The Limerick Summary: 2022 Farmers Insurance Open

Winner: Luke List

Around the wider world of golf: Lydia Ko won the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio; Brandon Harkins won The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club on the Korn Ferry Tour; Viktor Hovland got his first Rolex Series title at the Dubai Desert Classic on the DP World Tour; and Patrick Newcomb won the APGA Farmers Insurance Invitational at Torrey Pines.

My Twofer Tuesday picks prove there's no sure thing in golf. This week's picks were Jon Rahm (T3) and Tony Finau (MC). Rahmbo struggled over the weekend but he did snag me another Top5, raising my record to 25%. I still don't have a winner this season though.

• Top10s: 7 for 28 (4 Top5, 3 Top10s)
• Winners: 0 for 14

Of course the Sunday leaderboard at Torrey Pines was crowded with players you wouldn't normally expect to do well at Torrey, especially given the tougher conditions. The biggest surprise was Luke List, who climbed 18 spots in the final round, posting in the clubhouse nearly two hours before the leaders reached the 18th.

And then there was Will Zalatoris who, despite some great shots, struggled with his putter all day. He finally matched Luke's total after barely missing a birdie putt to win on the 18th and then, in the playoff, missed the exact same putt the exact same way while Luke dropped in a short birdie putt to get his first ever PGA Tour win.

At the age of 37. In his 206th start.

Luke's 3-year-old daughter Ryann finally got her wish — Daddy won her a trophy. And while Daddy was probably more overwhelmed with wins and FedExCup points and exemptions to majors, he also picked up his first Limerick Summary. In time I'm sure he'll recognize the significance of that as well.

This trophy took time to get kissed—
Around two extra hours—by Luke List!
He posted his score
But more golf was in store
If this vict’ry was not to be missed!

The photo came from this page at pgatour.com.

Tommy Fleetwood's Driving Tips (Video)

About a week ago I posted a video with Rory's driving secrets. Today you get Tommy Fleetwood's secrets! Yes, the Meandmygolf guys are back and I thought you might enjoy comparing Tommy's approach with Rory's.

Maxfli's LEGAL Super Straight Golf Ball (Video)

Rick Shiels has tested super straight golf balls before. They were pretty straight but they were illegal. However, these Maxfli balls are 100% legal. Are they really any good? Rick's video may surprise you...

Lee Trevino's Backswing Drill (Video)

While Trevino talks about taking the club back with your lead shoulder in this video, he's really just talking about making sure you get a good shoulder coil during your backswing. The reason I'm posting this is because I like the little drill he uses to measure whether you're getting a good coil or not. That "reach for the clubhead" drill can be a good checkpoint when you struggle to turn your shoulders and are instead just picking the club up.

Just a Quick Reminder

Nelly Korda starts her defense at the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio (the first full field LPGA event of 2022) today on GC at 11:30am ET.

Lee Trevino on Short Game Alignment (Video)

As much as we might wish it was different, there is no single correct way to hit shots -- especially short game shots. Watch the tours each week and you'll see a number of different approaches to chipping and pitching that seem to work perfectly well for the players using them.

But this short video shows how Lee Trevino does it. And while you might not choose to do things the way Lee does them, his emphasis on setup and alignment is something every player has to work on. The good thing here is that Lee explains WHY he does it this way, and I think that knowledge can help just about any player who struggles with their short game.

Twofer Tuesday: Farmers Insurance Open

Twofer Tuesday fires up the old jalopy and makes the three-hour ride SW to the California coast and the Farmers Insurance Open.

San Diego, here we come! Both courses at Torrey Pines are long and hard and -- this year, at least -- boasting some serious rough. Three rounds are played at the demanding South Course; giving the boys one day's respite at the North Course.

Something to note: This event will run from Wednesday to Saturday this year. Sunday will see Torrey South hosting the APGA Farmers Insurance Invitational (Saturday is on the North Course), and it's going to be the first Advocates Pro Golf Association Tour event ever televised. GC will cover the last APGA round on Sunday at 5pm ET. The winner gets an exemption to the Korn Ferry Tour’s Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation in May. You can get more information from this article.

