Aug. 7, 2009

EDITOR'S NOTE: Gonzaga University head women's golf coach Brad Rickel will be making his third straight appearance at the 91st PGA Championship Aug. 13-16 at Hazeltine National Golf Club at Chaska, Minn., but not in the role you might imagine.

Rickel, as he has done the previous two years, will be the instructor for Spokane-born Ryan Benzel, who qualified for his third straight PGA Championship at the PGA Professional National Championship tournament at the Twin Warriors Golf Club at Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M., earlier this summer. He shot a 2-under par 69 in the final round.

Rickel will file a daily diary beginning Monday and continue throughout Benzel's play in the PGA Championship.

The PGA Championship reserves 20 spots for PGA professionals, based upon the national championship meet. Benzel, who represents Battle Creek Golf Course of Tulalip, Wash., tied for second at the PGA Professional National Championship in 2007 and tied for fourth in 2008.

Benzel will try to improve on his previous best finish of 71st at the 2007 PGA Championship. In that season, he was one of only two PGA professionals to make the 36-hole cut. In 2008, he finished in a tie for 125th.

As an instructor, Rickel can coach Benzel on the driving range, putting green and on the course during practice rounds prior to the start of Thursday's play. Rickel must stay outside the ropes once Benzel tees off in the official tournament rounds, but once he signs and turns in his scorecard after each round Rickel can once again coach Benzel. Rickel will walk the course with the gallery during the actual tournament rounds and follow Benzel but cannot provide instruction during the course of the round

The 30-year-old Benzel, who turned professional in 2001, was born in Spokane and raised in nearby Ritzville. He played golf at the University of Idaho where he was coached by Rickel, who is beginning his third season guiding the Bulldog women.

Ryan played his butt off today, but this was just not his week. His putter has always been his greatest strength. If your greatest strength becomes your weakness you are going to struggle. Ryan played the last seven holes today at even par, definitely his best stretch of the tournament. I am really proud of him for keeping his chin up and finishing strong. He could have just let golf get the best of him. He refused to do that. He finished shooting 83, but believe me, it could have been far worse.

Sometimes when golf goes bad, it seems like a runaway snowball that keeps gathering speed until it is an avalanche. So, for Ryan to keep working hard at doing his best was impressive to me. He did the PGA of America proud with how he went about his business. He decided early on during the round that he was going to do his best to stay out of Charles Howell's way. Charles had a good start and was going to be battling to make the cut. He played quick and did his best to not be a distraction to Charles, but kept trying to stick to his plan. Everyone knows when you can't make a putt it just becomes impossibly frustrating. I know how frustrated he was, but I doubt the crowd could have seen it.

Ryan's best moment today was the hole that started the slide yesterday. On No. 7 he hit a great drive. He had 242 yards to the front edge of the green that has water protecting most of it. He hit the one shot he will most remember from this tourney which rolled between the water and rough directly up into the middle of the green. He narrowly missed his 20-foot eagle putt, but even the birdie felt good at that point.

Once again, I am honored that Ryan asked me to come and help him. He is now 1-fo- 3 in making the cut, but is the only PGA Club Pro who has made it to the PGA Championship all of the last three years. He was one of two who made the cut two years ago. No club pro made the cut last year and it looks like only two will make the cut this year. These guys are the best in the world and this course is the longest course in major championship history. It is incredibly hard to make the cut, but it sure is fun to try.

I feel like I learned more about tournament golf at the highest level and was able to spend another week seeing how the best in the world prepare.

