At the halfway point of the Tour Championship at East Lake Country Club in Atlanta, the course appears to be winning. With the Top 30 PGA professionals competing this week you would expect low scores. After two rounds on this magnificent 7154 yard Par 70 golf course, 66 has been the best round recorded on either day.

On Wednesday, we here at World Golf Emporium questioned whether weather conditions would have an effect on the final leg of the FedEx Cup. Although, for now, the rain has held off, the temperatures on Friday made for a sweltering hot day. The temps got up in the mid 90s and with little or no wind, the players struggled to stay cool and hydrated. For Saturday, Tournament officials decided to move tee times up to try and avoid rain.

After struggling on the 14th hole on Thursday, Phil Mickelson came back strong and shot a 3 under par 67 to get back to even par. Mickelson showed no signs of surrender during the second round and is once again within striking distance of the lead.

I was absolutely amazed watching Stewart Cink play the 10th hole. Stepping up to the tee on ten, Cink was tied for the lead at 5 under par. Using a driver on the 469 yard par 4, Cink hit his tee shot left and with one bounce the ball traveled out of bounds.

Playing his next tee shot, his third stroke, Cink proceeded to hook the shot over the same fence, out of bounds. After two tee shots out of bounds, teeing up for the third time, his fifth stroke on the par 4, Cink once again chose to hit Driver. Conventional wisdom would suggest using a different club. This time he kept his drive in play and scrambled to a 4 over par 8, dropping him back to 1 under par and 4 strokes off the lead.

Who would have thought we would see two different players shoot 8 on a par four in the first two rounds of the Tour Championship?

There were some great shots on Friday like Tiger Woods second shot at the par 5, 15th hole, where he drilled a 3 wood to just over 4 feet from the hole. What should have been an eagle, ended up as a birdie. All in all though, East Lake Country Club once again proved to be up to the challenge.

Heading into the weekend there are 16 players at even par or better and within striking distance of the lead. The final 36 holes should prove to be interesting and the tournament could come down to the final hole.

Before heading out, stop by our Pro Shop to sharpen your Mental Game

© 2009, David Wakeman. All rights reserved. On republishing this post you must provide link to original post.

The Tour Championship, the final leg of the FedEx Cup is underway at East Lake Country Club in Atlanta. The top 30 PGA Players are on display this week so expect to see some great golf. Who will walk away with the FedEx Cup?

While watching the first round I couldn’t help notice some things that you just don’t expect to see happen to professional golfers. When Phil Mickelson teed off at the 14th hole he was 1 under par and only 3 strokes off the lead.

Phil put his tee shot in the fairway, but his second shot found the bunker left of the hole. His third shot from a plugged lie in the bunker screamed across the green and ended up in the rough on the right side of the green. It got worse from there; his fourth shot exploded back over the green and ended up in the bunker where he started. What made matters worse, his fifth shot stayed in the bunker and he ended up shooting a snow man (+4 for the hole) and going from 3 under par to 1 over par for the tournament.

I am a big fan of Phil Mickelson and it pained me to watch. He struggled the rest of the day and ended at 3 over the par for the day. It appeared to me as though Mickelson lost his concentration and his mental game destroyed an otherwise good day.

I feel certain that Mickelson will recover and come out fired up on Friday. There is still a lot of golf to play, so anything can happen, don’t count him out.

You never want to see great players struggle. Professional golfers have developed swings that as amateur’s, we dream of. So why do we see some of the mistakes that we see on tour? The only answer to this is the mental side of the game.

If you want to play consistently, you have to stay focused. Spend time improving your mental game and reduce the mistakes you make on the golf course.

Stop by the Pro Shop and get Your Mental game Going!

© 2009, David Wakeman. All rights reserved. On republishing this post you must provide link to original post.

After 10 days of sever weather in the Atlanta area, East Lake Country Club is no worse for the wear. The sun is out and the course is ready to put the 30 top players to the test.   You never would have known that over 20 inches of rain fell during a 72 hour span, causing flooding and massive amounts of damage.

The course is in perfect condition and ready to challenge the field.  The Bermuda rough will make staying in the fairway important this week. The bunkers will challenge and the  greens that are lightening fast and will test the nerves of the players.

Who will come out victorious, the course or the players?

Visit our Pro Shop for Great Golf Memorabilia

© 2009, David Wakeman. All rights reserved. On republishing this post you must provide link to original post.