Short and sharp tribute to a great man

Phillip Leishman (Stuff)

Iconic New Zealand broadcaster, Phillip Leishman, has died aged 61. I was too young - and in some instances not even born - to remember the influence he had on broadcasting in New Zealand pre-1990s.

Over the last several years, his magazine-style golf show - which screened weekly throughout most of the year - provided the fix I needed to satisfy my continuous craving for golf (news).

“I have been lucky to live an amazing life and The Golf Show has taken me to some incredible places around the world,” - Leishman (New Zealand Golf)

I would say that it was the Open Championship of golf television in New Zealand. There was nothing better and it was always a treat to watch.

Phillip brought golf courses from all over the world on to our television sets. His commentary superbly accompanied the breathtaking camera shots.

Phillip provided a round-up of the weekly golf tournaments on the PGA and European Tour's, and interviewed some of the world's most famous golfers.

Still, Phillip always made sure that he added a local element to the show, with previews of New Zealand golf courses and interviews with household New Zealand names such as Michael Campbell and Lydia Ko.

His iconic voice provided viewers with a sense of familiarity and comfort and without doubt was synonymous with golf on New Zealand television.

His legacy in establishing The Golf Show will surely live on forever and will hopefully continue into a future without him. Even though it will probably never be the same again.

Rest In Peace Phillip Leishman. I will definitely miss you.

WGC Accenture Matchplay - Preview

The 2013 edition of the WGC Accenture Matchplay gets underway later this week at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Arizona, USA.

Previous five winners: 2008: Tiger Woods; 2009: Geoff Ogilvy; 2010: Ian Poulter; 2011: Luke Donald; 2012: Hunter Mahan.

Here is the run-down for those unfamiliar with the format and how the tournament plays out. The top 64 golfers in the Official World Golf Rankings are selected. If, for any reason, any of those top 64 cannot participate, then the next best ranked golfer is selected. In other words, if one player is unavailable, then the 65th ranked golfer would be selected, then the 66th, and so on. On a side note, Phil Mickelson, who won the Waste Management Phoenix Open only a few weeks ago, is not participating.

The format is a straight knockout matchplay, one on one, with the ultimate winner having to win six matches out of six over a five day period: Round of 64, Round of 32, Round of 16, Quarterfinals, Semi Finals, and Final.

The participants are separated into four brackets (4 groups of 16). Bobby Jones bracket, Ben Hogan bracket, Gary Player bracket, and the Sam Snead bracket. The winner of each bracket goes into the semi-finals.

Defending champion Hunter Mahan (Accenture)

All 32 First Round matches are listed on the PGA Tour website, but here is my selection of some heavyweight match-ups on day one and possible choices of potential upsets and dark horses. Current world ranking in brackets.

Justin Rose (6) vs KJ Choi (62) - One of Europe's Ryder Cup heroes, Rose won the World Golf Championship's Cadillac Championship last year and was knocked out of the first round of the Accenture Matchplay last year. Choi was also knocked out in the first round in 2012. Current form would suggest Rose wins this one but not by much.

Adam Scott (7) vs Tim Clark (61) - Scott has excelled over the past year and a half with Steve Williams as caddy and a switch to the broomstick putter. It is hard to see Clark, who is making his first appearance in the tournament since 2011, causing an upset here.

Jason Dufner (12) vs Richard Sterne (57) - Sterne is one of many South Africans who have risen to prominence over the past few seasons. Dufner will have the home crowd on his side, but let's not forget that Sterne has already had success this year, winning two weeks ago in the Joburg Open by a comfortable seven strokes.

Steve Striker (16) vs Henrik Stenson (53) - Stricker might be 45, but is ever-consistent recording two top-10s out of the 4 WGC events in 2012. Stenson return after missing out on qualifying last year. Stricker for me.

Chris Wood (USA Today)

Bubba Watson (10) vs Chris Wood (59) - Chris Wood could be a potential dark horse in this event. Bubba, the reigning Masters champion, faces a man who won his first European Tour event last month by making eagle on the last hole at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters and has improved his world ranking significantly in early 2013. Could this be the match of the first round?

