Travelers Championship - Second Round (Fri / Sat)

We missed the cut and it can be summed up as just plain "weird". Starting Thursday, we played 11 holes, waited 19 1/2 hours to play 7 holes, waited 10 1/2 hours to play 3 holes, then waited 11 more hours to play 15 holes. Another weird thing was we made only two birdies and two bogeys all week and they were made on the same exact hole. So our scorecard read exactly the same for both rounds.

Considering all of the wait time, Kevin's game was solid. He played well (ball striking, short game) but we did not score. According to shotlink, we only made 2 putts over 9 feet for 36 holes with the longest being 11'3". His average distance made was 3'1". Kevin's ball looked like it was rolling good. He said he was hitting them solid and starting them where he was looking. We just have to chalk it up as "one of those weeks".

After the round, I went back to the hotel and was able to get a late check out. I packed up and started my drive home. I was able to get 6 hours down the road and stopped in Strasburg, VA for the night. I have about 5 hours to go in the morning. Kevin was able to get a flight out this evening and he should be getting home tonight. We did not get into the ATT National next week, so our next start will be the John Deere Classic in two weeks.

Travelers Championship - Friday (Round One Complete)

We had seven holes remaining in round one when play resumed at 7am. With a mist falling, Kevin played well, finishing with 6 pars and a birdie for an even par round (70). Shotlink shows we only made three putts over 6 feet - longest being 10' 9". We will need to keep hitting the ball solid and start dropping a few more putts.

Our round 2 tee time is scheduled for 7:20pm. With sunset at 8:28pm, we should be able to play 4 or 5 holes before play is suspended. They are forecasting a chance of thunderstorms starting about 5pm, so we will have to see if they develop. Either way, we will be out there late tonight and then back out Saturday morning for another early restart.

Travelers Championship - First Round

Long Day. We played 11 holes before play was suspended at 11:20am. Kevin played solid with just one bogey and 10 pars. His ball striking was solid - missing one fairway and two greens. We stayed in our new routine and only miss hit one shot, a hybrid 2 iron. Other then that, every shot was hit solid.

The Tour officials opened the practice facilities at 4pm. With it still raining, they went out to access the golf course and at 4:45 they announced a 5:45pm restart. We started our warm up in the rain and as it continued, the Tour pushed the restart back to 6:15pm and then again to 6:30. Finally at 6:15, the Tour announced we were not going to be able to restart today. We will be back in position at 7am tomorrow. That means another early wake up. Weather permitting, it is possible we will play our final 7 holes, finish about 9am and then have to return to start our 2nd round about 7pm. Looks like another long day tomorrow. Bring it. We're ready.

Travelers Championship (Hartford, CT) - Practice

Kevin and I rolled into town on Sunday night. On Monday, we met at 9am on the range with the Nike Rep. Kevin cracked the face of his driver during the third round in Memphis, so our main focus was finding a new driver that produced the correct launch, ball speed and spin rate. After working on the launch monitor and making a few adjustments, they dialed it in and we had a driver just as good as the old one. After a morning of practice, we had a 12:30 tee time in the Monday pro-am. During the pro-am, Kevin decided to change up our routine. He did not want me to give him numbers/yardages, he just wanted the club, type of shot and target. Kevin feels like he needs to free it up on the course and this is a way he can come out and just hit shots. Much like he does on the range. The routine worked and his ball striking was solid. He played very well.

We met after lunch on Tuesday. So in the morning, I went out on the course and finished up a little course work. I caddied here in 2008 but I still needed a few lines and lay-up numbers on the par 5's. Our practice mainly consisted of short game. We spent a lot of time around the practice green chipping, bunker play and putting. After hitting a few balls, we went out for a nine hole practice round with Trevor Immelman. We stayed in our new routine and it seems to be working. Kevin had another great day.

With the Pro-am teeing off this morning at 6:50am, I met Kevin at 5:30 for an early morning practice round. After a warm up, we were teeing off at 5:55am. We had a nice nine hole practice round by ourselves and we were able to get some good practice in around the greens. The only negative came when I lost a $20 bet to Kevin when he hit an 86 yard shot onto a floating Travelers Umbrella that was only the size of king bed. When we finished, we had some breakfast and then went through our normal practice routine - chip, putt and ball hitting. Our day finished about 11am.

We tee off tomorrow at 8:51 with Fran Quinn and Andres Gonzales. Rain has moved in this afternoon and is forecast to hang around for a few days. It could be a long day tomorrow but we are ready.

