Rory McILroy swing analysis: Part 2

Somax performance institute releases part 2 of their Rory McILroy swing analysis. They compare his swing to Hogan and discuss why his putting stroke is much better than Y.E. Yang, who he played with in the final round at the U.S. Open.

Part 1

Kikkor Discounts

Check out Kikkor for a new style of golf shoe.

Use discount code "northamerica" for 14% off until July 8th

Use discount code "mattgullo" for 10% off anytime

AT & T National Betting Odds

The AT & T National begins Thursday at Aronimink Golf Club and is hosted by Tiger Woods, who will not be playing this week due to injuries. Justin Rose is the defending champion. Here is a look at the Bodog betting odds as of Tuesday evening.

Nick Watney: 14-1
Ryan Moore: 18-1
Hunter Mahan: 20-1
KJ Choi: 20-1
Bill Haas: 25-1
Rickie Fowler: 28-1
Justin Rose: 33-1
Adam Scott: 33-1
Anthony Kim: 100-1
Notah Begay: 400-1
Tiger Woods: 1000-1

Rory McILroy U.S. Open swing analysis: Part 1

Here is the somax performance institute providing an analysis of Rory McILroy's swing. According to them, his swing is much better than it was in the past, but they do see potential problems.

Predicting career major championship victories

How many career major championship victories will the following players have?

My predictions:

Tiger Woods: 20
Rory McILroy: 14
Phil Mickelson: 6
Martin Kaymer: 4
Jason Day: 4
Ryo Ishikawa: 4
Matteo Mannasero: 3
Charl Schwartzel: 3
Louis Oosthuizen: 3
Dustin Johnson: 3
Graeme McDowell: 2
Anthony Kim: 2
Rickie Fowler: 2
Luke Donald: 2
Y.E. Yang: 2
Alvaro Quiros: 2
Bubba Watson: 2
Nick Watney: 1
Hunter Mahan: 1
Matt Kuchar: 1
Adam Scott: 1
Sergio Garcia: 1

Travelers Championship betting odds

The Travelers Championship begins Thursday at the TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut with Bubba Watson the defending champion.

Notable player betting odds from Bodog.

Hunter Mahan: 14-1
Nick Watney: 16-1
Bubba Watson: 18-1
Zach Johnson: 22-1
David Toms: 25-1
Lucas Glover: 33-1
Padraig Harrington: 33-1
Ian Poulter: 40-1
Aaron Baddely: 50-1
Ricky Barnes: 60-1

How could McILroy beat Tiger's records?

1. Stay Healthy (Woods has had four knee surgeries, a broken leg, and an Achilles problem)

2. Keep the same swing (Woods has gone through four major swing changes, some of which probably cost him victories in the long run)

3. Don't get married too young

4. If married, don't have 127 affairs

New "Feherty" show now on Golf Channel

David Feherty is partially insane and off his rocker but at the same time very smart and entertaining when it comes to golf. His new show "Feherty" opened up last night on the golf channel with Lee Trevino as his main guest. Feherty shared a bit about his own battles with alcoholism and drug addition, told several funny stories, and had segments of him interviewing fans at golf tournaments. Upcoming shows will feature him interviewing Charles Barkley, Johnny Miller, Don Cheadle, and Tom Watson, among others. Golf channel has found something with this show and hopefully it will be around for awhile.

SI: Golf's New Era

Tiger Woods just received the new issue of SI, cut the cast off his leg, smashed a club in his living room, and went straight to the driving range.

Tiger Woods vs. Rory McILroy

Now that Rory McILroy has turned into the next Tiger Woods overnight, let's analyze what Rory needs to do to surpass Woods.

Currently, Woods is 35 and McILroy is 22. Woods has 71 career victories with 14 majors. McILroy has three victories with one major. All McILroy has to do now is win 68 total times and 13 majors in the next 13 years in order to equal what Tiger has now. McILroy needs to win an average of 5.2 times per year and one major each year until age 35.

