Would you change your putting grip mid-round in a Major?
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Changing putting grips mid-round is something I certainly have done in my career.
If I have a poor or inconsistent putting round, I will not hesitate to change my grip to get something going. But changing grips continually between short, medium, and long putts is completely different, and Phil Mickelson did it in a Major Championship! He certainly has his reasons, so read on as Matthew Rudy of Golf Digest brings us this interesting article and asks the question, “Would you change your putting grip mid-round in a Major?
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Whatever the reason was for Phil Mickelson’s second-place finish to Henrik Stenson, it wasn’t the putter.
Mickelson one-putted 35 out of 72 holes — second best in the field — and made only four bogies the entire week to go with 19 birdies and an eagle. His final score of 267 would have won every other major in history with the exception of one.
He did introduce an interesting quirk on the back nine Sunday, moving from the claw putting grip — with his lower hand turned sideways on the bottom of the grip — he had used for the entire tournament to that point to a conventional grip. Standing over a mid-length putt on the 16th, he started with a conventional grip and turned his hand around to the claw before pulling the trigger.
A History Lesson – Learn about all 9 Open Championship Venues!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Everyone loves the beauty of Augusta National and the toughness of a US Open course, but none can compare with the history of the Open Championship! These venues are hundreds of years old and are on every golfer’s bucket list! Alex Myers of Golf Digest has put together the complete list of Open Championship courses used in the rotation. Learn a little history!
A crash course on the nine venues that comprise the current Open rota.
Royal Troon Golf Club
Where: Troon, South Ayrshire, ScotlandTimes hosting:9, including this year
You know it as: “That place with the ‘Postage Stamp’ green.”
Unique features: Has both the shortest (Pictured left, the par-3 eighth “Postage Stamp”) and longest (Par-5 sixth “Turnberry”) holes in the Open rota; Colin Montgomerie played here often during the summers growing up. His dad was the club’s secretary, and his house was just a half-mile down the road.
In 1973, Tom Weiskopf won his lone major championship by holding off Johnny Miller and Jack Nicklaus. And yes, Todd Hamilton and his hybrid that he used to chip and got up-and-down 13 of 14 times that week won in 2004 by beating Ernie Els in a playoff. In fact, Troon’s past six winners have all been American.
Old Course At St. Andrews
Where: St Andrews, ScotlandTimes hosting: 29 (last in 2015)
You know it as: “The Home of Golf.” There’s not much more to say than that.
Unique features: The “Road Hole” (left), on which a road and a hotel come into play; Swilcan Bridge (think Jack Nicklaus waving goodbye); Hell Bunker, large double greens, Valley of Sin, etc.
Noteworthy moments: This course has so much history that five players (Bob Martin, J.H. Taylor, James Braid, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods) have won two Open titles. None were more impressive than Woods’ eight-shot romp in 2000, though, when his 19-under-par total set a major championship record. Five years later, Woods would win again here during a week that also saw Jack Nicklaus play in his final major.
Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake
Where: Merseyside, EnglandTimes hosting: 12 (last in 2014)
You know it as: “That place where Tiger Woods cried.”
Unique features: A short drive from Liverpool’s Penny Lane of Beatles fame; Site of the first contest between Great Britain and the U.S. in 1921, an event known as the Walker Cup the following year.
Noteworthy moments: In 2006, Tiger Woods won the British Open just two months after his father passed away. He accomplished the feat by only using his driver once all week. The previous time Hoylake hosted the Open — 39 years before — Roberto De Vicenzo managed to sign a correct scorecard to claim his lone major title.
The wives of the members of Muirfield don’t want to be members!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
There has been a lot said over the past week about Muirfield announcing that they would not allow ladies to be club members. The R&A reprimand was swift and punishing, and they removed Muirfield from the British Open Rota. But there is more to the story than meets the eye. (As there always is.) and former European Tour member and renowned TV analyst Peter Alliss give us what the lady members at Muirfield think. Check out the link below from Swing by Swing.