Some of my favorite moments at this year's PGA Championship

Ryan's birdie at No. 16...Ryan's 3 wood into No. 7...Hanging out in the players locker room with Ryan...Bumping into Tiger in the locker room when I was walking and watching the TV at the same time. I said "sorry bud" then looked and realized I was face to face with Tiger. He said "no problem man."... Watching VJ's swing on the driving range (has to be the biggest, longest arc in the world)...Hearing all the languages being spoken by players everywhere...Watching the best instructors in the world instruct the best players in the world...Going through the caddies area each day and stealing a chocolate donut...Eating every meal in the family dining area (my credentials don't allow me to get in here....but with free food involved I found a secret way in...again)...Practice rounds with Beemer, Freddy, Phil, Stricker...Beemer asking for my card so we can play Black Rock next time he is in town...Having Freddy be excited when he found out I coached at Gonzaga - after he got the message to call if he wanted basketball tickets...The guy saying "go get `em Henrik" (thinking I was Henrik Stenson). I just gave him "the nod"...The kid who saw Bruce's name (Ryan's dad) on his badge who kept yelling BRUCEYYYYY, get me a ball!!...Going into the Nike trailer, telling them I was the coach at Gonzaga and getting free hats...Ryan's driver head flying out into the range...All the unbelievable stories the players told us...And just about every minute of every day!!!

Thanks for reading!

Well, today was tough to watch. It is so hard to be a spectator when things aren't going the way you hoped. At least when I coach in college tournaments I can help my players during the round with anything they need. Not being able to go out and help Ryan when he needs it is just a helpless feeling.

Ryan found today's pin-sheet on the PGA website, so we went over the pin placements in my room before we headed to the course. We felt confident that we knew how to play to each pin and had a good discussion about today.

Ryan had a good warm-up on the putting green and had perfect speed. After he putted for awhile, we headed in and had lunch. We were able to watch the tournament on the TV while we ate. It is weird to watch something on TV and be able to see it out the window as well. After lunch he hit a few more putts and had a nice warm-up on the driving range.

As Ryan headed to the tee I said my "go get em's" and then I needed to step outside the ropes. It is at this time I officially become a spectator until after the round. I think Ryan was as ready as he could be and seemed to be handling his nerves well.

He hit a great drive to the left side of the fairway and actually outdrove playing partners Darren Clarke and Charles Howell. He then hit a great shot to the middle of the green. He had hit it to within feet of where we talked about hitting it. I had a great feeling at this point as he had just hit two really good shots to get underway. His putt was straight up the hill, but he left it considerably short. I am not sure if it was nerves or it was just slower than he thought. Unfortunately, he was unable to make the second putt and was quickly one over par.

The second hole Ryan hit a good drive, just a little left, but we had decided that the left rough was thin and gave the shortest shot to the dogleg. He hit a great second shot which kind of became the fore shadow of things to come. His second shot took one bounce and hit the pin, then bounced off the green into a horrible lie. He really got a bad break and it just seemed to follow that trend all day. Ryan was unable to get up and down and was now quickly two over and hadn't missed a shot.

On the long par 5 third hole, Ryan hit three great shots. His approach shot hit one or two feet from having a 10 foot birdie putt, but instead spun left and went down the ridge giving him a 40 footer. So close, but at this level it is a game of inches and we seemed to be on the wrong side of the inches. He made good pars on 3, 4, 5, 6. He had very makeable birdie putts after great approach shots into 5 and 6 but left both hanging on the lip.

The seventh hole really hurt Ryan and I think it started a 7-hole downward spiral. He hit his drive a little right and ended up with a horrible lie in the rough. He was only able to advance the ball about 100 yards. He had 190 yards to the pin and hit what I would say was his only truly bad shot of the day. He hit his approach shot fat and it came up just short in the water. This led to a double bogey and really took the wind out of his sails. He really had hit only one bad shot the entire 7 holes and was now 4 over.

He then hit a good shot into the par 3 eighth, but his ball didn't bite on the green and rolled over into the rough. I still have no idea how his ball didn't bite. It hit in the middle of the green, but this led to a bogey after he missed his 5-foot par putt. He played a great fairway bunker shot on 9 for and easy par. Ryan hit two great shots into No. 10 and had a 10-foot birdie putt. I was thinking, ok he is going to make this and start heading in the other direction, but that was not what happened. He made a good stroke at the birdie putt which burned the edge, but then missed the 3 footer coming back. From birdie to bogey was almost as hard to take as the double on #No. 7.