Graeme McDowell (19) vs Padraig Harrington (50) - Harrington already has a top-10 on the PGA Tour this year but McDowell goes in to this one as the favourite. Harrington can take some comfort in knowing that McDowell has only progressed to the 2nd round in one of his last four attempts.

Ernie Els (22) vs Fredrik Jacobson (47) - Jacobson was unlucky not to win last week, missing a four-foot putt to make the playoff at the Northern Trust Open. Can he get over his disappointment in time?

Hunter Mahan (25) vs Matteo Manassero (44) - The defending champion comes up against the Italian teenager in what could could be a potential banana skin for Mahan. If Manassero finds his A-game he might cause a major upset.

Bill Haas (30) vs Nicolas Colsaerts (39) - A few years ago not many golf followers were aware of Belgium's Colsaerts, but he has since won a couple of European Tour events and chalked up some consistent finishes. However, he does face-off against 2011 Fed Ex Cup champion Haas who has 3 top 10s in only 5 events to start the season.

Martin Kaymer (28) vs George Coetzee (41) - Coetzee is another South African who has impressed over the past year. Came close to winning the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters in January. Should be a close match against Kaymer who has found a return to form since mid-2012.

Nike duo: McIlroy and Woods in their "No Cup is Safe" Nike Golf commercial

The big names: Rory McIlroy's switch to Nike equipment has not started well at all, but he should live up to his world number one ranking and beat Shane Lowry in the first round. Spaniard Sergio Garcia has been known to let the pressure get to him at times and Thongchai Jaidee will put up a great fight. Tiger Woods meets Charles Howell III; Ian Poutler, triumphant in 2010, faces fellow Brit Stephen Gallacher; Lee Westwood locks horns with Rafael Cabrera-Bello; and Luke Donald, 2011 winner, will battle Marcel Siem for a place in the second round.

As you can see, there is a lot to be excited about.


Fun trivia fact to end on.  Tiger Woods is credited of having the biggest winning margin in the tournament's history - a 9/8 win over Stephen Ames in 2006. Why else was this significant? Shortly before his first round match up against then world number one Tiger, Ames took a swipe at the state of Tiger's golf game: "Anything can happen, especially where he's hitting the ball." Moral of the story - Let the golf do the talking to shut up your opponent.

Cynical, suspicious and fearful

I cannot remember a more farcical start to the sporting year than what has occurred less than two months into 2013. Forget who won, forget what sport, the only thing that has dominated global sport so far this year has been controversy. Drugs, match-fixing, speculation, allegations, criminal investigations, conspiracies, it goes on and on.

The Mayans predicted the end of one world and the beginning of another. Are we witnessing the new world order in sport - where controversy completely destroys fans' and spectators' love of a true and just sporting contest?

Recap of the controversy so far (or at least what I have been aware of) ...

The now iconic image of Armstrong confessing to Oprah (OWN)

Cycling - Lance Armstrong confesses to Oprah Winfrey in a televised interview that he used performance enhancing drugs throughout his cycling career and, most significantly, in each of his seven Tour de France victories from 1999-2005. Armstrong's adoption of a "win-at-all-costs" mentality led him down a dangerous road of serial doping. However, in that same interview he continued to deny accusations that he was involved in covering up a supposed positive test for EPO during the 2001 Tour de Suisse, and stated that he rode the Tour de France "clean" upon his return in 2009 and 2010.


Football/Soccer - A global investigation by Europol - a European law enforcement agency - produced evidence of widespread match-fixing in football/soccer that was linked to organized crime syndicates in Asia, or more specifically Singapore. Approximately 380 matches in Europe were affected by illegal betting practices in Asia and this was accompanied with over 400 fraudulent officials. The integrity of fixtures in the UEFA Champions League, World Cup and European Championship qualifying, and league matches in South America and counties such as Turkey and Germany, are under serious investigation.

