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Post by SUVFan on Feb 2, 2019 18:14:32 GMT -5
This topic is intended for general discussion of all things golf. Separate topics may be desired for specific tournaments or especially the majors but those subjects are welcome here, especially unless and until activity increases to justify those topics. Link to PGA Schedule
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Post by SUVFan on Feb 2, 2019 18:22:22 GMT -5
I haven't paid much attention to this golf season before today. Then I remembered that my favorite tournament (at least outside the majors) was being played this week, so I tuned into the Phoenix "Waste Management" (or as I call it, the "Trash") Open coverage with the leading group on the 14th hole. More on the tourney in my next post.
At each commercial break, NBC featured someone waxing on about Johnny Miller. Quickly, I figured out that Johnny's broadcasting career must be coming to an end. Turns out, it ended a few minutes ago, after 29 years in the booth.
I remember when Johnny first started broadcasting. As he described just before coverage stopped today, it was pretty rough. But over the years, he developed some schtick -- a necessity in successful TV commentary -- and viewers adjusted to his style. Unwaveringly throughout his career, Johnny told it as he saw it. I appreciated that quality very much, and grew to look forward to Miller's broadcasts. I'll miss him.
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Post by SUVFan on Feb 2, 2019 18:37:31 GMT -5
Now, back to the Trash Open!
Rickie Fowler shot a 64 today and heads to the final round with a commanding 4 shot lead over Matt Kuchar. Fowler's round included about 120 feet of made putts -- a new to me stat that I find very interesting. He's north of 250 feet for the tournament. For many tournaments, I'd be uninterested in doing more than checking in at some point after the turn to make sure nothing had developed to make the tourney more competitive. I recognize that 4 shots have been squandered many times, and Rickie especially has been known to choke. Kuch, on the other hand, is one of the steadiest players on Tour, so at -16, Kuch figures to get to at least -21, possibly a stroke better. That means Rickie probably needs to shoot at least -3 to win, but he might have to go even lower. -25 seems nearly certain to take home the trash.
But the reason I'll be tuning in earlier to this one, regardless of what's going on at the top of the leaderboard, is the ever rowdy par 3 16th! The entire hole is surrounded by a stadium, and the fans never shut up. That's right, even during a player's shot, the banter keeps going. Some players actually encourage the fans to scream their loudest during the tee shot. I would, too, as the constant noise that generates would eliminate distractions due to any noise. The photog shutter clicks that used to drive Tiger crazy could not be heard against that steady roar of the crowd. The other thing, when players miss the green, miss par putts, or hit other poor shots, the fans boo loudly. It's hilarious.
Here's a video showing what the 16th is like:
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Post by SUVFan on Feb 8, 2019 13:48:52 GMT -5
I wasn't able to follow as much of Sunday's final round as I'd have like to, and just got around to seeing how it finished. Apparently it was pretty crazy. Rickie managed to win, but, surprisingly made a 3 over par final round good enough to win by 2 strokes. Unheralded Branden Grace started the day 7 shots off the lead, but his two under score in the final round vaulted him into a stand alone second place finish at -15. Justin Thomas was one over in the final round and finished third. The normally steady Kuch shot 4 over and fell to -12, good for a three way tie for 4th with Bubba and Chez Reavie. Rickie had to rally to pull off the win. It looks like he was probably tied with Grace (or possibly trailing by a stroke, it's hard to tell) when he birdied 15. Grace bogeyed 17, but he would have been at least 3 groups ahead of Rickie, so it's difficult to say which came first. Then Rickie gave himself a 2 shot cushion with a birdie on 17, taking the pressure off himself on the last. Rickie's biggest problem was the hockey stick he carded on the 11th. That followed a double bogey on the 5th, that was sandwiched by a birdie on the 10th and a bogey on the 12th. So at that point, he was 5 over and had definitely squandered his lead. The hockey stick has a story behind it. Rickie had hit his drive into the water. So he drops the ball, and it keeps rolling into the water, entitling him to place the ball. After Rickie placed the ball on the ground but before he could hit his shot, the ball rolled into the water. Because the ball had been declared in play, when it rolled into the water, that cost Rickie another penalty stroke. So it was 1 in, drop 2, 3 in, drop 4, with 3 real strokes adding up to the 7. Jordan Speith was very critical of the rule at a presser before this week's tourney at Pebble. I agree with Speith. Placing a ball during the process of a drop is much different from where it ends up after a shot on a ball that has always been in play. With the latter, whatever happens from the time the ball appears to be at rest until it is played is on the player, as the ball ended up there due to the player's shot. If it moves before being struck again, that movement should be deemed attributable to the previous shot, be that favorable or unfavorable to the player. But in the former situation, the original ball can't be played because it's in the drink and that's where the that shot finished. Completely. The pros don't seem to carry fishing poles like us cheap duffers (they also don't pay for their balls), so it's always a different ball that's being dropped. The drop process is used to restore the ball to a playable condition. If it moves in any way after being dropped or placed in the drop process, it could have nothing to do with the previous shot and, obviously, the drop process failed to restore the ball to a playable state and the ball should be replaced to the point it was originally declared to be in play with no further penalty. Maybe that woke Rickie up? Who knows. If everything had gone the same, without the extra penalty being assessed, Rickey makes a 5 on 11, he probably never gives up the lead and wins by a comfortable 4 strokes. Fortunately, this time Rickie recovered from the double penalty and held on to win the tournament. I'm hoping this win and the adversity he had to overcome to get it done will be something Rickie can build on and that he can shed the "best player to never win a major" title that he's currently contending for. Maybe at the Masters! I have the feeling that once he bags a major, it should lead to quite a few more. He's still plenty young enough to win a decent number of them -- certainly 3, maybe 4, even up to a half dozen, I'd think -- if he can just get that initial monkey off his back soon.
