Record 35 Under Par for First Contest of the Year

[jxdama]

I wont  comment further except to say maybe we  can get a  -40 winner soon on these tests  of golf  skill

 

 

Hideki Matsuyama runs away with The Sentry, breaks scoring record to open new PGA Tour season

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Hideki Matsuyama picked up his 11th PGA career win on Sunday afternoon in Hawaii.

 

[saevel25]

OMG Jerry Barber shot -20 back in 1960! Let's go back and time and bitch about how easy it is to play golf. My goodness, Calvin Pete shot a -21 in 1986! Wait a second, David Duval shot -26 back in 1999! Hold up, Ernie Els shot a -31 back in 2003!!!!  (all scores at The Sentry, it is a very easy golf course for PGA Tour players). 

The concept that golf in the past is this protecting par or what not is just romanticized BS. Golfer's have been tearing apart golf courses for decades. Let's have a sense of perspective to base our opinions, ok? 

 

 

[iacas]

@jxdama: Same dumb schtick since joining.

Yup.

Also, it's a par-73.

[jxdama]

12 hours ago, saevel25 said:

OMG Jerry Barber shot -20 back in 1960! Let's go back and time and bitch about how easy it is to play golf. My goodness, Calvin Pete shot a -21 in 1986! Wait a second, David Duval shot -26 back in 1999! Hold up, Ernie Els shot a -31 back in 2003!!!!  (all scores at The Sentry, it is a very easy golf course for PGA Tour players). 

The concept that golf in the past is this protecting par or what not is just romanticized BS. Golfer's have been tearing apart golf courses for decades. Let's have a sense of perspective to base our opinions, ok? 

 

 

Maybe they wouldnt be tearing them up if shots that  miss the green or fairway were penalized with deep rough

[iacas]

1 hour ago, jxdama said:

Maybe they wouldnt be tearing them up if shots that  miss the green or fairway were penalized with deep rough

Yeah, deep rough. So exciting.

[saevel25]

1 hour ago, jxdama said:

Maybe they wouldnt be tearing them up if shots that miss the green or fairway were penalized with deep rough

Meh, it's a tournament over in Hawaii to start the year off. Why do we need ball busters every tournament. You think in the past that every tournament was this hellish test? Heck no. 

Go look at the aerial of Kapalua, its a wide open course. 

Holes next to each other. Little to no water hazards. Bermuda grass, so maybe it can't be this thick nasty grass you see at Oakmont, Bethpage, etc.. Ever go play in Florida, Bermuda doesn't get too crazy. I am sure they could make it a bit tougher. 

There are plenty of tournaments that test the golfers. The issue is, there are so many great golfers now, if one catches fire there is nothing you can do. What if a golfer hits 75% of the fairways, 75% of the greens, and has a hot putting week? Just on fire. You will come here and complain it is too easy? Look at the 2014 US open at No. 2. Martin Keymer won by 8 shots, -9 to -1. Only three players ended up under par for the week. Too easy? 

 

 

[ChetlovesMer]

Okay, admittedly I'm sort of a Matsuyama fan. 

I really don't have a problem with this. Did the golfer who shot the lowest score win? ... Yes. Did he cheat in some way? ... No.

Athletes are getting better, faster, stronger, more highly trained, using statistical analysis, reaching a much deeper pool of potential players, etc... 

Here's a fun bit of trivia. 

In 1924 the lowest recorded "known" golf score for a 72-hole tournament on was 12 under par for a 276. (There may have been lower scores, but records from 1924 being what they were, this is believed to be the lowest at the time.) 
Hideki Matsuyama shoots a 35 under 257. Okay that was on a par 73 course, but what ever. If we adjust the 1924 score of 276 for a par 73 course, that comes out to 280. 

So, 280 in 1924 is less than 10% higher than 257 in 2024.

In 1924 the world record for the mile was 4:10.4 

In 2024 the world record for the mile is 3:43.13

That's an improvement of 11%. 

So, over the last 100 years there's been a 10% improvement in golf and an 11% improvement in running the mile . .... It's funny that I don't hear any talk about making the mile longer? 😁

 

 

BTW - As you all know I went to a Wiccan woman who operated a boutique malt shop in Southern Rhodesias and math is hard so you may want to check my math... 🤷‍♂️

[turtleback]

Didn't Mike Souchak (and possibly others as I'm just going by memory, but I'm pretty sure Souchak was first) shoot a 257 years ago?  It wasn't on a par 73, so it wasn't 35 under, but still.

 

[p1n9183]

Par is just a guideline, a reference for a hole or a course. At the end of the tournament the player that took less strokes to hole out is the winner, no matter how much it is against the Par of the course. 
35 under par is not desirable? then change a few holes par.. make all reachable par 5's as par 4's. 
Every hole below 350 is a par 3.. This will make those 7200 courses play "harder" with a par of 66..67.  (Ridiculous, let's just appreciate the amazing game this players have).

[ChetlovesMer]

The Wiccan woman from the afore mentioned boutique malt shop just called to tell me that Marathon times have improved by more than 20% over the last 100 years. 
They should make the marathon longer. 

[boogielicious]

2 hours ago, ChetlovesMer said:

The Wiccan woman from the afore mentioned boutique malt shop just called to tell me that Marathon times have improved by more than 20% over the last 100 years. 
They should make the marathon longer. 

And 4’8” Gymnasts can do triple twisting double back somersaults on floor and full twist back somersaults on beam when a back walkover won the gold in 1960. Guess it time to add more challenge to the sport.