Deer oh deer: Vijay Singh (The Telegraph)

Golf - Successful Fijian golfer Vijay Singh was revealed to have used deer-antler spray on a daily basis since late 2012 and soon after admitted that this was true. What is the problem? The deer-antler spray contains a substance banned by the PGA Tour,  IGF-1, which is a "natural, anabolic hormone that stimulates muscle growth." Singh claims that he was unaware that the spray contained "a substance that is banned under the PGA Tour Anti-Doping Policy." It is still unclear whether Singh will be suspended as he keeps in regular contact with PGA Tour officials.

Boxing - Where to begin and, even more confusing, where to end? Sonny Bill Williams defeated Francois Botha on points to win their bout in Brisbane last week but the validity of the result has yet to be confirmed. The fight only went 10 rounds when WBA (World Boxing Association) rules clearly state that "All sanctioned bouts shall be scheduled for twelve (12) rounds." Sonny Bill's manager Khoder Nasser is adamant that everyone knew the fight was scheduled for 10 rounds and that the marketing of the fight being 12 rounds was a misunderstanding. The T.V. commentators were certain that the fight was scheduled for 12 rounds and expressed their shock at the start of the 10th round when the umpire said it was the last round. T.V. footage shows that the judges had the "11" and "12" cards on their tables. Sky TV New Zealand advertised the fight as 12 rounds, so did Fox Sports Australia. Betting agencies in both Australia and New Zealand had betting options open for knockouts occurring in rounds 11 and 12.

Sonny Bill himself is quoted as saying "He'll [Botha] do 12 rounds pretty easy" just days before the fight yet after the fight claimed he always prepared for a 10 round fight. To make matters worse, Botha failed a drugs test from a urine sample that was taken three days before the bout, even though he was not officially obliged to. Botha has since claimed that the test was administered by someone with close association to Nasser and will undergo another test in his home country South Africa sooner rather than later in order to clear his name.

Can this get any more farcical? WBA official Brad Vocale claims that the championship belt won by SBW after his victory was not genuine and that there was no WBA official at the actual fight. The credibility of both Nasser and Sonny Bill have taken a huge blow and this is certainly not the end of the story.

Fuentes outside court (The Telegraph)

Multiple sports -  Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes is currently undergoing a trial in a court case dubbed "Operation Puerto." Fuentes was previously arrested in May 2006 after an investigation into his Madrid-based clinic revealed 186 code-named blood bags belonging to professional athletes and the illegal possession and use of EPO and Human Growth Hormone. Fuentes has worked with top cyclists, footballers, football teams, tennis players, boxers and swimmers.Fuentes has stated that he is willing to name all the athletes he helped through blood doping by matching up the blood samples and codes with the real athletes' name. Judge Julia Santamaria told him that he is only obliged to name the cyclists due to a previous ruling, but officials from agencies such as WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) have called for all names to be revealed. Fuentes apparently saw doping during the 2006 World Cup. It would shatter me if Fuentes revealed that Italy were involved, but so far he has not named any countries. In what could have serious ramifications, Fuentes allegedly told a prison informant that if he was to talk, Spain could be stripped of their World Cup 2010 and European Championship titles.

Cover page of the report (ACC)

Australian sport - February 7, 2012, could go down as the "blackest day in Australian sport." On this Thursday, the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) shocked Australian sports fans, players and officials with the release of a report entitled "Organised Crime and Drugs in Sport." The year long investigation gives damning evidence of banned substances such as peptides, human growth hormone and, disturbingly, even substances that have yet to be tested on humans, being distributed to athletes, pharmacists and coaches in multiple sports through illegal means.

Aussie Rules and Rugby League are the two sports under the most suspicion even though the public have yet to be made aware of specific athletes and teams who were involved. The Hyundai A-League (football/soccer) has not escaped the controversy. Tens of millions of dollars were placed on a single fixture from an Asian-based betting agency in Melbourne in late 2012. It is unclear as to what two teams were involved.

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I will now point out two specific sporting fixtures that happened last week which I find suspicious. Even though there has been no official investigation, I find some instances in the following hard to believe.

