It seems like every Monday's post I write how enjoyable the golf viewing was over the weekend.  If you like intense and exciting golf, not necessarily by the biggest and most popular names like Phil Mickelson or Tiger Woods, then this weekend was yet another great one. The PGA Tour is batting 100% for the season.

Wild Weather

Tuscon Arizona should be warm, but the players, media and fans had to adjust to the unseasonably cold weather.  In fact, the course was covered with snow on Sunday morning.  Play in the final group was even postponed for a few minutes as they had to wait for a passing hail storm and they couldn't putt on the hail covered greens.

Two Winners

There were two primary winners this weekend, Luke Donald and Martin Kaymer, with a few other great stories.

Luke Donald Wins

Luke Donald plowed through the match play field like a buzz saw, destroying every opponent they put in front of him including Ryan Moore, Matt Kuchar and finalist Martin Kaymer.  Donald, despite being the global leading money winner in golf last year, hadn't won on US soil since 2006.

Donald's amazing short game and putting proved that being long isn't the only way to win on tour, especially on the host course.  The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club is the longest course on the PGA Tour at 7,833 yards.

For his great efforts, Luke Donald moves up to #3 in the world golf rankings.

Martin Kaymer

German Martin Kaymer came into this tournament ranked #2 in the world.  With Tiger Woods being knocked out in the first round and world #1 Lee Westwood being knocked out in the second, this opened up the chance for Kaymer to rise to the #1 spot by reaching the finals.  That he did.  Kaymer is now #1 in the world, pushing down Lee Westwood to #2.

Kaymer is not done either.  With a swing that pure and putting so good, it will take quite a bit of high caliber play for another player to dethrone this 26 year old.

Bubba Watson

Perhaps the funnest, if not most interesting story line, is that of Bubba Watson.  The big hitter made it to the semi-finals and barely lost to Kaymer 1-down.  Bubba's match with JB (found money) Holmes was epic, like a wild west showdown.  The jokes were flying as "Watson & Holmes" were investigating how to tear up the Tour's longest course with their power.  That they did.

On one hole during the Watson/Holmes match Bubba teed off first, knocking his drive a massive 338 yards.  JB Holmes then "Wal-Marted" Watson by knocking it 75 yards past him!  That drive of 413 yards for Holmes is the longest recorded drive of this PGA Tour season.

Watson found himself five down to Holmes, but managed to claw his way to huge comeback 19th hole victory.

Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods' swing was not working and he was subsequently ousted in the first round by Thomas Bjorn.  The bigger story than that, was that when the dust settled Tiger would fall to #5 in the world.

Found Money Holmes

The reason I called JB Holmes "found money," was that he wasn't even scheduled to play in this event.  But when Tim Clark pulled out with a bad elbow, the #66 in the world Holmes filled the spot.  Holmes made it through Camilo Villegas, Ernie Els and Jason Day to meet Bubba Watson in the quarter finals.  Bubba found a few extra bucks this week without a doubt.

Shot Of The Tournament

JB Holmes' 413 yard drive was a candidate for the shot of the tournament yes.  But the award goes to Bubba Watson for knocking his 2nd shot on a par-5 onto the green with an IRON from 286 yards.  Unbelievable.

Yesterday's matches were intense.  Martin Kaymer moved to #1 in the world rankings by beating Bubba Watson 1up.  Kaymer moves to the championship match and Watson to the consolation match.

Luke Donald blew out Matt Kuchar 6&5 to reach the championship match with Kaymer.  Donald's victim Matt Kuchar will play against Bubba Watson in the consolation match.

A light blanket of snow fell on the golf course overnight, but the tee times will not be moved as the snow will melt in time.

TV Coverage

Final round coverage is on NBC today from 2-6PM ET.

Matt Kuchar defeated Y.E. Yang 2&1
Luke Donald defeated Ryan Moore 5&4

Donald and Kuchar meet in the quarter finals.

Bubba Watson made a huge comeback to beat JB Holmes in 19th holes
Martin Kaymer defeated Miguel Angel Jimenez 1up.

Holmes and Kaymer meet in their quarter final bracket.

There are now eight players left in the Accenture Match Play. On yesterday's upset specials I once again went 1/2, bringing my totals for upset picks 6/8.  Still very good for upsets.

Here are the pairings for round four, on Golf Channel at 9am-2pm ET this morning:

Matt Kuchar vs Y.E. Yang
Luke Donald vs Ryan Moore
Martin Kaymer vs Miguel Jimenez
Bubba Watson vs JB Holmes

The Holmes/Watson match is obviously the best one to watch for entertainment reasons, with two of the longest hitters in the history of the PGA Tour playing each other.

The only upset pick, which is tough, is Jimemez over Kaymer.

Normally on Fridays we post some sort of "fun" item to do with golf, a game, a bet etc.  Match play happens to be one of the funnest formats, if not the most fun format in golf to play.  It may not be good for TV but it is a blast to compete in match play.

In match play it is just you versus your opponent.  No need to worry about your total score, or shooing a bad score on one hole.  A bad score on a hole is just one hole and one hole lost.  Match play's intensity and sportsmanship is very enjoyable.

