Sunshine, blue skies, and no wind – whatever happened to “Crosby weather”?

Sunshine, mild temps, and light breezes put the lie to the familiar “Crosby weather” trope for the second day in a row at the 2018 AT&T Pro-Am. The mild conditions paved the way for a flurry of low scores, with 83 players posting under-par rounds across the three courses in play, led by two-time AT&T Pro-Am winner (2009 & 2010) Dustin Johnson’s 7-under 64 at Monterey Peninsula Country Club (MPCC).

Four-time AT&T Pro-Am champion Phil Mickelson made a run today, chasing his first win on Tour since the 2013 Open Championship. Mickelson carded a 6-under 65 at MPCC to go to 9-under for the tournament and move to the top of the leaderboard – for a while. By the end of the day his 9-under standing was good for T-5.

Dustin Johnson’s 7-under put him atop the leaderboard at 12-under, where he was joined by Beau Hossler, who went 5-under at Spyglass Hill. Hossler opened with a 7-under 65 Thursday at Pebble Beach to share the first-round lead with Kevin Streelman.

Hossler is well known to Bay Area golf fans for briefly leading the 2012 U.S. Open at the Olympic Club as a 17-year-old, where he eventually missed low amateur honors by one stroke.

Hossler is the only player in the field with no bogeys on his card, and credits his good play to accuracy off the tee. “I was getting the ball in a good spot off the tee and was able to get some shorter clubs from the fairway. I can be relatively aggressive with those, but still be kind of cautiously aggressive, and give myself a lot of good birdie looks.”

Dustin Johnson’s 7-under round at MPCC was a milestone,“(My) lowest by about 7 shots at Monterey, ever. Probably the only time we’ve played over there with good weather.” A testament to the difference in the weather this year, compared to last, was Johnson’s play on the par-3 eleventh hole at MPCC. Commenting on today’s birdie on the 176-yard par-3, Johnson said, “Eleven was (a) 9-iron. Last year I think I hit a four.”

Jordan Spieth, winner of the 2017 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, posted a 5-under 66 at MPCC today, after opening with an even-par 72 Thursday at Spyglass Hill.

Pro-Am standings after two days

Though Kevin Streelman slipped out of share of the lead today, he and his amateur partner, Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, lead the pro-amateur field by six strokes over England’s Paul Casey and amateur partner Donald Colleran, an executive with FedEx Corporation. Dustin Johnson and his father-in-law, hockey great Wayne Gretzky, are one of five pairs tied for fifth in the pro-am competition at 17-under. The 2011 pro/pro-am joint winners D. A. Points and actor Bill Murray are T-33 at 12-under.

PuttOUT—the analog putting trainer that succeeds in a digital world

High-tech and digital technology have a firm grasp on the world of golf – advanced CAD (computer-aided design) and exotic materials are the order of the day in golf club design; GPS devices and laser rangefinders assist you on the course; and apps for your phone keep your score, track your stats, and even keep track of those Nassau’s and automatic presses that can make settling up at the 19th-hole feel like an AP Economics class.

In the midst of all this digital magic, however, a new training device has hit the market that uses good old-fashioned analog operation to help you home in on your best putting stroke – it’s called PuttOUT.

 

The PuttOUT putting trainer is precisely designed to operate as simply as possible.

The PuttOUT is a deceptively simple-looking device, consisting of a clear plastic ramp on a circular white plastic base, but it is as precisely designed as any computer chip. The base, which is the exact diameter of the cup – 4-1/4 inches – is your primary target. The clear plastic ramp swoops up behind the base, its shape and position with respect to the “cup” engineered to give you feedback on every putt – no batteries required.

The shape of the ramp allows the ball itself to provide feedback on the quality of the shot. Precisely designed based on the fixed diameter and mass of a golf ball, as defined by the USGA and the R&A, the shape of the ramp works with the ball’s momentum to tell you if your putt is a hit or a miss. It’s simple – if the ball stays on the ramp and rolls back toward you, that putt would have gone into the hole; if the ball drops off of the side of the ramp without rolling back, that putt would have missed. Not only that, but the distance the ball rolls coming back is the distance that the ball would have rolled past the hole had it been a miss.

But that’s not all – the PuttOUT has one more trick up its sleeve: the “microtarget”, a hole in the center of the ramp about halfway up which is the ultimate goal for your PuttOUT practice session. If the ball stays in the microtarget, you’ve hit a “perfect putt” – perfectly centered on the hole, with just the right amount of speed, which the PuttOUT folks define as the pace that would have carried the ball 18 inches past the hole, based on a Stimpmeter reading of 10.

