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Why do you care about stringing your guitar you may ask.
Well the reason is simple. It will make you sound better
because if your guitar is properly strung, you will get longer
natural sustain.

This is something that no fx pedal can reproduce,
clean natural sustain. Of course after you have this
sustain you can play with it all you want with your
fx pedals.

Many guitarist make the same mistake when stringing a
guitar, they don’t wind enough of the string onto the
tuning peg or they wind too much.

Why is this seemingly simple thing so important?
Because the greater the angle between
the nut (the top part of the guitar) and the tuning peg,
the better the sustaining qualities of the string. Simply
put, it makes you sound better. And your strings will not
go out of tune as fast. Of course you can always wind too
much as well, and then the strings will tend to slip out
of tune easier. You want to have just the right amount.

Here is how to string your guitar.

Step 1 - Take all the strings out of the package and lay
them out from the thickest to the thinnest. When you go
to buy strings, always try and get the same gauge, as
changing the gauge could mean problems with intonation,
and may require truss rod adjustments.

Step 2 - Turn the tuning peg until the hole is in line
with the neck.

Step 3 - Starting with the thickest string - The low “e”,
thread the string through the bridge (bottom part of
the guitar). Each guitar has different ways to do this,
but it is usually very easy to see where the strings go.

Step 4 - Next thread the string through the hole in the
tuning peg until it is tight. Now back the string up
about 3 inches so that it loosens.

Step 5 - Grab the loose part of the string with one
hand and with the other start turning the tuning peg.
As you turn the peg, hold the string tightly away from
the guitar to insure that it wraps tightly, with no slack.
This will stop the string from going out of tune as you’re
playing. When the string is getting tight against the
fretboard, You can let go and continue to slowly turn
the peg a little bit more and then top.

Step 6 - Make sure as you turn the peg that the string
is winding downward, and don’t let it flip over itself.
Your goal is tog et about 2 1/2 to 3 full winds on
each string.

Step 7 - Repeat the process with all other strings, but
decrease the amount of slack a little bit each time.

All the best,

Tom Freeland
PlayGuitar.com

This is just one of the hundreds of guitar tips that you will get for free simply by becoming a member of PlayGuitar.com’s Guitar Tips. Go to playguitar.com/guitartips/ playguitar.com/guitartips/ and fill out your info. You will be on your way to becoming a better player.

Mac Dre was born on the fifth of July 1970 in Oakland, he grew up in Vallejo, California and lived there most of his life.

In 1989 Mac Dre released his first album, an EP titled ‘Young Black Brotha’ it had 4 tracks on it and one track ironicly titled ‘Too Hard for the F*ckin Radio’ started getting air play in North Californian radio stations. In 1991 Mac Dre returned with ‘California Livin” and by the time he released his third album ‘Whats really goin on’(1992) his music was being played all over Vallejo and North California for that matter. In clubs and peoples cars, it looked like Mac Dre was going to reach the big time. But his hopes and dreams were snatched away from him as he was put into prison as the police believed he was behind a few bank robberys.

Mac Dre was followed 300 miles by police from the ‘Bay Area’ to Fresno, his friend was wired and recorded a conversation which he started asking Mac Dre about the bank robberys. He was sentenced to five years inprisonment in 1992 for this but he wasn’t done making albums yet. ‘Back N Da Hood’ was what his fourth album was called, it was an EP which was recorded from Fresno county Jail by phone. The album shows that Mac Dre doesn’t need lots of takes to have a song the way he wants it. In the same year he recorded some more songs over the phone and his record company made an album from them and some of his previously released songs, the album was called ‘Young Black Brotha: The Album’.

