Secrets of golf

RIFFA, Bahrain (Reuters) – World number nine Paul Casey, searching for his first European Tour win since 2009, powered into a share of the lead after the Volvo Golf Champions third round Saturday.

The Briton cruised to a six-under-par 66 to tie with Swede Peter Hanson (67) on 16-under 200 in the inaugural event at the Royal Golf Club.

Britain’s Darren Clarke and South African James Kingston carded matching 67s to take joint third place on 201 while Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez (69) was fifth on 202.

Casey, without a European Tour victory since landing the flagship PGA Championship title in May 2009, bagged four birdies and an eagle in his round.

“I just need more of the same (tomorrow) and to play like I did today,” he told reporters. “I gave myself lots of opportunities and took care of my own game.

“I will go out there, have fun, enjoy it, try and post five or six under, something like that, and we’ll see if that’s good enough.”

Hanson won twice last year to earn his first Ryder Cup cap but predicted a difficult day Sunday in his bid to claim the stunning crystal trophy.

“I am expecting a tough day especially when you have players like Casey and Darren Clarke also in contention,” said the Swede who reeled off three birdies and an eagle in five holes from the seventh.

“I have to say I’m very happy with the way I fought around this course. I made some really good putts today … so I’m feeling good standing over the putter.”

Former British Open champion Todd Hamilton, an early starter, enjoyed a brief spell at the top of the leaderboard after firing a course-record equalling 64 for an 11-under tally of 205.

The American picked up eight birdies including a chip-in from off the green at the par-four 15th and spurned the chance to take the outright record when he could only par the ninth, his final hole.

“Given the calm conditions the course was very much there for the taking this morning,” Hamilton told Reuters. “The greens were very receptive and also still pretty slow.

“I knew coming down the last that the course record was 64 so given it is a par-five I thought I had a good chance of a 63 or maybe even a 62.”

(Editing by Tony Jimenez)

View the original article here

Tags: News by admin
Comments Off

1) Eye on a Dime “

Feeling depressed over your pay? Here is a simple drill down, which will lay the discipline back in your stroke. Place the ball on top of a dime “and then keep your eyes focused on dime” all the way through your stroke. Avoid the urge to follow the ball with your eyes, immediately after the impact, especially on short putting. Just look for dime “, rather than after the ball with your eyes, head and shoulders.

2) See yourself in the Clubface

One of the keys to come out of the greenside bunkers are to keep the clubface “open”. When you close your eyes, you’ll get a lower trajectory and the Club has a tendency to dig in the sand. Here is a trick to help you achieve this: imagine that the clubface is a mirror, and that you will see your reflection in the discharge of your true shot. This will ensure that you take the Club all the way to eye level, and you have kept it open all the way to the finish. Good luck!

3) Shoulder Under Chin–you do not hit the thin!

You are suffering from topping the ball or “frames the thin?” Try to get in the habit of placing your right shoulder under your chin before looking for where the ball goes. This does not mean that keep your head forever. Let your head Move, but let your shoulder, be what brings it after contact. To do this correctly, and you will see the club almost hit the ball. Try it!

4) Step on it!

The best way to practice a good weight Shift is to step with your right foot over the left after you hit the ball. You should feel as if you are walking right after contact. After each swing ask yourself: “where is the weight?” It is on the right footing or left? A proper, balanced position should be 90% on left foot and 10% on the right-to-toe. From there, your momentum of course make you to walking position with right over left, as shown here.

5) rock-solid right knee

On the backswing, it is essential to keep the weight on the inside of right foot and maintain a small crack in the knee. Failure to do so may result in poor contact and a loss of power. Imagine that right knee is braced and solid like a wall, as you take the Club back. This helps your upper body coil behind the ball, so that you can make an aggressive Move through it and really send the sailing!

If you’re looking to further improve your golfing game, why not try using Bushnell Pinseeker 1500 golf laser rangefinder. Another great golf laser rangefinder to take a look at is 1600 Bushnell golf laser rangefinder.

