Golf: General Chat

[wazzap24]

TBF I agree with you. He wasn't just winning majors, he was destroying the field. If he hadn't have had a meltdown at the Masters, he'd have won that by half a dozen or more shots too. 

I think is game is almost too good. He hits irons so high, which when he's on point is brilliant, but when he's off there doesn't seem to be any 'go to' middle of the green shots. 

Same with his driving (300+ down the middle or wayward) and his putting (holes everything, or virtually nothing). 

Personally, I think he'll win 10-12 before he calls it a day, but they will be in streaks, unless he develops a more moderate and consistent game. I could see him winning all four in one calendar year. 

[VillaChris]

6 hours ago, PaulC said:

Yes I know that but I thought he was going to be a world beater. Theres still time but I fear he will end up like Tony Jacklin

He's still got another 15 years ahead of him as a serious major contender.

Even if he wins only a major every other year that would be double years.

He's just had a slump although it's taken him longer than I thought it would. Maybe other boy wonder Spieth winning another major after his own drought will shake him out of his malaise.

Good to see the BBC have got live rights to the PGA. There's something just not right about them not having the Masters anymore, it should be in the protected rights like Wimbledon.

[wazzap24]

Tiger, Tiger Woods Y'all

One putt away from forcing a play-off on the 18th last week.

-4 under and in contention today. 

Fastest recorded swing speed on tour this year. Seriously, let that sink in. Fastest on the whole tour.This is 12 months after spinal fusion surgery, his fourth back op in 4 years

If he wins another major, or even just a high profile tour event, it's one of, if not the greatest sporting comeback of all time. It's remarkable he's even at this level. 

[snowychap]

Tiger Woods can sod right off.

[wazzap24]

Why?  

[snowychap]

Just now, wazzap24 said:

Why?  

Because the coverage of golf will yet again be mainly about him - whether he's winning or not.

The Masters will be 6 hours of 'live coverage' that covers the Woods round for two of it if he's already finished and the whole of it with next to no time for anyone else if he's playing during the live time.

That's fine if he's beating the field by 12 shots but that was twenty years ago.

Woods distorts golf coverage and, as a fan of watching golf, that annoys me.

[wazzap24]

21 minutes ago, snowychap said:

Because the coverage of golf will yet again be mainly about him - whether he's winning or not.

The Masters will be 6 hours of 'live coverage' that covers the Woods round for two of it if he's already finished and the whole of it with next to no time for anyone else if he's playing during the live time.

That's fine if he's beating the field by 12 shots but that was twenty years ago.

Woods distorts golf coverage and, as a fan of watching golf, that annoys me.

I can see where your coming from. If he keeps up this form it will be an absolute Woods-fest at Augusta. It had potential get a bit tedious. 

Problem is, he's still by far and away the biggest draw when he's in contention. The American channel showing last weeks tournament reported a 181% increase in viewing figures on Sunday. They can't ignore those kind of numbers I suppose. 

The other factor is, nobody has really stepped in and grabbed it whilst he's been away. It looked like it was gonna be Rory, but he's still searching for Major form. Spieth looked like he could be unstoppable for a period, but he's wobbled. There's a load of other great players, but for me it's lacking something at the moment. No big rivalries, no leading player the others are trying to hunt down.

If Woods really is back, like really, really back, I think it'll be good for the game in the immediate term. I'd love this think it could get Rory fired up, plus the likes of Spieth, Day and big Phil. 

Whatever your view on Woods, a Masters Sunday with him, McIlroy and Spieth/Mickleson in the final group would be a special thing. 

 

[snowychap]

3 minutes ago, wazzap24 said:

I can see where your coming from. If he keeps up this form it will be an absolute Woods-fest at Augusta. It had potential get a bit tedious. 

Problem is, he's still by far and away the biggest draw when he's in contention. The American channel showing last weeks tournament reported a 181% increase in viewing figures on Sunday. They can't ignore those kind of numbers I suppose. 