After a good par on No. 11, he made bogey on 12 after his par putt lipped out halfway around the hole. On the long par 3 No. 13 Ryan's ball landed mid-green but bounced over the green into an impossible lie. He hit his chip as well as possible, but it rolled all the way over the green into more rough. This led to his second double bogey and he was now 9 over and I just felt hopeless not being able to help him.

Ryan finally made a putt of any considerable distance on No. 14 for par. He looked over and I put my arms out in a gesture of FINALLY!! He smiled and threw his hands up in the air as well. His highlight of the day came on the signature hole No. 16. He hit a great drive and second shot, then buried the 15 footer for birdie in front of the biggest grandstands on the course, which got a huge roar from the crowd. After a par on No. 17 he hit two good shots into No. 18, but as it had been the rest of the day, his ball landed 10 feet short of the pin, but rolled all the way to the back into the bad rough just off the green. He was unable to get up and down and finished with another bogey.

Like I said, golf is a game of inches and Ryan was just inches from having a good day. He had many good shots that ended in bad places. That's what I have learned in majors, good shots aren't good enough sometimes. The real problem for him was that he didn't make any putts today. Putting has always been his strength, but it let him down today. Ryan missed 6 putts inside of 6 feet and finished with 36 putts. He made fifth 6-footers in a row in warm-ups.....so some days aren't meant to be. If those putts go in, like they usually do, he shoots 75 - instead of a 9-over par 81 - and is in pretty decent position. He certainly hit good enough shots to shoot 75 today.

Charles Howell shot 77 and Darren Clarke shot 78. It was clear the afternoon wave with the wind blowing was playing hard, but we know we can't afford to miss short putts at this level. Ryan did enjoy playing with Charles and Darren. Both guys spent time talking with him and seemed to be really good guys.

We are on the outside looking in right now. We will need a very low score to even think about making the cut. Stranger things have happened, so Ryan will just stick to his plan and hope the putts fall tomorrow.

Well, today was one of the best days we have had in the last three years of playing in the PGA Championship.

We left from the hotel at 7:30 a.m. and headed to the golf course for some breakfast and warm-up. We knew we were playing with Freddy today, so we were all looking forward to playing. When we arrived on the driving range we found out for sure that Phil Mickelson would be joining us. This was pretty startling news and took the day to a whole new level.

The crowds here in Minnesota have already been far bigger than the Monday-Tuesday the last couple of years. I realize now we are going to be in a feeding frenzy as far as the crowd goes. The crowd roars when Phil just walks on the practice putting green or driving range, so on the course it will be ridiculous. Ryan had a decent warm-up, but you can really tell it is Wednesday. The range is packed with the "who's who" of the golf world. The crowd has grown by double and you can feel the energy in the air.

When we get to the first tee we find out Dustin Johnson will also be joining us. Dustin is one of the young guys on tour. He is also one of the longest hitters on the planet. I believe he is trying to get picked for the Presidents Cup in October and since Freddy is the Presidents Cup Captain this year, there is no better group to be in for Dustin. This means Ryan will be playing with three guys who hit it scary long today and this will be an experience. I think it is good for Ryan to see, so he can just get over it and get on with playing his game.

It also becomes apparent that Butch Harmon and Dave Pelz will be with our group and teaching Phil today. Butch is widely recognized as one of the best teachers in the world, No. 1 in the world if you ask him....so I don't ask. Dave Pelz is the short game guru and probably the foremost authority in the world when it comes to the short game.

So, we have Freddy, Phil, Dustin and two of the best teachers in the world as our group. Pretty cool and very educational for me. I spent every moment that I wasn't helping Ryan watching the rest of the group and it was just a great day as far as that goes. Phil would tell Butch what he was trying to do with every single shot before he would do it. I don't think Butch ever told Phil anything that I didn't see as being fairly obvious, but Phil definitely was in full dialog with him after every swing. I was fascinated by the lack of communication between Butch and Dave. I am not sure if it is just teacher rivalry or just that they don't care for each other, but they never talked to each other once. I was able to talk to Dave Pelz a little and asked a couple of questions. He seems to be just a fairly low key guy and he even offers to send Ryan a putting aid that Ryan was interested in. Butch is a little different, like I said last year...ain't nobody love Butch as much as Butch loves Butch...so other than introductions, I never really had any other one-on-one interaction with him.