Mac Dre was released in 1995. He got on his compilation ‘The Rompilation’ which was released under his new record company ‘Romp Records’ and sold over 60,000 copies, in the Rompalation Mac Dre appears on eight tracks alongside some of his ‘homies’ such as Mac Mall, Da Unda dog and JT the Bigga Figga. After his release he started working like crazy on his albums averaging on two albums a year. His first solo release after his release from jail was called ‘Stupid Doo Doo Dumb’, the very same year he released ‘Don’t hate the Player, Hate the Game’. In the next three years that followed he released 11 albums the latest of them ‘Thizzelle Washington’ got him the most fans and respect. In 2003 he made ‘al boo boo’ which was a cd with a free dvd and he released a dvd called Treal TV. His fans loved the dvd as it opened a window into how he lived his life.

If you ask a fan of Mac Dre whats Mac Dres best album they are likly to say all of them, this shows the consistincy of his work it was all fantastic. His career in rap was not a fair one though, he never got the commercial praise he definatly deserved. In 2004 Mac Dre released three albums ‘Genie of the Lamp’, ‘Ronald Dregan: Dreganomics’ and ‘The Game is thick, Vol 2′. These albums had North California buzzing with excitment they thought this would be the man to put the spotlight back on westcoast rap.But this as of now has not happened. On November 1st 2004 Mac Dre was victim of a drive-by on Highway 71, Kansas City. The incident happened just after a concert he was doing in Kansas, the shooting was a shock, fans in Kansas enjoyed the show, noone from Kansas had any right to shoot a North Californian rapper as the Kansas City rap scene was getting respect and money from that area. When Mac Dres mother Wanda Salvatto heard about the shooting she did not believe it. This was because she was told previously her son was dead from an overdose of drugs but yet he was fine, other Vallejo residents did not believe this either and were shocked and sad when they heard that it was true. Mac Dre was buried at Moutain View Cemetary, Oakland, CA.

Now in 2005 Mac Dre has many die-hard fans and new ones too, he is still releasing albums too! ‘Da US Open’ was released on the 22nd of March it is a collaberation between Mac Dre and Mac Mall in which they pick up the alter egos ‘Andre Macassi’ and ‘Mall Macenroe’. Later ‘Money iz Motive’ was released, it wasn’t a Mac Dre solo it was an album made by the ‘Cutthoat Committee’ which Mac Dre was a part of. ‘Treal TV 2′ is currently in its final stages before its released, on top of that Mac Dres record label ‘Thizz Entertainment’ has some unreleased Mac Dre material that they will be selling in the near future. To Mac Dres fans he will always be the best rapper from the ‘Bay Area’.

RIP Andre ‘Mac Dre’ Hicks

Wrote by Jake McMullan
Fan of Mac Dre
Owner of the Mac Dre fansite: macdreezy.com macdreezy.com

We smile, we love, we cry. We, the human beings experience a wide spectrum of emotions in our life. Some of them are expressed while others die in our own mind. But from time immemorial, our emotions have been voiced through music. Music, which is composed of seven distinct tunes, is actually an expression of human emotions.

Music is characterized by certain qualities like, pitch, melody, rhythm, and frequency. And each type of music is again characteristic by certain degrees of these above mentioned qualities. A rhythmic music characterizes joy while a melody expresses romance. Again, a melody also expresses sorrows. For instance, Latin music is mostly featured by rhythm and certain genre of tune. Latin music is an expression of Bohemian lifestyle which very much complements Latin culture. Variation in melodies and rhythm leads to expression of varieties of emotions. If we look back to Western Classical, It connects us to something universal about human emotions. It makes us reach a transcendental stage of mind. However some composers opine that emotions conveyed through music is something quite abstract and varies according to the different perception of different individuals. One of the notable composers of Western Classical music was, Ludwig Van Beethoven, who gifted the world with musical masterpieces despite of being paralyzed with deafness at very young age (twenty eight). He can be regarded as the profounder of Romantic era of Western classical. Eastern Classical or specifically Indian Classical music has a number of sections and categories. However the two major sections are Hindustani Music from North India and the Carnatic Music from South India.

