Thursday, August 14, 2008 Chiongbian: Harrington makes it two for two By Edgar R. Chiongbian Teetime
YES, Padraig Harrington rides again.
He won the PGA Championships in Oakland Hills, Michigan. Two major tournaments in a row; not bad at all for world No. 3. In fact, if Padraig continues to win in the last few PGA tournaments that end in October, he might trade places with world No. 2 Phil Mickelson or will have an outside chance to go to No. 1. Of course Mickelson has something to say about that by also winning tournaments.
How Harrington did it and he said by sheer determination. Harrington said that winning golf tournaments is a selfish act. You must want it very badly and not give it the other players by being complacent. He recalled seeing Sergio Garcia’s face when Garcia lost the British Open and he said he didn’t want to be in that same situation and went for it. Unfortunately for Garcia, he was leading and lost again. I guess that we can say that Garcia, the best golfer with out a major, has also made it two majors in a row in the crying pen.
Was it about pressure? Of course it was, just ask Greg Norman, Davis Love, Mickelson and Garcia. That is why Tiger Woods wins when he’s playing the contender in the same flight because he breathes on pressure and intimidation.
What’s next after all the major tournaments is the Ryder Cup scheduled next month. The US has not been doing well in the Ryder Cup but the excitement is still there. It used to be an advantage for the Americans wherever the Ryder Cup is played in the US but not anymore because most of the European players compete in the US PGA Tour frequently and some even live in the US full time.
In contrast, the Americans rarely play the European Tour. Although Mickelson has already indicated that next year he will play in more European tournaments.
Many people will probably agree with me that the reason the Americans play poorly in the Rider Cup and Presidents Cup is because they are a singles player and not team player such as in the foursomes and four-ball matches. The area of the competition that they are able to dominate is the singles matches’, which are scheduled toward the end of the tournament and so they are already down in points and pressure is working against them.
Even in our local tournaments, it is very difficult for the players to play team play because it is easier to do or die on your own. In team play you have to play for your partner also. The two-man team format, like the member-guest of the Tee Tournaments, is not too bad because you only have to lose face to one person. The only golfers I know that can play well in team competition are the bad boys of Cebu Country Club (CCC). They are a large group and compete with each other regularly and know each others game and can form a team on who’s hot at the time. Sorry BB of CCC for letting this out of the bag.
At the end of this month we will have two very prominent memorial golf tournaments. It will be the Cheling Garcia Cup and part of the monthly medal tournament of CCC on Aug. 30. At Alta Vista, it will be the Matias Aznar Cup also at the end of August. Make sure you sign up early, especially in the Aznar Cup, as there will be a limit on the field compared to last year, which was very huge.
GOLF TIP. The question is why you are still having problems with your putting when you have executed all the proper putting mechanics. There are two critical keys in putting that you must do besides mechanics and that is to make solid contact with the ball and to hit the sweet spot of the putter.
Nothing should move from your neck up or belt down during the stroke. This movement is usually caused when you peek before the ball has actually left the putter and solid contact is sacrificed. The second is not hitting the sweet spot of the putter, which is usually marked with a line. When you’re not hitting the sweet spot, your ball will be short and then you compensate by hitting it harder.
When you do hit the spot, your putt will go very long and then you become very confused.
