Gene Sarazen – Bob’s #8 top 10 golfers of all time

Keeping true to my colors, if you won the grand slam of golf you are indeed in my top ten.

Sarazen was the winner of 7 majors including all four majors and a grand total of 39 PGA Tour events.

His stature was small standing only 5 feet, 5 inches but his heart was that of a lion.

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A gracious but tenacious competitor, Gene was part and parcel of the fabric of professional golf in the early 1920’s through the 1940’s.

Following his brilliant playing career he became a golf television commentator especially known for his color analysis on television’s Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf series running from the early 1960’s to the late 60’s.

Did you miss #9 and #10? Click their numbers to check them out!

19 year old Jordan Spieth youngest PGA Tour winner since the 1930s

Did you see this coming? Come on, no one could have fully predicted this. Jordan Spieth is the youngest PGA Tour winner since Ralph Guldahl won on tour in 1931. He turns 20 in less than 2 weeks and becomes only the 4th ever teenager to win a PGA Tour event.

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Spieth, the Dallas, Texas, native playing on a temporary PGA Tour card, outlasted 9 time PGA Tour winner, 2007 Masters Champion 37-year-old Zach Johnson and 34-year-old Canadian David Hearn to win on the fifth playoff hole at TPC Deer Run in Silvis, Illinois,—thus earning fully exempt status on the Tour for the next two years and a quick trip across the sea to this week’s Open Championship. Spieth admitted in an interview following his victory that he actually had no long sleeve shirts for the trip as Scotland. This time of the year can be cold—I guess he can find the local pro shop for sturdy clothing to accommodate.

What a journey for this young man—we remember him playing as a 16-year-old in the HP Byron Nelson Classic 3 years ago and bolting after the Saturday round to attend his high school prom. Could he be the next coming of Tiger? That’s what my wife asked me, and I said probably not, that’s just too much to expect of anyone, but I can hardly wait to see what is next on his agenda. I do not expect miracles this week but with Oak Hill (site of this year’s PGA) on the horizon, and a potential slot on the President’s Cup squad, who knows.

No question the talent is there, putting it all together is always another factor that completes the golfer—he joins a group of first time winners on tour that makes a golf enthusiast salivate with expectation as the deep player pool on the PGA Tour just got deeper!

Jordan Spieth a PGA Tour champion.

Bob’s top 10 golfers – #9

9. Harry Vardon

Harry Vardon, the famous Englishman who won 6 British Opens, a record that still stands today, holds place number 9 in Bob’s top 10 golfers of all time. He also added a U.S. Open to his resume in 1900, and later finished runner-up twice in the U.S. Open. Vardon won 62 tournaments in his illustrious career including a record 14 in a row—another of his records that still stands today. He created the overlapping grip—notably called “The Vardon Grip.” He was also one of the first golfers to author golf books to help the average golfer improve and enjoy the sport. He was one of the game’s first true ambassadors as he came to America, touring the nation, giving over 80 exhibitions in his effort to proliferate the game.

Bob’s Top 10 Golfers of All Time – #10

Bob’s top 10 Golfers EVER

How do you pick the top ten golfers of all time? I mean, it is subjective for certain, and well, just plain full of debate and fun to boot! So let’s have at it:

From HP: http://www.hpbnc.org/byronnelson/byron-nelson/

10. Byron Nelson—considered golf’s greatest Gentleman — won 5 majors and 52 total PGA Tour events in a short 14 year career. Nelson stopped playing in his early 30’s to retire and buy a ranch – a lifelong goal of his. His coupe do gras was winning a PGA Tour record 11 tournaments in a row and a total of 18 in the year of 1945. Those two records are two of golf’s thought to be untouchable. Nelson gave so much back to the sport that he was universally admired by the entire golf world forever—he passed his knowledge to such Hall of Fame’s as Tom Watson and Ken Venturi — he did so with as little fanfare as possible never fully taking the credit he so richly deserved. He was the first ex-player to have a tournament named after him and it still goes on today—the former Dallas Open was renamed The Byron Nelson Classic in 1968. He also was ABC Sports lead golf color commentator from the middle 1960’s into the 1980’s.

Golfers have injuries, too!

We rarely think of golf as an injury-prone sport on the professional level.

It’s easy to get caught up in the injuries of athletes from other sports like football, basketball, hockey and baseball have their stars all the time having to be on the “DL”. We don’t think of golf that way but we should – its really no different at all, except for the fact that golfers don’t have personal contact with other golfers.

Let’s examine some of the stars in golf that have been or are currently “on the shelf.”

Tiger is out right now with an elbow injury that may actually keep him out of the British Open
Dustin Johnson has been in trouble this year with a shoulder
Anthony Kim is out this year with a wrist
Mike Weir is still not the same from an elbow
Tim Clark missed tons of time with his elbow

… the list goes on-and-on. The point here is thatgolfers are athletes and suffer with injuries just like athletes in other sports.

The key is to not come back too soon. The best example of doing it right was Davis Love who waited at least 3 extra weeks before coming back from his neck injury earlier this year—it has paid off as he has not had to go off tour again.

