Of argyles and micro-stripes: Presidents Cup too close to call

Let’s talk fashion. Really, except for the odd bunker blast this year and the endlessly fascinating Royal Melbourne torture track, it’s more interesting than the golf.

The Presidents Cup is a bi-yearly late-season curio on the world golf calendar, and it ain’t the Ryder Cup. It could be said the Americans, in both events, are the targeted ones and don’t quite comprehend where all the passion comes from.

In recent years, the Yanks have responded with emotion nearly the equal of the Europeans in the Ryder Cup, partly, maybe, out of annoyance at getting their asses kicked with regularity.

And worse, last year, they lost the fashion competition. It was close, but the bold and edgy Euros got the nod.

Mickelson: The Day Two look

This year, in Melbourne, the Americans are winning, but it’s a tepid performance on both sides.

On Day One, I liked the Americans’ dark navy polos with red at the plackets – very sharp. But the white pants – and yes, I get the patriotic theme – were ghastly, and didn’t hang right on anybody. When you have no ass (Mickelson) and short legs (Toms), you don’t wear white pants. You just don’t.

The Internationals went with sky blue polos, striped across the chest, and gray-blue pants on the first day, the sole virtue of which it was easy to tell them from their opponents. Advantage (slight): USA.

Day Two: I would have preferred a solid deep-red polo to the horizontal white-on-red stripes the Americans trotted out, but at least they got the pants right: navy, which does a better job of draping the least athletic physiques among the team members.

On Day Two, the Internationals got better on the golf course but did not seize the sartorial moment … they went pastel again, this time adding a yellow sash effect to the light-blue-over-white shirts, with gray trousers. Advantage: USA.

Today, when you might have expected the Internationals to step forward with power and primary colors, they did, least in their outerwear: argyle sweaters and vests in green, charcoal and white, the boldest statement of the week by either side. Black slacks were the ideal complement.

The Americans, with all the momentum on their side, came out in curiously uninspiring micro-striped white-on-blue polos that looked better under the white-with-navy-piping  v-neck sweaters than on their own. Advantage: Internationals.

This competition is too close to call. A strong final-day performance could propel the Internationals to the title, as happened with the Europeans last year at the Ryder Cup. The Euros’ dashing white-on-black argyle-check sweaters earned a razor-thin edge over the Americans, who were nearly as debonair with their retro cardigans in lavender.

You might not have known the Blogolfosphere is the official fashion arbiter of the Presidents Cup.

Further, you might ask, why aren’t you writing about the golf?

Well, hell, I’m not qualified to write about golf.

Captains' Cup: Watch it for Norman and Couples

MELBOURNE – Two of the most charismatic people in the world of golf claim the title of “captain” this week, which is just about enough to rescue the Presidents Cup, which will always  be the other and lesser “U.S. versus … “ event, at least to American eyes.

And Tiger is here. That puts butts in the seats, in a manner of speaking.

Norman and Couples

Woods didn't play well on Day One, which layers doubt on the apparent momentum gained by a promising performance at the Australia Open last week. Still, his presence here adds a twist of spice to a week of match-play golf that slides under the radar of the typical U.S. sports fan every two years ...

I mean, if they lose here, it won’t hurt half as much for the Yanks as losing the Ryder Cup.

Greg Norman said it: “It’s early days.”

The Internationals' captain was putting the best face on the Americans' 4-2 advantage after the first day of alternate-shot matches, and he couldn't have liked it when two American duos came back to halve the matches against twosomes who seemed to be in command.

Norman wants to win. Badly, along with the five Aussies on his team.

Fred Couples said it: “This is a ball-striker’s course, and we have some guys who can really hit it.”

With Couples, we usually think we know what we suspect he might mean when he opens his mouth. Every new interview is an adventure. The American captain gets his syntax twisted now and then, but his quote above is straightforward, and true, as far as it goes.

But he couldn't have been more wrong on Day One.