As for the main event, Patrick Reed will defend and the boys will have a bit more trouble scoring than they have the past few weeks. Remember: SOUTH COURSE. WITH ROUGH.

It's hard for me to decide on a method for making picks these days, but this time I'm simply looking for players with the largest percentage of Top10s in their appearances at this event.

• My first pick is Jon Rahm. Rahm has 4 Top10s in 5 appearances.
• My other pick is Tony Finau, with 4 Top10s in 7 appearances... but all 4 came in his last 5 appearances.

Sneds actually has more Top10s percentage-wise (8 in 13 appearances) but most of them are several years old.

GC's coverage begins WEDNESDAY at 12:30pm ET. I'm also including a link to the PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+ listings in case you want to catch any of the streams.

The Limerick Summary: 2022 American Express

Winner: Hudson Swafford

Around the wider world of golf: Danielle Kang won the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions on the LPGA; Thomas Pieters won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on the DP World Tour; Miguel Angel Jiménez won the Mitsubishi Electric Championship on the Champions Tour; Anthony Quayle won the QLD PGA Championship on the Australasian Tour; Sadom Kaewkanjana won the SMBC Singapore Open on the Asian Tour; Aaron Jarvis won the Latin America Amateur Championship; and play was suspended at The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour.

My Twofer Tuesday picks weren't a total loss. This week's picks were Corey Conners (MC) and Patrick Cantlay (9). I had hoped for better from Patrick but at least he snagged me a Top10.

• Top10s: 6 for 26 (3 Top5, 3 Top10s)
• Winners: 0 for 13

I shouldn't have been surprised by the results though. The American Express field was filled with surprises this weekend. And the big winner of it all was Hudson Swafford, who scorched his way up the leaderboard with a 64. The only player who kept pace was Brian Harmon, but he was too far back to catch the new champ.

Actually, I should say the repeat champ. While Hudson didn't win back-to-back, this was his second win here. His first one came in 2017, almost exactly five years ago, back when this event was called the CareerBuilder Challenge. (And of course, back in the day, this was the Bob Hope Desert Classic. Yes, this is an event with some serious history.)

Hud began the day three strokes back of the leaders but really took charge on the back nine. He had an eagle, five birdies, two bogeys and a single par coming down the stretch. That par on the 18th was a clutch 8-foot putt that gave him the two-stroke win.

I find it interesting that Hudson now has three wins in five years -- the Limerick Summary may sound like that's slow going but I just thought having bookended wins at the same event a mere one day more than five years apart was unique. It's hard to win on Tour and three wins so soon is not bad at all! But it's clear he's at home in the desert.

At this rate he might rack up several sandy Summaries before his career is done.

It took five years to get his third win…
And this one looks like the first’s twin!
The desert loves Hud—
In the sand, he’s a stud!
Bet he can’t wait to tee up again!

The photo came from this page at pgatour.com.

Rory's Driving Tips (Video)

This video is only a week old so it's very up-to-date concerning Rory's game right now. He talks about how to play certain kinds of shots, how to strategize your way around a course and -- since it's no secret that he got his swing a little messed up chasing more distance -- he talks about what he does to self-correct after getting off-track. All-in-all, a pretty good video!

6 Trouble Shots Made Simple (Video)

Rick says these are 3 shots, but one of them is actually playing off 4 different slopes. Those 4 slopes, plus playing out of deep rough and from being plugged in a bunker, are what he covers in this short video. I know you've all probably seen these kind of tips before, but Rick really has simplified the process in this video. And let's face it, we never stop needing help with these trouble shots, do we?

Rick Shiels Tests the New Cobra LTD X Drivers (Video)

More driver tests, this time the new Cobra drivers. The news here is that these drivers are cheaper than the Callaway and Taylormade drivers he tested earlier this year... and yet Rick says these may actually be better than those drivers! You can be the judge.

Jin Young Ko's Golf Swing (Video)

World #2 Jin Young Ko is less than .1 point behind Nelly Korda. While she's not playing this week, her swing is still worth taking a look at as the new season begins. Although Jin Young is only 5'7" tall, during 2021 she still managed to average over 258 yards off the tee, she was #2 in scoring average (just under 69) and #1 in rounds under par. Many of you men out there can't equal any of those stats, so you might want to take a look at her swing!

