I missed the whole thing. I was driving across state(300 miles) so I spent most of the afternoon on the road. This is one of my favorite courses that the PGA plays on and I miss the dang thing. Bad timing, but I had a good weekend non the less. I was able to watch most of Saturdays round including Tiger driving #16.
TIGER will be a big contender for the masters now after winning at the wkend especially by beat LEFTY must of given him loads of confidence. well done to TIGER for winning.......
Gotta say that although I am disappointed Phil couldn't get it done, it certainly was a great weekend for golf fans - Tiger and Phil head to head for 18 holes, Vijay making a charge, while in Dubai the two best European Tour golfers go head to head as well. It all made for compelling viewing and both were settled on the final green.
IMO Phil didn't choke - how can shooting 3 under par on Sunday be choking? Tiger just played better. To be fair to Phil as well, he got a couple of bad breaks on 16 and 18 - - the par putt on 16 looked in all the way, and the chip on 18, even Tiger thought it was in. Tiger deserved it IMO, ultimately golf fans were the real winners
Phil didn't "choke." (Although only one player in the Top 8 finishers shot a higher round than Mickelson.) He just got beat. After composing himself, Phil said that he expected to win and that this was a "slap in the face" that will make him work even harder. That's a side of him we haven't seen before and I hope it does spur him to push himself harder.
shaderunner, I think Tiger was just as exhausted in his PGA Championship wins against Sergio and Bob May. Those two pushed him to the limit and he was just relieved that it was over with. But today is right up there with those two as Tiger's greatest challenges.
Good call, TTU... I also thought of the Tiger-Sergio battle at the '99 PGA... after Tiger putted out on 18 at Medinah, it looked like he needed Stevie to hold him up. In many ways, that win proved he was "back" from his first swing change, since all of '98 and the early part of '99 were not up to his standards.
While yesterday was not a major, it was definitely a similar type of feel... Tiger proving that he is back.
Tiger IS back, but I give Phil a lot of credit. After Tiger Eagled the par 5 I thought it might be over. Then Phil comes back with two Birdies to tie it up. Phil just couldn't get a putt to drop after that and Tiger made the ones he needed to. It was fun to watch.
Well it was just a great match... what I saw of it. Phil trying to drill that par putt on 16 was where he lost it. I wouldn't call it a choke... he hit the hole. I missed 18... other duties called. Just how close did Phil come to making that chip ?
Just how close did Phil come to making that chip ?
About as close as possible... it lipped out, and only went about 2 feet past the hole, which means it really wasn't going very fast. The golf Gods weren't with him yesterday. I remember last April at Augusta, his putt at 18 caught the lip, and went in. These things tend to even out. Except maybe for Greg Norman.
He came very close. I think it was one of the greatest matches in golf history.
It was an exciting match, but to call it "one the greatest matches in golf history" tells me you need to know more golf history. There's so much more history to golf than just the "Tiger Era."
I am going to tell you who is having a good year also is David Toms.
I expect good things for him this year, he might even be able to break into the top 5.
Toms is a good player no doubt, to go top 5 he would have to get past Retief Goosen, which IMO is unlikely.
I think Toms is an ideal role model for up and coming players - he is not extraordinarily long off the tee (although he is "sneaky long"), but he is very accurate, giving himself lots of decent shots into greens. He obviously works really hard at his short game, and has one of the sweetest putting strokes around. I wouldn't be surprised to see him pick up another Major soon. Shame I can't get excited about watching him though.