The Dan Plan insults golfers everywhere

Dan McLaughlin

If a person that had never touched a golf club before told you that he was going to be on the PGA Tour with just five years of work, you would probably consider him or her egotistical and delusional, but that is hardly the attitude The Golf Channel and other media outlets have toward Dan McLaughlin and his Dan Plan.

The Golf Channel's "Golf in America" feature on Golf Central made an attempt at an inspirational piece Monday about The Dan Plan, a plan where a single 32-year-old quit his job to use what he describes as unlimited time and resources to make it to the PGA Tour in 5 years having never played a single round before.

The piece was painted as inspirational and might have been for some, but many real golfers were down right insulted.

"Who does this hump think he is?" asked Xtopher Woods, a well-respected plus two handicap from Oceanside, CA. "This guy reads a couple books, and now he thinks he can become a top stud with a mere 10,000 hours of dedication ... What a joke. This guy is a complete loser."

The 10,000 hours Woods is referring to is what The Dan Plan centers around. Dan believes that through 10,000 hours of "deep practice" or "deliberate practice" he can be one of the 250 or so golfers regarded as the best in the world. Although The Golf Channel didn't explicitly state how Dan came up with the plan, his fantastic notion likely arose after reading the hit book "The Talent Code."

In The Talent Code, Author Daniel Coyle came up with his own Dan Plan where he sought of talent hotspots and tried to discover what causes them. Not more than a quarter of the way through the book, Coyle coins the 10,000 rule where he specifically refers to deliberate and deep practice. Coyle spends much of the book discussing how talent his grown in the body in the form of of a substance that coats nerves called myelin, which grows fastest through deep practice identifying a particular thing to improve upon.

Although The Talent Code has many merits, the 10,000 rule isn't one of them as it applies to golf. It is highly unlikely that a young, athletic physical specimen from a warm state could successfully accomplish Dan's plan much less an admittedly non-athletic, 5'7", 145lbs 32-year-old from Portland who had never touched a club.













Looking like a hack: Dan McLaughlin putts in the rain at Broadmoor Golf Course in Portland, Oregon. Do these images look like the gear and putter a guy with "unlimited resources" would use?

On July 5th, 2011 Dan was 17 percent of the way through at 1700 hours, and the Blazer stopped by his blog to see how he was doing. Here are a couple highlights:

"Just a couple weeks ago I couldn’t miss from within 12o yards and was making crisp contact with pretty much every shot. But, then the golfing gods frowned and the hosel began leading the charge on too many occasions . . . "I’ve started hitting a bit too much grass in front of the ball, not a good habit to have, especially if you want to put some spin on the ball."

That's not exactly the words of a guy headed to the tour by his fall of 2016 target. In his latest post Dan talks about establishing a handicap playing from the "white tees" using only a 6-iron, 8-iron, PW, 56 degree, 52 degree and putter. Dan's instructor, Christopher Smith, was originally insulted by Dan's idea calling him "just another yahoo" but has since warmed up to it. He started Dan with putting and is slowly moving up the club length latter as the months go on. By the time he's half way to the tour, he may finally get to hit a driver.

Christopher's original feelings of insult seem like a more appropriate response from the avid golfer than the inspiring story The Golf Channel and others are now painting of The Dan Plan.

Follow Dan's quest for the card at thedanplan.com

Captures and Captions - Fumbling Buffoons

A panic stricken maintenance crew at the Atlanta Athletic Club fumble around trying to fix the damage caused by a mower less than 24hrs before the players hit the course for the PGA Championship.




One crew member couldn't help but take a break for a cell phone photo op.

The Green Blazer's journal

Green Blazer journal, sometime in the future...

They other day began much the same as any other. I awoke, enjoyed a cup of my special greenblazer tea made from st. andrews elephant grass and afganhi sativa, and began practicing my short game by hitting barefoot out of a bunker made of burning hot coals. I was just about to break for my afternoon Iron Byron massage (a massage in which an iron byron machine fires balls at your muscles from point blank range) when I got a phone call on my special greenblazer phone, which is rare because only Natalie Gulbis, Alice Cooper and my butler have the number and they all know better than to call me when I'm practicing.

"Hello, Blazelair. Yes, I will hold for Mr. Nicklaus."

It was Jack Nicklaus, probably wanting to reminisce on the days when we used to have a regular foursome with Ted Koppel and Bruce Lee.

"Hey GB, remember that one time you tried to hit over that dog leg and ended up burning down an entire forest?"

