Golf World June 2014 by Golf World

BUBBA DOES IT AGAIN!

Demonstrating his own brand of cavalier power golf, Bubba Watson cruised to a second Green Jacket at Augusta National, as Jock Howard reports.

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TALK IN

From Phil’s Grand Slam bid to Europe’s recent dominance of the tournament, Tony Dear takes us through the key talking points ahead of the year’s toughest major.

Golf World June 2014

US OPEN 2014

1. Will Lefty finally land a US Open?

3. WILL TIGER RECOVER?

PHIL MICKELSON

Six good reasons we think this could finally be Lefty’s year.

As we write this, we can’t say if Tiger Woods will recover from spine surgery in time to feature at Pinehurst. Most reports suggest it will come too soon, as too will the Open Championship. Speaking after the Masters, Woods’ close friend Notah Begay said he had chatted with Woods during the tournament. “He missed being at Augusta and was certainly watching,” said Begay, who added that he had suffered something similar and would advise Tiger to give it at least 90 days for the scar tissue to heal properly. If Woods were to leave it 90 days he would not be able to defend his Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, and he’d be out for the US Open too. Assuming his rehabilitation went smoothly, however, he would be able to attempt a repeat of his 2006 Open Championship win at Royal Liverpool where he beat Chris DiMarco by two.

1. You don’t finish second or tied

second six times without being able to play US Open courses. Clearly he has it in him. 2. He’s still fit and hungry – Mickelson turns 44 the day after the final round, and the arthritis he was diagnosed with in August 2010 is likely to erode his powers slowly. But his win at the 2013 Open and five top-20 finishes on this year’s PGA Tour so far prove he’s still fit enough to compete at the sharpest end. 3. He has good memories of Pinehurst – he tied 33rd in 2005, but six years before that he finished second to Payne Stewart in a pulsating final round. 4. Pinehurst should set up well for him – it’s long, the wide fairways will accommodate even his wildest drives, and good imagination around the challenging green complexes combined with a masterly touch will be well rewarded. 5. He’ll be determined after a poor showing at the Masters – after missing the cut at Augusta National for the first time since 1997, Mickelson will be anxious to contend at the year’s second major. 6. Win at Pinehurst and he joins a very select group – Mickelson would become just the sixth player to win the career grand slam.

2. Can the champ retain his title?

JUSTIN ROSE

2013 US Open champion Justin Rose has not had the greatest year so far, but his poor driving accuracy stat (59.9% on the PGA Tour, good for 117th) shouldn’t hurt him at Pinehurst. Rose’s biggest concern is his drop in the Greens in Regulation category. Last year he hit nearly 69% of the Tour’s greens, this year he’s averaging just over 65%. He is currently 125th in the GIR category this year compared with

ninth in 2013 – that’s a lot of players overtaking him. It’s also difficult to know what Rose took out of the Masters. After a first round 76 that suggested he might miss the cut, he stormed back with rounds of 70 and 69 to complete 54 holes on one-under par and tied for ninth. It was an encouraging recovery but he finished with a disappointing 74 on Sunday to drop into a tie for 14th. “Bit of a roller-coaster week. Good, the bad and the ugly,” he reflected. Going into last year’s US Open at Merion, Rose had tied for 25th at the Masters, missed the cut at the Players, and finished tied for 8th at the Memorial. That didn’t hint at what was about to happen, so there’s no need to assume his indifferent form this year will prevent him from winning at Pinehurst. This year’s venue, though very different from

Merion, should actually suit him better. And now that the earlyseason tendonitis in his right shoulder has seemingly passed, an early bet might not be a bad idea.

BELOW: Bubba’s

length and high cut are perfectly suited to Pinehurst, giving him every chance of winning again.

