Dennis is one of my golf buddy’s I play with on a regular basis…..he actually played a round with Alex Cejka here on our home course back about 5-6 years ago…back then when we had our TPC designation and the Honda Classic, lots of PGA professionals like Alex and Bernard Langer would practice here at Heron Bay…I remember him telling me about what a long hitter he was on the Par 5’s….it would have been nice to see him prevail and score his first PGA victory….but so it goes…like the PGA man says…”it takes 4 good days to win a PGA tournament”…and our friend Alex only had 3 this time around…

So Henrik Stenson prevailed and took the crystal at this year’s Players Championship….a fantastic and error-free final round…he played consistent the entire week and kept his tee shots in the fairway…without a doubt the most difficult task when playing the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass..lots of usually tier 2 players popped up into the mix this week…John Mallinger, Ben Crane and Kevin Na all had good rounds and were in contention on Sunday…

In my view Alex was pulled down by Tiger’s negative mojo on Sunday…and it literally started on the first hole..I knew Tiger was going to have problems when I saw him tee off with a 3 wood…it looks like our Superhero is going to need some real work before the US Open next month..the knee, while in good shape has definitely affected his swing..they were showing the Slo-Mo video all throughout the day for most of Tiger’s tee shots..he’s dropping his height through his swing..causing a new swing momentum which he’s not used to…any consistent duffer will confirm this fact…when you play with a guy who’s having a bad round, it’ll usually effect your round as well..and not for the better..

The TPC Sawgrass course is one of the toughest on tour, only because you have to be able to shape your tee and iron shots on this course…without an easily executed fade or draw in your swing arsenal, this course will eat you alive…and let’s not forget the greens….

All the players raved about how great the course and green conditions were…but on Saturday and Sunday when those greens ran 13 and 14, you could seem them “shine like marble” stated Ian Poulter…as fast any major he had ever played before…kudo’s to Poulter for a great tournament and run on Sunday…I would liked to seen both him and Stenson in a dog fight at the end, but this may come another day..Poulter is a great player and way overdue for a US win..

And so we wait for the US Open..the last time Beth Page Black got rained on but good and turned the event into a swamp run..hopefully this year will be different..and our man Tiger heads home, on the phone with Hank Haney scheduling a long set of meetings to figure out what’s going on with his driver and swing….