Friday Players Championship

Thursday afternoon was as tough as golf conditions get on the US Tour. Wind gusts of up to 40 mph, hard greens and a tough golf course. Peter Lonard's 69 in the afternoon was a great ball striking round in the conditions. Peter hit 14 greens in regulation and 2 others from just off the putting surface. The Aussies usually come to the fore when the wind gets up and the course is bouncy. There is a lot of chipping and running the ball, as opposed to the usual up in the air target golf in the USA. Friday was even better for the Aussies, with 10 making the cut and 9 of them within 6 shots of leader Phil Mickleson at 5 under. Nathan Green is the best at -4 and Lonard and Pampling at -3. If the weather stays dry and windy this could be another Players Championshp win for an Aussie. Stuart Appleby made 19 pars in a row from his 9th hole on Thursday to the 11th on friday when he finally 2 putted for a birdie. Stuart only hit 17 greens in regulation for the 2 rounds, so to be on a 1 over total demonstrated his remarkable scrambling ability. He made 15 from19 up and down attempts over the 2 rounds. As Apples walked past me on the 8th hole today and said his feet were turning into camels hoofs because he had spent so much time in the sand. We are planning on hitting a few more greens on the weekend and making some birdie putts to get in contention on Sunday.

The Players Championship

We are at The Players Championship, played at TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Florida. This Tournament is considered the 5th major by the players. It has the strongest field in all golf with virtually the entire World's top 100 players in the field. This year we have a new date and a US $60,000,000 renovation to the course including a 30 million dollar clubhouse. The new date, by moving it from April gives us a major event in every Month from April on, and the course now has no overseed. It is all bermuda grass greens and fairways and firm and fast as we move into the hotter months. They have lengthened a few holes including 8, 11 and 18, which I think was an unneccessary change due to the obsession with the length the modern player hits the ball and added some fairway bunkers, but fundementally the course is the same layout. The work that has been done is remarkable and hard to believe it has taken only 12 months. I read that if they lined up all the trucks end to end with the amount of soil moved the line would be 7 miles long. In the picture Stuart Appleby is working with an overhead string line for his aim. He is on the new putting green with the clubhouse in the background. Stuart has moved the ball back toward the middle of his stance and brought his hands back so the shaft is vertical in his setup. Apple's tendency is to lean the shaft toward the target and deloft the putter. This has caused some aiming issues, that this change in his setup seems to have corrected. Stuart is striking the ball beautifully, and if he can make a few putts and keep the doubles and triples off the card I think he is in for a very good week.