The slo-mo shots (from four angles) start around the :50 mark in this short video. The main things I would call your attention to today are that her swing is slightly upright (that does help her accuracy in hitting fairways and greens, both right at 80%) and that she barely makes a 90° shoulder turn (which may hurt her distance just a bit -- although it doesn't hurt players like Jon Rahm -- but definitely helps her accuracy and probably her balance during her swing as well). There's a lot you can learn from Jin Young which doesn't require major changes to your swing.

Golf Is Finally Back in Full Swing

Yes, the world's golf schedule is starting to fill up again. The Korn Ferry Tour's first stop in the Bahamas finishes up today, and the PGA Tour, Champions Tour, DP World Tour and LPGA all get underway in the next couple of days. I know all of you have your favorites to watch but I'm going to focus on the LPGA event today simply because I'm the most excited about that one.

Hilton is the new sponsor for the renamed Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions (formerly it was Diamond Resorts) and Lake Nona is the new venue for the event. While this event is for the LPGA winners of the last two years, there's also a celebrity event going on concurrently with the pro event. The celebrities and amateurs in the field use Stableford scoring while the pros duke it out like normal. It's a fun way to get the LPGA season underway.

Another cool aspect of this is that, with Hilton taking over, the tournament director is now Aaron Stewart, son of the late Payne Stewart.

There are 29 winners in the field this year -- including defending champion Jessica Korda -- and of course the various celebrities and amateurs who are paired with them during the tournament. (The amateurs qualify for the main event through a pro-am earlier in the week, and the pros play with different players each day.) 

If you're interested in knowing who's in the field, this article at progolfweekly.com will get you up-to-speed. One name is missing though -- World #2 Jin Young Ko has decided not to play this week. Nevertheless, the field is definitely loaded.

GC's coverage starts Thursday at noon ET. As great as it is to have all the major tours back in action, I'm really excited to see the women get things going. After last year's finish, there's no telling what we might see in 2022!

Twofer Tuesday: The American Express

Twofer Tuesday leaves sunny Hawaii for the West Coast and the American Express.

The American Express is one of those multicourse events, using a grand total of three (the yardages come from pgatour.com and are, as they say, "subject to change"):

• PGA West (Stadium Course): 7113 yards, par 72
• La Quinta Country Club: 7060 yards, par 72
• PGA West (Nicklaus Tournament Course): 7159 yards, par 72

The cut, of course, takes place on Saturday evening after everybody's had a chance to play all three, which does make for an interesting dynamic at this event. The defending champion is Si Woo Kim (who won last year when they only used two of the courses) but I suspect most eyes will be on Jon Rahm, who won this event in 2018, and on Phil Mickelson, who is... well, Phil.

While I usually give reasons for who I pick, they don't seem to be making much of a difference in the performance of my picks lately. As a result, I'll make it short and sweet this week -- I'm simply taking some different picks from normal.

• I'm picking Corey Conners, who has been scoring pretty well in his last events although he hasn't won lately.
• And I'm picking Patrick Cantlay, who has only played one event since the Ryder Cup but scored pretty well in that event.

We're still getting primetime golf this week, with GC's coverage beginning at 3pm ET Thursday. However, if you have PGA TOUR LIVE you can see all kinds of coverage -- so many times and groups that I'll just link you to the page with the info. Check the rather large grid at the bottom of the page for the details.

The Limerick Summary: 2022 Sony Open

Winner: Hideki Matsuyama

Around the wider world of golf: The Royal Queensland course in Australia hosted simultaneous men's and women's events this week: Su Oh won the inaugural Karrie Webb Cup at the Fortinet Australian WPGA Championship and, in only his fourth professional start, Jediah Morgan won the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship by a record ELEVEN shots; and Joohyung Kim won the Singapore International on the Asian Tour.

My Twofer Tuesday picks are back in 2021 form, it seems. This week's picks were Marc Leishman (T36) and Matt Jones (MC). After grabbing a Top5 last week I have once again picked players with good records at an event and yet didn't even get into contention.

