As a young man, I mean younger man….I always dreamed of playing the PGA Tour. Playing golf on television and against the best in the world. I often get the question from students that don’t know me, “Did you ever play the tour”. Even though I was an accomplished junior and college player and have currently 4 major victories on my resume  which include (Wva. chapter assistants championship, The Kannapolis Pro-Lady, The North Augusta Pro-Am), I was not even close to being good enough to play with these guys. Most people don’t realize how good these guys really are. So I have found my niche, teaching the game. The innate ability to communicate the game to the masses, students of all levels and even guys that play at the highest level, rely on my for advice and that feels pretty good.  On a previous post I called Q School the hardest golf tournament in the world and this year didn’t disappoint. There were new faces like Troy Merit (the winner) and wiley vets like JP Hayes  and Jay Williamson, and Jeff Maggert that made it through. The interesting part is always the ones that are on the bubble coming down the stretch. The magic number this year was 9 under for 6 rounds. For the good players out there, this doesn’t seem so daunting. You could probalby do this on a weekly basis but the pressure is unlike any golf tournament you will ever play in.  So here is my highlights that were of interest, the good and the bad.

1. The biggest last hole disappointments: James Hahn is on the number playing the 18th only needing a par.  He hits it 60 feet and 4 putts for double bogey. He was actually talking to himself out loud walking up to the green, this tells you how hard it is to control your emotions in this enviroment.

2.  Tour veteran and recent champions tour winner, Tom Pernice Jr. drives it in the water on the last to make double and miss by 1.

3.  Best reaction goes to Brad Delahoussaye. During his interview he tears up saying” I have been trying for so long”, talking to his fiance on the phone. He had to change his honeymoon plans to Hawaii, I think she will get over it.

4. Some notables that didn’t make it were: David Duval, Tim Herron, Jesper Parnevik, Paul Stankowski and Ken Duke.

5. Best Charlotte player, via Zimbabwe, is Brendon De Jonge which finished a solid 4th place and should get into plenty of west coast tournaments.

6.  Lastly, the best after round interview goes to Joe Ogilvie. Ogilvie talked about how Shakespeare would never write this book and how he couldn’t understand why more people wouldn’t watch this tournament because it is the greatest in the world. He made an apprentice reference that was very funny…..if anyone can find this video please post as I feel he has a very good future in tv. This guy is very funny and obviously a great player.

Young phenom, Ricky Fowler who is slowly becoming one of my favorite players to watch, made it look easy and made it through. It helps when you have plenty of sponsors exemptions waiting for you if you don’t make it. I just can’t get used to the dutch boy painter hat and the long hair but I know the kids are digging it. His short game and putting is just ridiculous and is world-class. Check out his putting setup and stroke as its exactly like what I teach.

Next weeks Guru TV will be on putting: The arc stroke vs. Straight line putting………..so stay tuned

Don’t forget to breathe when you are nervous and I will see you on the lesson tee

Guru