I was right. God, Jack Nicklaus can be so annoying these days.

"Yeah I remember Jack. At least I saved everyone from the blaze, you and bruce lee just sat there laughing it up like you were members of a live studio audience."

"We were Greeny B, or have you already forgotten your ugly little foray into bad ‘60s television."

He was right. They were members of a live studio audience for that miserable silver age Green Blazer television show. Fucking Jack Nicklaus and his constant reminiscing.

"How did you get this number?"

"Former President George W. Bush gave it to me, he said you told him he could give it out in an emergency."

At that moment I remembered about the time I traded President Bush my special blazenumber in exchange for the greatest golf joke of all time. But I was certain he couldn't have remembered it, or could he? We were playing a special match at the Camp David course as a part of his request in his first executive order. This was early in the term when I still responded to executive orders, before he started calling me there every time he needed a laugh, which ended up averaging out to a trip every three minutes or so toward the end. Early in the match I realized that he only had the capacity to harbor one thought at a time, when he forgot my name after I told him the joke about the pope and Si Re Pek. Upon hearing this joke he doubled over onto his hands and knees on the tee box and laughed for about three hours, before demanding that I tell him another. To shut him up I told him what I thought was the greatest golf joke of all time, but that only made him ask for and another, and another, and another, and it was getting really embarrassing because he was still on his hands and knees and he kept calling me "masterful blazer," which is normal, but in between his laughing all you could really hear was "master-er." When I was all out of jokes he told me there was one I didn't know and that he could make Rich Beem tell it to me in exchange for my emergency Blazenumber. I was so surprised that Rich Beem could possibly know something about golf that I didn't that I gave him the number without a moment's hesitation. He had Beem promptly sent to Guantanomo and tortured until he eventually gave up the joke, which turned out to be the first joke I had told to the president to get that whole thing started. "You can only call that number in emergencies," I told him, and he responded "I'll be the decider of what constitutions an emergency. Now watch this drive."

"Fine, Jack, what's the emergency," I finally asked Jack Nicklaus after he had been on hold for like 45 minutes while I thought about that first time I went golfing with former President George W. Bush.

"I'm having a clone of my former self made to play in a scramble against Tiger Woods, Jaquline Gagne and Kim Jong Ill, and I need to you to make sure nobody tries to interfere with it at the match."

Another goddamn clone? Jack Nicklaus just can't seem to get over his former self. This was like the 74th clone he's had made of himself since Tiger won the two grand slams in a row and passed him up in major tournaments won.

"Why would somebody try to interfere with the match?" I asked, certain Nicklaus was just paranoid again.

"Let's just say there is, I don't have to tell you everything."

I was starting to get the feeling Nicklaus wasn't telling me everything.

K.J. Choi shakes golf world with unprofessional antics

SATIRE - *Please read with an open mind as we love KJ just as much as everyone else. If you're somehow offended, we recommend you pick up an Onion once in a while.

While the momentum of the international golf scene continued its ascent to the forefront with South Korean born KJ Choi’s victory in the Players Championship Sunday, a dark cloud was cast over his performance with what golf analysts are claiming “shameless self-promotion” by Choi’s on-course behavior at the culmination of The Players Championship.

While in contention late on Sunday, Choi violated typical PGA Tour protocol by high fiving children, waving to boisterous individual supporters, and affectionately tipping his cap to galleries and fellow competitors. He followed up such unprofessional antics by warmly and affectionately embracing David Toms after besting him in a sudden-death playoff. Ken Venturi, a long time golf analyst whose racist undertones against Tiger Woods throughout the previous decade helped him achieve notoriety amongst “good ole boy” golf scum described it best with his following statements:

“To see a player behave in such a manner, touching women and children, smiling and making eye contact with the crowds, and uncharacteristically hugging David Toms after his victory, was completely disrespectful to American golf fans.”

A smug hug from Mr. K.J.: K.J. Choi embraces David Toms following his playoff win at the 2011 Players Championship Sunday. This was just one of many unprofessional late round antics that has the golf world up in arms.

The PGA tour agreed with Venturi, issuing huge fines for the nearly 300 high fives Choi eagerly offered to fans down the final four-hole stretch of the tournament. Tim Finchem, PGA tour commissioner, said the self-seeking personal touch Choi extended to his supporters was “embarrassing” and “shameful” behavior that indicates Choi’s egotistical and self-seeking nature. The Tour issued a prompt apology for the manner in which Choi attempted to separate himself from the frigid stiffness and corpse-like persona typically expected of PGA players in contention.