Here’s my final point if you are suffering from an injury get proper medical care, don’t come back too soon and take it easy in your return as to not lose more time.

Donald Trump is Good for Golf

“The Donald” is really good for the game of golf.

He absolutely adores golf and it shows not only in his single digit handicap but also in his passion for owning and in some cases redesigning great golfing venues. He currently owns 14 golf courses. Some of them are resorts not just any kind of resort but world-class five star resorts.

The game of golf right now, in 2013, has stagnated in growth both in number of players and courses opening. In fact, in the last decade more courses have closed than have been started, but Trump defies that trend. He is tearing up the Doral resort and putting a 200 million investment in the property to remake the “Blue Monster,” the showcase course at the resort, and the host of the WGC Cadillac Championship.

The game needs people like Trump who have amazing passion for the game and literally put their money where their mouth is. He can be contentious at times but make no mistake, if he believes in a project it happens. I can’t wait to see what the famed Doral Blue Monster looks like at next year’s WGC—I think it really will be the Blue Monster it used to be. Way to go Mr. Trump!

Have you ever visited one of his courses? Which is your favorite?

Turn your bad shots into good ones!

Yes, you can turn that frown upside down.

When you follow the pathways provided by One Thought Golf, you will be doing so many things correctly that you can control that when you make a mistake the results are not so penal.

In effect, it makes those shots actually become good shots and your score will go lower, your fun meter will rise and your confidence will go through the proverbial roof.

In the end, your confidence is what allows you to perform your best golf.

Everyone has a 5th Major

We all know there are only 4 majors, but most of us have another event that we call “our 5^th major.”

For instance, the PGA Tour calls “The Players” its 5^th major.

Many of the players have an event either in their hometown or an event that carries a special meaning for them as their 5^th major.

Zach Johnson calls The John Deer Classic as his 5^th major—since he hails from that area of the country (the Quad Cities). John Daly has been loyal to the Fed Ex St. Jude Classic that is a few short miles from his hometown. J.J. Henry has two events that he calls his 5^th major—his hometown Tournament, The Travelers Championship in Connecticut and The Colonial Invitational in Ft. Worth, Texas where he went to college at Texas Christian University.

Every time Mike Weir tees it up in the Canadian Open, it carries extra special importance as he was for many years the premier Canadian on the Tour.

These are events that the pros put extra emphasis on because they hold special meaning.

Often they are harder to win because you try so hard to please your friends and family in attendance.

Weir, for example has yet to win the Canadian Open despite contending for the title several times. He has said that the pressure of winning that championship at times is overwhelming.

My 5^th major is the Honda Classic since I live in Palm Beach County, Florida and I attend the event every year.

Let me know what your 5^th major is. I’d love to hear from you.

It is just plain hard to win on the PGA Tour

I got to thinking how great it was to see Justin Rose and Adam Scott both won their first majors this year. It also stirred my mind on exactly how difficult it is to win a major or any event on the Tour. Only one guy can win—most events have either 144 or 156 players—once again only one guy can win—that means the other 143 or 155 go home maybe with a check, perhaps even a very substantial check, but no trophy.

The sheer quality of golfers playing each week is amazing. The ranks of college golfers on tour plus the proliferation of the Web.com Tour grooming tournament tough golfers is making the depth of fields deeper than ever before in the history of the PGA Tour. If any part of your game is not sharp, you will be left behind. Also remember, events are closer to a marathon than a sprint—four rounds, not one. You need to be top of your game for the entire week to win. Just to make a check, you must beat half the field!

We need to remember these facts as we analyze why certain golfers who we may believe should be winning more and are in fact not—I repeat, it is hard to win on the PGA Tour. I could go over and over with names of players with less than four wins on tour over what may be substantial careers in money won and time on tou,r but the list would go on for days. The new great players will have fewer wins, it is just a fact. Let’s just keep in mind how truly difficult it is to win!

Everything comes up Roses for Justin!

Justin Rose completed a journey on Sunday at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa. that started as a schoolboy’s dream—to win a major and he did, the U.S. Open. The Englishman did it in superior style holding off 4-time major champion Phil Mickelson and a host of other contenders to hoist the trophy. His final round 70 wasn’t without flaw but it was solid and void of major blunders. This Open as most do was a complete test of every part of your game not the least of which is patience—take what the course may give you and survive the rest. In this case, no one finished at level par, Rose won at one over par. Merion held her own and then some.

It was particularly poignant for Rose to win on Father’s Day since his dad was his coach and mentor until his death some 11 years ago. Rose remembered his dad several times around Merion this day. It gave him the power to succeed in tough situations. Justin Rose, at age 32, is now a major champion. He joins another 32-year-old, Adam Scott, who this year also broke through with his first major win at the Masters. These two young, world,class golfers are not only terrific on the links, they are also perfect gentlemen off and that makes it even more special. In a day and age when many athletes are all about the “me, me, me,” these two Champions are all about never forgetting who helped them along the way and who really matters.

Way to go Justin—the United States Open Champion for 2013!