:: February 08
19 February, Northern Trust Open
Not quite the fast start I was looking for last week I'm afraid! The week was a bit of a struggle all in all. I struck the ball poorly from tee to green and that coupled with being on the wrong side of the draw made it almost impossible to make the cut. My short game was pretty sharp which just about kept me in with a chance. When I say I was on the wrong side of the draw I mean that the weather created different scoring conditions both days and my half of the draw was the cold and windy one. Only 15 guys out of 78 made the cut on this side. That is golf though! I've got to believe there isn't much wrong with the swing and a little simple thought will get me firing again. I think the matchplay this week will be just what I need to get the competitive juices flowing again as head to head matchplay is great fun. My coach Nick Bradley is heading out to Tucson so I'm sure he'll get me back on the straight and narrow. Literally! I play Rod Pampling in the 1st round. He is an Aussie who has done pretty well on the PGA Tour in recent years so I expect a tough game. Reputations go out the window with matchplay and each game is a new battle. This tournament really got me going last year so I have good feelings about it...I'm enjoying competing again. Justin
21 February, Accenture World Match Play Championship
For the second week in a row, not good news to report, I'm afraid. Well, from the result side, anyway. I lost 2&1 to Rod Pampling in the first round of the Accenture World Match Play. It was a tough loss, as I felt confident going into the game as I'd done a lot of good preparation and felt tons better about my game than I did last week in California. I actually struck the ball so much better and actually began to drive the ball really well again, which is really encouraging.
Last week I putted well to keep myself around respectability, but this week the putter deserted me and was ice cold. I made an 8 footer on the first green to go one up, but then didn't hole a putt over 3 feet, and had two 3 putts to give two holes to Pampling. And that was ultimately my undoing. I've got to just take this on the chin, cling to the positives of which there were some, and use it to create some momentum going into the Florida swing. This year I am really excited about the Florida swing, as I missed all of it last year due to injury.
Next week is the Honda Classic in West Palm Beach, which is an event I haven't played for a couple of years, and it's on a new golf course which I believe is a tough challenge and scoring can be similar to major championships. Although I have played two events, I have only played three competitive rounds of golf, so I am looking forward to a nice little run in Florida. Will update you from there, with some great news! Justin