Lots of putting training aids have hit the market over the years – guides to force your putting stroke into the “correct” line, clamp-on pointers to help you line up your shot, even lasers that project a beam of light on the green to help you start the ball on the right line. What the PuttOUT does, simply and elegantly, is give you feedback, based on the behavior of the ball on the ramp, that tells you if you are getting the ball to the hole with the right speed and line – feedback that reinforces a good stroke without directly telling you how to make that stroke.

Before I got my PuttOUT, I had been practicing in my office by rolling putts at a cup-sized paper cutout on the carpet. A ball that rolled right across the center of the “hole” was easy to score as a good putt, but the ones that skirted the edge were judgment calls. With the PuttOUT, that uncertainty goes out the window – if it rolls back, it was good; if not, it was a miss.

I have been using my PuttOUT now pretty much daily since Christmas, and I have rolled hundreds of putts on the tight-pile industrial carpeting in my office since then, with a variety of different brands and models of golf balls, and three or four different putters. Besides getting a really good handle on the quirky little break in my carpeting, the biggest benefit that I have realized from all this practice with the PuttOUT is learning what I need to do to put a consistent stroke on the ball every time.

I know that practicing with the PuttOUT has helped my putting, because after just a few days of use, one of my golf buddies – a guy whose last comment on my game was that I needed to throw away my irons and get a set that I could hit – actually complimented me on my putting.

Getting the ball to the hole with the right speed is key in putting, and helping you develop a feel for this is where the PuttOUT shines. Harvey Penick, the great teacher who is at least partially responsible for the putting genius of one of the best putters of all time, Ben Crenshaw, famously wrote in his Little Red Book: “I like to see a putt slip into the hole like a mouse.” I keep this quote in mind whenever I practice with the PuttOUT, and when my putts are rolling back off the ramp no more than a foot and a half to two feet, I know that I have achieved that goal.

The PuttOUT people also make a practice mat as a companion to the PuttOUT. The mat rolls at 10 on the Stimpmeter – a value based on their survey of average green speeds at a wide range of golf courses – and has alignment marks to aid you in your practice sessions.

The PuttOUT is not only easy to use, it’s convenient to take with you to the course, or to the office for a little lunchtime practice (or competition with coworkers…), thanks to its folding design. With or without the PuttOUT mat, the PuttOUT trainer is the best putting training device that I have seen come down the pike – ever. PuttOUT is available at major golf-equipment retailers, or online (in the USA) through Amazon. It might just be the best $29.99 you ever spend on improving your putting.

Book review: “The First Major –The Inside Story of the 2016 Ryder Cup”, by John Feinstein ☆☆☆☆ ½☆

A new book from New York Times bestselling author John Feinstein is always a treat. He is a sports journalist non pareil, as erudite and knowledgeable – across a wide spectrum of sports, not just golf – as he is prolific, and his latest “The First Major: The Inside Story of the 2016 Ryder Cup” is his 28th non-fiction sports book.

Feinstein has written about all the major sports that define America’s sporting life, from pro tennis to NFL football. Even if you don’t read sports books, you may know his work from his time at Sports Illustrated, or his current stints at the Washington Post and Golf Digest – or you may hear him on the radio on Sirius XM, or see him on television on the Golf Channel. In fact, if you are an American sports fan, of any stripe, this introductory paragraph is probably a waste of my time, because you already know his work.

The upshot of this recitation of Feinstein’s bona fides is that he is a sports journalist that professional athletes know and trust, and getting the best stories, the inside dope, requires the ability to get athletes to talk to you. John has that ability, and it certainly shows in his latest effort.

The 2016 Ryder Cup, which was played at the self-styled Hazeltine National Golf Club, near Chaska, Minnesota – a suburb of Minneapolis, was a watershed moment in the history of that storied event. It was the year that the United States stopped a European squad that had dominated the event with three wins in a row, from 2010 through 2014 – the third time in recent decades that the U.S. team had stopped a European run of victories at three. The first time was in 1991, after European victories in 1985, 1987, and 1989; then again in 2008, after the Euro squad took top honors in 2002, 2004, and 2006.

The 2016 event was notable for the wild swirl of events in the world of golf that led up to it, not the least of which was the rancorous atmosphere of the previous Ryder Cup, the 2014 event in which the venerable elder statesman Tom Watson was brought back to try and repeat his 1993 success as Ryder Cup skipper.

A clash of styles and a lack of communication – not to mention something of an uprising in the ranks, led by another respected figure in U.S. Ryder cup history, Phil Mickelson, doomed Watson’s leadership in 2014. The U.S. golf establishment – meaning the PGA of America, which runs the event for the red, white, and blue – wanted to wash away the bad taste that was left by the 2014 loss, and to that end they formed a Ryder Cup “task force” – a committee, widely derided by the European players and media – which was supposed to solve the Americans’ Ryder Cup problems.