Speaking with BBC Radio 5 Live, veteran golf commentator Peter Alliss stoked the flames a bit more with a suggestion for women who wish to play at Muirfield.The Guardian has the details:
Alliss, one of the most distinctive voices in golf, told BBC Radio 5 Live: “The women who are there as wives of husbands, they get all the facilities.
“I believe clubs were formed years ago by people of like spirit: doctors, lawyers, accountants, bakers, butchers, whatever they like. And they joined in like spirit to talk amongst them and to do whatever. I want to join the WVS [Women’s Voluntary Service] but unless I have a few bits and pieces nipped away on my body I’m not going to be able to get in.”
Replacement for the British Open first tee announcer named!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
The Legendary Open Championship[ Starter Ivor Robson Retires.
Last year, I posted on the retirement of the smooth-voiced first tee announcer at the British Open, Ivor Robson. The players really did love his lilting silky smooth voice. He stood on the first tee of the Open Championship from the first tee shot to the last without ever taking a break! The R&A has finally made an announcement of two people who are going to be Ivor’s replacements. Read on.
Matt Corker and David Lancaster
There’s no way the R&A can ever truly replace Ivor Robson, the legendary first-tee starter at the British Open for the last 41 years. But Robson announced his retirement at the end of 2015, and the tradition of the opening-tee starter at golf’s oldest championship has to go on.
The future of the first-tee starter was announced on Tuesday, as the R&A has tabbed David Lancaster to replace Robson in the role of official Open starter. Lancaster is not alone, though, as Matt Corker will also help out on the first-tee duties.
“It is an honor and a privilege to be given the opportunity to become the official starter,” Lancaster said in a statement. “The Open is one of the most prestigious events in world sport and I have long been inspired by its heritage and the tremendous performances of the golfing greats over the years. Matt and I are very much looking forward to playing a part in history by introducing the players on the first tee.”
Chin Up Jordan – All the greats have lost in dramatic fashion!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
All our collective hearts went out to Jordan Spieth on Sunday afternoon as he imploded and lost the 2016 Masters Championship. But he is not alone. Almost every great has experienced the feeling of a Major Championship slipping slowly through their fingers. Some of the greatest names in professional golf like Greg Norman, Arnold Palmer, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan have succumbed. Jordan is not the first, and he certainly won’t be the last! It just reminds us that these great players are human and get nervous just like the rest of us! Thanks so much to Ryan Herrington of Golf Digest for this comprehensive and interesting list!
1939 U.S. Open
Snead in defeat!
The only blemish on Sam Snead’s career is never winning the U.S. Open. In 1939, he had arguably his best chance to do it, needing a par 5 on the 72nd hole at Philadelphia C.C. to win. Snead, though, mistakenly thought he needed a birdie, played the hole aggressively and made a triple-bogey 8 to finish in fifth, with Byron Nelson winning.
1955 U.S. Open
Hogan & Fleck 1955 US Open.
Ben Hogan was eyeing a record fifth U.S. Open title but was chased down in the final round at the Olympic Club by Jack Fleck, a little known municipal course pro from Iowa. Fleck’s closing 67 forced a playoff with Hogan, in which the Cinderella prevailed in one of golf’s biggest major championship upsets.
1966 U.S. Open
A seven-shot lead with nine holes to play at the Olympic Club seemed safe for a player of Arnold Palmer’s talent. But the desire to set the U.S. Open 72-hole scoring mark got the best of him, as Palmer shot a back-nine 39 that let Billy Casper tie him in regulation. Casper won the 18-hole Monday playoff by four.
An incredible journey for young Irish lad Paul Dunne!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Watching Paul Dunne during the British Open, I recalled a similar amateur having a great week at the British Open, Justin Rose!
Justin went on to win the US Open and become one of the premier players in world golf. I wonder what is in store for young Paul?
This wonderful Irish golfer offers us his very personal insights into his experiences at the Open this year. Dunne is a humble but very talented young man tied for the lead entering the final round.
Read about his rounds with the world’s top players, his amazement at the crowds, how he dealt with weather interruptions, etc. I love the part where he admits he set 7 alarms to go off in the early morning of the first round!
