Big Play with Mitchell Spearman
WHO: StuartAppleby
WHAT: 356-yarddrive onto the fairway
WHERE: 488-yardpar-4 18th hole at Redstone Golf Club
WHEN: Final roundof the Shell Houston Open
WHY
Adopting a half-swing takeaway in his preshot routine has been key to Appleby's2006 surge. He often used to lift the club up and out from the ball rather thanstraight back. Now Appleby uses an abbreviated, Mike Weir--like preshottakeaway, which helps put his compact yet explosive swing in perfect sync andresults in long, accurate shots. Sunday's drive at 18 was the longest at thathole by 16 yards, yet for the week he hit 73% of the fairways and 78% of thegreens.
MITCHELL'S TIP
CASH in with thisTakeaway Move
The four primarymoving parts of the golf swing--the clubhead, arms, shoulders and hips--mustflow in sequence, especially during the takeaway. Using the first letter fromeach spells CASH, my acronym for the ideal takeaway. In the CASH move theclubhead moves the most and should be parallel to the ground and your toelinehalfway back (right), while the arms move the second-most, the shoulders thethird-most and the hips the least.
Mitchell Spearmanteaches at Manhattan Woods Golf Club in West Nyack, N.Y.
... AND ANOTHERTHING
"Vijay Singh's best days might be behind him. His swing is way out of sync,his putter is cold, and age is definitely catching up with him."
PHIL OR TIGER?
By winning thelast two majors and three overall, Phil Mickelson has finally emerged as TigerWoods's main rival and, by doing so, has neatly divided the loyalties of golffans, who have split into two camps. Here's a guide to help you determine ifyou're a Phil Phanatic or a member of Team Tiger.
PHIL PHANATIC | CATEGORY | TEAM TIGER |
Sales | Personality | CFO |
NFL Network | TV Channel | Discovery Channel |
Steve Carell | Actor | Russell Crowe |
David (Hold 'Em Poker) Sklansky | Author | Tom Clancy |
Garth Brooks | Singer | Hootie and the Blowfish |
Ferrari Testarossa | Dream Car | Any Buick |
Plane | Joy Toy | Boat |
Imported beer | After-round Snort | Root beer |
Jiggly | Body Type | Firm |
Dismissive | Workout Routine | Obsessive |
Cheerleaders | Taste in Women | Mute models |
Ever-present/creepy | Smile | Rare/scripted |
Esquire | Magazine | Robb Report |
Playing with kids | Pastime | Scuba diving |
GOLF MAGAZINE TOP 100
TEACHERS POLL
Which TV golf analyst do you prefer: Paul Azinger, Nick Faldo, Johnny Miller orLanny Wadkins?
Azinger ...12%
Faldo ...58%
Miller ...27%
Wadkins ...3%
" Faldo had a charisma bypass as a player, but heis very refreshing as an announcer."
--KEVIN WALKER NANTUCKET (MASS.) GOLF CLUB
TWENTY PHOTOS
COURTESY OF CBS (APPLEBY); ERICK W. RASCO (SPEARMAN, 2); DAVID WALBERG (BACKGROUND); TODD BIGELOW/AURORA (PHIL MICKELSON); ROBERT BECK (TIGER WOODS, AMY MICKELSON); DLILLC/CORBIS (TIGER); PETER KRAMER/GETTY IMAGES (CARELL, BROOKS); CLAUDIO ONORATI/EPA/CORBIS (CROWE); MARC SEROTA/REUTERS (BOAT); CORBIS (ROOT BEER, WEIGHTS); DAVID BERGMAN (CHEERLEADERS); ANDREW REDINGTON/GETTY IMAGES (ELIN WOODS); CHRIS BARTLETT (GOGGLES)