4. Can Bubba go back-to-back? BUBBA WATSON

Pinehurst No.2 is perfectly-suited to Watson’s game. His length will obviously come in handy as the course will officially measure 7,565 yards (it will be different in each of the four rounds and be determined by weather conditions and the need to match certain teeing grounds with certain hole locations). And his ability to work the ball and shape shots might never be so useful as it will be at Pinehurst, where his now famous high cut will be a handy weapon on the 1st, 4th, 5th, 10th and

June 2014 Golf World

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The man with ON

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A PLAN A year ago, Justin Rose arrived at Merion with four thoughts which guided him to US Open glory. Paul Mahoney reflects with England’s reigning champion.

unnel vision. That’s how Justin Rose became the first Englishman to win the US Open since Tony Jacklin in 1970 and the first to win any major championship since Nick Faldo at the 1996 Masters. Rose’s secret plan came to him while staring at an arty picture of a tunnel that his wife Kate had bought him six years ago. He took a photograph of it with his mobile phone and texted it to his caddie Mark Fulcher saying: “Look at this tunnel closely. This is where we’re going to live for the week of the US Open.” Fulcher, who has helped Laura Davies and Alison Nicholas win majors, immediately bought into the idea. “Justin sent me that photograph of the picture I’d seen in his house, and I thought it was a wonderful idea,” he says. “It meant simply staying in the middle of the tunnel. If you move out of it, only bad things can happen because you are thinking about other stuff. I said I’d follow him, and walk right behind him.” Rose’s idea was to step onto the first tee at Merion and stay inside that tunnel, shutting out all the distractions of the circus around them. “We had a narrow framework for the week,” Rose says. “We had just four thoughts. What’s the appropriate shot? Execute it. Accept it. Move on. And the plan was to just keep running it over and over again. That takes a lot of discipline over 72 holes. And we managed to do it. I really targeted Merion.

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A radical redux has taken the US Open back to the future. It could be a masterstroke, says Peter Masters, but it’s also fraught with risk.

f they turn out to be right, the 2014 US Open could be one of the most exciting in living memory. If they turn out to be wrong, it could end up being a putting competition, with a record score and a no-name winner. “My biggest worry is that we’ve made it too easy,” says Bill Coore, whose work with

design partner Ben Crenshaw has seen the clock turned back at Pinehurst – the ‘Home of US golf’. So what exactly have they done? Well, they’ve taken a course with tight fairways and thick rough (something we’ve grown accustomed to at US Opens) and reversed the negative. That means wide,

THE FORGOTTEN

CHAMPIO

In 2005, qualifier Michael Campbell held off Tiger Woods to become the first New Zealand Kiwi prepares for his Pinehurst return from outside the world’s top 500 players, John Hugg

hen Michael Campbell was a little boy growing up on the southern shore of New Zealand’s North Island, he “won” many major championships. Standing on the practice green at the Titahi Bay Golf Club near Wellington, the young Campbell, cocooned in his still immature imagination, made any number of three-foot putts “for the Masters”. “It was always the Masters,” says the 2005 US Open champion with a smile. “That was always my dream. I never once thought about winning the US Open.” Ah, but as someone once said, golf is a funny old game. And when America’s national championship makes its third visit to Pinehurst No.2 in June, the same Michael Shane Campbell will return as the last man to win a US Open over the storied North Carolina course. Nine years ago, the Kiwi went head-to head with Tiger Woods and emerged triumphant. “Not many events stop a nation,” says former Presidents Cup player Greg Turner, another proud New Zealander. “In New Zealand a Rugby World Cup final will do it. But as Michael came down the back nine at Pinehurst nine years ago, the nation did come to a grinding halt. Government was adjourned! Office buildings in the major centres emptied, as people in suits crowded Campbell embraces caddie Michael ‘Sponge’ Waite as the pair celebrate on Pinehurst No.2’s 18th green.

Golf World June 2014

around television sets in bars and restaurants. With the time difference, this was all happening mid-Monday morning.” It was, indeed, quite a story, one that wouldn’t have happened had the United States Golf Association not instituted a UK-based 36-hole pre-qualifying competition for what America calls “the Open”. Playing alongside fellow European Tour regular Steve Webster, Campbell arrived at Walton Heath’s 18th tied with the Englishman, with both in desperate need of a birdie to have any chance of qualification. “Michael and I had played together in the last round of the Wales Open at Celtic Manor the day before, when we both shot 65,” recalls Webster. “Then we both shot 68 in the first round at Walton Heath. And we were still tied playing the last hole in the second round. “I hit my approach to about eight feet. Then Michael hit his to maybe six feet. We were on the same line. I thought I had made mine, but it just missed. Then, having got a read off my putt, he holed his to make it through on the number. I, of course, missed by one. Three weeks later I was watching on the telly when he won the US Open. Golf is about taking your chances and he certainly took his.” Still, when he arrived in Pinehurst, the then 36-year old Campbell was happy just to be there. Yes, he had previously come close in a major championship – he led the 1995 Open at St Andrews with 18 holes to play – but there was little to suggest that his professional life was about to change forever.