Ryan hit his first drive left and continued that trend as the round went along. I think he just had some adrenaline going on because of the situation. The crowds were the biggest and most vocal we have played in front of. He did a good job of settling down and just getting down to the business of making sure we understand the golf course. Further into the round we figured out that his alignment was trending slightly right and he was starting to come over the top to try to get it to target. As a result he was consistently hitting his tee balls left.

Dustin Johnson was hitting some unbelievable bombs off the tees. Phil and Freddy were also hitting some very deep drives. This truly confirmed for Ryan and me that our strategy was sound. Their balls were even with the fairway bunkers much more than ours. They were hitting fairways today, but during the tourney rounds it may not be quite as easy to hit their spots. They also have to hit 3 woods and long irons off the tees much more often than Ryan. If Ryan can hit the fairways he will be dangerous on this course. The par five No. 7 will be an easy two shot hole for the long hitters. Phil and Dustin both hit 5 irons up on or near the green today. Phil hit 5 iron to about 15 feet for eagle, missed it, Ryan laid up, hit his sand wedge up to 8 feet and made it. Both made birdie...this is what we hope happens in the tourney. The rest of the par fives will be much harder to be hit in two.

The best part of being part of the group was all of the story telling. If Freddy is in the group, stories will be told. It is clear that Phil and Freddy both like to tell stories and jokes, both are also good at it. I can guarantee you our group laughed more than any other group on the golf course. Some really funny stories were told and Ryan, Bruce and I really enjoyed being part of the group today.

Freddy has really seemed to take Ryan under his wing and I am thrilled that he has. He seemed to make sure Ryan felt welcome and involved. He also made a point of trying to learn more about Ryan. Last year Freddy seemed slightly guarded, but this year that was all gone.

We had lunch following the round and I think just enjoyed the moment for awhile. After lunch we had a great practice session. We worked on Ryan's alignment for quite awhile. He was getting the club in the slot much better during the downswing on the range than when playing the round. He worked hard at it and I hope it will pay off. He needs to hit fairways here if he is going to be successful. He put some time in at the short game facility, hitting bunker shots, chipping and pitching. We then went over to the putting green and I think he had a really great putting practice. He was stroking it beautifully and his speed was right on.

The course is getting faster and harder and it is time to play. He has worked hard at being ready and there is nothing left to do but to do it. He hits it tomorrow at 12:45 p.m. off the first hole with Darren Clarke and Charles Howell III. We played a practice round with Darren Clarke at Southern Hills two years ago, so hopefully that will help Ryan be comfortable. He will need to be a little more relaxed tomorrow on the first tee than he was today and I think he will be.

Cross your fingers, here we go.

Today we headed to the golf course at 5:30 a.m., had some breakfast and headed out for our warm-up. On the driving range they asked the players what kind of balls they play and that is what they bring you to hit on the range. Ryan hits Pro-V1X's, so they bring him buckets of brand new ones to hit on the range each time. It is only 6:20 and the range is very busy. Guys are teeing off No. 1 already and you can feel that it is Tuesday not Monday. More guys are here, just a little more serious on the range, and the crowds are already really big.

A huge gallery is already forming and most of them are here to see Tiger, who just happens to be hitting balls two stalls from us. If you have not seen Tiger up close, he is different looking than everyone else. He is taller and bigger than you think and every time I have been around him I have felt his "presence." Whether it is how everyone else acts when he is around or that everyone is looking at him, but trying to act like they aren't, I'm not sure. What I am sure of, is that even these great players feel different when he is around. Yesterday we arrived at the golf course at 6:50 a.m. and Tiger was already on the course. He had just won the World Golf Championships in Akron Ohio, left Ohio (in his private jet) at probably 9 or 10 p.m. and was playing at 6:30 a.m. the next day here at Hazeltine. That shows you about his dedication and desire.