So as today's Friday Fun segment, I suggest trying match play or participating in your club's match play competitions.

Accenture Match Play Round Three

The field of the 64 best golfers in the world has been whittled down to 16.  There have been some big upsets, like Tiger Woods, Lee Westwood, Steve Stricker, Rory McIlroy, Paul Casey and Phil Mickelson all being knocked out by this point.

There are also some big surprises, like a 17 year old making it to today's 3rd round.  Matteo Manassero knocked out #2 seed Steve Stricker in the first round and Charl Schwartzel in the 2nd.  He faces Luke Donald today.

I very big surprise was how handily Rickie Fowler dispatched Phil Mickelson.  Fowler was amazing, completely destroying Phil 6&5.  In match play, that is a huge margin.

Picks

On round one I went 4/4 of my upset picks.  Ego swelling, I picked two more yesterday.  I had JB Holmes over Ernie Els (win), and Stewart Cink over YE Yang (loss).  So after going 1/2 yesterday, I'm 5/6 on upset picks.  Even with the loss, I'd be killing them in Vegas.

Today's Matches

Nick Watney vs Ryan Moore
Matteo Manassero vs Luke Donald
Rickie Fowler vs Matt Kuchar
Graeme McDowell vs YE Yang

Martin Kaymer (the only #1 seed left) vs Hunter Mahan
Ben Crane vs Miguel A. Jimenez
Geoff Ogilvy vs Bubba Watson
Jason Day vs JB Holmes

Today's upset special(s)...  tough choice.  Going to go with JB Holmes again, over Jason Day.  I'm also going to take Rickie Fowler over Matt Kuchar.

TV Coverage

The Accenture Match Play Championship will be televised today on Golf Channel from 2pm-6pm Eastern time.

Yesterday's first round of the Accenture Matchplay Championship was exciting and interesting.  I posted some upset specials yesterday, so lets see how I did.

My upset special of the day was picking Thomas Bjorn over Tiger Woods.  That match went to extra holes where Tiger blew his tee shot into the desert and ended up losing.  1 for 1.

My next upset pick was Stewart Cink over returning match play champion Ian Poulter.  This match also went to 19 holes where Stewart Cink came out on top.  2 for 2.

My next upset pick was Ben Crane over Adam Scott.  Crane beat Scott 4&2.  3 for 3.

My next upset pick was Ryan Moore over Francesco Molinari.  Moore won that match 3&1.  4 for 4 baby.

Other surprises yesterday included Jim Furyk losing to Ryan Palmer, Dustin Johnson losing to Mark Wilson and especially Steve Stricker losing to 17 year old Matteo Manassero.

Today's Matches

Lee Westwood vs Nick Watne
KJ Choi vs Ryan Moore
Matteo Manassero vs Charl Schwartzel
Luke Donald vs Eduardo Molinari

Phil Mickelson vs Rickie Fowler (this is the big one to watch)
Matt Kuchar vs Bo Van Pelt
Graeme McDowell vs Ross Fisher
Steward Cink vs YE Yang

Martin Kaymer vs Justin Rose
Robert Karlsson vs Hunter Mahan
Rory Mcilroy vs Ben Crane
Ryan Palmer vs Miguel Angel Jimenez

Thomas Bjorn vs Geoff Ogilvy
Paul Casey vs Jason Day
Mark Wilson vs Bubba Watson
Ernie Els vs JB Holmes

Upset Specials

I'm going to pick JB Holmes over Ernie Els today and Stewart Cink over YE Yang.

TV Coverage

The Accenture Match Play Championship will be televised today on Golf Channel from 2pm-6pm Eastern time.

This week is a fun week in the PGA Tour season.  It is the one time the format for the week is bracketed match play.  I happen to like match play better than stroke play, as do many golf purists.  Unfortunately matchplay doesn't make for better TV ratings most of the time so it isn't used that much.

The top 64 players in the world are all in action (update, Tim Clark is out with a bad elbow and now replaced by big hitter J.B. Holmes) this week.  it can be quite fun to fill out a bracket, like during the NCAA basketball tournament, and see how well you do with your picks.  If you'd like to give it a shot, here's a link to the PGA Tour's bracket which you can print and fill out.

Matchups and predictions

The #1 seeds in every bracket are composed of the top four players in the world.  Tiger Woods is matched up against Thomas Bjorn, and that is my upset special.  I'm picking Bjorn, as Woods hasn't shown any consistency yet and I'm not sure he's found his game.

Other frog upsets in round one I've picked include Stewart Cink over Ian Poulter, Ben Crane over Adam Scott and Ryan Moore over Francesco Molinari.

TV Coverage

Due to the number of brackets and holes they need to get in, this tournament starts one day early (today).  Below is a list of TV times.

Wed: 12pm-6pm – Golf Channel
Thurs-Fri: 2pm-6pm – Golf Channel
Sat: 12pm-2pm – Golf Channel
Sat: 2pm-6pm – NBC
Sun: 9am-1pm – Golf Channel
Sun: 2pm-6pm – NBC

Golf is a very visual game.  Many pros and high caliber players visualize their shots before they hit them. Techniques and tricks which help visualize shots can aid players, and help them lower their scores.

