Golf Thread - August

[CanadianChris 0]

Hey, here comes Woody again. I have to think he's too far back at this point, though.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

The knock on Woody is that he isn't very good at controlling his nerves. However, I always root for him because he didn't start playing till he was 12 or 13 and basically taught himself.

 

Looks like the 63 Tiger shot on Friday is going to be the #1 reason he's going to win this tournament.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

This is getting a bit interesting. It's a breath of fresh air to see a major championship where at least someone in the field is chasing a Tiger Woods that has the lead as opposed to everyone imploding on the back nine.

 

Edit: Horrible bogey by Ernie there on 16. He had a pitch into the green and flew it way too far beyond the hole. I was thinking with the way his round was going he would have stuck it close to the pin.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Though he doesn't really deserve it, I marked the fuck out over the news that Gary Player has selected Mike Weir to represent the Internationals at Royal Montreal, along with fellow lefty (shout-out!) Nick O'Hern. Nicklaus picked Lucas Glover, and Hunter Mahan, who I'm surprised didn't make it on his own, via his last month six weeks of play.

 

My brother and I had all but given up on Mike after the last three weeks. To illustrate my point: The mother of my nephew pretty well fucked off in the middle of the night out east two weeks ago. My brother, not known for his technological prowess, had been using my Facebook to try and track her down. I had no problem with giving him my password (which was based on Mike Weir), but he began getting drunk and insulting her, swearing at her via email, etc. When I told him to stop this on the grounds this whole thing could wind up in court, he said "You should probably change your password". I said "It's going to be that much of a problem?" he said "No, Mike is just shit". Yesterday afternoon, we got together and while watching the golf, he asked me how Weir and Ames were doing, at which point he further suggested I change it. I know that's the kind of tale that could wind up in a Czech signature or something, but I just found it interesting that someone as patriotic as my bro might lose faith over an icon that way.

 

 

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

By the way, when was this thing my brother kept saying about Woody Austin breaking a putter over his head a few years ago? He first mentioned it during the US Open, and I never really looked into it any further, but they did mention something about it on Sportsnet on Saturday...My bro estimated it to be 94 or 95, which doesn't seem as likely, as 95 was his rookie year. I can't say I'm all that surprised, he was borderline catty during his press conference Saturday.

[Red Baron 0]

Sportsnet is probably the worst sports station in history.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Home and Garden?

[CanadianChris 0]

By the way, when was this thing my brother kept saying about Woody Austin breaking a putter over his head a few years ago? He first mentioned it during the US Open, and I never really looked into it any further, but they did mention something about it on Sportsnet on Saturday...My bro estimated it to be 94 or 95, which doesn't seem as likely, as 95 was his rookie year. I can't say I'm all that surprised, he was borderline catty during his press conference Saturday.

1997 Heritage at Hilton Head.

 

And yes, Sportsnet is awful, although not as bad as The Score, IMO.

 

Regarding Weir, tell people to give the guy a break, he's been injured most of the year. He withdrew from the Bridgestone with a neck injury, and he's had a bad back off and on for a couple of years now. I was fully expecting Player to take Stephen Ames, though.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

So it's the last tournament before the playoffs begin....and the playoffs will also begin without Tiger Woods. Sorry, but that is why I can't take these "playoffs" seriously. I thought that you'd have to play in all four events to have a shot at winning but Mr. Finchem already gave us a broken system. Tiger is out in front by a decent margin in front of Vijay anyway (and with that I guess I can't fault him for not playing) and will probably win by not having to play more than two events which just makes the system look like a joke.

 

Anyway, I'm surprised Davis Love III is playing this week. Although he's the defending champion the playoffs do start next week and I didn't know that he'd want to play so many tournaments in a row if he wanted to make a run at the FedEx Cup.

 

Also, congrats to Woody Austin for making the Presidents Cup team. I've always liked the guy and I think he'll represent the U.S. well although I always root against the U.S. in the Ryder and Presidents Cups. Don't ask me why I do but I just always though the International teams had cooler characters and more "into it" than their U.S. counterparts.

 

I'm not too surprised with the pick of Weir over Ames as I figure Weir is more popular in Canada. Also, Ames just gets destroyed by Tiger Woods so you don't want that coming into the event. Damn good pick by Player of Nick O"Hern, though. That guy has game, especially in match play versus Tiger.

[CanadianChris 0]

Anyway, I'm surprised Davis Love III is playing this week.

He's not. He withdrew yesterday with kidney stones.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

Anyone here going to enter the random drawing for tickets to the 2008 Ryder Cup in Louisville? I'm thinking about it since it might be the only time the Ryder Cup is in my home state which will be very exciting.

 

Also, FedEx Cup playoffs start this week. Any predictions on who emerges victorious at the Barclays?

