Alex Cejka played the first round with great ball striking. Hit a lot of fairways, hit iron shots quite close to the hole. But a shaky putter prevented him from making a move on the leaderboard.
At one point of the round, Cejka, clearly frustrated, threw a tantrum and slammed a wedge into ground. Except that didn't hit the ground. The club hit squarely on his foot. It broke his (Foot-Joy) shoe and a toe.
However, he still finished his round. He shot a 2 over par 74 and then withdrew from the tournament.
Golf Channel reporters said that Cejka was on the verge of tears in the locker room after the round.
Wow, who is careless enough to do something like that? Certainly not what you'd expect from a grown man like that, much less from a professional golfer. And why didn't he just withdraw? It's not a good idea to play through an injury like that because it could just worsen the injury and make it harder to recover in the long run.
And he was on the verge of tears after the round? What was there to cry about? Is it because of the pain? Or is it because he ruined a perfect-looking shoe? Or is it because he felt too embarrassed about the situation?
Either way, this will make him think twice before careless throwing a tantrum.
This would have been a non-issue for the golfers who are total gentlemen to the game and almost never throw tantrums. They wouldn't have to worry about this because they don't do those kinds of things.
Moral(s) of the story:
- FootJoy shoes are not a sturdy type of footwear
- Throwing a tantrums requires good eye-hand coordination
- The club material is tougher than the shoe material and flesh combined
- Calm golfers never need to worry about breaking their toes
Friday, 29 April 2011
John Rollins 3-putts from inside 2 feet
Looks like now for all of you 20-handicappers out there, there is now something that we can all brag about: Beating PGA Tour golfer John Rollins in one statistic.
The statistic is: Least number of times three-putting from inside 2 feet.
Provided that it has never happened to you before, of course.
It's true. In the first round of the 2011 Zurich Classic of New Orleans, on the 6th hole, John Rollins 3-putted from a distance of just 22 inches. After a brilliant second shot on the Par 4 6th, he had a 22 inch birdie putt. He lipped out the birdie putt and then missed the comeback 18 inch putt for par.
Interestingly, that bogey was his only bogey of the day. Despite that VERY disappointing bogey, he recovered from it. He shot a 67 for the day and was tied for second place after the round.
Really? Three putting from 2 feet? Most of the time a putt like that would be a gimme in Match Play or in a casual round of golf. If this were match play that would have been a gimme birdie and he wouldn't even need to putt out. But since this is stroke play, putting out is needed no matter what length.
Most people could make a putt practically by using only one hand! Or by holding the putter upside-down and putting using the grip! Seriously...
22 inches. That's 55 centimetres. That's even shorter than the length of most television screens nowadays. And you three-putt from that distance??
Moral(s) of the story:
- Always remember Murphy's Law (whatever can happen would happen)
- Never think about the effect before doing the cause
- Never concede any putts during Match Play, no matter what the distance. Hooray for bad sportsmanship!
The statistic is: Least number of times three-putting from inside 2 feet.
Provided that it has never happened to you before, of course.
It's true. In the first round of the 2011 Zurich Classic of New Orleans, on the 6th hole, John Rollins 3-putted from a distance of just 22 inches. After a brilliant second shot on the Par 4 6th, he had a 22 inch birdie putt. He lipped out the birdie putt and then missed the comeback 18 inch putt for par.
Interestingly, that bogey was his only bogey of the day. Despite that VERY disappointing bogey, he recovered from it. He shot a 67 for the day and was tied for second place after the round.
Really? Three putting from 2 feet? Most of the time a putt like that would be a gimme in Match Play or in a casual round of golf. If this were match play that would have been a gimme birdie and he wouldn't even need to putt out. But since this is stroke play, putting out is needed no matter what length.
Most people could make a putt practically by using only one hand! Or by holding the putter upside-down and putting using the grip! Seriously...
22 inches. That's 55 centimetres. That's even shorter than the length of most television screens nowadays. And you three-putt from that distance??
Moral(s) of the story:
- Always remember Murphy's Law (whatever can happen would happen)
- Never think about the effect before doing the cause
- Never concede any putts during Match Play, no matter what the distance. Hooray for bad sportsmanship!
Tuesday, 26 April 2011
Top 10 Most Surprising / Interesting / Significant Things That Happened at the 2011 Heritage Classic Week
Here's a countdown of the Top 10 most surprising/interesting/significant storylines that happened on the week of the 2011 Heritage Classic. That does not only include the Heritage Classic, but also the other events that happened during that week.
10. Camilo Villegas' comeback and backslide. Camilo Villegas has had a uncharacteristically mediocre season for the first half of 2011. I think one significant thing that derailed him was when he intentionally broke a rule and a viewer called in resulting in disqualification. http://msn.foxsports.com/golf/story/Camilo-Villegas-disqualified-at-Kapalua-in-PGA-Tour-opener-010107. He actually shot a quite decent first round and was in contention until the disqualification occured. After that disqualification, he never got in contention until the Heritage week. At the Heritage week he played very decently the first 2 rounds, and a lot of people thought he was back. But then he played very in consistently the last rounds, shooting 66-68-74-73 for the week and with a T36 finish.
9. Volvo China Open's cakewalk. The Volvo China Open was played in Luxehills Country Club in Chengdu, China, on a Jack Nicklaus design. By looking at the leaderboard http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2011/tournamentid=2011023/leaderboard/index.html?showLeaderboard=Y, it's easy to tell that the scoring had been ridiculously low this year. 24 under par winning score, 51 players shooting 10 under or better, and the cut line being 5 under par. Very uncharacteristic for a Nicklaus design. The reason being? The good weather. The course received lots of rain prior to the tournament, resulting in the greens being VERY receptive. Plus, the winds were absolutely still, and the temperature was warm to enable the ball to go longer. Perfect recipe for cakewalk scoring.
8. Brandt Snedeker's final round. Brandt played an absolutely lights out final round that day, shooting a 64 in which he made every single putt that mattered, including a 12-foot putt on the final hole (a very tough hole) in regulation which got him in a playoff with Luke Donald. Then he made a clutch 10-foot birdie on the 1st playoff hole (the 18th) and made another clutch 4-foot par on the 2nd playoff hole (the 17th hole) to move on and win. He has shown quite a few timees to have a tendency to "choke", missing short putts in critical situations. But this time he handled the situation surprisingly calmer than he did previously.
7. Luke Donald's mediocre iron shots late-round. Luke Donald was well-known for being a great iron player. But late in the round he hit some surprisingly inaccurate iron shots. On the Par 5 15th hole, he had a wedge for his 3rd shot, and him being a great wedge player he is you'd expect him to hit it very close and make a birdie. Instead, he flies it 30 feet past and had to settle for a 2 putt par. Then on the 18th hole, he hit his 8-iron 2nd shot well short and right, into the greenside bunker. He had to work hard just to save par. In the playoff, more of the mediocre iron play showed up. He hit an iron well short in the 2nd playoff hole (and worked hard just to save par), and on the 3rd playoff hole (18th hole again) he again hit a shot short and right into the bunker, and made bogey to lose the playoff. A win would have made him the #1 player in the world, so some would speculate that this was caused by the pressure to become #1.
6. Brian Gay making a 9 on one hole. Coming into the Par 4 6th hole (his 15th hole of the day) for his second round, Brian Gay (who won this tournament by 10 shots in 2009, by the way) was only 3 back and very much in contention. Until this hole. He hit a tee shot that ended up well right of the hole. His second shot hit a tree and ricocheted out of bounds. Two-stroke penalty. He took 2 more shots to get onto the green. Having lost his focus, he three-putted from 5 feet for a quintuple-bogey 9. What makes this so surprising is the fact that Brian Gay is one of the most accurate and consistent players out there, and yet he goes out and makes such a big mistake on one hole. He shot 66-73-70-72 for the week to finish 10 back, T46 finish. Side note: Just the previous week, Kevin Na made a 16 on the Par 4 9th of TPC San Antonio. A 16!
5. Graeme McDowell's weekend backsliding. Graeme McDowell's game looked invincible when 2010 ended. But in 2011, his game was surprisingly mediocre given his high standards that were set in 2010. After two straight missed cuts, his game seemed to finally be back on track when he played himself into contention after 2 rounds. At one point in the third round he was only 2 back of the leader. But then his ball striking totally fell apart, and ended up tied for 61st, finishing 13 back. His scorecard? 68-69-74-74. Very surprisingly given his calibre.
4. Ernie Els's disappointing week. After a very strong 2010 season, a lot of people expected Els to do well this year. He did alright in his first two starts of the year, but afterwards he had been a complete non-factor in every tournament. Especially this week. He shot 11 over par on a course that he's had a lot of success on over the years. One strange decision he made this week was switching to a belly putter. A belly putter is often used by Seniors Tour players because they're used to avoid the "yips". Els is still far from the age of playing on the Senior Tour, so that was a very surprising, and maybe desperate, move. That move proved to be unsuccessful. A 75-78 over the 2 rounds, missing the cut by 10 strokes. He was missing the fairways left and right, and missed just about every putt.
3. Jim Furyk's Sunday back-nine stumble. Jim Furyk played very solidly the first 63 holes. He made all those clutch par putts when it mattered. He hit solid iron shots to close range and made birdie when it mattered. He played what he needed to do in order to win. He looked like a much bigger threat to Luke Donald than the eventual champion Brandt Snedeker was. Then, he started struggling on the 10th hole. After a decent drive, he pulled his second shot well left. It caught a tree and landed well short of the green, and he would make bogey. Then after a good drive and a decent second shot on 11, Furyk missed the short birdie putt. Then he failed to get up-and-down on 12 when his second shot flew over a green. He did make birdie on 13 and a hard-working par on 14. But what surprised me the most was what happend on the Par 5 15th hole. He hit two perfect shots and was left with a short wedge shot for his 3rd shot. Furyk was an excellent wedge player. You would think he would knock it close and birdie. But just the opposite happened. His shot landed well short of the green. Then as he was about to hit the putt for his 4th shot, he thought he accidentally moved the ball when it oscillated by a millimetre. After a long wait for the rules official to analyze the situation, the conclusion was that he didn't deem to cause the ball to move and would receive no penalty. But that moment was what really made Furyk totally lose focus. He inexplicably blew his putt 35 feet past the hole. Then he blew his comeback par putt 7 feet past the hole. He would miss that following putt, tapping in for a double-bogey 7. That loss of concentration carried on to the 18th hole, when Furyk hooked his approach shot well left into Calibogue Sound, making another double bogey. He shot 76 and dropped from 2nd place to 21st.
2. Scott Hoch/Kenny Perry missing short par putts at the Liberty Mutual tournament. On the Senior Tour, the tour played in a team play event, where they played in better-ball format, and the team with the lowest score after 54 holes wins the tournament. Scott Hoch and Kenny Perry were one team. They were tied with the David Eger/Mark McNulty team after 3 rounds and went into a sudden death playoff. On the first playoff hole, Scott Hoch had a 3-and-a-half-foot par putt to extend the playoff. He missed the putt to the right. Then Kenny Perry had only a 18 inch (45 centimetre) putt. And he too, missed it right. 18 INCHES! 18 INCHES! Does that ever happen? That's supposed to be an almost gimme putt and he missed it! Side note: Scott Hoch and Kenny Perry both happened to players who are notable to have very close calls at the Masters Tournament but neither had won one. In the 1989 Masters, Scott Hoch had a 29-inch putt to win the Masters but he missed that. And Kenny Perry had a two-shot lead with 2 holes to play but he made a bogey-bogey finish, and lost in the ensuing playoff with Angel Cabrera.