Each of the songs are known as “Ragas”. The melodies contained in each of these “ragas” reflects various moods according to different times during the day. The Indian Classical music is mainly monophonic, that is, it is based on a single line of melody and has to be sung at a specific rhythm. Any deviation from the above rule is considered as a mistake. Even Folk music conveys something about the culture and lifestyle of a particular region. To be more specific, it generally narrates some popular folk tales of that region. When lyrics are put in a tune, it becomes a song. However, music can also be purely instrumental where one derives pleasure from the tune only. Beautiful notes of pianos, violin, guitars, expresses emotions without any words. Music can express most of human emotions. It expresses joy, ecstasy, romance, and also sorrows, pathos, and agony. In the words of P.B Shelly “Our sweetest songs are those which tells us our saddest thoughts”. Surprisingly, a simple song which is sung from the heart gives us more pleasure than a complex one which is often influenced by human artifacts. Maybe this is a reason why pop songs and rocks are also quite popular today. It is also quite true that likings for particular kind of music largely depends upon the temperaments of individuals. This is the reason why some prefer soft melodies while some like hard rocks. It can be reasonably argued that music is not only an expression of emotions, it is emotion itself. Music without an emotional message is like vacuum. It is like a flower without essence.

The impression of music in human mind is beautifully depicted by William Wordsworth in his poetry “The Solitary Reaper”. The poet is mesmerized by the touching song sung by a lass while the latter was reaping in a field. Though the language of the song was completely unknown to him, he was deeply moved by the emotions conveyed through the notes of her song. The music had left an indelible impression in his mind and in the later years of his life, he sadly reminisces “The music in my heart I bore, long after it was heard no more”. There are lots of sites on the net from where you can send Music Ecards to your friends, colleagues and loved ones like 123greetings.com

Sean Carter writes on holidays, music emotions, 123greetings.com/music Music. He also writes on family, relationships, women’s issues 123greetings.com/birthday birthdays, inspiration, religion, love and friendship. He is a writer with special interest in ecard industry. He writes for 123greetings.com 123greetings.com

Movie production companies and TV have been creating feature length movies, movie
serials and TV shows for years exploiting the public fascination with Superheroes. But as
special effect technology and costume designs became better and better, Hollywood
kicked it up a notch with feature-length high budget productions. Superman, the Movie
and the 3 sequels started in the 1970s and the ’90s and beyond brought us Batman, The
Hulk, the X-Men and the now infamous Spider-Man, to name a few.

Why all this interest in producing Superhero movies? Big bucks!! The two Spider-Man
movies alone have netted about 800 million dollars apiece in worldwide ticket sales.
That’s not chicken feed. This kind of income could not be generated without an avid
public interest in Superheroes. So if you feel you are alone in your voracious passion for
your own comic book collection, think again.

And now a new twist has been added. Directors, screenplay writers, and even actors are
writing for, of all things, comic books now. Big name Hollywood writers are helping to
sell more comics. For example, Joss Whedon, perhaps best known for creating Buffy the
Vampire Slayer, has written stories for Marvel in the series Astonishing X-Men. Back in
the 90s, who would have known that all these fan boys had been hiding in the Hollywood
woodworks waiting for comics to gain some cultural credibility?

If you haven’t followed some of the comic news of the last several months, Stan “the
man” Lee has been fighting his personal battle with His life long employer, Marvel
Comics. Stan is probably one of the most well known character creators in the comic
book industry. He has characters like Batman, Spider-Man and the Hulk credited to his
creative imagination. Seems Stan had a contractual agreement with Marvel for 10% of
any revenue acquired by Marvel from movies and TV projects centered on Stan
characters. But apparently the high dollar superstructure of the corporate mind doesn’t
want to part with all their income. Now this is nothing new, but Stan Lee managed to win
the first round for the little guy. The judge presiding over Stan’s case agreed that Stan
should receive his share of the agreed on profits. Now maybe Stan will get his share and
maybe he won’t. Sounds like Marvel will be appealing the decision. At any rate, if there
weren’t big bucks involved in the production of comic book Superhero movies, this case
would not have been such an issue.

