all eyes were on lefty.

On Sunday through nine holes it looked like Phil was going to bring it home, then like the past few weeks it got interesting on the back nine. First, Sergio decides to go nuts and shoot 64 even with a short par miss – shocker I know. Then there was Dustin Johnson who has in my opinion the most swagger on tour. The guy just exudes confidence when he saunters down the fairway. Unfortunately, Dustin was not able to take advantage of his huge bombing drives and came up just short proving once again tournaments are won with the flatstick.

So down the stretch we had Bradley, Mickelson and Haas. Ok, let’s first address Keegan Bradley and his litany of ticks. Whether it is lining up his ball on the tee just perfectly, setting his club beside the ball before backing off or looking cross-eyed when reading the green, I can’t help but wonder if he is thinking “did I leave the oven on?”. I hope for his sake he never gets in a slump or I fear his pre-shot routine will rival Sergio’s infinite waggle.

Seeing the break by Keegan Bradely

With that said, Keegan has shown to be a total stud so it’s odd that he continues to fly below the media radar in comparison to guys like Rickie Fowler who have not had his success. However, if Bradley keeps draining putts like he did at the PGA championship or on #18, the media will have no choice but to show him some love.

Back to Sunday’s action, I am still always amazed at these guys’ ability to roll insane pressure putts. Needing birdies on 18, both Mickelson and Bradley rolled money putts to force a playoff, where on the second hole of sudden death, Bill Haas ended up winning by playing it safe with his chip shot and then calmly rolling a forty foot birdie putt.

Equally exciting were the chip shots that faced Mickelson and Bradley which sent Feherty into a tizzy contemplating the level of difficulty. Still, it was only a cruel lip that kept Bradley from moving on. So in the end Bill Haas took home the hardware, proving that if you can give yourself a chance to drain a putt good things can happen.

Cleveland Classic Driver: As you may already know, Cleveland has just come out with a new “Cleveland Classic Driver, packaging all of today’s modern technology into an old-school, persimmon wood look. By all accounts (eg. Fresh Golf Review’s writeup) the club performs quite well, so far be it from me to poke fun at anyone who puts the Classic in their bag. But I do have to ask – who is going to put this club in their bag?!?!?

2012 PGA Show:  Having just returned from my first visit to the 2012 PGA Show I am feeling a bit punch drunk. Much like a kid in a candy store, the PGA Show had so many sweets it was easy to go overboard and end up with a sugar high. So without further adieu, lets get to some of the highlights.

PGA Show Driving Range

Equipment:  Yes, all of the big boys had a huge presence at the show but for me it was a great time to learn more about some of the boutique companies. In the putter and wedge niche, I was able check out Edel, Piretti and T.P. Mills putters which are simply stunning (I only wish I had taken pictures). Newer on the scene but also impressive is a line of putters from former player Chris Carnahan who makes both wedges and putters for Carnahan Golf.  Finally, in the putter and wedge area, we visited with Rife putters and Renegar Golf, both of which I really like and look forward to taking out on the course.

While I did not make the demo day, I did get to spend some time with Stephen Boccieri of Boccieri Golf who explained his weighted club design. In short, his clubs, or separately sold grips, are weighted at the butt end to promote greater lag and hence better club speed.

Golf Shoes:  Since Ecco came out with their Fred Couples street shoes, everyone seems to be jumping on the band-wagon. While Ecco is not about to go away, new mid-sized companies will give them a challenge. For example Kikkor added about 4 more lines to their portfolio including, wait for it, a high top. TRUE Linkswear is simply exploding with new styles and even Crocs is jumping into the market. However, the most minimalist shoe I found was Barefoot BERBS which are as close to no shoes as you can get. While each brand has a unique style, consistent among them is a lower profile, closer to the ground feel. Stay tuned as we will be putting these shoes to our 18 hole test in the coming months.

Even Crocs is getting into the golf shoe game

Golf  Apparel: Although am no fashion expert, it seems like the Europeans are having an impact on the fashion industry. Bright colors were everywhere – this was no more evident than at the LoudMouth booth where everyone was decked out in the zany attire.

LoudMouth Golf PGA Booth

While not quite as colorful as LoudMouth, Ian Poulter’s collection is just as unique as you would expect from the man who seems to always be ahead of the fashion curve. As an added bonus Ian made an appearance at the booth and I can honestly say he is a super nice guy.

Ian stops by to sign a few autographs

Speaking of super nice, let me just say that just about everyone at the show was awesome, but a quick shout out to some of the folks were were particularly welcoming to Three Guys Golf Blog:

Kikkor:  Hosted an awesome night golf event.

Sligo:  Great clothing selection plus they had Brian Gay stop in for a while.

Abacus:  A Scandinavian company who will be outfitting the Euros this year.

Cross Golf USA:  Great outerwear and clothing.

Tattoo Golf:  We have already done a product review for Tattoo so it was cool to meet Bill and Greg in person.

Arnie Wear:  Can’t wait for this new line of clothes that was literally designed using real items from Arnold Palmer’s closet.

Other Stuff I liked: There was so much great stuff and hopefully we will get a chance to review much of it in greater detail, but for now this is a quick list of items that caught my attention.

Asher Golf:  Makers of creative golf gloves and part owned by the #2 long distance driver in the world Ben Tua’one.  I was lucky enough to play 9 holes of night golf with Ben and suffice it to say we used all of his drives in the captains choice except when he hit it too far and it went into a lake we did not see 325 yards out.