1. Poulter-geist anyone? Ian Poulter's claim that his rental house is haunted. Yes, it's true. http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/blog/devil_ball_golf/post/Ian-Poulter-claims-his-Hilton-Head-rental-house-?urn=golf-wp1268 Ian Poulter is notorious for being one of the most "macho" tweeters who joke about everything, and says a lot of absurd things. But this time he claims that he wasn't joking. He claims that there was a ghost in his rental home for his residence while playing in the Heritage tournament. That's one of the most absurd things I've ever heard. Really, a ghost? I'm an atheist who's always taught to not believe in anything supernatural. But a lot of people on the golf blogs sure seemed to believe very muchly. For me, it's hard to take anything Poulter says seriously becaue 1) He's always joking and 2) He's often wrong. Like when he said Tiger would finish out of the Top 5 of the Masters. And lo and behind, a 4th place finish! Maybe Tiger Woods told the ghost to haunt him after all the brash statements Poulter made to Woods? Or maybe Tiger Woods himself did all that to retailiate to Poulter's comments? Kidding. But still, it's just hard to buy into a story this absurd. By the way, in case you have no idea what is a "Poulter-geist", it's a pun derived from the word "poltergeist". http://www.google.ca/search?sclient=psy&hl=en&site=&source=hp&q=define%3Apoltergeist&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&pbx=1.
So this was the countdown to a very bizarre but exciting week in golf.
10. Camilo Villegas' comeback and backslide. Camilo Villegas has had a uncharacteristically mediocre season for the first half of 2011. I think one significant thing that derailed him was when he intentionally broke a rule and a viewer called in resulting in disqualification. http://msn.foxsports.com/golf/story/Camilo-Villegas-disqualified-at-Kapalua-in-PGA-Tour-opener-010107. He actually shot a quite decent first round and was in contention until the disqualification occured. After that disqualification, he never got in contention until the Heritage week. At the Heritage week he played very decently the first 2 rounds, and a lot of people thought he was back. But then he played very in consistently the last rounds, shooting 66-68-74-73 for the week and with a T36 finish.
9. Volvo China Open's cakewalk. The Volvo China Open was played in Luxehills Country Club in Chengdu, China, on a Jack Nicklaus design. By looking at the leaderboard http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2011/tournamentid=2011023/leaderboard/index.html?showLeaderboard=Y, it's easy to tell that the scoring had been ridiculously low this year. 24 under par winning score, 51 players shooting 10 under or better, and the cut line being 5 under par. Very uncharacteristic for a Nicklaus design. The reason being? The good weather. The course received lots of rain prior to the tournament, resulting in the greens being VERY receptive. Plus, the winds were absolutely still, and the temperature was warm to enable the ball to go longer. Perfect recipe for cakewalk scoring.
8. Brandt Snedeker's final round. Brandt played an absolutely lights out final round that day, shooting a 64 in which he made every single putt that mattered, including a 12-foot putt on the final hole (a very tough hole) in regulation which got him in a playoff with Luke Donald. Then he made a clutch 10-foot birdie on the 1st playoff hole (the 18th) and made another clutch 4-foot par on the 2nd playoff hole (the 17th hole) to move on and win. He has shown quite a few timees to have a tendency to "choke", missing short putts in critical situations. But this time he handled the situation surprisingly calmer than he did previously.
7. Luke Donald's mediocre iron shots late-round. Luke Donald was well-known for being a great iron player. But late in the round he hit some surprisingly inaccurate iron shots. On the Par 5 15th hole, he had a wedge for his 3rd shot, and him being a great wedge player he is you'd expect him to hit it very close and make a birdie. Instead, he flies it 30 feet past and had to settle for a 2 putt par. Then on the 18th hole, he hit his 8-iron 2nd shot well short and right, into the greenside bunker. He had to work hard just to save par. In the playoff, more of the mediocre iron play showed up. He hit an iron well short in the 2nd playoff hole (and worked hard just to save par), and on the 3rd playoff hole (18th hole again) he again hit a shot short and right into the bunker, and made bogey to lose the playoff. A win would have made him the #1 player in the world, so some would speculate that this was caused by the pressure to become #1.
6. Brian Gay making a 9 on one hole. Coming into the Par 4 6th hole (his 15th hole of the day) for his second round, Brian Gay (who won this tournament by 10 shots in 2009, by the way) was only 3 back and very much in contention. Until this hole. He hit a tee shot that ended up well right of the hole. His second shot hit a tree and ricocheted out of bounds. Two-stroke penalty. He took 2 more shots to get onto the green. Having lost his focus, he three-putted from 5 feet for a quintuple-bogey 9. What makes this so surprising is the fact that Brian Gay is one of the most accurate and consistent players out there, and yet he goes out and makes such a big mistake on one hole. He shot 66-73-70-72 for the week to finish 10 back, T46 finish. Side note: Just the previous week, Kevin Na made a 16 on the Par 4 9th of TPC San Antonio. A 16!
5. Graeme McDowell's weekend backsliding. Graeme McDowell's game looked invincible when 2010 ended. But in 2011, his game was surprisingly mediocre given his high standards that were set in 2010. After two straight missed cuts, his game seemed to finally be back on track when he played himself into contention after 2 rounds. At one point in the third round he was only 2 back of the leader. But then his ball striking totally fell apart, and ended up tied for 61st, finishing 13 back. His scorecard? 68-69-74-74. Very surprisingly given his calibre.
4. Ernie Els's disappointing week. After a very strong 2010 season, a lot of people expected Els to do well this year. He did alright in his first two starts of the year, but afterwards he had been a complete non-factor in every tournament. Especially this week. He shot 11 over par on a course that he's had a lot of success on over the years. One strange decision he made this week was switching to a belly putter. A belly putter is often used by Seniors Tour players because they're used to avoid the "yips". Els is still far from the age of playing on the Senior Tour, so that was a very surprising, and maybe desperate, move. That move proved to be unsuccessful. A 75-78 over the 2 rounds, missing the cut by 10 strokes. He was missing the fairways left and right, and missed just about every putt.
3. Jim Furyk's Sunday back-nine stumble. Jim Furyk played very solidly the first 63 holes. He made all those clutch par putts when it mattered. He hit solid iron shots to close range and made birdie when it mattered. He played what he needed to do in order to win. He looked like a much bigger threat to Luke Donald than the eventual champion Brandt Snedeker was. Then, he started struggling on the 10th hole. After a decent drive, he pulled his second shot well left. It caught a tree and landed well short of the green, and he would make bogey. Then after a good drive and a decent second shot on 11, Furyk missed the short birdie putt. Then he failed to get up-and-down on 12 when his second shot flew over a green. He did make birdie on 13 and a hard-working par on 14. But what surprised me the most was what happend on the Par 5 15th hole. He hit two perfect shots and was left with a short wedge shot for his 3rd shot. Furyk was an excellent wedge player. You would think he would knock it close and birdie. But just the opposite happened. His shot landed well short of the green. Then as he was about to hit the putt for his 4th shot, he thought he accidentally moved the ball when it oscillated by a millimetre. After a long wait for the rules official to analyze the situation, the conclusion was that he didn't deem to cause the ball to move and would receive no penalty. But that moment was what really made Furyk totally lose focus. He inexplicably blew his putt 35 feet past the hole. Then he blew his comeback par putt 7 feet past the hole. He would miss that following putt, tapping in for a double-bogey 7. That loss of concentration carried on to the 18th hole, when Furyk hooked his approach shot well left into Calibogue Sound, making another double bogey. He shot 76 and dropped from 2nd place to 21st.
2. Scott Hoch/Kenny Perry missing short par putts at the Liberty Mutual tournament. On the Senior Tour, the tour played in a team play event, where they played in better-ball format, and the team with the lowest score after 54 holes wins the tournament. Scott Hoch and Kenny Perry were one team. They were tied with the David Eger/Mark McNulty team after 3 rounds and went into a sudden death playoff. On the first playoff hole, Scott Hoch had a 3-and-a-half-foot par putt to extend the playoff. He missed the putt to the right. Then Kenny Perry had only a 18 inch (45 centimetre) putt. And he too, missed it right. 18 INCHES! 18 INCHES! Does that ever happen? That's supposed to be an almost gimme putt and he missed it! Side note: Scott Hoch and Kenny Perry both happened to players who are notable to have very close calls at the Masters Tournament but neither had won one. In the 1989 Masters, Scott Hoch had a 29-inch putt to win the Masters but he missed that. And Kenny Perry had a two-shot lead with 2 holes to play but he made a bogey-bogey finish, and lost in the ensuing playoff with Angel Cabrera.
1. Poulter-geist anyone? Ian Poulter's claim that his rental house is haunted. Yes, it's true. http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/blog/devil_ball_golf/post/Ian-Poulter-claims-his-Hilton-Head-rental-house-?urn=golf-wp1268 Ian Poulter is notorious for being one of the most "macho" tweeters who joke about everything, and says a lot of absurd things. But this time he claims that he wasn't joking. He claims that there was a ghost in his rental home for his residence while playing in the Heritage tournament. That's one of the most absurd things I've ever heard. Really, a ghost? I'm an atheist who's always taught to not believe in anything supernatural. But a lot of people on the golf blogs sure seemed to believe very muchly. For me, it's hard to take anything Poulter says seriously becaue 1) He's always joking and 2) He's often wrong. Like when he said Tiger would finish out of the Top 5 of the Masters. And lo and behind, a 4th place finish! Maybe Tiger Woods told the ghost to haunt him after all the brash statements Poulter made to Woods? Or maybe Tiger Woods himself did all that to retailiate to Poulter's comments? Kidding. But still, it's just hard to buy into a story this absurd. By the way, in case you have no idea what is a "Poulter-geist", it's a pun derived from the word "poltergeist". http://www.google.ca/search?sclient=psy&hl=en&site=&source=hp&q=define%3Apoltergeist&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&pbx=1.
So this was the countdown to a very bizarre but exciting week in golf.
Sunday, 24 April 2011
Rory McIlroy is an Early Candidate for 2011 Choke Artist of the Year
Well, in 2010, Phil Mickelson won the award Choke Artist of the Year by a landslide. He had FOURTEEN (14!) opportunities to overtake the #1 ranking. Most of those times he only needed a Top 4 finish to do it. Yet he fails to get it done, shooting 40 on the back nine Sunday when he got the opportunity. This year, 2011, it might be one of the years the Choke Artist of the Year is NOT Mickelson. His win at the Shell Houston Open has shed that label off of him a little. Who is it then? It has to be Rory McIlroy. His Masters choke was a choke for the ages. But besides the Masters, there were still some other chokes that he had, dating back to the 2010 Chevron World Challenge.