I believe the near future is going to bring many more of my favorite heroes to the silver
screen. I have already started my own DVD collection and as more heroes get transferred
from the screen to round disc, I will continue to increase the size of my collection. Do
you think a DVD superhero collection will be worth as much as a comic book collection
in the future? Probably not, but that won’t stop me from building my collection anyway.

Dave Gieber, a former rocket engineer, has decided to take up residency on the Internet.
He is the owner and editor of several websites, one of which was built around one of his
childhood passions; comic-book-collection-made-easy.com comic-book-collection-made-easy.com . You can visit here to
keep up to date on the world of comic books and comic book collecting. Feel free to sign
up for my comic book ezine at comic-book-collection-made-easy.com/comic-book-ezine.html comic-book-collection-made-easy.com/comic-book-ezine.html

Since Mankind first stood erect and developed a consciousness of the world in which he lived; Nature has been a place of many dangers. Violence and death, the need to survive, and the biological urge to reproduce, and to nurture ourselves and our offspring has always been a prime motivational factor.

Being alert to our surroundings has profound implications, and is as pertinent today as it was in the distant primitive past.

“He’s street smart”, Is one way that we designate and congratulate the modern man, who has learned to be aware of his basic world and how to survive.

All living things, share this “aware of surroundings, street smart” necessity for survival.

There are many things which separate us as Humans, from other living things. Most are obvious, and have been studied, examined, dissected, and extrapolated ad nauseum.

However, the Human Spirit, has special abilities and insights which help to define the Soul inherent in Human existence, and is actually a definitive proof of its existence.

Recognition of beauty. Not the beauty necessary for reproduction and the sexual urges which enable its success, but a more abstract and intellectual beauty. The “BEAUTY OF NATURE”.

An animal will stop and survey his surroundings, sniff the air, look at flowers, rocks, majestic mountains, but his motivation is survival. They are searching for a hidden enemy, or a source of necessary food.

Man is different. He can look at a beautiful sunset or a majestic peak, or a natural wonder like the Grand Canyon, an out cropping of rocks or any one of a million gifts of Natures Bounty and beauty, and feel our Soul vibrate and soar in sync with the abundant largess which Mother Nature, and God, has provided.

Of course we have a Soul, feel it beat in rhythm with the beauty of Nature.

Humanity has always been attracted to these dramatic gifts and we create parks, and national monuments, and fight to preserve these special areas of natural beauty.

The beauty of nature does not exist exclusively on this type of macro scale. There is a unique beauty of nature that exists on a very real, yet micro scale.

A new Art Form. An original way to capture and worship that which “God has wrought.” There are certain natural stones which have captured the originality and overwhelming beauty which is inherent on a macro scale by a Grand Canyon. Imagine, the dramatic originality of Nature, “one of a kind works of art”, available to enjoy and display in your home or office.

This new art form has several methodologies. The nature of the stone makes it a work of art naturally. This can be further enhanced using certain treatments, applied to the stone strategically, to enhance the effects already within it. Stone is also fast becoming a medium of choice for the innovative artist, as this material soaks up paint and gives a depth to color that isn’t achieved on traditional mediums. Sculpture is the most ancient form of stone art; however stacked sculpture is a new form that involves adding stone to a piece to achieve a desired effect.

A gift of Nature, the majesty of the Earth, to cherish and uplift your spirit, and beautify your environment. Bask in the reflective beauty of your World. Stone art provides a true Cornacopia of originality and creativity.

A great place to get inspired is the museum of stone art at art.pebblez.com art.pebblez.com

The author is Peter Lewitin, a talented innovative designer, and artist. His work and other can be seen at art.pebblez.com art.pebblez.com

My Experiences

Once in an all-day workshop on the subject of industrials, we were afforded the opportunity to audition for a casting director who normally casts for corporate videos. It was a mock audition situation and she told us that she would do something in this acting class that we are almost never fortunate enough to experience in the real world of auditioning. She said that she would tell us all after we auditioned, who would have gotten the job and why.

