Earl's Recent Past Golf Blog's
March 16, 2026The Players Championship had the feel of a Major
The Players Championship has long been promoted by the PGA Tour as a tournament worthy of being considered a major championship, alongside the U.S. Open, The Masters, The Open Championship, and the PGA Championship. For a tournament to be considered a major, it should possess tradition, be played on a respected and difficult course, produce quality champions, and create an atmosphere filled with drama and excitement, especially over the closing holes.
TPC Sawgrass has hosted the championship since 1982 and has established itself as a stern test of golf. The list of winners has generally been made up of players who have also won major championships or accumulated multiple PGA Tour victories. Except for the occasional rare upset—such as victories by Jodie Mudd, Craig Perks, K. J. Choi, or Tim Clark—the champion of The Players has typically had an impressive résumé. Over the past twenty years especially, the drama coming down the stretch has often been akin to what the back nine on Sunday produces at the Masters Tournament.
So, does that make it a major? Ultimately, the sportswriters and the golfing public will be the determining factors. The Masters Tournament, originally known as the Augusta National Invitational Tournament, was once just another tournament until television exposure and the charisma of Arnold Palmer helped elevate its stature. The U.S. Open has long been considered the premier championship in the world. The Open Championship, often referred to in America as the British Open, was not highly regarded in the 1950s. Few American professionals were willing to cross the Atlantic to compete for a relatively small purse, even into the 1960s. Palmer's commitment to playing the event helped elevate its status, and today it is often viewed as golf's true "world championship."
The PGA Championship, which is run by the PGA of America rather than the PGA Tour, has been contested since 1916 and possesses both tradition and longevity. However, questionable course selections and unfavorable scheduling at times have diminished some of its prestige.
In the end, I am not in favor of adding more majors, as doing so could lessen the value of those already established. Still, it is possible that over time one tournament may begin to rival another in importance. Whether The Players Championship eventually reaches that level will be decided not by proclamation, but by history and by the respect it earns from players, fans, and the game itself.
But this year's Players Championship certainly felt like a major. It had a great leader board, exciting drama coming down the stretch and with plenty of volatility and lead changes.
This tournament was Ludvig Aberg's championship to win. He had many chances to greatly distance himself from the field, but he couldn't do it. Then when the going got tough, his "perfect" swing collapsed. Ludvig arguably has the best swing currently on the tour. It is so good that he makes every shot look easy, even when it isn't. However, he has not learned how to play the game of golf! He has the swing, the shots and therefore all the tools to win but not how to use them to win. He has a great demeanor and perspective, but he needs to sit down with someone like Raymond Floyd and have him teach him to use his God-given talent to better use.
I thought the best player the last day was Matthew Fitzpatrick. He kept hitting quality golf shots, while Cameron Young was fighting to stay in the battle all day. A poor tee shot on 16 by Matthew was his first slip, but he still took a one-shot lead into the 17th hole. Then greatness appeared with Cameron's brilliant iron shot and birdie putt to pull even on 17. I question the judgement to hit driver on 18 by both players. Cameron's drive on 18 might be the best driver swing under pressure that I have witnessed in recent memory. The margin of error on a 370 yards drive to that fairway with water left and trees and trouble left was miniscule. Matthew's drive was not that far off, but the hitting area needed perfection and that aggressive play cost him the tournament.
The final round this year showed exactly why The Players Championship deserves to be mentioned alongside the game's biggest events. Played on the demanding stage of TPC Sawgrass, it produced a leaderboard filled with elite talent, dramatic swings of momentum, and moments of brilliance under the greatest pressure. When a tournament consistently brings together the best players in the world and delivers the kind of tension and unforgettable shots we witnessed from players like Cameron Young, it begins to take on the very qualities that define a major championship. Whether or not it is officially given that designation, this year's Players proved that in spirit and competition, it already plays like one.
March 4, 2026Left eye or Right eye dominant for Golf
This is an interesting subject where the facts generally support a certain conclusion, though not in every case. First, consider the facts. Among the general population, studies show that a right-handed person will also be right-eye dominant about 70 percent of the time. Approximately 20 percent of right-handed individuals are left-eye dominant, while the remaining group shows no clear eye dominance. In reviewing various studies, the exact percentages varied somewhat, but the consistent finding was that if you are right-handed, the odds strongly favor you also being right-eye dominant.
Eye dominance can be determined with a simple test. Extend your arms and create a small triangular opening with your hands. With both eyes open, center a distant object—such as a doorknob—inside the triangle. Then close one eye at a time. The eye that continues to see the object centered in the triangle is your dominant eye.
In the general population, most people are right-handed and right-eye dominant. Yet a recent study found that approximately 85% of professionals on the PGA Tour are left-eye dominant. This raises an interesting question: are left-eye dominant golfers inherently better, or have they simply learned to rely more heavily on their left eye over years of practice? It seems unlikely that great players deliberately set out to change their eye dominance. More plausibly, through thousands of hours hitting balls and putting, they may naturally gravitate toward using the left eye to better see the line to the target, rather than rotating the entire head to look down the line. The foremost expert on putting and ophthalmology, Dr. Craig Farnsworth, who reads this blog, will undoubtedly have an opinion on this phenomenon.
Consider putting first. For a left-eye dominant golfer, the left eye can see clearly over the ball and also maintain peripheral vision down the target line toward the hole. A right-eye dominant player often must tilt or turn their the head to see that line, and then shift back into position, potentially losing that visual reference. The same principle may apply during the full swing. At the top of the backswing, when the shoulders complete a full turn, the right eye can momentarily lose sight of the ball. The left eye, however, remains more centered and can maintain visual contact with the ball, helping the player keep a steadier head position. This may offer a subtle advantage to left-eye dominant players.
Still, left-eye dominance is not a mystical secret to great golf. Some of the game's legends—including Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus—are left-eye dominant, but many outstanding players have been right-eye dominant as well. Examples include Scottie Scheffler, Jim Furyk, David Duval, Annika Sörenstam, and Lee Trevino. Some players even adapted their technique to accommodate their visual preference. Trevino often played the ball slightly forward and cocked his head so his right eye could better see both the ball and the target line. Duval and Sörenstam were known to turn their heads well past the ball through impact so that the right eye maintained clear vision of the strike. Ultimately, visualization and imagination remain the keys. Whether a player primarily uses the right eye or the left to look toward the target, the critical element is locking in the image of the shot and carrying that visual into the setup and starting position.
In the end, eye dominance may provide certain visual advantages, but it is only one small part of a much larger equation. Great golfers succeed because they develop a consistent way to see the shot, visualize the target, and repeat their motion with confidence. Whether the left eye or the right eye plays the leading role, the real key is learning how your own vision works and building a setup that allows you to clearly see the ball, the line, and the target. When that visual picture is clear in the mind, the body has a far better chance of delivering the club where it needs to go.