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Tough to go against Singh, the defending champ, who's probably more motivated than anyone else to win the first FedEx Cup.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

I'm really really really excited for these playoffs. I could easily watch golf every day, but it's cool to see some kind of closure.

 

It needs some fine tuning, but I like Finchem's comment about not knowing how/what to change till its been completed. I'm sure I could come up with a few, but it's not like this was just slapped together either. My only big concern is that more focus will be given to who's missing the cut than who's winning the tournament, which should never be the case.

 

I suppose I'm being semi-hypocrtical about my last statement, as I don't remember who won the tournament (2005 Byron Nelson) that Tiger Woods' cut streak ended. Interestingly (and kind of along the same lines) - I won a beer last year from the guy who runs the golf pool I'm in. He bet I wouldn't remember who won the tournament that Anika missed the cut in (Kenny Perry - 2003 Colonial/Crowne Plaza Invitational)

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Stricker's win at the Barclay's moves him into the lead for the Cup.

 

PLAYER POINTS

Steve Stricker 104,950

K.J. Choi 102,900

Rory Sabbatini 100,650

Tiger Woods 100,000

Phil Mickelson 99,613

 

Some notables knocked out from the first round include Ryan Palmer, Shigeki Maryuma, Jesper Parnevik, and former major winners Bob Tway and Corey Pavin. And on to the Deutsche Bank, which continues its tradition of fucking up my internal clock by starting on Friday every year. By Labour Day evening, only 70 will remain.

 

 

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

Whoever would have thought that Steve Stricker would be leading the playoff race after the first event when the season began? I'm glad he won last week, though. Pretty exciting duel between him and KJ.

[Guest rullmar]

I'm really really really excited for these playoffs. I could easily watch golf every day, but it's cool to see some kind of closure.

 

It needs some fine tuning, but I like Finchem's comment about not knowing how/what to change till its been completed.

Fuck the heck.

 

How can you be excited about these "playoffs".

 

The FedEx Thingy is the most poorly thought up idea ever. EVER. There's no closure. What does this even prove. The top points finisher of 4 tournaments... after the slams, and WGC, and tournaments people actually care about... oh, fuck it. And the entire field doesn't even know what the fuck is going on, let alone any fans.

 

It gets even better next year with the Ryder Cup taking place the immediate week after this disaster.

 

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

I'm really really really excited for these playoffs. I could easily watch golf every day, but it's cool to see some kind of closure.

 

It needs some fine tuning, but I like Finchem's comment about not knowing how/what to change till its been completed.

Fuck the heck.

 

How can you be excited about these "playoffs".

 

The FedEx Thingy is the most poorly thought up idea ever. EVER. There's no closure. What does this even prove. The top points finisher of 4 tournaments... after the slams, and WGC, and tournaments people actually care about... oh, fuck it. And the entire field doesn't even know what the fuck is going on, let alone any fans.

 

It gets even better next year with the Ryder Cup taking place the immediate week after this disaster.

 

Explain to me how there's no closure instead of bitching about it. I also pointed out it needed fine tuning. Gonna ask what the point of the Stanley Cup is next? "Oh, six weeks of hockey, best record of that span wins a trophy...why?"

 

This isn't GameFaqs, new guy. Back your shit up.

 

Edit: Banned already. Didn't see that one coming.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

Well I get to wait until November to find out if I won the random draw for Saturday tickets to the Ryder Cup @ Valhalla. I imagine that everyone wanted the Sunday tickets for the singles matches so I decided I'd rather go watch the four-ball and best-ball matches. I like that team brand of golf anyway.

 

I agree that the FedEx thing is a bit of a joke. There really wasn't any drama last week in terms of who made the cut to 120 and who didn't. Granted that was probably because only 24 players got eliminated. This week might be more interesting with 50 getting cut.

 

I do agree that the playoff system needs changed. I understand why there has to be a "reset" but it does seem unfair to me that Tiger's lead gets wittled down to nothing. I'm not even a big Tiger fan but he earned those points so he should be allowed to keep them. I just don't understand why they don't have a "real" playoff with a smaller field. I'd just start with 100 for the Barclays and all 100 golfers play 4 rounds. The top 70 golfers move on to the Deutsche Bank Championship the next week and play four rounds with the top 45 going to the BMW Championship. Then we have another 4 rounds @ the BMW with those 45 to cut it to the top 30 finishers at that tournament and the winner of the TOUR Championship wins the playoffs. To me that would create MUCH more drama and interest but the Tour probably believes that system is messed up because a really unknown guy could come in and win the TOUR Championship and kill the TV drama around Tiger and Phil.

 

One of the most hilarious things about these playoffs is that when the final FedEx Cup payouts are given based on how players finished in the standings SIX players who DID NOT EVEN MAKE THE PLAYOFFS get paid like $32,000. Like wtf?!?!?! Why do players who were 145-150 in the standings get $$$$ for not even PLAYING in the playoffs?