There were eight of us altogether and she told us that one of the women in the class would have gotten the job. She told us that the imaginary customer wanted to make an in-store video that spoke to women. She said that the customer made this change at the last minute. While in the beginning it could have been the right part for a woman or a man, they now decided that they only wanted a woman. The customer also made a request that the woman be a brunette, as she didn’t want a blond, because probably she was reminded of someone with blond hair with whom she had a bad experience in the past on a video.

Lastly she said that if there had been no restrictions and if she, the casting director had to present the best candidate for that job, then she would have chosen…me! Once again I was flattered and it made me feel good.

On a side note, I really feel that corporate videos or industrials are my strong point. I also believe I know my type: the lawyer, doctor, businessman, detective, father, husband and feel pretty natural in roles like that.

Now all I have to say is, this is all great stuff in acting and audition class, but show me the money!!! When I look at my results, I have gotten the best feedback on those types of auditions, which I think is fine, since I’m really just starting out. I have absolutely nothing against being cast for what I am most suited for or because of what I look like or for my experience. Some actors say they want to have the possibility to play roles that are different from what they are really like. Ultimately, that could be what I want to, but I’m not sure yet. What I am sure about, however, is that I want to work! So if the easiest way for me to get work is to get cast in roles that are most like me, then great! I’m not going to complain. I’ll continue studying and hopefully one day I’ll be cast in other types of roles, if that’s what I want.

One more tidbit

Something else I remember was a piece of advice that a noted casting director gave us in a seminar. She told us that when you leave an audition, take the copy and throw it in the trash. She herself said that she probably shouldn’t be telling us that, but she said that the chances that you will get the part are often times so slim, that you should just forget about it until they call you back, if they ever do. So don’t call to see if you got the part, don’t pester the casting director, as they hate that, just move on with your life and if they want you, they will let you know.

In the next article, I’ll give you some more information on this subject including how to handle rejection, how to analyze your results and some wise words from a noted casting director!

Anthony Smith left a successful corporate career as a senior manager in Nike and Levi’s after 15 years to follow his dream of becoming an entrepreneur, writer, motivational speaker and actor. While enjoying success in his “new” life, Anthony shares his business insight and acting experience with young actors. Aside from acting work, he has created actingcareerstartup.com actingcareerstartup.com and his first book, Acting Career Start-Up: Four Key Factors For Success will hit the U.S. market in April 2007.

Constructing a Moral Universe, continued

Fielding then shows readers, in the introduction to Book XIV, what takes place when humans completely subjugate passion to reason. He describes the upper class as being “entirely made up of form and affectation” so that they can be said to “have no character at all” or at least no individual characteristics that can be discerned (Fielding 649).

The lives of the upper class are the “dullest,” containing “very little humour or entertainment,” and “all is vanity and servile imitation” (Fielding 649). The character of Lady Bellaston is, then, an exception to the kinds of people in high society. Fielding exhorts readers against taking Lady Bellaston’s behavior for the “general conduct of women of fashion,” and insists that he is “convinced there never was less of love intrigue” among the upper classes than the present (Fielding 650). The dissipation of ‘love intrigues’ is attributed, by Fielding, to mothers instructing their daughters to “fix their thoughts only on ambition and vanity, and to despise the pleasures of love as unworthy their regard” (Fielding 650).

I believe it would be wrong to think that Fielding is thus advocating that women (and men) should disregard all material matters in the pursuit of love. Rather, Fielding is promoting a moral universe that strives for Aristotle’s Doctrine of the Mean; a world in which reason and passion, love and material comfort, sobriety and humor, work and play, mercy and justice, etc. are balanced evenly in the scales.

In the introductory chapter to Book XV, Fielding returns to his attack on other moral writers, who “teach that virtue is the certain road to happiness, and vice to misery” (Fielding 687). He emphasizes that people who ‘live in the world’ are not completely in control of their own destiny. However ‘virtuous’ a person may be, sometimes he or she might suffer misfortune; likewise, vice is not always discovered and punished. For an example, Fielding describes while Tom was “acting the most virtuous part imaginable in labouring to preserve his fellow-creatures from destruction, the devil, or some other evil spirit, one perhaps clothed in human flesh, was hard at work to make him completely miserable in the ruin of his Sophia” (Fielding 688).

