Bunker Mentality
  • Kevin Na's long preshot routine and human-rain-delay tactics were the talk of The Players a couple weeks back. At the time, he promised to work at his swing and routine, and initially at the Crowne Plaza Invitational, it appeared he had. But on Friday, Na was put on the clock, and oh, he wasn't happy about it.

    Na, John Huh and Aaron Baddeley were put on the clock shortly before the turn, and Na would go on to card three bogeys after the declaration. Afterward, he only slightly held back:

    "We were in position all day. We were waiting the first few holes. I'm constantly looking where we are in

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  • Five things learned from the Byron Nelson Championship

    J.J. Henry congratulates Dufner

    Let's be honest, we're all incredibly busy. Nobody has time to sit down and watch four rounds of golf coverage - unless, of course, you watch TV for a living, and if that's the case, please email us your number. So in an effort to condense the tournament coverage for you into a few quick hits, here are five things we learned from the HP Byron Nelson Championship.

    Jason Dufner the real deal? It sure looks that way — Remember when we all questioned when, if ever, Jason Dufner was going to win a US PGA Tour tournament? Yeah, we can all look back on those days and laugh now. After his win at the

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  • Aussie cards incredible 16-under 55

    Everyone has a mate who thinks he's good enough to play golf for a living. He's most likely a single-digit handicapper who's won a couple local tournaments and, on occasion, can shoot under par during the usual weekend game.

    In his mind, he has more than enough game to go head-to-head with the best golfers in the world. Sadly, that couldn't be further from the truth. I'd like to introduce you to Rhein Gibson, a mini-tour golfer who, like your mate, has a goal of making it to the PGA Tour.

    But that's pretty much where the comparisons stop. Why? Because the 26-year-old Aussie, who's currently

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  • Fowler might just be the real deal after all

    Count us among those who have been more than a little leery of the whole "Rickie-Rory" rivalry nonsense that sprang up in the wake of Fowler's maiden US PGA Tour win at the Wells Fargo last week. The media (yes, we know whereof we speak) can be far too quick to create storylines and anoint heroes, and Fowler's known tendency to fall apart on Sundays gave us pause.

    But let's be honest: Fowler's play at The Players on Sunday was nothing short of impressive. He was one player short of a four-man playoff (our fancy way of saying he finished in a tie for second) and his strong late-holes run put

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  • Exactly how sorry should we feel for Kevin Na?

    We all know that tired-but-still-true adage about golf being played on the few inches between your ears. And for players who struggle with the mental side of the game, there must be no more terrifying feeling than to have that internal struggle splayed out across the planet, your insecurities and crutches laid bare for the world to see.

    Kevin Na has been more of a punchline than a subject of reverence around these parts, whether for his scientifically-proven slow play or his occasional double-digit hole scores. But once he took the lead on Saturday at The Players, his ridiculously slow play

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  • Winners and losers from a great Players Championship week

    Another Players Championship is in the books, but before we close things out and head down the road to Texas, it's time to take one final look at the winners and losers from this week. We're looking at you, Matt Kuchar.

    Winners

    Matt Kuchar: There's no question Kuchar is the biggest winner at the Players Championship. Not only did he pick up the biggest win of his career, he now has people questioning if he's more than just a human ATM machine. At 33, he's not considered a rising star on the PGA Tour, but over the last couple of years, Kuchar has solidified his spot as one of the most

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  • Confusion reigns over Harman entry

    As the first alternate in The Players Championship field, Brian Harman had to figure there was a pretty good chance he'd be teeing it up at TPC Sawgrass this week.

    Brian Harman enjoying himself in a group on his own at Sawgrass

    So he showed up on Thursday morning and hung around the clubhouse, cell phone in hand, waiting for the green light from tournament officials. Only the call never came.

    The unfortunate thing for Harman was he actually made it into the field at 8:39 a.m. ET, when D.A. Points withdrew from the tournament with a back injury. But tour officials never informed Harman of his tee time.

    Why? Because they didn't have any idea that last

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  • Golf club falls prey to McIlroy hoax

    Rory McIlroy (not at Ballybunion Golf Club)

    As one of Ireland's top courses, Ballybunion Golf Club is used to hosting some of the biggest names in golf. So when club officials received a call from a man purporting to be Mark O'Meara's agent, they never had an inkling that anything was wrong.

    As the Independent in Ireland reported, the man on the other end of the phone told the club that he was trying to set up a round of golf for O'Meara and Rory McIlroy, who were going to be in Dublin for the Heineken Cup semi-final rugby match between Ulster and Edinburgh.

    Word travelled fast that McIlroy was going to be at the course, and within

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  • Five things we learned from the Wells Fargo Championship

    Rickie Fowler beams after winning the Wells Fargo Championship

    Let's be honest, we're all incredibly busy. Nobody has time to sit down and watch four rounds of golf coverage - unless, of course, you watch TV for a living, and if that's the case, please email us your number. So in an effort to condense the tournament coverage for you into a few quick hits, here are five things we learned from the Wells Fargo Championship.

    Rickie Fowler finally gets it done on Sunday — "Told you guys it was coming soon." That's what Rickie Fowler said when he sat down in the interview room following his win on Sunday. Fowler certainly had confidence in himself, but the

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  • Woods shows signs of rust

    Nobody, not even Tiger Woods, knew how his first competitive round in three weeks would go.

    After walking off the 18th hole at Augusta National following a final round 2-over 74 that saw him finish T40, the worst finish of his Masters career, many wondered which version of Tiger Woods would show up at Quail Hollow.

    Earlier in the week, Woods confirmed during his video Q&A that the swing issues he had at the Masters had been rectified. But following Thursday's opening round 1-under 71 at the Wells Fargo Championship, that appeared to be far from the case.

    The Tiger Woods we saw on Thursday

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Pagination

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About Bunker Mentality

From the top of the golfing tree to the grubby roots of the game which bind us all together, Bunker Mentality will be there: It’ll tees up slices of news, and send them fizzing back down the neatly-trimmed fairway of opinion with more punch than a Tiger 2-iron stinger, more spin than a Mickelson wedge – and more bottle than John Daly.

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