• Top10s: 5 for 24 (3 Top5, 2 Top10s)
• Winners: 0 for 12

In some ways the Sony Open was a repeat of last week, in that a couple of players distanced themselves from the field and gave us all a breathtaking Sunday afternoon. Last week it was a tale of two nines as the leader opened a gap between himself and the field during the front nine, only to be chased down in the back nine.

Déjà vu, I guess.

Hideki began his day two back of Russell Henley, only to shoot 32 on the front nine to be five back at the turn. Henley's 6-under 29 made him look unbeatable... until they reached the back nine where Russell shot 36 and Hideki shot 31, sending them to a playoff.

And then, with Russell forced to lay up on the first playoff hole, the par-5 18th, Hideki nailed his 277-yard second to within a yard of the hole. Russell's mis-hit wedge flew the green and he walked off with a bogey. Needless to say, Hideki's eagle was good enough for the win.

Hideki continues to make Japanese history. This win tied him with KJ Choi's eight wins, which is the record for PGA Tour wins by an Asian player. It also gives him the record for the most Limerick Summaries by an Asian player, as KJ won most of his tournaments before my blog existed. Congrats, Hideki, and may you add many more!

He chased Russell Henley all day.
Rewarded with more holes to play
Hideki stepped up,
Hit it close to the cup
And put yet one more title away.

The photo came from this page at pgatour.com.

Learning to Adjust for Parallax (Video)

Parallax is the problem you have lining up your shots because your eyes aren't directly over your aimline. In this short video Mike Malaska explains how your brain learns to adjust for this problem through practice. And since he shows a practice station with some aiming rods set up to show you where the ball should go, I think it's safe to say that he's recommending this setup as a drill to help you learn how to aim properly.

We're expecting a snowstorm early Sunday morning that may take out power lines. So if you don't see a post from me Monday morning, you'll know we either lost power, internet or both and I'll get Monday's post up as soon as possible. I know many of you are dealing with the same problem this time of year, but this is just a head's-up.

Chris Ryan on Drawing Your Driver (Video)

You knew this was coming, right? In yesterday's post Chris told how to draw irons... but he also said that the driver required a different technique. So of course I had to find out how he hits draws with a driver! It's the same idea as the irons -- change your setup rather than your stance -- but he does adjust for the forward ball position you need to hit a high draw with your driver. Have fun trying it out!

A Different Approach to Drawing Your Iron Shots (Video)

This post is for those of you who struggle with sliced iron shots. You may have tried closing your stance -- a common approach to the problem -- but just ended up hitting bigger slices. Chris Ryan suggests making a setup change that lets you hit a draw from a SQUARE stance. While I don't want you to start twisting your forearms to create a draw -- that can lead to all kinds of problems -- his approach sounds like something worth trying because it eliminates the huge exaggerations that a closed stance can cause in your swing.

If you try this approach, I'd be interested to know how it worked for you because it is definitely a different approach. Let me know in the comments.

Alistair Davies's Swing Plane Drill (Video)

Everybody swings on a slightly different swing plane. Golf UK Top50 Swing Coach Alistair Davies has a simple drill to help you determine what YOUR correct swing plane is. If the whole idea of swing plane has been driving you nuts, this drill might help you get past all the mind clutter and simply find the plane that feels right to you.

And no, you don't have to try and hit balls teed up on a club shaft. That's just crazy.

Annika's Chipping Drill (Video)

A very short post today -- it's Annika's chipping drill that's guaranteed to teach you a descending chipping stroke. And all you need is a tee, so you can do this in a small backyard. Trust me, this will take some practice if you want to do it consistently!

Twofer Tuesday: Sony Open

Twofer Tuesday makes the short hop from Kapalua to Honolulu for the Sony Open.

As courses go, Waialae Country Club doesn't sound so tough. A par-72 measuing a mere 7044 yards, it's been the site of the Sony Open since 1965 and it's a course that any player can dominate if their game is in shape... and the wind doesn't blow. But the wind is predicted to be around 6-7mph the first two days and 13-14mph over the weekend, and the course is flat, narrow, has longer rough this year and is on the coast. That could present some problems.

But again, it's not so long. Defending champion Kevin Na is a two-time winner at Waialae, and both long and short players have won here. This is definitely an equal opportunity event.

