Farmers Open Qualifying

This is a picture of the par 3, 7th hole at Twin Oaks in San Marcos. Today I played the Farmers Insurance qualifier there and unfortunately it did not go as planned. I struggled with ball striking from driver down to my irons but putted really well, which was great and made the round enjoyable.
 I've been meaning to write about my putting because throughout my career it has been the flat stick that has plagued me and is where the improvement needs to come from. I put a lot of work in with Eric last year putting and worked with Dave Stockton Jr as well. The last few months the putting has improved slightly but still not to the level it needs to be. Last week Eric & I discovered that the changes I made from Stockton were working but I was using my hands too much throughout the stroke. I've concentrated this week on using my back to stroke the ball and have kept my hands quiet. It has payed off in practice and today really showed in the tournament round. I had 5 one putts in a row early in the round, all of which were outside 5 feet. It was such a great feeling to stand over a putt you know you should make, feel confident about it and stroke it right in. Plus I'm glad my first entry about my putting was a positive one! Today my putting saved me, which is not always the case. So even though the ball striking was off, I'm really excited about the putting and to keep dialing it in. At this level its all putting, that is the great equalizer. You have to make putts.
 For some Tour Sauce Tour Talk, it was interesting to watch Rory decked out in Nike gear. I have mixed emotions about it because I'm a Rory fan but not a fan of Nike, so I cannot decide how I feel about the whole thing. But I watched his round yesterday and he was off his normal form. On his 9th hole he hit one of the worst 3 woods I have ever seen a pro hit. It was a drop kick toe hook, dead left that should have been out of bounds but due to the grandstand he got a great drop. Its hard to tell if its the equipment or just the rust from being the first tournament of the year. But putting 14 new clubs in your bag takes a lot of balls because you are starting fresh in terms of confidence & experience with your equipment. I guess that shows what money will do! I cannot wait to see how the year pans out for him and see if he sneaks any of his old equipment back into the bag. He did say though that the Covert driver was longer than his 913, which hurt my feelings because I'm on love with 913. Nike also swooped up Nick Watney and Kyle Stanley, both Titleist guys. What does everyone else think about the equipment changes? Some quick apparel changes came from Bubba Watson, leaving Travis Mathew and going to Oakley. And Webb Simpson leaving Polo and going to Izod. I guess it was the season for big money, and these guys all cashed in.

"Never regret. If it's good, it's wonderful. If it's bad, it's experience"

Scott Alpi
@scottalpi