Conference 7.286::golf

    
    Hi,
    
    	The way Fred is playing... he may revolutionize the proper
    setup.
    
    	everyone will be at the driving range with their alignment
    clubs facing waaaay left !
    
     	He is AWESOME !
    
    	Keep it going Freddy !!! As Gary McCord says "This is fun to
    watch" ...  :)
    
    	Walta

	Freddie did it again this weekend at the Nestle Invitational. Fred
had a 6 shot lead going into the final round. Then shot a 2 under par 70,
to win by 9 shots.
	Since the 1991 Us Open, a little more than 9 months ago, Couples
has finished sixth or better 19 out of 23 starts and has won 2,362,975,
for an average of 102,738 a start. Fred becomes the first American to be
rank #1 in the sony standings.

/Ron

     
    re. -1  He isn't ranked #1 on the Sony rankings yet, is he?? 
    
    Joe

    Re -1,
    
    	Yup, Fred took the #1 ranking in the Sony standings away from
    Woosnam with his win yesterday. Of course Fred himself doesn't
    think he is in the top 5. Fred thinks, Seve, Woosnam, Olazabal, Faldo,
    even Payne Stewart are better players.
    	Fred swings so smooth and easy, yet the ball goes so far. He is
    just in a very smooth rythem right now. With his solid mechanics
    though he shouldn't get to far away from that rythem. He has been
    putting almost every approach shot within 15ft, if his putting holds
    up, He'll keep making birdies. Its on to the PGA championship this
    weekend, Freds attitude is I'll tee it up on Thursday and see what
    happens.
    	Fred has his slight fade working well right now, I think his
    only flaw is not being able to draw the ball from right to left
    with consistency.
    
    /Ron

    
       Ohhhhh, Fred Couples.  I thought this topic was about Freddie Funk.
      Now I'm bummed.  

    Walta
    
    Johnny Miller did some interesting reviews this weekend on the Freddy
    swing.  Seems that therre may be room in golf for another approach
    other than the flat take away, inside out swing.  Johnny as much as
    said that the techniques being stressed by teachers over the last 5-10
    years may need some review because of the simple mechanics used by
    Freddy.  Who knows, golf is a game where individuals spend most of
    there time trying to be non-individualistic.  I can think of a few
    other golfers with 1) a flying elbow 2) a left  alignment and slight
    fade  (Hint: Jack, Lee)
    
    Freddy is probably very much like Miller in that he gets such
    tremendous feel, power and control from his hands.  It's fun to watch a
    guy when he is this hot.  The next few weeks will tell the story on
    whether Freddy gets the honors afforded others.  There is hardly a
    better place to strut your stuff than TPC and the Masters.  The TPC
    could have the toughest cast of competitors ever assembled.
    
    SCD (Who played the tips at TPC hit 7 fairways on the front and
    survived for an 85) 

    I love this guy... A big guy who doesn't practice hard and who 
    shows there is a place in life for gorillas who whack it far...
    
    Has he peaked to soon to win at Agusta ???
    
    Larry

    Freddy can flat hit it. I watched yesterdays finish and he hit a 224 yd
    4 iron. Thats Strong. Thats Daly territory. I picked up this PGA guide
    that lists the courses played and their course rating, to put things in
    perspective, Bay Hill is rated 74.6 with a slope of 142. Fred shoots
    63. His handicap over the last few weeks would put him at +8 maybe to
    +10. 
    
    What an opportunity for Lynx to take advantage of a hot player. I
    wonder how many sets of Parallex iron they are selling. Fred also plays
    the Maxfli HT ball. There only $30/doz discounted. 
    
    I hope he keeps it going one more week. The TPC would be a nice
    addition to the trophy case. Then it's on to "hype-time" at the
    Masters.
    
    Ken

    
      Read yesterday that Freddy (Couples, not Funk) has had only one over
     par round so far this year.  That is incredible!  
    
    -rick

    
    Hi,
    
    	Mike Donald "Freddys best friend" told Johnny Miller , Freddy's
    been on fire since he grabbed a 3wood from Tom Watson's trunk. 
    Fred had been suffering from hitting the driver too far (nice problem!)
    and not hitting the 1 iron far enough. Getting the 3wood filled the
    gap...
    
    	Poor Tom... he probably has all the other pro's running up to 
    his car everytime he pulls up ! I can here him now
    
    	"Honest  all I have left is this old glove, I can let it go for
    $100 " :)
    
    	Walta

re: .6

Yeah, I like Johnny and his sharp commentary.  But I don't think that his 
'revelation' about Fred's straight takeaway (rather than the modern inside-
inside) will start any changes away from whats taught now.  Freddie simply
alligns left to setup for his fade and it looks like he takes it straight away
or outside of what is taught now because of his allignment like Nicklaus et
al.  What I did find interesting was John's comment that Fred actually hits
a push/cut instead of following his stance and cutting across the ball.
He sends the club straight through the ball with a slightly open face, 
undoubtedly why he hits it so far and with accuracy of late.

