foozle vt foo-zled; foo-zling (1892): to manage or play awkwardly; a bungling golf stroke

Sunday, January 11, 2009

The Mercedes-Benz Championship


I caught a little of the tape-delayed coverage of the Mercedes-Benz Championship on the Golf Channel last night as I was drifting off to sleep. It sure is encouraging to see the stars of the golf world back at the office for the start of another exciting PGA Tour season. Geoff Ogilvy looks focused and flawless, Anthony Kim and Camilo Villegas appear poised to challenge in every tournament they enter and Boo Weekley, God bless Boo Weekley--he's steady and in the mix like he was almost all of last year. That four-putt double on 18 on Friday didn't do him any favors, for sure, but he's never been mistaken for Ben Crenshaw on the greens either. I saw a statistic during the coverage that there were twelve drives measuring over 400-yards in officially sanctioned Tour events all of last year and through Friday there had already been ten at this year's Mercedes alone! Are things getting past the point of no return on the Tour? I know its windy and hilly at Kapalua and most of those drives wouldn't have gone past 350 under normal conditions, but still? 500-plus yard par fours that are being played with a driver and a wedge?! Goodness gracious, this is definitely not a game with which I am familiar. Maybe that's why its so fun to watch on TV...

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