ESPN Golf Online: North: A very special PGA


ESPN NETWORK: ESPN.COM \| NFL.COM \| NBA.COM \| NASCAR \| NHL.COM \| ABCSPORTS \| FANTASY \| STORE \| INSIDER

PGA Tour

Leaderboard

Schedule

Statistics

Rankings

Players

LPGA Tour

Leaderboard

Schedule

Statistics

Rankings

Senior PGA Tour

Leaderboard

Schedule

Statistics

Rankings

NIKE Tour

Results

Schedule

Statistics

Rankings

EURO Tour

Schedule

Rankings

North: A very special PGA

By Andy North
Special to ESPN Golf Online
August 10 6:12pm ET

Usually I don't get nearly as excited about the PGA Championship as I do the other three majors, but that's not the case this year. The PGA is going to be special this year because of the golf course.

ASK ANDY

Each week Andy North will answer three user questions. If you have a question, send it to Andy and check back next week to see if he answers it.
In last week's Senior Tour event, Bruce Fleisher was penalized two strokes for not moving his coin to the proper spot before his putt after being asked to move the mark by his playing partner. Does an official who may have noticed this have an obligation to inform Fleisher before he signs his scorecard?
-- Kevin Palmer, Oswego, Ill.
North: It is the player's responsibility to move the ball back, and the official plays no role in the process. Usually your caddie or the other player will remind you. It was just one of those things where Fleisher got caught up in the moment. He's lucky that fan got to him before he signed his scorecard and lucky he had a four-stroke lead. After that, if the infraction were discovered within a reasonable amount of time, he would have been disqualified.
Like most people, I don't get to golf nearly as much as I would like. Therefore, almost all of the swinging I do is at the driving range off of mats. Could this be harmful to my game?
-- Mack Huntress, San Diego
North: It's not that bad hitting off mats, and there's nothing wrong with practicing instead of playing. If you can get in an hour or two, great. The whole key to the range is to work on rhythm and tempo and not just try to hit the ball hard. It's real easy to all of a sudden see how hard and how far you can hit it. Hit a lot of irons, not just drivers, and try to hit hooks, fades and three-quarters shots. And spend some time on your short game, because that's 60-70 percent of the game.
I am a mid-teen handicapper whose biggest problem is that I tend to dip my shoulder at the top of my backswing, which leads to all kinds of problems. I am also 6-foot-5, and I think that contributes to the problem. What drills can I do to try and eliminate this problem?
-- Don Gowan III, New York
North: Being a taller player, you need to get longer clubs and stand up with good posture. The biggest thing with tall players is to keep your back straight. If you break at the hips when you turn the club, your back will stay straight and your shoulders level. Most taller players bend at the waist, and your shoulders can dip easily.

With Medinah Country Club as the star, it's going to be a great championship. It is truly one of the great golf facilities that's ever been.
There are no poor holes at Medinah, and at the same time no ridiculous holes. Every single hole is beautiful, just a wonderful setting for golf.
Medinah is one of the top 10 courses in the United States and one of my own favorites for three reasons.
First of all, it's a very playable course. Every hole is an independent hole. Because of the thousands of oak trees on the course, you really can't see any other holes than the one you're playing on. That's really cool and makes it easy to focus on what you're doing.
Second, Medinah has great beauty. It looks like what a championship course should look like.
Finally, it's a very difficult golf course where you have to play exceptionally well. And that comes from great golf holes, not trick holes.
There's a lot of history to Medinah. It may not have the championship history of a Pinehurst or Oakland Hills, but it's been around a long time and you really feel like it's special.
Despite its tradition, Medinah has been through a few changes over the years, but they haven't made that much of a difference. The core holes are still the same. Medinah needed a better finishing hole where they could get more people in, and No. 15 was converted from a par 4 to a long par 5.
But the effectiveness of the scoring on the golf course hasn't changed. All in all, the course hasn't changed much from the first time I played it in the mid-'60s.
That doesn't always happen. Quite often when a course is altered, it gets messed up. The architect usually had a game plan he was trying to accomplish, but when you go in later you can really mess things up.
Changes often have to be made to add length or something like that, but so many times people make a change just because they like something different, but it doesn't fit. Half the time, the changes improve things and half the time they screw things up. Medinah is the exception where it didn't make any difference.
With Medinah, the players will feel more like the PGA Championship is on par with the other majors. Over the years, some of the PGA courses haven't been up to major championship standards.
The PGA is harder to focus on for some of the top players. It's the last major of the year, and it comes pretty close after the British Open. Plus this one is generally set up a little easier than the rest. The greens are softer, there's not as much rough, and it's set up more like a regular tour event.
That's not always the case, but the PGA has picked a few sites for the wrong reasons. They haven't done it too many times, but all you need is a few poor choices or poor places at the wrong time of year and guys get down on it.
As for this year's tournament, there are plenty of guys who could emerge from the pack. You have to start with Woods and Duval, but let's assume everybody has talked about them.
Medinah is a great course for Ernie Els and Tom Lehman. It's a strong player's course, and you have to have length and have to hit the ball up in the air. Plus, Lehman is playing very well right now.
Vijay Singh and Steve Stricker, who dueled in last year's event, should be terrific on this course. And who knows what Fred Couples is like right now. If he were playing more and playing well, this would be a perfect course for him.
Whoever wins is going to have to drive the ball very well and putt well, or be a strong driver who is playing well.

ALSO SEE

Ask Andy
ESPN Golf Online's PGA Championship coverage