Apparently, the PGA is considering developing an end-of-the-year playoff system similar to what NASCAR has done with the NEXTEL Cup.

Mark Hermann of Newsday has the right idea on this one: its a terrible idea. As he correctly points out, golf revolves around the “majors” and a playoff system would diminish all of the tradition and viewer interest built around these four events.

Far better, I think, to stick with what the PGA apparently was considering earlier: to adjust the schedule, moving the Players to May, and moving the Tour Championship up from November.

I’m sure that the impetus for the playoff system is to help golf compete against College and Pro Football for the television market, but it just isn’t going to happen. Their best bet is to get all of their premier events out of the way and hope to pack as much excitement as they can between the end of March Madness and middle of September, when the football seasons and the baseball playoffs take off.

Independence Day is a good time to sit back and reflect on the hard-won freedoms we enjoy here in the United States. It’s also a good time to review the key words of the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed ...

We spend a lot of time on this paragraph in my political science classes. If you haven’t had a civics class in a while, today is a good time to think about them.

The Swing Setter by David Leadbetter is the latest device that promises to fix your swing faults.

I tried it out at Golfsmith on Saturday, and I’m not sure that I get it. It has a molded grip to help you set your hands, and a couple of magnetized weights set at either end. The upper weight apparently is supposed to release when you set your hands in the proper position at the top of the swing, and the other is supplsed to release when you release your hands at the bottom.

I think.

I’m not sure what this teaches you that the more venerable Medicus Dual 2000 doesn’t.

Slam! sports has an interesting article on the decline of Masters Champion Mike Weir. Apparently, he hopes to revive his game at the birthplace of golf.

R5 Dual TP Driver

Grade: A+
Teachers’ Comments: This is a driver for the ages, the perfect mix of power and forgiveness.

Like Parsifal questing for the Holy Grail, I have long been in search of THE ONE TRUE DRIVER.

Over the years, I have played any number of glittering jewels, including selections from Adams, Callaway, Spaulding, Titleist, Snake Eyes, and Golfworks. Some were long; some were accurate; some were a little of both. But none were the holy grail - THE ONE TRUE DRIVER.

Then about three weeks ago, an unexpected package from TaylorMade showed up at my door, containing a review copy of the new TaylorMade R5 Dual Driver—TP Edition.