Mercedes Championship 2006

[NCGolfer]

Couple of things...

• Appleby owns that tournament. He nearly gave it away in the middle holes, but he did it when it counted.
• It was interesting to watch how the wind played games with these guys. A couple of those pin placements were nuts given the wind.
• Have you ever seen Furyk miss so many birdie putts? He still finished 2nd in putts per GIR, but I bet he still feels like he left ton of birdies out on the course. I think the wind really played havoc not only with the long game, but the putting as well.

[iacas]

Couple of things...

It was almost a second-tier event, though, with so many of the big names not showing up. And then half the field seemed to shoot 80. Jason Gore finished frickin' 28 over par! 80, 80, 81, 79!

So, King of Kapalua... big whoop. Appleby is a good player, but I'd like to see him win somewhere OTHER than Kapalua.

[Mr_Slice]

I give Appleby a ton of credit for his performance this week. That course was nasty. With the faster greens and the wind, it was wreaking havoc. I love it when the course actually challenges the players, though.

[Sando]

I'm with you, Slice. Appleby deserves credit for winning this week. News greens, wind, pressure to three-peat, wind, 1st tourney of the year and all that wind. The guy did a great job coming from behind against ... what's his name? Oh yeah, Vijay! First the tie and then the win almost holeing out that bunker shot. Great stuff.

BTW, Kapalua's 18th is alot of fun to watch. Those guys make it look easy but curling a shot 220+ yards onto that green is something else.

[Rafcin]

I give Appleby a ton of credit for his performance this week. That course was nasty. With the faster greens and the wind, it was wreaking havoc. I love it when the course actually challenges the players, though.

thanks to Tivo-like DVR feature on my cable box - I can confirm that. Mr. Appleby after missing par putt on the par 3 (11th?) said LOUD and CLEAR "fu#@ing wind !". Busted on national TV

Chad Johnson would've been fined for that - wonder if they'll go after Mr. Kapalua...

[cmarkmyers]

This was the first time I was able to watch all 4 rounds of an event in their (televised) entirety. Based on that alone it was a successful kick-off to the '06 season. Plus it was nice to see someone win a 3rd consecutive event, especially in a play off. And even though I picked Vijay to win the Tiger fan in me was happy he didn't.

But just because Tiger, Phil, etc. were not there and just because almost everyone was above par I don't think it is fair to call it an “almost second-tier event”. Between that wind and those greens there is no guarantee others would not have struggled.

And speaking of the conditions, if I had played a course like that I probably would have given up golf. I am all for a hard course that tests the players but come on? Who wants to see people like Funk and Gore 20+ over par? I think the folks over at Kapalua set the bar a bit too high this year. Hopefully the announcers will be right and the greens will be a bit easier in a couple of years.

[muskegman]

Its a different tournament because there aren't many in the field but there is no doubt Appleby is the man. I didn't pick him to win and that obviously was a mistake.

I really like the fact that these guys had to battle the elements. The PGA Tour would benefit from that kind of action more often. I guess thats what the majors are all about.

[MacCool]

Couple of things...

I gotta say I was thoroughly impressed with that bunker shot from Appleby in the playoff. My draw dropped; that was clutch.

[kklick]

I'm surprised that no one has really mentioned the tv coverage. I was highly disappointed in espn's coverage of the tournament. Seems they only showed about the top 5 guys the whole tournament. Now I know you show the leaders but I still like to see everyone else thats in the field as well. How many times did you see them show kenny perry hitting golf shots. What about fred funk or mark Calcavecchia? Granted they may not have played well but I'd still like to see them a little bit.

just my 2 cents