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Looking ahead to his 2020 Masters defense this November, Tiger Woods noted a couple of key elements that will be different.

Beyond the roars giving you an idea where another player stands, he also referenced the loss of basic distractions (backing off a shot due to a noise) and the lack of confinement. Presumably, as he said at the PGA, this favors players not used to everything that comes with playing on the biggest of stages. He’s not wrong.

From Ryan Lavner’s GolfChannel.com report:

“When you put 40,000 people on such a small piece of property – I know there’s no rough, but it gets confined,” he said. “But this will be very different. This will be a fun Masters, and I’m looking forward to defending.”

Some players have mentioned difficulties focusing without fans and plenty more are enjoying it. Pace of play has improved but the idea of being less confined is fascinating. For some players, having fairways lined by players might be a positive in helping to focus on the job at hand, and perhaps, for others not having the fan presence makes things trickier.

Anyway, it’s an oddity of 2020 that cannot be quantified.

Tiger Woods said Wednesday he knows he'll have to earn his way to the next round of the FedEx Cup playoffs with a strong performance at the BMW Championship.

Your ability to focus on what you choose – when you want to – is the single most important factor in your performance and your progress. Improving focus for golf is something that you take seriously if you plan to become as good as you can be.

Too many of us are under-performing, losing time, productivity and dealing with more stress and anxiety because we are losing the ability to focus every day. Buddhists call it not being able to control the wandering “monkey mind”.

Recent studies suggest that our reliance on digital technology is the main reason the monkey is wandering more today than it ever has. In today’s world, we are rarely in the present moment – focused on just one task for long enough to get the best out of ourselves. Instead, we are constantly distracted by our phones, messages and social media feeds.

Scientists are hired by companies such as Facebook specifically to develop algorithms to keep us clicking, watching and swiping for as long as possible. How many times do you start a task, see a notification, and then spend 5 minutes away from the task before you realize it?

We are spending more and more time being impulsive and less time being intentional. The effect of it is weakening our ability to focus with every minute we spend doing so, and it’s even worse for our kids’ developing brains.

Coming off Dustin Johnson's runaway win, the FedEx Cup playoff field is down to 70 as play shifts to Olympia Fields in Illinois. Here are our experts' best bets.

Daniel Berger might win the FedEx Cup. That won't get him a spot in the Masters. He could win next month's U.S. Open. Still won't get him into the Masters. How is that possible? Blame a revised schedule and a global pandemic.

It comes as no news flash: COVID-19 sucks. Anyone planning a trip to Pebble, St Andrews or other bucket list destinations is feeling the pain. Quarantines, visitor guidelines and capacity restrictions are doing a number on all travel, not just golf. For this edition of MyGolfSpy Experiences, we decided to profile what amounts to a drivable par-4: a COVID-19 golf trip to a nearby destination.

This piece is not meant to be any sort of political statement on the pandemic nor will politically focused comments be tolerated. That’s not what we or this piece are about. We simply want to share some of the things you may need to know when planning a COVID-19 golf trip as well as identify some of the challenges faced by golf courses and resorts.

We learned plenty during the process. Some of it was quite surprising.

Where To Go?

While air travel is most certainly doable, we chose to stay within driving distance for our COVID-19 golf trip. I live near the New Hampshire seacoast and Mike, my partner for this trip, is from New York City. We chose Stowe, Vt., in the heart of the Green Mountains: a five-hour drive for Mike, 3 1/2 for me.

“People are still very wary of traveling,” says Scott McIntosh, Director of Sales and Marketing at Stowe’s Topnotch Resort. “Vermont is one of the lowest states for COVID so we’ve had restrictions placed on travelers coming in from out of state.”

With the U.S. Open’s surprise return to NBC there will be ups, downs, perks and a few remote-control headaches that might include multiple phone calls with older relatives. Be ready to explain Peacock.

Good news?

The new Peacock app has a free option and if you’re only casually into the U.S. Open, probably not necessary since it’s largely handling field outlier broadcast windows. Maybe.

The bad news? If you’re a cord cutter and willing to pay to stay in one place despite Peacock, Golf Channel and NBC Sports existing under the same Comcast umbrella, you’ll be doing some app switching, updating, password entering, yada, yada. But you’ll survive, I promise.