While ball-striking can get you in trouble in the roughs and abundant bunkers, the place where the ball gains speed rather than stopping close ... falls off rather than falls in ... runs and skips and circles back around on itself ... is the green, and there isn't one of the 18 at Royal Melbourne that isn't a royal bitch.

And what separates the winners from the losers, on those greens, is putting. The guys that made their putts, in the clutch, won their matches on the first day.

Tiger Woods said it: “We missed a few putts."

No shit.

The guy who, at his best, is a dead ruthless putter, made nothing of consequence. His partner, Steve Stricker, at the top of the list of the best putters in the game, might have found some confidence if a couple early lip-outs had dropped.

One of their opponents, K.J. Choi, putted once with his back to the hole. He executed the U-turn nearly perfectly, through he didn't make the putt. He didn't need to, nor did partner Adam Scott need any clutch rolls, because they made enough early to win, 7 and 6, the most lopsided defeat Tiger has ever suffered.

Dottie Pepper said it: "He's probably the most decisive putter in the game." The Golf Channel commentator was talking about Aaron Baddeley, just before he sank a crisp 20-footer with barely a look at the hole. Baddeley made everything he saw .... until he missed, late, and it helped Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar halve the match.

Steve Williams said it: Who gives a shit what he said? You almost have to admire the guy, if for no other reason than he doesn’t seem to care that he just might be a thorough jerk.

So that’s your cast of characters, playing golf in interesting formats on a golf course that demands a lead role on the playbill. So who cares who wins? The Americans don’t seem to, which is one reason they just might.

The journeyman does what journeymen do

It's the major tournament for journeymen, so it seemed only right that the journeyman's journeyman was doing nothing but hitting greens and making putts.

Jason Dufner, he of the quiet mien and distinctive waggle, was also leading the PGA Championship on Sunday by four strokes after a kid named Keegan Bradley tripled No. 15.

So Dufner, the guy with no career tour wins, the guy who'd missed the cut in his previous four tour events, bogies three straight holes, while Bradley, a bona fide gee-whiz kid, birdies 16, 17 and 18 to force a playoff.

As so often happens, the guy who should have won in regulation has no heart for the playoff. Dufner didn't get close to a birdie putt on 16, the first playoff hole, and Bradley made birder from closer range. There were two playoff holes to go, but it felt like it was over.

Dufner bogied 17, and it was over. Dufner managed a nice birdie putt on 18, but Bradley needed only a two-putt par to win. He got it with a two-footer, and fell into a group hug with his wife, baby and caddie.

The better known young guns were nowhere to be seen at the end ... Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler. McIlroy had a story, all right, but it didn't involve contending at the end.

The 40-somethings represented ... Jim Furyk hung around and hung around, then hit one in the water. Steve Stricker, who had a beautiful 63 in Round One, was steady as ever until he wasn't. He now holds the mantle of "best American never to have won a major." And he might be running out of time.

Keegan Bradley, with one major and counting, has got nothing but time.

News flash: Pro golfers repeat their biomechanically sound swings more consistently than amateurs

In an issue that included studies headlined “Differences in Geriatric Anthropometric Data Between DXA-Based Subject-Specific Estimates and Non-Age-Specific Traditional Regression Models,” and  other titles similarly impenetrable, the latest Journal of Applied Biomechanics found room for this one:

“Rotational Biomechanics of the Elite Golf Swing: Benchmarks for Amateurs.”

The study looked at 10 professional golfers and five amateurs. To make a short story long, I quote:

“Upper-torso rotation, pelvic rotation, X-factor (relative hip-shoulder rotation), O-factor (pelvic obliquity), S-factor (shoulder obliquity), and normalized free moment were assessed in relation to clubhead speed at impact (CSI).

“Among professional golfers, results revealed that peak free moment per kilogram, peak X-factor, and peak S-factor were highly consistent, with coefficients of variation of 6.8 percent, 7.4 percent, and 8.4 percent, respectively.

“For amateurs, the number of factors that fell outside 1–2 standard deviations of professional means increased with handicap.”

Translated into English, it says, I’m pretty sure, that pros are more consistent.