What we might see as a result of hot Fred is alot of big turns and smooth
(attempted) tempo.  Gee, last year everyone was trying to wrap their clubs
around their heads. Maybe next year everyone will be swinging like lightening
when Joe Mary Olazabal wins 2 majors and 10 tournys.

Bob

    I think it's interesting how a lot of people think Couples has to win
    this year's Masters to "prove" himself a great golfer.  Whether he
    wins, places, shows, or doesn't even make the cut should never detract
    from the great golf he has played over the last several months.  He has
    shown that he can win, can handle the pressure, and put away the field. 
    His day will come in the majors.
    
    Gary  

Yep, Freddie can let it fly!  I noted the Daley distance comparison in an 
earlier note and have to agree.  Especially with the irons...Couples is un-godly
long.

As for he and The Master's...It's all a matter of his putting streak.  I've 
always felt he was a good LONG putter...one of the best, but he gets those 
streaks where the 4-8 footers get the 'lips'.  I'd love to see him win at 
Augusta!  I'd also keep an eye on Floyd at Augusta...he's been playing pretty
well here too!

Donald

    
       Nice article in today's Boston Globe about Freddie and his rise to
      the top of the golfing world.  I just hope that all the attention,
      hype, worshipping and expectations won't ruin him or seriously affect
      his game.  Remember John Daly?
    
       One interesting item in the article concerned his friendship with
      Tom Watson and how they would get together and goof around (go to
      Royals games,etc).  Fred said that Tom gave him a great tip about
      when playing in a pressure situation.  He told Fred to grip the club
      *tighter* than normal.  All conventional wisdom and teachings have
      been just the opposite, to relax the grip when facing a pressure
      shot.  Interesting.
    
    -rick

	The difference between Freddie and Daly is age and experience. Freddie
is 32 years old and already hit the bottom of the "barrell" after his collapse
in the 1989 Ryder Cup which cost the US the win. According to a "Sports 
Illustrated" article, he got serious about his game after that. Floyd, Watson
and practice have produced 4 wins and 17 top 6 finishes out ouf 24 tournaments.
Daly will get better but is not in Freddie's class yet. I guess Freddie has just
gotten serious about his game....and the PGA is the better for it. Nice guy,
smooth swing, no ego and a home run hitter...what else could you ask for....

bob

    re: .7 - You referred to Fred as "big".  I would refer to him as small.
    He constantly amazes me how he can hit the ball so far with his small
    stature.  Can someone give us accurate dimensions?  My definition of
    large is 6'3" or taller and 215 lbs. or more.
    
    Big Mac

    Well, Freddie played a rather indifferent round at the TPC yesterday-
    a +1, for only his second over-par round in <mumble> rounds....he's 
    8 strokes back going into todays round.

    re:16
    
    Mac
    
    Not sure of the official tape...but when I met Freddy at the airport o
    few years back, he did not seem to be much larger than me a nd my
    hulking 5'9" frame.  We din't compare forearms or anything but he is
    not a Nick Faldo but he does dwarf an Ian Woosnan.  Much the same as
    Ben Crenshaw I suspect.
    
    SCD

    re: 16
    
    Fred Couples- 32; Home- Palm Beach Fla; Ht- 5' 11"; Wt- 185.
    Career earnings= $4,122,727 (1981-91).
    
    Interestingly enough, John Daly is listed at about same size (5' 11", 
    175... sure looks heftier on TV).
    
    (stats sourced from Golf Digest, January 1992- PGA Tour Roster, pg 144)
    
    Case in point on distance resulting more from mechanics than physical
    mass.
    
    rs. 

    Does anyone subscribe to Golf World? This weeks issue has a picture of
    Freddy just after impact and his right hand is almost off the club.
    This is the secong time I have seen this with Freddy's swing. He's got
    it gripped with the fingertips of his middle two fingers on the right
    hand.
    
    What will the teachers think now. Back on plane...Not!!, Full turn with
    the lower body...Not!!, Grip it across the fingers...Not!!
    
    
    It's the Freddy

    Since Daly is mentioned here about as often as Fred I will mention that
    John and Mark Calc... zipped thru their Sunday TPC round in 2hr 15min
    with 80,81 scores.  The PGA is planning to fine them for not putting
    forth best performance.
    
    Not to mention for those in Pago Pago Fred's course record 63 on
    Saturday.

    Some of the inside scoop (from a friend of a top 20 pro) has Daly as a
    still immature kid.  Too bad, but when he gets around the likes of a
    Mark C. who hears a different drummer anyway...its like a moth to a
    flame.  
    