I used to be a fan of Rory in early 2010, but then I've quickly disliked him when he fired off a series of brash comments. Including kicking Tiger while he's down, calling the Ryder Cup an unimportant exhibition, and skipping the Players Championship because he hates the course. His continued stream of brash comments in 2011 regarding Tiger and players of the older generation was enough for me to root hard against him every time he plays.
Here is a recap of the McIlroy chokes, from December 2010 to April 2011.
Chevron World Challenge: Woods and McIlroy were paired together in the second round. At the 18th hole, McIlroy was second place, behind Woods and very much in contention to win. But he hit his approach shot into the water and made double bogey. That meant that Rory dropped behind McDowell. And McDowell would be playing with Woods in the third round. Then on the 18th hole of the third round, McIlroy was third place coming into the 18th hole, and still had an outside chance to win with a good final round. However, he made triple bogey on the last hole. He hit his second shot in the bunker, took 2 shots to get out of there, and three putted from 5 feet. That resulted in him being 10 back of the lead with no chance to win. Some even viewed McIlroy's 18th hole blunders as cowardice, as the fact that he screws up on purpose because he was afraid to play with Woods. The winner, of course, is the "good" Irishman, Graeme McDowell, who is so much classier than the other, Rory McIlcry. Side note: A lot of people would say Woods choked, but I hardly thought so. McDowell was playing so well at that time, nobody, including Woods, would have been able to beat her.
Dubai Desert Classic: McIlroy shot 65-68 in the first two rounds and was leading the tournament. Then in the third round, he began the round with THREE STRAIGHT BOGEYS en route to a 75. He was actually still tied for the lead after the 3rd round. Then in the final round, his choke artistry continued. He was only 2 back of the lead after the 13th hole but made three straight bogeys on Holes 14-16 to fall out of contention, shooting a 74.
Accenture Match Play: After winning his first match, Rory had diarrhea of the mouth again, shooting his mouth off and saying that the players of the older generation are not that good anymore. Rory collapsed bigtime in his second match. Ben Crane, who happened to be one of the players of the "older" generation, ousted McIlroy bigtime with a 8 & 7 victory. Karma, baby! That was the moment of the tournament right there. McIlroy talking brashly again and getting beaten again. Priceless!
Honda Classic: Okay, this is not really a choke but I'll post it anyway. All week he didn't come close to being in contention. He finished the week 16 over par, 25 shots back of winner Sabbatini. Side note: Throughout 2010 I thought Rory Sabbatini was the "bad" Rory, and that McIlroy was the "good" Rory. However, this year, upon hearing about Sabbatini's problems off the course, Sabbatini is now the "good" Rory and McIlroy is the obvious "bad" Rory.
WGC-Cadillac Championship: After McIlroy shot 68-69-69 in the first three rounds, he was only 3 back of the lead going into the final round. He didn't get it done again, shooting a 74. In the beginning of that round he was actually 8 shots ahead of Tiger, but at the end of that round and tournament they were tied. Both finished T-10.
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The Masters:
This is the best, most hilarious, and most spectacular choke of them all throughout early 2011. After three rounds of 65-69-70, McIlroy had a commanding 4 shot lead that seemed insurmountable. Then, Rory made Masters history.
He hit a huge, booming drive down right in the middle of the fairway on the first hole. That was the longest drive of the day on the first hole. He only had 121 yards left on this 445 yard par 4. He only needed a SAND WEDGE for his second shot! He flew the shot over the green, but still had a 25 foot birdie putt. He hammered the putt 5 feet past the hole, and then lipped out the par putt to make a hilarious bogey. A perfect start to his day!
Then on the second hole, he drove into the bunker, hit the lip on the second shot and had a LONG approach for his third shot which ended up in another bunker. Hit a decent bunker shot and made the par putt. He was lucky just to save par.
Then on the third hole, Rory hit a beautiful second shot that spun back to 5 feet, but his birdie putt didn't even touch the hole, sliding by for a disappointing par. He made another par on the 4th, two-putting from 25 feet.
And then after another good drive on the fifth hole, he had a short iron left for his second shot. However, the second shot was slightly short; it rolled off the false front and ended up well short of the hole. He chipped to 5 feet, and his par putt lipped out - AGAIN! Another hilarious bogey by McIlroy.
He two-putted from 40 feet on 6 to make a par, and then made his ONLY birdie of the day on the 7th hole, hitting his approach shot to 8 feet and making the putt for a birdie.
He hit a huge drive right down the middle of the fairway on the par 5 8th. He had just 242 yards left for his second shot. However, his second shot caught a bad break from the greenside mounds and ended up off the green to a difficult chipping area. He chipped to 12 feet and missed the birdie putt, settling for a par which could have easily been a birdie.
He hit another huge drive on the 9th hole, the longest of the day on that hole, and only having 110 yards left for his second shot on this 460 yard hole. He hit a so-so wedge shot to 15 feet, and missed yet another birdie attempt, settling for another par, and continuing to fail to gain any momentum. Despite all those misses, he was actually still leading by 1 shot. Until the very next hole, that is.
On the 10th, he hooked his drive so far left that it ended up next to Butler's Cabin and was lucky it wasn't out-of-bounds. He tried to pitch it back onto fairway, but the ball rolled through the fairway and into the rough. He had a long approach shot on the 3rd hole. Trying to attack the back-left pin loaction, he pulled his shot well left of the green, behind a couple of trees. His pitch shot hit a tree and bounced back to him. His next pitch landed on the green, but he missed the 10 foot putt he had. He tapped in for a TRIPLE-BOGEY 7.
He hit a huge booming drive on the 11th hole and had a clear angle to the green on his approach. He hit his second shot to perfection, hitting it to 10 feet for an easy uphill birdie putt. At that time he was still only 2 shots back and still very much in contention. However, he blew his birdie putt 3 feet past the hole, and his short par putt lipped out. But that wasn't the most hilarious moment of the day. The next hole probably is...
He hit his tee shot to 35 feet. He lagged his birdie putt to 2 feet for an easy tap-in par. The only thing is, he DIDN'T MAKE that tap-in putt! He MISSED the 2 foot par putt. It ended up 4 feet past the hole. He missed that putt as well, settling for a scintillating DOUBLE-BOGEY. This was the hole that ensured that he was permanently dropped out of contention.
He then hit his drive on the 13th hole into the tributary of Rae's Creek. So he had to settle for par on one of the most scorable Par 5's on the PGA Tour.
At that point Rory was apparently sucking so badly so the television didn't show much of his play from that point on. So anyway, he made another par on 14. Then on the 15th hole, he missed a 4 foot par putt. Icing on the cake.
Parred the 16th and 17th. And then on the 18th, McIlroy looked for a strong finish after a hilariously disasterous day. He hit another huge drive down the middle of the fairway. He hit a second shot that spun back to 4 feet of the hole, so now he only had a short birdie putt to shoot a 79. However, he got a double dip of icing on the cake for this hole. He MISSED that birdie putt, so he finished the round with an 80. He made Greg Norman look clutch.
What a spectacular choke that is. I ALMOST felt sorry for McIlroy. ALMOST. The key word, ALMOST. That's right, I DIDN'T feel sorry for him. That was one of the greatest Masters in history. Watching McIlroy duff it out while watching all those other players play so well.
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Maybank Malaysian Open: After that scintillating choke at the Masters, McIlroy entered the Malaysian Open looking for some redemption. (Which he DIDN'T get, by the way!) He seemed to be on the path for victory when he shot 69-64 for the first 2 rounds to take the lead. Then at one point in the third round he had a 2-shot lead. But that lead evaporated quickly on the 15th hole when he double-bogeyed after missing a 4 foot bogey putt.
He entered the final round only 1 back of the lead and very muchly in contention. He hit a perfect drive on the Par 5 fifth and had a golden opportunity to make a move with a birdie or even an eagle. However, he dunked his approach shot into the greenside bunker left of the hole. He duffed a bunker shot and it didn't even get on the green. He his his fourth shot to 8 feet but hilariously missed that par putt, making a BOGEY on the EASIEST hole on the course.
After 3 birdies, he was only 1 shot back when he got to the 12th hole. After an errant drive, McIlroy hit his second shot into the greenside bunker. He hit a very poor bunker shot which ended up 25 feet short. He played his par putt aggressively, rolling it 4 foot past the hole. He MISSED the bogey putt. Making a spectacular double-bogey.
After a few more birdies, he entered the 18th hole 1 shot back, needing a birdie to force a playoff with eventual winner Matteo Manassero. After a perfect drive long and straight, he pulled his second shot well left, into the thick rough. He hit his third shot to 30 feet. He than ran his birdie putt 13 feet past the hole and missed the par putt, finishing in grand style with a bogey.
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So, that sums up all the hilarious chokes McIlroy had in 2011. If he keeps up with this pace, he will be a even bigger choke artist than Phil Mickelson. His chokes have really provided great television.
I used to be a fan of Rory in early 2010, but then I've quickly disliked him when he fired off a series of brash comments. Including kicking Tiger while he's down, calling the Ryder Cup an unimportant exhibition, and skipping the Players Championship because he hates the course. His continued stream of brash comments in 2011 regarding Tiger and players of the older generation was enough for me to root hard against him every time he plays.
Here is a recap of the McIlroy chokes, from December 2010 to April 2011.
Chevron World Challenge: Woods and McIlroy were paired together in the second round. At the 18th hole, McIlroy was second place, behind Woods and very much in contention to win. But he hit his approach shot into the water and made double bogey. That meant that Rory dropped behind McDowell. And McDowell would be playing with Woods in the third round. Then on the 18th hole of the third round, McIlroy was third place coming into the 18th hole, and still had an outside chance to win with a good final round. However, he made triple bogey on the last hole. He hit his second shot in the bunker, took 2 shots to get out of there, and three putted from 5 feet. That resulted in him being 10 back of the lead with no chance to win. Some even viewed McIlroy's 18th hole blunders as cowardice, as the fact that he screws up on purpose because he was afraid to play with Woods. The winner, of course, is the "good" Irishman, Graeme McDowell, who is so much classier than the other, Rory McIlcry. Side note: A lot of people would say Woods choked, but I hardly thought so. McDowell was playing so well at that time, nobody, including Woods, would have been able to beat her.
Dubai Desert Classic: McIlroy shot 65-68 in the first two rounds and was leading the tournament. Then in the third round, he began the round with THREE STRAIGHT BOGEYS en route to a 75. He was actually still tied for the lead after the 3rd round. Then in the final round, his choke artistry continued. He was only 2 back of the lead after the 13th hole but made three straight bogeys on Holes 14-16 to fall out of contention, shooting a 74.
Accenture Match Play: After winning his first match, Rory had diarrhea of the mouth again, shooting his mouth off and saying that the players of the older generation are not that good anymore. Rory collapsed bigtime in his second match. Ben Crane, who happened to be one of the players of the "older" generation, ousted McIlroy bigtime with a 8 & 7 victory. Karma, baby! That was the moment of the tournament right there. McIlroy talking brashly again and getting beaten again. Priceless!