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der to win the US Open. Now, as the ggan finds out what went wrong. “I knew nothing about Pinehurst before I got there,” he admits. “And I had no expectations of doing well, never mind winning. I was hitting the ball well though, even if my putting was a bit ‘iffy’. On the Monday I was practising with a belly putter when I played with Paul McGinley. He was wondering what the hell I was doing. “When my coach, Jonathan Yarwood, arrived he took one look and told me to throw the putter away. I went to Pine Needles, where I was staying, to practise my stroke with a conventional putter. No one else was there and I worked for maybe three hours there on the Tuesday. By the end, I felt like I had a good groove going. “On the Wednesday I played with Vijay Singh. I bombarded him with questions. He helped me a lot with my bunker play in particular. There was a lot of sand in the bunkers that week.” Thus prepared, Campbell played steadily over the first three days. After 54 holes he stood one over par, four shots behind defending champion, Retief Goosen. Faced with such a deficit and such an experienced competitor, Campbell set off on his final round aiming to finish “in the top-five”. It was a target he would quickly have to reassess. Oneunder-par for the day after four holes, he was already in the lead. Goosen, en route to a disastrous 81, made a double-bogey at the second and bogey at the third. “I have always been a board-watcher, so I knew what was going on,” recalls Campbell. “And that was when it occurred to me I could win. I saw it as an opportunity, not a threat. I was like a Stone Age man out hunting for a mammoth. I could either run for my life or face up to the ‘danger.’ I chose to take it on. “Quite soon, it became apparent

Bernard Gallacher, shot by Golf World at his home in Surrey, April 2014.

PERSPECTIVES

BERNARD GALLACHER

The three-time Ryder Cup captain on choosing golf over football, his advice for Paul McGinley and the heart attack that so nearly claimed his life. Interview Peter Masters Portrait Angus Murray

I grew up loving and playing most sports. I was very keen on

football, I supported Hibs, but I was never really sure what my best position was. I played down the right wing, I played left back, but I never really settled anywhere. I was thinking more about golf. My hero growing up was Eric Brown. He was born and bred

in Bathgate, like me, and although he moved away, he was still a local hero. My dad would follow him at any tournament he went to, although I never really got to speak to him properly. I did though chat a lot to Max Faulkner, who like Eric, was from the same generation. These guys were still bitter about what the (Second World) War had done to their careers. Six or seven years of wilderness in golfing terms, right when they would have been at their best? And, in Max’s case, he had lost his brother Bob. There was an infamous incident in Portugal in 1968 when Max, at the age of 52, won the tournament. They were in a restaurant that night celebrating when he realised that there were two Germans in the far corner having a meal. It was like a scene from Fawlty Towers which ended with Brian Barnes and others wrestling an irate Faulkner to the ground and dragging him out of the establishment kicking and screaming before he could get at them. My stats will tell you that I won 10 times on the European Tour, but I don’t consider that figure to be accurate. The Tour

was formed in 1972, pulling together all the events we already had running in the UK. I’d won three times prior to that. The Schweppes PGA Championship in 1969 was my first, then the WD & HO Wills at Moor Park followed by the Martini in 1971. So that’s not 10 victories, that’s 13. You don’t want to lose a tournament!

been rather put off such activity by an incident in the Scottish Boys at Largs. John Jacobs used to come up and coach us, the only real coaching I ever had, and afterwards we’d all go out and play. Now the penultimate hole at Largs was a drivable par 4 and when we were on the green, a ball from the group behind rolled up to about eight feet. I think it belonged to a chap called John Black, so, as a joke, I popped it in the hole. I meant to tell him as they came to the 18th, but, to my dismay, his group were so elated at John’s first ever hole-in-one that they all raced straight into the clubhouse to tell everyone. By the time I got there, there was a bit of a party going on and the local press had been called up to do interviews. I thought I’d better come clean and told them what I’d done. I’ve never seen such a rapid deflation of jubilance. I felt absolutely terrible. Max Faulkner took me under his wing and he gave me so many

tips that helped me develop as a player and as a person. He forced me to carry a second wedge, one for sand and one for turf. They were designed differently he used to say. One to hit the ground first and one to hit the ball first. My bunker play was transformed under his tutelage.