They make better swings more often. And they hit the ball farther.

Holy shit.

Now, I would never be the guy to judge any study’s findings to be thunderingly inane.

And I would never say scientists are overpaid. But any money made by the people who did this study might as well go to me. I could have reached the same conclusion (and tarted up the language some, for free) … outside the laboratory!

I could have watched Rory McIlroy on TV. I could have looked at my own swing in the mirror. I could have watched the guys I regularly play with – whose swings don’t bear much study – and told you McIlroy’s swing is smoother, faster,  more powerful – in all ways, and at all points through its arc, better.

More often.

A more valuable study would look at why an excellent college player – whose swing might be microscopically similar to a Top 10 PGA pro – never makes it on the Tour. Or why a mini-tour stud never gets through PGA Q-school.

That study would have nothing to do with biomechanics, or if it did, it would be in how the mental game trumps the physical.

I’d be interested in a biomechanical study that looks at why humans without classic pretty swings – Palmer and Trevino, say – nevertheless, at their peaks, were powerful, consistent ballstrikers.

In an indirect way, the Journal study did answer that question. It found that at key checkpoints of the swing, the positions of the hands and torsos and hips were remarkably similar among the elite players tested.

Which is to say there are only so many ways to swing a golf club, cosmetic irregularities aside, such that you generate superior clubhead speed and get the sweet spot square to the target damn near every time.

So that you hit it straighter. And farther. More often.

The study did look at how better mechanics can help prevent injuries among average Joes. That’s useful, and would have been worthy of a study by itself. But it was secondary, when published, to the revelatory finding that pros have better swings, more often, than amateurs.

The Journal’s study looked only at male golfers. If these esteemed scientists ever do study women, my hypothesis, and yeah, it’s radical, posits that women professionals will strike the ball better than women amateurs.

Furthermore, I’ll go out on a limb and predict that a female pro will make better swings more often than the average Jane.

Please tell me the check’s in the mail.

These guys are good: Favorites move on at U.S. Junior Amateur

Past champion Jordan Spieth (right) gets playful with Blake Toolan’s caddie on the seventh hole. Spieth beat Toolan, his fellow competitor during stroke-play qualifying, 4 and 3. (Steven Gibbons/USGA)

(USGA news service)

BREMERTON, Wash. – High seeds continued to shine in the high grass of the Olympic Course Thursday as stroke-play medalist Beau Hossler and 2009 champion Jordan Spieth each won two matches Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2011 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship.

It didn't go so well for the defending champion.

Earlier in the day, Jim Liu’s hopes of becoming the second repeat Junior Amateur champion in history were dashed by Chelso Barrett in the second round. Back-to-back birdies on the 17th and 18th holes gave Barrett, 16, of Keene, N.H., a 2-up victory over the 15-year-old Liu, of Smithtown, N.Y.

After a difficult second-round match Thursday morning, Hossler, 16, of Mission Viejo, Calif., was determined to get off to a better start in the third round against Connor Black, 15, of Katy, Texas, at the par-72, 7,111-yard Olympic Course here at Gold Mountain Golf Club. And that’s exactly what he did, winning the second and third holes with birdies.

Hossler, who played in the U.S. Open last month and is playing in his first Junior Amateur, never trailed en route to a 5-and-4 victory.

“It’s the first match where I’ve had a good start,” said Hossler, who is trying to become the first stroke-play medalist to claim the title since Spieth two years ago. “The first few holes out here have given me some problems, so I knew if I got through those holes even or even beating my opponent that I’d have a really good chance.”

Hossler’s quarterfinal opponent will be Adam Ball, 17, of Richmond, Va., who came back from 3 down with six to play in his third-round match against 15-year-old Juan Yumar of Venezuela. Ball eagled No. 14 and made four consecutive birdies starting at the 15th hole to earn a 2-up victory.

“I’ve had really good stretches in my life, but considering the circumstances and winning this tournament has been my dream for the longest time, I really didn’t want to see it crushed right there,” said Ball, who is playing in his third Junior Amateur. “I just kept my head up and finished the best I could.”

