With Tiger on the sidelines until who knows when we will have a wide open 2010. Phil will surely be gunning for the #1 player spot in the world, but "not so fast my friend" as Lee Corso says. There is a guy that goes by the name of Zach that would like to elevate his game in 2010 to the next level. At times during the 2009 campaign, Zach Johnson flirted with the top spot in both the FedExCup and on the PGA TOUR money list. Another challenge in 2010 just might end up differently if Johnson can build on this career year. Johnson set the tone for 2009 early when he tied for sixth at the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Maui and then hopped over to Oahu where he fired a 65 in the final round of the Sony Open in Hawaii to beat David Toms and Adam Scott by one stroke. Johnson also successfully defended his title at the Valero Texas Open where he shot 60 in the third round and eventually beat James Driscoll with a birdie on the first hole of sudden death. Along the way, he tied for second at the John Deere Classic and finished solo third at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. His tie for 10th at the PGA was the 2007 Masters champion's second top-10 in a major and one of a career-high eight top-10s for the season. Johnson earned more than $4 million for the first time in his career and finished sixth in the FedExCup.

Next week we will talk about my sleepers in 2010 and your chance to to play with me in a SOPGA PRO-Am in 2010. See you next week and have a Happy New Year!

Go Bucks! Sley the Ducks!

Happy Holidays to All!

A happy holiday to all! I just have so many topics to talk about, but am choosing Ken Green. Many of you know him from the 80's and early 90's when he won five times on the PGA Tour. I had the pleasure of hosting him at Forest Oaks when he won the Greater Greensboro Open in 1988. He was very outspoken and worked extremely hard for what he received. Today he is in the biggest fight of his career coming back from a tragic RV accident on the way back from a Champion Tour event. A blown tire caused him to loose control killing his brother, girlfriend and dog. Ken was thrown thru the windshield and lost his right leg from the knee down. Ken is determined to come back and if anyone can he will. Good luck to Ken he is a true gentlemen and friend.

2010 will be very interesting with the groove change. I just received my new irons with conforming grooves. I will let you know what I think after the holidays.

When will Tiger return? I think that's the big question. E-mail me when you think he will return and the winner will receive a free swing evaluation. paulnewman@pga.com

Click Here for Paul's Tip of the Week!

PGA Q-School, Tiger and More

With the PGA Q-School complete we now can look forward to another great season in 2010. Columbus native and Northwestern standout Chris Wilson will be playing on the big stage in 2010. Wilson played only one tour event in his young career at the Memorial last year missing the cut. Since graduating from Northwestern in 2007 he has been playing the Hooter's Tour. He finished in a tie for 12th at -12 for the week. Joe Ogilvie from Lancaster will be back also, he finished in a tie for 15th @ -11.

Okay... I cannot go on without a comment or two about Tiger. We now know the guy is human, I was wondering for a while. Do you think this may be a reason Phil and Tiger do not get along? I have to say that's the rumor right now.

Let's say this, for many years PGA Tour players have had a less than perfect record when it comes to marriage. Fred Couples is a good example of that. Professional athletes get more attention than the average guy can imagine. So good luck Tiger in getting you life back in order. This one is far from over...more to come!

Jim Furyk ended a two year drought this past weekend by holing two key putts on the 17th and 18th holes. On seventeen he holed a thirty five footer for par and then birdied 18 for the one shot victory. Lee Westwood continues to play well finishing one shot behind.

Final Stage of Q-School

The field is set for the final stage of Q-School. 132 Players will try to attain 25 tour cards. David Duvall and Paul Stankowski are two notibals trying to get back to the big stage. The final stage of the PGA TOUR Q-School will be held on Dec. 2-7 at Bear Lakes Country Club in West Palm Beach, FL. The event will be contested over 108 holes and only the low 25 scores and ties will earn their PGA TOUR cards for 2010. The rest of the field will have some degree of status on the Nationwide Tour.

The purse for the event is $1,012,500 with $50,000 going to the champion. Following is a list of players entered at Bear Lakes who were exempt into the final stage:

Lee Westwood continued his dominant play this year by capturing the Debai World Cup. His last round of 64 helped him secure the order of Merritt. Westwood led by two shots entering the final round and opened it with five birdies in his first seven holes. He later revealed caddy Billy Foster had given him some advice at the beginning of the week in Dubai. "Billy told me to go out and bully other people. To make them take notice of me, rather than the other way around."

With that said we will have no skins game this year. I miss the old days with Jack, Lee, Tom and Arnold on Thankgiving. We probably will never see a skins game again until Phil, Tiger, Sergio and Padraig get to be 50.

Click Here to Check Out the Golf Tip of the Week!

I hope everyone has a Happy Turkey Day! Be Safe and Thankful!