Is it possible? Yes. It it likely? No.

McILroy does have the best overall swing in the game today. He's also proven he is capable of winning major championships in runaway fashion as Woods used to. What hasn't been seen yet is his capability of winning the close ones in which he has to make clutch shots and make every single necessary putt as Woods used to do.

In Tiger Woods' career, he won three straight junior amateurs, three straight U.S. amateurs, and of course the 14 major championships. During his prime, he was the most dominant golfer the sport has ever seen.

Tiger Woods Major Championship Victories:

The Masters 1997: Won by 12 shots over Tom Kite
PGA Championship 1999: Won by 1 shot over Sergio Garcia
U.S. Open 2000: Won by 15 shots over Ernie Els
British Open 2000: Won by 8 shots over Ernie Els
PGA Championship 2000: Won in playoff over Bob May
The Masters 2001: Won by 2 over David Duval
The Masters 2002: Won by 3 over Retief Goosen
U.S. Open 2002: Won by 3 over Phil Mickelson
The Masters 2005: Won in playoff over Chris Dimarco
British Open 2005: Won by 5 over Colin Montgomerie
British Open 2006: Won by 2 over Chris Dimarco
PGA Championship 2006: Won by 5 over Shaun Micheel
PGA Championship 2007: Won by 2 over Woody Austin
U.S. Open 2008: Won in playoff over Rocco Mediate

Of all the supposed "next Tiger Woods", McILroy is definitely the most deserving of the label, but he must have a lot of good fortune in his career and avoid the pitfalls and problems Woods had to surpass him.

By the way, had Tiger made a few more putts at Augusta in April, he would have won the Masters. He isn't dead yet, he's just injured. If he's able to get healthy, he will be back and possibly more motivated than ever now that a potential rival has arrived.

Golf never got to see Tiger Woods vs. Jack Nicklaus. However, there is strong possibility of seeing Tiger Woods vs. Rory McILroy.

Quick Observations from the U.S. Open

Rory McILroy is a phenom. Johnny Miller said that Rory has the greatest putting stroke he has ever seen and may have the greatest swing ever other than Sam Snead. He should be number one in the world soon.

As amazing as McILroy's performance was, it's not as good as Tiger in 2000 at Pebble. Woods won by 15 and his closest competitor was +3. This year, there were 19 other players who broke par and McILroy won by eight.

McILroy may be one of the fastest players in history. He gets his yardage, steps up, and hits it. With his putting, he gets his line, takes no practice stroke, and lets it go. It works.

Jason Day came through with his second straight runner up finish in a major, got up and down from everywhere, and finished the last 45 holes of the tournament without a bogey. He looks like he will be a strong force for many years, especially in majors.

Y.E. Yang loves wearing red pants.

Sergio Garcia barely misses more putts than anyone in history. If Tiger was on PEDs, Garcia must be too because he is jacked.

Henrik Stenson angrily smashed a wedge so hard into the ground that he broke it into two pieces, cut his hand, and had to be tended to by his caddie for first aid. Not the first time Stenson has been bitter. A few months ago, he tossed his club into a pond after chunking a chip.

Robert Garrigus finished top five with a putter built for mini-me.

Chris Berman remains as the worst golf announcer in history.

Pre-tournament, Kelly Tilghman reported that Lee Westwood cancelled his twitter account due to unruly followers and showed up with his game face on this week, motivated to prove these followers wrong. Are you freakin kidding me Tilghman? Seriously, you mean the #2 player in the world showed up to the U.S. Open with his game face on? Amazing bit of reporting.

Brandel Chamblee said there is a fine line between shooting 65 and 80. I didn't hear anything else he said because as I watch, I just keep hoping Frank Nobilo punches him in the face.

This is now five majors in a row without a win for the United States. For American fans, Tiger needs to get healthy, Phil needs to get his game back, and the young guys need to get focused. At least Ian Poulter didn't win.

Overall, awesome win for McILroy. He deserves it and he will be a great #1 player for golf in the future.

