Peter Jacobsen - August 29, 2012

• By Morning Drive Team
• Aug 29, 2012 8:53 AM ET

Golf Channel on NBC Analyst Peter Jacobsen is at TPC Boston this week for the Deutsche Bank Championship. The player has to do what he needs to do to put himself in position to qualify for the TOUR Championship and while many players do not want to skip playoff events, some are forced to do so if they feel that is what will make the difference between playing at East Lake and not playing at East Lake. The few players who are skipping playoff events are doing so in response to the format.

Crooked Stick is a very long golf course but hitting long tee shots without accuracy will not get the job done there like it can at places like TPC Boston and East Lake GC. Having played at Crooked Stick in the U.S. Senior Open, he knows how important accuracy is on that course so it will be interesting to see who contends and who does not contend in the BMW Championship.

When asked which four players he would choose for the U.S. Ryder Cup team, he said that while you cannot ignore what Nick Watney and Brandt Snedeker have done recently, you cannot ignore what players have done all year and on top of that , you cannot ignore attitude and experience so Stricker, Furyk, Fowler, and D. Johnson are contenders for those reasons. Davis Love III has a tough choice to make.

Phil Mickelson is the player who tends to be the one to motivate and inspire the U.S. team although Bubba Watson can also be a lightning rod even though he has played in just one other Ryder Cup. Jacobsen is not at all concerned about Mickelson using the claw grip with his putter because he tried the long putter last year and he is willing to try all kinds of things in order to improve his game. Jacobsen thinks the grip is temporary and once Phil figures out what he needs to figure out, the claw grip will be gone.