The other factor is, nobody has really stepped in and grabbed it whilst he's been away. It looked like it was gonna be Rory, but he's still searching for Major form. Spieth looked like he could be unstoppable for a period, but he's wobbled. There's a load of other great players, but for me it's lacking something at the moment. No big rivalries, no leading player the others are trying to hunt down.

If Woods really is back, like really, really back, I think it'll be good for the game in the immediate term. I'd love this think it could get Rory fired up, plus the likes of Spieth, Day and big Phil. 

Whatever your view on Woods, a Masters Sunday with him, McIlroy and Spieth/Mickleson in the final group would be a special thing.

It doesn't matter whether he keeps up any form. He's come second once so this year's Masters coverage will centre on Woods regardless of how he's playing and where he is on the leaderboard (unless he's not there at the weekend).

You say that 'nobody has really stepped in and grabbed it whilst he's been away' - that's good. I don't want to watch golf that is dominated by one person as it gets very boring quickly.

No big rivalries? Over the last few years we've had the likes of Mickelson v Stenson in the Open (better watching than any Woods major victory), battles for the number one spot between McIlroy/Spieth/Day/DJ and so on.

I'm not surprised about the TV numbers - that's vastly media-led. Look at the reporting of last weekend's tournament (where Woods failed to beat Casey and tied with Reed) and it was all about Woods and how he has apparently brought back the magic to the sport. No, he hasn't. He may have brought back people to watch golf who aren't in the least bit interested in golf normally though want to cheer on Woods but these people won't be there the moment his back/knees go again and he's slicing it into the bundu.

I want to confirm that I acknowledge just how good Tiger Woods was at golf and that I enjoyed watching him play. He may still be very good at golf (he won't ever be as good as he was) and I may still enjoy watching him play.

But golf being back mostly about Woods is annoying again, already.

[MickeyC_UTV]

6 minutes ago, snowychap said:

It doesn't matter whether he keeps up any form. He's come second once so this year's Masters coverage will centre on Woods regardless of how he's playing and where he is on the leaderboard (unless he's not there at the weekend).

You say that 'nobody has really stepped in and grabbed it whilst he's been away' - that's good. I don't want to watch golf that is dominated by one person as it gets very boring quickly.

No big rivalries? Over the last few years we've had the likes of Mickelson v Stenson in the Open (better watching than any Woods major victory), battles for the number one spot between McIlroy/Spieth/Day/DJ and so on.

I'm not surprised about the TV numbers - that's vastly media-led. Look at the reporting of last weekend's tournament (where Woods failed to beat Casey and tied with Reed) and it was all about Woods and how he has apparently brought back the magic to the sport. No, he hasn't. He may have brought back people to watch golf who aren't in the least bit interested in golf normally though want to cheer on Woods but these people won't be there the moment his back/knees go again and he's slicing it into the bundu.

I want to confirm that I acknowledge just how good Tiger Woods was at golf and that I enjoyed watching him play. He may still be very good at golf (he won't ever be as good as he was) and I may still enjoy watching him play.

But golf being back mostly about Woods is annoying again, already.

Easy tiger 

 

 

[wazzap24]

You might wanna give today's coverage a wide berth for the next 4 hours @snowychap 

 

[snowychap]

25 minutes ago, wazzap24 said:

You might wanna give today's coverage a wide berth for the next 4 hours @snowychap 

 

Though he's started badly so it might be worth it in case he shoots 80.

 

[wazzap24]

16 minutes ago, snowychap said:

Though he's started badly so it might be worth it in case he shoots 80.

 

I switched it on about 10 mins before he snap hooked his opening tee shot.

They must have said his name 50 times in 5 mins! I thought of you settling down to watch it.....

 

 

Edited March 16, 2018 by wazzap24

[snowychap]

@wazzap24

" Rory McIlroy, you've just shot 67 to move within 2 shots of the lead - great golf. So what about Tiger, eh?"

Not verbatim but where they ended up.

Edit: To be fair, NBC's coverage today wasn't too bad.

