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!