I must have been one of the last pros to combine being a club

pro with playing professionally. I was at Wentworth since 1970 and I always felt as though I was a club pro playing golf. I always looked forward to going home, making sure the shop was as good as it could be. I was involved in every Ryder Cup from 1969 to 1995 and

I’m very proud of that. Given the choice, I’d rather be a player than a captain every time. Golf’s all about playing and playing in the Ryder Cup is a far bigger honour than captaining the side.

I beat Gary Player in a play-off for the Dunlop Masters at St

In the 1995 Ryder Cup, Seve was terrified of letting the team

There were a number of practical jokers around when I first

It would be a tragedy if people remember Seve as being wayward, spraying drives everywhere. That came late in his

Pierre, but he said in the press conference later that he didn’t believe in play-offs and considered himself having tied for first place. I had a good mind to show him the trophy. It was a lovely one too, with the signatures of every competitor engraved on it. I still have it now. I remember my finish clearly. St Pierre ends with a par 3 of some 235 yards and I hit a 3-wood to six feet and missed the putt. In the play-off, I almost drove the 14th green and then chipped to two feet for a birdie. Gary’s was a nice scalp and I went on to defend the title the following year. joined the professional circuit, but I wasn’t one of them. I’d

down. He’d only made that team by virtue of winning the PGA at Wentworth, but that was more than a year earlier and by 1995 his form had disintegrated. He’d also heard that I’d made a decision to play every member of the side before the singles. I told him that I’d pair him in the fourballs with someone who was very straight and wouldn’t be remotely phased by where Seve might be on the course. David Gilford was the obvious choice and David went out there and won the match almost singlehandedly. I think Seve won one hole.

career but for the most part, Seve was spectacularly good.

June 2014 Golf World

MY GAME JUSTIN ROSE

Never overlook the fundamentals I work on my swing basics every day – on every swing even. To me, the basics are the most important things. Many golfers pay lip service to them, thinking that the grip, stance and alignment sound way too easy to be important. But they are crucial. I have a checklist and routine that encompasses all of the fundamentals, and I would urge you to do the same. Being tall, the first

obvious thing that can go wrong with my set-up is my posture. When that happens, I make bad swings. Like everyone, my swing follows a basic pattern. I know and understand that, and the swing thoughts I use work within it. Whatever swing thought you use, it has to be simple, especially under tournament pressure. Complicated concepts will get the better of you.

I like to feel I’m grounded and well-balanced with my belt buckle tilted so that it points at the ball. I want to feel athletic at address; I have to watch for feeling a little too rigid standing over the ball.

The takeaway isn’t a series of moving parts, but rather one flowing motion. When I need a big drive, I crunch my stomach muscles to create a little more resistance and a more powerful coil.

My backswing is a pretty simple motion. My upper body tilts a little and then rotates. When I’m playing at my best, I feel like I can hit any shot I want from a neutral top of the backswing position.

Golf World June 2014

INSTRUCTION My key move:

With the driver, my main focus is to start my backswing by taking the club away very smoothly. The clubhead has to move first because it has the greatest distance to travel during the swing. For me, the sequence of movements is club, hand action, and body turn. However, I prefer to see that combination as one free-flowing move away from the ball.

Starting down I like to feel that I stay centred and ‘cover’ the ball with my chest. This helps me deliver the club from the inside without having to manipulate the clubhead with my hands and arms.

I never want to force the shot through impact. Even with the driver, when you want distance, it’s important to let the downswing develop and be patient. I let the rotation of my body do the work.

My swing is technical, but it’s not mechanical. I try not to get caught up thinking about swing positions anymore, and just try to feel impact. A good finish is simply a function of momentum and balance.

