Joey's Golf Bag

Tiger announced on his website that he is planning to have knee reconstructive surgery and will be out for the remainder of the 2008 season.

Ouch! Tiger, we’ll miss you.

More at Woods out for rest of ’08.

My practice time has been minimal of late because of work and very hot weather. I’ve only been able to practice on weekends in the morning, after 11AM it is just too hot. However, a thunderstorm came through the area today, so I took advantage of the cool weather to hit some balls after dinner.

I warmed up with my usual routine, then put down my alignment shaft and worked on my irons. At first, I hit the ball poorly, making just about any fault you can name. Finally, in desperation, I teed up a ball a half-inch off the ground and ran a drill from George Hibbard’s book Golf’s Critical Details. I hit a couple of balls with my 9-iron using the two-handed drill and suddenly, my lag is back. I started hitting great shots, consistent, perfect trajectory, good distance. I ran through my irons trying to achieve good lag with each club, even getting some very good shots with the 5-iron. For about 20 shots, I hit the ball about as good as I’ve ever hit the ball.

The perfect swings didn’t last, as some of my faults crept back in (pushing short irons, hooking long clubs), but I was extremely pleased that I was striking the ball so well. I hit every club well, with the exception of the driver and 4-wood. Those clubs always seem to take more practice to get going than my other clubs, and I ran out of time and balls before I really had the chance to work on them.

I didn’t have time to putt or practice the short game, but I always emphasize those aspects of my game during the weekend practices.

I just finished viewing the playoff between Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate at the US Open this afternoon (I had to work, so watched it on TIVO). I don’t know if Tiger’s 91 hole victory was the greatest of all time, but it was certainly the best golf tournament I’ve ever viewed, topping even Tiger’s 2006 victory at Hoylake in the Open Championship (in my view Tiger’s greatest victory because of his mastery of strategy and shotmaking, until today). How Tiger was able to overcome his very painful surgically-repaired knee and lack of practice will be the stuff of legend in an already legendary career.

SI has an excellent article on Tiger’s victory in Woods outlasts Mediate to win his 14th major.

Michelle Wie shot a 4-under 137 (70-67) in the Rockville, MD, sectional qualifier to earn a spot in the US Women’s Open.

Congrats, Michelle!

This morning, Dad and I played 18 at the Cowboys Golf Club in Grapevine. The course was in very good condition, though the greens had been punched probably a week ago. We went off at 9AM with another twosome and finished in 4 hours 40 minutes. We waited on the group in front of us much of the day.

My score:

* Hit green in regulation

Themes:

• Tee shots. I didn’t hit the ball well off the tee today, hitting only five fairways and no par-3 holes in regulation. I had two penalties off the tee as well. My major fault was hooking, though one was a huge push.
• Approach shots. Not very good today, either. I hit just three greens in regulation. My main fault was pushes to the right of the green.
• Wedges. I was pretty pleased with my wedges today, as all three greens I hit in regulation were with the approach wedge.
• Sand shots. I hit into one fairway bunker and two greenside bunkers. I got out on all three, but none of the shots were close to my target.
• Chipping. Not very good, got up-and-down only twice. I mostly went long today.
• Putting. Boy, I stunk. I just couldn’t get the speed right today at all. 40 putts total, only two one-putt greens, and six 3-putts. Pathetic.

I was pretty disappointed with my play today, as I just couldn’t get my irons to go straight (big push right most of the day) and big hooks with my driver. Not to mention that my putting was terrible. Lack of practice is really messing up my play and now that summer is here, it’ll be harder to find time since practice in the afternoon after work is really not possible due to Texas heat. Alas.

It’s been a long haul for Michelle, but she’s finally back on the leaderboard again. She picked up a 6th place finish at -14 under in the Ladies German Open.

Good job, Michelle. I’m looking forward to seeing you back in contention this summer.