2023 British Open

[PatrickMurtha]

Harman absolutely killed it out there. Only six bogies on the tournament, only two bunkers (!!), winning by six. Yet I’ve seldom seen such hating on a golfer. Most unseemly. Some guy at the Washington Post yesterday put up a column about how Harman winning would be bad for golf. Some people thought the column was tongue-in-cheek, but I didn’t; I thought it was just plain nasty.

A distinctive development in the modern sports world is getting upset not because your guy / team didn’t win, but because your NARRATIVE didn’t win. Journalists are especially prone to this now that half (at least) of modern sports “reporting” is actually just speculation. I thought there was supposed to be no rooting in the press box, but oh well.

We won’t even get into how the dominance and now complete acceptance of the gambling angle plays into all this * …But surely a lot of the upset has to do with people LOSING MONEY. No one on the air or in print will say this right out, but it is there. 
 

* The leagues / tours and the broadcasters are utterly complicit in this, whereas once (and not that long ago either) they would have run for the high hills. Sports is now sold AS gambling, and the amount of manipulation of results that must go on is scary.

Edited July 23, 2023 by PatrickMurtha

[turtleback]

22 hours ago, Shindig said:

 

Actually, I'm not even sure that'd be the case if he wins, as it is possible a left handed person won the British Open playing right-handed.  

Ben Hogan was said to be a natural left-hander and he won the British Open playing right-handed.  From his Wikipedia page:

Quote

Many believed that although he played right-handed as an adult, Hogan was actually left-handed. In his book "Five Lessons," in the chapter entitled "The Grip," Hogan said "I was born left-handed -- that was the normal way for me to do things.

 

[Shindig]

56 minutes ago, iacas said:

In only a little over eight months!

260 days until the first round of the 2024 Masters, but who is counting?  

9 minutes ago, PatrickMurtha said:

Harman absolutely killed it out there. Only six bogies on the tournament, only two bunkers (!!), winning by six. Yet I’ve seldom seen such hating on a golfer. Most unseemly. Some guy at the Washington Post yesterday put up a column about how Harman winning would be bad for golf. Some people thought the column was tongue-in-cheek, but I didn’t; I thought it was just plain nasty.

A distinctive development in the modern sports world is getting upset not because your guy / team didn’t win, but because your NARRATIVE didn’t win. Journalists are especially prone to this now that half (at least) of modern sports “reporting” is actually just speculation. I thought there was supposed to be no rooting in the press box, but oh well.

We won’t even get into how the dominance and now complete acceptance of the gambling angle plays into all this * …But surely a lot of the upset has to do with people LOSING MONEY. No one on the air or in print will say this right out, but it is there. 
 

* The leagues / tours and the broadcasters are utterly complicit in this, whereas once (and not that long ago either) they would have run for the high hills. Sports is now sold AS gambling, and the amount of manipulation of results that must go on is scary.

I love the "avoiding bunkers" as a strategy -- not least because last summer, that was probably part of how I won my flight of my club championship (zero bunkers in 54 holes).

1 minute ago, turtleback said:

Ben Hogan was said to be a natural left-hander and he won the British Open playing right-handed.  From his Wikipedia page:

Mark the date:  July 23, 2023, I have to retire one of what I thought was a clever, if awkwardly phrased, trivia point (because I learned it is incorrect).  In retrospect, it makes sense that some left handed people would play right-handed clubs, given the greater availability.   Thanks!

[boogielicious]

44 minutes ago, PatrickMurtha said:

Some guy at the Washington Post yesterday put up a column about how Harman winning would be bad for golf.

That reporter is an idiot. It great for golf when a shorter, unheralded player wins because he played the course the smartest way possible within his ability.

There were holes where Harman used driver with an easier swing to hit the end of the fairway. Whereas Fleetwood or Young used an iron and were 20-40 yards back. He had two driver swings and only swung hard on certain holes from what I saw. He also played away from trouble for the most part. I haven’t seen the stats, but those fairway pot bunkers were a likely bogie. 