Spieth, 17, of Dallas, Texas, kept his hopes for another national championship alive with a 2-and-1 victory over Wilson Bateman, 17, of Canada. Spieth, the only player in the field competing in his fourth Junior Amateur, was keenly aware of the difficulty of playing the second and third rounds.

“Today is the hardest day to get by,” said Spieth. “Three years ago it was the hardest day. Two years ago I beat a kid in 19 holes in the first match and like 2 and 1 in the second match and that kind of propelled me to winning it that year. I don’t even know why [it’s the hardest day]. Maybe it’s just me. You just have so many players that can spark at any time in the afternoon. And there’s not as much as pressure whereas a semifinal would be a lot more pressure for a lot of people.

“I was very, very happy to get by today. I was a little nervous going into the round. Especially after he bombed it by me on one. That was an eye-opener. I thought I was a long one out here. I’ve got to hit the gym to catch up to him.”

While Spieth was happy to get by the second and third rounds, he believes he can play better.

“I’m waiting for everything to fire at the same time,” said Spieth, who has made the cut at the 2010 and 2011 PGA Tour Byron Nelson Championship. “I’m waiting for a really low round. I potentially  had it the second round of stroke play and let it go on the back nine (outward nine). But hey, you don’t want to be playing your best golf until Saturday.”

Againtst defending champion Liu, Barrett hit a 7-iron from 165 yards to 6 feet on No. 17 and made the birdie putt to take the lead. Needing to win No. 18 to extend the match, Liu opted to drive the par-4 hole with his 3-wood. But his tee shot found the hazard right of the hole.

“He’d been striping that 3-wood all day, so I thought he’d just hit it right in the middle of the green,” said Barrett. “I figured I’d take my odds getting up and down from 100 yards, as opposed to me hitting it in the water or something.”

When Liu was unable to get up and down from the hazard, he conceded Barrett’s birdie putt and the match.

“Chelso just beat me,” said Liu, trying to join Tiger Woods, who won three consecutive titles from 1991 to 1993, as the only player to repeat. “We both played decent golf, but I was just outplayed. That’s golf sometimes. You can’t always play your best every time. But he played really great and he just beat me today.”

Barrett went on to earn a 2-and-1 victory over William Zalatoris, 14, of Plano, Texas to advance to the quarterfinals. Barrett, Hossler, Ball and Spieth will be joined in the quarterfinals by Ryan Benton, 17, of Dothan, Ala.; Nicolas Echavarria, 16, of Colombia; William Starke, 17, of Chapin, S.C.; and Andrew Whalen, 17, of Ephrata, Wash.

Junior Am survivors continue with the quarterfinal and semifinal matches Friday. The 36-hole championship final will be played Saturday.

The U.S. Junior Amateur is one of 13 championships conducted by the United States Golf Association each year, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.

Story written by Beth Murrison, USGA Manager of Championship Communications. For questions or comments, contact her at bmurrison@usga.org.

Friday Quarterfinals
Upper Bracket
8 a.m.                    Beau Hossler, Mission Viejo, Calif. (135) vs. Adam Ball, Richmond, Va. (144)
8:10 a.m.              Jordan Spieth, Dallas, Texas (140) vs. Andrew Whalen, Ephrata, Wash. (147)
Lower Bracket
8:20 a.m.              William Starke, Chapin, S.C. (139) vs. Chelso Barrett, Keene, N.H. (143)
8:30 a.m.              Nicolas Echavarria, Colombia (149) vs. Ryan Benton, Dothan, Ala. (150)

U.S. Junior Am: Californian Hossler earns No. 1 seed to match play

Beau Hossler

BREMERTON, Wash. –  Beau Hossler, a 16-year-old from Mission Viejo, Calif,, played well on Monday, and played better today, and it earned him the No. 1 seed as the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship heads Wednesday into four days of match play.

Hossler still isn’t thrilled with how he’s driving the ball – but he's happy with his scores.

