Vijay Singh, Your FedEx Cup Leader

The swing that's currently leading the FedEx Cup. Notice how Vijay keeps moving? His body remains active until about a second before he starts his swing. Too many amateurs freeze over the ball. Not Singh. His "waggle" is in his feet. Then he starts his swing with a little kick start with his left knee. This engages him and makes it easier to make a fluid swing. Think Jack Nicklaus.

Tiger Walks On Water

How many rules did Tiger break by walking on the water and touching it with his club?

Steve Lowery Wins FedEx Cup

I'm just kidding.

Remember last year when we were trying to figure out how the Fed Ex Cup actually worked? Well, this year has proven itself almost as confusing thanks to a few revisions that enable players who play well the opportunity to move further up the point tally. (For the official details, click HERE.)

What gripes me most is, despite the few ticky-tack revisions made in '08, the players who earn high FedEx Cup starting points by performing well over the course of the PGA Tour season can still realistically skip an event and go on to win the Fed Ex Cup ( just like Tiger, who only played 3 out of 4 events last year and still won.) To me, that's just plain ridiculous. What kind of race is this if you can sit out 25% of the laps and still cross the checkered line first? Hmm, that's like skipping the Great 8 and marching right into the Final Four, in my opinion.

Nevertheless, at least the golf is going to be good. The next four events are all played on strong, fun-to-watch layouts, including The Barclay's interesting course switcheroo at Ridgewood CC, The Deutsche Bank in Boston, the BMW in St. Louis and the Tour Championship in Atlanta. I like 'em all, despite the fact that I think it'd be a lot more interesting if the events spread the country. One in the west, two in the middle and finish on the east coast. Now that would be interesting, and also would be quite appropriate considering FedEx's breadth in shipping packages all across this great country of ours.

Nevertheless again, as for my pick. Steve Lowery? He'd probably have to win at least 2 events to have a shot (I'm not even going to try to scientifically validate that, it's just a guess.) But if not him, you have to go with the kind of players who can obviously string together a series of good rounds without too many blow ups. I.e., flashy, "go for broke" players aren't going to fair as well in the FedEx Cup as more conservative players might, so I'm going to go with players like Jim Furyk, Vijay Singh and Geoff Ogilvy and Stuart Appleby. Now, I want to pick Padraig Harrington, but seriously, what's he have left to prove? He should be the Player of the Year. I also want to say Anthony Kim has a shot, but that'd just be too good to be true.

Finally, I can't help but admit the player to watch has to be Sergio Garcia. You can pretty much assume he's a longshot, based on his streaky putting stroke alone, but it's his attitude that's most hindering. If not for his bouts with poor sportsmanship, he'd probably be more respected and in turn, a more confident contender and likely a major event winner already.

What do you think?

Hot Stix Opens New Facility at Tijeras Creek Golf Club

August 1st saw the opening of yet another Hot Stix Golf facility, this time at Tijeras Creek Golf Club in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA. It marks the company's first foray into golf-mad Orange County.

Clients can expect cutting-edge, custom club fitting technology on Tijeras' outdoor practice tee.

A Tour-Fitting rings up for $125 for woods, $125 for irons and $50 for the flatstick.

"This area of Southern California lies at the heart of the golf equipment manufacturing industry," says Hot Stix chairman Tom Graunke. "It only makes sense that Hot Stix moves into the neighborhood."

Globally, Hot Stix manages seven club fitting locations.

Reservations can be made by calling (877) 513-1333 or by clicking here.

Bandon Peaks

David McLay Kidd's much anticipated Tetherow Golf Club is now open for play. One early reviewer describes the 7,298 yard Par 72 course as a "...wee bit of Scotland/Ireland...in the middle of Bend, Oregon."

The Scottish-born McLay Kidd designed Bandon Dunes on the Oregon Coast when he was just 27 years old and is also well known for his Castle Course creation at St. Andrews.

"We set out to create something that is truly unique-from the fescue grassing plan...to the grass hollows, rugged features and creative green complexes," he says of Tetherow, which overlooks the Cascade peaks.

*The public has a small window of opportunity to play Tetherow as it has plans to become a private resort with an anticipated 379 homesites.

Padraig Harrington's Swing

After a false start here, Harrington takes a good rip at it. That's what I like the most about his swing and style of play. He doesn't leave anything in the bag. In my experience, I see too many amateurs staying on their right side (i.e. not transferring their weight to their left side). Not the case with Harrington AT ALL.

