March 12, 2007 by Jeff Shores, PGA.

Please log onto www.pga.com/improve/features/alessonlearned/PODS_031207.cfm to read my featured article on the PODS Championship. The article is a combination of tournament re-cap and instruction. I hope you enjoy!

Thanks for golfing with Jeff

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December 11, 2006 by aab180.

Have you ever played a Saturday morning twosome with your buddy and quietly watched in amazement as he or she would hit the ball in the trees time after time and end up in the fairway? Hit a ball so thin that when it rolled in the fairway bunker that it managed to run back out of it into a perfect position? Well I have! And its something I’ve been thinking about recently. 

When I started playing golf my Dad told me a quote that he heard Gary Player say which has stuck with me… “The more you practice, the luckier you get.” However I think that a golfers luck has more to do with how they use the luck and their attitude towards it. 

Some of us may feel that we simply aren’t ‘lucky’ golfers. “I always get bad breaks” which may happen to us every once in a while, but I think that the ‘lucky’ golfers are those who decide to choose an attitude that says “I do get good breaks and I take advantage of them.” 

This morning I watched the South African golfer Charl Schwartzel trying to catch a player in the lead of the Alfred Dunhill Championship with 4 holes to play. On the 15th his drive hooked left. It bounced out of bounds, hopped up on to a small stone wall about a foot tall, bounced two or three times and came back in bounds. Was this lucky? You bet it was! But what impressed me was how he went on to birdie this hole. With this momentum he then birdie the next. Had he not hit his approach shot to the par 5 18th hole in the water, a third birdie would have put him in a playoff. But I think in choosing to believe that he gets good breaks and using them, he had prepared himself for such an occasion and was ready for it when it came. 

Can you and I have that same ‘luck’? Its up to you. Make a choice.

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November 18, 2006 by Jeff Shores, PGA.

While watching the Dunlop Phoenix golf tournament, my wife asked me, “Why is Tiger playing in that tournament and skipping tournaments like the Tour Championship?”  The question made me realize that most people probably are not seeing the big picture of tournament selection for a business man like Tiger Woods.  Pretty Simple!  Money..money..money!!!  Tiger is getting paid huge bucks to go overseas and play in those events.  So, what would you do?  Here’s the scenario:  Your boss tells you, “Would you like to work this week and I may give you a paycheck if you work real hard and perform well, or, why don’t you take the week off, come back next week, and I’ll give you a couple million dollars just to show up, and, give you that same opportunity to make a paycheck that I gave you last week.”  I don’t know about you, but I’m taking the week off!  If the dollars don’t make sense to you…I’ve got some land for sale. 

Thanks for golfing with Jeff 

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November 16, 2006 by Jeff Shores, PGA.

So here’s the latest.  Michelle Wie has been invited, through a sponsor’s exemption, to again participate in the Sony Open (a PGA Tour event).  Let me start by saying that I think Michelle Wie is an amazing young talent and do believe she is going to be playing and winning LPGA Tour events for many years to come, however, can’t “Wie” go one step at a time.  Not really her fault, I guess.  Sponsor says “you get to play,” so she plays.  But are the sponsors really looking out for her best interests?  Who is looking out for her best interests?  Is it all about the money?  Or the experience?  Can she make the cut in a PGA Tour event?  Does anyone really care if she does anymore? 

Thanks for golfing with Jeff

Michelle Wie may one day play on the PGA Tour and I wish her the best of luck in doing it the old fashion way…Earning it!  In the meantime, I would love to see her win an event, any event, on the LPGA, hone her skills and grow up a bit…Shame on the powers that be for letting a young girl make grown up decisions.  What do you think?  

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