The 2010 Masters
Wed, 07 Apr 2010 11:54:32
I've spent the past few days putting in some good work at the course, trying to hone my game for the demands of Augusta National. On Sunday, I played a round with my good friend, comedian George Lopez. A few years ago the club extended an invitation to all past champions to come on the Sunday before the Masters and play a round with a guest. It's a very gracious move by the membership and I was happy to be able to bring George, who will also be coming to my charity event at the RBC Canadian Open in July.
The rest of the week has been split between playing the course and working on the range with Mike Wilson. And what a range they have here now. Augusta National never does anything half-way and this year, it opened a spectacular practice facility on what use to be a parking lot. It's one of the finest I've seen; having all the areas you need to improve your game. It's also quite a change from the area we used to have which had become a little too small for the needs of a tournament this size.
I've been working on a lot of different parts of my game with Mike as you really can't have any weaknesses here. I have spent a lot of time on my driver, trying to hone that and also my putting. I've been using a new putter for the last few weeks and also have a new putting routine that is quicker than in the past. I'm feeling good about how it's helping me on the slick greens here so far.
Another interesting factor here this week will be chipping. With the new groove rule in place, it's not as easy to get the balls to check on these slick greens so I think it will be interesting to see how the players handle that. You certainly can notice a difference and I know I'll be trying to avoid having any downhill chips because you simply can't get enough bite on the ball like you're used to.
Of course the biggest asset for anyone this week is going to be patience. It's easy to lose your cool and get frustrated at what happens around here but you just can't do that. You have to be prepared for the fact you're going to have bad holes as well as good ones and just try to keep an even keel for 72 holes.
Something else you need here is lots of rest and I've been getting that, playing just nine holes of practice each day. With the heat here in Augusta this week and the demands of a busy week that includes the Champions Dinner I attended Tuesday night - it was another great evening - I try to really stay rested in preparation for the week ahead.
As for what's happened this week surrounding Tiger Woods, with his press conference this week, I'm glad that we may have moved past talking about the off-course stuff and hopefully we can focus on golf. I know I'm sick of talking and hearing about it and I'm sure the rest of the guys are too including Tiger. I think everyone hopes Tiger can iron out all his problems in his life. Right now, I think it will be interesting to see how he plays.
As always, thanks for your support.
Mike