U.S. Open Photos: Rory McILroy

Chris Berman unfortunately "back, back" for U.S. Open

Simply put, Chris Berman should not be allowed to announce golf tournaments, much less the U.S. Open. Year after year, he is horrible as I've discussed here, here, and here. This year, Awful Announcing has put together a nice list of enjoyable anti-Berman tweets.

ESPN does not make a lot of mistakes other than hiring Berman and then allowing him to announce golf.

McILroy half way home to first major championship

Through two rounds of the U.S. Open, Rory McILroy has made an eagle, 11 birdies, 23 pars, and one double bogey for an 11-under par total. He has hit 32 of 36 greens and 20 of 28 fairways during his rounds of 65-66.

“I’ve played some of the best golf I’ve ever played,” McILroy said. “It’s been very, very good; it’s near the best I can play."

His performance so far is similar to Tiger Woods at the 97 Masters and the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. He now needs to close it out over the next 36 holes to join Woods in the record book.

The gory story is Rory: Live footage of the U.S Open destruction

Rory McILroy is putting it on em right now at the U.S. Open at Congressional. He is currently at 12-under par and holds a nine shot lead. Watch live coverage of what appears to be history in the works.

N Sync reunites

Cover your ears and your eyes. Then pray for American golf.

U.S. Open Betting Odds

The U.S. Open begins Thursday at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland. Tiger Woods is out with injury. No player is dominating the golf world right now and the last four majors have had first time winners. With a long and difficult course that will supposedly see 14.5 stimp speeds on greens to go along with deep rough, the tournament is wide open.

Here are some notable player betting odds from Bodog.

Lee Westwood: 11-1
Luke Donald: 12-1
Phil Mickelson: 14-1
Rory McILroy: 16-1
Dustin Johnson: 25-1
Martin Kaymer: 25-1
Steve Stricker: 25-1
Graeme McDowell: 45-1
Adam Scott: 50-1
Charl Schwartzel: 50-1
Retief Goosen: 50-1
Ernie Els: 66-1
Geoff Ogilvy: 66-1
Anthony Kim: 100-1
Louis Oosthuizen: 125-1
Ty Tryon: 1500-1

U.S. Open pairings announced

Opening round pairings have been announced for the upcoming U.S. Open at Congressional. Who will we be watching?

Luke Donald (#1), Lee Westwood #2), Martin Kaymer (#3)

Graeme McDowell (2010 U.S. Open champ), Louis Oosthuizen (2010 British Open champ) Peter Uihlein (U.S. Amateur champ)

Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, Davis Love III (Major winners in their 40s group)

Miguel Angel Jimenez, Sergio Garcia, Alvaro Quiros (Spanish group)

The Molinari brothers, Matteo Manassero (Italian group)

Rickie Fowler, Ian Poulter, Hunter Mahan (2 crazy dressers and a cowboy cheerleader husband)

Padraig Harrington, Angel Cabrera, Stewart Cink (recent major winners)

Ryo Ishikawa, Anthony Kim, Y.E. Yang (Asian group)

Steve Stricker, Retief Goosen, David Toms (Stricker is best without a major, Goosen has 2 majors, Toms with 1)

Phil Mickelson, Rory McILroy, Dustin Johnson (The all implode group: Mickelson is five-time runner up of event with his most notable loss the debacle at Winged Foot. McILroy went house hunting on the back nine at Augusta while DJ had a few blow up holes at Pebble last year and bunkergate at the PGA.

Charl Schwartzel, Trevor Immelman, Zack Johnson (Masters champions)

Nick Watney, Geoff Ogilvy, Lucas Glover (Watney is due for a major. Ogilvy and Glover have one a piece)

Those Guys Have All The Fun

Those Guys Have All The Fun tells the story of how ESPN began and touches on many of the hottest topics the network has covered over the past 30 years. Basically, the authors set the stage for a topic or incident, and then the key players involved tell their side of the story.