Edited March 17, 2018 by snowychap

[wazzap24]

22 hours ago, snowychap said:

@wazzap24

" Rory McIlroy, you've just shot 67 to move within 2 shots of the lead - great golf. So what about Tiger, eh?"

Not verbatim but where they ended up.

Edit: To be fair, NBC's coverage today wasn't too bad.

Rory is gonna win this.....

[Brumstopdogs]

Great victory for Rory - well played man!

[villarule123]

As someone who didn't watch Tiger when he was in his prime, I'd love him to get back to his best. Can't wait for the Masters. 

[wazzap24]

6 hours ago, villarule123 said:

As someone who didn't watch Tiger when he was in his prime, I'd love him to get back to his best. Can't wait for the Masters. 

There were flashes of the old Tiger, quite a few of them to be fair.

There was a brief period on Sunday where he was back to doing impossible stuff. I think at one point (the 12th I think), he had a putt for share of the lead on -12, after starting 5 back and I thought he might pull off something amazing.  It came up short and I think it took the wind out of his sales a bit and his round fizzled out. But for a good 5/6 holes it was prime Sunday Tiger Woods.

I doubt very much he'll get back to the player he was, but it's not impossible. His back is obviously holding up for now, you can see he's absolutely ripping it and his recorded swing speeds are insane. 

He creates a buzz from the other players too. I don't think it's entirely coincidental that Rory has found a bit of fire all of sudden...

This could be a memorable Masters.

 

Edited March 19, 2018 by wazzap24

[El Zen]

6 hours ago, villarule123 said:

As someone who didn't watch Tiger when he was in his prime, I'd love him to get back to his best. Can't wait for the Masters. 

I did watch Tiger in his prime, and it’s safe to say that’s never going to happen. I’d love to see it again, as it’s the most entertaining golf I think I’ll ever see in my lifetime, but he would have to defy the human ageing process to make it happen. 

That’s not to say he can’t be the best again, and I’d love to see that too. 

[snowychap]

5 minutes ago, wazzap24 said:

I think at one point (the 12th I think), he had a putt for share of the lead on -12, after starting 5 back and I thought he might pull off something amazing.  It came up short and I think it took the wind out of his sales a bit and his round fizzled out.

Not so much fizzled but went OOB with his ball at 16 when he carted it left off the tee.

Actually, I think his round hit the buffers when his tee shot on 14 came up short right after he'd just birdied three of the last four (and had shortened from 50/1 to 5/1).

[wazzap24]

Well err yeah, he did get a little bit wayward towards the end there @snowychap 

Tiger aside, I thought it was a good finish to a decent tournament. Shame  Stenson dropped off, but you could just tell Rory was back to being Rory.

 

I'm not 100% convinced he can't get 'fully' back, even if only for a couple of years @Michelsen 

It's early days, but I don't think physicality is going to be the issue. I found this interview with Rory from Jan of this year and There's some interesting quotes from him.

if his back holds up, I think it'll come down to whether can he mentally become the player he was again, rather than physically. 

This was after a practice round with Woods back on Nov. 

 

https://tinyurl.com/ybyyfa98

Quote

I was on my way there worrying thinking, ‘what will I see?’, but it was incredible,” McIlroy told the Telegraph. “My dad also played with us and we both couldn’t believe it. I remember mouthing to Dad, ‘WTF?’. And on the drive home afterwards, we said: ‘Where the hell did that come from?’ Tiger was that good; playing every shot, not having to hold back.

“This is a different Tiger," continued Rory. He could stun the world – again. When he came back in 2013, all he did was hit a big cut and was getting himself around with his chipping and putting,” McIlroy said. “And, yeah, that is incredible in itself. But he’s got everything again now. You can talk about Jordan (Spieth - world number 2) and JT (Justin Thomas - world number 4) and all of them not seeing Tiger in his pomp, but I tell you what, I’ve never really seen Tiger at that level. He could be the story of the year. I hope he isn’t, I hope I am. But then if Tiger wins just one then he will be the story anyway.”