Padraig Harrington Wins PGA Championship

Wilson Staff Advisory Member Padraig Harrington Becomes 2008 PGA Champion, Scores Back-to-Back Major Wins

Victory marks 61st major championship title won with Wilson irons

CHICAGO, August 11, 2008 - Wilson Staff Advisory Member Padraig Harrington overcame Sergio Garcia and a grueling 36-hole Sunday to capture The 90th PGA Championship title at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township, Michigan. This is the 61st major tournament title won with Wilson Staff irons, and marks Harrington's second major in a row and third out of the last six. He is only the 4th player in history to win the Open Championship and PGA Championship in the same year.

Wilson Staff equipment dominated Harrington's bag en route to his victory: Dd6+ driver, FYbrid 5-wood, Wilson Staff 3 Hybrid (19 degree), Ci7 series 4-iron, Pi series 5-iron through pitching wedge, and prototype Tw9 wedges (54 and 60 degrees).

Harrington had an impressive final two days, shooting a 66 in the rain delayed third round followed by another 66 to secure the win. Harrington shot a 32 on the back nine, just as he did at Royal Birkdale last month, and he came up with clutch shot-making throughout the final round. He chipped to 3-feet for birdie on the 12th, hit a 5-iron to 12-feet for birdie on the 13th, rolled in a 12-foot par on the 16th to catch Sergio Garcia and Ben Curtis, took the lead by hitting it to 8-feet for birdie on the par-3 17th, then closed out the Spaniard with an 18-foot par for a two-shot victory. With the win, Harrington becomes the first European player to win the PGA Championship since the tournament began using stroke play in 1958.

Harrington is number three in the official World Golf Rankings and he is Europe's number one player. Harrington will also be a contender to win Player of the Year honors, which will be determined later this year. He is just the fourth player ever to win the Open Championship and the PGA Championship in the same year. "We continue to be energized by Padraig's performance and are thrilled to play a role in his historic achievement," said Tim Clarke, General Manager, Wilson Golf. "Padraig's drive and determination is an inspiration to our entire organization, and is a testament to his competitive nature.

We’ll be seeing a lot more of Padraig in the championship circle." In accepting the Wannamaker Trophy, Harrington alluded to the close competition that marked the last three holes in particular. "I think I was just willing to risk it all at that stage," he said. "You've got to get focused in that situation and the adrenaline and pressure help with that. You just take it on and give it a go."

Sean O'Hair One Back at PGA

We know, it's early, but Sean O'Hair is only one back at the PGA. Here's some swing analysis by Brady Riggs, one of our longtime contributors.

Enjoy.

Give us your take on his take.

USGA and R&A Make Groove Rules

USGA makes changes to rules on grooves - 08/05/2008

The Royal & Ancient and U.S. Golf Association announced a rules change Tuesday that will reduce the size and shape of grooves in most clubs in 2010, the first time equipment has been scaled back in nearly 80 years.

The change was directed toward elite players and emphasizes the importance of hitting the ball in the fairway.

For the whole story, CLICK HERE

Personalize Your Ball

At a recent press conference Taylor Made announced a whole slew of hot products that will hit stores in the coming months. We can't talk about most, but we can talk about their new golf ball program that allows golfers to select their very own number (0-99 and 00-09).

Minimum order is three dozen.

We think it's pretty cool for a couple reasons:

1.) You'll probably be the only person at your club playing an "89" or the equivalent thereof.

2.) When you keep finding your buddy's "23" ball in the weeds, you can tease the heck out of him.

He Sings, He Dances, He Plays Golf...But Can He Host a Golf Tournament?

Tickets recently went on sale for the 2008 Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open which, despite its long, clunky name, could be a refreshing addition to the Tour's Fall schedule.

Sure the Las Vegas tournament is now in its 26th year, but Timberlake's presence could raise the tournament's profile. (Right now it's best known for being the site of Tiger's first professional win.)

Based on Timberlake's golf "skillz" (see his "respectable" 99 at Torrey Pines pre U.S. Open) and his recent top notch performance at the ESPY awards, there's no reason why he can't pull off some magic come October.

Still, it'll be hard for the JTSHCO to attract an A-list field. For one thing it's played post FedEx and Ryder Cups, for another the purse ($4.1 million) is about $2 million below the Tour average. Add to that its Fall placement and non-network TV coverage and the chances are slim that it'll ever reach the status of a mid-summer tournament.

That said, I'll watch...for two reasons. One, because I enjoyed watching tournaments more when they weren't just called the "XYZ Corporate Open." And two, because I'm too young to remember when Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Jackie Gleason lent their name to events, I'm looking forward to the "old-school vibe" of the JTSHCO.

By the way, the only other PGA Tour event with an entertainer's name attached to it is the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, which has lost what little pizazz it had since the passing of its namesake five years ago. George Lopez hosted it for the past two years, but was given the boot this year. His duties will be inherited by the King, Arnold Palmer in '09.

The JTSHCO is played in Las Vegas at TPC Summerlin, October 13-19. For tickets and info visit jtshrinersopen.com.