English Premier League - Manchester City vs Southampton. I am sorry, but this match just smelt of match-fixing. Joe Hart, first choice goalkeeper for England, fumbles the ball when it is kicked straight at his paws. Fellow teammate Gareth Barry kicked the ball into his own net while Hart did not make much of an effort to prevent the ball rolling into the goal. For goodness sake, it did not even look like a back-pass from Barry but more like a tap in goal from a striker.

Cricket - The New Zealand cricket team (Black Caps), who usually are a composed side in the field, dropped five catches against England in their first Twenty20 match. This is a bit of a tongue-and-cheek example.

For me, the end of 2012 marked the end of my belief in many things spectacular in sport. From 2013 onwards, almost every achievement of epic proportions will have a cloud hanging over it. I might even abandon my one-eyed view that teams and players I support are free from all this.

Veratti rescues Italy

Italy escaped with a 1-1 draw away to an impressive Netherlands, thanks to a stoppage time goal to substitute Marco Veratti. It allows Italy to maintain their unbeaten friendly record against the Oranje in friendlies, which now stretches to 13 matches (6 wins and 7 draws).

Both Louis van Gaal and Cesare Prandelli - coaches of the Netherlands and Italy respectively - fielded largely inexperienced sides as they look to build depth leading into the World Cup qualifiers later this year.

Van Gaal's side were the lesser experienced with 7 players in the starting lineup under 23, but started the stronger of the two sides. Robin Van Persie almost capitalized on the early pressure with a shot on target in the 18th minute, but it was saved by the legs of Gianluigi Buffon.

The Dutch almost scored in the 26th minute with Buffon having to make back-to-back saves. They were finally rewarded in the 33rd minute through a clever piece of ball control by Jeremain Lens who converted from short range to make it 1-0.

The Italians made two subs at halftime with Alessandro Diamanti and Alessandro Florenzi replacing Antonio Candreva and Andrea Pirlo. Pirlo showed glimpses of his best in the first half but it seems as though Prandelli wants to give a few of the other players some game time.

The Oranje continued to control possession in the second half as Italy continued to lack cohesion and rhythm.

The introduction of Arjen Robben for the Dutch added some more fluidity to their game, and on several occasion he got the better of the Italian defensive line, combining with players such as Lens and Maher. Yet again, the ever-reliable Buffon held strong, producing some fantastic saves to keep the Italians in the game even if they did no deserve to be.

Controversial Italian striker Mario Balotelli showed his frustration with half an hour to go by violently kicking the ball into the advertising hoardings. This was met with jeers from the crowd. He was soon replaced by AS Roma forward Pablo Osvaldo.

It should have been game over in the 87th minute. Adam Maher put Dirk Kuyt into open space, but he duffed his shot into Buffon's gloves.

Osvaldo made his presence felt in the 30 minutes he played. His pair of headers were off target, and the second one in the 88th minute really should have been converted after a brilliant right cross from Ignazio Abate.

Alberto Gilardino added to the strong finish by forcing Dutch goalkeeper Krul into a quick save.

When watching the last 10 minutes of this match you would think it was Italy who had played the better of the two teams throughout the 90 minutes, which was far from being the case.


The Azzurri were rewarded for their late attacking pressure when Gilardino combined well with 20 year old Marco Veratti, who superbly scooped the ball over Krul to give Italy a draw at the death.

That is how the match finished and I'm sure Van Gaal and his troops will feel like they let that one slip.


To conclude, I believe that Veratti it set for a huge future. At such a young age he has excellent technical passing skills, has a sharp turn, and is very quick at beating his tackler. When Andrea Pirlo eventually does retire, Italy will definitely miss his talent, but at least there is someone in waiting to take his place.

Golf update - You can rediscover your golf game

I thought I might as well add a diary-like entry on my golf game because I find it remarkable at how quickly my game has improved over the least two weeks. More specifically, I dropped 21 shots off my score in two weeks. I put it all down to one golf lesson and a lot of hardwork. If you are having trouble with your own golf game, then I hope this can give you the confidence that you can turn it around and trust what you are doing.

Saturday, January 19, 2013: This was probably the darkest day on the golf course for me since 2007. It came after several months of a deteriorating golf swing and countless hours on the driving range hitting hundreds of balls without making any progress.

