I’m a far better player than I was this time last year heading into the Palm Springs tournament. My goal last year was just to break 80 all 3 days (which I accomplished), but this year my goal has been to shoot an under par round on at least one of the 3 days. It is going to be an incredibly difficult task, but since I’ve been able to shoot under par a few times now recently, I know truly that it’s possible and I have the ability to do it. My game seems to be peaking at exactly the perfect time…I’ve never been so confident in my short game as I am right now, especially in my putting and the results are starting to show. I had 11 1-putts yesterday and 7 birdies in route to a (-4) 56 at the Oaks North executive course. The changes I made in my putting last week have turned my game around 180 degrees, the ball rolling off the face perfectly, tracking and staying on line so nicely and mentally I’ve never been so confident. My ball striking is exponentially better right now than this time last year and I have added a cut shot into my arsenal that I can hit consistently. I’m also hitting my driver consistently well again and with my improved accuracy with my 3 and 5 woods, I’m keeping the ball in or right near the fairway on every tee shot. The one area I would say I haven’t improved as much as I would like is my wedge game. I’m still not consistently putting the ball on the green or close to the flag from about 120 yards and in. That’s the one thing that scares me right now heading into this tournament as something that will stop me from shooting under par…I have to take advantage of good drives and at least give myself a realistic opportunity for birdie. My distance control hasn’t been consistent and my miss seems to be a block. These courses at PGA West are very difficult (same courses they play at PGA Tour Q-School) so when you get a chance with a wedge in your hand to put it close you must take advantage to score low. That is something I’ll be working on this next week both on the course and at the range and hopefully I’ll be more confident in it heading into next weekend.
Here are my scores for this past week:
8/4/14
The Vineyard Escondido Par 70 71.0/126 6,531 Yards
Score: 72 (+2) FW: 7/14 GIR: 12/18 Putts: 31 Up/Down: 4/5 Sand Save: 1/1 Penalties: 1
8/6/14
The Vineyard Escondido Par 70 71.0/126 6,531 Yards
Score: 74 (+4) FW: 11/14 GIR: 11/18 Putts: 32 Up/Down: 5/8 Sand Save: 0/1 Penalties: 0
8/7/14
Oaks North Executive Par 60 South/North 56.8/89 3,608 Yards
Score: 56(-4) FW: 3/6 GIR: 11/18 Putts: 25 Up/Down: 4/7 Sand Saves: 1/1 Penalties: 0
My Journey 2 Scratch 