 

The PGA Tour has just really ticked me off as a fan this year. They moved all the early rounds to the Golf Channel so I can't really watch Tiger/Vijay/Phil play with each other today and tomorrow and I'll have to miss all the "Quest for the Card" tournaments. This was also a dumb move because ESPN doesn't give a crap about golf anymore w/highlights because they don't air it on their network.

 

And for all the "buzz" that these playoffs were supposed to generate the only people who really seem to give a damn about them are me and CanadianGuitarist.

 

But I digress....

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

A guy I talked to was mixed about his Ryder Cup attendance in 2004. He said the atmosphere was great with so much solidarity and patriotism, especially with the amount of people there, and the heritage, tradition, and prestige of the event. On the other hand, he said the tournament itself was awful to attend because it was so packed. That many patrons, when there's, at best, 24 or so players on the course, made for a hell of a time getting around and the potential for a long and hot day, which made plenty of sense to me.

 

That said, I'd jump at the chance, too. Good luck in the lottery.

[CanadianChris 0]

My dad and I were thinking about snagging Presidents Cup tickets, but neither of us thought it would be a really enjoyable time in person. That's my opinion of most golf tournaments, actually. The only PGA tournaments I would go out of my way to attend if I could are the majors, minus the PGA Championship.

 

On the other hand, we're probably going to try and get tickets to the Canadian Women's Open next year, which is being held here in town.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

Yea, I don't know what the experience will be like if I get the tickets. I imagine that it will be packed and I'll have to keep my mouth shut when there because I root for the Europeans over the United States each time the Ryder Cup is held (ditto for the Presidents Cup). However, I've never been to a major golf tournament in person so it's just to go for the experience of going and seeing some of the golfers in person. If my work schedule a year in advance had been good I would have just gotten tickets for the practice days because from what I've heard the European guys interact with the fans quite a bit during those and autograph golf balls and other items during the rounds.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Why wouldn't you go to the PGA?

 

Theyear I attended the Canadian Open, it could have been called the "Shit Golfer Invitational". Even so, it was an awesome experience. I went on a Wednesday, so practise round. Lots of pictures, the course wasn't too packed, save the 10 minutes I spent watching Mike Weir finishing up and heading back inside, and because it wasn't quite the tournament yet, the players were really talkative and personable. I got some autographs, and my dad had this thing about me not outright asking for pictures with players, so he'd have me, say, stand off to the side and he'd creatively take some pics that way. (It looks like Jim Furyk is chewing me out in one of them). Aaron Baddely passed us near the beer tent, and my dad said "Go run up near him, and I'll get a pic of you two near him". The subsequent thunder of my grandfather and I running after him caused him to turn around, and he instead offered a pic and an autograph, and he was even a good sport about my grandfather's poor-taste comment about Steve Irwin's death two days prior.

 

I don't wanna stereotype American sports fans or anything, but I would think, Danville, that as long as you were pulling for Europe, and not against the US, you'd be fine.

[CanadianChris 0]

Why wouldn't you go to the PGA?

Because it's generally held on the hottest days of the year, and it just doesn't hold nearly the appeal that the Masters or Opens hold. It's the major that most feels like just another golf tournament.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Tiger makes birdie at 7, but Phil matches, and retains his 3-shot lead over Tiger (along with Steve Stricker and my boy Aaron Baddely), and that makes it two over Aaron Oberholser.

 

Not too get too far ahead, but would this be the first time Phil beat Tiger head-to-head in the final round? Tiger certainly came out on top in the 01 Masters, 03 Buick, and 05 CA. I don't recall them ever being paired together during a final round.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

Phil is putting together one of the best rounds of golf I've ever seen him play. His up and down just a minute ago at number 9 was amazing.

 

And Tiger makes bogey on #9 to fall four behind Phil.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Phil Mickelson and Zach Johnson were both at Fenway Saturday, when Clay Bucholz threw a no-hitter, though they've routinely been calling him "The youngster" or "that young pitcher" on NBC this afternoon.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

Anyone else think Tiger is a little rattled by Phil's play in this round? He hasn't gotten any momentum going and I think he's not responding well to the pressure Phil put on him with those first three birdies he made in five holes.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

Well I guess I'll take that back. Why does Phil ALWAYS have to implode down the stretch?

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

And Phil hangs on to win by two. He's now got the outright lead in the FedEx Cup, heading to Chicago, with the other 69 players. No cuts the next two weeks.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

And Phil might not even play. He mentioned that he feels torn in wanting to play but may not because Finchem hasn't responded to some requests he made earlier in the year. I have no idea what that is about. However, I think it's ridiculous that Phil/Tiger have pushed hard for the realignment of the season and to have these playoffs and then start skipping events. If Phil doesn't play next week I'll just have to root for Stricker to win the FedEx Cup because at least he's playing all of the events.