FedEx St Jude Classic - Fourth Round

Solid Day. The new driver performed as well as could be expected. It did not have the "pop" like his old one but the spin was down and it got us through the day. With the wind down and blowing from the opposite direction, the course was playing slightly easier and the scoring average for the field was a little lower then the first three days. Our even par (70) put us at even par for the week and finished t-38th.

This week is the US Open so we will be home for the week. We start back next Monday in Hartford, CT at the Travelers Championship.

FedEx St Jude Classic - Third Round

It was a bit of a struggle today. We shot two over par (72) with 16 pars and 2 bogeys. Kevin fought his swing a little today but the biggest issue came from his driver.

We noticed early in the round that his driver was not flying correctly. Kevin hit nice tee shots off of the first three holes but after walking to them out in the fairway, they had no distance to them. His tee shot on the third hole was 35 yards shorter then where it finished on the first two days. After discussing it with Kevin, he told me that he thought something didn't seem right with the driver on the finishing holes yesterday. I just chalked them up to miss hits and/or wind issues therefore, never thought much about it. But today, we could tell something was seriously wrong.

Since we could not see or feel a crack in the face we had to continue to use the driver. With the wind speed and direction similar to the first day, our driving distance dropped 20 yards from Thursday (288.5 yards down to 269 yards). Coming into these greens from 20 yards further back made it very difficult to get the ball close to the hole. We had limited opportunities for birdies and when we did, we failed to convert.

The Nike driver technology that Kevin uses allows him to change the shaft by using a special wrench. So after the round, we took another Nike head identical to his original head and replaced it with his shaft. Kevin said it has a different feel but it feels good enough to stick with and have it in play tomorrow.

We tee off at 9:30 with Ben Curtis. A solid under par round tomorrow can move us right back up that board.

FedEx St Jude Classic - 2nd Round

We played solid for most of the day. Gusty wind conditions made the opening nine holes play difficult. Kevin managed to turn at one over 36 and then birdied 2, 4 and 5 to get it to 6 under for the tournament. A few marginal shots coming in left us in some difficult positions and the short game could not bail us out. Four consecutive bogeys to finish the day puts us at 2 under (t-16th). On the positive side of things, we are only two shots from 5th and the leader is well within reach with two days left. We can't focus on what we left out on the course, we can only improve on what we have ahead of us.

With 83 players making the cut at 2 over or better, the PGA Tour has split the tee times off of number 1 and 10. We will be teeing off number 1 at 10:22 with Blake Adams and Jonathan Byrd.

FedEx St Jude Classic - Memphis, TN

Man, it sounds like some of you missed me!! I woke up this morning to text messages, voice mails, and saw there were 61 hits on my blog in the past 24 hours. Wow, I guess I better start blogging. Fact is, I've been sick the last few days and the medicine I've been taking after the rounds leaves me with little energy and lots of sleep. But I woke up today feeling much better and I'm ready to get back out into the heat.

Our week got started with the US Open Qualifier on Monday. Kevin and I both left Saturday and met for a practice round on Sunday. Kevin hit the ball well on Monday but was not able to get anything rolling. We had three 3-putts through 27 holes and stood at even par. With the projected qualifying number close to 10 under and the heat index at 109, Kevin decided to conserve his energy for the rest of the week and withdrew from the qualifier.

With the temperature hovering around 100, we decided to play 9 hole practice rounds. After a nice practice session on Tuesday morning, we played nine holes with Jhonattan Vegas and Fabian Gomez. During our morning practice, Kevin picked up an Odyssey Two Ball Backstrike putter. After some practice and testing on the golf course, he has decided to keep it in the bag. On Wednesday, we teed off before the Pro-am at 6:15am for the back nine practice round with Andres Gonzales, William McGirt, and 2010 Rolex Junior of the Year Anthony Paolucci. With our early start, our day was done before lunch and we were able to get some much needed rest. Kevin's Dad flew in this evening and is here for the week.

As you all know, Kevin shot 66 and is tied for 2nd. I take zero credit since my "caddy rating" from my boss yesterday was a C+. (don't tell Kevin...I'll take a C+ and 66 everyday) Today was Brittany's Birthday, so Kevin was disappointed he could not give her his first PGA Tour lead for her Birthday. Sorry Brittany, caddy's fault. Kevin's hard work he has put in with his instructor, Rickey Sullivan, is shining through. He is starting to trust it more everyday. Our motto this week "See it, Feel it, Trust it".  His short game was great and he even holed out a flop shot after his C+ caddy put him in a place that his boss called "dead...no chance". It is amazing how a little short game talent can get you out of some pretty tough spots.

We tee off today at 1:30. I'm just trying to improve each day and hope I can get up to a B+ by the end of the week.