Boo Boo's Town One More Time?

Boo Weekley comes back to Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, SC for only his third time this week. In the last two years, he has two starts and two wins.

One of the most entertaining guys on the PGA TOUR- the one you remember riding off on his driver to Sunday glory at the Ryder Cup last September, Boo as always was humble with a humorous twist. “I had two championships in the last two years. Guys didn't play as well as they wanted to on the back, so I feel like I got lucky both times.”

All except one guy I guess.

Always polite Mr. Weekley used several “Yes Sirs” in his defending champion interview earlier in the week. When questioned about the use of his driver on this tight shot-maker’s golf course he replied: “Yes, sir. I try to hit driver on every hole according to where the wind is.”

The 35-year old golfer born in Milton, Florida doesn’t hit driver every hole though and uses discretion when prudent. He comes across as a “go hit ‘em and find ‘em” type of guy we all love. Seemingly pushing the envelope just a bit to say “hey this is who I am, where I come from, like me for who I am and how I can hit a golf ball.”

The same guy who went over to the British Open last year and remarked that the tea was different and not as good as the sweet tea back home.  

Then there is the use of the “yes, siree” when someone questioned his avowed cure to dealing with the no see’ems bugs the little bugs you can’t see but hurt you with their bites in this part of the country.

“Listerine, yes, siree. A pro told us that. He said just take a little napkin, pour a little Listerine on it, and pat yourself down on your sleeves where your skin is showing, and just pat it around the side of your ears and everywhere, and you should be fine. Good thing, if you got bad breath, you lick your skin, lick it off.”

You gotta love this guy and you know you will try that it too.

“I tried it with Scope, but they like Scope. It worked for a little while and all of a sudden it was like (indicating being bitten all over- please note pro able to do imitations without driver between his legs.), we asked the pros, what's up with that, that's Scope, that ain't Listerine. Why would you put Scope in there if Listerine works?”

If that is not the start of an advertising campaign I don’t know what is. Well okay maybe it was Henrik Stenson pulling the “strip club” on the third hole at Doral in the WGC-CA. Have you seen the Calvin Klein ads yet?

Weekley attributes his success here to feeling comfortable and knowing how to putt on Bermuda greens although they are over seeded with rye grass this time of year.

“I grew up on Bermuda grass - to me I feel like I've got an advantage, when I stand up on it because I know how it grows, the way it runs, just like it's going downhill, didn't mean the grain is going downhill, it follows the sun a little bit.”

“It seems like every time I tee it up, I look down the side of the fairways, I don't see the people, I just see the trees. And that's what it feels like at home. You sit there at the very first hole it's just, all right; this is like playing in Sandy Hills in Pensacola. And you get to another hole; this is playing like Hidden Creek in Navarre Beach.”

Boo is at home here on Hilton Head Island- wouldn’t you be if you won the last two years and the only two years you played here?

He credits his high school golfing buddy Heath Slocum for pointing him in the right direction. “Yeah, he told me I'd love this one and Colonial. By far that will be your two favorite golf courses on Tour. And he's right about one so far.” He missed the cut in the only Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial that he has played.

Must be the Texas trees or maybe he is a communications guy and not a hotel guy? They have great sweet tea in Texas.

Boo has got his work cut out for his this week. He played well starting the year off in Hawaii with a T15 at the Mercedes-Benz Championship and a T9 at the SONY Open. But since then in five events his best is a T52 at the Transitions Championship and he missed the cut in last week’s Masters Tournament.

He’s got ball problems...or maybe its club problems? “It's been a rough year so far. And having to switch balls, trying to find some clubs that will fit with the ball and perform the way I want it to. Just been a long year so far with the ball. Just lose a little distance with it into the wind. And I've just got to learn how to work with it.”

“I'm playing Srixon Star, Z Star Y or X Star Z, I'm not sure. I've got so many of them. They're good balls. I ain't complaining about the ball. It's more trying to find a set of clubs that help keeps the ball from spinning as much off of them or going too high.”

Can’t they just knock off the same ball so he wouldn’t have to change clubs and shafts?

When asked if the ball switch was sponsorship related Boo’s response was curious to say the least. “No, it had a little bit to do with it—I'm going to have to pass on that one. It had a lot to do with—it was Titleist golf ball, and it had a lot to do with Callaway, the stuff they had going on.

"So that was the issue there. And if they can't make that ball anymore, they run out of them, what are you going to do then? You're going to have to switch anyway.”

I think that actually was a “yes.” Why not switch to a Callaway ball?

Boo thinks he has got it fixed with the right Srixon ball and clubs with the right shafts. “I'm anxious to really come out here and be able to play and see exactly what's going to happen. I'm excited about now I know how far I'm hitting and how far it's going to go, and how much it's going to spin.”

We’re anxious to see if it will be a “Boo-peat” this year joining Davis Love III (5X) and Hale Irwin (3X) as the only three time winners of this event which started back in 1969 with a fellow named Arnold Palmer winning.

Davis Love III is almost all the way back from torn tendons in his left ankle after stepping in a hole playing golf at home in Sea Island, Georgia in late September 2007.

He won late last year at the Children’s Miracle Network Classic presented by Wal-Mart at Walt Disney World and has been climbing his way back up the Official World Golf Ratings (OWGR) making it into both World Golf Championships earlier this year.

But he missed the Masters Tournament when he missed the cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. “This year it was disappointing that I didn't get in, but I made a lot of progress. So I'll just keep working on that, making progress. I've got three weeks to get ready for The PLAYERS and then get ready for the U.S. Open.”

Love who last won here in 2003 turned 45 on Monday is focused on winning his sixth Tartan jacket this week and winning other things too. “You can win The Masters at 49—you can win it at 46, because Jack did it.

And now you win it at 49 because Kenny was awfully, awfully close. I certainly wouldn't discount VJ's chances. They're not talking about going to the Champions Tour, they're talking about winning tournaments, and that's what I'm going to work back to.”

The last winner before Boo was Aaron Baddeley in 2006. Before him was Peter Lonard in 2005 and before him was Stewart Cink in both 2004 and 2000. All three along with Love and the rest of the field of 132 professional golfers will give Weekley plenty of competition this week as he attempts the “Boo-peat” in front of the Low Country fans.

Andy Reistetter is a freelance golf writer. He follows the PGA TOUR volunteering for the tournaments and working part time for NBC Sports, CBS Sports, and The Golf Channel. He resides in Jacksonville Beach, FL near the PGA TOUR headquarters and home of The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach. He enjoys pursuing his passion for the game of golf and everything associated with it. He can be reached through his website www.MrHickoryGolf.net or by e-mailing him to [e-mail]