Here is the schedule retaining the same 45 U.S. Open hours as last year on Fox. However, with the need to incorporate Peacock, the U.S. Open is losing 90 minutes of cable coverage each weekday round compared to Fox Sports 1. This year’s event—a one-off played in September at Winged Foot—is down four hours of broadcast television coverage Saturday and Sunday compared to Fox’s 10 hours and 8 hours respectively.

I kept waiting to hear that record equipment sales tracked by Golf Datatech were fueled by a major distance-gaining breakthrough.

Turns out, it’s just social distancing.

GolfDigest.com’s Mike Stachura offers an extensive breakdown of the surge in sales and reaches out to all of the CEO’s who rarely advertise in print any longer because, they’re (kind of) happy campers! Until they hear the anti-capitalist governing bodies will blow this pandemic-fueled resurgence of golf.

Each of the club and ball categories were up more than 25 percent in both units and dollars compared to a year ago. Specifically:

Balls: Up 27 percent in units, 28 percent in dollars

Putters: Up 32 percent in units, 36 percent in dollars

Wedges: Up 64 percent in units, 74 percent in dollars

Woods: Up 74 percent in units, 68 percent in dollars

Irons: Up 83 percent in units, 93 percent in dollars

As calculated by Golf Datatech, iron sales set an all-time high for any month the research firm has tracked in its more than two decades of looking at industry numbers.

What record did it beat? The one set just last month.

Now, for the CEO’s who were all contacted so Stachura didn’t get any angry calls. The wisdom gleaned is life changing.

Phil Mickelson, who decided to make his PGA Tour Champions debut to continue his U.S. Open preparations, fired a 7-under 64 on Tuesday in Missouri.

Webb Simpson, who is ranked third in the FedEx Cup standings, has withdrawn from this week's BMW Championship.

With a rain-delayed, Dustin Johnson 11-stroke runaway and loads of competition, CBS should not have drawn any audience for the 2020 Northern Trust Open. Instead, Sunday’s respectable 1.52 and 2.279 million average viewership is miraculous given competition with the NBA and NHL playoffs, the Indy 500, NASCAR and regional MLB action.

As always, the full listing and context can be found at ShowBuzzDaily.

A few other observations:

—The AIG Women’s British drew poor numbers on Golf Channel, particularly given the recent spike in morning golf viewing. The miniscule 245,000 average for the Sunday morning final round makes the one-hour handoff numbers on NBC (.64/886,000) that much more impressive.

—One hour shows on NBC gave the women network exposure and a tighter broadcast window that led to the decent .62/897,000 average.

Callaway’s been very b-b-busy dropping the new Callaway Big Bertha B21 and REVA lines. Also, will electric carts take over the U.S.?

2:09 – Will Callaway’s Big Bertha B21 Driver cure your slice?6:06 –  Is the FlightPath Tee the most revolutionary tee in golf?13:00 –  Are ball retrievers really worth it?19:29 – Are REVA clubs the best clubs for women?28:23 – Is the term “Ladies Clubs” detrimental for fitting?37:11 – HOTSEAT: Will electric carts take over the U.S?

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The post Can This Driver Cure Your Slice? | NPG 54 appeared first on MyGolfSpy.

Par 3 Scoring – Key Takeaways

Longer holes result in higher average scores.Roughly 1 out of every 7 golfers can’t reach a 200+ yard par 3 hole off the tee.1 out of 3 golfers needs to hit a driver to reach a 200-224 yard par 3.

Improved Performance Through Data

Big data is a powerful tool. Not only does it allow golfers to assess individual parts of the game, but it provides an opportunity to examine performance from a variety of perspectives.

Golf stat-tracking and performance management companies like ShotScope help golfers better understand individual on-course performance. However, by aggregating data from golfers across the world, we get a more complete picture of the realities of amateur performance.

So, as we dive into a relatively straightforward topic, take a moment and think about the par 3 holes on your home course. What is the typical yardage? What strategy do you use to produce the highest probability of success?

As you look through the Shot Scope Par 3 performance data, keep in mind that the PGA Tour scoring average is 3.06 on all par 3 holes. Manage your expectations accordingly

Par 3 Scoring Average by Handicap (150-200 Yards)

 

Agronomy—aka fast, hard running fairways—is the go-to faux argument for preserving distance standards should a Harry Higgs or Craig Stadler come along and blow the notion that “athletes fuel distance spikes”.

Certainly today’s generally more fit and better fit players generate increased clubhead speed, and, therefore more distance.

