Do the PGA Tour stars flunk Golf 101?

If you took a poll of the above question, the obvious answer would be no. Why would anyone think that? Let's consider some circumstances and evidence that might give one to pause and wonder if it may be so.

Let me give you some examples.

I am sure that we all can remember in Tiger's illustrious career that a few years ago during the span of two seasons he could place all four major championship trophies on his coffee table.All the tabloids and scribes proclaimed he had reached the summit.Only a fool would question whether or not he fully understood his golf swing and what he was doing. Right? Wrong! The very next week, Butch Harmon had him working on something else about his golf swing.

Now I don't have a thing against Butch Harmon. However, I should point out that in all my reference work, I have been unable to find anything of consequence that Butch Harmon ever won with his own golf swing. What on earth could Harmon tell Tiger that he doesn't already know?

Perhaps it would be telling Tiger how it feels to walk down the 18th fairway at Augusta National with the Masters Tournament well in hand.Yeah, Butch, tell us all how it feels.

Yikes. Doesn't a guy EVER graduate from Golf 101?

Oh, the pundits rave about him constantly trying to improve.Did you ever hear about practice? He is trying to "groove" his swing.

Hogwash.

Double hogwash.

A person can't even write his name exactly the same way twice in his lifetime. Are you nuts? Is it that he has to have a teacher because he forgets things easily? Do you quietly wonder that maybe he is really dumb?

I have watched carefully Wood's so-called swing changes since he was an amateur and I cannot find a nickel's worth of important difference in his swing in that time. If the purists would want to critique his swing faults, they could point out that his head drops roughly three inches from his address position on the downswing and that his arms and hips get out of timing frequently. Over the years, none of his gurus have corrected those things nor should they try to.All that said, he can still beat the pants off anyone on Tour. For gawdsake, leave the guy alone!

Phil Mickelson is another wonderful player who has arguably always had the best short game on Tour. Yet he proceeds to hire a veterinarian with his short game"Bibles" who can't take a pencil and write 80 let alone shoot it to start advising him with the do's and don'ts of short-game play. Hello ... Earth to Phil.

Ernie Els is another example. At one time he had one of the best natural swings on Tour. But then he hires a swing coach along with an entourage of trainers, a psychologist, media consultant and a motivational guru, all of which have contributed to making Els at times an average player in the field and not much of a threat. Maybe he needs to get the other oar in the water.

Charles Howell III has been a student of Ledbetter since he was nine for goodness sake. With all his natural talent, he has achieved no more than mediocre success as a player, yet he continues his loyalty to Sir David. The likes of Ledbetter, Harmon,Haney and others hang on to these dupes on Tour and have them believing that in spite of nothing being broke, they still need to fix it, forever! These guys make Arthur Murray and his former Lifetime of Dancing Lessons look like a piker.

It is interesting to note the number of great players in the history of golf that never had a golf lesson in their life.Four come to mind -- Jones, Hogan, Snead and Sarazen. They did everything on their own, finding out simply what worked for them and what did not.

I firmly believe we should banish all these Tour gurus from the game. We would all be relieved of the constant drivel they dish out in books, videos and infomercials, and also none of the statistics on Tour would measurably change. The leading players would continue to be the leading players and the also-rans would continue to be the also-rans. As to the gurus, I have found no record of any money Harmon, Haney or Ledbetter have made with their golf swings, nor how much our short game wizard Mr. Pelz has made with his own short game.

No matter what the skill level, unless your IQ is about the same as your front nine golf score, you should never need lessons into infinity to become a good player.A good instructor can put you on the right path in no more than 30 minutes.If he or she can't do that, then don't waste your money on lessons from them.

From time to time you do need your swing examined by a qualified instructor to insure you are on the right track, but within reasonable limits. The rest is up to you.