Honda Classic: Okay, this is not really a choke but I'll post it anyway. All week he didn't come close to being in contention. He finished the week 16 over par, 25 shots back of winner Sabbatini. Side note: Throughout 2010 I thought Rory Sabbatini was the "bad" Rory, and that McIlroy was the "good" Rory. However, this year, upon hearing about Sabbatini's problems off the course, Sabbatini is now the "good" Rory and McIlroy is the obvious "bad" Rory.
WGC-Cadillac Championship: After McIlroy shot 68-69-69 in the first three rounds, he was only 3 back of the lead going into the final round. He didn't get it done again, shooting a 74. In the beginning of that round he was actually 8 shots ahead of Tiger, but at the end of that round and tournament they were tied. Both finished T-10.
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The Masters:
This is the best, most hilarious, and most spectacular choke of them all throughout early 2011. After three rounds of 65-69-70, McIlroy had a commanding 4 shot lead that seemed insurmountable. Then, Rory made Masters history.
He hit a huge, booming drive down right in the middle of the fairway on the first hole. That was the longest drive of the day on the first hole. He only had 121 yards left on this 445 yard par 4. He only needed a SAND WEDGE for his second shot! He flew the shot over the green, but still had a 25 foot birdie putt. He hammered the putt 5 feet past the hole, and then lipped out the par putt to make a hilarious bogey. A perfect start to his day!
Then on the second hole, he drove into the bunker, hit the lip on the second shot and had a LONG approach for his third shot which ended up in another bunker. Hit a decent bunker shot and made the par putt. He was lucky just to save par.
Then on the third hole, Rory hit a beautiful second shot that spun back to 5 feet, but his birdie putt didn't even touch the hole, sliding by for a disappointing par. He made another par on the 4th, two-putting from 25 feet.
And then after another good drive on the fifth hole, he had a short iron left for his second shot. However, the second shot was slightly short; it rolled off the false front and ended up well short of the hole. He chipped to 5 feet, and his par putt lipped out - AGAIN! Another hilarious bogey by McIlroy.
He two-putted from 40 feet on 6 to make a par, and then made his ONLY birdie of the day on the 7th hole, hitting his approach shot to 8 feet and making the putt for a birdie.
He hit a huge drive right down the middle of the fairway on the par 5 8th. He had just 242 yards left for his second shot. However, his second shot caught a bad break from the greenside mounds and ended up off the green to a difficult chipping area. He chipped to 12 feet and missed the birdie putt, settling for a par which could have easily been a birdie.
He hit another huge drive on the 9th hole, the longest of the day on that hole, and only having 110 yards left for his second shot on this 460 yard hole. He hit a so-so wedge shot to 15 feet, and missed yet another birdie attempt, settling for another par, and continuing to fail to gain any momentum. Despite all those misses, he was actually still leading by 1 shot. Until the very next hole, that is.
On the 10th, he hooked his drive so far left that it ended up next to Butler's Cabin and was lucky it wasn't out-of-bounds. He tried to pitch it back onto fairway, but the ball rolled through the fairway and into the rough. He had a long approach shot on the 3rd hole. Trying to attack the back-left pin loaction, he pulled his shot well left of the green, behind a couple of trees. His pitch shot hit a tree and bounced back to him. His next pitch landed on the green, but he missed the 10 foot putt he had. He tapped in for a TRIPLE-BOGEY 7.
He hit a huge booming drive on the 11th hole and had a clear angle to the green on his approach. He hit his second shot to perfection, hitting it to 10 feet for an easy uphill birdie putt. At that time he was still only 2 shots back and still very much in contention. However, he blew his birdie putt 3 feet past the hole, and his short par putt lipped out. But that wasn't the most hilarious moment of the day. The next hole probably is...
He hit his tee shot to 35 feet. He lagged his birdie putt to 2 feet for an easy tap-in par. The only thing is, he DIDN'T MAKE that tap-in putt! He MISSED the 2 foot par putt. It ended up 4 feet past the hole. He missed that putt as well, settling for a scintillating DOUBLE-BOGEY. This was the hole that ensured that he was permanently dropped out of contention.
He then hit his drive on the 13th hole into the tributary of Rae's Creek. So he had to settle for par on one of the most scorable Par 5's on the PGA Tour.
At that point Rory was apparently sucking so badly so the television didn't show much of his play from that point on. So anyway, he made another par on 14. Then on the 15th hole, he missed a 4 foot par putt. Icing on the cake.
Parred the 16th and 17th. And then on the 18th, McIlroy looked for a strong finish after a hilariously disasterous day. He hit another huge drive down the middle of the fairway. He hit a second shot that spun back to 4 feet of the hole, so now he only had a short birdie putt to shoot a 79. However, he got a double dip of icing on the cake for this hole. He MISSED that birdie putt, so he finished the round with an 80. He made Greg Norman look clutch.
What a spectacular choke that is. I ALMOST felt sorry for McIlroy. ALMOST. The key word, ALMOST. That's right, I DIDN'T feel sorry for him. That was one of the greatest Masters in history. Watching McIlroy duff it out while watching all those other players play so well.
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Maybank Malaysian Open: After that scintillating choke at the Masters, McIlroy entered the Malaysian Open looking for some redemption. (Which he DIDN'T get, by the way!) He seemed to be on the path for victory when he shot 69-64 for the first 2 rounds to take the lead. Then at one point in the third round he had a 2-shot lead. But that lead evaporated quickly on the 15th hole when he double-bogeyed after missing a 4 foot bogey putt.
He entered the final round only 1 back of the lead and very muchly in contention. He hit a perfect drive on the Par 5 fifth and had a golden opportunity to make a move with a birdie or even an eagle. However, he dunked his approach shot into the greenside bunker left of the hole. He duffed a bunker shot and it didn't even get on the green. He his his fourth shot to 8 feet but hilariously missed that par putt, making a BOGEY on the EASIEST hole on the course.
After 3 birdies, he was only 1 shot back when he got to the 12th hole. After an errant drive, McIlroy hit his second shot into the greenside bunker. He hit a very poor bunker shot which ended up 25 feet short. He played his par putt aggressively, rolling it 4 foot past the hole. He MISSED the bogey putt. Making a spectacular double-bogey.
After a few more birdies, he entered the 18th hole 1 shot back, needing a birdie to force a playoff with eventual winner Matteo Manassero. After a perfect drive long and straight, he pulled his second shot well left, into the thick rough. He hit his third shot to 30 feet. He than ran his birdie putt 13 feet past the hole and missed the par putt, finishing in grand style with a bogey.
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So, that sums up all the hilarious chokes McIlroy had in 2011. If he keeps up with this pace, he will be a even bigger choke artist than Phil Mickelson. His chokes have really provided great television.
Saturday, 23 April 2011
Top 10 Most Disappointing Tiger Woods Moments at the 2011 Masters
This blog is written two weeks after the 2011 Masters was finished. But even long after the Masters was over, a lot of memories remain. Especially regarding Tiger Woods's week. Tiger had one of the most roller-coaster weeks ever at the Masters. With a lot of thrills and excitement, but also a lot of disappointing moments. Here is a countdown of the Top 10 most disappointing Tiger moments that happened at the 2011 Masters:
10. 8th Hole, Round 3: After a lackluster start for Tiger in Round 3, 1 over through 7, he really needed some momentum to press a charge on the leaders. After a straight drive, he had a chance to go for the green in 2. However, he misjudged his second shot and it caught a bad bounce and went over the green, leaving an impossible chip. He had to chip ot 25 feet and 2-putt for par.
9. 1st Hole, Round 3: After a spectacular second round 66, Tiger got himself into contention with a great chance to win. He hit a great drive but the drive but caught a bad break. His drive landed in a divot, causing him to hit his second shot short of the green. He chipped to 9 feet but his par putt lipped out. This hole was what set the tone for what was a highly disappointing third round that was chock-full of missed opportunities.
8. 2nd Hole, Round 3: After a very disappointing bogey, he hit a big drive on the 2nd hole and had a great opportunity to reach the green in 2 to make an easy birdie to bounce back after a bogey. However, he pulled his second shot right of the green. He pitched to 10 feet and his birdie putt lipped out - again. However, that was far from the most disappoitning miss in the 3rd round,.
7. 3rd Hole, Round 2: Most of Tiger's mistakes came on the 3rd round but he's made one very careless mistake in Round 2. After a big drive, he had a pitch left for his second shot. The hole was in the front of the green, a very tricky location. Tiger's shot came short and rolled down the runoff area. He would make bogey to prevent him from getting any early momentum for that round.
6. 18th Hole, Round 3: This hole, and the 1st hole, was pretty much the microcosm for Tiger's Saturday round. Hit the ball very well, hitting lots of fairways, but unable to make a charge because of very mediocre short game and putting. So anyway, he hit his drive right in the middle of the fairway. His second shot was pulled long of the green. He used to be amazingly good at chipping but not this time. He chipped to 7 feet and his par putt didn't even come close to going in the hole. Finishing the round with a bogey.
5. 11th Hole, Round 3: After an errant drive into the pine straws, Tiger hit a great recovery shot to 30 feet. He ran his birdie putt about 3 feet past the hole, and he inexplicably pulled his par putt, lipping it out and resulting in a VERY uncharacteristic bogey. He used to be so good at those putts, and used to NEVER miss those putts. But that was before the scandal.
4. 15th Hole, Round 3: Because of all those missed opportunities, he was really unable to mount any charge in Round 3. That was evident again on this hole. After a bad drive, he had trees blocking his view for his second shot. But the ball was still in the fairway, so he tried a pull hook to curve around the trees and onto the green. The ball barely cleared the water, leaving him with 40 feet for eagle. His first putt ended up 5 feet short. Then, he MISSED that birdie putt for a VERY disappointing par. Another one of the most uncharacterstic scenarios I've ever seen Tiger in. Hit such a courageous shot and walk away with a three-putt par. What a day that was. What a day...
3. 13th Hole, Round 4: He just came off with a three-putt bogey on 12, but after a very long drive, he's only got a short iron to this green, so he has a chance to get it close for an eagle. He's hit so many great iron shots that week, especially in the second round. But this was not one of those great iron shots. He pulled the shot long of the green into a difficult chipping area. He hit a mediocre chip to 16 feet and two-putted for a disappointing par.
2. 12th Hole, Round 4: Well, Tiger really had everything going his way on the front nine of the final round. Birdied 6 and 7, Eagled 8, and then made a huge par save on 9. He had all that momentum, yet on this hole, everything he had worked so hard to build on the front 9 -- fell apart. He hit a good shot to 30 feet. He lagged the putt to 3 feet pass the hole, and inexplicably lipped out his par putt. That was the hole that completely killed his momentum. After that hole, he was unable to make any putt and mount any charge. Had he made that putt his momentum would probably have continued to play well through the back nine and won.
