What a great golf course this
Colonial Country Club. Even all the
rain could not bring the Crowne
Plaza Invitational down this week.
Scores were getting lower and lower
as the rain ended and the fairways
and greens continued to get softer.
I am such a BIG Ben Hogan fan and
when I hear Colonial I think HOGAN.
Period! As I watched these great
players grind and grind to try and
win this event I totally enjoyed the
play of three very different
personalities in Bernhard Langer,
Jim Furyk and Rory Sabbatini.
Lets start with Rory Sabbatini. He
has been making quite a stir with
his comments of late, so seeing him
up at the top, and watching him
battle with such seasoned veterans
in Langer and Furyk was a total
treat. As a golf instructor, and a
Hogan Swing NUT, I know Mr. Hogan
would be rolling over in his grave
watching Sabbatini's swing
mechanics, BUT, he played like a man
on a mission and had that "look", no
fear at all. He definatly was there
to WIN!
Jim Furyk is the constant grinder,
and will never ever quit. It was
quite obvious that he was having
some difficulty with his swing, but
not for a second did I think he was
going fade from the lead and as we
all know, he found a way to make it
into the playoff.
Benhard Langer is as cool as any
golfer could be on the golf course.
Unfortunately, because he doesn't
play our TOUR that much we don't get
to see him play a lot and when he
does play over here, he is always on
the top of the leader board. He
reminds me so much of Hogan. It's
all business as he moves around the
golf course. Nothing is left to
chance. He has the knowledge and
experience to play great golf and
the swing to back it up.
When teaching, I will go to Langer's
Down-The-Line Swing with most
students when explaining rotation,
hinge and swing plane. The next time
you have a chance to see Langer's
iron swing (down the line) watch and
see how On-Plane the shaft really
is. This explains why he has been
such a GREAT IRON PLAYER for so
long. It is truly a swing that can
hold up for a lifetime.
Although Langer lost in the playoff
Mr. Hogan would have been proud of
his play, but I am positive that
Hogan would have given him the hawk
eyes if he saw the putter he played
with. I love the long putter. I have
been using a long putter for over 15
years and quite frankly, I would use
a doorknob if it would help me to
make more putts. I remember a quote
by my friend Bob Toski that showed
up in one of the golf publications a
few years ago. He said something
like this, "somewhere, right now,
there is a junior golfer putting
with a long putter who will become
the greatest putter the world has
ever seen." I believe that day will
come very soon.
So what won the tournament this
week? I believe it was Sabbatini's
determination and a very hot putter.
He never looked like he was going to
back off on the final day and he
stayed aggressive all the way into
the playoff. Great job Rory.
One final thought. When I was a kid,
working hard on my game to play
tournament golf, one of my
instructors, Jerry Pisano told me to
let my clubs do the talking. As we
all know, Sabbatini has been vocal
about Tiger and getting a fire going
on the PGA Tour for the guys to step
up and meet the challenge. Well, he
has just won this tournament and
just a few weeks after the uproar,
so my hat is off to him for his
great play. But remember, there was
one PREDATOR who was not in the
field this week. I wonder how it may
have ended if he played.
 |
Lou
Guzzi is a PGA Professional with the
Lou Guzzi Golf Academy in
Philadephia, Penn. Guzzi was 2003
Philadelphia Section PGA Teacher of
the Year. |
He has consistently been
cited by several media outlets as
one of Pennsylvania's top golf
instructors, as well as lauded as a
top national instructor. He has
written golf instruction articles
for PGA Magazine, Golf Range
Magazine, and Philadelphia Golfer
Magazine. He has also appeared on
several television shows to advise
on golf instruction.
