TTU, he was pretty much all over the place off the tee, but it looks as if you really have to get unlucky for that to hurt you at this place. He hit some dodgy approaches, but made several great up & downs. He was center cutting everything inside 8' and he made quite a few of those knee-knockers to save par. 18 was a routine eagle... 2 long irons just past pin high and a 20 footer center cut. He was looking quite confident coming off of 18.
Since when is 11/14 fairways all over the place? He hit a few loose shots, but not that many. His loose approach shots weren't that bad either. Even when he hit bad ones, he didn't get in the bunkers at all except once (and he paid the price for it at 10). For the most part, he left himself with fairly normal up and down's.
Since when is 11/14 fairways all over the place? He hit a few loose shots, but not that many.
ok, maybe I should've taken notes. I'm not knocking your guy. This is off of the top of my head. I even said it was his to lose in another thread earlier this week. I watched most of it and he seemed to be a bit wild on some tee shots(par 3s included) and some approach shots. A few great up & downs saved a great round and his putting seems to be really coming around. It was actually very similar to Phil's round although Phil had more problems tee-to-green.
That was a good solid start for Tiger...the "irons off the tee" strategy seems to be working very well, and if he sticks to it for the rest of the week, maybe brushing in an occasional 3 wood (I don't like the driver off ANY tee on Liverpool), I think it's his tournament to win.
Even when he hit bad ones, he didn't get in the bunkers at all except once (and he paid the price for it at 10). For the most part, he left himself with fairly normal up and down's.
Maybe it's me , but very few up & downs look normal at that place.
Maybe it's me , but very few up & downs look normal at that place.
I meant relatively speaking. Compared to playing out of the pot bunkers with potentially buried lies, or the questionable rough (I'm sure there are some thick parts of it), Tiger had a lot of more normal chips/putts around the greens. Almost every one of his missed GIR's was on the fairway where he could either putt it or chip it and make clean contact. That's what I meant by normal. I completely agree that nothing is normal compared to over here (although I will admit that the course I play pretty much every day is a links course...albeit with less real links bounces on the greens, but plenty of DEEP pot bunkers and about 50-80 yards of roll on the fairways).
Quote:
Originally Posted by wazmankg
ok, maybe I should've taken notes. I'm not knocking your guy. This is off of the top of my head. I even said it was his to lose in another thread earlier this week. I watched most of it and he seemed to be a bit wild on some tee shots(par 3s included) and some approach shots. A few great up & downs saved a great round and his putting seems to be really coming around. It was actually very similar to Phil's round although Phil had more problems tee-to-green.
Oh, I know you weren't knocking him. I was just pointing out that it wasn't as bad as it looked. He hit a poor tee shot at the first, so I was concerned immediately, but he got a good lie and hit a great iron shot that did not release to the hole. After that, he hit a lot of REALLY solid shots on the front nine (especially at the 9th hole). He seemed to struggle a little bit early on figuring out that the greens were softer than he was expecting because he kept coming up short while hitting solid shots that just stopped really fast. I would agree with you that he was scrappier on the back nine, but like I said he had some pretty nice lies around the greens. One of the best holes he played all day was right before I went to my class. I think it was the 12th hole. He laid up with iron off the tee in the fairway, but WAY back. I think he misjudged the wind on the tee box because he probably should have hit 3-wood or even driver there back into the wind. At any rate, he hit a GREAT punch iron shot (I'm guessing it was a 5 iron or so) and had about a 15-20 footer for birdie. He missed the putt, but it was a really solid shot playing back into the wind like that. That's a good sign for his chances this week, I think. But he most definitely needs to keep putting well.
Last edited by TTUfirebird2008 : July 20th, 2006 at 07:23 PM.
Now, someone on here has GOT to give me a nice description of his eagle at 18. How long was the putt he made, etc.? Also, I'm curious if he hit any drivers on the last 6 holes? I know he had a 200 yard shot into the 12th, which indicates he probably should have hit 3-wood at least on that one. He hit a great shot there, but still, you don't wanna be hitting 200 yard approaches into the wind too often. Anyway, details please! Thanks.
he hit one driver and one 3wood the rest were 2irons or appropriate par 3 clubs.. his one driver hit was a bad pull but he still made birde..
the eagle was 2 iron - then a massive 4 iron high and to 15 feet - great putt with a emphatic fist pump when it went in - he definately looks like the fire is lit!
the eagle was 2 iron - then a massive 4 iron high and to 15 feet - great putt with a emphatic fist pump when it went in - he definately looks like the fire is lit!
I was watching the post round interview and he said that the ironic thing about the putt was that he had seen someone earlier (prior to his round) with the same putt and knew it would hold its line at the hole, otherwise "I would have given the hole away"
LOL--the marvelous miracle of television, we sit thousands of miles away and watch, in awe, great players chase a lil white ball around what seems to be a glorified pasture, while the worlds #1 watches and learns something to help his game.
I was watching the post round interview and he said that the ironic thing about the putt was that he had seen someone earlier (prior to his round) with the same putt and knew it would hold its line at the hole, otherwise "I would have given the hole away"
LOL--the marvelous miracle of television, we sit thousands of miles away and watch, in awe, great players chase a lil white ball around what seems to be a glorified pasture, while the worlds #1 watches and learns something to help his game.
Yeah, pretty cool, eh? I remember, I guess it was after his 1997 Masters win, he talked about making putts in his first round and he discussed how he remembered watching and studying film of past Masters tournaments. He actually knew that there were less severe breaks for certain putts, due to seeing it so many times over the years with a lot of guys over-reading putts, etc. It's amazing how studious these guys are sometimes. Phil, in the last 3 weeks, has probably practiced from every nook and cranny of the course. Simply amazingly detailed and thorough preparation!