“I’ve got to work on my driving,” said Hossler, who followed up his first-round 68 with a 5-under 67 in today's second day of stroke-play qualifying at the par-72, 7,111-yard Olympic Course at Gold Mountain Golf Club. The 36-hole total of 135 gave Hossler medalist honors by four strokes.

Hossler's only bogey in stroke play came on his first hole Monday.

“Not because I’m hitting bad shots," he said, "but because the confidence just isn’t there. I’ve gotten away with a lot of iffy tee shots, but my irons and consistency overall has been really good, and that’s helped me to keep away the bogeys.”

Hossler played in last month’s U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., but is playing in his first U.S. Junior Amateur. He admits to being somewhat of a novice when it comes to match play – he’s played in one match-play event and lost in the first round – but his approach for the format is simple.

“You go out there and try to make the most birdies you can,” said Hossler. “I feel like maybe the best thing I have going for me in match play is my short game right now, because I’m not making a lot of bogeys and I’m assuming the guy I’m playing against is going to make a few bogeys at least.

"So if I can keep the bogeys away and start firing at some pins and make some birdies, I definitely like my chances to get far in this tournament.”

Hossler tees off at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday against Miller Capps of Denver, N.C., who emerged as the No. 64 seed after 12 golfers played off for the final 10 of 64 slots in match play.

Will Starke, 17, of Chapin, S.C., who shared the first-round lead with Hossler, shot a second-round 1-under 71 for a 139 total. Starke, playing in his first USGA championship, also has limited match-play experience but will employ a similarly simple strategy.

“I’m not going to try to do anything different,” said Starke, who meets Brian Bullington of Frankfort, Ill., at 10:54 a.m. (PDT). “I’m just going to try to play my game and play the course. You can’t control what your opponent does.”

Reigning champion Jim Liu, 15, of Smithtown, N.Y., rebounded from his first-round 78 with a 2-under 70 to easily advance to match play.

“I hit more fairways and I definitely hit more greens,” said Liu, who last year surpassed Tiger Woods as the youngest winner in the championship’s 64-year history. “It was a lot easier for me.”

Liu is trying to become just the second repeat winner in the championship’s 64-year history. The only golfer to win more than one Junior Amateur was Woods, who claimed three consecutive titles from 1991-93. Liu knows it will be difficult.

“It’s a stretch,” said Liu, who takes on Nicolo Galletti of Clayton, Calif., at 11:39 a.m. “What (Woods) did was just amazing – three years in a row. And then winning three Amateurs in a row. So that’s going to be really hard to match. I’m not really expecting myself to match that. So we’ll see what happens.”

Also trying to earn a second title is 2009 U.S. Junior Amateur champion Jordan Spieth, 17, of Dallas, Texas, who followed up his first-round 72 with five birdies and one bogey Tuesday for a 4-under 68. Spieth faces Blake Toolan of Phoenix at 9:42 a.m.

“It was just more consistent today,” said Spieth. “I hit more fairways and that was kind of the key. Given every hole where I missed the fairway, I made birdie. It was a very unconventional day, but I got the ball in the hole early.”

Yi Keun Chang, 17, of Walnut, Calif., shot a second consecutive 2-under 70 to match Spieth’s 36-hole total of 140. Chang meets Matthew Lowe of Farmingdale, N.Y.,at 12:06 p.m.

The Junior Amateur continues with the first round of match play Wednesday. The second and third rounds will be played Thursday, the quarterfinal and semifinal matches will be played Friday, and the 36-hole championship final will be played Saturday.

The U.S. Junior Amateur is one of 13 championships conducted by the USGA each year, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.

Young guns at Gold Mountain: U.S. Junior Amateur takes the stage

After a beautiful Open Championship in Sandwich, England, the golf world now turns back the clock – in time zones and age – to the U.S. Junior Amateur in Bremerton, Wash.

From the Royal and Ancient's top event, which crowned a 42-year-old,  golf turns to the United States Golf Association's top showcase for 17-and-under boys, which last year was won by a 14-year-old, the youngest in the history of the event.