For some reason I thought that my golf game would magically reappear. Why? Because it magically disappeared several months ago where I went from shooting in the mid 70s to mid 80s within the blink of an eye.

One problem led to another, and I found myself tossing and turning ideas in my head, all to no avail.

Anyway, back to that day - a 36 hole interclub trial on a very windy day in Wellington. I shot 87 in the morning and 90 in the afternoon. It was the first time I had failed to break 90 since early 2007. In other words, this was the worst golf I had played in over 5 years.

I guess I could blame the wind for a few shots, but it did not hide the fact that my ball striking was absolute rubbish. I used to be able to hit 9+ greens a round without even trying. In that 90, I only hit 2 greens.

I never thought about quitting. All I could think about was how great I would feel when I finally got my talent back.


I finally said enough was enough and decided to get a lesson with the coach at Miramar - Renee Fowler.

Thursday, January 24, 2013: Immediately, Renee saw the problems in my swing. The two key things were an incorrect weight shift on the downswing and a failure to extend the arms at impact (see this blog post). Renee gave me a few drills to work on and a few things to think about while practicing.

Saturday, January 26, 2013: My practice had begun. Mainly hitting balls with my feet together to work on the correct weight shift on the downswing and keeping my body centred over the ball, as opposed to leaning back. Nothing fancy today, just little half swings with my pitching wedge.

Sunday-Tuesday, January 27-29, 2013: Kept going hard at it. Started to hit more longer clubs - 6,7 and 8 irons - while hitting more balls with my feet apart, always remembering to keep those arms extended at impact and shift that weight foward.

I decided to go out and play 9 holes on Tuesday afternoon to put my early hard work to the test. I shot +4 which is nothing spectacular, but a breath of fresh air when considering how bad I was just over a week ago.

Wednesday, 30 January, 2013: Now I really began to feel confident that I had put the past behind me. In practice, I was hitting the ball noticeably further higher, and getting more consistent divots. Even better, my notorious bad shot - the weak push to the right - was not happening as often.

Thursday, 31 January, 2013: Played 7 holes and shot +3. Which was alright and I did hit more greens percentage wise than I had been over the last few months. After that, I did some skill tests with my 8 iron and they went really well, with regards to starting the ball on the right line and having it end up at/near the target.

Friday, 1 February, 2013: The big day. Played 18 holes for the first time since that 90 score. How would I cope physically and mentally? As it turns out, I played my best round in almost 13 months, a 1 under par 69! I could not believe at how quickly I had transformed my game. Hit more greens, more fairways, holed more putts, and even my chipping was up to standard. Had to birdie the last hole to break par, and did it by making a 15 foot birdie putt from the fringe. I was back!

Saturday, 2 February, 2013: Had to back up my previous day's play with a good first up showing in interclub for the season at an away course. My short game was woeful, but my full swing kept me in the game as I hit many fairways and greens. I was 3 holes down with 5 to play, and made my best ever comeback to win the last 5 holes and win the match 2 up. I was only +1 for those last 5 holes and hit 4/5 greens, including some long 2 putts to make par. I shot a +11 82, but if my short game was half decent, it would have easily been a 76-77. It is not always easy putting and chipping at a course you are not familiar with.

Sunday, 3 February, 2013: Backed it up again - a 75 at Miramar. Bad news? I only hit 4 greens in regulation, but of those made 2 birdies. Looking back, I was a bit lazy with my full swing and I do not know why. Maybe it was just one of those days where you hit the ball bad. They happen. Good news? Short game was spectacular. Made 7/14 up and downs and holed several putts from the 10-15 foot range - something I usually struggle to do. I even holed out from a bunker for the first time which I was stoked about. The way I see it, the confidence I now have in my long game has fed into my short game, along with the time I have spent on the putting green practicing those middle-range putts.

So there you have it: Shoot 90, get a lesson, work hard, shoot 69. It all came down to confidence and having trust in the process of improvement. I owe most of that to coach Renee for her help.

Again, if you are struggling with your golf game, no matter how bad it may seem, you can turn it around through three things: confidence, trust and hard work.