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Post by SUVFan on Feb 8, 2019 14:19:50 GMT -5
Sergio made some news last week. Participants in the golf topics at the other place may remember that I was never a fan. Though he's not my least favorite golfer of all time, he's in my bottom 10 and possibly my bottom 5 even before last week's transgressions. Last Friday at the Saudi International, Sergio (now 39) absolutely lost it after he came up short trying to get out of a bunker on his second try. He swings his sand wedge back and forth several times before finally using it to sweep sand across the face of the trap much the way Billy Martin used his shoe to move dirt onto an umpire's shoes. As bad as that was, apparently the next day he ended up getting kicked out of the tournament for vandalizing as many as 5 of the greens. No punishment has been imposed on him beyond the DQ. But I agree with SI that this episode on top of all the others recounted in the story should stain him forever. I was not aware of Sergio's most inappropriate reset of Fuzzy Zoeller's comment about Tiger. Fuzzy, of course said it long ago, as Tiger was on the verge of running away with the Masters, and before players really understood they needed to worry about their comments being recorded. And Fuzzy, frankly, could get away with things like that because, well, he was Fuzzy! Unlike Sergio's comment from just a few days ago, Fuzzy's came near the start of Tiger's career. And even Fuzzy paid a price for that comment. I always thought it would have been funny if Jack, Arnie and others had pranked Fuzzy at the next Master's Champion dinner by walking out with a platter of fried chicken and a bowl of collard greens and sitting them down in front of Fuzzy, giving him the very meal he had requested the reporters to tell Tiger not to order.
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Post by SUVFan on Feb 10, 2019 14:44:06 GMT -5
I checked in on the Pebble Beach tourney a little bit ago -- it was on at the sports bar where I had lunch.
It looked odd seeing all the players dressed for cold weather, many wearing stocking caps instead of the typical baseball hats. With the leaders -- Paul Casey at -15 and Phil at -12 -- set to tee off at 1:50 pm EST, they showed a shot of some nasty looking clouds approaching. Next thing I knew, the greens were covered with hail stones! They were trying to sweep them off the green near the holes. I'm sure they went on a weather delay.
Developing.
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Post by SUVFan on Feb 17, 2019 8:43:52 GMT -5
The old man got it done at Pebble! Phil Michelson, now 48 and old enough that his nickname based on his body style -- "Hefty" -- could also derive from his age, managed a 3 shot win at the Pebble Beach pro am. It took an extra day to finish the last two holes (Phil reportedly begged to be allowed to finish them in the dark!) but he finally walked off with a 3 shot win over Paul Casey. Phil shot a blistering 65 in the final round to push his total score to -19, 3 shots ahead of Casey. I would have thought that with that 3 stroke lead heading into the final round, Casey would have been very tough to beat - mostly he'd have to beat himself -- but I underestimated Phil. That's his 48th tour win. Phil will return to Pebble in June for the US Open. Of course, the course is set up just a bit tougher for that major. He'll be trying to become the oldest player ever to win a major. I think Jack still holds that title, winning the '86 Masters when he was 46. I think Phil's more likely to win at Augusta in April than at Pebble in June due to Augusta's considerably less punishing rough and Phil's tendency to play army golf (i.e., left-right-left-right). That's especially so if he can manage to keep the extra distance the story reports that he's added to his driver. Augusta really rewards length even off the fairway as long as you avoid Rae's Creek and keep it out of the pines (or get really lucky). The US Open rewards length, too, but only if the ball stays on the fairway. Who knows? Maybe he'll win 'em both!