View the original article here

Tags: Uncategorized by admin
Comments Off

On a cool, clear and dry day, Haas (71) and Mickelson (68) finished tied at 12-under-par 204, one stroke ahead of Watson and Mahan, both of whom eagled the 18th hole for rounds of 69. Kim birdied the final hole for a 71, and is two back, one stroke clear of the powerful rookie Jhonattan Vegas, who also birdied the finishing hole for a 69.

His playing partner, Tiger Woods, managed a 74 as he broke a stretch of 21 straight rounds of par or better in PGA Tour events at Torrey Pines. Woods, who has won the previous five times he teed it up on the tough old course on the La Jolla cliffs above the Pacific, including the 2008 United States Open, is eight strokes back and will not be winning a sixth straight here — barring some otherworldly event.

Woods has made it happen before, but for now, Haas and Mickelson are leading the way, tied atop the leader board on a hard and fast Torrey Pines where the odds on pulling off risky shots is lower than the relative humidity of 45 percent.

At least, that is the way Mickelson sees it. Mickelson, a San Diegan who has played hundreds of rounds at Torrey Pines and has three victories here — the last in 2001, said he was where he was because he finally swallowed a figurative dose of Castor oil and started to play the course more conservatively.

“The biggest thing for me is I’m not taking on anywhere near as much risk,” Mickelson said. “This course doesn’t reward you for taking on any challenge. And my more conservative approach into the greens, albeit boring, has led me to be on top of the leader board.”

Whether Mickelson can go against type for one more day — remember the 6-iron from the pine straw at the 13th hole on Masters Sunday last year? — will be revealed soon enough. But he does know that the array of players behind him, which includes Vegas, who won last week and is just three strokes back in sixth place, will not be laying up.

Haas, the 36-hole leader here who lost a playoff last week in the Bob Hope Classic, shot a steady 71 to stay in contention. At the Hope, he shot a 62 in the next-to-last round to jump into the fray. A two-time winner on tour, Haas is becoming more and more comfortable playing under pressure.

“I hung in there,” Haas said. “I saw my name up there most of the day and was able to hang in there and hold the lead for some of the back nine there. I hit a lot of quality shots on the back nine. Hopefully tomorrow, if things are going right, I can tell myself that I did it yesterday, I can do it today. Just tell myself I’ve been striking it nice and keep going.”

For Mickelson, who also is tied for first in total number of feet for putts holed (126.5), it has been a matter of reducing the risk and giving himself more chances — which means hitting more greens, which he has done. He has hit 42 of 54 for almost 78 percent.

Woods, with whom most spectators had hoped Mickelson would be tied with for the lead, has not given himself near as many chances. He has hit 36 greens for 66 percent and had a mediocre putting round Saturday, with 31.

“No doubt,” Woods said. “I did not play well at all today. It was a struggle all day, and I finally found something at No. 16, but 15 holes already had gone by, so that was pretty frustrating.”

When he first won here in 1999, Woods came from nine strokes off the pace. But that was after 36 holes, and he was at the end of — not in the midst of — a swing change, a process he has gone through twice before and which he said would take him an indeterminate amount of time to feel comfortable about.

“I know what I can do,” he said. “I know what I’m capable of hitting, the shots I’m capable of hitting, and I just need to keep improving and keep working.”

How long will that take?

“One time it took two years,” he said. “So I went through a stretch there from ’97, the middle of ’97 to May of ’99 when I only went through one tournament. So I’ve been through stretches like that before, and it takes time.”

View the original article here

Tags: News by admin
Comments Off

RIFFA, Bahrain (Reuters) – World number nine Paul Casey claimed his first European Tour title since 2009 by winning the inaugural Volvo Golf Champions event Sunday.

The 33-year-old Briton carded a closing 68 for a 20-under-par total of 268 to finish a stroke ahead of Swede Peter Hanson (69) and Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez (67) at the Royal Golf Club.

Briton Stephen Gallacher (67) was fourth on 270, with Dubai World Championship winner Robert Karlsson (66) of Sweden in fifth spot on 271.

Casey said he now wants to win again before competing in the season’s first major, the U.S. Masters in April.