June 2014 Golf World

Titleist Vokey SM5 and TaylorMade TP wedges 1. Titleist Vokey SM5 wedges Available in three finishes, six different Tour-inspired sole grind options and nine different lofts, the new Spin Milled (SM) 5 wedges incorporate several new design features that enhance playability and

versatility. The clubhead profile is slightly more compact and balanced than in previous SM models, while new grooves are seven per cent larger and deeper for an increase in spin of up to 500rpm on the higher lofted versions. Price: £103 per club Web: titleist.com

2. TaylorMade Tour Preferred Wedges The new Tour Preferred series features two versatile sole grinds. The first option – available in two-degree increments from 50º to 60º – is a classic grind for the player who prefers a clean, classically

designed wedge. The second option is a refined ATV Grind, which boasts a slightly narrower, reshaped sole for better performance on open-faced shots and tight lies. The ATV grind is available in lofts of 54º, 56º, 58º and 60º. Price: £99 per club Web: taylormadegolf.co.uk

New groove configurations in the 46º–56º and 56º–62º degree wedges increase spin and improve strike consistency.

Golf World June 2014

A Micro Texture face combined with the company’s most aggressive groove design enhances ball speed and greenside control.

EQUIPMENT

Lynx By Swash Putters Named after the renowned putting coach and designer Harold Swash, each putter in the new Lynx by Swash series features a Pyramid Groove Design (PGD) on the centre of the face. The unique trapezoid-shape is milled into a gold coloured aluminium insert while a central section of horizontal grooves is flanked by

two sets of side-grooves angled at 60º. The theory is that the groove configuration produces a smoother, more consistent roll. Each of the four Swash by Lynx putters also comes with a 1.25inch midsize grip and a black Lynx headcover. Price: £99 Web: lynxgolf.co.uk

Lynx says that the multi-angled groove pattern on the face of its new putters create a smoother and more consistent roll.

TECH EXPLAINED: PYRAMID ALIGNMENT Each Lynx by Swash putter features two different built-in alignment aids. The first is a 3mm gold stripe that runs the entire length of the matt black putter head. The second is a Pyramid Alignment System, where a triangular-shaped badge on the rear of the putter head helps golfers position their eyes directly over the ball. According to Lynx, “Visually, the golfer should line up their ball with the clean, straight edge running back from the top corner of the pyramid to its rear corner.”

June 2014 Golf World

COURSES BRINGING YOU THE BEST PLACES TO PLAY EACH MONTH

‘Oitavos Dunes offers a style of golf few players in the whole of Continental Europe often sample – a championship links’

COURSES TOP 100 SPOTLIGHT

TOP 100

RANK 20 EUROPE

Oitavos Dunes A championship links in Portugal? Can it really be true? Chris Bertram headed out to the Lisbon coast to find out.

olf has been played in the picturepostcard area to the west of Lisbon for 85 years. Estoril was formed in 1929, making it one of the oldest golf clubs in Europe, and on the outskirts of the neighbouring coastal town of Cascais, Quinta da Marinha and Penha Longa were added in 1984 and 1992 respectively. They formed a powerful trio, and thousands of visiting golfers were lured by the prospect of lush, sun-dappled fairways and pretty seaside settlements. Then, in 2001, arrived something that wasn’t just new to golfers visiting Cascais and Estoril or indeed Lisbon and even Portugal. It is a style of golf few players in the whole of Continental Europe often sample – a championship links. When Oitavos Dunes was created, it was Portugal’s first championship links; it is a description that bestows enviable mystique to such a young course. And while its fairways and greens have merely 13 years of history, the story of this parcel of land on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean goes back over a century. LEFT: The charming short 15th has a narrow green edged by overhanging pines. BELOW:

The gorgeous 14th with the Atlantic beyond.

It was in 1908 that the grandfather of today’s owner Miguel Champalimaud, Carlos Montez, discovered this seaside terrain and for nearly 30 years until his death, planted pines to stabilise the sand that blew across the rock, in order to create enduring rather than fleeting dunes. Having literally prepared the ground, Miguel’s son, Carlos Sommer, then built roads and the first homes in the 1950s as the estate developed at pace. Horse riding, tennis and a Health Club were also added and while the Champalimauds wished to add golf, developing the linksland in such a delicate ecosystem was inevitably a sensitive project; it took Miguel 17 years to secure the necessary permits and Oitavos was rewarded for his patience when it was the first course in Europe and second in the world to receive Audubon Gold Signature Sanctuary status. American architect Arthur Hills was selected to lay out the course because, legend has it, his proposal was the only one without a lake in it, and the family were eager to create a ‘proper’ links. The final stage of development, to date at least, was the opening of a five-star hotel alongside the links. It took a further decade to get the green light for the hotel,

June 2014 Golf World