Trevino After Switching To Belly Putter: “Now I see why they want to make this one illegal”

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Adam Schupak, with several interesting notes related to the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, talked to Lee Trevino about getting the yips and switching to a belly putter for round two with partner Mike Hill:

“I had the yips so badly with that little putter yesterday that I thought I had bleeding ulcers,” he said. “My belly was burning up so much that I thought I had eaten some jalapeno peppers.”

Still feeling the competitive tug of golf, Trevino put a TaylorMade Ghost belly putter in the bag for the final round and afterwards stressed that his putting was vastly improved.

“Now I see why they want to make this one illegal,” Trevino said. “It’s like cheating. I swear to God. This is the easiest thing I’ve ever seen to putt with, is that belly putter.”

And this about leading Champions Tour player Bernhard Langer:

“There’s no question he wouldn’t be playing like he is if it wasn’t for the long putter,” Trevino said. “It takes all the pressure out.”

On-Course Interviews And Rocco

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Champions Tour rookie and winner of his first event, Rocco Mediate, held court today in the Toshiba Classic interview room.

Specifically, he talked about his win at the Allianz Championship despite those pesky on-course interviews by Billy Ray Brown. The same mid-round chats that would cause today's PGA Tour players to whine endlessly about the sheer horror of having to speak while maneuvering their scalpel so close to the patient's brain stem.

ROCCO MEDIATE:  Yeah, on‑course interviews.  We would love you to talk to people on the course, you know.  Billy Ray and I have talked 600 times already in the first two weeks.  I went, I can't wait for that to happen because we should do that on the regular tour.  See, it's not any different.  That's what drives me crazy.  Like, oh, you can't talk to the guys because they're playing.  What?  It's still a trophy.  I don't care if it's a million dollars or 300,000 to win.  It's a trophy.  So why is the Tour going, You can't talk to the guys because God forbid if you talk to them?  It's horse crap.  There's no difference.  It's just as ‑‑ I mean, winning anywhere is the same or being in contention is the same.  Why can't you say something walking on the fairway? 

Could you imagine talking to Tiger coming down the last hole?  Wouldn't it be cool though?  What he's actually thinking?  He might be going, yeah, I'm thinking of dinner tonight, thinking of where I'm going to dinner.  Who knows what he'd say?  But I'd like to hear it, see.  As a fan, I'd like to hear what he's thinking.  It's got to go that way because, you know, money is tough to come by.  They need something else.  We have it here. 

"Elkington splashes onto the Champions Tour with the same gorgeous swing, but as a combination of 1920s barnstorming player and Internet startup CEO."

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Brett Avery gets to the bottom of what Steve Elkington is doing with his cultish Secretinthedirt.com web community and his stunning new house on wheels that will be his home-away-from-home as he travels the Champions Tour.

Bob Croslin's photos of Elkington's amazing big rig accompany the story in Golf World and the online edition.

Through organic growth Secret has members from more than 125 countries. Maves equates the 30,000 unique monthly visitors to Twitter, where a core stokes conversations and far more read and retweet. Elkington claims that by dress and swing alone he can pick from a crowd any Dirters, as they call themselves. "We always try to get them to think a little deeper," Elkington says. "Take responsibility for your own game."

Among the converted is Ross Roark, a west Texas horse trainer who met Elkington 15 years ago. Roark discovered Secret as a mid-80s shooter with a looping, knee-dipping swing many instructors might scrap. Roark grooved his action by studying about 300 videos, one reason the new Secret channel on YouTube has logged a million views. "If you want to know anything about golf, about the swing or the way it's supposed to be done, it's right there in The Vault," he says. Last summer Roark, now scratch, shot a 63.

Lanny Lands Champions Lead Analyst Gig

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Lanny gets the call.

And don't even think of asking me who was the lead analyst before him.

Known as one of the fiercest competitors on Tour during his playing career, Wadkins will be in the booth this week for the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, one of 22 Champions Tour events on Golf Channel in 2013. He will also appear on news and instructional programming throughout the year.

"Lanny was one of the greatest golfers of his generation, and we are thrilled to have him as a member of our Golf Channel family," said executive producer Molly Solomon. "I have been a fan of Lanny's for many years, and we look forward to his return to television and hearing his familiar voice each week on the Champions Tour."

The Real Best Field In Golf...

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I'm always so impressed with the legends that are lured to play the PNC Father-Son Challenge, and the December 13-16 field announced Thursday remains the only event in golf that still lures The King and The Bear.

1. Steve Elkington/Sam Elkington (son)
2. Nick Faldo/Matthew Faldo (son)
3. Raymond Floyd/Robert Floyd (son)
4. Hale Irwin/Steve Irwin (son)
5. Lee Janzen/Connor Janzen (son)
6. Bernhard Langer/Christina Langer (daughter)
7. Davis Love III/Davis Love IV (Dru Love) (son)
8. Sandy Lyle/James Lyle (son)
9. Larry Nelson (Defending Champion)/John Nelson (son)
10. Jack Nicklaus/Gary Nicklaus (son)
11. Mark O'Meara/Shaun O'Meara (son)
12. Arnold Palmer/Will Wears (grandson)
13. Vijay Singh/Qass Singh (son)
14. Dave Stockton/David Stockton (son)
15. Curtis Strange/Tom Strange (son)
16. Lee Trevino/Daniel Trevino (son)
17. Lanny Wadkins/Tucker Wadkins (son)
18. Fuzzy Zoeller/Gretchen Zoeller (daughter)

"Occupy" Comes To The Senior PGA!?

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John Strege reports on the Champions Tour geezers being greeted at this week's Senior PGA in Benton Harbor, Michigan with protestors demanding "partial compensation for stolen land and water" for the city.

The protest organizer, Rev. Edward Pinkney, said that his group does not plan to interrupt play. "We don't want to cause a tremendous disturbance," he said Friday, "we just want to make them sit down with us."

Pinkney said he expects only 300 to 400 protesters to show up on Wednesday, but on Saturday, "we're expecting thousands and thousands of people to show. The main thing we want to accomplish is that we want them to come to the table and sit down with us -- the PGA, along with Harbor Shores, Whirlpool and KitchenAid."

KitchenAid, which has headquarters in Benton Harbor, is the presenting sponsor. Whirlpool is KitchenAid's parent company.

"Benton Harbor is $5 million in the red," Pinkney said. "Our goal is that we can knock off some of that $5 million if they decide to come and help the city."

You may recall that Benton Harbor was the subject of a New York Times Magazine cover story earlier this year.