In his last introductory chapter, “A farewell to the reader,” Fielding-the-narrator “images himself as [the] reader’s traveling companion, discusses the author’s public reputation, and returns to the already charged topic of slander to tighten the bonds between his ‘intrusions’ and his plot” (Chibka 37). In applying the appellation of “friend” to his readers, the narrator is, once more, using his rhetoric to maneuver us in the direction he wishes us to take (Fielding 809). During this last book, Fielding intends to lay aside “all jokes and raillery,” throw off “whatever characters [he has] for the jest-sake personated on the road,” and promises that conversation will now be “plain and serious” (Fielding 808). Fielding then takes his leave of the readers:

And now, my friend, I take this opportunity (as I shall have no other) of heartily wishing thee well. If I have been an entertaining companion to thee, I promise thee it is what I have desired. If in anything I have offended, it was really without any intention. Some things, perhaps, here said, may have hit thee or thy friends; but I do most solemnly declare they were not pointed at thee or them. (Fielding 809)

The implication here is that Fielding, knowing his readers to be ‘good’ readers and moral persons, was not ‘pointing’ his moral philosophizing or satire at our friends or us. His satire and condemnations are, of course, describing ‘other’ people. He then reminds us to disassociate ourselves from those persons who would do him “an injury,” and slander his name or his novel (Fielding 809). Fielding then attempts to have us sympathize with him by declaring that no man “hath ever been treated with more [scurrility] than himself” (Fielding 809). Fielding has positioned us exactly where he intended us to be.

Bibliography

Chibka, Robert L. “Taking ‘The Serious’ Seriously: The Introductory Chapters of Tom Jones.” The Eighteenth Century: Theory and Interpretation 31.1 (1990): 23-45.

Fielding, Henry. Tom Jones. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.

Mary Arnold holds a B.A. in literature and history. She is an author on Writing.Com/ Writing.Com/ which is a site for Writing.Com/ Creative Writing.

Her writing portfolio may be viewed at Writing.com/authors/ja77521 Writing.com/authors/ja77521

The principles of tithing is so important because it is the most basic Bible test of your faithfulness in stewardship. It also qualifies or disqualifies you from God’s wealth and abundance.

Tithing predates the Mosaic law because Abraham was a faithful tither long before the law was established on Mount Sinai. When Abraham met Melchizedek, he “gave him a tithe of all” (Gen 14:19-20). Abraham’s faithful stewardship resulted in him becoming the richest man of his generation.

Jacob was a tither. When he came to Bethel, he made a vow to the Lord, “Of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You” (Gen 28:22). Jacob’s faithful stewardship also resulted in him becoming the richest man of his generation.

Abraham and Jacob prove that saints of God started tithing long before Moses gave the law. Tithing has to do with your heart and love for God. You tithe not because you have to, but because you want to. When Moses eventually came along, the people were taught tithing.

At the end of the Old Testament, Malachi the prophet says:

“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” says the LORD of Hosts.

-Malachi 3:10-11 (NKJV)

Here the Bible gives you five great blessings that you can experience if you make a decision to be a faithful tither:

Your Church will continue to be a blessing. Your storehouse will be full, enabling it to continue discipling you and evangelizing the world.

Heaven will be open over you. You will hear from the Lord clearly. You can easily walk in His presence and His power will become readily available to you at all times.

The devourer will be rebuked. God will protect your finances from being “eaten away” by Satan and the financial system of the world.
Your hard work will bear fruit. Your career and business will take off and you will prosper in your work place.

Your investments will prosper. The wise investments you make will bring back a good return.

My pastor often says that you can give without loving, but you can’t love without giving. If you really love God, be a regular tither every month and “try God now” in your faithful tithing!

