Perry of Florida wins PGA PNC by three shots

Perry of Florida wins PGA PNC by three shots

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PGA.COM July 16, 2013 7:51 AM

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Rod Perry, the PGA head pro at Crane Lakes in Port Orange, Fla., had four birdies and a bogey in his …


By Bob Denney, The PGA of America

SUNRIVER, Ore. -- Rod Perry spent most of his career trying to carve a niche in professional golf among his peers. Spending just four days in the rarefied air of Central Oregon,Perry proved that he belonged.

The 39-year-old PGA head professional at Crane Lakes Golf and Country Club in Port Orange, Fla., turned in a near-flawless 3-under-par 69 Wednesday afternoon atCrosswater Club, punctuating his performance by making a downhill 15-foot birdie putt on the par-5 16th hole. It was the lift he needed for a three-stroke victory in the 46th PGA Professional National Championship.

Presented the 2012 PGA Professional Player of the Year award on Friday, Perry finished with a 72-hole total of 10-under-par 277, which was worth a check of $75,000 in the showcase event for PGA Professionals and the right to hoist the crystal Walter Hagen Cup. He is the first left-hander and the fourth North Florida PGA Section member to win the National Championship.

The 46th PGA Professional National Championship is presented by Club Car, Mercedes-Benz and OMEGA.

Ryan Polzin of Houston, Texas, who came within a stroke of the lead before a wayward drive on 18 landed in a hazard, finished second at 280, after closing with 71. Jeff Sorensonof Blaine, Minn., was another stroke back at 282.

"This is by far the biggest win of my career; it's huge," said Perry. "Winning that PGA Player of the Year Award in 2012 made me think for a second, hey, maybe I am one of the better players in The PGA, and maybe I can compete on a consistent basis. Finishing second last year (in the Championship) at Bayonet Blackhorse, I know I didn't play my best.

"I felt if I could play a bit better, maybe I would have a chance. Thankfully, not one of our great players get hot like Matt Dobyns did last year. It left the gates open and I was able to come through."

JC Anderson of St. Louis; three-time National Champion Mike Small of Champaign, Ill.; 2007 Champion Chip Sullivan of Troutville, Va.; and Mark Sheftic of Blue Bell, Pa., tied for fourth at 283. Sheftic and Sullivan, who shared the 54-hole lead, faded after the front nine and each posted a 76.

Small, the men's golf coach at the University of Illinois, sprinted out with four front-nine birdies to climb within a stroke of the lead, but saw his chances end when he missed the fairway on the ninth hole, which led to a bogey. He later bogeyed the 14th hole and fell out of contention. He closed with a double bogey at 18 for a 72.

Perry elevated his game at the right moment on the challenging 7,489-yard Crosswater Club, which is a longer than any major championship layout this year. "The greens were relatively soft and you knew you had to play well," said Perry.

"You are always traversing the Deschutes River. Trouble is lurking at all times. You have to put the tee ball in play, shaping the shots consistently and eliminating that big mistake."


Perry sprinted to the lead with birdies at the second and sixth holes, catching Polzin, and added a birdie at the par-4 10th to give him a one-stroke margin. Polzin, the PGA head professional at Royal Oaks Country Club in Houston, stumbled with bogeys at 11 and 13, before staging a late rally that caught Perry's attention.

"I looked at the scoreboard after I bogeyed 15, which is something that I normally don't do," said Perry. "I saw Polzin birdied 16 and when I got to the green at 16, I saw him make a fist pump after a great birdie at 17. So, I stepped over my putt at 16 and knew that I had to make it."

It was a bittersweet day for Polzin, who was competing in his third National Championship, after missing the cut in 2009 and 2010. He took solace in being among the 20 low scorers to gain a berth in the 95th PGA Championship, Aug. 5-11, at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y.

"To make the PGA Championship is a dream come true," said Polzin. "At the beginning of the week it was a dream of mine to play in a Tour event, and to make the first one a PGA Championship is unbelievable."

Polzin gave himself the best chance to catch Perry with a birdie at 16. He then hit a stellar tee shot to within 15 feet at the par-3 17th and made the putt for a second consecutive birdie.

"I felt like had a chance," said Polzin. "Then, standing on the tee at 18, I had hit a good drive there every day. But, I got quick and the emotions got to me a little bit and yanked it left, and made double bogey. I am not going let that get me down. It was a magical week for me. I am cashing the biggest check of my career. I made the PGA, and I gave myself a chance. I was tied for the lead after 63 holes. What more could I ask for?"

Perry leads the 20-member contingent to the PGA Championship, which will be his second consecutive trip to the Season's Final Major.

"When the bell rings on Thursday (in Rochester), everyone will be the same," said Perry. "Tiger included. I'm sure that he feels the same as all the other great players. You are only as good as you are that day. I'm tied with Tiger!"