We had a little wait at the first tee, but teed off about 7:20 with Rich Beem, Jerry Kelly and Kevin Streelman. Ryan and I have met Rich before, but not Kevin or Jerry. Jerry has been on tour for a long time and has had a very successful career. He also grew up playing hockey and we shared some hockey stories with each other. Kevin Streelman is a younger guy on tour, but has been coming into his own. He played his collegiate golf at Duke and seems to be a good guy.

As we waited on the first tee to play, we were joined by Stuart Applebee and between him, Kevin's caddy and Jerry's caddy it was a riot. These guys were telling jokes and stories that I can't repeat in this story, but had all of us just cracking up. Kevin's caddy is just a complete character and joined with Applebee they just went off. Applebee's caddy, most likely sick of this constant joke telling and such says to Bruce and I, "these guys are such children, complete idiots.....good thing they can friggen play golf". This is my first time around Applebee, but it is clear he is a funny guy.

I could tell immediately today that Ryan felt more comfortable on the course after seeing it once. We were able to confirm our targets and adjust some as well. The days have been very hot and muggy here. Today was 90 degrees with 90 percent humidity. This heavy air definitely affects the ball flight. In the morning we notice as it is still a little colder that the air is very heavy and thick possibly not letting the ball fly its normal distance. By 8:30-9:00 I felt like we finally saw one of the balls in the group go past a flag and that it had warmed up enough to let the ball fly full distance.

Like I said yesterday, the golf course is almost 7,700 yards. The par 5's are 633, 572, 606 and 642 yards. Completely off the charts, but actually good for Ryan. Ryan isn't one of the longer hitters out here and if they make par fives so no one can reach them, it is good for Ryan. They effectively made two or three of them unreachable for anyone, even the bombers. This evens the playing field for Ryan on these holes. The signature hole is number 16. It snakes along the lake and has kind of an awkward tee shot followed by hitting to the green on a little peninsula in the lake. The crowds are the biggest here and this hole will probably have something to do with winning the tournament come Sunday afternoon. Playing this hole with Sunday afternoon at a major pressure should be fun to watch.

The par 3 number 13 has played 260 yards both days of the practice round. A little ridiculous if you ask me, but they may play a forward tee a couple of times during the week. Number 1 and 18 are both really good pars fours of 490 and 475 yards, respectively, and will be really good tests to start and finish your round. The par 4 number 12 is 518 yards long....that's right I said par 4. This hole is just stupid long and is just overkill, but we will need to play hard to make pars here.

Overall I think Ryan can do well here. The par fives are brutal long, but they actually favor Ryan. The par fours are not as long as last year and a couple of par 3's are actually "normal" distances.

We had a good day playing with the guys. Jerry and Kevin dropped out after 9 holes to go and have some practice. This is normal for guys to play one day of only 9 holes during the practice round days to save some energy and get a little extra practice in. Rich was great all day and it was fun to hear a couple of stories and things about the course from when he won the PGA here in 2002. We even went and found where the hole was and where he putted from when he made the eagle on the 11th hole on Sunday to help him win. He asked for my card as he is a member of Black Rock and owns a home on the course. We will try to hook up to play some golf when he is in town and hopefully get him to a Gonzaga basketball game.

After the round we had some lunch and then hit some balls. We then went with Jim Huber from TNT to the 16th tee where they filmed a "video lesson" with Ryan to show during the telecast. They set up cameras and did several takes on setting up to the ball with good alignment. Then they filmed Ryan hitting a few drives, so look for it when you watch the telecast. They said it would most likely be on Thursday or Friday.

After this we called it a day and decided to get back to the hotel for some much needed rest. Another 11-hour day in the books and I think we have come a long way towards figuring out how to play this golf course. Tomorrow we will play 9 holes at 10 a.m. with Fred Couples. We played with Freddy last year and he is fun to play with. He is full of stories and jokes, so just really looking forward to another day at the PGA.

