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05

Sep
Wed

Ping-pong leads to Ryder Cup rivalry

By Dave Shedloski CARMEL, Ind. -- Ryder Cup tension already is running high here at the BMW Championship. USA vs. Europe? Nope. Phil Mickelson vs. Matt Kuchar. On Wednesday, in the clubhouse at Crooked Stick GC, the two Americans rejoined their rivalry on the ping-pong table, and there may have been more shots fired in the aftermath than during Mickelson's come-from-behind 11-7 victory. Related: A closer look at the U.S. Ryder Cup team Their friendly table-top feud began two years ago at the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor in Wales when Kuchar usurped Mickelson as the top American ping-pong player and it continued last year at the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne in Australia. Wednesday's match was unscheduled, and, according to Mickelson, unwise. "I wasn't prepared to play him until the Ryder Cup. But he forced me to play. He called me out, and I spanked him," Mickelson said. "I think he's reeling a little bit, feeling bad. I can tell it affected him; he had a very poor aura thereafter. It was a monumental day." Kuchar called into question the outcome. Usually they play until the winner reaches 21. This time it was an "Olympic-style" match to 11. "Phil beat me. Not sure it was totally fair and square, but he beat me," Kuchar said. "I'm definitely a little bit irked about it. I am going to make sure that it's not going to happen again. We play at all of the team matches and I have dominated him. But today we just played to 11, and he took the first serve. He said I'm serving first. "At 21 he doesn't stand a chance of beating me." Replied Mickelson: "I don't know if he should really be talking smack right now when I handled him pretty good. But if it makes him feel better, then whatever he wants. I was down 7-3 and won 11-7. I peeled off 8 in a row. I got dialed in, and he had nothing for me." Related: A frame-by-frame look at Kuchar's swing Whether or not there is a rematch later this week remains to be seen, but Kuchar was looking ahead to the Ryder Cup at Medinah CC near Chicago later this month. "He's talking big now, but he'll have to step up at the Ryder Cup," Kuchar said. Stay tuned. Follow @DaveShedloski(Photo by Getty Images) !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");

05

Sep
Wed

With return to Crooked Stick, remembering the guy who changed it all

By Sam WeinmanOK, time for a quick game of golf word association.  For instance, I say "Merion," you say, "Hogan." I say "Oakmont," you probably say "Miller." And if I say "Crooked Stick" you almost certainly will say, "Daly."Few venues in golf are so quick to conjure up the name of one player, in part because prior to this week's BMW Championship, the Pete Dye-design in Carmel, Indiana course hadn't hosted a PGA Tour event since John Daly won the 1991 PGA there. But it's mostly because Daly overpowered Crooked Stick in a way golf had never seen."How long is he?" Golf World's Gary Van Sickle wrote in his PGA Championship report that week. "Long enough to be ridiculous.""He's going to be able to overpower 15 courses on tour," runner-up Bruce Lietzke said of Daly, who was an unknown PGA Tour rookie at the time. "He could be that guy winning seven or eight tournaments a year. We haven't had that guy since Johnny Miller."Related: John Daly analyzes Master champ Bubba Watson's swing"That guy," as it turns out, as was still five years away, and it wasn't John Daly, but Tiger Woods. The projections of Daly winning multiple times a year were far off. Owing to an assortment of factor, he has won only five times total (though two were majors) and has never made a Ryder Cup team. Still, it's fair to say that Daly's three-shot win at Crooked Stick helped usher in the era of power golf being played today. While most players that week were hitting 3-irons into the challenging 445-yard 18th hole, Daly was hitting 8-irons. At the 438-yard eighth hole on Saturday, he hit sand wedge from 130 yards. . . and it was too long, resulting in a double bogey. "Ladies and gentlemen," Van Sickle wrote. "Meet the Second Coming." At the end of the 1991 season, Daly's tour-best driving average of 288.9 yards was a full six yards longer than the next guy (Greg Norman) -- and nearly 30 yards longer than the tour average. That sort of distance hardly impresses today -- Rod Pampling is 103rd on tour with the same number, while a 46-year-old Daly, who is in the middle of a modest career resurgence, is averaging 304.4 yards. But remember, Daly was doing it all with a thermoplastic-headed driver and a Maxfli balata ball.Related: An older (maybe even wiser) John Daly resurfaces  "He was, without doubt, the original bomb-and-gouger, banging it out as far as he could and wherever he found it, he hit it from," Golf World's Equipment Editor E. Michael Johnson said. "That's standard-issue for some players today, but back then it wasn't a strategy many employed." It was a philosophy, however, many players soon learned to embrace, particularly given the remarkable advancements in equipment that were to follow. In 1997, when most players had switched to metal-headed drivers, Daly became the first player to finish the season averaging more than 300 yards off the tee. Six years later, there were nine players to do so. When the BMW tees off on Thursday, Crooked Stick is again supposed to favor the super-long hitter. These days that could mean any number of different players, from McIlroy, to Woods, to Johnson. The difference two decades ago is it really meant only one.  Follow @SamWeinman !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");

05

Sep
Wed

True Temper introduces Ryder Cup shafts

By John Strege Ryder Cup players from both the U.S. and European teams will have new shafts in their irons, provided their shafts of choice are True Temper's Dynamic Gold or Project X. True...

05

Sep
Wed

Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance: Annual Car Show 

Golf takes a back seat to over 220 vintage and concept cars for the 62nd Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.

05

Sep
Wed

Rick Smith: Swing, Then Set On The Take Away

wing set with a turn: Start your swing in front of the ball to feel a better turn. Top-ranked teacher Rick Smith demonstrates.

05

Sep
Wed

Paula Creamer: My Hybrid Basics

Use my tips to improve with these versatile clubs on long shots into the green.

05

Sep
Wed

Hank Haney: 5-Minute Warm-Up

If you have just five minutes, you can still be productive. Hank Haney, one of Golf Digest's 50 Greatest Teachers, shares some quick drills to help you warm-up before your round.

05

Sep
Wed

David Leadbetter: Basics Of Your Putting Stroke

The length of your stroke determines the length of your putt. You want the same tempo whether you have a 3-foot putt or a 30-foot putt.

05

Sep
Wed

Butch Harmon On Golf: The Sand Wedge

To be a good bunker player, you have to understand how the club is supposed to move through the sand. Butch Harmon, ranked No. 1 among America's 50 Greatest Teachers, offers this advice.

05

Sep
Wed

Aaron Baddeley: The Greenside Bunker Shot

Aaron Baddeley, who ranks sixth on the PGA Tour in sand saves this year, shares his strategy for getting out of a high-lipped bunker shot.