1. 15th Hole, Round 4: After a few disappointing, uncharacteristc near-misses on the back nine, Tiger desperately needed to make some kind of move. Anything to keep him going. Anything to help him build some momentum. And after a perfect drive, he hit a perfect second shot to just under 5 feet. That shot set him up for an eagle which would have given him the outright lead. After all those adventures and misadventures, he actually still had some legitimate chance to win! However, that was not to be. This was the FINAL legitimate chance for him to build momentum to win this tournament. And he made yet another inexplicable lip out, missing the eagle putt. He tapped in for arguably the most disappointing birdie of 2011. And that was the last chance to make any move up the leaderboard. He had no more chances, finishing the tournament with a disappointing, but still respectable, 4th place finish, given how poorly he played in the other events this year.
That was the Top 10 countdown of the most disappointing Tiger moments at the 2011 Masters. Be sure to also read the Top 10 most exciting Tiger moments of the 2011 Masters.
10. 8th Hole, Round 3: After a lackluster start for Tiger in Round 3, 1 over through 7, he really needed some momentum to press a charge on the leaders. After a straight drive, he had a chance to go for the green in 2. However, he misjudged his second shot and it caught a bad bounce and went over the green, leaving an impossible chip. He had to chip ot 25 feet and 2-putt for par.
9. 1st Hole, Round 3: After a spectacular second round 66, Tiger got himself into contention with a great chance to win. He hit a great drive but the drive but caught a bad break. His drive landed in a divot, causing him to hit his second shot short of the green. He chipped to 9 feet but his par putt lipped out. This hole was what set the tone for what was a highly disappointing third round that was chock-full of missed opportunities.
8. 2nd Hole, Round 3: After a very disappointing bogey, he hit a big drive on the 2nd hole and had a great opportunity to reach the green in 2 to make an easy birdie to bounce back after a bogey. However, he pulled his second shot right of the green. He pitched to 10 feet and his birdie putt lipped out - again. However, that was far from the most disappoitning miss in the 3rd round,.
7. 3rd Hole, Round 2: Most of Tiger's mistakes came on the 3rd round but he's made one very careless mistake in Round 2. After a big drive, he had a pitch left for his second shot. The hole was in the front of the green, a very tricky location. Tiger's shot came short and rolled down the runoff area. He would make bogey to prevent him from getting any early momentum for that round.
6. 18th Hole, Round 3: This hole, and the 1st hole, was pretty much the microcosm for Tiger's Saturday round. Hit the ball very well, hitting lots of fairways, but unable to make a charge because of very mediocre short game and putting. So anyway, he hit his drive right in the middle of the fairway. His second shot was pulled long of the green. He used to be amazingly good at chipping but not this time. He chipped to 7 feet and his par putt didn't even come close to going in the hole. Finishing the round with a bogey.
5. 11th Hole, Round 3: After an errant drive into the pine straws, Tiger hit a great recovery shot to 30 feet. He ran his birdie putt about 3 feet past the hole, and he inexplicably pulled his par putt, lipping it out and resulting in a VERY uncharacteristic bogey. He used to be so good at those putts, and used to NEVER miss those putts. But that was before the scandal.
4. 15th Hole, Round 3: Because of all those missed opportunities, he was really unable to mount any charge in Round 3. That was evident again on this hole. After a bad drive, he had trees blocking his view for his second shot. But the ball was still in the fairway, so he tried a pull hook to curve around the trees and onto the green. The ball barely cleared the water, leaving him with 40 feet for eagle. His first putt ended up 5 feet short. Then, he MISSED that birdie putt for a VERY disappointing par. Another one of the most uncharacterstic scenarios I've ever seen Tiger in. Hit such a courageous shot and walk away with a three-putt par. What a day that was. What a day...
3. 13th Hole, Round 4: He just came off with a three-putt bogey on 12, but after a very long drive, he's only got a short iron to this green, so he has a chance to get it close for an eagle. He's hit so many great iron shots that week, especially in the second round. But this was not one of those great iron shots. He pulled the shot long of the green into a difficult chipping area. He hit a mediocre chip to 16 feet and two-putted for a disappointing par.
2. 12th Hole, Round 4: Well, Tiger really had everything going his way on the front nine of the final round. Birdied 6 and 7, Eagled 8, and then made a huge par save on 9. He had all that momentum, yet on this hole, everything he had worked so hard to build on the front 9 -- fell apart. He hit a good shot to 30 feet. He lagged the putt to 3 feet pass the hole, and inexplicably lipped out his par putt. That was the hole that completely killed his momentum. After that hole, he was unable to make any putt and mount any charge. Had he made that putt his momentum would probably have continued to play well through the back nine and won.
1. 15th Hole, Round 4: After a few disappointing, uncharacteristc near-misses on the back nine, Tiger desperately needed to make some kind of move. Anything to keep him going. Anything to help him build some momentum. And after a perfect drive, he hit a perfect second shot to just under 5 feet. That shot set him up for an eagle which would have given him the outright lead. After all those adventures and misadventures, he actually still had some legitimate chance to win! However, that was not to be. This was the FINAL legitimate chance for him to build momentum to win this tournament. And he made yet another inexplicable lip out, missing the eagle putt. He tapped in for arguably the most disappointing birdie of 2011. And that was the last chance to make any move up the leaderboard. He had no more chances, finishing the tournament with a disappointing, but still respectable, 4th place finish, given how poorly he played in the other events this year.
That was the Top 10 countdown of the most disappointing Tiger moments at the 2011 Masters. Be sure to also read the Top 10 most exciting Tiger moments of the 2011 Masters.
Top 10 Most Exciting Tiger Woods Moments at the 2011 Masters
This blog is written two weeks after the 2011 Masters was finished. But even long after the Masters was over, a lot of memories remain. Especially regarding Tiger Woods's week. Tiger had one of the most roller-coaster weeks ever at the Masters. With a lot of thrills and excitement, but also a lot of disappointing moments. Here is a countdown of the Top 10 most exciting Tiger moments that happened at the 2011 Masters:
10. 14th Hole, Round 2: After a good drive, he hit a spectacular second shot that started left of the hole but used sidespin to roll to a foot away for a tap-in birdie. Part of the 3-hole stretch of birdies on 13 through 15.
9. 10th Hole, Round 2: On the 2nd-longest Par 4 on the golf course, Tiger hit a big drive and his second shot landed to 4 feet for an easy birdie. His ability to hit great shots like these on tough holes was evident that his game was sharp.
8. 7th Hole, Round 4: After a birdie on the previous hole, Tiger hit a straight drive and his second shot landed to 8 feet and he made that putt to continue his momentum that began on the 6th hole. After a Saturday 74 that dropped Tiger out of contention, this was the birdie that resurfaced hopes of Tiger winning.
7. 6th Hole, Round 4: Tiger hit his tee shot to 9 feet and poured in the birdie putt. This was an important hole to begin Tiger's positive momentum, as he would went on to make birdie-eagle-big par save on 7-9.
6. 12th Hole, Round 1: Prior to that hole, Tiger bogeyed 10 and 11 and was 1 over for the day. A bogey on 12 would have dropped him to 2 over par, and if he continued to play poorly he might have even missed the cut. He made a huge par save on this hole, holing a 15 footer. That gave him some positive momentum, for he palyed the next 6 holes 2 under to finish a 71. Had he not made that putt he might not have had that momentum over the final 6 holes and could have easily shot 73 or 74.
5. 11th Hole, Round 2: After a drive that landed in the pine straws, Tiger hit an approach shot to the back of the green to 40 feet. He hit a poor putt that ended up 8 feet short. He then holed the VERY tricky par putt to keep his momentum going. That par putt was crucial because it gave him momentum to play the last 6 holes 4 under par for Round 2.
4. 9th Hole, Round 4: Over the years, Tiger was notable for having lots of mental toughness and sunk huge par putts when it mattered the most. Nowadays his putting is quite mediocre. However, he did make a great par save on the 9th hole of the final round. After a drive that ended up in the pine straw, he hit his second shot which landed in the greenside bunker, leaving a VERY difficult bunker shot. He blasted out to 20 feet and made the huge epic par putt to continue his momentum.
3. 18th Hole, Round 2: Over Tiger's past Masters performances, it's been noted that Tiger sometimes had difficulty over the finishing holes, making bogey-bogey finishes. On the 18th of Round 2 he looked like he was on the verge of another bogey finish when his drive ended up in the trees. But he hit an amazing second shot, a low hook, to 12 feet. And he holed the birdie putt to put the exclamation point to his second-round 66. After that 66, he was only 1 stroke back from second place.
2. 13th Hole, Round 2: Tiger hit a drive that ended up in the right pine straws. Very similar to what Phil Mickelson's shot ended up in the final round of the 2010 Masters. As you probably know, Phil hit an incredible second shot to 4 feet and two-putted (that's right, he missed the eagle putt). Tiger tried to emulate that Mickelson shot, going for the green on his second shot. He hit it over the green to a difficult chipping area. He chipped to 8 feet, and made that birdie putt. That was an important birdie which continued his momentum; he birdied the next two holes and also birdied 18.
1. 8th Hole, Round 4: This was another one of those vintage Tiger moments that we rarely see nowadays. After a good drive, he hit a huge hook for his second shot. After a few great bounces he got from the greenside mounds, it rolled all the way to 10 feet from the hole. He sank that putt for the eagle, and after that eagle putt he was tied for the lead despite beginning the round 7 back. That was one of the most electrifyting moments in the 2011 Masters. That was when we all thought Tiger was finally going to win again. Of course, eventually, it was not-to-be.
That was the Top 10 countdown of the most exciting Tiger moments at the 2011 Masters. Be sure to also read the Top 10 most disappointing Tiger moments of the 2011 Masters.
10. 14th Hole, Round 2: After a good drive, he hit a spectacular second shot that started left of the hole but used sidespin to roll to a foot away for a tap-in birdie. Part of the 3-hole stretch of birdies on 13 through 15.
9. 10th Hole, Round 2: On the 2nd-longest Par 4 on the golf course, Tiger hit a big drive and his second shot landed to 4 feet for an easy birdie. His ability to hit great shots like these on tough holes was evident that his game was sharp.
8. 7th Hole, Round 4: After a birdie on the previous hole, Tiger hit a straight drive and his second shot landed to 8 feet and he made that putt to continue his momentum that began on the 6th hole. After a Saturday 74 that dropped Tiger out of contention, this was the birdie that resurfaced hopes of Tiger winning.
7. 6th Hole, Round 4: Tiger hit his tee shot to 9 feet and poured in the birdie putt. This was an important hole to begin Tiger's positive momentum, as he would went on to make birdie-eagle-big par save on 7-9.
6. 12th Hole, Round 1: Prior to that hole, Tiger bogeyed 10 and 11 and was 1 over for the day. A bogey on 12 would have dropped him to 2 over par, and if he continued to play poorly he might have even missed the cut. He made a huge par save on this hole, holing a 15 footer. That gave him some positive momentum, for he palyed the next 6 holes 2 under to finish a 71. Had he not made that putt he might not have had that momentum over the final 6 holes and could have easily shot 73 or 74.
5. 11th Hole, Round 2: After a drive that landed in the pine straws, Tiger hit an approach shot to the back of the green to 40 feet. He hit a poor putt that ended up 8 feet short. He then holed the VERY tricky par putt to keep his momentum going. That par putt was crucial because it gave him momentum to play the last 6 holes 4 under par for Round 2.