The chasers had to play more aggressive but he could have easily pulled a Norman and let his ego get in the way. His round on Friday gained an astounding amount against the field. That is just great golf. He was a bit squirrelly early on Saturday but collected himself. Again, great golf. 

Sometimes I wonder if sports reporters actually watch the match they are reporting on. 

[PatrickMurtha]

On top of everything else, we have to give Harman credit for rock-steady nerves. We have seen so many people crumble in these situations, including much bigger names, but he didn’t even get close to that. 

[StuM]

1 hour ago, PatrickMurtha said:

I thought there was supposed to be no rooting in the press box, but oh well.

That went out the window a very long time ago.

I did not watch as much as I wanted but I enjoyed this one. 

[Zeph]

1 hour ago, Shindig said:

260 days until the first round of the 2024 Masters, but who is counting?  

I love the "avoiding bunkers" as a strategy -- not least because last summer, that was probably part of how I won my flight of my club championship (zero bunkers in 54 holes).

It would be interesting to see how many strokes the field lost to the bunkers, how many they visited etc.

The bunkers on courses like these are so different from the usual PGA Tour park venues. Players often hope to hit bunkers if they miss greens on the PGAT, in part due to lush rough of course, but with bunkers like in The Open you just want to stay away.

At times I don’t know how I like pot bunkers. They are the same for everyone of course, but the design makes it a lot more penalizing if you land in the wrong spot, even if the ball just rolls in there.

[Carl3]

1 hour ago, boogielicious said:

Sometimes I wonder if sports reporters actually watch the match they are reporting on. 

My guess this is because of all the endorsement money that is out there. I am sure those companies have "courtiers" and "lobbyists" at all of the tournament pre-functions putting pressure on the media and other influencer to talk up their "investments". How many billions have been spent on recent golf messiahs? 

The golf media are not necessarily the impartial observers and correspondents we assume they are. 

I was pulling for the underdog.

[Shindig]

16 minutes ago, Zeph said:

The bunkers on courses like these are so different from the usual PGA Tour park venues. Players often hope to hit bunkers if they miss greens on the PGAT, in part due to lush rough of course, but with bunkers like in The Open you just want to stay away.

I remember hearing that, probably as far back as I think (I can check if anyone is interested) I saw it in one of Stan Utley's books, which I would have read about fifteen years ago for the first time.

The other hand is, I wonder how much of a good idea it is -- do bunkers have a lower expected remaining strokes than various forms of rough?  I would guess not, but that doesn't mean they don't aim for their misses to go into bunkers (similar to how many pros will "lay up to a full wedge" based on that outdated view). 

[turtleback]

2 hours ago, Shindig said:

260 days until the first round of the 2024 Masters, but who is counting?  

I love the "avoiding bunkers" as a strategy -- not least because last summer, that was probably part of how I won my flight of my club championship (zero bunkers in 54 holes).

Mark the date:  July 23, 2023, I have to retire one of what I thought was a clever, if awkwardly phrased, trivia point (because I learned it is incorrect).  In retrospect, it makes sense that some left handed people would play right-handed clubs, given the greater availability.   Thanks!

 

I'm sorry I ruined your trivia point.  I first came across this fact in a book I've referenced before called Pro: Frank Beard on the Golf Tour which was a sports diary book. Beard remarked on the irony of fans seeing Bob Charles swinging left-handed and signing autographs right-handed while Hogan swung right-handed  but signed autographs left-handed.  And for some reason that stuck to me for 50+ years.

Maybe it will make you feel better if I point out that when Tiger won at St. Andrews he avoided all of the bunkers, so your performance in the club championship was Tigeresque.  Pretty good company to be in.

Edited July 23, 2023 by turtleback

[PatrickMurtha]

39 minutes ago, Carl3 said:

My guess this is because of all the endorsement money that is out there. I am sure those companies have "courtiers" and "lobbyists" at all of the tournament pre-functions putting pressure on the media and other influencer to talk up their "investments". How many billions have been spent on recent golf messiahs? 

The golf media are not necessarily the impartial observers and correspondents we assume they are. 

