My first visit in anger to the USA this year was a 10 day trip to Florida for two PGA Tour events in The Honda Classic and Cadillac WGC.
The first of them, the Honda Classic was at Palm Beach Gardens. I arrived on the Sunday night into Miami and drove up to Palm Beach ready for Monday morning.
I had 3 players playing in both of the events, Lee Westwood, Thomas Bjorn and Darren Clarke.
On the Monday I spent some time with Thomas Bjorn. Thomas was still suffering a little from the back injury that hampered his Matchplay challenge in
Arizona so we couldn't spend to long on the green but what time we had we structured his practice to encourage more 'game' like and 'pressure' conditions as he has been struggling taking his putting stroke from the practice green to the course. Thomas enjoyed the challenge, so much I now owe him 150 dollars. Note to self, don't bet with world class players.
On the Tuesday I spent some time with Lee. His stroke is getting better and he's starting to understand more about his own tendencies. His pace control as a result is getting better and he is starting more putts online. He got a bit of stick for the final round in Dubai and leaving a lot of putts short. However what a lot of people don't realise is that they kept the green slower for the final round due to the high winds expected, so a lot of other players also struggled with the pace.
Come Thursday all the guys were ready to play. The course at PGA National was awesome. It was in great condition and a great layout. The event was also really well supported. Lee was drawn with Tiger the first few rounds and literally the gallery was 10 deep, which is unusual for a regular tour event, certainly compared to those in Europe. The type of spectator was also very different a lot more vocal and a lot less understanding of the game to say the least. However it made for a great atmosphere. In fact the tournament was a great event one of the best regular events I have attended.
Lee played ok for the first two rounds, not really making much on the greens. However we did some good work on the Saturday after his round and he got back into the feel he needed. As a result he putted great on the Sunday for a final round of 63 to finish 4th. Thomas was a little rusty due to the lack of practice because of his injury while Darren Clarke struggled in most departments of his game to also miss the cut.
However on the Sunday Darren and I spent a good day at Old Palm Golf Club, which was a fantastic facility located just down the road from PGA National, getting him back on track. Essentially he was more off in his pace control and green reading rather than his ability to hit a putt online.
On the Sunday night I travelled back down to Miami to Doral which is the venue for the World Golf Championship this week.
I walked the course on the Monday morning with Darren Clarke and sadly I was little disappointed with the course. It certainly doesn't live up to the blue monster tag and it was also in poor condition. However there was a lot to play for this week, in terms of ranking points and also in dollars!
On the Tuesday Darren and Thomas played together which made things easier for me. Afterwards Darren and I did some good work on the putting green. Specifically we gave Darren some pace drills to do in an effort to get his delivery speed more consistent, from which it is easier to get a feel for the break as well as hit the break.
On the Wednesday I did some work with Lee Westwood. We spent some time on the green before playing the front nine. Specifically one of the drills Lee is doing at the moment is to putt under an elevated aim line (also know as a putting string). This helps Lee with his lines and gives him more awareness of the putter face, which in turn helps his strike and starting line. The string can give you really good feedback on the stroke and if you have an issue on starting a ball on line you can pick up a lot of good info practicing with such a training aid. I recommend this drill a lot.
During all the practice rounds the wind was up and if this continues for the rest of the week it will make the course very difficult.
So after a long trip home it's a case of catching up with some sleep and getting ready for Andalucia on Monday and back to the European Tour after my very enjoyable US excursion.