Additional ire was cast towards Choi after conducting his post victory interview in English. Fuzzy Zoeller scoffed at the “despicable motives” of Choi to draw attention to the blue-collar, salt-of-the-earth manner in which Choi diligently learned the language and culture of a nation in which he competes regularly.

Kim Jong Il, noted North Korean terrorist who is not even from the same country as the well-industrialized South Korea, summarized the thoughts on this controversy by issuing the following statement:

"I am glad that the North Korean people cannot claim ownership of this extremist. I would hate to think of the world ramifications of people thinking that Korean people are capable of acting in such respectful and congenial ways. I will work diligently to rebuild the Korean image in the future, and am more determined than ever to invade South Korea and force my destructive views upon such a confused society.”

Speak of the week - Friend zone

Next time you're playing match play and your opponent lags their putt up to 3-4 feet, instead of remaining silent or saying something like, "I got to make you putt it" tell them it's out of your Friend Zone. This zippy phrase can alleviate any awkwardness about making them putt what might be considered a gimme in some circles.

Awkwardness is also the number one cause for men falling into the friend zone with a woman they are pursuing, the zone a man never wants to find himself in. The zone where all his friends trash talk him for his weak, pointless pursuit to what will certainly be a disappointing finish.

In the Friend Zone: In match play, this putt would be considered part of the friend zone whereas a three footer against a known yipper might not be. This is the friend zone you want to be in.


In the Friend Zone: Ouch ... This is the friendship zone many lovable losers find themselves in but no man wants to be in. Women like to be in this zone though and almost all of them are convinced their male "best friend" for the past two years doesn't secretly want them.

You know you're a hack when ...

You forget to grab a scorecard so you write your 7s and 8s on the steering wheel of the golf car.


















Thanks to P. Johnstonian for this submission. Send your "You know you're a hack when ..." and "You know the course is a dump when ..." ideas to greenblazergolf@gmail.com

Seve Ballesteros was right

While most golfers are left.

It is widely understood that the right side of the human brain is responsible for creativity. The list of ways scientists have tried to prove this is extensive. One mad scientist developed a sort of thinking cap that uses magnetic pulses to stimulate the creative side of the brain and proved it worked using a series of before and after tests. People have developed superpowers after suffering head injuries that have given them the power to do seemingly impossible arithmetic, allowed them to know the day of the week for any day in history, or even enabled them to play an instrument at an advanced level the first time using it. Experts say this is due to increased activity in the right side of the brain.

When the word creativity is mentioned in golf, the golfer that comes to mind is Seve Ballesteros. He was the most right brained golfer in history. When you search his name on the internet, undoubtedly you will find endless testimonials of his shotmaking. Youtube is filled with highlight reels of Ballesteros hitting amazing shots from trees and bushes.

Although all of us might not be able to rip a three wood under a tree on our knees, thinking of the most creative golfer in history when facing a trouble shot is a great way to lower your scores and honor the late, great Seve Ballesteros.

To honor the man and the great things he did in golf, The Green Blazer is urging all golfers to think outside the box next time you're faced with a difficult shot. If your shortsided from a mud lie, maybe the best shot isn't to try and strike a lob wedge perfectly (which can often lead to a compound fracture).

With this in mind, The Green Blazer would like to introduce a new concept: WWSD (What would Seve do). Anytime you find yourself in trouble, think WWSD to lower your scores and increase your fun on the golf course.

Big breaks and big laughs for Oren Geri

The newest season of Golf Channel's The Big Break hasn't even started yet and already one of the contestants is racking up quotations, each worthy of its own tweet.

Oren Geri, who served in the Israeli military before moving to the states to fulfill his dreams of playing professional golf, told it like it is during The Big Break, Indian Wells 30 minute preview:

• "Golf has pretty much ruined my life"
• "My apartment is a dump"
• "If I'm not playing in tournaments, I'm playing with rich people for money. To them it's not a lot of cash, to you it's a month's salary. There's no way to sugarcoat it, you're basically a golf prostitute."
• "My journey chasing golf happiness has pretty much ruined my life"
• "My apartment is pretty much I would say one of the lowest forms of living."

The Big Break has had many characters over the years. Blaze's favorite is of course Brian Skatell, and it's a damn shame we don't have a comprehensive list of his quotes during the two season's he served. Well Oren will certainly be bringing the truth in the 15th season of The Big Break, hopefully one of the other ten contestants, can provide Skatellike entertainment.

