Blogs

Ben Alberstadt, a featured columnist on BleacherReport.com, put together a fun list of predictions for this week's AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Writes Alberstadt:

We go from one colorful event on tour to another. Even though the fans from Waste Management Phoenix Open are still nursing their hangovers, it's time to move on to Pebble Beach.

Around the first of the year, Nike Golf made a big marketing splash by unveiling a series of new signings – first, Nick Watney and Kyle Stanley, then Thorbjorn Olesen and Seung-yul Noh, and finally Rory McIlroy.

In case you live under a rock -- which isn't likely the case if you're reading this -- you know that there's no bigger party in professional golf than on the par-3 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale. The atmosphere is that of a frat party. If you think a good shot is going to be greeted with a slow, "golf-clap," here, you're going to be extremely disappointed. This is the PGA Tour's version of Animal House.

It sounds like a cruel question, but it's one posed by BleacherReport.com's Fred Altvater: has Phil Mickelson underachieved in his PGA Tour career?

Let's take a brief look at the resume...

The Ghost Spider S putter from TaylorMade is big – and big on stability.

The oversized mallet delivers a Moment of Inertia (MOI) measurement of 6,030, dramatically higher than previous TaylorMade mallets like the Ghost Manta (4,900) and Corza Ghost (3,830). This high MOI makes the Ghost Spider S extremely stable, even on off-center hits, and makes it easier to control the head and square the face to the ball at impact. That's a key benefit, as articulated by the tour pros who have put it in play.

Designed with insight from short-game superstar Luke Donald, the MP-T4 wedges from Mizuno are among the most versatile high-spin wedges on the market. Created with Mizuno's patented Grain Flow Forging process and 1025E "Pure Select" mild carbon steel, these new wedges provide a soft yet solid feel.

Titleist calls its 913D2 and 913D3 drivers the fastest, most consistent the company has ever designed. They are also Titleist's most playable and forgiving drivers, primarily as a result of improved launch conditions from a lower, more optimal Center of Gravity position, a new rear SureFit Tour weight and the fitting precision provided by the SureFit Tour adjustable hosel.

To most of us, bombing away on the golf course is a good thing. Unless, that is, you’re playing at Royal Sydney Golf Club.

After researching a new book, historians Terry Jones and Steven Carruthers believe that an unexploded Japanese World War II shell might be buried under the eighth hole of the Centenary Course at the prestigious Australian golf complex.

Phil Mickelson came within a whisker of shooting a 59 on Thursday in the first round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, a score even more impressive because it was the first competitive round he played with a new Callaway RAZR Fit Xtreme driver in his bag.