Sheftic and Sullivan, the 54-hole leaders, saw their respective chances end on the front nine. Sheftic, a PGA teaching professional at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa., birdied the first hole to grab the lead alone. The momentum end quickly by the seventh hole. His tee shot caromed off a spectator standing on the left bank of the green and landed in a hazard. He posted a double bogey and could never catch up. Sullivan, hoping to match his 2007 title at Crosswater, bogeyed the fourth, fifth, 11th and 12th holes and matched Sheftic with a 76.

Sheftic, a PGA teaching professional at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa., opened the day with a birdie on the first hole to take the lead outright. That momentum ended abruptly on the 198-yard, par-3 seventh with a double bogey, the result after his tee shot struck a spectator and caromed into a hazard. He also added a bogey at 12.

Perry also leads a group of eight qualifiers into the 26th PGA Cup, which will be contested Sept. 20-22, at Slaley Hall in Northumberland, England. The PGA Cup, the equivalent of the Ryder Cup for the PGA club professional, matches 10-member teams from the U.S. and Great Britain & Ireland.

Eight members of the team were determined Wednesday at Crosswater. Perry will be joined by Small,Polzin, Dobyns of Glen Head, N.Y.; Sorenson, Kelly Mitchum of Southern Pines, N.C.; Sullivan and Sheftic, who earned a spot through a playoff after the Championship concluded. The remaining two U.S. team berths will determined following the PGA Championship.

A Lesson Learned: Hitting the Links

A Lesson Learned: Hitting the Links

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Tina Mickelson, PGA July 16, 2013 8:08 AM


Little did I know when I agreed to do this week's "A Lesson Learned" that this would be such an amazing week for golf fans. Where do I start? How about 19-year-old Jordan Speith winning on the PGA Tour? 19!!! Or Will Willcoxshooting a 59 on the Web.com Tour?! All golfers should appreciate the unique and special nature of both of those accomplishments, and in keeping with the theme of these articles, can obviously learn many great golf tips by watching them.

But there was another great performance this weekend - across the pond as they say. Phil Mickelson showed great resiliance, creativity and a wide variety of shots on his way to a great win at the Scottish Open. He also happens to be my favorite player on the PGA Tour - and my little brother - so I'm admitting a little bias in choosing my topic.

I know many golf fans were watching with great interest, not only in rooting for their favorite players, but watching how the game is played on great links-style courses. I know I love to play links courses; it is a very different approach to the game, but the objective is still very much the same: get the ball in the hole in the fewest strokes possible. The challenge of course is how to do it on terrain and in conditions you may not be all that familiar with.

Actually, some of the most famous and popular golf destinations in the United States are links-style layouts. Major championship layouts like Pebble Beach, Whistling Straits and the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island are links-style layouts. Chambers Bay, which will host the 2015 U.S. Open, is as well as are Bandon Dunes, Sand Hills and Arcadia Bluffs. Obviously, these are some of the top golf destinations in the world and thus, you'll probably find yourself walking down some of these fairways at some point in your golf career.

So what do you need to know?


Links-style golf is charaterized by huge undulations in the terrain, firm ground conditions -even on the greens, deep and plentiful bunkers, thick gorse bushes around the layout, wild wispy fescue grass and most commonly, weather. Cold, wind and rain are often a part of the links golf experience. But this is not problematic for golfers. In actuality, they embrace it. It's part of the course and it is special.

When you are preparing for your round, whether it's in golf's motherland of Scotland or at one of the great links-type courses anywhere else, I urge you to work on three shots you'll need when you arrive.

1.) The knockdown driver:The biggest key to playing well on a links-type course is to keep your tee shot in the fairway. The gorse bushes and fescue grass aren't as visually intimidating as the trees you may be used to seeing, but they are actually more problematic for you. (Balls will disappear into the gorse and and those in fescue may or may not give you a chance to advance, but will rarely come out the way you think when you try to hit it. At least with trees, you can get a nice kick or hit under or around them.) For this shot, I urge you to do three things.
a.) Tee the ball low.
b.) Grip down on the driver for control and a shorter swing.
c.) Keep the clubhead low during the follow through. Your shot will not travel as far in the air, but will be less affected by the wind and will still roll quite a ways due to the firm fairways.

2.) The bump-and-run:Links-style courses offer players plenty of shots around the green - and you'll need to know how to play almost all of them. But usually, the rule of thumb is that the sooner you can get the ball on the ground, the better off you'll be. The best approach to your short game is to get the ball on the green and let it roll to the pin vs trying to fly it all the way to the hole. Practice chipping and pitching with lower lofted clubs (7-iron, 8-iron, etc.) to get comfortable with the varying distances your ball will travel with each club. .

