Texans tight end Owen Daniels was one of the players who were at the Shell Houston Open signing autographs. I asked him to say a few words directly to the fans. So, if you are a Houston Texans fan (or perhaps an Owen Daniels fan), please click on the video. The rest of you, well, I will politely tell you to do something else.
Phil MIckelson knows how important his short game is. Since working with short-game guru Dave Pelz, Mickelson has won three majors. Check out this article about how Pelz was able to help Mickelson, and some basic tips he gives all golfers.
I've been to two of the Pelz one-day local short game schools, and the first time I took one, it lowered my handicap by 4 strokes. They claim that isn't unusual for a mid to high handicapper. I haven't been able to test out the results of my recent second short game course because of too much blogging, not enough practice.
Last week, I was able to see one of Pelz's tips in action at the Shell Houston Open. I was talking to someone at the range, and a local pro asked if anyone had a camera. I had one, so we raced in a cart to the private chipping area side of the range, and there was Brad Faxon talking to Phil Mickelson while Mickelson was hitting short pitch shots.
Someone oohed about a shot that went to inches before the cup, and Mickelson looked up, smiled and replied:
He was tied at the beginning of the tournament with Adam Scott for first, but Scott had to withdraw early because of flu-like symptoms that he suffered from since the beginning of the tournament.
Fred Couples ended tied for 4th, his highest finish since tying for third at the 2006 Masters.
By the way, for golf fans who want to get a better sense of what the high profile players have to say than is usually in the newspaper sites, you can check out ASAP Sports-Golf link that has transcripts of various sporting events. The extremely cordial media relations people at the SHO said that their tournament was the first golf tournament to employ transcribers. There are ASAP Sports transcripts for other sports, but the golf one probably the most thorough.
Where are you likely to find a lot of people with heart disease? A PGA Tour event is likely a good place. Or maybe you peoples out there, just sitting there like a blob, reading about sports and licking your Cheese Doodled-stained fingers.
So Merck partnered up with PGA great Tom Lehman and asked him to be their spokesman for a heart disease educational program. He wants people to learn more about their cholesterol numbers, what they mean, and things they can do to prevent heart disease. On Thursday, he was signing autographs at the Shell Houston Open and giving away educational information. I asked him to say a few words in a video to you about why he cares about heart disease education.
You can find more detailed information at triplethreatchallenge.com. (autoplay audio in link). Some people may not like drug companies using sports figures to educate people about diseases, but if folks are more likely to listen to their favorite athlete over their doctor, I'm okay with whatever works.
How do golf manufacturers know whether players are actually using the equipment that they are endorsing? John Minkley (pictured right), and his staff from Darrell Survey Company check each player's golf bags on the Thursdays prior to play.
His staff and he have white books where they mark off what type of clubs, balls, grips are in the tour players' bags and from what manufacture. They also look at apparel, shoes and spikes. His company has been providing similar services since 1932 through founder Eddie Darrell. Minkley says they have good data about the equipment and players since probably the late1950s.
They provide this service not just for the PGA, but for every major golf tour.
After the date of the SHO was changed to the week before the Masters, the SHO decided to try to create course conditions that force players to make shots similar to what they will make next week. The elevation changes and green undulations can't be the same, but there are other ways that you can prepare the course to make it similar. Roger Groettsch, Director of Agronomy at Redstone explains how they set the course up in the above video.
"You wouldn't happen to have a jet pack, by any chance?"
That's the question Phil Mickelson asked when he saw the impossibly long line of people gathered to get autographs from him after Tuesday's pro-am round. (at :07 in the video)
The crowds on Tuesdays are usually fairly light relative to the weekends and most golfers were able to easily leave the 18th hole. When you watch on TV, and even with this video, you don't have a sense of the crushing group of people trying to get Phil's attention to sign autographs.
At the Shell Houson Open, John Daly is working hard. Hard enough that he needed a trainer to massage his back and uh er chest at :08 in the video link above.
I heard he spent six hours practicing on Sunday, before official practice rounds started. He showed up early before playing in the pro-am on Monday, and then practiced three hours after the round. Yesterday, he was practicing before I got to the range, and was there for at least four hours in the on and off rain showers.
Those who have seen him through the years at the SHO said it is the most they have ever seen him work, and the earliest they have seen him at the course
The practicing and pro-am habits of a PGA golfer shouldn't be news, but it is with Daly. Recently, in a 48 hour period, he got dumped publicly by his instructor Butch Harmon and was disqualified from the Arnold Palmer Invitational for missing his pro-am tee time. I guess Daly is trying to make amends one day at a time, and I figure it was worth mentioning the mundane details of the work he is doing.
Friday was the deadline to enter the SHO, five of the top ten ranked players in the world will be there. (Phil Mickelson #2, Steve Stricker #4, Adam Scott #6, K.J. Choi #7, Geoff Ogilvy #10). Ernie Els had planned to attend but withdrew today due to a lingering virus.
Someone told me that there was a Tiger Woods sighting at Houston's River Oaks Country Club on Friday. I'm guessing he was one of the private jet rich guys in town to see Stanford play Texas in the Sweet Sixteen, as Woods is continuing his traditional prep of not playing a tournament the week before a major.
I'm not rich guy private jetting to Augusta for the Masters, but will be attending the SHO next week. I will try to give you a flavor of the tournament that you don't see on TV. The course is in beautiful shape, and I've been told that the greens are already very fast. Even without Tiger, it should have a great field and be worth watching, especially if you are participating in a Masters office pool.
Phil MIckelson knows how important his short game is. Since working with short-game guru Dave Pelz, Mickelson has won three majors. Check out this 
Johnson Wagner was the wire to wire winner of the Shell Houston Open
Notes from on site at the 
Recently, I wrote how last year's 