I'm going all Aussie this week, as Aussies have traditionally played well this time of year in Hawaii... but I'm probably not picking the Aussie you expect.

• My first pick is Matt Jones. He has yet to post a Top10 at the Sony (his personal best was a T11 last year) but he's coming off a third place finish at Kapalua last week. Bear in mind that his third was one of the scores to break Ernie Els's scoring record and he was six shots ahead of fourth place.
• And my other pick is Marc Leishman. While Leish only finished T10 last week (an aggregate score of 269) he posted a T3 in 2019, T28 in 2020 and T4 last year. Those aggregate scores of  263, 276 and 261 were 5, 7 and 2 shots respectively behind the winners. He plays consistently well at the Sony and I see no reason he shouldn't play well this week as well.

GC's live coverage starts Thursday at 7pm ET but PGA TOUR LIVE starts at noon ET. One of the benefits of January golf is prime time coverage and we get to enjoy another week of it.

The Limerick Summary: 2022 Sentry Tournament of Champions

Winner: Cameron Smith

Around the wider world of golf: Surprise! Only one of the big tours was in action this week.

My first Twofer Tuesday picks of 2022 were Justin Thomas (T5) and Patrick Reed (T15). I'm ecstatic with the results, especially since both players were tied for last after the first round!

• Top10s: 5 for 22 (3 Top5, 2 Top10s)
• Winners: 0 for 11

Let's face it. While a low-scoring event was expected, given the calm weather predictions, I don't think anybody expected Ernie Els's 2003 scoring record of -31 to fall. They certainly didn't expect it to fall THREE TIMES, with Matt Jones finishing at -32, then Jon Rahm at -33 and Cameron Smith capping them both at -34.

But perhaps we should have expected it. Rahm has been on a tear as of late and, given the success of Aussies at this event, having two of them battling for the lead shouldn't have been a surprise -- especially since both Smith and Jones (wasn't that a TV show back in the early 70s?) had to win events to get to Kapalua. Another good performance was clearly in the cards.

Or perhaps I should say ON the cards. Their scorecards, that is.

Regardless, Cam Smith will see the benefits of his performance very very soon as he's expected to crack the OWGR Top10 this Monday morning.

But he gets another Limerick Summary even sooner than that. I wonder just how many he might manage to grab this year?

A twenty-year record fell hard
As red bled from everyone’s card!
Cam Smith topped the field
And all questions were stilled
In a show where most everyone starred.

The photo came from this page at pgatour.com.

Clay Ballard's Driving Basics (Video)

About a week ago Gman left a comment asking me about some of Clay Ballard's videos. Well, after two videos about new drivers, here's a Ballard video on improving your drives with your existing driver.

Let me make a couple of quick comments about things in this video that may be a bit misleading:

• Don't get discouraged by the length of his drives. Clay is clearly a tall guy and that height gives him an advantage over most of us mere mortals.
• And don't work too hard to create that huge lag he's talking about. The angle looks much more exaggerated because of the camera's viewpoint relative to his swing plane.

One thing I like that he's teaching you to create swing extremes during your practice. That means he wants you to swing in ways that will teach you how the extremes of your swing -- for example, you create extreme slices and then extreme hooks. The idea is that you'll learn the most dramatic things you can do, and then you use that knowledge to help you find a balance between them. If you've had trouble straightening out your swing, this technique may help you find the answer.

ProMedica Steps Up and Makes History

The LPGA was sad when Mike Whan decided to step down and ended up at the USGA. Now they're extremely happy with the way things turned out.

In case you didn't hear, the USGA made history on Friday by announcing their first-ever presenting sponsor for an event. ProMedica, a mission-based, not-for-profit integrated health and well-being organization that serves communities in 28 states, signed a long-term agreement with the USGA to co-sponsor the US Women's Open... and the benefits are immediate.

This year's Open purse will leap from $5.5mil to $10mil, with the winner getting $1.8mil. That purse will grow to $12mil over the next five years. And the women are going to be playing some seriously historic venues that they have only dreamed of thus far -- venues like Riviera, Inverness, Interlachen and Oakland Hills.