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Post by SUVFan on Mar 14, 2019 18:51:37 GMT -5
The Players' Championship is underway. Tommy Fleetwood and Keegan Bradley share the first round lead at -7. Rory is solidly in the hunt at -5, good for a 3 way tie for 4th. If he gets hot tomorrow, look out! Five players are tied for 8th and a whopping 22 players are tied for 13th at -3 and 17 more are tied for 35th at -2, putting the entire top 50+ within 5 shots of the lead. Other notables include Phil and Ricky at +2 (tied for 104th) and Jordan Speith (tied for 130th) is at +4, all flirting with the cut line. My favorite all time golfer - Not! - Charl is at +3.
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Post by SUVFan on Mar 16, 2019 10:13:38 GMT -5
Rory joined Tommy Fleetwood at the top of The Players Championship round II leaderboard at -12. Bradley shot +1 and dropped to 17th at -6 overall. The venerable Jim Furyk is 3 strokes back at -9 in a tie for 3rd place.
Other notables near the top include Jason Day, who vaulted to -8, good for a tie for 7th yesterday. DJ and Jon Rahm lurk another stroke back at -7 in tie for 10th.
Rickie made it back to red figures, part of a 20 player gaggle currently tied for 43rd at -3.
It should be a very interesting moving day!
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Post by SUVFan on Mar 17, 2019 11:58:06 GMT -5
Yesterday was moving day at the Players, and there was some significant movement up and down the leaderboard.
The biggest positive mover was Jon Rahm, who shot a blistering 64, one shot off the course record, which sent him soaring from his 10th place position at -7 on Friday to sole possession of first place at -15.
Friday's leader, Rory and Tommy Fleetwood, struggled out of the gate, but both steadied themselves and moved two more strokes under par to -14, now tied for second. Jason Day, another positive mover, managed a four under 68, good for 4th place at -12, and will go out with Rory today in the penultimate group. Abraham Acer rounds out the top 5 one shot behind Day at -11.
The one common characteristic of the top 5 is that none of them are Americans, but six of them are lined up behind the top 5, led by Sneds and a youngster, Ollie Schniederjans, both of whom shot 65 and are tied for 6th at -10. They're joined by Keegan Bradley, Brian Harman, DJ and Jim Furyk.
In early play today, Emiliano Grillo shot a 65 and is the current leader in the clubhouse at -7, though tied for 26th overall. But with 25 players with better scores, and others, such as Sergio and Tiger midway through their back nine already at -7, that's not going to hold up.
I think if someone can get hot and post -12 or -13, there will be some pressure on the leaders. Some good scores have been turned in today and more are in the making, but the weather reports from the course say the winds just picked up and it's only getting worse for the next couple of hours. They may have a weather delay around 3 pm, I'm hearing, if things progress the way the models look now.
After that 64 Rahm shot yesterday, he's probably going to change his approach to a much more conservative style. Like a prevent defense in football, that often leads to a loss. I'd give Rory the edge except he's not known for being a great wind player. I can see Jason Day emerging. I also wouldn't count DJ out. I doubt anyone outside of those top 11 will come through, but there's a reason they play the round.
Developing.
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Post by SUVFan on Mar 17, 2019 18:30:08 GMT -5
Rory McIllroy won the 2019 Players Championship with a two under performance today that saw him trailing by two on his front nine after he slipped to -12. But he shot a great back nine and ended up at -16, one shot ahead of Jim Furyk. The bad weather and high winds didn't really materialize, so it was pretty much like a normal day for Rory back home in Ireland. Furyk, at 48 made a valiant attempt to become the oldest winner of this tourney. He made quite a charge from 5 strokes off the pace yesterday and 3 strokes back of Rory, but he just couldn't quite get it done. Jon Rahm took himself out of it with a very poor choice on the par 5 11th. He was pretty much in jail off the tee, way to the left behind a stand of trees, and his caddy advised him to lay up, but Rahm was headstrong, rejected his caddie's advice and tried to hit a big bender that ended up wet. He ended up with a bogey on the hole, dropping him to -13 at the time when he had visions of an eagle that would put him back in the lead at -16, a shot better than where he started the day. He did make a birdie on 13, but then bogeyed 15. With Furyk leading in the clubhouse when Rahm teed off on the island green 17th, he took a direct line to the pin but came up 5 or so yards short, wet again, and went on to make double bogey. He parred the last, but was +4 for the day (almost one stroke worse than average for 54 hole leaders at the players) and ended up tied for 12th place. We'll hear more from Jon Rahm. Tommy Fleetwood ended up two shots better than Rahm, but came up short on 11 (not a bad decision as much as a bad shot) as well, and also bogeyed 17 in a similar fashion to Rahm. There were two very fun putts on 17 that made things very interesting. The first was by unhearlded Eddie Pepperell, playing in his first Players. He'd barely cleared the water and was on the lower tier pretty much on line with the pin about 25 or 30 feet away. It was a double breaker, with the ball curling to the left up the slope and then breaking dramatically to the right. Pepperell drained it, getting him to -14 where he finished, and until Furyk posted his -15, Eddie was the leader in the clubhouse. The other putt was by Jhonattan Vegas. His tee shot was about as far to the left of the green as he could be and still be putting. He played at least 20 feet of break across 72 feet of green and the putt rolled into the hole with enough pace that it might have been a tester coming back, but not so much that he risked rolling off the green. The birdie took Vegas to -14 but, like Pepperell before him, he had no magic left on 18 and ended up in a tie for 3rd. In addition to Furyk, two other Yanks made a go of it. Sneds and Dustin Johnson had good rounds, but fizzled down the stretch and ended up at -13, tied for 5th with Fleetwood. So the US of A went from having no one in the top 5 heading into the final round to having just under half of the 7 spots (due to the 3 way tie for 5th), and the old man nearly pulled off a W. This has the makings of a pretty interesting year!
