http://davidhbarrett.com Quality Golf Articles by Professional Journalists Fri, 18 May 2012 13:28:00 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Kevin Na’s 76 in the final round of the Players Championship after entering Sunday with the lead was predictable. Here was a guy struggling with such a mental block about pulling the trigger that it was agonizing to watch him prepare to hit a shot on Saturday—and now here he was on Sunday in the glare of the spotlight trying to win one of the biggest tournaments in golf. What’s more it was his first ... ]]> http://davidhbarrett.com/golf/golf/lifestyle/1658/na-na-na-nahey-hey-goodbye-is-the-trend-for-54-hole-leaders/ Things are looking up for American golf. Matt Kuchar’s victory in the Players Championship last weekend made him the first American to win the PGA Tour’s flagship event since 2007. Bubba Watson’s victory in the Masters was the second straight major for a U.S. player after a string of six in a row without one. If you limit the time frame to the last couple of weeks, Rickie Fowler is the hottest young player in ... ]]> http://davidhbarrett.com/golf/golf/lifestyle/1649/kuchar-watson-fowler-good-for-us-golf/ Here are some highlights from my new book Making the Masters: Bobby Jones and the Birth of America’s Greatest Golf Tournament (Skyhorse Publishing), based on extensive research of the newspapers and periodicals of the day and the writings of those involved. Part 1 gives some background on the site that became Augusta National. The land that ultimately became Augusta National was a tree and plant nursery called Fruitland from 1858 to 1925. The interesting thing ... ]]> http://davidhbarrett.com/golf/golf/lifestyle/1639/making-the-masters-the-stories-behind-the-augusta-national-site/ Rory McIlroy and Luke Donald have been passing the No. 1 world ranking back and forth this spring like it’s a hot potato. McIlroy reclaimed the top spot with his tie for second at the Wells Fargo Championship last weekend just a week after Donald ousted him in New Orleans. The No. 1 ranking has now changed hands five times between the two of them in just the last 19 weeks. One of those times, ... ]]> http://davidhbarrett.com/golf/golf/lifestyle/1632/an-academic-take-on-whats-wrong-with-the-world-ranking/ Bubba is back. But now Bubba Watson is more than just Bubba. He’s a major champion, the top-ranked American, the refreshing new face of golf, the next big thing. As he returns to action at the Zurich Classic for the first time since winning the Masters, Watson is the center of attention, and it will be that way for a while. The combination of a heart-on-his-sleeve personality, a sense of humor, some quirkiness, a public-course ... ]]> http://davidhbarrett.com/golf/golf/lifestyle/1626/a-new-world-for-bubba/ Have you noticed that discussions between PGA Tour players and their caddies seem to be getting longer and longer? It used to be that the caddie would give the yardage, the player would pull the club he wanted to hit, and that, usually, would be that. There might have been a consultation if the player was between clubs, if there was some wind, or if there was a decision on whether to lay up or ... ]]> http://davidhbarrett.com/golf/golf/lifestyle/1614/which-club-to-hit-have-a-long-talk-with-your-caddie/ Louis Oosthuizen’s double eagle at Augusta National on Sunday conjured memories of Gene Sarazen’s “Shot Heard Round the World” in the 1935 Masters. Bubba Watson’s playoff shot on the 10th hole also had similarities with a great shot from the past, but one that has been forgotten. I only know about it from the research for my just-published book, Making the Masters: Bobby Jones and the Birth of America’s Greatest Golf Tournament. This shot, also ... ]]> http://davidhbarrett.com/golf/golf/lifestyle/1606/bubba-watson-louis-oosthuizen-shots-conjure-up-masters-past/ No player makes you shake your head more often than Phil Mickelson, whether it’s in wonderment at stellar play, like his 30 on the back nine on Saturday at the Masters, or in exasperation at some disaster that has cost him a major title, like his triple bogey at the fourth hole on Sunday. That triple bogey wasn’t just a head-shaker, it was a head-scratcher. Very little about it made sense, especially Mickelson’s post-round explanation. ... ]]> http://davidhbarrett.com/golf/golf/lifestyle/1598/triple-trouble-for-phil-at-the-masters/ Tiger Woods may no longer be bothered by “the big miss.” Oh, he’s no doubt still plenty bothered by his former teacher Hank Haney’s book The Big Miss. But he seems to be overcoming the wildness off the tee that the title refers to. Through the first five tournaments he’s played in this year, Woods ranks 18th on the PGA Tour in hitting fairways. Granted, that’s a small sample size (it’s actually four tournaments, since ... ]]> http://davidhbarrett.com/golf/golf/lifestyle/1593/for-now-woods-has-eliminated-the-big-miss-the-shot-not-the-book/ Tiger Woods’ win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational this past weekend showed that his game is back and that he will certainly get the one victory he needs to catch Jack Nicklaus. That’s right, one victory. For all the talk that about whether Woods will be able to win the four majors he needs to match Nicklaus’s total of 18, the fact that Tiger now has 72 career PGA Tour wins—one less than Jack—has been ... ]]> http://davidhbarrett.com/golf/golf/lifestyle/1585/tiger-closes-in-on-jackand-sam/