The 15th season of The Big Break premiers May 16 at 9:30 p.m. est.

Speak of the week - Compound Fracture

Kelly Tilghman busted out her very own Speak of the week when she used "compound fracture" to describe a golfer adding to his problems after a bad shot.

She almost certainly had the phrase written down to use sometime during the broadcast and found her opportunity to bust it out. Next time your buddy tries to hit a knockdown four iron through some trees and clips a overhanging limb, bust out compound fracture and make Kelly Tilghman proud.

Furyk tries to penalize self, denied by officials

SATIRE

In order to save face during a rough final round at the Heritage last Sunday, Jim Furyk attempted to call a penalty on himself but was denied by PGA Tour rules officials.

"It moved!" Furyk pleaded.

"Oh no you don't Jim," said the official. We know it just oscillated. Nice try."

"Alright fine ... I'll just move on with my round now."

The bitter defending champion then hastily hit his pitch and eventually carded 76, his highest score in his last 33 rounds at Harbortown.

Penalizing yourself has become very trendy lately, and the respect Brian Davis got for alerting an official after he nicked a reed at the 2010 Heritage was fresh in Furyk's mind. Furyk later admitted the attempt was not only to save face for this tournament but to put a permanent mark on his career as well.

"That's the one thing missing from my record," he said. "I've got a Major, $10 Million for the FedEx Cup, and if I could get a memorable penalty or DQ that would make all the difference for my career. It could put me over the edge for the World Golf Hall of Fame ."

Furyk tees it up next at The Players Championship May 12-15

Speak of the week - Clown's mouth

Next time your partner needs to make one, instead of telling him to "knock it in" or "put it in the back" bust out a clown's mouth. "Alright Jim we need this one, roll it right in the clown's mouth."

The Green Blazer's Sunday Smorgasbord - Congrats to Brandt Snedeker!

The Corps are happy for Brandt Snedeker, a player that seems to have his game back in gear. But, while everyone else will be talking about Snedeker's high points, we thought we showed some low ones leading up to this win.

Golf Slang - Speak of the week

Have you ever wanted to increase your swagger on the golf course? In addition to sunglasses, a popped collar, and yellow soled Nike golf kicks, you will need to talk with a certain slang that shows everyone else you're up on the latest golf vernacular. That's why The Green Blazer is here to bring you: Speak of the Week . . .

Last week, we told you your clubs are not clubs, they're wrenches. But after another week hanging with some members of golf's brodier generation, we found that clubs can also be called hooks or bats.

Golf cars are also no longer golf cars or even golf carts ... They're buggies. Europe was well ahead of the U.S. on this one, but buggy is here now to stay. "Hey bud, will you throw my hooks on a buggy and bring it up front?"

Mizuno tries to play public for fools

Well browsing the latest Golf World magazine (somehow G-Blaze has have a free indefinite subscription to seemingly every golf related magazine) The Green Blazer stumbled across the "Mizuno Challenge" where they claim that golfers hit their new JPX 800 iron 12.48 yards farther than whatever current iron they're playing. They say it's due to the new "Hot Metal design" and "Ultra thin clubface" but The Blazer won't be fooled so easily.


Mizuno is right; numbers don't lie, just look at the lofts of their clubs, the real culprit for golfers' added distance.

Blaze doesn't need to poll 100 golfers to tell you that on average they hit their 5 iron farther than their 6 iron. Lofts have been continuously decreasing over the last ten years, mainly in the game improvement sector. If Mizuno really wanted to give a true picture of how much farther their clubs go, they should have compared them to clubs of similar loft (Callaway RazorHawk, Taylormade R9 would have worked). It's safe to say most golfers are getting new irons closer to every 10 years than every year. Below are the 6 iron lofts of some of the irons that their polled golfers were possibly using:

Ping i3 OS - 30.5 degrees
Cleveland TA5 - 30 degrees
Callaway X-14 - 33 degrees (2000)
Callaway x-20 - 30 degrees (2007)
Mizuno JPX 800 - 28 degrees

Mizuno is right about one thing, Numbers don't lie.

Lobster balls not delicacy

Golf's latest push toward greener pastures might be in the ball
Do you like Lobster balls? Do you find them to be an Easter delicacy? Do you like hitting the golf ball 60-70 percent of the distance you normally do? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then the University of Maine may have a product for you.

From http://technabob.com:
The researchers found a way to use those lobster shells to make golf balls; more specifically, golf balls that are biodegradable. The shells are held together with a biodegradable binder and coating. Presumably they will just melt away to lobster dust over time in the environment. The balls sell for a bit under $1 each and cost 19 cents to make.