3.) Bunker shots:There will be two types of bunker shots you need to know when you play links-style golf.
a.) The high bunker shot. You will not believe the size of some of the bunker walls you will see. How quickly can you get the ball up? For these shots, open the blade wide and focus on making contact with the sand behind the ball.
b.) The SMART bunker shot. Many shots in links-style golf, especially out of the bunkers, aren't really doable. Seriously. The best thing you can do for your score is to avoid the big number - even if it means hitting a shot away from your target.

One other thing about links-style golf is that it is almost universally encouraged for golfers to walk the course while playing. It's how the game was meant to be played and you really get an appreciation for the beauty and joy of the traditions, the architecture and the stunning aesthetics of golf when you are out there feeling the undulations under your feet and thinking about the shot as you walk toward it.

I would love to see my favorite Tour pro have another great week on a links golf course next week at Muirfield. And I'd love to hear how you enjoy your time on links-style courses as well. Send me a tweet at @TinaMickelson and let me know. Hope everyone has many more great weeks of golf fun like this past week was for me.

Tina Mickelson is a PGA Teaching Professional at The Santaluz Club in San Diego, Calif. Mickelson has been a PGA Professional since 1994 and is part of a large golf family with her brother Tim the Men's Golf Coach for Arizona State University and brother Phil, a PGA Tour member. She is a proud Callaway Golf Amabassador. You can follow/contact her onFacebookandTwitter.Mickelson is a popular instructor/speaker for group clinics and corporate events.

Tiger Woods' major obstacle: He's good, but no longer dominant

Tiger Woods' major obstacle: He's good, but no longer dominant

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Jay Hart July 16, 2013 9:27 AMYahoo Sports



Tiger Woods plays a shot during a practice round at Muirfield before the British Open begins Thursday. (AP Pho …

GULLANE, Scotland – A shot here and a shot there, that's how Tiger Woods, as he preps for yet another major championship, explained the difference between winning Major No. 15 and sitting on 14 for five years and counting.

He specifically pointed to this year's Masters where bad luck turned a great shot into a killer. He hit a dead-on approach to 15 in Round 2 only to have it hit the pin, carom back into the water to spark Drop-gate that eventually led to an 8. Had his approached missed the pin, Tiger likely cards a birdie and there's a good chance he would have been wearing the green jacket that Sunday night and his run at Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 majors would be back on track.

But here's the thing about the what-ifs: Since when did Tiger Woods need a stroke here, a stroke there to win anything?

Of his 14 Major wins, seven were by three strokes or more and four by as many as five. Only three times has he won by a single stroke or been stretched to a playoff.

Sunday red didn't become a thing to fear because Tiger was a stroke better than the field. Winning by 12 at Augusta made it so; so did winning by 15 at Pebble Beach and winning by 8 at St. Andrews.

So when Tiger now says a shot here and shot there would make the difference, it's maybe the clearest sign yet that his run at Nicklaus is in serious jeopardy.

To understand why is to understand how Tiger got to 14: by dominating. You don't win that many times by the skin of your teeth. If you could, Phil Mickelson would have 10 majors instead of four. A shot here and shot there and Mickelson would have several U.S. Open wins, not zero.

But a shot here and shot there, when you need it, is a pretty big ask, especially when the competition is close enough to make it actually matter. Back in the early 2000s, that wasn't the case. Tiger didn't need a shot here or a shot there; hell, he could have afforded to give his closest competitor two shots here and two shots there and still won going away.

You get to 14 majors not by being perfect, but by being so good you can overcome some mistakes, and that's where Woods' game used to be. Now, he's good – back to No. 1 in the world – but he's no longer good enough to overcome the mistakes.

He's not where he was in the early 2000s and the competition is better, a combination that makes his margin of error so miniscule that three months later he's still wrestling with a single shot that could have cost him a green jacket.

"I think it's just a shot here and there," he explained. "It's making a key up-and-down here or getting a good bounce here, capitalizing on an opportunity."

So this is where Tiger Woods is now, as he prepares for Thursday's opening round of the British Open: he's banking on an up-and-down here, a good bounce there, hoping to capitalize on an opportunity instead of creating one himself. Somewhere around Muirfield, Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott and Bubba Watson and Jason Day and Luke Donald are not shaking in their cleats.

Woods says the injury to his left elbow that nagged him at the U.S. Open isn't an issue anymore, though all eyes will be on him the first time he yanks a drive into the tall Muirfield grass.

He finished third in last year's Open, 28th the last time it was held at Muirfield in 2002.

"Even though I haven't won a major championship in five years, I've been there in a bunch of them where I've had chances," Tiger said Tuesday. "I just need to keep putting myself there and eventually I'll get some."

It's true. You put yourself in contention enough times and eventually you will win. And Tiger will likely win another major. But his dominance is gone, and to catch Jack he's going to rely on a whole lot of scrambling, and scrambling's a tough way to win majors.