    Still, the PGA did not seem to be too upset with Daly the day
    before when he shot a 78 in 3+ hours....but the 80 in 2+ hours makes
    them mad????? Come on, 2 strokes difference and you get grief.  
    
    Don't know if it is true but I heard that these two were actually jogging
    between shots.  Hard to picture Daly jogging.
    
    Right now Daly gets paid for hitting them far.  When he gets paid more
    for hitting them straight, it will be interesting to see if he changes. 
    The top money winner used to get publicity for 200 yd 7 irons but today
    he gets paid for winning.  Remember also that Daly won over 500k last
    year...in his first year.  He was an instant celeb and automatically
    linked with the big names.  Now he does not know how to handle it.  The
    Masters will be a good test of his maturity.
    
    SCD
    
    
    

	In case anybody was wondering, Fred was at Saturday's NCAA
final 4 games in Minneapolis along with Blane McCalister.
	Also Fred's reign as #1 in the world only lasted a week.
Nick Faldo took over the #1 spot when in finished higher then Fred
at the TPC.

/Ron

    
      Does he still play golf?

    Just goes to show you that the demands from media, sponsors and the
    attraction of appearance money have had tremendous effect on the game. 
    No longer can players just win, especially more than once.  The time
    demands keep them from relaxing and rejuvenating.  In order to relax
    they have to go hide...which limits their income....sooo, they go over
    seas and collect major $$$$ in appearance money.  But then the travel
    kills them.  Catch 22.
    
    Already this year we have seen this happen to Freddy, Mark O., John
    Cook and Davis III.  Mark O'meara skipped the entire Hawaii swing just
    to get away.  He has related stories of envelopes with $100k in cash
    being handed to him at events in Japan.  
    
    Plus another thing.  The clothes they wear are much heavier from all of
    the endorsement logos.  Must be very tiring and if not properly
    balanced with the same amount of logos on each sleeve...wow...that
    could thow your swing way off.  
    
    SCD

    I thought the SHARPS on Duffy Waldorf's cap was an interesting one. 
    Maybe DEC can buy a head for the U.S. Open.
    
    What a crew of sluggers battling down the stretch last night: Daly,
    Glasson, Duffy...
    
    Amazing the way the cameras were able to follow the line of putts -
    Daly's birdie putt which just caught the left corner on 17 an example.
    
    bb

    
    >  Does he still play golf?
    
    Who knows what he's been up to, probably not much golf. After his
    last tournament where he did real (for Freddie at least, he may even
    has missed the cut), he announced he would not be playing any
    tournaments until the US Open, I believe I have read since then that
    he would play at a tournament just before the US open, one that he
    won last year (not sure on this, and don't recall the name).
    
    I figure he will be back for the US Open and will be ready to go.
    
    --Bob
    

    I think if I had just pocketted a touch over $1 million already for
    1992, I would relax and take a few tournaments off too :-).
    
    Mike

    isn't freddy's wife the polo player.
    i don't think he can afford to stop winning money!
    
    seriously, he is probably burned out from all the non-golfing
    activity that he is exposed to now.
    
    black nicklaus

    Read an interesting interview from Johnny Miller this weekend.  He
    suggests that Freddie take the next six months off to get away from the
    pressure!  He indicated that he wish he had done the same thing when he
    was hot in the 1970's when he won around seven tournaments.  Because he
    kept playing, he said he got burned out and never really recovered. 
    Interesting!
    
    Isn't there something about playing a minimum number of tournaments in
    a year, and also something about being fined for not attending
    tournaments that you had made commitments to?
    
    Gary

    Freddie's marital problems have made the boob tube. I'm not sure if
    anyone noticed but theres a blip on the Couples breakup on one of the
    trash TV shows. There on here after the evening news. Hard Copy or one
    of those.
    
    Sad to see it hit prime time. I guess People Mag won't be far behind,
    and the Entertainment Rags. 
    
    Did you see the Honda, wheels fall off, birdie out of the bunker on 17,
    great par from the sand on 18 and wins it when Gamez gags in OT. He
    said that Debra showed up in the gallery on Saturday. My theory on
    Sundays lapse was that she showed back up on 13/14 and disrupted his
    concentration.
    
    Ken 

    Re:    <<< Note 1485.31 by DPDMAI::VENEZIO "Perfect Practice Makes Perfect" >>>

    Who needs "tabloid' TV shows for juicy news?  Golf World hinted (They
    don't mentioned his name but refer to someone with Fredie's style and
    behavior) that his troubles (marital which affected his game) started
    at last year's British Open, where he had to get his wife off the top
    of a table where she  was  dancing  with  "provocative  moves".
    
    Getting back to relevant topics, Fredie  choked!!    and  managed  to
    control it to win.  He had  a  four  stroke lead and went down to one
    ahead when he put his ball in the water in the right from the left of
    the fairway for a double bogie. But his sand shot was something.