Thanks to Paul Dunne and the Irish Times for a great tale.
An incredible journey for young Irish lad Paul Dunne!
We all had our own ways of getting to St Andrew’s.
I know Jordan Spieth and Zach Johnson were among those who hopped on the charter flight from the John DeereClassic but my journey was quite different. I’d been playing for Ireland in the European Team Championships in Sweden and we had about a three-hour train ride down to Copenhagen, a flight to Dublin, where I had to stay for some time in the airport, and then caught another flight to Edinburgh.
I arrived in Edinburgh pretty late on Sunday night and went straight to our rented house in Elie, a town about 20 miles from St Andrews. My mam, dad and Alan Murraywere already there and had sent me the address. I just went straight into the house, didn’t knock on the door or anything, and walked straight into someone else’s house. I was nearly attacked by their dog and the people came out laughing, and then pointed me in the right direction – around the side of their house – where I needed to go. It had been a long day and I was tired and I didn’t bother setting any alarm. I just slept until I woke up.
When I arrived at St Andrew’s on Monday, I did the first thing to register in the clubhouse.
There were a few desks with administration staff, you sit down, sign your name, give your contact details for the week, get your player’s ID badge, tickets for your family and they give you a locker key. There was a good luck note in mine from Titleist, with a couple of dozen golf balls and four gloves for the week.I hadn’t organised any practice round but I met Shane Lowry at lunch and he told me he was due to play with G-Mac. Did I want to play? It couldn’t have worked out any better if you’d planned it. I went to practice for a couple of hours before we headed out. Shane played the first five holes with us, along with Daniel Brooks, and then Graeme and myself played from six to 18, just the two of us and not a lot of people.
At one point, Graeme took a photo of me from behind and put it onto his Twitter account with a contest with a prize for the first person to guess who I was.
An incredible journey for young Irish lad Paul Dunne!
In the first 30 guesses, there were 28 Jordan Spieths and two Vijay Singhs. My Irish team-mate Cormac Sharvin was actually the first to correctly get the answer.
I made a point of playing practice rounds with different players. On Tuesday, I played with Matteo Manassero – Cormac’s uncle, Brian, is his caddie – and Francesco Molinari and Ben An andDanny Lee joined us. On Wednesday I was due to play withBrooks Koepka but he didn’t want to play because it was raining. I went out on my own, starting on 17, and Adam Scott, who was on the 16th, asked could he play the last few holes with me.
He played 17, 18 and the first and then I met up with Ollie Schniederjans. It was great to play with so many different players, to get different perspectives on how to play the course. I spoke to everyone, about where to hit it, how to avoid different bunkers, learnt different things every day. Everyone I played with was very good about it, it is not like unlocking the secrets, you want to know where you have to hit it.
During Thursday, July 16th –First Round.
I’d gone to bed at eight o’clock the night before. I never go to bed that early. I couldn’t get to sleep and it was probably half 10 before I slept. I’d a 6.43am tee time and had set seven alarms, to go off every two minutes, from 4am to 4.15m. I got up at a quarter past, and was the last one up. Everyone else in the house was up, afraid I would sleep in. I had a bowl of muesli and a yoghurt and was off the course. I was ready.
Before I go out, I give myself a number in my head. It’s something I used to do years ago, playing in boys’ events, but had stopped doing. I started doing it again during the NCAAs in the last round when I had a chance to win there and have continued doing since. I found that putting a number in my head focused me on shooting a score. My target was a 68.
I got off to a quick start and birdied the first two.
Got really good yardages which meant I could spin it a lot. I birdied the Par 5 fifth and got an unlikely birdie on the ninth, where I made a long one. Part of the gameplan I had drawn up with Alan (Murray) was to make no bogeys and I was disappointed to three-putt from the edge of the 11th. I was happy to par my way in, happy enough with 69 even though it was a shot more than I had in my head.