On the surface, agronomy as a distance booster should be a tougher sell since courses have never been greener. One very famous annual major stop, Augusta National, unapologetically presents fairways mown toward tees to slow down drives.

For now, don’t do a deep dive on 2020 yet because the numbers are not all in and the sample size differs from year’s past now that all PGA Tour tees have a Trackman. Look instead to the previous 13 years when the PGA Tour’s amazing ShotLink started measuring carry and distance on the two measuring holes per round.

Those fancy launch monitors peskily track carry while ShotLink documented the final distance of the drive.

Ignore the Todd’s, Terry’s and Chip’s at the start of this video, eventually Olympia Fields provides a fine drone tour of their North Course. It was last seen at the 2003 U.S. Open won by Jim Furyk, site of four majors overall and host of this week’s BMW Championship. The Willie Park Jr. design is among many things to know heading into the BMW, as listed here by PGATour.com’s Mike McAllister.

With the PGA Tour’s fall Asia swing not happening, reports of a revamped swing in the western United States is starting to come to fruition. One leg is now official: the CJ Cup moving from Nine Bridges in Korea to Las Vegas’ exclusive Shadow Creek.

The October 15-18 date will follow the already-scheduled Shriner’s in Las Vegas, giving the Tour a nice one-two desert swing minimizing travel. Now, there are casinos so…it might a COVID exposure wash.

Two events in Asia, Japan’s Zozo and China’s HSBC, remain on the current schedule but are not expected to happen in those locales.

For Immediate Release:

PGA TOUR, CJ Group announce move of THE CJ CUP  from Nine Bridges in Jeju Island to Shadow Creek in Las Vegas 

Those of a certain vintage have seen the restoration movement’s amazing rise. Only a handful of classics are in questionable hands, though they are biggies (Augusta National, Pine Valley, Riviera).

The list of classics undergoing successful restorations is much longer and is adding four once-unthinkables to the repaired, restored, rejuvenated division: Inverness, Oak Hill, Congressional and Oakland Hills.

All mangled for tournament golf by unsympathetic mid-century salesmen, the most prominent of all finally takes the Jones monster off its back: Oakland Hills is wrapping up a Hanse Design restoration and wants back on the major rota.

Tony Paul provides this detail-rich update on the cost, assessment approach for members and the club’s desire to not waste its time with regular PGA Tour golf.

That system cost more than a third of the $12.1-million budget for the project, funded by the membership. Members had the option of paying $10,000 up front or $100 a month for 12 years, or $12,000. It was a major financial and logistical commitment from the membership, which has booked the North Course solid for months this year. There will be more sacrifice next year, with carts not allowed until 2022.

The USGA has sites booked for the U.S. Open through 2027, and the PGA Championship is accounted for through 2031. Oakland Hills clearly hopes it gets one or both, possibly a U.S. Open before the end of the decade. A regular PGA Tour event isn't the goal, and never has been.

"We're here to host a major championship," said Steve Brady, the head pro, adding that even if Oakland Hills doesn't get another major, the membership will find the renovation well worth the commitment. "We're not just about making Tour players rich."

Forget the playoffs, we’ve got Phil Mickelson giving the Champions Tour a 61 in his debut round, the Frank Poncherello shades, and after the 11-birdie effort, some Ricky Bobby channeling. A story only Branson could manage. Let’s get the Phil-being-Phil post-round plug:

I’m not saying you’re going to also shoot 61 after starting your day with COFFEE FOR WELLNESS. What I’m saying is you just might want to try it in a couple weeks when it comes out. 😏

— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 25, 2020

This humility and respect for the field killed the Ricky Bobby vibe quickly. From an ubylined AP story:

"We have a lot of golf left," said Mickelson, who hit all but one green in regulation. "A lot of players went really low. The quality of golf out here is really impressive."

Mickelson, who turned 50 in June, was optimistic that his game was rounding into shape for the U.S. Open, the only major championship he hasn't won. But that missed cut on the PGA Tour left him with the possibility of not playing the next two weeks heading into the Safeway Open, which would be his final tune-up for Winged Foot.

Phil Mickelson caught fire on the back nine and finished with 11 birdies for a 10-under 61 and a 1-shot lead over David McKenzie in his PGA Tour Champions debut.

The C.J. Cup at Nine Bridges, won by Justin Thomas last year in South Korea, is being moved to Shadow Creek in Las Vegas in October as part of the PGA Tour's revised Asia Swing.