I think his problem on those two short putts that he missed was that he didn't take his time like Tiger usually does. Usually, this strategy works out for JD but I think the pressure got to him a bit and maybe if he'd taken his time to read the subtle breaks of those putts he would have made them.
I agree that the pressure may have gotten to him, but I don't think changing his approach to putting all of the sudden for those 2 putts would have helped. He gives it a good looks, sets up and hits it. That's just the way he plays and I find it refreshing. As far as reading them goes, on 18 Tiger missed right, JD's was right in the mouth. He just didn't hit it. The short misses were mis-hits more than mis-reads, IMO.
wazman, the final miss was NOT a mis-hit, at least according to JD. JD said that he thought it was a straight putt, but it actually broke left. He mis-read it according to his recollection. Of course, a lot of guys would rather say they mis-read it than admitting that they hit a bad putt, so maybe he did mis-hit it. Only he knows for sure. As for reading putts, I was talking more about Tiger on short putts. Do you really think there woulda been a chance at all that he would have missed even 1 of those short putts, much less BOTH of them? He may not be the best putter out there, and in fact I think JD is a better putter than Tiger, but when the pressure is on and Tiger's standing over a 5-footer for par, it's basically automatic.
It looked more like he just pulled it to me...that putt wasn't moving when it got past the hole, and Tiger's putt coming the other way broke left, so how would that one break left too?
He admits that he might have pulled it, but he also says he doesn't know. So, I guess even HE doesn't know what really happened. LOL. My guess is that he did pull it, but who knows, maybe it did break left on him. It's also possible that he was aiming slightly left if he did in fact think it was going to the right like he says in the quote.
Like I said, Tiger's putt came back left, so I can't imagine JD's putt also going left from the opposite side, unless that's one messed up surface. I'd say it was either the pull or aiming left, as you mentioned. Either way, not a good way to end a tournament.
October 10th, 2005, 04:26 PM
I'd say it was either the pull or aiming left, as you mentioned. Either way, not a good way to end a tournament.
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