4. 9th Hole, Round 4: Over the years, Tiger was notable for having lots of mental toughness and sunk huge par putts when it mattered the most. Nowadays his putting is quite mediocre. However, he did make a great par save on the 9th hole of the final round. After a drive that ended up in the pine straw, he hit his second shot which landed in the greenside bunker, leaving a VERY difficult bunker shot. He blasted out to 20 feet and made the huge epic par putt to continue his momentum.
3. 18th Hole, Round 2: Over Tiger's past Masters performances, it's been noted that Tiger sometimes had difficulty over the finishing holes, making bogey-bogey finishes. On the 18th of Round 2 he looked like he was on the verge of another bogey finish when his drive ended up in the trees. But he hit an amazing second shot, a low hook, to 12 feet. And he holed the birdie putt to put the exclamation point to his second-round 66. After that 66, he was only 1 stroke back from second place.
2. 13th Hole, Round 2: Tiger hit a drive that ended up in the right pine straws. Very similar to what Phil Mickelson's shot ended up in the final round of the 2010 Masters. As you probably know, Phil hit an incredible second shot to 4 feet and two-putted (that's right, he missed the eagle putt). Tiger tried to emulate that Mickelson shot, going for the green on his second shot. He hit it over the green to a difficult chipping area. He chipped to 8 feet, and made that birdie putt. That was an important birdie which continued his momentum; he birdied the next two holes and also birdied 18.
1. 8th Hole, Round 4: This was another one of those vintage Tiger moments that we rarely see nowadays. After a good drive, he hit a huge hook for his second shot. After a few great bounces he got from the greenside mounds, it rolled all the way to 10 feet from the hole. He sank that putt for the eagle, and after that eagle putt he was tied for the lead despite beginning the round 7 back. That was one of the most electrifyting moments in the 2011 Masters. That was when we all thought Tiger was finally going to win again. Of course, eventually, it was not-to-be.
That was the Top 10 countdown of the most exciting Tiger moments at the 2011 Masters. Be sure to also read the Top 10 most disappointing Tiger moments of the 2011 Masters.
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
Tom Watson peeing on Augusta National property
Alright, this blog is about washrooms and urination...so to start this off, this is the introduction:
In places like China, in certain places it is allowed for people to urinate trees. And it's considered to be allowed unless a sign that marks the spot saying it's not allowed. In North America, and in most of the countries in the world, it's strictly forbidden because it's considered to be highly uncivil.
Especially not on golf courses. Especially not on such a prestigious course like Augusta National. Especially if you're an elder statesmen and ambassador of the game of golf.
But it did happen.
Well, the 60-year-old legendary golfer, Tom Watson, happened to pee on the grounds of Augusta National. According to this article: http://www.tmz.com/2011/04/10/tom-watson-the-masters-golf-star-legend-peeing-on-green-fairway-urinating-picture/, Tom Watson was seen urinating in the woods in a practice round.
Are you kidding me? Taking a leak on a golf course? We're not animals! Couldn't you just have found a washroom nearby? Couldn't he have just got a golf cart to escort him to a naerby washroom?
And out of all the people, it came from someone whom you'd one of the least expect. Tom Watson. A golfer whom many consider to be a statesman and ambassador to the game of golf. Many consider him to be a true gentleman, and that people should take examples from him.
Uh, NO THANKS! I wouldn't want to follow his example and be too lazy to find a washroom while playing a round of golf!
And this Tom Watson is the same hypocritic guy who criticized others of being disrespectful to golf and always emphasized that golf is a gentleman's game. The same guy whom was such a busybody and kicked Gary McCord out of Augusta National in 1995. The same guy who criticized Tiger Woods's misconduct during his exile from the sex scandal in February 2010.
And now, you do something so inhumane like taking a leak at one of the world's most prestigious golf courses? This is way more disgusting than, say, spitting on a green or even, spitting in a hole.
Final word: I'm GLAD Stewart Cink won the 2009 British Open, if you know what I mean! I am very, very happy about Cink's victory!
In places like China, in certain places it is allowed for people to urinate trees. And it's considered to be allowed unless a sign that marks the spot saying it's not allowed. In North America, and in most of the countries in the world, it's strictly forbidden because it's considered to be highly uncivil.
Especially not on golf courses. Especially not on such a prestigious course like Augusta National. Especially if you're an elder statesmen and ambassador of the game of golf.
But it did happen.
Well, the 60-year-old legendary golfer, Tom Watson, happened to pee on the grounds of Augusta National. According to this article: http://www.tmz.com/2011/04/10/tom-watson-the-masters-golf-star-legend-peeing-on-green-fairway-urinating-picture/, Tom Watson was seen urinating in the woods in a practice round.
Are you kidding me? Taking a leak on a golf course? We're not animals! Couldn't you just have found a washroom nearby? Couldn't he have just got a golf cart to escort him to a naerby washroom?
And out of all the people, it came from someone whom you'd one of the least expect. Tom Watson. A golfer whom many consider to be a statesman and ambassador to the game of golf. Many consider him to be a true gentleman, and that people should take examples from him.
Uh, NO THANKS! I wouldn't want to follow his example and be too lazy to find a washroom while playing a round of golf!
And this Tom Watson is the same hypocritic guy who criticized others of being disrespectful to golf and always emphasized that golf is a gentleman's game. The same guy whom was such a busybody and kicked Gary McCord out of Augusta National in 1995. The same guy who criticized Tiger Woods's misconduct during his exile from the sex scandal in February 2010.
And now, you do something so inhumane like taking a leak at one of the world's most prestigious golf courses? This is way more disgusting than, say, spitting on a green or even, spitting in a hole.
Final word: I'm GLAD Stewart Cink won the 2009 British Open, if you know what I mean! I am very, very happy about Cink's victory!
Monday, 18 April 2011
Detailed Analysis of TPC San Antonio
As you may know, the PGA Tour's Valero Texas Open has been played on the relatively new venue, TPC San Antonio's Oaks Course. Personally, I think that it is a hundred times better than the old venue before it moved here, which was LaCantera Golf Club. Why? Here's why...
First, the scoring average. TPC San Antonio is a much more challenging course than LaCantera, and having a more challenging course certainly attracts more higher-profiled players. For LaCantera, on a calm day, the scoring average is usually 2.5 strokes under par and a windy day it is close to even par but still under par. For TPC San Antonio, on a calm day the scoring average is right around even par, and on a windy day it is usually 2 strokes OVER par. As a matter of fact, this year's event, Friday's scoring average was 3.3 strokes over par.
Second, the natural landscape. This is a very scenic golf course with them keeping all the natural vegatation which borders the fairways. The natural vegetarion, i.e. the native area, if your ball lands there it's quite difficult to hit your ball out. (Just ask Kevin Na who shot a 16 on the 9th hole!) So besides the beauty, the natural landscape also provides lots of challenge for the players.
Thirdly, the designs of the greens and its surrounding hazards. The greens have lots of slopes and undulations that can make putting and short game very difficult, especially in windy conditions. That is something that LaCantera Golf Club severely lacked, resulting in super-low scores every year they play the event.
Fourth, this is a very environmentally-friendly golf course. It's one of the most "green" golf courses. The reason being is because the course takes place at a natural area with a lot of wildlife. Instead of removing the natural habitat by clear-cutting the property and rebuilding the whole place, they perserved a lot of natural areas. Also, they didn't waste any water by making man-made water hazards. The water hazards (there's only 2) are natural.
Now I'll have an almost hole-by-hole analysis, commenting on all of the holes there.
My first comment is regarding Holes 2 and 7. These two holes share the same green but the pin location for Hole 2 is about 50 yards away from the pin for Hole 7, seperated by a large bunker. The 2nd hole is a great Par 5 with quite a narrow entry to the green with a pot bunker guarding the front. The 7th hole is a great Par 3 with the large bunker in play left, and lots of mounding right, making it difficult to save par if you miss the green.
First, the scoring average. TPC San Antonio is a much more challenging course than LaCantera, and having a more challenging course certainly attracts more higher-profiled players. For LaCantera, on a calm day, the scoring average is usually 2.5 strokes under par and a windy day it is close to even par but still under par. For TPC San Antonio, on a calm day the scoring average is right around even par, and on a windy day it is usually 2 strokes OVER par. As a matter of fact, this year's event, Friday's scoring average was 3.3 strokes over par.
Second, the natural landscape. This is a very scenic golf course with them keeping all the natural vegatation which borders the fairways. The natural vegetarion, i.e. the native area, if your ball lands there it's quite difficult to hit your ball out. (Just ask Kevin Na who shot a 16 on the 9th hole!) So besides the beauty, the natural landscape also provides lots of challenge for the players.
Thirdly, the designs of the greens and its surrounding hazards. The greens have lots of slopes and undulations that can make putting and short game very difficult, especially in windy conditions. That is something that LaCantera Golf Club severely lacked, resulting in super-low scores every year they play the event.
Fourth, this is a very environmentally-friendly golf course. It's one of the most "green" golf courses. The reason being is because the course takes place at a natural area with a lot of wildlife. Instead of removing the natural habitat by clear-cutting the property and rebuilding the whole place, they perserved a lot of natural areas. Also, they didn't waste any water by making man-made water hazards. The water hazards (there's only 2) are natural.
Now I'll have an almost hole-by-hole analysis, commenting on all of the holes there.
My first comment is regarding Holes 2 and 7. These two holes share the same green but the pin location for Hole 2 is about 50 yards away from the pin for Hole 7, seperated by a large bunker. The 2nd hole is a great Par 5 with quite a narrow entry to the green with a pot bunker guarding the front. The 7th hole is a great Par 3 with the large bunker in play left, and lots of mounding right, making it difficult to save par if you miss the green.
Here's a crazy thought: What if the 2nd hole pin location was located at the section of the 7th green, and the 7th hole pin was located at the section of the 2nd green? Here are pictures of where the holes would look like, with the red arrow pointing to where the pin would be.
One thing I didn't understand is why they moved up the tees for the 7th hole 3 out of the 4 days. The hole would have played much more difficult with the tees moved way back.
Ditto for the 3rd hole which the PGA never moved back the tee in any of the 4 days. Despite its scorecard yards of 213 yards, it played only 150-170 yards. This is the hole with a huge lake guarding the green. Unfortunately, with the tees moved up, the lake is hardly any threat for the players. Very few people landed their balls in the water.
The 13th hole is a long par 3, 244 yards, with a difficult green and chipping area, so it's understandable why they often moved the tees forward, usually to about 210 yards.
The 16th is the last par 3, and it replicates the design of Riviera's 6th hole, with a bunker that sits in the middle of the green. It's a fun, quirky little hole. It's an easy hole with no wind, but can be quite testy when the winds are blowing. Its pin locations are either in front of the bunker, left of the bunker, or right of the bunker.
Here's a crazy thought: What if...they had the pin location BEHIND the bunker? Boy, what a brute that hole would be! Here's the picture above,with the red line pointing my desired hole location. Man, if the hole location were there then this would be my favourite hole of the golf course by a landslide!!!!