We're talking money that is very close to what the men get. (The 2021 US Open for the men had a purse of $12.5mil.) This is going to raise the profile of women's golf in an unprecedented way.

And this isn't a one-way deal. ProMedica's Impact Fund, which is trying to make a major impact on the nation's healthcare system, will become the LPGA's official charity. They hope golf's ability to help charities will allow them to generate a billion dollars over the next eight years.

If any deal could exemplify Whan's belief that "a rising tide lifts all ships," this is certainly it.

Here are links to three articles that will give you more details on the deal:

• LPGA.com's article
• Golfchannel.com's article
• Golf.com's article

While this deal certainly will help the LPGA across the board -- it demonstrates in a big way that the LPGA isn't the minor leagues -- I think it also represents a paradigm shift in our sport. Golf certainly has a reputation for helping charities but THIS, this dwarfs everything that our sport has tried before. I believe the PGA Tour generated a billion dollars over a seven-year period recently but, if I understand this deal correctly, this is about generating a billion OVER AND ABOVE the regular charities in order to effect changes our government has proven ineffective in making.

This will be a project worth watching. It could be a real gamechanger for sports in general.

Rick Shiels Tests the 2022 TaylorMade Stealth Drivers (Video)

Yesterday I posted Rick's test of the Callaway Rogue ST drivers; today it's the TaylorMade Stealth models. These are the designs based on the driver Tiger is currently using, with high-tech carbon fiber faces... and high-dollar price tags. Are they worth the money? Rick's tests showed some unexpected results when compared against the TaylorMade Sim2, with a carbon fiber body but a titanium face. Again, if you're looking into a new driver, Rick's conclusions may help you make an educated choice.

Rick Shiels Tests the 2022 Callaway Rogue ST Drivers (Video)

It's the beginning of 2022 so Rick is testing new equipment again. This time it's the four new Callaway Rogue ST drivers. Is this a big change from the older models? If you're looking at one of these, which one is best for you... and which one is worst? In my opinion, that latter bit may be the most important question.

I always like Rick's reviews. Hope this helps you if you're looking for a Callaway driver.

Peter Finch on Putting Basics (Video)

Clearly Peter Finch isn't trying to cover everything about putting in just ten minutes. But what I like about this video is his emphasis on how the choices you make -- not just your stance or how you conceive your stroke but even the style of putter, your chosen grip, how high or low you hold your hands and where your eyes are over your aimline -- how understanding the relationship between all of these things contributes to how consistently you'll swing your putter along your aimline. It's good food for thought as you start the new year.

Twofer Tuesday: Sentry Tournament of Champions

Twofer Tuesday digs out of a surprise winter storm and speeds off to Hawaii for the Sentry Tournament of Champions.

Yes, we had heavy rains Sunday night followed by a freak snowstorm early Monday morning. While it wasn't a huge amount of snow, it still took down trees and littered the county where I live with power outages and service disruptions. And although we didn't lose power we did lose internet, TV and phone... which is why you're only just now getting a Twofer Tuesday post. Our service literally just came back on.

As a result, this will be an extremely short post. So:

The defending champion is Harris English.

My two picks for the tournament are:

• Justin Thomas
• Patrick Reed

And GC's primetime coverage begins Thursday at 6pm ET.

Now I'm off to take care of business as usual. Hopefully there will be no more disruptions and I can get back on schedule with tonight's post.

Jonathan Kim-Moss Explains How Lag Works (Video)

One thing I discovered some time back is that creating lag incorrectly will make you slice. In this video Jonathan Kim-Moss explains why this is and -- I particularly like this -- he shows you the incorrect action from a couple of angles so you can actually see the clubface open on the backswing and stay open through impact. Watch and learn!

Making New Year's Golf Resolutions (Video)

When most of us make resolutions, they're about learning to do things we don't yet know how to do. But this video is about strategic resolutions -- making decisions to do things we are already capable of doing but we simply don't. They're the kind of resolutions that you can be 100% successful with if you just decide to do them. Hopefully this video will help you make some immediate improvements to your game!

Welcome to 2022!

And I hope you have a much nicer year than 2021 was. Happy New Year!

Image ©Julia Näther of Germany. Check out her pics at 123RF.