Feinstein lays out the background, both recent and historical, that underpins the 2016 Ryder Cup, then digs into the personalities and near-term events which defined that contest, including the task force, and the selection of Davis Love III as U.S. captain, for a repeat performance after his stint as U.S. skipper in the agonizing 2012 loss at Medinah, which was controversial.

One headline-grabber was the social media clash between then-PGA President Ted Bishop and Euro Ryder Cup stalwart Ian Poulter, a schoolyard-worthy spat that resulted in Bishop’s unceremonious ouster for a series of childish remarks leveled at Poulter; another, coming much closer to the event, was the heated, and totally spontaneous, on-air spat between Golf Channel analysts Brandel Chamblee and David Duval over the relative importance of leadership and individual play.

During the event, one of the big stories was the play of Patrick Reed, both as a partner with his temperamentally polar opposite Jordan Spieth, and solo, as the man who took down the boisterous, and boastful, Rory McIlroy of the Euro squad in Sunday singles.

Another social-media-based dust-up occurring before and during  play was the attention-seeking U.S.-bashing promulgated by PJ Willett, the schoolteacher older brother of then-reigning Master champion Danny Willett. The elder Willett brother teed off on American fans in an article for a British sports publication, and in a series of posts on Twitter, guaranteeing a raucous reception by the bottom 10% of American fans.

*********************

The strength of Feinstein’s work, and this book is no exception, is the time and effort he puts into interviews, and the wealth of material he obtains by doing so. No sound bites or quickly tossed-off aphorisms are to be found here – everyone involved in the event talked to him, some at length (with one exception – U.S. vice captain Tiger Woods. No surprise there.)

I will admit that I am not a huge fan of the Ryder Cup. It has become, in my opinion, an overblown, over-amped biennial hype-fest, owing its notoriety more to rancor than to great golf – but Feinstein’s writing drew me in. His research is so thorough and his insights so telling and precise that even though he was writing about an event which I have come to dislike over the last few years, I couldn’t put the book down.

Reading closely with a critical eye will turn up errors and shortcomings in almost any book, especially one on a subject in which I have an interest, and a certain store of knowledge (if I say so myself…)

I could have done without quite so much background on the head pro and superintendent of Hazeltine. They deserve to be mentioned, of course, but the pages of background on these two men started to wear thin – and to feel, frankly, like word-count padding.

More seriously, it was a little bit disappointing to see some pretty shocking errors in the text. First and foremost was a rather egregious misquoting of Ben Crenshaw’s iconic, well-known, and oft-quoted conclusion to his Saturday-night press conference at the 1999 Ryder Cup at The Country Club, Brookline, Massachusetts: “I’m gonna leave y’all with one thought, them I’m gonna leave. I’m a big believer in fate. I have a good feeling about this. That’s all I’m gonna tell ya.” – which Feinstein styled as “I’m gonna leave y’all with this: I’m a big believer in fate. I have a feeling about this.”

In a section about Davis Love II, the well-liked father of 2012/2016 Ryder Cup skipper Davis Love III, Feinstein casually mentions that the elder Love had played with Harvey Penick, then dismissed Penick as the cowriter of what is considered one of the game’s holy texts, Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book, a rather glaring mischaracterization of one of American golf’s most revered figures. 

These two errors, along with a host of lesser faux pas that should have been caught by a good copy editor, left a bit of tarnish on the otherwise gleaming aspect of the book, and took a half-star off of my assessment.

Regardless, if you love golf, and good golf writing, this book deserves a spot in your bookshelf. Buy it for yourself, or since the holidays are upon us as of this writing, put it on your Christmas list, golf lovers, and keep your fingers crossed.

Maverick McNealy makes strong start to pro career in first round of 2017 Safeway Open

Maverick McNealy, the former Stanford men’s golf standout who is making his first start as a professional golfer this week at the Safeway Open, at Napa’s Silverado Resort and Spa,  brings a unique background and point of view to a pro golf career. McNealy, who ended his amateur career ranked #2 in the world, after a stint at #1, is not your typical highly ranked college golfer using college golf as a springboard to a pro career.

Former Stanford men’s golf star Maverick McNealy lines up his birdie putt on the par three 15th hole at Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa, California during the first round of the 2017 Safeway Open. (photo by author)

The 21-year-old graduated from Stanford with a degree in Management Science and Engineering—not a more typical future-Tour-pro soft option such as Communications or Sports Management—and for the first couple of years of his college career had looked forward to following college golf with a career in business.

There’s precedent for his early direction—McNealy’s father is Scott McNealy, co-founder and former CEO of Sun Microsystems, a well-known (if not legendary) figure in Silicon Valley. With a Stanford degree in a rigorous dual-business/engineering discipline, and his father’s example to follow, the younger McNealy anticipated following his college golf career with a career in business.