Afterwards, I had lunch, did some short game practice and went back to the house and slept for a couple of hours. My mam and my brother David made dinner for us – the nine of us staying in the house – and afterwards I either watched TV or went to my room, which was the only place I could get Wifi. If I wanted to go on my phone, do social media or whatever, I had to go to my room. If I wanted to watch the golf on TV, I’d go to the livingroom. It was a nice little separation.
An incredible journey for young Irish lad Paul Dunne!
Friday, July 17th – Second Round.
I’d looked at the forecast the night before it said it would rain until 11, then the wind would drop and get back up at four. I was meant to be out at 11.43am. I literally had the perfect tee time, I couldn’t believe it. But when I woke up, I saw there was a three hour delay and I was thinking: “Oh, now I am going to get the windy part of the day.”
By the time I got to play, late in the afternoon, the wind direction had changed. The first day it was down off the right on the front nine and off the left on the back nine, playing really tough. It had completely flipped and the front nine was straight off the left and the back nine was straight off the right, so the whole course was playable. It didn’t make any hole too long in the crosswinds. You just had to control the flight of the ball, so there were birdies on both sides. I had a number again, I thought 70 would be good.
Started slowly, and, on nine, I had a wedge shot in.
I said to Alan, “it’s about time I hit one close”. Managed to hit one into about three feet and my round started. I birdied 14. On the 15th, I had a six-iron in and I noticed Tiger Woods was standing about five yards from me, waiting to play number four. “Go ahead,” he said. I hadn’t been nervous all day but was so nervous playing that shot, because Tiger was watching me. It made no sense. I hit a good one and made three.
The thought of just making the cut had never entered my head going out. I knew I was hitting it well enough not to have to worry about shooting three- or four-over in a cross wind, that I wasn’t going to make a heap of bogeys in a row. I shot 69 again. My first day’s number had been 68, my second day 70 – so two 69s was pleasing. I was spot on.
My two playing partners, Todd Hamilton and James Hahn, both missed the cut and wished me well. James told me he hoped to see me on the PGA Tour with him some day. It was late, so we all ate at the course that night; and because play hadn’t finished, I set my alarm for nine o’clock the next morning to see when I would be playing again.
Saturday, July 18th – Completion of Second Round.
I slept well, knowing there was no early start for me. As it turned out, the high winds meant those completing their second rounds didn’t get very far.
I didn’t do much. Once I got word I wouldn’t be playing, I went out with my brother and sister and ma out to the beach and threw a rugby ball around. It wasn’t like we were tackling each other. So, it was either throwing the ball or just resting for most of the day.
About five o’clock, I went up to the course and did some work just to stay loose really, more a matter of maintenance. I spent two hours there, hit balls for about 45 minutes, chipped for 20 minutes and putted for the rest of the time. When we were in college in UAB, Alan always set up putting games and chipping games for us. We just did that, set up some games, see how many you could make out of a certain amount from around the hole, then just went back and had some dinner.
We were joined by Shane Lowry, Neil Manchip, his wife Aideen and son Hugo – their house was about 150 yards away from ours – and we were just having a general chat.
The text with the tee times came about 10 and I saw I was playing with Louis Oosthuizen, which was cool. Once I had my tee time it was just normal, just get ready for another round of golf.
Here are 10 Things to Know about Open Leader Paul Dunne!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Paul Dunne is an Irish amateur who has done the unthinkable!
Holding the 54 hole lead in the 144th British Open Championship. Due to heavy rain, the tournament will have a Monday finish, so if you are reading this at the publishing time of 8 am Eastern Time, please turn on your TV and watch. This is going to be exciting! Other contenders are Jason Day (looking to finally breakthrough at a Major) Louis Oosthuizen,(looking to repeat at St. Andrews) Jordan Spieth, (looking for his 3rd Major in a row) Padraig Harrington, (looking for his 3rd Claret Jug), Marc Leishman and Jordan Niebrugge (another amateur looking to make history.) Hold on tight! Thanks to the European Tour for the great background info on Paul Dunne.
Paul Dunne plays an approach on the 4th hole (Getty Images)
Born: November 26, 1992
Birthplace: Dublin, Ireland
Age: 22
Height: 5’ 8.”