The other par 5's on the course are holes 8, 14, and 18. 8 is a 604 yard par 5 that usually plays into the wind, so it's a three-shot hole for almost all the players. The green on this hole is also tricky, making it one of the more difficult par 5's on the PGA Tour.
14 played as the easiest hole on the course for both 2010 and 2011. It's the shortest par 5, 567 yards, in which most players would be able to reach in 2. However, the fairway is rather narrow with native areas on both sides, so if you do miss the fairway, it's possible to make a bogey.
And 18 is a great risk-reward hole with a creek guarding the front of the green. However, because it's a long par 5, playing 591 yards, most players choose to lay up unless it plays downwind. But even if you lay up, it's not a guaranteed par. The green can have quite a few tricky hole locations. 2010 winner Adam Scott made a bogey on the hole of the tournament in the final round. And 2011 winner Brendan Steele had to hole a 7 foot putt to save par to win.
Now, those were the Par 3s and Par 5s of the course. Now here's my comments on the Par 4s:
I really love the 11th and 12th holes. Both of them are rather short at 405 and 410 yards respectively, but they can be really testy, so if you make a mistake you can easily bogey the hole.
The fairway bunker smack in the fairway on Hole 11 provides players with tons of different options off the tee. And the second shot is hit to a green well-guarded by a deep bunker front of the green and difficult chipping areas to the sides.
Hole 12 is a hole often played into the wind so it plays slightly longer than its yardage. It was one of the toughest holes for both 2010 and 2011. It has a narrow fairway flanked by hazards so you're in big trouble if you miss it. The green is protected by 2 big bunkers, one on each side, and a very tough chipping area if you miss it long. And it has one of the most undulating greens on the course.
Hole 9 is an absolute beast of a Par 4, playing at 474 yards and often into the wind. It's that hole in which Kevin Na made a 16 in the first round of the 2011 tournament. So yes, you could indeed get in big trouble if you miss the fairway. And the greenside rough can be very nasty so if you miss the green you have a tough chip. Despite it being the only hole on TPC San Antonio without a bunker, it is a great hole with lots of teeth.
The other Par 4s with noticeable difficulty are Holes 1, 4, and 15. Each of them are also quite long, playing at 454, 481, and 464 yards, respectively. These three holes provide very few birdies, especially if it's windy.
And then there are the two drivable Par 4's. The 5th and 17th holes. I'm not particuarly a fan of those two holes because they're kind of ...gimmicky. A drivable Par 4 is only fun when if you hit an errant drive you have a VERY little chance of making birdie and even have a risk of making bogey. These two holes are anything but the case. We've seen so many players miss the green and easily get up-and-down for birdie. Players are almost guaranteed to make par unless you badly screw up the pitch shot, or if your drive ends up in the native area, which wouldn't happen unless your drive is so errant it is 50 yards off line.
Another thing about these two holes is that they are almost identical in design. They're 342 and 347 yards respectively. And they each have a large bunker short-right, a chipping area right, and a large bunker(s) left of the green. Why make a duplicate copy of a hole?
Last but not least, the 6th and 10th holes. They're 403 and 447 yards, respectively, and they're rather nondescript. The two holes are decent but they don't have any really special features worth commenting on.
So there you have it. A detailed analysis of TPC San Antonio.
Sunday, 17 April 2011
Thongchai Jaidee's Adventures at the 2011 Avantha Masters
Just this week, as you may have heard, Kevin Na made a 16 on the Par 4 9th hole at the Valero Texas Open, making history as one of the highest scores on a single hole. That also really inflated the scoring average for the 9th hole, making it the toughest scoring hole in relation to par on the course by a landslide. It was an automatic Na Na Na Na, Na Na Na Na, hey, hey, hey, GOODBYE YOU MISS THE CUT!
That kind of thing almost happened to Thongchai Jaidee at the European tour event Avantha Masters in February, believe it or not.
On the Par 4 5th hole (his 14th hole of the day), of his first round, Jaidee hit his tee shot in the left rough, right behind a giant light pole. He requested for a free drop but the rules official refused to give him it. He tried to hit over the pole but it hit the pole and ricocheted left, out of bounds. 2-stroke penalty. So now it's his 4th shot. Totally angry, ticked off, he continued to try to hit over the pole to prove his point. He hit 3 more shots that both also hit the pole and ricocheted out-of-bounds. So now it's his 10th shot.
Jaidee finally gave up and pitched backwards into the fairway. Now his 11th shot, which landed short of the green. His 12th shot, a pitch chot, landed on the green. Just before he lined up for his putt, his 13th stroke, a rules official came and said that he could go back to the tee, and replay the hole with a fresh start, no penalty.
Which he did. Expectedly, his shot landed right this time in the trees right. He pitched out, hit his third on the green and two-putted for a bogey. Which could have been a hell a lot worse!
And he birdied each of his last 4 holes, shooting a 3 under 69.
It was very fortunate that the rules official informed that he could replay the hole. Otherwise he would have been 9 over par after the hole and had almost no chance to make the cut.
Instead, he was deeply in contention after two rounds after shooting another good round Friday. However, he finished the tournament with a T-22 after falling back at the weekend.
That kind of thing almost happened to Thongchai Jaidee at the European tour event Avantha Masters in February, believe it or not.
On the Par 4 5th hole (his 14th hole of the day), of his first round, Jaidee hit his tee shot in the left rough, right behind a giant light pole. He requested for a free drop but the rules official refused to give him it. He tried to hit over the pole but it hit the pole and ricocheted left, out of bounds. 2-stroke penalty. So now it's his 4th shot. Totally angry, ticked off, he continued to try to hit over the pole to prove his point. He hit 3 more shots that both also hit the pole and ricocheted out-of-bounds. So now it's his 10th shot.
Jaidee finally gave up and pitched backwards into the fairway. Now his 11th shot, which landed short of the green. His 12th shot, a pitch chot, landed on the green. Just before he lined up for his putt, his 13th stroke, a rules official came and said that he could go back to the tee, and replay the hole with a fresh start, no penalty.
Which he did. Expectedly, his shot landed right this time in the trees right. He pitched out, hit his third on the green and two-putted for a bogey. Which could have been a hell a lot worse!
And he birdied each of his last 4 holes, shooting a 3 under 69.
It was very fortunate that the rules official informed that he could replay the hole. Otherwise he would have been 9 over par after the hole and had almost no chance to make the cut.
Instead, he was deeply in contention after two rounds after shooting another good round Friday. However, he finished the tournament with a T-22 after falling back at the weekend.
Thursday, 14 April 2011
Kevin Na makes a 16 on the 9th hole of the Valero Texas Open
Kevin Na is notorious for being one of the slowest players on the PGA Tour. He's one of the guys who would take almost two minutes to line up a 8 foot putt. Throughout the years, a lot of people have complained about his slow play. He's one of the players whom, because of his slow play, there had been difficulties trying to finish up rounds on the PGA Tour. Example is that in the 2011 Northern Trust Open, there were no weather delays in the first two rounds. But not everybody was able to finish their rounds by the end of the day. Reason? Slow guys like Kevin Na taking up lots and lots of time.
Na is also one of the more hot-headed guys on Tour. He often tosses the club after a bad shot (including today), and he occasionally swears after bad shots. But a lot of fans are oblivious to that because he doesn`t get as much TV coverage.
So, back to the story:
It was the first round of the Valero Texas Open, and Kevin Na was cruising along (slowly), 1 under par through 8 holes, and then, on the 9th hole, it happened....
Really? Making a 16 on a hole? I could literally play this hole with only a putter and no other club, and I would still be able to make at least a 15. This is what happened:
Hit his drive way left deep in the trees in the lateral hazard, 40 yards left of the fairway. Had no chance to play any shot. So he had to re-tee with a 1 stroke penalty. His next drive (his 3rd shot), expectedly, leaked to the right. That`s another area that`s deep in the trees. He tried to hack the ball out of there but it hit himself. So he had to take a two-stroke penalty. Now it`s time for his 7th shot. He had to take six more hacks before finally hitting it out of the trees, on his 13th shot. He`s in the right rough, in which he hit his 14th shot over the green. He pitched to 6 feet, and made that putt for that nifty 16. +12 over par in just one hole.
He left that hole 11 over par. He didn`t give up afterwards. He actually grinded it out and ended up with a 8 over par 80 when he birdied 3 of his last 5 holes.
So, what hole was the toughest hole (i.e. highest scoring in relation to par) for that round? You guessed it -- the 9th hole. Before Na made that 15 on the hole, the 9th hole was only the 5th toughest. But after that, it became the toughest hole of the round by a landslide.
Na is also one of the more hot-headed guys on Tour. He often tosses the club after a bad shot (including today), and he occasionally swears after bad shots. But a lot of fans are oblivious to that because he doesn`t get as much TV coverage.
So, back to the story:
It was the first round of the Valero Texas Open, and Kevin Na was cruising along (slowly), 1 under par through 8 holes, and then, on the 9th hole, it happened....
Really? Making a 16 on a hole? I could literally play this hole with only a putter and no other club, and I would still be able to make at least a 15. This is what happened:
Hit his drive way left deep in the trees in the lateral hazard, 40 yards left of the fairway. Had no chance to play any shot. So he had to re-tee with a 1 stroke penalty. His next drive (his 3rd shot), expectedly, leaked to the right. That`s another area that`s deep in the trees. He tried to hack the ball out of there but it hit himself. So he had to take a two-stroke penalty. Now it`s time for his 7th shot. He had to take six more hacks before finally hitting it out of the trees, on his 13th shot. He`s in the right rough, in which he hit his 14th shot over the green. He pitched to 6 feet, and made that putt for that nifty 16. +12 over par in just one hole.
He left that hole 11 over par. He didn`t give up afterwards. He actually grinded it out and ended up with a 8 over par 80 when he birdied 3 of his last 5 holes.
So, what hole was the toughest hole (i.e. highest scoring in relation to par) for that round? You guessed it -- the 9th hole. Before Na made that 15 on the hole, the 9th hole was only the 5th toughest. But after that, it became the toughest hole of the round by a landslide.
Monday, 11 April 2011
Top 10 Most Surprising / Interesting / Significant Things That Happened at the 2011 Masters
This has really been one of the most spectacular Masters in recent memory. Rarely was there a Sunday with this much exciting golf. Here is a Top-10 countdown of the most significant / surprising things that happened this week:
10. Easy scoring in general: I don’t think the scoring has ever been this low for the Masters. 75% of the players shot par or better for those who made the cut. In the past, it’s used to be a VERY tough test for the players.
9. Some surprising differences of change in course difficulty:
- The 17th hole has usually been one of the easier holes but this year it’s the 5th toughest. - - The 5th hole was the toughest hole last year but this year it’s ranked 8th.
- The 12th hole has been a relatively easy hole last year but this year it’s the 3rd toughest.
- The 9th hole, a medium-long par 4, has usually been a rather difficult hole but this year it’s the 7th easiest.
8. The back nine seemed very scorable. On Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, a lot of the guys could to really struggle on the front nine, but could still make 4-5 birdies or even an eagle on the back nine. These players included Gary Woodland (Rd. 1), KJ Choi (Rd. 1), Tiger Woods (Rd. 2), David Toms (Rd. 4), Luke Donald (Rd. 1 and Rd. 4), Jason Day (Rd. 4). On Saturday (Rd. 3) the back nine was set up quite difficult though.
