SWITCHING COACHES CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE - BOTH WAYS

FROM THE GOLF DIGEST WEBSITE
By LUKE KERR-DINEEN
News that Lydia Ko - see story on www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk - has ditched Guy Wilson, her coach of 11 years who taught her the game and brought her to No. 4 in the World Rankings, for David Leadbetter made us think of a post we did back in July, when Lee Westwood hired Sean Foley as his swing coach. 
As we said on that occasion, there's no exact science to switching coaches. Sometimes it works beautifully. Other times, switching coaches is the worst decision a professional can ever make. Most times, it ends up somewhere in-between. 
No one's really sure how Ko's switch will work out. All we can do at this point is hypothesize, and look back at some of the changes that have already happened:

Nick Faldo from David Leadbetter

After the British tabloids dubbed him "Nick Foldo" for his inability to close in majors, Faldo sought out up-and-coming coach David Leadbetter. Faldo revamped his swing and won all of his six majors under Leadbetter's tutelage, but it was a public and ugly break-up: Faldo reportedly ended the relationship via fax, something Leadbetter called a "slap in the face."

Tiger Woods from Butch Harmon, Hank Haney

When Tiger left Butch -- the man who helped him play what many now believe was the best golf of his career -- for Hank Haney in 2004, the split wasn't great, but not nearly as ugly as the Tiger-Haney divorce. With rumors rife that Tiger was ready to can his new coach after a successful swing change together, Haney quit in the aftermath of Tiger's infidelity scandal and wrote a tell-all book (with Golf World Editor-in-Chief Jaime Diaz), "The Big Miss."

Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els to Butch Harmon

It was all very cordial when Mickelson and Els both left their respective coaches, Rick Smith and David Leadbetter, for Butch. Both felt they needed a change as their careers enter their final stage and were both rewarded: each winning majors under their new coach.

Aaron Baddeley from Mike Plummer and Andy Bennett

When the Stack and Tilt method burst onto the scene, Aaron Baddeley was the face of it. He won his first and second PGA Tour events in consecutive years using the swing and broke into the top 20 in the world. But after shooting 80 in the final round of the 2007 U.S. Open -- he entered the day with the lead -- Baddeley ditched the instructors and has won only once since.

Adam Scott to Brad Malone

With Scott feeling he wasn't able to spend enough time with longtime coach Butch Harmon, the two split amicably and Scott replaced him with his brother-in-law, Brad Malone. Under his guidance, Scott played his way out of a slump and into third in the world rankings, winning his first major along the way.

Lee Westwood to Sean Foley

Westwood joined Sean Foley's star-studded stable on the eve of the 2013 British Open, where he went on to finish T-3 after a final round collapse. That marked Westwood's eighth top-three finish since 2008, and he's hoping that a move to Foley -- the man overseeing Tiger Woods, Justin Rose and Hunter Mahan's swings -- will help him take that final step.

THREE SCOTTISH VENUES FOR LOMBARD TROPHY CLUB PRO AND AM TOURNAMENT

                 Entrance display to Gleneagles Hotel and its courses, Perthsire
                                         Image by Cal Carson Golf Agency

Ladybank Golf Club, Fife (June 10) and Perthshire's Crieff Golf Club (June 12) will host the two Scottish regional finals of the £80,000 Lombard Trophy, the 36-hole final of which will be played over the King's Course, Gleneagles Hotel, Perthshire on September 2 and 3.
Entry is open to club professionals in partnership with an amateur from the same club. The field at Ryder Cup venue Gleneagles will consist of the 16 regional winning pairs.
The winning PGA pro earns £12,000.


ENDS

CURTIS THOMPSON WINS DIXIIE AMATEUR FOR A SECOND TIME

FROM THE DIXIE AMATEUR WEBSITE
CORAL SPRINGS (Florida) – Curtis Thompson, title-winner in 2011, joined a short list of players who have captured the Dixie Amateur multiple times when he birdied the second extra hole in a sudden death play-off Sunday to defeat Florida State University freshman Jack Maguire.

Thompson, a local favourite who lives just 10 minutes from the Heron Bay Golf Club, and Maguire shot final round 65s to set up the play-off.  Thompson missed a 10-footer for par on the 72^nd hole to force the extra holes.

In a display of terrific shot-making, the final group which also included third-round leader McCormick Clouser, had 21 birdies and one eagle.

Both Thompson and Maguire shot similar 32-33 nines and were never separated by more than one shot throughout the afternoon.

“I really didn’t know what I shot,” said Thompson, who attends Louisiana State University and is the third member of the golfing Thompsons; younger sister Lexi has won multiple times on the LPGA already while older brother Nick has been playing on the US PGA tour for a couple of years. 

“I thought I had 66. I was more concerned with playing each shot.”

Thompson was one behind on the 17^th hole when Maguire could not get up and down from the fringe and made bogey. Curtis drained his birdie and the group went to the 18^th  with Thompson one up.

But he gave the shot back, three-putting from the back fringe while Maguire two putted for par, missing a birdie putt that would have won it by inches.

“I can’t be disappointed shooting seven under,” said St. Petersburg, Florida resident Maguire. “This was one of my best rounds of the year and as long as I didn’t lose it, that’s all I care about. Curtis played just great.”

Thompson, who won this event in 2011, is the seventh player to win the Dixie twice while  Earl Christianson and Bill Hyndman III won it three times. 

“Win, lose or draw,” he said, “it was a lot of fun today.”

In the Woodlands Winter Invitational played at Woodlands Country Club, another ClubLink facility in nearby Tamarac, Corey Knight beat Ryan Carter with a par on the first hole of sudden death to win the inaugural event. 

Knight, from Avondale, Arizona had a 73 to go with his opening round 69 while Carter, from Miami was two under Sunday to tie atop the leaderboard at 142.

The 83^rd Dixie Amateur had players from 31 countries participate, a record for the event.

TO VIEW ALL THE FINAL TOTALS

CLICK HERE