Yesterday, Beau Hossler, 16, of Mission Viejo, Calif., and Will Starke, 17, of Chapin, S.C., are both playing in their first Junior Am. Each shot 4-under 68 Monday to share the lead after the first round of stroke play.

After a second day of stroke play Tuesday, the U.S. Junior Amateur field will be reduced to 64 players for match play. The first round of match play is scheduled for Wednesday, the second and third rounds will be played Thursday, the quarterfinal and semifinal matches will be played Friday, and the 36-hole championship final will be played Saturday.

Hossler arrived at Gold Mountain Golf Club with a bit of a reputation, as the only person in the field to have played in a U.S. Open, which he did last month at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., where he missed the cut. Starke arrived under the radar – he is not only playing in his first U.S. Junior Amateur, but his first USGA championship.

Each took different paths to record the low score of the day. Starke credited solid driving, while Hossler struggled off the tee.

“I hit it terrible all day,” said Hossler, who bogeyed his first hole, the par 4, 378-yard 10th at the par-72, 7,111-yard Olympic Course at Gold Mountain. “I mean, I hit good shots, obviously, to make some birdies, but I was just scrapping it. It was pretty grotesque to watch, but I definitely had some really, really good shots to make up for it, so that was good.”

Despite the shakiness off the tee, Hossler was pleased with his round, which included several long putts. He made an 8-footer for par on his first hole, a 12-footer for par on No. 13 and a 13-footer for par at the 14th. He converted a 15-footer for birdie at No. 14, his first of five birdies in the round.

“From there, the confidence just grew,” said Hossler, who only played nine holes in a practice round Sunday because his clubs didn’t arrive early enough to play 18 holes. “Knowing that I’m even par through five holes and that I haven’t hit a good shot yet is a good feeling.”

While Hossler was playing in the Open and other high-level amateur events, Starke took a few weeks off leading into the Junior Amateur.

“It was nice to have a few weeks off so I was able to relax and get my game ready,” said Starke, who has committed to play at the University of South Carolina in the fall of 2012.

In addition to steadiness off the tee, Starke credited putting for his low round. On the first hole he made a 15-footer for par and another 10-footer for par on No. 3.

“Every time I was in trouble, my putter got me out of it,” said Starke, whose 68 was the only bogey-free round of the day. “That was really the key all day. Every green I missed, I made a 15-footer for par and kept the momentum going.”

Starke wasn’t fazed by the pressure of playing in his first national championship, .

“I was surprisingly kind of relaxed,” he said. “I warmed up next to my buddy (Matthew Nesmith from North Augusta, S.C.) and talked to him on the putting green and (to) see him tee off before me; that helped I guess.”

One stroke off Hossler and Starke’s pace were Taylor Moore, 17, of Edmond, Okla., and Chelso Barrett, 16, of Keene, N.H. Nine players finished the first round under par.

Reigning champion Jim Liu, 15, of Smithtown, N.Y., got off to a rough start in his title defense, with a quadruple bogey and a triple bogey en route to a 6-over 78.

“I actually started off all right,” said Liu, who is trying to join Tiger Woods as the only repeat winner in the championship’s 64-year history. “I had a lot of pars and I was playing all right. But a couple of errant shots cost me two big numbers. I didn’t strike the ball well today, but I made a comeback halfway through the back nine and hopefully I can take that momentum into tomorrow. “

For Liu, who recorded three birdies and was two under on the other 16 holes, the news wasn’t all bad.

“I didn’t play poorly so that’s a good thing, but I just have to eliminate those really poor shots.”

The other past champion in the field – 2009 U.S. Junior Amateur winner Jordan Spieth, 17, of Dallas, Texas, opened with an even-par 72, with four birdies and four bogeys. Spieth, who is the only player in the field to be competing in his fourth Junior Amateur, is playing in his final junior event – he turns 18 the week after the championship.

The U.S. Junior Amateur is one of 13 championships conducted annually by the USGA each year, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.