The book is 745 pages filled with over 500 interviews from management, on-air talent, journalists, athletes, etc. It gives a good behind the scenes look at one of the most popular and successful companies in history and shows how the company started from scratch and grew to cover more than 65 sports in over 250 countries.

In this book you will find sports, big business, money, athletes, friendships, rivalries, fights, gambling, and drama.

There is not much golf in the book other than mentions of the Tiger Wood's saga. However, the world's worst loudmouth U.S. Open golf announcer, with his atrocious analysis, Chris Berman, is involved throughout.

Cool book. Recommended

Golf makes people crazy

You have heard of synchronized swimming. How about synchronized golfing?

This is what I saw on the golf course the other day. An Asian couple, around 50 years of age, playing golf together. Apparently they were playing ready golf. Very ready golf. Wife gets on the red tee. Husband gets on the blue tee, directly behind the wife. They hit at the SAME TIME. As wife is bending down to pick up her tee, husband's ball goes whizzing past her head and misses drilling her by two feet as it was a line drive. Dude didn't even yell fore.

At least they were playing fast.

Barkley to play left-handed?

Charles Barkley is listed at 500-1 to win the American Century Celebrity Golf Classic next month. It should be more like 500 million to 1 because he doesn't have a snowball's chance. As his right-handed swing has been analyzed all over the internet as perhaps the worst swing in history, he says he may play the tournament left-handed. He has tried a similar experiment in the past when he combined right-handed, left-handed, and one-handed shots. Barley also invented a new swing technique earlier this year with a back leg convulsion. Can't wait to see what's next.

El Nino fires an once (11) at par cinco

Sergio Garcia was playing fairly well at the Fed Ex St. Jude Classic until he came to the par-5 3rd hole. After hitting a 336 yard drive, he then dumped three balls into the water, hit his 8th into the bunker, pitched out, and two putted for an 11. Garcia finished with an 8-over round of 78.

He joins this list of professional golfers who have put up monster numbers.

Past U.S. Open Winners

 Bobby Jones is one of only four players with four U.S. Open victories.

The U.S. Open has been played since 1895. Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Bobby Jones, and Willie Anderson hold the most titles with four victories each. Tiger Woods has won three. The tournament has widely been dominated by Americans until recently, which has seen winners from Ireland (McDowell), Argentina (Cabrera), Australia (Ogilvy), New Zealand (Campbell), and South Africa (Goosen). Whose name will be added in 2011 to this list of past champions?

2010: Graeme McDowell (Pebble Beach)
2009: Lucas Glover (Bethpage)
2008: Tiger Woods (Torrey Pines)
2007: Angel Cabrera (Oakmont)
2006: Geoff Ogilvy (Winged Foot)
2005: Michael Campbell (Pinehurst)
2004: Retief Goosen (Shinnecock Hills)
2003: Jim Furyk (Olympia Fields)
2002: Tiger Woods (Bethpage)
2001: Retief Goosen (Southern Hills)
2000: Tiger Woods (Pebble Beach)

Fed Ex St. Jude Classic Betting Odds

Before the big dance starts next week, the Fed Ex St. Jude Classic still has to be played. This will give some players the chance to tune their games prior to the U.S. Open, while others will be playing for the money and fed ex points. Lee Westwood comes in as the defending champ and will have a chance to win a regular tour event this week before he doesn't win a major next week.

Here are some notable player betting odds from Bodog:

Lee Westwood: 7-1
David Toms: 9-1
Zach Johnson: 14-1
Sergio Garcia: 25-1
Geoff Ogilvy: 40-1
Retief Goosen: 40-1
Padraig Harrington: 50-1
Y.E. Yang: 66-1
Anthony Kim: 66-1
Camillo Villegas: 80-1

Pick: I'll take Sergio this week. His game has slowly been rounding into form, he just hasn't been able to put four rounds together yet. His should have a lot of confidence after shooting two great rounds earlier in the week to qualify for the U.S. Open.

Update: Great pick by me. He shot 78 in first round.