WGT Golf News

Congratulations to the following players who qualified for the Virtual USGA Championship tournament.  The winner of this tournament will receive a trip to the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional as a guest of the USGA.  Good luck everyone!

May your 4th of July be filled with family, fun, fireworks and hopefully some golf!

Photo: ActiveTrain.com

By Josh Zander

Before you can rip it, you have to grip it. There are so many ways to grip the golf club and you need to find the one that works best for you. My recommendation is to match your grip to your desired ball flight. If you like to draw the ball, you should favor a stronger grip. If you want to fade the ball, go with a weaker grip. The “old school” way of shaping shots was to make the same swing and just change your grip on the club. I heard Nick Faldo one time making fun of Colin Montgomery’s golf academy. I am paraphrasing but he basically said, what they teach you there is turn your hands one way to hook it, turn your hands the other way to fade it and somewhere in the middle is straight. Now that will be $1,000! Can it be that simple? That might me a slight oversimplification because there are so many other factors involved but the concept is very true.

For those of you who have read my blogs before, you know that as an instructor, I will only make an adjustment to a student’s technique if it improves the ball flight or the quality of the impact. If you are already hitting it solidly and straight, don’t change your grip! Just because it is not neutral does not mean it is wrong. Paul Azinger and Freddy Couples both have extremely strong grips and they hit it great. I hope they never change. The golf swing is a mixture of all kinds of angles and in Paul and Freddy’s case, the strong grip matches the other aspects of their swings creating a neutral impact and a correct ball flight.

I want to make this blog helpful so if you don’t have an instructor follow these simple recommendations as to when to change your grip:

Make your grip stronger if:

1. You are slicing
2. You have thin contact

Make your grip weaker if:

1. You are hooking
2. You have deep divots

Your grip is your one connection to the club. Making a change can be a difficult experience. If you decide to make the change, bring a club into your house and do your repetitions away from the golf course.

Now go grip it and rip it!

Heads up!  We will have a short downtime on July 1st starting at 1:00am PST to fix some issues from today's deploy.  The site will be back up within two hours.  Thanks for your patience.

Here are the highlights from today's product release. While we make an effort to include all updates made to the product, please note that occasionally some changes are unintentionally omitted.

Compete Against Your Friends in User-Created Tournaments!

You can now create tournaments that can be played only by members of your country club!  Any club member can set up a tournament for their fellow club members to participate in. They can be free, and players will compete for a virtual trophy and bragging rights, or you can set an entry fee and have a credit payout for the winners! Select between Stroke Play or Closest-to-the-Hole formats and select what course to play, green speed, wind strength and hole locations.

Go to your Country Club homepage now to create a tournament! Or if you aren't a member of club yet, create or join one now!

Invite More Friends to Join the Fun! Country Clubs Can Now Include Up to 250 Players.

You can now increase the size of your country club! Club owners can raise the club member limit by accessing the Country Club’s Owner Tools section and selecting a new club size. Owners can increase the club to a total of 30 members for an additional 100 credits, 50 members for 150 credits, 100 members for 250 credits, or a maximum of 250 members for 500 credits.

Tournaments are more fun with more competition so increase the size of your club today!

Light up the Course with New Vapor Balls.

Now you can watch your ball in flight with new Vapor trail balls. The GI-3S Vapor, GI-SD Vapor, and Tour-SD Vapor leave a trail in the ball's color that allows you to watch your ball's path in flight.  Check them out in the Pro Shop.

New Loudmouth Avatars

Express yourself and have a little fun on the course with these colorful ensembles from Loudmouth.

Bug Fixes and Other Changes

• Championship tees added for Kiawah Island
• New hole locations have been added to St Andrews and they will debut in the Championship rounds of the Virtual Open Championship
• A free drop after hitting an immovable obstruction will no longer result in a lost ball
• Waterboy award is now being properly awarded in CTTH games

by WGTNiv

• birdwell gets his first career HIO on the infamous Par 3 17th at Kiawah Island.
• Jimac55 also cards his first career HIO in the USGA qualifier as his tee shot off the Par 3 13th at Oakmont goes quite a bit long, but manages to find its way all the way back down to the hole.
• 27matt bullies his way through a 29mph headwind to get the member's bounce and the Eagle from 131 yards out on the Par 4 3rd at St. Andrews.
• doobie442 hits pay dirt with this long and treacherous birdie attempt from the far right side of the green on #2 at St. Andrews.
• And finally for this week's weird & wacky replay, Golfspieler shows us that the flatstick isn't always necessary to succeed at St. Andrews.

Buy Credits and Receive a 10% Bonus Starting at Noon Today, Pacific Time!

For every dollar you deposit, you'll receive 110 credits until noon PST, June 26.

Use WGT credits to upgrade your equipment in the Pro Shop, enter premium tournaments, or challenge other players in match play games.

To purchase credits, click on the ACCOUNT button under your username on the upper left hand side of the screen, then click on the Buy Credits tab.

Hurry, the offer is good only on credit purchases made between noon on June 25 and noon on June 26, Pacific Time.

By Stephanie Wei

Doffing his cap to the gallery, a misty-eyed Tom Watson made his way up to the 17th green for probably the last time at a US Open. Next to him was his son, Michael, who was carrying his bag on Father’s Day. To their right, the crowd lining the fairway to the fans sitting in the grandstands had broken out in a warm standing ovation. At the foot of the stands, I clapped while I tried to soak in the moment and looked on in awe of Watson, particularly the memories he shared with the 17th hole at Pebble Beach on US Open Sundays.

