Teeing Off
MY BAG
FOR THE HONDA CLASSIC
Paul Casey
"Believe it or not, I play stock wedges straight off the shelf, but I have my 60-degree bent to 59 degrees."
FAIRWAY METALS
Nike SQ II (13° and 19°)
SHAFTS
Mitsubishi
Diamana Blue Board 103 (X flex)
PUTTER
Nike
Method 001
IRONS
Nike
Pro Combo OS (three); Victory Red Split Cavity (four, five and six); Victory Red Forged Blades (seven through PW)
SHAFTS
Nippon
Orange (X flex)
BALL
Nike
One Tour
DRIVER
Nike
Victory Red Tour (9.5°)
SHAFT
Mitsubishi
Diamana White Board 83 (X flex)
GRIPS
Lamkin cords
WEDGES
Nike
Victory Red Forged (54° and 60°)
SHAFTS
Nippon
Orange (X flex)
ON THE NUMBER
Retail Therapy
The National Golf Foundation routinely surveys golfers across the U.S., and among the many statistics the NGF tracks is consumer confidence, a measure of economic optimism. The foundation's most recent industry report, released on Jan. 29, indicates that while the average golfer's confidence tumbled in late 2008, it stabilized in '09 and even began to show signs of trending upward by the end of the year.
[The following text appears within a chart. Please see hardcopy or PDF for actual chart.]
2008
2009
Source: National Golf Foundation
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BUY
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@GOLF.com
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NEWS OR NOT?
Their names appeared in the headlines recently, but were the stories written about the golfers listed below worthy of our attention?
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RANKING POINTS START OF 2010
RANKING POINTS AFTER PHOENIX
PROJECTED POINTS AT MASTERS
PROJECTED POINTS AT U.S. OPEN
PROJECTED POINTS AT BRITISH OPEN
THE CHASERS
1. Tiger Woods
2. Steve Stricker
3. Phil Mickelson
4. Lee Westwood
5. Ian Poulter
SHORT GAME
Head of The Class
Braxton Marquez, a senior on the Arizona State golf team, didn't make the travel squad for the Sun Devils' last event, but he did qualify for the Phoenix Open, make the cut on the number and finish at 287, good for 78th place. Take that coach.... Best T-shirt at TPC Scottsdale: RICH BEEM VS. JIM BEAM. WHO WINS? Well, Rich Beem(below) did pretty well, taking 274 shots to finish 14th, but people were giving Jim Beam shots all over the course.... Daniel Chopra withdrew from the Phoenix Open when his wife, Samantha, went into labor. She gave birth to twins on Feb. 24, a boy and a girl named Casper and Coco. The Chopras get a C in name giving and an A in alliteration.... Ai Miyazato's victory at the HSBC Champions made her the fifth LPGA player to win back-to-back season-opening events and the first since Marilyn Smith in 1966.... Juli Inkster started the final round of the HSBC tied for the lead with Miyazato, but the 49-year-old Inkster's bid to become the oldest LPGA winner (currently Beth Daniel, 46 years, eight months) evaporated when she shot a 74 to tie for ninth.... Gatorade ended its sponsorship deal with Tiger Woods. Perhaps they worried that Gatorade Tiger was leaving a bad taste in people's mouths.... Greg Rita, who caddied for Curtis Strange during his back-to-back U.S. Open wins in '88 and '89 and for John Daly's British Open win in '95, died of brain cancer on Feb. 27. It was his 54th birthday.... This is the first year since 1993 that neither Woods nor Phil Mickelson won on the West Coast Swing.
PHOTO
KOHJIRO KINNO (BAG AND BALL)
PHOTO
SAM GREENWOOD/GETTY IMAGES (CASEY)
CHART
SLIM FILMS
THREE ILLUSTRATIONS
PHOTO
JARAMILLO PHOTO/SLIX (DALY)
PHOTO
SCOTT HALLERAN/GETTY IMAGES (JONES)
PHOTO
PETA (WOODS BILLBOARD)
PHOTO
WONG MAYE-E/AP (MIYAZATO)
PHOTO
JOHN BIEVER (WOODS)
PHOTO
ROBERT BECK (STRICKER)
PHOTO
ROBERT BECK (MICKELSON)
PHOTO
ROBERT BECK (WESTWOOD)
PHOTO
FRED VUICH (POULTER)
PHOTO
CHARLES BAUS/ICON SMI (BEEM)
CHART