His back was up against ATWAL…

When asked if he new he lost his PGA Tour status on Thursday he was shocked to know he did not have current status. Did not much matter to him because he Monday Qualified anyway. When asked if he had a lot of pressure to regain his status, he stated he had nothing to lose and could play loose and to win this event. These are the answers of a man who was comfortable being himself... Arjun Atwal. An Indian golfer who loves to do what….play golf. Does not matter to him if it is PGA Tour, Nationwide Tour, Euro Tour or a local muni to get some work in. He just enjoys the challenge of trying to live out his child hood dream…Winning a PGA Tour event. Mission accomplished Sunday at the Wyndham Championship.

For me this win felt better than seeing some of the other players win on tour. I met Mr. Atwal while volunteering at a Nationwide Tour event a year ago. I had the pleasure of working with the live online scoring and the walking scorers so they were long days. Each day I was there super early and many players would come and go by and not say a word to us but Mr. Atwal made it a point every morning to see how we were holding up with the long days and always asked if it was anything he could do for us. Ok Ok here is a guy trying to win an event and focus on his golf game but has the thoughtfulness to ask if he can help us, the volunteers out. WOW.. On the Saturday after his round and being several shots off the lead he comes by the volunteer area and just plops down and has lunch with us and talks with us while the scores come from the leaders. This has stuck with me and I always thought if anyone deserves a sponsor exemption or PGA Tour status it is Mr. Arjun Atwal. A TRUE CLASS ACT.

FRAUD OF THE WEEK - PGA Rule book. I have thought long and hard about how players keep getting penalized for penalties that are questionable. First let me say that I am a sport purest. I like to maintain things as close to how they were intended. That being said I also know that things need to be reviewed periodically to see if they still make since in the current environment. Golf is taking longer to play, 5 hour rounds are closer than further to being the norm. Maybe the rule book could use a little trimming with the thought of improving the pace of play. Not slowing things down and forcing players to hesitate whenever there might be a ruling needed. Maybe the 2011 rule book could read like Tweets….LOL short and to the point

4 Majors complete and 3 Euro tour winners

4 Majors complete and 3 Euro tour winners
Congratulations to Mr. Martin Kaymer for his impressive PGA Championship win. He played well for the first 3 days and lights out on the toughest day SUNDAY. When many players do the opposite by playing lights on Thursday or Friday and then struggle on the weekend. Mr. Kaymer did the opposite. At one point during the 2nd round Friday evening/Saturday morning one of the announcers stated that their were so many Americans atop the leader board. This caught my attention and I looked at the names and burst out laughing because those names never close tournaments strong. As the day went on Saturday and those names slid a little, some Euro/Asian tour players names started to surface and my thought was "Here We go again". Then some how the pairings had 2 Americans in the final group and 2 Euro/Asian Tour in the next to last group. I know the PGA Tour did not want to mix up the pairings hoping the American could figure out how to win playing together, but NO. As usual the Americans choked on Sunday and the Euro/Asian tour players played their game and pulled out the victory. My major observation has nothing to do with Dustin Johnson and the bunker or Bubba Watson's huge drives. My major observation revolves around the American Players desire to shoot low scores or make incredible shots and not play their game versus the course. Americans never take what they are given, they want more and this tends to cost them when the pressure is on. Euro players tend to appreciate "OLD MAN PAR" and take what the course gives them. Sometime this does not sit well with announcers and viewers because they too always want more. Case in point on the 3rd playoff hole Bubba tries to hit a career shot and then loses the tournament instead of playing for par and understanding "OLD MAN PAR". You do not always need a birdie to win Americans. Earlier this season Rickie Fowler laid up and lost a tournament but he was content with his decision. He caught a lot of grief in the US for this decision but around the world he decision was respected because he was playing his game versus "OLD MAN PAR." Kaymer did the same on 3rd hole of playoff and won. He was just as content with his decision as Fowler and it showed in both of their post tournament interviews. Gracious and respectful of the tournament and the course. They did not make silly statements like Bubba Watson after the lost and his bad decision "I just wanted to make the Ryder Cup Team". WHAT did he say, excuse me Bubba are you kidding me……

FRAUD OF THE WEEK -
I know many will say this should be Dustin Johnson for the bunker situation and maybe it should be. Hit a fairway PLEASE Dustin Johnson and this would not have happened. You flew the green anyway…LOL The FRAUD was the wide eyed….hold on I'm still scrolling down the leader board to get his name… Nick Watney. This guy was +9 on Sunday of a major tournament in the final group. What a disaster. I know they do the pairings for the final round based on Saturdays results but this guy should be banded from being in the final group of Major Championships...bottom line…+9 WHATEVER…He should also be refused a spot on any future Ryder Cup teams for life!!!!!

Tiger What are we going to do with you...

We all know the talk going on right now about TW. Worst 4 round tournament as a pro, no swing coach, blah blah blah. Can he turn it around? That's the major question and many of us sure hope so. But let me through one name out there and this guy was also #1 in the world before a crash unlike anything we have ever seen. DAVID DUVAL. I am not saying TW will fall off like him but it can happen and hopefully it will not.

My steps to getting TW back on track.
(1) Get back into the nice classic clothing you used to wear. No prints, not designs. JUST CLASSICS.
(2) No more talking to fans and smiling. Get back to domination both physically and mentally.
(3) Play every round like match play. CRUSH the dudes you are playing with.
(4) Get out of the Maybach and back into the Buick.
(5) No sunglasses. You never wore sunglasses what's that about.
(6) Shoot at every flag, every time, every round.
That should get you started and call/text the Urban Legend for phase 2 later, offline.

FRAUD OF THE WEEK - Only one man stuck out this week. Friday evening everything was teed up for him to become #1 in the world. TW was playing bad and he was tied for second. Then something funny happened…. He slept on the idea of being #1 in the world and choked for 2 days to ensure it would not happen. He smiled and said all the things most people accept but not me. FRAUDSTER you do not want it and just admit it. Being #1 in the world scares you Mr. Phil Mickelson. I would not be surprised if he missed the cut this week in a major championship. FRAUD!!!!! Button down polos..whatever dude….

59 59 59....

So much talk around the score of 59. Why are the players of today so consumed with shooting a 59 in a tournament. There have been 2 59's shot recently. One by Paul Goydos…yeah the guy with the ugly Long Beach hat and Stuart Appleby…his score is to be respected a little more. Appleby's score was shot on a Sunday and it was needed to pull out a win by 1 stroke. Since Appleby's 59 there has been talk about why players are shooting low. Is it the equipment? Driving the ball longer, more receptive golf balls..etc. Have the courses been set up easier than in the past? Have the greens improved? Yes in my opinion these guys play on plush gucci greens every week and if they are not perfect they complain like babies!!! Are the players better? Has fitness of the golfers improved? Has the mindset of the young guns rubbed of on the seasoned pro's? So many things to consider but the one thing I know is 59 is not that big of deal. Here is why I say that. There are 18 holes on a golf course and lets say the course is a par 71. Lets keep in mind that these are professional golf surgeons:):) If a player were to birdie every hole that would be a score of 18 under par and a score of 53. In my mind the "Ultimate Score" is 53 not 59!!!!!