Swing Thoughts – by Jeff Eaton and Steve Burr

Saturday, April 21st, 2012

Jeff Eaton Tries To Rid Himself of “The Hitch” at NASA; Burr Readies His Swing in Pinehurst, NC

Swing Thoughts

April 21, 2012
One of the golf game’s fiercest rivalries will take center stage at the 2012 Phi Alpha Cup when Team 97’s Steve Burr faces off against Team 98’s Jeff Eaton. Burr dominated the pair’s earliest matchups, highlighted by a controversial extra-hole Burr victory over Eaton on Eaton’s home course. The match made news when Eaton accused Burr after the match of taking a “gimmee” putt on the 3rd hole – a hole Eaton actually won.

However, recent history has favored Eaton, who has taken Burr in their last two Phi Alpha Cup pairings. Eaton and Burr’s PAC matches have been marred by trash-talking, head games and firey outbursts, most notably Eaton’s “Lose and Retire” challenge in 2009 and Burr’s outlandish 2008 interview with Golf Tour Magazine.

Since the early days of their rivalry, Eaton has taken considerable steps to improve his game to compete with his rival Burr. Beginning his career as Team 98’s bottom seed where he was forced to carry his teammates’ golf bags and luggage, Eaton has seen his stock rise exponentially in recent years with an improved PAC singles record at the team’s 3 spot, along with teammate Stirling Bomar’s continued struggles as the team’s 2 seed (0-8 singles record). Eaton’s rise was helped by his decision to move to Houston, TX where he could train year-round and his four day a week practice schedule. Eaton has also always stayed on top of club technology, constantly retooling his bag with the latest clubs (including a 2 driver bag in 2009).

However, the most extreme change in Eaton’s game has been his constant work and determination to control what has come to be known in golfing circles as “The Hitch.” For most of his career, Eaton has been bothered both physically and emotionally by a backswing where his club shaft actually hits him in the back. As can be seen in video footage that made its way to the web (see video below), Eaton has taken to “swing therapy” at NASA on his lunch breaks where he is hooked into cables, undergoes heart monitoring and video analysis – a system initially designed for astronauts and Olympic skiers. Eaton’s eccentric swing therapy sessions and obsessive swing measuring only lend support to those who maintain that the famous swing idiosyncrasy has dominated Eaton’s headspace and caused considerable emotional turmoil over the past few years.

Ironically, Burr has struggled with his own idiosyncrasy known as “The Setup” (see video below). Very similar to the extraordinary amount of time Sergio Garcia took during setup before striking the ball, Burr has often been criticized by a similar setup technique full of waggles, wiggles, shuffles and pump fakes. However, in stark contrast to Eaton, Burr has confided to select golf insiders that “The Setup” is solely a tactic in gamesmanship, completely designed to get inside of Eaton’s head on the course and take him out of his rhythm. Burr has backed up that claim by taking his normal nonchalant, zero-practice approach to preparing for his 2012 matchup with Eaton, claiming, “Talent beats mechanics and technology, every time. Or at least some of the time. Well, definitely in 2012 it will.”

Where the truth ends and the head games start, we may never know. What we do know, is that the head games are only “The Setup.” What really matters is if one of the players show up to the 2012 PAC with a “Hitch.”