Let's Talk Q-School

I am back from the PGA Annual Meeting in New Orleans. This was my first ever and it was well worth the wait! I spent 3 days playing two tour courses, English Turn, TPC of Louisiana and the historical New Orleans Country Club. The area has bounced back some but still has a long way to go. The devistation from Katrina is still everywhere you look even four years after... My heart goes out to all the people who suffered through that horrible disaster. My many thanks to the Golf Coast Section for their hospitality.

Enough of that, let's talk Q-School.

The first two stages consist of 72-hole tournaments. A predetermined number of players from each first-stage event advance to the second-stage and from the second to the all-important final stage at Bear Lakes in West Palm Beach, FL. The final stage will be held December 2-7, 2009.

The finale is contested over 108 mind-numbing and stomach-churning holes that determine where a player will work in 2010. Every player who reaches the finale has some degree of status on the Nationwide Tour, but only the low 25 and ties are exempt on the PGA TOUR for next year.

Recent Q-School Medalists and how they did...

2008 Harrison Frazar - The veteran PGA TOUR player was on the top 125 bubble until he tied for seventh at the Turning Stone Resort Championship. He's No. 104 on the money list.

2007 Frank Lickliter II - Lickliter, who has graduated from Q-School four times, failed to retain his TOUR card for 2009 and is outside the top 125 again this year, having played 14 events this season.

2006 George McNeill - After getting his TOUR card, McNeill won the Frys.com Open in 2007. He has surpassed $1 million each of the last three seasons.

2005 J.B. Holmes - The long driver won the FBR Open twice, in 2006 and 2008, and added a secondplace finish when he lost to Paul Casey in a playoff at theis year's Shell Houston Open.

2004 Brian Davis - Davis came over from the European Tour in 2005 and has retained his TOUR card each year since with three runner-up finishes.

2003 Mathias Gronberg - Since 2003, the Swede has successfully navigated Q-School twice (2005, 2008). He won a Nationwide Tour event this year and is a pretty safe bet to make "THE 25".

2002 Jeff Brehaut - Brehaut hasn't been a full TOUR member since 2005. He reappeared this year and led the U.S. Open after a rain-soaked Thursday and tied for 58th.

2001 Pat Perez - Perez has been a mainstay on TOUR since medaling. He broke through with his first win at the 50th Bob Hope Classic in 2009. He's a poster boy for Q-School success stories.
2000 Steve Allan - The Australian worked his way up to post runner-up finishes in 2003 and 2004, but has faded since. He's made one cut in 17 PGA TOUR events this year.

This year will be some of the most fierce competition we have seen in recent years. Players are bigger, stronger and hit it further than ever before. The groove change from box grooves to the traditional v grooves will make driving the ball in the fairway a must. Stay tuned next week for the results!

Click Here for Golf Tip of The Week!

World Golf Championship-HSBC Champions

First Time in history Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will be teeing it up on Asian Soil. The field is loaded with 7 of the top 10 players in the world. Sheshan Golf Club will host the event. The course is noted as having some of the most difficult greens in Asia, rolling close to 12.5 on the stimpmeter. Measuring 7200 yards: A wide open front nine and a tight tree lined back nine proves to be a true test. Interesting note: the Grinko trees that line the back nine are over a thousand years old.

MY 3 PICKS

1. Tiger Woods coming off a dominating performance for the Americans in the President's Cup, he was undefeated in his 5 matches. This title has eluded Tiger, but not for long.

2. Ian Poulter won last week's Singapore Open coming in confident and loves to compete against Tiger.

3. Phil Mickelson, Lefty, tied for eighth here last year and reportedly is coming in sharp and focused!

Tip of the Week

HITTING THE BALL LONGER: Getting more distance is what everyone wants. Here are a few tips that might help you achieve getting more distance.

At address, keep most of your weight on your right foot (right handed golfers) ~ Widen your stance ~ Tee ball high and hit it with an ascending blow ~ Use a strong grip and light grip pressure ~ Waggle to relax muscles and rehearse hinging of the right wrist ~ Make a wide arc and strive for maximum extension ~ Maximize coil, place left shoulder and hip behind ball on backswing keeping the right knee flexed will help maximize the coiling ~ To maximize coiling, don't lift left foot on backswing ~ Hinge wrists fully at top of backswing ~ Be sure to complete the backswing to put the club in the right position ~ Don't let your left are bend at the top of the backswing ~ Start your downswing by pointing the butt end of the club toward the ball ~ Relax arms, make a shallow approach, delay turning of shoulders on downswing, let arms extend and pull shoulders into finish ~ Accelerate the club slowly on downswing ~ Rotate shaft through impact ~ Try to generate maximum clubhead speed when the clubhead passes the ball, not at or before impact ~ Keep head and upper body behind ball throughout swing ~ Try to keep your right heel on the ground longer on downswing to help keep your body back ~ Hit the ball on the upswing ~ Throughout the swing, the only pressure point in your grip should be at the point where the lower pad of your right thumb meets the knuckle of your left thumb.

All of these components can help create extra distance that we all want and need!