It may seem like a fluke that Trevor Immelman won the Master’s, but it just didn’t happen by accident … I was talking with some friends of mine about the Master’s and one of them said to me “who is this guy Trevor Immelman? He came out of nowhere to win.” I almost choked on my coffee. Although many Americans may think that Trevor Immelman came out of nowhere to win golf’s most coveted tournament, the Master’s, Trevor has actually spent his life preparing to win this championship. Since I have known Trevor for almost half his young life, I thought ...

Want to play Augusta National but have been denied? Take matters into your own hands. That is exactly what Aiken, S.C., businessman Weldon Wyatt did after being snubbed for membership at Augusta National. Since they wouldn’t let him play at Augusta, Wyatt pretty much told Augusta to “stuff it” and showed them that he could build just as nice of a golf course. In fact, the motto printed on the scorecard at the exclusive Sage Valley Golf Club in Graniteville, S.C. states “I always thought everyone should have another chance to get even.” Wyatt and his son Tom set out to ...

Many golfers do not pay attention to the function of their rotator cuff and its critical role in the golf swing until they’ve had an injury to that area. Golfer can develop tendinitis, bursitis, and tears in the rotator cuff due to the repetitive motion of the golf swing and from weak muscles. The best prevention is to strengthen the shoulders. The following exercises will strengthen the muscles that comprise the rotator cuff: 1. External Rotations-Lay on your side, supporting your head with your hand. Place your elbow on your hip and bend your arm in a 90-degree angle with palm ...

Although Lorena Ochoa leads the HSBS Women’s Champions Tournament, shooting 66 in Singapore, South Korea’s women are making their mark in women’s golf. Since the beginning of the year, South Korean women have been playing amazing golf and in my opinion, will eventually dominate women’s golf. In the past 5 weeks, South Korea’s lady golfers have had an amazing run, check it out … 1. Women’s World Cup of Golf South Korea’s Ji-Yai-Shin and Eun Hee Ji were beaten only by two strokes by Team Philippines in South Africa at beginning of year. 2. Women’s Australian Open Karrie Webb defeated Ji-Yai Shin from South ...

Even after winning his sixth straight tournament title and passing Arnold Palmer on the U.S. PGA Tour’s all-time wins list with a record-setting victory in the final of the World Golf Championships Match Play event, Tiger Woods says that the game is hard and that he doesn’t have time in the day to practice all the different parts of the game. After being asked about the state of his game in the press room at the post-round interview, he said that he still felt that there is room for improvement in his game. He said (and I am paraphrasing) “the ...

When you think of rock stars, you think of hillside mansions, all night parties, people in and out of rehab, and self indulgence. Tico Torres, Bon Jovi drummer, is the antithesis of the “rock star” persona. Over the past 23 years, Tico has been a member of one of the most successful rock bands of all times selling over 120 million albums worldwide and topping the music charts with 19 top 40 hits. This year Bon Jovi was nominated for a Grammy for their “Lost Highway” CD, and Sunday, Tico had to make a choice - go to the Grammys ...

A lot of my students ask me how to get backspin with their wedges. They see the Professionals hit short shots to greens that back up towards the pin and they want to do that too. High-handicappers usually have a misconception of how to get backspin with a wedge. They think that they need to get underneath the ball and scoop the shot. This is exactly the opposite of what you want to do. To get backspin you actually want to hit down. When you strike down on the ball, the ball rolls up the clubface, the ball flies forward, ...

For every additional 30 minutes you spend driving in your car, you increase your chances of becoming obese by three percent, studies say. Although that may not seem like much, but within a few years, it could mean an additional 10 to 30 pounds. Add this to the time you spend sitting in a golf cart while you play golf and you could argue that playing golf could be making you fat. Hitting a ball every five minutes with bouts of rest in between sitting in a golf cart is not considered appropriate exercise to lose or even maintain ...

Most people this time of year hang up their clubs and just wait for spring to come around to play again, but you don’t have to wait for good weather to work on your game. The winter months are actually an ideal time to work on some aspects of your game. Why not spend a few minutes a day working on your flexibility, strength and swing technique. Spending even 5 to 10 minutes a day swinging a club will keep you supple and loose and you won’t have to relearn your swing after the long layoff. I developed an exercise program ...

The end of the year is always a good time to reflect on the things you have to be thankful for in your life. The end of December also happens to be my wedding anniversary so I am always thankful for my husband and the great relationship we have. Golf always has been and will always be a big part of our lives. To make a long story short, I met my husband Dan Jansen when he came to take a golf lesson from me when I worked at the David Leadbetter Golf Academy in Orlando, Florida back in 1996. You ...

The world’s No. 1 player has been absent from golf since the President’s Cup. Tiger Woods said in an interview last week that he hadn’t touched a club in two months. And like most of us, after taking a break from golf, Tiger said that when he did finally hit some balls that he hit it great. His exact words were “I hit it like a God, and then the next day like a 5-handicapper and the day after that like an 18-handicapper.” I am sure that Tiger will get back on track before the new year, but why is ...

The golf swing in its most simple form is really only a circle. The radius of that circle, back and through the swing is the left arm (in a right-handed swing.) Good players create a wide arc on the backswing and maintain the radius that they created at address throughout the swing. High-handicappers, on the other hand, in their attempt to create a wide arc usually over do it by over swinging and bending their left arm at the top of the swing, which is the opposite of what they should do. When a wide arc is established ...

For the beginner and probably for the majority of high-handicap golfers, the driver is the most difficult club in the bag to hit because it is the longest club and it has the least amount of loft. It will slice more often than not. Here are a few solutions to help you become a better driver. Solution #1 Learn the difference between hitting an iron and driver. When you hit an iron, the ball is placed in the middle of your stance, so your angle of attack will be down on the ball at impact. This steeper angle will help you get the ...

High-handicap golfers make the rough rougher than it really is. Some try to “help” the ball out with a sweeping motion, only to have the grass grab the clubface and close it, sending the shot low and left. Others hit down, on top of the ball with a karate-chop move that barely advances the ball forward. If this is your problem, here is some help: Just set up for a fade which will bring the clubface down on a steeper yet controlled outside-in path, thus producing cleaner contact and a soft-landing cut shot. And remember these three things: 1. Open clubface, ...

“Hit against a firm left side” is a classic piece of swing advice that many golfers misinterpret. They think it means that the left knee should be stiff and straight during the downswing- a mistake that forces tension into the leg, halts hip rotation, prevents proper weight shift to the left side, and destroys clubhead speed. At impact, either the left arm collapses (Fore left!) or the hands don’t release (Fore right!). Not pretty. Ernie Els had to miss the 2005 President’s Cup while recovering from surgery after tearing ligaments in his left knee while tubing in the Mediterranean on a ...