Jan Craig:  Wonderfully hand made head-covers.

59 Belts:  In the top 3 coolest belts I have ever seen.

Pro Mental Coach:  Computer brain training for us mental disasters. Look for a review in a couple of months when I finish my training.

Jones Bag:  Throw back to the simple days of golf when bags did not have 36 zippered pouches.

Kentwool Socks:  Saved my feet on Saturday.

Optishot:  Affordable indoor golf simulator.

Flavor Flav:  Yes, Flavor Flav was in the house with the Back 9 channel. No idea why but Matt is such a huge fan that I got him a signed hat.

Flavor Flav shouts out to Matt!

Three Guys Golf Blog on Back Pain: While golf is usually not characterized as hard exercise, it can be unplayable with a bad back. For the past few years I have been working on rehabilating myself so that I could once again play pain free. With the help from the staff at Bodyworks in Durham, NC, I have made great strides but one of the most effective (and cheapest) therapies simply involves utilizing tennis balls and/or baseballs.

For one, I keep tennis balls in the car with me at all times. I simply put them behind me and move them around to places that are knotted or tight, and just use my own weight to apply pressure to work out the tight areas.

Secondly, I use them several times a day on the floor of my house.  All that is required is that I lay on top of the tennis balls with them placed just slightly left and right of my spine, lined up beside each other, so there’s no ‘twist’ to my spine. I can then pull my legs up to my chest to put as much weight as I can on the tennis balls. Additionally, I can shift my body to move them up and down my spine. The same process can be repeated in the upper back area. With my hips, I use baseballs around my hip joint, and with both legs pulled up towards my chest, I gently rock from one hip to the other and move the balls to different places around my hip socket.

I know it may seem like a lot of work but if you have back pain that is keeping you from playing golf, it is a great way to start the rehabilitation. For me, I can tell you that by doing these exercises in the morning, evening, and before and after golf, my back has improved tremendously. No other single exercise has helped me more.

Feherty Show:  Well folks, looks like televised golf has pretty much packed it in until next spring, unless of course you’re strange enough to enjoy watching European Tour events at 8 am on a Saturday morning while your 18 month-old throws remnants of breakfast at your head (guilty). No more legit tournaments, no more Tiger, and no reason to watch anything other than football on a Sunday. So now what?

European Tour recent camera upgrades

I’m not claiming television gold here just yet, but I would suggest giving “Feherty Show” a shot. Anyone who’s been within orbital distance of professional golf over the last 15 years is familiar with David Feherty – he’s the Irish guy who almost singlehandedly brought humor into televised golf (okay McCord, you too). So now he has his own show . . . I’ve always known the guy is TV worthy, but I wasn’t sure whether to expect just a longer version of the hot-shot King Cobra ads or some other type of zany “nothing actually happens” programming.

Well . . . “Feherty” is basically an interview show, with our host going out to visit his guests at their location of choice, usually the guest’s house or ranch or whatever else the ludicrously rich people like to call home. You’ll chuckle at the little snippets of Feherty trying to ride a horse with his usual running commentary, or you might feel a slight cringe when you watch him do his somewhat contrived standup routine to a room of 7 – 9 weirded out “friends”, but the bulk of the show is a one-on-one interview with his guests.

To that end, what I have seen so far is a fantastic look into the personalities of notable golfers, caddies, and other celebrities, as well as some great insight into the goings-on of the Tours themselves. Amidst the cloud of self-deprecation that Feherty has surrounded himself with over the last decade, the fact remains that he was a world-class golfer with a Ryder Cup and some big wins to his name. And this might be what makes his show stand out the most – a true peer with a true sense of humor (sorry Nick and Johnny) going at it with some of golf’s greatest. A quickdirty list of guests would include Tom Watson, Greg Norman, Ian Poulter (who is incidentally way cooler than you might think), Charles Barkley, Fluff and Bones (also my grandfather’s nickname), Don Cheadle, and Darren Clarke. Each of the above mentioned episodes brings something to the table that golf spectators have either deserved for a long time or will really want to see. Highlights include:

–Feherty explaining the yips to Charles Barkley in the most simple, down-to-earth way I’ve heard yet. And yes, I’ve researched the yips. I just like to know about stuff. Whatever.

–Feherty revealing that he was pulled out of his alcoholic rock-bottom by Tom Watson extending an invite to come sober up at his ranch – this offer was made during an interview Feherty conducted of Watson and Nicklaus, in which Jack simply exclaimed “David, you look like sh-t!”. Bonus tidbit- Tom Watson was once an alcoholic (I’m not reveling in that fact, I just never would have known it).

–Fluff and Bones talking about . . . ANYTHING! I’d watch a 45 minute special on a caddie cleaning his garage if he promised to tell me at least one story about what happens inside the ropes. They’ve got to be the least “asked” people on the planet as compared to how valuable their stories are.

–Darren Clarke and Feherty hanging out and unintentionally exposing how truly tight the Irish crew is.

-Witnessing billionaire Greg Norman acknowledge that he had just smelled one of Feherty’s famous dragbunts, stating that he now had to “wipe it off of his teeth”. I’ve yet to see Donald Trump get down and dirty like that.

Woops, spoiler alert I suppose. Sorry about that, I guess I like “Feherty” even more than I thought. I’d say if you are devoid of a social life and have a jones for all things golf like the Three Guys, this show comes highly recommended.