Scott Martin's Page - January 2006 - Archives
Update from Phoenix February 1, 2006
The Buick at Torrey Pines - Wednesday January 25, 2006
Hey Folks
We're in San Diego this week for the Buick. Tiger's in town so that always makes this week pretty exciting. Throughout my career as a caddy I've been lucky enough to have been paired with him for a few practice rounds while I was working for Notah Begay. I've also been paired with him for a couple of tournament rounds at Riviera at the LA Open in 2004. That was for a Saturday and Sunday round. What a blast that was! What I'm getting at is that I still get a rush when he's around. He's got a lot of presence and has the attention of even his peers when he's on the range. Like today.
Craig and I were on the range today after we had played in the morning pro-am. Here at Torrey Pines the range is not very wide but is long enough for the players to hit at both ends. Except Bubba Watson, but that's a different story! The range was pretty busy with players from one side to the other. All of a sudden, security increases. One moment there are no police and the next thing you know, there's a half a dozen of them walking onto the range. Twenty yards behind them comes Tiger surrounded by four more cops. Within a few minutes a spot opens up for him to hit balls. Just about every player sneaks peeks at Tiger as he's hitting. He's the best, so why not?
The galleries following him this week will be huge. For one, he's Tiger. On top of that he's defending champ. Phil Mickelson also plays well here so when these guys go heads to head things can get exciting. As you can tell by now, I'm a big Tiger fan and I love to see him beat Phil. They don't see eye to eye and have a great rivalry going. This week should feature these two going at it. Vijay and Ernie Els are playing overseas so it could and should be a two-man show. We're paired with 2004 champ John Daly and Brent Geiberger. Daly always has a shot at winning whenever he's in a tournament and is a lot of fun being paired with. He'll be bombing them out there and I'll be happily standing there on every tee enjoying the show.
As for last week at the Bob Hope, was that another Cleveland Golf sponsored player winning again? Chad Campbell is one great player. He flies under the radar and plays solid, consistent golf. He didn't play that well last year but still finished top-30 to get into the Tour Championship. I'm hoping my guy can make a cut never mind finishing second and first in his first two events of the year! Craig hit the ball pretty good after a rough start today. Even though this was only a pro-am, he could use any signs of encouragement whenever he plays. Today he had a run of 5 birdies in 6 holes. As I've said in the past, when these guys go on a run they can shoot lights out. Let's hope that all those birdies today can carry over into tomorrow's first round and beyond.
Enjoy the golf coverage this week and I'll be back in touch soon. Bye for now.
Sony Open Update - Monday January 18, 2006
Like I was saying last week, Cleveland Golf has some great players and equipment. Two staff players, David Toms and Chad Campbell finished 1-2 with Vijay finishing 6th for three Cleveland players in the top 10 at the Sony Open in Honolulu.
Unfortunately, Craig Perks didn't fare near as well. After opening with a tough first round plus 6, he settled down to shoot even par in the second round of play. He has a lot of work to do before he (we) will see some positive results. He is the nicest guy I have worked for in the last 6 years on tour but probably has the lowest confidence of any player I have worked for. It is understandable, though.
After winning the Player's Championship in 2002 he decided to revamp his swing. He has never played the same with only a handful of top-10's in the last 3-4 years. Craig has a lot of good tools to work with as do all of the players on tour. He has length and a good short game. He's a big guy but has very soft hands around the green. It's too bad that he has to rely on his short game so much. It all starts with the driver.
He's now using a great driver but his mechanics have made things difficult. He misses too many fairways which puts a lot of pressure on his approach shots, which results in a high percentage in missed greens, which puts a lot of pressure on chipping and putting. He is certainly aware of all of this and feels the pressure of a tournament as soon as he steps onto the first tee. If he hits a bad first tee shot, the day's results can be bad. It can be that way for him hole after hole, the pressure to hit good shots. With the great players, it just happens. I once read a great quote from Vijay. A journalist once asked him if winning breeds confidence. He said confidence breeds winning. Unfortunately, Craig's confidence isn't where it needs to be.
There is a very fine line between good and bad at this level of pro golf. Unfortunately, at this point of Craig's career on tour, he's on the wrong side of that line. But I do feel optimistic because of the good things I see on the course. Like a big, straight drive or a great iron shot at the flag. Some great chips or bunker shots or a long putt rolling in. I see it all every round but it doesn't happen often enough to compete with the players on the PGA Tour.
I hate to write about the bad that is going on right now with Craig and I. I would love to write about great experiences that are happening on the course. But if you are all interested, I would be happy to share my experiences with you.
This week on tour is the Bob Hope in Palm Springs. Craig has chosen to not play there this week. We'll be hooking up in San Diego next Monday to start getting ready for Buick at
Message for Scott - Tuesday January 12, 2006
Hey Folks
Paul and I have been in touch for the last couple of years while I have been out here caddying on the PGA Tour. He has done a great job with the Scotty Tracker so my family and friends have a chance to follow what's going on while I'm on the road. As you all know, Paul has done a great job with the whole website and I really enjoy the updates from Two Mo. No shortage of humour, that's for sure.
I'm now caddying for Craig Perks and have been since last August. No success last year but hopefully, we'll get things on track for 2006. Craig won The Player's Championship in 2002. The Players has the toughest field of the year. Only the top players play from the PGA Tour as well as the best international players. It's a very exciting event and is my favourite stop of the year.
Craig is starting the season with a new sponsor for equipment and bag. After playing Titleist for the last few years he is now with Cleveland Golf. Cleveland has a number of great players in their stable. Vijay, David Toms, Chad Campbell and Jonathan Kaye just to name a few. They have a new driver that the players are loving. Vijay tried one in a practice round last week at the Mercedes Championship and immediately put it in use. These players will happily try new equipment but it is very rare for them to put it in use that soon. They will usually try it for a couple of weeks before trusting it enough to put it in play. Vijay went on to lose in a playoff to Stewart Appleby. Craig is also going to play the new driver starting with today's first round. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
Here's my upcoming schedule for those of you are interested. I'll be working for Craig at the Sony Open, San Diego and Phoenix. I'll then work for my former boss Brett Quigley at Pebble Beach. The following week I'll be back with Craig for the Nissan Championship at Riviera in LA, another one of my favorite courses. Craig will then play all four events in Florida, The Ford Championship at Doral in Miami, The Honda in West Palm, Bay Hill and then The Player's Championship.
If any of you would like to contact me it would be great to hear from you. I can be reached at
scott@2mopaul.com. At this time I would like to wish you all a healthy and happy new year. Take care.
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