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Post by SUVFan on Feb 16, 2020 21:08:05 GMT -5
It's been nearly a year since I've checked in here. I see golf is as popular as ever! The 2020 edition of the Genesis Open concluded today. It's played on OJ's old course, Riviera CC. Adam Scott started the day in the final threesome and finished the day -1, -11 overall for his first win in forever. It was a 2 shot victory over Kuch, Kang and Scott Brown. Kuch was tied with Scott to start the day. So was Rory, who dropped 3 strokes. Tiger hosts this tournament and was he ever hospitable! He made the cut but finished dead last at -11. More details will be posted in the Tiger topic. Leaderboard
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Post by SUVFan on Feb 23, 2020 8:34:56 GMT -5
I caught some of the WGC Mexican championship yesterday. It was quite a moving day! The biggest move was by Jon Rahm, who after acing the 158 yard par 3 17th, needed a back to back eagle for a 59. He wisely played the hole fairly conservative, making par, which was good for a 10 under 61, but he's only -11 for the tournament and 4 shots off the pace set by co leaders Justin Thomas and Patrick Reed. Thomas had reached -16 but bogeyed 17, a three shot swing relative to Rahm's ace. Several other players made moves up the leaderboard, too. Bryson DeChambeau had the lead going into moving day at -10 but is now tied with Rahm. Rory was third going in but had an up and down day, rallying to end up -3 for the day, joining the group at -11, all tied for 4th. South African Erik van Rooyen started the day at -10, one shot behind Bryson, but turned in a 4 under 67 to get to -14 and remain a single shot out of the lead, though now trailing the new co-leaders. The course appears to be a lot of fun, with lots of chances to score but also get in trouble. The tournament announcer at the first tee, obviously a Mexican, is high spirited and hilarious as he tries to pronounce the golfer's names. That alone makes it worth watching! Coverage will start on The Golf Channel, probably at noon EST like yesterday, and then move to NBC at 2:30. Bonus: Because it's on NBC, there's no Jim Nance! Tournament website link. Jon Rahm's ace on 17
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Post by SUVFan on Mar 2, 2020 16:48:50 GMT -5
I tried to watch some of The Honda Classic at PGA over the weekend. Several notables, such as Rickey and Rosie, and Koepka missed the cut, but many more appeared to have just skipped it. That left a very lackluster field. It was kind of like a tournament no one wanted to win. When I first checked Golf Channel on Saturday, scores were in the mid single digits and that's where it ended up, with Im walking off with a win at -6. An was also in the mix. Sorry, pro golf, but I don't know when pronouns and articles became top names in golf? They need to do better. I get that these are international players and that those are their actual names. But I can't help thinking that maybe something more interesting might add to the ratings? As usual, Jack showed up in the broadcast booth but even he couldn't get me very interested in golf. He did explain that the course was rated a par 70 for this year's event, which means that somewhere a hole that's usually a par 5 was rated a par 4 for the tourney. That adds 4 strokes relative to par to all of the scores without changing the underlying raw score based on total strokes. Whatever -- the Masters it wasn't.
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Post by SUVFan on Mar 3, 2020 9:56:30 GMT -5
Next up is the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. The field appears a little bit stronger than last week (it couldn't be much weaker!) so I hope to see some good play. I applaud the tournament for avoiding the commerialized pictures of the golfers in hats, though it's pretty obvious most just took the hats off at the request of the photog. I guess the missing photos are from guys who refused to be pictured without their sponsor's ID?
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