I was pulling for the underdog.

I think this is right on the money (so to speak 🙂 ). You could feel it twice this year, the sense that no one would care if Harman won except for his family, and the only way they could make us care about Wyndham Clark was by trotting out the tragedy about his mother. Harman said it, he’s happy to play professional golf, always trying to get better. Where’s the angle? He doesn’t even offer the Keegan Bradley anxiety angle, or the Kevin Kisner / Joel Dahmen / Max Homa entertaining talker angle. You sensed the reporters straining to come up with SOMETHING over the past few days. I did read several stories about how he would probably fold on Sunday, i.e., the problem would go away. Well it didn’t, and I’m delighted. 

By the way, Brentley Romine of GolfChannel.com made a nice call in his 1-156 ranking of the field. (He also picked Wyndham Clark No. 18 in the U.S. Open field, so clearly a sharp observer.)

25. Brian Harman: He’s getting hot with three straight top-12s, including a T-12 at Scottish. Debuted at Hoylake in 2014 and was T-26. He then went on a run of four straight MCs, but he’s righted ship of late – T-19 in 2021 and T-6 last year. His stats don’t jump off the page, but put him in rain gear and watch him go.

Edited July 23, 2023 by PatrickMurtha

[Zeph]

Sports is entertainment and money. It’s not just about who’s playing the best golf a given week. They could have figured that out without spectators or cameras, but sports is also entertainment that is competing in a time where the digital world has exploded with your Youtubes, TikToks and Netflixes. Personalities and drama in golf tournament draws numbers. This Open had a lack of both in my opionion. It was better than the average PGAT stop, but nowhere near many previous majors.

And it can happen anywhere, even at Augusta.

[iacas]

Curtis Strange is a lefty that played righty.

Johnny Miller. Henrik Stenson.

[PatrickMurtha]

No one is arguing against personalities or drama, that I am aware of. No, it wasn’t a close tournament - some won’t be. But here we have a player who played incredibly well for four days, barely wavering an inch, and I don’t like it that the media were pretty pissy and ungracious about it. Plus he actually has a charming personality - watch the winner’s presser! - and he is not an unknown quantity, this is not totally out of the blue. #26 in the world coming in; T12 last week. T6 in the Open last year; also has a T2 in a US Open and three Top 10s at the Players. Had eight Top 10s in 2022 and three earlier this year. This is not exactly Joe Schmo we are talking about here. And anyone who is into great performances - on a tough course, in the rain no less, when the bunkers were eating some of the world’s best alive - should have found something to savor. 

[woodzie264]

20 minutes ago, iacas said:

Curtis Strange is a lefty that played righty.

Johnny Miller. Henrik Stenson.

Me too, don’t forget me. The world isn’t quite ready for me yet though….wait, maybe that’s my problem 🤔 

[Carl3]

1 hour ago, Zeph said:

Sports is entertainment and money.

I prefer golf over the WWE 🤣

[Shindig]

3 hours ago, turtleback said:

Maybe it will make you feel better if I point out that when Tiger won at St. Andrews he avoided all of the bunkers, so your performance in the club championship was Tigeresque.  Pretty good company to be in.

I had no idea;  that's awesome, thank you!

[snapfade]

3 hours ago, PatrickMurtha said:

No one is arguing against personalities or drama, that I am aware of. No, it wasn’t a close tournament - some won’t be. But here we have a player who played incredibly well for four days, barely wavering an inch, and I don’t like it that the media were pretty pissy and ungracious about it. Plus he actually has a charming personality - watch the winner’s presser! - and he is not an unknown quantity, this is not totally out of the blue. #26 in the world coming in; T12 last week. T6 in the Open last year; also has a T2 in a US Open and three Top 10s at the Players. Had eight Top 10s in 2022 and three earlier this year. This is not exactly Joe Schmo we are talking about here. And anyone who is into great performances - on a tough course, in the rain no less, when the bunkers were eating some of the world’s best alive - should have found something to savor. 

I savored in the fact that Fleetwood nor Reed won. Harman will be a notable along with Clark within 18 months.