Kenny Perry, one of the hottest players in golf, heads to Milwaukee this week hoping to dethrone Joe Ogilvie as the champion of the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee. A year ago, Ogilvie came from a stoke off the lead entering the final round, shot a 3-under 67 and cruised to a four-shot win over a trio of players. Perry, who won last week’s John Deere Classic, has three victories in 2008 and has climbed to No. 2 in the FedExCup standings and is No. 16 in the Official World Golf Ranking. Ogilvie, meanwhile, is No. 108 on the FedExCup standings, with a best finish this year coming at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, where he tied for ninth. Joe Ogilvie became the 10th consecutive U.S. Bank Championship winner to post four scores in the 60s. Ogilvie carded rounds of 67-63-69-67 to finish at 14-under-par 266. The last winner with a round in the 70s was Scott Hoch in 1997 (70 in the first round). The come-from-behind win (after 54 holes) for Joe Ogilvie in 2007 was the first at the U.S. Bank Championship since 2001, when Shigeki Maruyama overcame the one-stroke lead held by Jeff Sluman to defeat Charles Howell III in a playoff. Since the tournament moved to Brown Deer Park in 1994, there have been six come-from-behind winners in 14 years. Ogilvie and Tim Clark trailed 54-hole leader Tim Herron by one stroke entering the final round last year.

Steve Flesch’s tie for fifth at the 2007 U.S. Bank Championship marked the highest finish by a left-handed player in the 40-year history of the U.S. Bank Championship. Russ Cochran’s tie for seventh in 2000 was the previous best by a lefty. Jeff Sluman (tied for ninth a year ago) and Kenny Perry (tied for fifth in 2007) remain first and second on the U.S. Bank Championship all-time money list. Sluman earned $104,000 a year ago, while Perry picked up $140,500 to his total. Sluman has earned $1,660,363 in Milwaukee, while Perry has pocketed $1,422,857. Sluman, a Champions Tour member, is playing this week in Minnesota at the 3M Championship.

Nine players have earned their first PGA Tour titles at the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee. They are Dave Eichelberger (1971), Calvin Peete (1979), Mark O’Meara (1984), Jim Thorpe (1985), Jim Gallagher, Jr. (1990), Richard Zokol (1992), Billy Mayfair (1993), Shigeki Maruyama (2001) and Joe Ogilvie (2007). Jeff Brehaut set a tournament record in 2007. Brehaut made four eagles — on four different holes.

A group of Wisconsin natives will be looking to win this tournament for the first time. Jerry Kelly, a Madison native, is making his 16th start. Kelly has four top-10s in the event, with runner-up finishes to Loren Roberts (1996) and Corey Pavin (2006). Mark Wilson (Menomonee Falls), J.P. Hayes (Appleton) and Skip Kendall (Milwaukee) are also in the field.

The U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee moved to Brown Deer Park Golf Course in 1994, the tournament’s permanent site since. Four players — Scott Hoch, Loren Roberts, Jeff Sluman and Carlos Franco — have been able to win more than once at Brown Deer Park. Hoch first won in 1995 and followed that victory with another title in 1997. Roberts’ two wins came in 1996 and 2000, while Sluman had his two victories in 1998 and 2002. Franco’s wins came in 1999 and 2004. The following past champions who won at Brown Deer Park are in this week’s field, hoping to join Hoch, Roberts and Sluman on the multiple Brown Deer Park victories list: Ben Crane (2005), Shigeki Maruyama (2001), Joe Ogilvie (2007), Corey Pavin (2006) and Kenny Perry (2003). By picking up his third win of the 2008 season, Kenny Perry passed Phil Mickelson for second place in the FedExCup standings. Perry is 2,262 points behind overall leader Tiger Woods, who is sidelined for the remainder of the season with a knee injury. Mickelson, Stewart Cink and Anthony Kim round out the top five.

Tags: GENERAL GOLF TOPICS by Jenn
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Golf’s major governing bodies stepped up their campaign to get the sport added to the Olympic program in 2016, naming former LPGA Comissioner Ty Votaw to lead the effort. Votaw, now an executive vice president of the PGA Tour, will be loaned out from that post over the next 15 months to represent seven of the bigger hitters in the game: both the American and European tours, Royal & Ancient, LPGA, U.S. Golf Association, PGA of America and Augusta National Golf Club, home of the Masters. ”The time is right for the world of golf to come together for the common good of the sport,” Votaw said.

The IOC will decide in October 2009 on possible changes in the Olympic program at the same meeting where it picks the next host city for the Summer Games. The 2016 finalists are Chicago, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and Madrid.

Golf hasn’t been an Olympic sport since 1904, but a news conference that also featured PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem, European Tour Executive Director George O’Grady, and R&A Chief Executive Peter Dawson showed those at the top are firmly committed to getting back in the Games. ”There’s much to be done, and some stiff competition, but we do feel we’re putting together the right organization to get the job done,” Dawson said.

While men’s golf already has four major tournaments a year, not to mention the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup in alternate years, Finchem said getting onto the Olympic program is vital to golf’s development. He cited ”the incredible impact it could potentially have on growing the game around the world, particularly in areas that are fledgling in their current development of the game.” Finchem acknowledged that some players have been cool to the idea of adding another major event to their already crowded schedules, floating the idea that it should be a competition for amateurs. But there’s no way the IOC will consider golf unless it offers up the top professionals for both men and women. The best of those is Woods, who would be 40 when the 2016 Games are held. He has expressed mixed feelings about playing in the Olympics, at times pointing to the potential benefits, others times looking at the possible drawbacks.

”There are issues with respect to the structure of the schedule,” Finchem said. But he feels those concerns will be wiped away once players are educated on the potential for growth. ”Where the game is 10, 15, 20, 25 years from now could be fundamentally different because of the steps we’re taking, and the short-term issues will pale in comparison,” Finchem said.

Drug testing is another potential snag, but golf has recently moved in line with the rest of the sporting world by initiating anti-doping programs on all its major tours. While not as strict and comprehensive as World Anti-Doping Agency standards, Finchem believes any significant differences could be worked out. Organizers of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics wanted to add golf to their program — and play it at Augusta National. That proposal failed when some IOC members and others criticized the club’s all-male membership, and the fact it had only recently taken a black member. In 2005, golf failed to win inclusion at the London Games. Under that proposal, officials suggested 72 holes of stroke play with 50 men and 50 women. Eligibility would have been determined by the world ranking, with no country getting more than three players.

Tags: GENERAL GOLF TOPICS by Jenn
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The three simple keys to consistently sinking short putts are: making contact with the center of the putterface, making contact with a square putterface that’s on-line to the target and accelerating the clubhead through impact. If you learn to do these three things, your short putting, and overall putting, will improve quickly and should stay solid for good.

Unlike the full swing, putting requires the utmost in limited and controlled movements. Any swaying, lifting or sliding can cause you to miss putts. The same holds true for your eyes. Any deviation from the golf ball through impact can lead to a variety of mis-hits that affect not only your aim but your distance control as well.

Here’s another easy tip to apply the next time you’re on the putting green. Simply place a golf ball about six inches behind your ball and make a stroke. If you miss the ball (swinging either above it or to the side), then your backswing path is offline or too steep.

If you want to become a better putter, you have to learn to stabilize the lower body as much as possible. All great putters have a rock-steady lower half and swing the putter from above the waist. Now, deciding whether you’re a hands-driven putter or a shoulder-driven putter (or both!) is a matter of personal style, but one thing is for sure: No matter how you choose to swing with the upper body, the lower body must stay as still as possible.

Tags: The Perfect Putt by Jenn
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