The Pin Sheet – Volume 28 – February 20, 2014
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The Pin Sheet – Volume 28 – February 20, 2014 WHAT’S HAPPENING IN GOLF Eisenhower Tree Damaged, Laid to Rest Somewhere in Heaven former President Dwight D. Eisenhower is smiling. There may be more than a few past and future Masters participants smiling as well. The Eisenhower Tree, named after the th34 President of the United States and one-time Augusta National member, had to be removed this weekend because of damaged suffered in last week’s ice storm. The heavy ice caused the tree to lose a significant number of limbs, forcing it to be laid to rest. The 65-foot loblolly pine, which sat about 200 yards off the tee to the left of the th17 fairway at Augusta, was a source of angst for many golfers, including Eisenhower, who was an Augusta member from 1948 until his death in 1969. Eisenhower was said to have hit the wide-bodied tree so often that he proposed they cut it down at the start of his second presidential term in 1956, only to be vetoed by club chairman and co-founder, Clifford Roberts. The tree forced players to aim their tee shot away from it (to a very narrow fairway) or shape the ball around it with a left-to-right fade. Very few players have the ability to go over it. Two-time U.S. Open champion Curtis Strange told The Associated Press that he, for one, is not going to miss the famous tree which is as much a part of Augusta National as Amen Corner. “It was like George Brett at third base for me,” said Strange, who had four top-10 finishes at Augusta, including a T-2nd at the 1985 Masters. “It caught more line drives from me than I’m allowed to admit.” Augusta club chairman Billy Payne said there was no other major damage done to the course, which plays host to The Masters starting April 10th. The club will pay tribute to the iconic symbol it could not save, but there are no plans of yet to replace it. What’s Hot in Golf: Zepp Sensor by Zepp Golf [Note: This is the third installment in a series of product reviews from the recent PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando.] The small sensor attaches to your glove and can measure, among other things, your clubhead speed, tempo (ratio of time it takes to make your backswing vs. your downswing), and path (i.e., plane) of your swing. The Zepp Sensor connects wirelessly to your iPhone or Android phone via Bluetooth and captures your swing in three dimensions so that you can view your swing from any angle. It can record up to 1,000 data points per second, so that you can measure such things as your tempo or how fast your hands are traveling during the swing. You can also compare two swings side by side to see how your club or hand paths line up. For more information, go to www.zepp.com/golf. TaylorMade Duo Tops Golf Digest’s List of Hot Drivers Golf Digest’s annual Hot List issue recently hit newsstands, with reviews of more than 100 of the newest clubs from such heavy equipment hitters as Callaway, Nike, Ping, TaylorMade, and Titleist. The magazine’s editors, with an assist from amateurs, teaching professionals, and retailers, evaluated putters, wedges, irons, hybrids, and drivers in four areas--performance, innovation, look/sound/feel and demand--and awarded gold medals to the very best of the best. Among the drivers capturing gold were the TaylorMade SLDR and JetSpeed, the Callaway Big Bertha and Big Bertha Alpha, Cobra Bio Cell, and Nike VRS Covert 2.0. All 12 of the gold and silver medal winners in the driver category are adjustable, a first for the Hot List, with different features that allow you to adjust for lie and loft, face angle, and center of gravity location. The TaylorMade SLDR series, for instance, has a 20-gram sliding weight on the bottom of the clubhead that allows you to adjust the CG to any of 21 positions, depending on your preference for a draw or fade. To view these drivers and get reviews of all of the clubs in the Hot List issue, click here. Bubba Rallies at Riviera, Snaps Winless Streak Bubba Watson played the final 39 holes at Riviera Country Club without a bogey—this after double- bogeying two of his first three holes in Round 1—and fired a second consecutive 7-under-par 64 on Sunday to win the Northern Trust Open by two shots over Dustin Johnson. The 64 was the lowest final round by a winner of the Northern Trust in 28 years, and came just two weeks after Watson squandered a one-shot lead with two bogeys on the final three holes to lose the Waste Management Phoenix Open. It was sweet redemption for Watson, who needed just six holes to make up a four-shot deficit and win for the first time on the PGA TOUR since the 2012 Masters. It was another tough-luck week for Johnson, however, who for the second consecutive Sunday fired a closing 66, only to grab second. Jason Allred (68), a Monday qualifier, finished tied for third with Brian Harman (68), while Charl Schwartzel (68) finished fifth and 54-hole leader William McGirt T6th. McGirt shot a 73. Watson birdied four of his first six holes on Sunday, capping the run by holing out a difficult greenside bunker shot on the par-3 6th hole. Another birdie on the par-4 8th gave Watson the outright lead and he never looked back, helped by critical par saves on the 12th and 13th holes. March Madness in February The top four seeds in this week’s WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship are reigning FedExCup champion Henrik Stenson (Bobby Jones bracket), Rory McIlroy (Ben Hogan), Justin Rose (Gary Player), and Zach Johnson (Sam Snead). Stenson is the highest-ranked player in the field, as World No. 1 Tiger Woods, No. 2 Adam Scott, and No. 4 Phil Mickelson are all skipping the final event on the West Coast Swing. Some of the intriguing potential early-round matchups in this week’s championship, which gets underway on Wednesday at The Golf Club at Dove Mountain in Marana, AZ, include No. 1 Rory McIlroy vs. No. 8 Lee Westwood in the Hogan bracket, and No. 1 Zach Johnson vs. No. 8 Hunter Mahan and No. 3 Bubba Watson vs. No. 6 Keegan Bradley in the Snead bracket. If all plays to form, defending champion Matt Kuchar would meet Jordan Spieth in the third round (Player bracket), as would 2013 major champions Justin Rose and Jason Dufner (Player bracket) and big hitters Watson and Dustin Johnson (Snead bracket). For a look at the full field and each bracket,click here..