It was here that Watson chipped in from the thick rough left of the green to a difficult back left pin placement to clinch victory at the ’82 championship by a shot over Jack Nicklaus. On this Sunday — 28 years later — the flag was in a similar spot, where Watson knocked his second shot from the bunker to tap-in range to save par.

As he and playing partner Edoardo Molinari and their caddies were walking off the green, they stopped while Watson gestured toward something in the direction of the pin — perhaps he was explaining the hour glass shape of the green or maybe he was recalling his incredible shot in ’82. Who knows, but I’ve been kicking myself because I forgot to ask him when he spoke to reporters later.

After hitting a beautiful drive down the middle on 18, he tipped his cap and smiled at the fans all the way down the fairway. “Tommy!” and “Tom!” cheers roared the entire time.

I could feel the chills going down my spine and I started to get a little choked up. There’s something about these sentimental moments in sports that make me very emotional (I mean, I cried for nearly a week after Watson lost the British Open. And yes, I admit to it.).

His second shot on the par 5 flew into the bunker just short and right of the green. He looked down at the ground in disappointment after he realized the ball didn’t end up where he wanted.

As Watson walked up to the 18th green the hole-long standing ovation continued. By the time he reached the green, tears were running down his face. But he managed to hit another beautiful shot from the sand for the second hole in a row, knocking it to about three feet for birdie.

Unable to see through his watery eyes, he missed the putt, but made the comeback for par.

“There were a lot of emotions going on there on 18 today,” Watson said. “Even with my son on the bag and all the memories, great memories I’ve had here.”

Surrounded by a handful of reporters behind the 18th green (including yours truly), Michael was also fighting the emotions when asked about the putt. With his eyes hidden behind dark shades, he took a second to collect himself and quietly said, “He missed. He missed..it was tough in the moment.”

By Stephanie Wei

After Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell two-putted from 30 feet for par to clinch the US Open title, he looked to the sky, fists clenched and let out a sigh of relief. The grueling battle against Pebble Beach was finally over and he had outlasted the field to win his first major and to become the first European to win the event in 40 years.

On a day where the groans were more frequent than the cheers, McDowell shot a ho-hum 74, three-over, to win by a stroke over Frenchman Gregory Havret, a virtually unknown name in the US whose world ranking was 391 entering the championship. For the people who watched the trainwreck action at home, some probably want a refund on those five hours of their time. And for the players who slogged and punted their way around the course, all — with the exception of McDowell and perhaps Havret — probably wish they could have theirs, too.

With his only birdie of the day coming on the par 3, 5th, McDowell posted four bogeys in the final 10 holes to get back to level par for the championship. If there hadn’t been a pretty trophy afterward, the round was forgettable. Pebble Beach was playing just that hard.

The course was firm, the pins were tight, mistakes were punished, egos were bruised — and welcome to the US Open. a true test in golf designed to examine every aspect of a competitors game. And perhaps better known by the players as a test in torture (whose wails are heard loud and clear the second after they walk out the scoring trailer).

As it happened, McDowell was the survivor, who deserves credit where it’s due. McDowell minimized his mistakes both physically and mentally, and played the most consistently from tee to green over the course of 72 holes.

“It hasn’t really hit me yet,” he said. “I work so hard at being calmed and disciplined out there today that I’m still feeling a little too calm right now.  I need to get a beer in my hand or something.”

Sitting in McDowell’s press conference, I quickly realized, he’s the kind of guy I’d enjoy bantering with over some pints. Perhaps he’s not the most sexy winner — I mean, he’s no Tiger, Phil, Ernie or even DJ — but he’s a very gracious and likable one with a salty sense of humor.

“I was surprised that Gregory Havret was the guy closest to me,” he said. “No disrespect to Gregory, he’s a great player, but when you have Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els obviously there, you’re not expecting Gregory Havret to be the guy you’ve got to fend off.”

/interview room explodes with respectful laughter

Forget the cliched robotic answers. He spoke candidly and freely, which was refreshing, and answered questions thoughtfully and patiently — similar to the way he played.

I was proud of myself the way I stayed calm today,” he said. “To win at Pebble Beach, to join the names, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Tom Kite, Tiger Woods, me — wow.  I’m not quite sure if I belong in that list, but, hey, I’m there now.”

McDowell also has a customary cold beer after a long day — on the night before winning the US Open, it was an Amstel Light (but he doesn’t have a beer of choice) with his dinner at Montrio’s in Monterey. He slept in until 9:30 on Sunday morning before having a cup of coffee at Monterey Plaza.

In the ’90s, he was a big fan of Ernie Els and for some reason when he thinks of the US Open, it reminds him of Ernie winning it in ’94 at Oakmont and again in ’97 at Congressional, which was around the time he decided he wanted to be a competitive golfer. His brother is a scratch golfer and the two grew up playing at Portrush. The European Tour is his home tour and will continue to be, but he’s been playing to get his PGA Tour card next season to play more in the US.

As a big soccer fan, he’s been waking up early to watch the World Cup. He’s going to bring the trophy back to the other side of the pond later this week, where he’ll consume a few beverages from it. And he’s not sure when he’ll sober up.

See how much I learned about Graeme in just one press conference? If only all players spoke so freely.

Someone get the man a beer already.

[Photos by: Allan Henry/Golf Chronicles]