Maybe Course Knowledge is overrated? Know Thyself.

Johnny Miller said: "Ben Hogan must be rolling over in his grave", and "I thought this was supposed to be a precision game?" Memorable commentary from the 'Yipper'.

Mickelson is buying his way into major champ. wins
 

IMHO you only have half of the story. His "entourage" maps the courses for him. I'm sure he pays Pelz and Smith handsomely for their efforts. Pelz goes to these venues and spends at least a week mapping out the short game areas and every blade of grass on the greens. They both accompany him on his practice rounds at the majors. Although he didn't win the PGA at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, his entourage was definintely here prior to his arrival and during all of his practice rounds.

I'm not aware of any one else conducting this type of business. This, along with the number of practice rounds allowed, should be a rule violation.

And yet, it did him no good.

MIrror Mirror
 

I think Daryl had the answer here, efnef.

Embrace the entourage, but in end, "know thyself."

In the words of Pogo...

"We has seen the enemy, and it is us."

The Edge
 

Thank you for your insights, wolfman. I do not disagree.

Yet, with so much 'Money on Monday' chasing the 'Champion on Sunday', will not this pre-tournament practice become routine among the privileged few? After all, the dimensions and character of a tennis court, baseball diamond or football field do not change in the weeks prior to an event. But those of a championship golf course do, and this presents an element of 'surprise' to be exploited by those with the means to do so. Unless the rules prevent the realization of that competitive advantage, then the playing field cannot and never will be level.

Which means, of course...

That with each new generation, the true talents will present themselves.

And that is not a bad thing.

I know you either win a major or you don't, 2nd or missing the cut is about the same to a top player. However, I wish I could do something that does me no good and get paid about 1/2 million.

I agree with the idea of limiting practice rounds, although before Yoda brought up this point I really respected the players that would go through the trouble to put in the extra effort. The only thing problematic with limiting practice rounds is if someone in the field was a member since they were 4. If I was a PGA Tour player and they enacted some kind of a rule to limit practice rounds to the week of only, 6 hour rounds, 1 ball hit into the green, I would start playing practice rounds for majors over a year ahead of time and get all the information down so that when I got there the week of the major I would be way ahead of the curve. I would try to purchase a membership for a year if that is anywhere near possible at the prestigious private clubs. For one of the best players in the world even if it is $1 million I would figure it is money well spent, because it's all about the majors.

Matt

The Efficient PGA TOUR
 

And so it goes, Matt...and so it goes.

In the financial arena, it is called the Efficient Market Theory (EMT). That is, any competitive advantage known to the market will soon be used by all and thereby be 'diversified away'.

In other words:

"Nobody goes there anymore...it's too crowded."

-- Yogi Berra

And the bar is raised.

Permanently.

Exactly! I wonder if this whole discussion is similar to what happened when someone (not sure of my facts here but some say Jack Nicklaus) first started charting yardages on the courses rather than just estimating by eye. There's always a search for a competitive advantage whether it be in execution or planning. It's interesting...there's a course out here in California that until the last few years did not have a yardage marker on the course anywhere(other than the tees). A member told me the owner did not think it was in the "tradition" of golf to know the yardages with accuracy.

As an aside, while the course is challenging, I don't think it's any coincidence that I played my slowest round ever there (6 hours 40 minutes) before they added markers.:BangHead:

Paralysis by analysis, Lynn should know this better than anyone because he is in (was) the financial world as i am.

Sometimes you can just have too much information and that goes for practice well.

But the key is doing what is SMART with that information and making the CORRECT DECISION. What good was all Phil's (or Rick/Dave's) work for if he wasn't smart enough to pull out the 4 wood for so many holes today?

On one hand, knowing the spots to hit doesn't guarantee anything - you still have to hit them....

On the other, knowing the spots to hit is very important - even lets say that knowledge might only give you a shot or two - that may be the margin that wins championships.....