Positive feelings despite struggles
• U.S. Women's Open will have bit of Hawaii
By Parker McLachlin
Join us as we travel on the PGA Tour with Parker McLachlin, a former Punahou athlete. McLachlin and Castle alum Dean Wilson are the only Hawai'i golfers on the PGA Tour. McLachlin, Waikoloa's touring pro, will write his impressions on events that he has just completed and tournaments that are coming up on his calendar.
Aloha from Scottsdale!
Last week I was in Memphis, Tenn., for the St. Jude Classic presented by FedEx. The tournament had a good field highlighted by Phil Mickelson's return to the PGA Tour, having taken off a number of weeks to be with his wife Amy, who is battling breast cancer. It was great having Phil back on Tour and I know he was overwhelmed with the support from fans, players, PGA Tour officials, etc.
The golf course itself was in tremendous shape as always. Due to the extremely warm weather in the summer in Memphis, the greens at TPC Southwind are Bermuda; however, the fairways are a zoysia type of grass, which I really enjoy playing on because the ball sits up so well. Although I struggled again with my ball striking, I continue to see signs of improvement and left with some very positive feelings. Not to mention a full stomach after eating BBQ all week!
This week I've returned to Scottsdale to spend some time at home. I'm really excited about a week off and getting to spend some quality time at the house with Kristy. I'm also excited to relax and watch some of the U.S. Open. Obviously, I'd prefer to be in New York participating in the event, but the U.S. Open, along with the other majors, is one of the few golf tournaments I'll actually watch on TV from Thursday to Sunday.
Besides watching a number of my friends play in the tournament, I especially like watching the U.S. Open because of all the great success stories. As you may know, the U.S. Open is open to any golfer with a handicap of 1 or less, whether you're a professional or an amateur. It truly is the tournament for any man and every man.
Of course, I would be hard pressed not to pick Tiger, especially with his incredible performance at the Memorial a couple weeks ago. But there are also a couple of dark horses that I like. One of the guys you may want to keep an eye on is fellow UCLA grad John Merrick.
John is an extremely long (and high) hitter which is important this week considering the golf course plays over 7,400 yards. He's also shown up in a couple of majors recently, including last year's U.S. Open and this year's Masters (he finished T6 in both tournaments). I look for him to have a great week.
Looking ahead, I'm very excited about the second half of the season. I'm excited about the work I've put in and feel like I'm starting to understand my swing better. I'm eager to see where it takes me over the second half of the year.
Obviously, I have a few tournaments that I'm particularly looking forward to, including a trip to Washington, D.C. in a couple of weeks for the AT&T National. Not only is it Tiger's event, but I'm hoping to squeeze in a little visit to my friend at the White House. And of course, I'm very excited to head back to the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open to defend my title from last year.
In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy this week off and relax and re-energize myself for the next stretch of events. I'm back in action next week at the Travelers Championship in Connecticut.
Mahalo,
Parker