Today we had our first practice round. We played with Steve Stricker and Mike Small at 9 a.m. We left the hotel at 6:30 a.m.to get some breakfast at the course and still have enough time for a good warm-up.

Ryan was also is hoping to see the Titliest and Adams club reps. All the club manufacturers are at the events with their tour trailers each week and spend Monday through Wednesday helping the pros with any equipment needs. Ryan is trying to find a good balance of hybrids/fairway woods and the Adams guys end up building him 6 clubs or so. He hit them on the range and decided to keep a few in his bag for the round. The others end up in his locker for future consideration. This gives Bruce 19 clubs to carry in the staff bag, which I can tell you are ridiculously heavy and the extra clubs feel like bricks to him.

The Titliest guy has tried to put together a couple of drivers in a rush for Ryan to hit before we head out for the practice round. Ryan decided to hit a couple with the drivers real quick and the first swing sends the driver head 100 yards out into the driving range. This gets a few oohhs and aahhs from the crowd. The Titliest guy says...."uuuh glue must not be dry yet"....ya think?? After making sure he will have a couple of drivers to hit after the round we head over to start our round.

Steve Sticker had to come straight to the tee without hitting any range balls. He had just finished sixth last night at the World Golf Championships in Akron, Ohio. The players put their golf bags on a transport to the next event so they don't have to travel with them and the truck with the clubs didn't arrive until right before our round. He showed up to the tee after us and after we did introductions we were off.

The golf course is really good and much more suited to Ryan's game than Oakland Hills, last year's course. It is very long, (almost 7,700 yards) but most of the trouble off the tee is past where Ryan hits it. We will need to make sure that as the course firms up we still stay short of the trouble. At major championships the course setup is hard and fast with high rough. They let the course get more and more dry as the week goes on and the greens speed up as well. Of course they give the rough plenty of water so it just gets thicker. We know from experience the course we see on Monday won't resemble the course we play on Sunday. This is part of the challenge of the practice rounds and we are doing our best to try and figure what the course will be like by Thursday. I will tell you a little about the best holes tomorrow.

The crowds were fairly big today considering it was Monday. Definitely the biggest Monday crowd of the last three years we have played. Steve Stricker seems like a good guy. It was clear he was a little road weary and seemed tired all day to me. He hits it really solid every time he hits the ball and is a great putter. So, it was fun to watch him up close today. I was able to talk to Mike Small some and talked a little bit about coaching college golf and about his teams indoor practice facility. His team has the best indoor practice facility in the country and we are trying to build one for the Gonzaga golf teams, so it was nice to pick his brain about that. The University of Minnesota golf coach is a friend of Mike's and came out to watch today. His team plays this course occasionally and I walked a few holes with him to try to pick up some local course knowledge to share with Ryan.

After the round we had a late lunch and headed to the range. Titliest had the launch monitor out for Ryan and he hit drivers with every conceivable shaft combination. The launch monitor gives you feedback for ball speed, spin rate, launch angle, distance, etc... We have noticed as Ryan tries to hit his driver harder he loses it left and he wants to try to find a shaft that will help with this. He ends up deciding on the exact same shaft he had but just slightly stiffer. I can see the ball flight of all the shafts and this is the one that looks the best to me. He makes the best swing, in balance and hits it to target more often than any of the others. He will try this driver on the course tomorrow and we'll see.

After the range Ryan spent some time on the putting green and we decided to call it a day. Ryan spent a solid 10 hours on the golf course, driving range and putting green today. That made it a 12-hour day from leaving the hotel to returning. He put in his time, hopefully it will pay off for him. We just finished going over the course hole by hole with his yardage book in the hotel room and he has decided on targets off tees, added numbers for lay-ups, etc. We should be good to go for our second practice round tomorrow.

We will be hitting it at 7 a.m. tomorrow with Rich Beem. Rich won the PGA Championship the last time it was played here, so should be very educational to play with him. Ryan and I also have some history with the Beem family. We won the Big West Conference Championship in a playoff against New Mexico State University, who was coached by Rich's dad, Larry. Larry is a character and I know Rich is just like him, so should be a fun day.

