Well done Tony and good luck to Jim Furyk. Jim had been on a drought for a while now and just like the Big Easy, it was his putter that was the problem. You've gotta admire Furyk. He's won a US Open and a dozen PGA Tour events with a swing like that. Johnny Miller recently called him the most professional of all the professionals playing the game today, "Because nobody plays within himself more than Jim Furyk."
Fellow punters, I knew we were in trouble yesterday, hence the post. I knew that at least one of that trio would make a run at him and KJ Choi obliged. However, it was always going to have to be one hell of a round, because Furyk just doesn't make silly mistakes. He is way too experienced for juvenile silly buggers.
My old master and I talked a bit about Jim's swing. Brad Wall thinks that it looks alot worse than it actually is. Brad contrasted it with Ray Floyd's swing - almost the exact opposite of Furyk's. Furyk goes out & up whilst Floyd goes behind & then up. The important thing is they both manage to get into "the slot" as they start down. And that, according to my old Jedi Master, is the key.
Check out the following and you will see what I mean. However, they both have another thing in common. They are both the grittiest of competitors, who would rather die, than actually SAY die.
This week we move on to Golf's closest thing to Royalty and a weekend that the Pro's celebrate as a homage and paying of respects to one man. That's right Long Reefers - The King. This is the week of the Bay Hill Invitational, or now known as the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
This tournament originally started in 1966 and was known as the Florida Citrus Open Invitational. How a tournament can be both an "Open" and an "Invitational" at the same time is beyond me, but what the fuck would I know? However, in 1979 the King took the event over and moved it to the winter retreat home he built for himself, the Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Florida.
What did Arnold Palmer do with the profits he made from this big time event? The result is the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children - free top flight medical care for children whose parents can't afford it, in a country with no Medicare or safety net !
Now did I, or did I not tell you, that this guy is The Fucking King ?
On to the Tournament. The course was toughened up to cater for the modern pro back in 2006. Since then, the average winning score has been about 7 Under, so you can see that this is not a birdie fest. Recent form on this track is hard to pick, as "he who shalt not be named" has won 6 of the last 10 here at Bay Hill.
The only other players to have won this tournament twice are Jerry Heard, Gary Koch and Loren Roberts. I don't know much about Heard but Koch was very handy with the putter, Loren Roberts wasn't called the "Boss of the Moss" for nothing, and the Dark Lord has been known to make a few on the short stuff. That should tell you that anyone who is not currently happy with their putting stroke, should not be in your team this weekend. Up & downs are THE key to victory at Bay Hill, and if you want to hoist that trophy come Sunday, you are going to have to make some serious testers for par.
Past winners of this event include a Who's who of golf. Guys like Mickelson, Vijay, Kenny Perry and Ernie Els of the current crew. Old timers were Ben Crenshaw, Tom Kite, Payne Stewart, Fred Couples, Fuzzy Zoeller, Hale Irwin and Lee Trevino - all multiple Major Winners.
Yes Long Reefers, the past tells us that you will need some serious quality to rack up the points this week. The main reason is the Esteem in which this event is held. Because it is the King, all the top pro's turn up out of respect (and just for the damn fun of it as well, according to reports) and therefore, we get one of the strongest fields of the year.
Again well done Tony and well done Jim Furyk! Looking forward to that meal in Newport!
Good luck this week all!
the LRFG
AND LONG LIVE THE KING !!!
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