These lobster balls are the latest in a push toward green golf balls (no we're not referring to a new Srixon Tour Green). Research teams at the Danish Golf Union have discovered it takes between 100 to 1,000 years for a golf ball to decompose naturally. It is also estimated 300 million balls are lost or discarded in the United States alone, every year.

The Danish Golf Association found that during decomposition, golf balls dissolved to release dangerous levels of zinc and other heavy metals. When submerged in water, the zinc attaches itself to the ground sediment and poisoned the surrounding flora and fauna.

With all this said, we hope this isn't self defeating and that the Lobster shells they are using to make golf balls aren't already contaminated by golf balls.

The Green Blazer's Sunday Smorgasbord is back!

Was that a 15 Kevin? Na, it was 16
With the highest score on a single hole since John Daly made an 18 on the sixth hole at Bay Hill, Kevin Na made a twelve over par, sixteen, on the ninth hole in the first round of the Valero Texas Open.

Although hackers across the country stare back at the hole and point as they count their strokes out loud, it's unheard of to see a professional do it. Na actually ran out of beads at 15, but after reviewing the video discovered one more whack.

The Golf Channel struck gold by choosing Na to be miked up on that specific day and the scene was entertaining for all viewers. His caddy recommended Na go back to the tee, but instead of agreeing, Kevin said na-nah-na-nah and BOOM, he paid the price on what was otherwise a solid round.

Check out the video of the circus below and make sure to pay particular attention at 4:07 where the gallery applauded his 12th shot and 4:47 where Na hilariously twirls his club following his 13th shot.



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Speak of the Week

Have you ever wanted to increase your swagger on the golf course? In addition to sunglasses, a popped collar, and tennis shoe style Adidas golf kicks, you will need to talk with a certain slang that shows everyone else you're up on the latest golf vernacular. That's why G Blaze is bringing back: Speak of the Week . . .

Your clubs are not clubs and your grips are not grips. If you're confused the following sentence should clear things up: "Hey Pro ... Is it possible you could have the guys clean up my wrenches and put some new handles on them before my round Sunday?

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Golf course supervillain strikes up north
A horse is a horse but in Wisconsin, a course is no longer a course
Nike's new commercial caught G-Blaze's eye (an eye with a built in rangefinder, one of Blaze's many superpowers) when a horse is seen tearing through a finely manicured golf course causing significant damage to the grounds, but a stampede of horses couldn't have created as much damage in a year as one vandal did in a night to Whispering Springs Golf Club in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin.









Chris Wood, the pro who found the 15th club that created a mini media frenzy last year, sent G-Blaze a message asking for a quick piece showing the damage this vandal did to a great golf course. Below are pictures from Whispering Springs website showing the damage.



















































From Whispering Springs website:

On the night of April 8th Whispering Springs Golf Club was the victim of a malicious act of vandalism. Trespasser(s) came onto our property during the night hours with a shovel and intentions to harm the course and our business’s well-being. The assailants dug over 200 holes throughout the green of significant size and depth. Not only did they dig out chucks of turf, the vandals proceeded to carry the pieces of sod 30 yards away near a creek. Anyone associated with, or has knowledge of the game of golf knows how much work goes into maintaining a golf course. This act was a direct assault on the hard work that the Whispering Springs staff puts into our establishment. We view this act to be one of someone who was not looking for sick fun, but rather, someone looking to destroy our business. For these reasons, Whispering Springs will not take this act lightly. We will do everything in our power to pursue these criminals and take full action to prosecute them.

Thanks Chris for bringing this to our attention. Rest assured we will put the full power of the Green Blazer Corps behind bringing this supervillian to justice.

Until next week, this has been The Green Blazer's Sunday Smorgasbord. Green Blazer Golf ... You no longer have to hit the greens to experience golf euphoria.

Woods debuts new bracelet

New age Buddhism bracelet or a gimmicky sports bracelet?

Tiger Woods debuted a new bracelet on his left wrist during the first round of the Bay Hill Invitational Thursday. Woods went back to wearing a bracelet after his affairs went public. He told the pubic it represented a religious rebirth as he had strayed from his Buddhist faith, but was likely more of a PR stunt.

G-Blaze believes this is likely a new Buddhism bracelet representing the same thing, although it does resemble the magnetic or hologram sports performance bracelets worn by many professional athletes.

