Golf Digest Search Results

Michael Phelps' Ping deal raises an old question: When is an amateur an amateur?

Derek Evers — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 20:24:00 GMT

By E. Michael Johnson As usual, the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am had its share of celebrities among the 156 amateur participants. However, given that some of those celebs have formal agreements with equipment...

Pat Perez, mellow? He's trying and it's working

Sat, 12 Jan 2013 02:12:00 GMT

By Dave Shedloski

HONOLULU - Pat Perez is now a happy golfer. No, not because he fired a second-round 63 Friday in the Sony Open in Hawaii, though that's a pretty good reason.

He's happy because he wants to be. It is his choice. He is in the process of becoming a changed man, which isn't easy when you play golf for a living.

Golf will make you crazy.

Golf will make you weep.

Mostly, golf will make you angry.

Of course, there's a range of anger simmering beneath the seemingly composed faÃ§ade of every player, from low boil to cosmic meltdown.

Perez is from the Tommy Bolt and Tom Weiskopf school of Vesuvian extirpation. Or at least he used to be. He has bought into the power of positive thinking, and he's positive that his golf will be better because of it.

With the help of Chandler, Ariz., psychologist Chris Dorris, who bills himself on his website as a "mental toughness trainer and personal transformation coach," Perez is seeking to conjure his inner Yanni. Two rounds into 2013, the 12-year PGA Tour veteran is a picture of equanimity as he stands at 9-under 131, five behind rookie Russell Henley.

Of course, it helps that he's hitting it well, the result of six weeks of intense work on his game.

"I'm just trying to look at things in a positive way. Not a fake positive, but just not getting down, not getting negative," said Perez, who is coming off an uneventful season that included just one top-10 finish. "I'll tell you, it's hard. For me it's real hard because I've done it my whole life. To try to catch myself going down the other way is hard, but I've done at least for two days."

Dorris, who has worked with Champions Tour player Michael Allen, is trying to train Perez to take that positive attitude from the practice range to the first tee to the final green. Apparently, however, there is no magic formula. It's simply choosing to listen to the angel on your shoulder and not the demon on the other one.

"You change your thoughts immediately," Perez, 36, of Scottsdale, Ariz., said. "You find yourself thinking negatively and you just immediately change your thinking. 'Let's get this up and down, lets make this 40-footer, let's hit a good driver here.' You force yourself into an immediate change of thought. That's always been hard for me."

Perez, whose lone tour win came at the 2009 Bob Hope Classic, decided to go the behavioral self-improvement route after a bit of off-season introspection. "I thought it was all kind of hoax. But I always knew I needed to do something eventually, but I didn't want to admit it," he said.

"I figured that's just me, that's the way I am," Perez added. "But I started going over it two months ago and I asked myself, 'What don't you do well? Why do the same guys do so well?' You go over their rounds and the way they look at things and their positivity. Like Dustin Johnson. Nothing fazes that guy. Now I have a totally different mindset. I wish I'd have done it a long time ago."

Perez admits that his patience hasn't yet been truly tested this week. He expected to play well, and he has. Already he has equaled his low round from last season. But adversity is a staple in golf. Perez feels confident he can stare it down.

"There will be a moment when something is going to go astray, and it will be a real challenge for me to stay in that positive frame of mind," Perez said. "I'm actually looking forward to that opportunity when it comes."

Right, leave the eruptions to the volcanoes.

(Getty Images photo)

PGA Tour: Fantasy Fix: AT&T National

Alex Myers — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 04:00:00 GMT

We discuss Tiger and LeBron, Katy Perry's latest hit, Jim Furyk's return to competition, and of course, this week's PGA Tour stop.

PGA Tour: Fantasy Fix: Humana Challenge

Alex Myers — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

We discuss Johnson Wagner's frightening lack of pop culture knowledge, the thrilling NFL playoffs, and of course, this week's PGA Tour stop.

Did Pat Perez make a kid cry? [UPDATE]

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 16:38:00 GMT

Pat Perez played his way into contention on Sunday at the Reno Tahoe Open, but his actions off the course are grabbing headlines.

After missing three putts within 10 feet on the final three holes, Perez finished with a four-under 68 and one shot behind the leader, Scott Piercy, who was playing behind him in the final group. Perez signed his scorecard and returned to the 18th green to see if Piercy could hold onto his lead. Indeed, Piercy made a seven-foot par putt to claim his first win on the PGA Tour.

Perez was visibly frustrated. As he walked off the green, he ignored a young boy who was asking for an autograph. (The PGA Tour has since removed a 15-second YouTube video of the incident.) The boy seemed so upset, he apparently cried. (But was he just joking?)

Perez apologized via Twitter on Monday: "Yeah. Was a dick move. I apologize for my actions. Had a lot of emotions going yesterday when I got done. Unprofessional." But Golf Digest's Senior Editor Mike Stachura isn't interested in a public apology; he'd rather see Perez apologize to the upset kid.

So we want to know: Who was that kid? Can we find him to see if he really was crying?

UPDATE: On Monday, Perez asked his 14,000+ Twitter followers to help him find the boy: "Everyone. Someone please help me find that kid!! Got something big for him. Thanks. Start the search in Reno." Less than 24 hours later, Twitter helped make that happen: "Alright. Found the boy!! Talked to his father. Great guy. We talked about the situation. Apologized to him and son. Getting gift together." Way to go, Perez. Way to go.

--Ashley Mayo

Golf's Greatest Fireworks Displays

Alex Myers — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT

In honor of July 4th, a look at some of the most explosive scoring performances in golf history.

PGA Tour: Fantasy Fix: Bob Hope Classic

Alex Myers — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 05:00:00 GMT

We discuss golfing celebrities, casino hot streaks and of course, this week's tournament.

Hero Fits

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 20:01:00 GMT

We've all heard about the benefits of custom fitting, and the emphasis on fitting is certainly an important part of the February issue of Golf Digest, where for the first time we name America's Best Clubfitters. But the leading manufacturers in the game are making some special efforts in the area of custom fitting when it comes to golfers with special needs, including several programs for wounded heroes of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Few companies are a match for Ping when it comes to fitting clubs to each golfer's unique individual specifications. Under the leadership of founder Karsten Solheim, the company instituted a color-coded system for matching lie angles and lengths to a golfer's measurements three decades ago, and today, that fitting system is still the most comprehensive among the game's major manufacturers. Still, that level of sophistication was put to the test recently as the company fit quadruple amputee Jeff Lewis, who lives in Mesa, Ariz. Lewis called the company about the possibility of clubs that could be made special for his needs, and one day later he was on the range at the company's Phoenix headquarters. Ping's engineering team, led by research project engineer Paul Wood, figured out the measurements and a mechanism to lock clubs into his prosthesis.

"I'm hitting the ball very well," Lewis, who lost his spleen after he was shot some 20 years ago and then lost portions of his extremities when a strep infection could not be controlled because he had no spleen, told the Arizona Republic. "I don't hit it that far. I've had a few pars, a lot of bogeys but no real chances for a birdie yet."

Dustin Johnson and Bling Boy: The back story

John Strege — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 21:49:00 GMT

Dustin Johnson and Pat Perez are now part owners of a thoroughbred named Bling Boy, as the Associated Press' Doug Ferguson reported earlier this week. So how did they become involved in the sport of...