2010... A very long year for Tiger Woods

see Steven Anthony Salerno's golf prints at sasgolf.com

Back in July of this year, I was commissioned by GolfWorld magazine to create a painting to accompany their BUNKER column article on Tiger Wood's onslaught by the media during 2010 and more specifically how he may now need to be more accessible with reporters than in past years. Since the article was appearing in the issue surrounding the British Open, I depicted Tiger as a lone figure within a battered castle, his TW flag tattered in the relentless wind.

I wonder if Tiger did indeed feel like the depiction in my art image during the course of the past twelve months. He probably did at some point, but 2010 is coming to a close now... and time and effort does indeed heal all wounds, bringing new opportunities. Tiger, as with many of us, are definitely looking forward to 2011 being a much better year.

Undoubtedly Tiger will be more balanced in every way in the new year, so certainly a victory (or two, or three) is lurking around the next couple corners for him. Yes, in the past year the roster of superb players with the capability to win the big tournaments during the Tiger-Void has grown longer. (names like Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell come to mind) Although having one major under your belt is a supreme achievement and both players cited will certainly not be limited to just one, but when a veteran player with FOURTEEN majors under his belt begins to prowl near the top of the leader board again (who is a mere 35 years young), it is still all the others players who'll have the most pressure to contend with.

"Three-Putt Blues"

When I created the drawing (posted above) of the golfer struggling to putt the ball into the hole due to excessive analysis, I did not quite have myself in mind as the subject! In fact my putting game is one aspect I can generally rely on from week to week... unlike, for example, my driver, which can get on streaks of missing fairways. In a recent round, however, it was a different story entirely. I was 10 for 12 in hitting the fairway with the driver, but I three-putted greens six times. I repeat, SIX! The most three-putts I can ever remember having in a single round.


In each instance I was on the green in regulation when I three-putted. A couple occurred from 40-45 feet away... but the remaining sins were committed from the 20-25 foot range, and none were from severe downhill/sidehill positions. Many times I play a round without any three putts at all, or when I do, it is maybe one or two times. But SIX?! I thought Rod Serling was going to step from out of the bushes to inform me I had entered The Twilight Zone. I was just plain SHORT all day with my putts. Good line, not enough juice.


I chalked up that 6-time three putt day as being a fluke... especially considering that in the very next round I made nearly everything and had only 27 total putts... go figure!


This golf art print by artist Steven Anthony Salerno is available in a limited edition at sasgolf.com  

Woods? Mickelson? Villegas? -nope, just the artist!

the artist, Steven Anthony Salerno on the range -visit sasgolf.com to view his golf art
photo by: James "Vegas" Yang

This is a photo of me one recent morning hitting a few warm-up shots at the driving range at Bethpage State Park golf complex, home of the infamous Black Course, site of the 2002 and 2009 US Open Championships. There are five course at Bethpage, and on that particular day we were not able to snag a tee time on the preferred Black Course, or even the Red Course... but played the Blue Course, a short-ish rolling hills layout of about 6,600 yards from the back tees. The USGA uses the Blue Course at Bethpage each year as a New York State local qualifying site for the USGA Public Links Championship. I played in this qualifier event a while back, with most participants being good college aged players... and the one young man I was playing with that day drove a level fairway 356 yard par four -on the fly!


Note: see the artificial grass mat I am hitting from? Don't worry, when the pros play the Black Course during the US Open they get a pristine fairway in an adjacent course to use as their practice facility.

A $500 Driver and a 5¢ Swing = SLICE

Between creating my player portrait and golfscape images, I enjoy refreshing my mind by "doodling" more light-hearted drawings, using as my model the amateur hackers out there who all love the game fiercely but have some flawed, high-score swings. In this drawing I am teasing the player who spends top money on the best equipment out there, like the latest driver, but never spends a dime on taking a few lessons from their local PGA Professional, which would help tremendously in keeping their ball in the fairway, lowering their scores and with enjoying the game even more. A $500 club is not going to fix a 5¢ swing. (But hey, the club manufacturers are not going to turn down a sale!)

This drawing was created with oil crayon and pastel on unbleached paper... and can be seen in the "amateurs" gallery on my golf art web site.

This new golf art print by artist Steven Anthony Salerno is available in a limited edition at sasgolf.com

THE KING (Arnold Palmer) -a new golf art print from Steven Anthony Salerno

Arnold Palmer is nicknamed "The King" for his major role popularizing the game of golf with American middle class masses via the blossoming sports television coverage of the 1950's and 1960's... It captured his husky American good looks, steelworker shoulders, swashbuckling charges on the golf course, and charisma. (As well as his seven major championships and 62 PGA tournament victories won during an illustrious career.)

Along the way "Arnie's Army" was created: the legion of millions upon millions of devoted fans who see him as the greatest modern ambassador for the game of golf. I met Mr. Palmer when I was about 13 years old, at his golf academy in Stratton, Vermont (my older brother was attending). He was my favorite golfer then, and he still is 39 years later! I chose to depict Mr. Palmer in his distinctive hunched and knock-kneed putting posture... and purposely rendered the image roughly, using thick oil crayons and gouache on basic brown paper (with digitally added elements of wood grain texture) all to suggest his powerful stature and humble beginnings. The phrase "The King" can be seen written within the image.

This new golf art print by artist Steven Anthony Salerno is available in a limited edition at sasgolf.com

Lord Byron

I recently completed a painting of one of my favorite golfers, Byron Nelson (1912 -2006), nicknamed Lord Byron. This gentlemanly champion from Texas holds what will probably be one professional golf record that will never be broken, not by Tiger Woods nor any other future golf superstar. Not only did Mr. Nelson win 52 PGA titles and 5 major championships in his amazing career, but in 1945 he won a mind-bending 11 PGA events in a row! (He won a total of 18 tournaments that season) His scoring average in that magical year was 68.33 per round... which was a record held until 2000 when broken by the man in red, Tiger Woods.

The painting was created by lightly penciling in the figure of the golfer onto a brown paper, as well as drawing the grid lines onto the paper. Then the image was painted using gouache paints (an opaque watercolor), and by purposely leaving the paper exposed (unpainted) in precise areas, this allowed the brown color of the paper to act as the shadow tones. You can see this best in the white hat, wherein the shadow portion of the hat is actually just the brown of the paper showing through. The design of the lettering within the image was done in Photoshop in separate layers and then merged into the final image of the scanned painting. The image shows Byron striking a long iron just after impact, which undoubtedly sent the ball right on target.

This new golf art print by artist Steven Anthony Salerno is available in a limited edition at sasgolf.com

US Open Back on the West Coast

It has only been a couple years since The US Open was held on the West Coast... but the past six months of hyper-detailed news concerning Tiger's personal issues (and his return to competitive golf) somehow has made the 2008 US Open held at Torrey Pines seems much further in the past, a bit like looking through a telescope from the wrong end.

In a couple short weeks the best players from around the world will be teeing it up at the Pebble Beach Golf Links for the 2010 US Open Championship, including the still reigning #1 in the world Tiger Woods. Considering that the last time the US Open was held at Pebble (back in 2000) Tiger decimated the field, it would be an error to count him out in this upcoming major championship. No matter what his play may be in the other tournaments leading up to the big event on the Monterey Peninsula, at some point Tiger will be "back" -and what better showcase for him than at Pebble.

This newest print depicts a bird's-eye-view of the famous links course seen below through the clouds and mist. The previous print is a view of a windswept hole and a lone cypress.

These new golf art prints by artist Steven Anthony Salerno are available in limited editions at sasgolf.com