Article Source: holy-spirit-led-christian.com/power-of-tithing.html holy-spirit-led-christian.com/power-of-tithing.html

© Tian, Singapore, holy-spirit-led-christian.com/ holy-spirit-led-christian.com/

Do you enjoy poker but never have time to get out with your friends and play anymore? Or maybe you do not have a casino nearby that you can play at. If you have this problem then you should consider playing poker at a multiplayer poker room online. You can get online on your computer and find a variety of sites that allow you to play poker with many other people at the same time.

If you decide to play poker in a multiplayer poker room you will have the opportunity to meet many people from around the world. You may even be able to make some great friends while playing that will be friends for life. You can go to these rooms, play a game you love, and all from your own home. No more nights of driving for hours to get to the nearest casino. The great poker fun is as close as your computer.

Playing poker online in a multiplayer poker room is also a great way to brush up on your poker skills. If you need some work on your poker skills, then here is your opportunity. You can play for hours from your home, and there are even many free sites available for you to play on. If you want to win some money and are more confident of your skills, you can also find a multiplayer poker room that will allow you to play for money as well. You can have a lot of fun in a multiplayer poker room. Bring your own refreshments because the hot game is on your computer now.

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Medinah Country Club – Medinah, Illinois

Welcome to the new Medinah. The PGA Championship returns to this historic course outside of Chicago and it is going to be quite the test for the greatest players in the world. Not only is this the longest course in major history but tight fairways, re-contoured greens and tall vegetation are going to pose a huge challenge. Let’s not forget the weather, which should be dry and hot and we could see a similar setup to the U.S. Open by weeks end.

The PGA Championship traditionally puts together the three major champions of the year for the first two rounds. That means the big story is the pairing of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, along with U.S. Open Champion Geoff Ogilvy. Woods and Mickelson are known to not get along, although both deny that claim, so many are interested to see how they interact in the first two rounds. Both are so focused on their games however that there won’t be any interaction to try and read into.

Woods is the obvious choice and everyone’s choice to win his 12th major but there are plenty of other contenders that we need to speak of. The American’s have dominated the Championship as they have won eight of the last nine Wanamaker Trophies with Vijay Singh being the lone exception. Across the pond, they are getting edgy as Europe has been shut out since Paul Lawrie won the 1999 British Open. Here is a look at the top four players who look to have the best shot and also the smallest odds.

Tiger Woods ( 270) Not only did he win at this venue the last time a major was played here in 1999 but the recent form he has displayed makes him the top choice as well. Coming off two wins since missing the cut at the U.S. Open, he is firing on all cylinders. Woods has posted top-fives in six of his last seven major championship starts including three victories and he can make some more history at Medinah this week as no one has ever won the PGA Championship twice on the same golf course.

Phil Mickelson ( 1200) Since the final hole debacle at Winged Foot, Mickelson has been 65th at the Western Open, 22nd at the Open Championship and missed the cut last week at the International, one of his favorite places. Despite winning last year with a closing-round 2-over 72, has posted his last three final rounds in the PGA above par (72, 74, 75). Mickelson’s 16 top-ten finishes in majors since 2000 is tied with Woods for the most during that span.

Jim Furyk ( 1400) Furyk has been nothing short of consistent with nine top-ten finishes in 18 starts, including six in the top three. He hasn’t finished worse than fourth in any tournament since the U.S. Open, a four-tournament streak that includes two majors. He has only missed two cuts this year, and he’s never finished lower than 33rd in the events where he’s completed all four rounds. He hits it straight, has a great short game and even though he’s not the longest of hitters, that should not hurt him here.

Ernie Els ( 1600) Els could be back as he is playing some of his best golf of the season after a slow start. He finished in third place at the Open Championship and prior to that was 9th at the Barclays event at Westchester. He finished great at the International and when he plays well, this type of U.S. Open type venue fits him well. However, he has closed with an over-par round in his last four PGA Championships with a final-round scoring average of 73.00 during that period.

Matt Fargo is a documented member of the Professional Handicappers League.
Read all of his articles at procappers.com/Matt_Fargo.htm procappers.com/Matt_Fargo.htm