The boards are bustling with discussion on the merits of the manufacturers' claims of higher performance, but G-Blaze tends to agree with one poster who took a dirty dig at Hunter Mahan in the process:


Golfwrx.com member MS22:

It was the same one Hunter Mahan was wearing when he flubbed that chip. Good thing he had it on, with all the extra balance and extended ROM you get from wearing those magical holograms "tuned to the frequencies of the human body" he probably would have whiffed at the ball . . .

Buy a CD, take the "SONY BMG" homogram off and stick it to a rubber band, same thing.

That company had claims on their website of people putting one on and jumping onto a surfboard for the first time ever in their life and riding 10-12 footers instantly because of the balance it promotes. Total BS.

Tiger Woods' secret

Examining the only stat the matters
Any ol' wannabee golf historian would be troubled to research Ben Hogan without finding something about his "secret." Hogan wouldn't go on record of what his secret was until a Time magazine feature in August 1955 where he said it was a pronation of his wrists in the backswing, which resulted in turning his pronounced hook he had been struggling with into a baby fade. But, many believe Hogan's real "secret," a mixture of skill, focus and drive, is what enabled him to score better or even with the world's top players.

Tiger Woods also has a perfect cocktail, and it's more perfect than anyone in the history of the game. It's what has enabled him to score lower than his peers, which is the biggest key to winning golf tournaments. Few people have actually examined the scores Tiger shoots compared to the rest of the field, and used that to consider what would actually have to happen for the long term expectations of him to change.

Tiger has won the Vardon trophy eight of the last twelve years and would have won nine only he didn't meet the required 60 rounds to be eligible in 2006. Commentators and golf writers often refer to intangibles like performing when it counts and the so called intimidation factor, but he is the best because he scores the lowest. How he does it doesn't really matter.

Jack Nicklaus too had the lowest scoring average eight times in his career and finished second six times, but too few events made those averages "unofficial" and Nicklaus was never eligible for the Vardon Trophy, which is likely the reason they introduced the Byron Nelson Award in 1980.

Taken from Wikipedia:
Thirteen men have won the Vardon Trophy more than once (1937-2010).

* 8 wins
o Tiger Woods: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009

* 5 wins
o Billy Casper: 1960, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968
o Lee Trevino: 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1980

* 4 wins
o Arnold Palmer: 1961, 1962, 1964, 1967
o Sam Snead: 1938, 1949, 1950, 1955

* 3 wins
o Ben Hogan: 1940, 1941, 1948
o Greg Norman: 1989, 1990, 1994
o Tom Watson: 1977, 1978, 1979

* 2 wins
o Fred Couples: 1991, 1992
o Bruce Crampton: 1973, 1975
o Tom Kite: 1981, 1982
o Lloyd Mangrum: 1951, 1953
o Nick Price: 1993, 1997

As far as G-Blaze is concerned, Tiger looked almost as good as he ever has in late 2009, just over one golf season ago. He finished the season 1, 1, 2, 1, T2, T11, 1, 2 with a scoring average of 68.07.

Changes in his personal life disrupted one element of his winning cocktail during the 2009 postseason, but that disruption will not last forever. The swing changes are giving him something to occupy his mind, but changes or no changes, G-Blaze believes he will at some point reign well above that game's other top players for one simple reason: He understands how to score slightly better than everyone else.

In 2010, Matt Kuchar won the Vardon trophy with the highest scoring average (69.61) since Tom Lehman won it in 1996. For Tiger to not regain his position easily on top of the golf world, someone in the field will have to permanently start scoring lower or Woods will have to fail to bring his scores back to a level that he has maintained for over a decade. The latter is quite unlikely given his age, health, work ethic.

Today, it's hard for some not to get emotional when discussing Tiger Woods. There's the camp that has never liked him and are not shy about voicing their enjoyment in watching him struggle. There's the camp that started playing the game because of him, idolize him, and will defend him no matter what. Then there's a third camp that just enjoy seeing any dynasty fall, whether it's the Yankees, Patriots or Tiger Woods.*

Emotions aside, it's more likely than not that he dominates for at least another five year stretch and remaining competitive for another ten or more.

*There's also a smaller fourth camp of dirt dogs that like him even more after discovering his off course activities.

On this day in 1962 ...

Jack Nicklaus made his first appearance as a professional at the LA Open. 23-year-old Phil Rogers would go onto win the tournament with a 62 in the final round. Nicklaus would take 50th and pick up $33.33. for his efforts whereas Rogers took home the big prize ... $7500.