One way to help you visualize the line of a putt and keep your putter going on that line, is to mark a line on your golf ball and place the line parallel to the intended target line.  Many top pros, including former (and possibly future) world #1 Tiger Woods mark their ball with a line for putting.

Marking the ball

Take a permanent marker and draw a straight line on your ball (upper right).  That's it!

Some companies even sell small ball marking accessories (lower right) which fit over the ball and allow you to draw lines, if you have trouble drawing a straight line on a round surface.

Along with a standard straight line, these accessories may also come with other alignment aids or markings to help you mark your golf ball.

On the green

If your putter has one (and most do), line the alignment mark of the putter head up with the line on the ball (below).

During the putting stroke, imagine the putter going back and through along the line, and the ball traveling on that line after contact.  If you've read the break correctly and lined the ball up right, draino!

If your putter does not have an alignment mark, you can draw one with a marker on the top line of the putter, or even just a small dot.

PGA Tour - Northern Trust Open

For two years Aaron Baddeley has been rebuilding his golf swing.  Once a "stack and tilt" player, he abandoned that technique and went back to a regular swing because he felt the stack and tilt left him a one dimensional player.  He also felt that the stack and tilt swing made it difficult for him to get enough height from his driver.

Apparently the swing rebuild was a good idea, as the 29 year old Baddeley's new swing held up during the final round of the Northern Trust Open, except for one hiccup on the par-4 12th where he made what he called a silly double bogey.  He followed that double bogey with a bounce back birdie on the par-4 13th and that was enough to seal the deal for the rest of the round.

Badds held off Fred Couples, who started out hot with three birdies, and a ageless Vijay Singh who finished in solo 2nd.  Kevin Na started out with some very shaky swings, but turned his ship around to finish in solo 3rd.

Couples was the big story and the big draw.  After starting out with three birdies it looked like Freddy was on his way to a victory, but a bogey on the par-3 6th followed by a double on the par-4 7th derailed his hopes.  The double on #7 was as a result of driving his tee shot right into rough so deep he had to mark and identify his ball before he hit it.

Jim Gray Removed From Coverage By Golf Channel

Freelance reporter Jim Gray was removed from his reporting duties after Thursday by Golf Channel.  Gray reportedly initiated interview questions during the round on Friday with Dustin Johnson and his caddy Bobby Brown.  He was asking questions about Johnson's showing up late for his tee time on Thursday and nearly being disqualified.  Johnson was assessed a two stroke penalty for showing up to the tee late and would have been disqualified had he arrived at the tee ten seconds later.

Interviewing or talking with players and caddies during their round is forbidden by the PGA Tour unless the player or caddy initiate the discussion.  Johnson and Brown apparently did not initiate it, and were not happy about Gray's questions.  The conversation became heated and "profanity laced."

Golf Channel spokesman Dan Higgins had these comments regarding Gray's removal from the Northern Trust Open coverage:

Our aim is to provide the best possible golf coverage for our viewers. Anything else is a disservice. In order not to provide further distraction, we’ve decided to remove Jim from this particular assignment.

Champions Tour - Ace Group Classic

Bernhard Langer recorded his first Champions Tour victory of the 2011 season at the Ace Group Classic at The Quarry in Naples, Florida.  Hot putting was the key to this four shot victory over solo 2nd finisher Fred Funk.  Langer's finish of -20 is a tournament record.  Keep in mind, that Champions Tour events are only three days, making that -20 score even more impressive.

Langer was first in putts per greens in regulation at 1.5781. Combine that great putting with hitting 83.3% of his greens in and Langer was tough to beat.

LPGA Opener - Honda LPGA, Thailand

World #1 and 2010 LPGA Rolex Player Of The Year Yani Tseng is one for one this season after winning the LPGA's opening event, the Honda LPGA Thailand.  Tseng shot a final round 66 to fend off Michelle Wie by five shots.

One of my weekly games/bets is one we call "six holers."  I've heard other players call the game "switching partners."  Playing six holers requires a foursome of players. During the course of the round, each player will be partners with each other player for six holes.  Thus the term "six holer."  This is a fair way of playing team games, as each player whether a high handicap or scratch player, will play with every other player.

Picking Teams

Flipping a tee or drawing straws or other ways of choosing from the first tee can be used to determine the first pairing.  In our group, we pair up the longest shot and the shortest shot for the first group.  The 2nd group is then then longest paired with the next shortest.  The final six hole group is the only one left.

Match Play

For the six holes which each team is paired up, the play format is match play best ball.  In my group we play gross, but any group could play match play net if the handicaps are too widely separated.  Each hole of the six is worth a bet increment, like $1.00.  Presses in our group are welcomed and increase the level of intensity, and badgering from team to team.

Three Player Version

If you want to play this game but only have three players, here's a solution.  This game is played typically net, unless the players are all low handicap sticks.  The fourth player is an imaginary "pro" who each player gets to partner with for six holes.  The pro scores a par on every hole for his team.  Opposing teams must make a net par to tie, or birdie to win against the pro.  Of course, the pro's partner contributes as well and can play fairly relaxed knowing he/she has a guaranteed par.