For those of you who have not read my experiences the last two years, I will do a quick job of explaining why I am here at the PGA Championship.

Ryan Benzel played for me while I was the coach at the University of Idaho and we have remained close as the years have gone by. While I am not really his swing instructor, I know his game very well and we have always seen golf the same way. He was, and still is, the most fierce golf competitor I have been around. He is also a world class putter. Ryan decided to take me to his first PGA Championship and we are now attending our third straight thanks to his incredible play at the PGA Club Pro National Championship. He has finished 4th, 2nd, and 4th in consecutive years against the best 300 club pros in the country. This is a pretty amazing feat when you consider this tourney was played at different golf courses in different parts of the country each year.

The top 20 PGA Club Pro's get to play in the PGA Championship each year. The PGA Championship is the strongest field tournament in the world and generally all of the top 100 players in the world are in the field. Ryan made the cut the first year at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla., with some great golf and missed the cut last year at the unbelievably hard Oakland Hills Country Club in Detroit, Mich.

A good majority of the pros have a swing coach and/or sport psychologist with them at major championships, as well as their professional caddy. This is where I come in. Ryan's father, Bruce, caddies for him in these events. He does a great job and it is a joy to see father and son getting to share these times together. I have been amazed at how good a job Bruce does for Ryan and it really is a good fit for Ryan. As good of a job as Bruce does, he is not a professional caddy. He doesn't have the experience to help his player figure out the course and a strategy to figure out how to play it best. I believe this is where I can benefit Ryan the most and where I will spend most my time the first three days during the practice rounds.

The best coaches "let their players play" and this is the approach I have always taken. I will do my best to help Ryan figure out this golf course and how his game best fits into it. I try to be ready and willing to answer any questions he has but never state the obvious. I think I am better just observing and then helping him with his game plan. His strengths have always been driving it straight and putting. We will do our best to figure out the correct play off the tees. We will map out the correct places to putt from as well as where to miss the green to give you the best chance at getting up and down. The only time I will ever be the instigator of advice is if I think he is truly missing something or if he has started to lose his way mentally, emotionally or physically. If all else fails, I will make Ryan laugh, that I know I can do and that sometimes is the best thing I can do for him in a pressure situation.

Today is travel day. I arrived in Minneapolis at noon, met Ryan and his family and we headed off to check-in at the hotel. Ryan has his wife Stacey and their 3-month old son Carsen, as well has his parents Bruce and Vicky.

After check-in we headed to Hazeltine to get our credentials. At PGA Tour events all the players get courtesy cars for the week. This week the courtesy cars are Mercedes and I can tell you Ryan is already testing out the "abilities" of the car. The courtesy car also tells all the police and workers you are a player and you sail through the chaos directly to the clubhouse. We headed into the clubhouse to pick up our credentials. My credentials give me access to the clubhouse, locker room, putting green, driving range and the golf course during all practice rounds. During Ryan's actual tournament rounds I have to walk outside the ropes and just be a spectator. I can be with him before and after during his warm-ups and practice sessions, but not during the rounds. I have to wear my credentials and an armband that lets everyone know I am an instructor, so I don't continually get hassled. My Gonzaga logos on my shirt and hat get plenty of looks as well and last year even had a few "Go Zags" yelled my way.

After check-in we headed for some lunch in the family dining area. If you have read the last couple of years, you know the family dining area is one of my favorite places at the events. Great food, great drink, great atmosphere and surrounded by all of the best players in the world.

Ryan decided to hit a few putts to just feel the greens. They have had some big time rain here the last few days and the course is soft. All we saw today was the putting green and driving range, but I am stoked to see what I hear is a great golf course tomorrow.

We hit it in our first practice round tomorrow at 9 a.m. Central Time with Steve Stricker and Mike Small. Small is a PGA Club Pro and the golf coach at the University of Illinois. Steve Stricker is widely recognized as one of the nicest guys on tour. It should be a good group for Ryan and a good way to get things going.