Weight: 160lb
Home: Greystone, Ireland
College: University of Alabama
10 things to know about Paul Dunne
1. Qualified for The Open as the winner of the Final Qualifying at Woburn.
With rounds of 70-65, ahead of the likes of Retief Goosen and Colin Montgomerie. It was the second successive year he has won the Final Qualifier at Woburn.
2. In his one previous Open at Royal Liverpool.
He missed the cut after rounds of 75-73 – 148 (+4)
3. Started playing golf at the age of 10.
And then “properly” since he was 12. Son of Colum and Michelle Dunne has an older brother, David, and a sister, Alison. His brother is a performance nutritionist with Harlequins Rugby, Queen’s Park Rangers Football Club, and British Canoe.
4. Graduated from University of Alabama in Business Finance in April.
Graeme McDowell is a fellow University of Alabama alumni and played a practice round with him on Tuesday.
“He hit the ball very well. He’s long, and he’s strong, and he looks like he’s got a very complete game,” McDowell said. “It’s a big day for him out there. I hope he goes and has a great day and kicks on.” – He sure has.
5. His caddie at The Open is UAB golf coach Alan Murray, a fellow Irishman.
Murray was Golf Week’s coach of the year in 2014 after leading UAB to the NCAA Tournament.
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Only the elite in golf has ever heard their name mentioned at the prize giving of a British Open Championship as “The Champion Golfer of the Year!”
This is reserved for those who triumphed over an outstanding field of golf’s best players over 4 days. Their names are etched not only onto the Claret Jug but into the history of the Open championship!
It’s the oldest Major in golf, with history to make the hairs on your neck stand up (according to Rory). Some of the greatest to ever swing a club have held the Claret Jug, an acheivement very few of us will ever understand.
So, the what’s closest thing to understanding what it feels like? Reaching out to some of golf’s best and asking them to express their emotion.
This is a cool video on what it means to be the “Champion Golfer of the Year”. This one will get you ready for the Open Championship at St. Andrews Old Course this weekend.
Who are the Top 10 Players to have never won The Open?
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
It has been said that the cream rises to the top in Major Championships.
But there are times, no matter how good you are or think you are, the golfing gods will decide the final outcome. The PGA Tour brings us a list of 10 great players that, surprisingly, did not win one Open Championship in their illustrious career! But sadly, it was not to be.
Through the years The Open Championship has been won by many great champions. Check out the 10 best players who never hoisted a Claret Jug.
Is Jordan Spieth Golf’s Grand Slam ‘American Pharaoh’?
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Only 6 golf history players have won both the Masters and the U.S. Open in the same year.
How did the 5 previous golfers who won both the Masters and the U.S. Open do in the third major year?
The 2009 Open Championship at Turnberry, won by Stuart Cink.
In 2002, Tiger Woods ended up tying for 28th place in the British Open after a rough, wet, and very cold third round derailed him.
However, it should be noted that Woods won 3 majors in the same calendar year in 2000; the U.S. Open, the British Open, and the PGA Championship.
Lee won the Open Championship at Muirfield in 1972.
In 1972, Jack Nicklaus finished second to Lee Trevino, who made a surprising chip-in par save on #17.
In 1960, Arnold Palmer went to St. Andrews, Scotland, to chase the Grand Slam, but finished second to Kel Nagle.
Ben Hogan did win 3 majors in 1953. He won the Masters, the U.S. Open, and the British Open in the same calendar year. Hogan couldn’t play the PGA because, at that time, it was the same week as the Open Championship. Obviously, he could not be in two places at the same time!
In 1941, Craig Wood won the Masters and the U.S. Open, but no British Open was scheduled that year.
Will the Claret Jug join Jordan’s Collection on Sunday?
If Spieth wins the British Open, he will tie the only 2 other golfers to win 3 Majors in a calendar year. (Ben Hogan & Tiger Woods) If he wins all 4 majors, he will create history, and to do it in the year that American Pharaoh won the Triple Crown would be the icing on the cake!