In a statement he posted on the Stanford’s collegiate sports website, McNealy explained his decision to pursue a professional golf career. “It wasn’t until after my sophomore year that it even crossed my mind that I might be good enough to give it a shot …my top priorities in college lay with my team and my studies. I wouldn't have traded one day with my teammates wearing the Cardinal red for anything.”

A former junior hockey player as well as a golfer, McNealy signed with Stanford in November 2012, and through his sophomore and junior years he stood out even on the traditionally strong Stanford squad. Winning six times in his sophomore season, and four more times as a junior, McNealy won the 2015 Fred Haskins Award as the top male college golfer.

McNealy struggled with his game starting in the spring of his junior year, the result of equipment changes he made in the wake of Nike Golf’s exit from the golf hard goods market. A tough playing schedule combined with a rigorous school schedule saw him stepping away from golf for a rest in the summer before his senior year. He won only once as a senior, which left him in a three-way tie for the school wins record with Patrick Rodgers and another familiar name in Stanford men’s golf, Tiger Woods (who did it in two years, as an Econ major.)

With a frankly privileged Silicon Valley upbringing—wealthy parents, and an education from the Harker School and Stanford—McNealy could coast through life, but that’s not his way. Using the example of his father, whom he calls his “hero”, McNealy wants to use the opportunities afforded him by a pro golf career to grow the game of golf and “…be a role model and an inspiration to young golfers and athletes.” The elder McNealy employed 235,000 people worldwide during his tenure at Sun Microsystems, and his son would like to have a similar positive impact on the world.

Of his father, McNealy says, “If I could work half as hard as he did, and accomplish a fraction of the things he did, I could make the world a better place.”

McNealy brings a certain level of experience in professional golf to his first start as a pro, having played in nine professional tournaments as an amateur, five on the PGA Tour – making the cut in all five of those events. He has also brought a high level of business acumen to bear on his transition into the pro ranks. Working with his management team at P3SportsReps, McNealy has secured endorsement deals with UnderArmour for apparel, financial services company KPMG for hat space, and Callaway for equipment.

The Callaway decision springs from his struggles with the transition when Nike pulled out of the business, and his education in engineering. “I’m an engineer by training, and I love the way they (Callaway) nitpick and try to make the best possible golf clubs.”

The Safeway Open is the first of seven PGA Tour events for which McNealy has secured sponsors’ exemptions, a list which includes the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (where his father will be his pro-am partner), the Farmers Insurance Open, AT&T Byron Nelson, and Dean & DeLuca Invitational.

The Safeway event is a comfortable start for Bay Area native McNealy, with familiar climate, conditions and course—Stanford played the Gifford Collegiate event at Silverado last fall.

McNealy had a strong showing in his first round as a pro, carding a 4-under 68 to finish the round T-8.

Going out in 1-under 35, McNealy was a little wobbly on the greens on the front nine, taking 17 putts, with a three-putt bogey on the par-three 2nd hole, and a handful of just-missed birdie opportunities. He closed out the front side on a rising note with birdies at holes 8 and 9.

A bogey on the 10th hole opened his second nine, but it was the last over-par number he posted on the day. His tee shot at the over-water par-three 11th hole settled 15 feet from the hole, and he slid the putt right into the throat of the hole for a birdie to go 2-under for the round. McNealy then made a run of three pars on holes 12 through 14.

The pressure didn’t seem to phase the the youngster, but after he made a tougher-than-it-looked downhill/sidehill 4-1/2-foot par putt on #12, his father, who had been following Maverick all day, was heard to say, “This is hard, it’s really hard.”

The younger McNealy seemed to get his game dialed in on the back nine, with closer approaches that contributed to a lower putt-count—14 vs the 17 he took on the front side. Firing up just when it counted, McNealy then put together a string of three straight birdies on holes 15 through 17.

On 15, a 189-yard par-three with water in play right, McNealy played a gutsy shot to the tucked right-front flag. His tee shot hit in the 4-foot gap between the flagstick and the edge of the green, carried past the flag, then rolled back, leaving a 7-foot putt for birdie that he dropped with conviction.

A scrambling birdie from the left greenside rough at 16, and another birdie on 17, after stuffing his approach to the elevated green to 2-1/2 feet, saw McNealy move to 4-under, where he finished after closing the round with a par at the par-five 18th hole for a back-nine 33 and a 4-under 68 final score.

McNealy showed his strength in his Strokes Gained: Tee-To-Green and Strokes Gained: Approach The Green stats, where he posted numbers of 4.426 and 3.095, respectively; 3rd and 4th on the day. His Strokes Gained total was 3.965, tied for 8th for the field.

Even a low-key early-season event like the Safeway Open represents a tough transition when making the jump from amateur to professional competition, and if the youngster from Stanford carries on as he began today, it seems a pretty good bet that he will make the kind of mark on the PGA Tour that he did in his Stanford career.