Recently I played a great new course in Westlake, Louisiana located 5 miles west of Lake Charles. It has been open only for a couple of months and claims to be one of the best golf courses in the state. I enjoyed the layout and course conditions were superb for being new and heading towards the dormant winter season. It has a great flow to the course, especially the back nine holes. You need to drive the ball straight and pay close attention to all the water hazards located from the tee box.

I recommend playing here if you are in south Louisiana anytime soon.

I  am sure you have heard about Tiger and his ‘car accident’ last week. He was involved in a one car wreck, I would not even call it a wreck, when he struck a fire hydrant and tree in his neighbors yard. Tiger could have attention drawn to him if he does anything other than play golf. My feeling is WHO CARES !! If he had been drunk and drove into a tree then that would have been some juicy info, but he was not. So what if he was out at 2:30 in the morning. I have been out that late before and so have most of us at some point. We should leave the guy alone and let him have a life so to speak. He puts his pants on the same way as the rest of us..one leg at a time. Yea, he is the most popular athlete on the planet, but why do we need to know his every move? Will that really effect our everyday lives? NO !! So get over the obsession and move on with something else important.

Several times over the last few years, I have been asked “what would you change in Tiger’s swing?” After some thought and analysis, I have the answer! I certainly would not touch his short game, which I feel is the best of anyone, including Phil Mickelson, on the PGA Tour. The main issue if there is one at all, is his ability to hit  drivers as accurately as he would like. I would love to have ONE lesson with Tiger and have him work on one move I feel leads to occasional wild drives.

I have always wanted to see Tiger not move down and right during the downswing. When he does this the golf club gets ’stuck’ behind the body and he will flare shots right or may flip the hands and hit hooks. Either one is not good when you are swinging the golf club at the speed he produces. My solution would be for him to keep the shoulders more on top of the hips during the forward swing . You would have the right shoulder higher during impact instead of moving downward. I am sure this is something he has noticed and more than likely trying to change. That is what makes all great players great, they are always looking for ways to improve and there is always room for improvement with everyone, even the number one player in the world.

I believe Tiger would win golf tournaments if he decided  he wanted to play left handed and it certainly is not going to stop him from winning when he drives it off the planet. He may win everything though if he did drive it better !

Have you noticed how many times Phil Mickelson hits it in the fairway and wins a golf tournament? Not many times I can assure you. Even Tiger hits it wild off the tee for the number one player in the world. Golf has and always been a power game, but we have definitely been caught up in the distance side of things and lost focus of making quality precise golf shots.

I am speaking about PGA Tour Professionals and lack of importance placed on accuracy. Simply bomb and dig it out wherever it goes as long as it is 300+. Even the golf courses are now designed to allow for the bombing to take place. Golf courses like Colonial in Fort Worth seem obsolete. But wait… it is one of the shortest courses on Tour. Why then is the winning score historically one of the highest year after year? BECAUSE you can’t hit many drivers and it places premiums on iron play and course management. Precisely why Tiger doesn’t play in my opinion.

Augusta National lengthened by hundreds of yards to “Tiger proof” the course. What a joke! It is already the weakest field of any major, and he may win there 10 more times now length is the standard. You will certainly limit WHO can win there and on other courses with this non -sense. Make it tough by reducing the size of the greens, growing rough, and making holes that require actual thought when hitting driver.

I am not suggesting designing courses that will not fit the bomber, but ones that place premiums on accuracy if you choose to grip and rip.

No one wants to watch Corey Pavin dissect and pick a course apart anymore with precision, they would rather watch someone hit it 350 in the woods and scrape it out on the green and make a 30 footer for birdie. Again, the beauty of the game: It is not how but how many !!