7. Martin Kaymer has had a lot of struggles at Augusta. This week was no different when he missed the cut by a significant margin. Surprising that he struggles here so badly when he’s so talented.
6. Almost nothing has been said about Angel Cabrera since 2 years ago when he won in 2009. He seemed to disappear off the golf map until this week where he showed up, almost completely out of the blue.
5. Because of the way Phil played so lights-out at the Shell Houston Open before the Masters, everybody expected Phil to contend here. Instead, he was never a factor, with the driving and putting costing him, despite him driving and putting so well at the Shell. This is his 2nd worst finish at Augusta as a professional.
4. Jason Day has NEVER played at Augusta before this tournament. Yet he was able to somehow shoot a 64 in the second round. A 64! Normally players need to play in a lot of Masters tournaments to get used to the greens but he sure has it figured out really quickly. Main reason? Probably because of his length off the tee. I have a feeling that maybe they should young-gun-proof this golf course again like the way they Tiger-proofed it over the years.
3. This has been one of the most surprising, roller-coaster weeks for Tiger Woods in the past 2 years. His first round was rather nondescript. But he was totally on fire on the second round, especially on the back nine. Then just as he appeared to be right on track, he missed COUNTLESS putts in the third round. Then in the final round, Tiger made a HUGE charge on the front nine. But missed many opportunities on the back nine. He missed 4 putts under 5 feet in total for the week. He three-putted 6 times this week. As mediocre his putting is, he still managed a Top 4 finish. And he was able to prove Ian Poulter wrong when Poulter said Tiger will finish out of the Top 5!
2. I expected that Rory McIlroy will probably not win. But I’m sure nobody suspected Rory to have such a huge collapse like this, a Greg-Norman-esque collapse. Hit a huge drive on 1, only had a SAND WEDGE left for 2nd shot, but pulled it long and 3-putted for bogey, missing a 5 foot putt. Missed another 5 foot birdie on 3. Missed another 5 foot par putt on 5. Hit a huge, long and straight drive on par 5 8th, but didn’t make birdie, missing a 10 footer. Hit another long and straight drive on the 9th but made par again, missing a 15 footer. Then a triple bogey on 10, three-putted on 11 from only 10 feet. Then four-putted on 12, missing a 2 foot par putt and then missing the following 4 foot bogey putt. Made another bogey on 15 when he missed a 4 foot par putt. Then missed a 4 foot birdie putt on 18.
1. Charl Schwartzel really pulled off a huge, amazing underdog story today. Miraculous chip in birdie on the 1st, then holed out for eagle on the 3rd. Fairly quiet from that point forward until last 4 holes where he made FOUR BIRDIES IN A ROW, making long putt after long putt. When Adam Scott birdied the 16th hole I thought he had really locked up the win. But instead, Charl Schwartzel took it away from him with the 4 closing birdies.
10. Easy scoring in general: I don’t think the scoring has ever been this low for the Masters. 75% of the players shot par or better for those who made the cut. In the past, it’s used to be a VERY tough test for the players.
9. Some surprising differences of change in course difficulty:
- The 17th hole has usually been one of the easier holes but this year it’s the 5th toughest. - - The 5th hole was the toughest hole last year but this year it’s ranked 8th.
- The 12th hole has been a relatively easy hole last year but this year it’s the 3rd toughest.
- The 9th hole, a medium-long par 4, has usually been a rather difficult hole but this year it’s the 7th easiest.
8. The back nine seemed very scorable. On Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, a lot of the guys could to really struggle on the front nine, but could still make 4-5 birdies or even an eagle on the back nine. These players included Gary Woodland (Rd. 1), KJ Choi (Rd. 1), Tiger Woods (Rd. 2), David Toms (Rd. 4), Luke Donald (Rd. 1 and Rd. 4), Jason Day (Rd. 4). On Saturday (Rd. 3) the back nine was set up quite difficult though.
7. Martin Kaymer has had a lot of struggles at Augusta. This week was no different when he missed the cut by a significant margin. Surprising that he struggles here so badly when he’s so talented.
6. Almost nothing has been said about Angel Cabrera since 2 years ago when he won in 2009. He seemed to disappear off the golf map until this week where he showed up, almost completely out of the blue.
5. Because of the way Phil played so lights-out at the Shell Houston Open before the Masters, everybody expected Phil to contend here. Instead, he was never a factor, with the driving and putting costing him, despite him driving and putting so well at the Shell. This is his 2nd worst finish at Augusta as a professional.
4. Jason Day has NEVER played at Augusta before this tournament. Yet he was able to somehow shoot a 64 in the second round. A 64! Normally players need to play in a lot of Masters tournaments to get used to the greens but he sure has it figured out really quickly. Main reason? Probably because of his length off the tee. I have a feeling that maybe they should young-gun-proof this golf course again like the way they Tiger-proofed it over the years.
3. This has been one of the most surprising, roller-coaster weeks for Tiger Woods in the past 2 years. His first round was rather nondescript. But he was totally on fire on the second round, especially on the back nine. Then just as he appeared to be right on track, he missed COUNTLESS putts in the third round. Then in the final round, Tiger made a HUGE charge on the front nine. But missed many opportunities on the back nine. He missed 4 putts under 5 feet in total for the week. He three-putted 6 times this week. As mediocre his putting is, he still managed a Top 4 finish. And he was able to prove Ian Poulter wrong when Poulter said Tiger will finish out of the Top 5!
2. I expected that Rory McIlroy will probably not win. But I’m sure nobody suspected Rory to have such a huge collapse like this, a Greg-Norman-esque collapse. Hit a huge drive on 1, only had a SAND WEDGE left for 2nd shot, but pulled it long and 3-putted for bogey, missing a 5 foot putt. Missed another 5 foot birdie on 3. Missed another 5 foot par putt on 5. Hit a huge, long and straight drive on par 5 8th, but didn’t make birdie, missing a 10 footer. Hit another long and straight drive on the 9th but made par again, missing a 15 footer. Then a triple bogey on 10, three-putted on 11 from only 10 feet. Then four-putted on 12, missing a 2 foot par putt and then missing the following 4 foot bogey putt. Made another bogey on 15 when he missed a 4 foot par putt. Then missed a 4 foot birdie putt on 18.
1. Charl Schwartzel really pulled off a huge, amazing underdog story today. Miraculous chip in birdie on the 1st, then holed out for eagle on the 3rd. Fairly quiet from that point forward until last 4 holes where he made FOUR BIRDIES IN A ROW, making long putt after long putt. When Adam Scott birdied the 16th hole I thought he had really locked up the win. But instead, Charl Schwartzel took it away from him with the 4 closing birdies.
Saturday, 2 April 2011
Ten Reasons Why Phil Mickelson Doesn't Deserve to Win the Shell Houston Open
It's the end of the third round of the Shell Houston Open. Phil tied the course record with a 63, and tied for lead with Verplank. GAHHH!!!
Why the GAHHH??? Well, because there are SO MANY players that are within 4 strokes of the lead who deserve the win MORE than Phil.
Here's a summary of the players in pursuit of Phil, within 4 strokes of the lead:
Scott Verplank: Suffered MANY health issues throughout his career, but he still played through all those injuries through all those years and managed to have a pretty respectable career. Wouldn't it be great if now him, at his age, be able to win again?
Aaron Baddeley: Another great guy with great short game. He already won once this year, showing that he has the game to win. Why not win again here?
Chris Kirk: Prior to this tournament I've only heard his name no more than twice. A win is highly unlikely, him winning would be one heck of an amazing underdog story.
David Hearn: Ditto to Chris Kirk. Also, plus, he's a Canadian and I'm also a Canadian, so it would be nice seeing a fellow countryman win. GO CANADA!
Anthony Kim: Kind of brash at times but still a good character in golf. He's one of these guys in my opinion who I find very easy to criticize when he plays poorly but also very easy to root for when he plays well. People have really high expectations for him, so it would be nice to see him live up to his expectations.
Steve Stricker: A very consistent veteran player with great ball striking and great putting (though his putting hasn't been that sharp since last August). His consistency is what makes him a deserving winner. Nice guy too.
Nate Smith: Ditto to Chris Kirk.
Hunter Mahan: Another good player who's had a lot of experience playing at this course, so no surprise that he's playing so well here.
Robert Allenby: Great ball striker who could play very well if his putting gets hot. Consistent so far this week.
Padraig Harrington: Had a very rough finish to the third round. Otherwise he's played very solid with great short game and putting. He deserves a win as well.
There you go, 10 reasons why Phil shouldn't win.
GO PLAYERS GO!!!
ANYBODY BUT PHIL!!!!!!
Why the GAHHH??? Well, because there are SO MANY players that are within 4 strokes of the lead who deserve the win MORE than Phil.
Here's a summary of the players in pursuit of Phil, within 4 strokes of the lead:
Scott Verplank: Suffered MANY health issues throughout his career, but he still played through all those injuries through all those years and managed to have a pretty respectable career. Wouldn't it be great if now him, at his age, be able to win again?
Aaron Baddeley: Another great guy with great short game. He already won once this year, showing that he has the game to win. Why not win again here?
Chris Kirk: Prior to this tournament I've only heard his name no more than twice. A win is highly unlikely, him winning would be one heck of an amazing underdog story.
David Hearn: Ditto to Chris Kirk. Also, plus, he's a Canadian and I'm also a Canadian, so it would be nice seeing a fellow countryman win. GO CANADA!
Anthony Kim: Kind of brash at times but still a good character in golf. He's one of these guys in my opinion who I find very easy to criticize when he plays poorly but also very easy to root for when he plays well. People have really high expectations for him, so it would be nice to see him live up to his expectations.
Steve Stricker: A very consistent veteran player with great ball striking and great putting (though his putting hasn't been that sharp since last August). His consistency is what makes him a deserving winner. Nice guy too.
Nate Smith: Ditto to Chris Kirk.
Hunter Mahan: Another good player who's had a lot of experience playing at this course, so no surprise that he's playing so well here.
Robert Allenby: Great ball striker who could play very well if his putting gets hot. Consistent so far this week.
Padraig Harrington: Had a very rough finish to the third round. Otherwise he's played very solid with great short game and putting. He deserves a win as well.
There you go, 10 reasons why Phil shouldn't win.
GO PLAYERS GO!!!
ANYBODY BUT PHIL!!!!!!
Shell Houston Open - Amazing Coincidence
On Yahoo, the two Yahoo writers Shane Bacon and Jay Busbee are having a year-round competition against each other, where each week, they each pick a different winner, and see which player who's chosen does better. The writer who picked the player who did better gets a point.
At the Shell Houston Week, this happened:
At the Shell Houston Week, this happened:
Afterwards that wasn't the case anymore, sadly. Wouldn't it be nice to have seen D. J. Brigman and Joe Ogilvie, two players who are probably literally ranked #500 in the world rankings, beat down Phil Mickelson? (Yeah, you may have guessed, I don't like Phil.)
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