“My goal now is major championships, starting with Augusta, and it would be nice to crack on and get another win before the Masters,” he told reporters.

“That would really set me up and then maybe I can accomplish those goals I’ve set. Augusta is a great opportunity for me with the way the golf course sets up.”

Casey and playing partner Hanson were tied on the 72nd tee and both players missed the green to the right with their approach shots.

Hanson splashed out to 10 feet after finding a greenside bunker and failed to sink his putt for a par four while the Englishman chipped to five feet from deep rough and holed out.

Casey’s 11th victory was his first on the tour since he won the flagship PGA Championship in England in May 2009.

RANKINGS RISE

He will also climb to number five in the world rankings unless Phil Mickelson finishes first or outright second at the San Diego Open later Sunday.

Hanson said his bunker shot at the 18th was extremely difficult.

“From the lie I had there was not much I could do apart from just hack it out on to the green,” said the Swede, a member of last year’s triumphant Ryder Cup team.

“Paul made a great up-and-down there so all the best to him.”

Earlier, Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen and Briton Richard Finch broke the course record at the Royal Golf Club.

The duo shot matching nine-under 63s to better by one stroke the 64 achieved by three players earlier this week.

Kjeldsen birdied his opening three holes and also the first three of his inward half to finish on 11-under 277.

“It was great as the last three days my golf had got worse and worse,” he told reporters. “I had a big session on the range yesterday and sort of figured it out after about an hour and a half.

“Today was just one of those days when I hit a good drive on the first hole, the driver had been my big problem, and I just felt happy after that.”

Englishman Finch raced to the turn in 29 thanks to an eagle and five birdies as he wound up on 276.

“I’m delighted with that score,” said Finch.

(Editing by Tony Jimenez)

View the original article here

Tags: News by admin
Comments Off

SAN DIEGO (Reuters) – Britain’s Justin Rose fumed with frustration after he undermined a superb display of shot-making with a balky putter in Saturday’s third round of the PGA Tour event in San Diego.

A double winner on the U.S. circuit, the 30-year-old Englishman coped well with the firm, fast-running fairways on the South Course at Torrey Pines but he totalled 32 putts on the greens.

“I am so frustrated,” Rose told Reuters after he carded a level-par 72 to finish a sun-drenched day 10 strokes off the lead.

“I am playing so well right now and that should have been a 66 for me out there today. I must have missed 12 putts inside six feet this week.”

Rose offset two birdies with two bogeys, one of them a three-putt from seven feet at the par-five sixth where he had lined up a birdie chance.

“I know everyone is missing one or two (putts) but this is unbelievable,” he said after posting a two-under total of 214. “I am so frustrated with the putter right now and it’s hard to be positive about that.

“I am playing so well but it’s hard to keep foraging forward in the tournament when you are kicking yourself in the teeth so many times. I am trying to be patient out there.”

Rose, who clinched his first PGA Tour title at last year’s Memorial tournament before adding a second at the AT&T National the following month, said the speed of his putts was the problem.

PUTTING SPEED

“There’s nothing wrong with the stroke,” he added. “My speed’s not good. I am hitting through the break and then I try and over-read one and then I die (lag) it too much.

“Like that last hole,” he said, referring to the par-five ninth. “I had eight feet right up there (for birdie) and I leave it an inch short in the middle.

“I’m just not running the ball with the right speed and obviously speed is critical when you are choosing your line.”

Rose, a four-times winner on the European Tour, said his putting has been streaky in recent years.

“I’ve just got to be patient,” he added. “It will get hot. I know I am a good putter. It’s just that I have high expectations. I read the greens well and I do a lot of things well. It’s just not quite adding up right now.”

After finishing the third round, Rose sought out American Brandt Snedeker for some advice on how to putt the poa annua (grass) greens at Torrey Pines.

“Got some good insights! Hope they pay off!! He can roll it!!!!” Rose tweeted.

Snedeker, who will start Sunday’s final round in a tie for seventh place, needed only 25 putts in the opening round at Torrey Pines and has a good track record on the greens at the coastal venue.

(Editing by Julian Linden)

View the original article here

Tags: News by admin
Comments Off