Choke or not???

[TN94z]

After this weekends problems by Dustin Johnson, all I have heard is how he had the biggest choke ever and it was a monumental collapse. My question is, what do you guys consider a choke? For example, Dustin Johnson, would it have been classified a choke had he done the exact same thing from the 6th position or so? Why is it a choke when you drop strokes while leading, but it is just a bad day when you drop the strokes from 6th position? Not to mention that we are talking about Pebble here, where dropping 4 or 5 strokes is not that uncommon on a bad stretch of holes. Anyway, I was just curious what you guys thought about this.

[golfro]

After this weekends problems by Dustin Johnson, all I have heard is how he had the biggest choke ever and it was a monumental collapse. My question is, what do you guys consider a choke? For example, Dustin Johnson, would it have been classified a choke had he done the exact same thing from the 6th position or so? Why is it a choke when you drop strokes while leading, but it is just a bad day when you drop the strokes from 6th position? Not to mention that we are talking about Pebble here, where dropping 4 or 5 strokes is not that uncommon on a bad stretch of holes. Anyway, I was just curious what you guys thought about this.

i'd call it a choke when you go from -6 to playing 11 over and finishing +5 on the next day... it's a choke because he collapsed (choked) under the pressure of being lead. He played an absolute miserable game on Sunday. He epitomized the definition of choke.

[BallStriker]

It happens....remember 2005 at Pinehurst when Goosen and Gore both shot 80+ in the final pairing? The fact is that a US Open course is set up to penalize minor mistakes....DJ made a couple mistakes early and it got away from him...just tough to retain focus after a triple/double.

I don't buy into the garbage from the talking heads that he will never recover from this....his game is very, very solid, and I see very big things for him in the future.

[DavidFehertysBike]

Not a choke, no. A collapse maybe, but not a choke. Its not garuntee that Johnson would have won the tournament with the way the course was playing. It was a clean win by McDowell, IMO.

[TN94z]

i'd call it a choke when you go from -6 to playing 11 over and finishing +5 on the next day... it's a choke because he collapsed (choked) under the pressure of being lead. He played an absolute miserable game on Sunday. He epitomized the definition of choke.

Okay, if he had done the exact same thing from the 6th or even 10th position, would it have been a choke? Or do you think it was a choke just because he was in the lead? How do we know it was the pressure that got him and not just the difficulty of the course? Because it seems to me that other than McDowell and Havret, no one was really playing that great.

[golfro]

Okay, if he had done the exact same thing from the 6th or even 10th position, would it have been a choke? Or do you think it was a choke just because he was in the lead? How do we know it was the pressure that got him and not just the difficulty of the course? Because it seems to me that other than McDowell and Havret, no one was really playing that great.

It could be both. Nobody knows for sure but heres my take on his last round.

He was in a great position, in lead by 3 strokes over McDowell. In the final round, Dustin Johnson started thinking too much. He questioned his game. His shots were all over the place. Sure, nobody was playing great but this is Johnson's course! He's won twice already at Pebble and albeit its not setup the same, I expected much more out of it and thought I saw it on Saturday but man I was wrong. I think Sunday came along and he was determined but instead of steering that determination and playing with confidence, he questioned his game and his nerves got to him. I agree with BallStriker, it happens all the time but I personally was particularly dissapointed by Dustin Johnson because he was the shine of light throughout the abismal golfing that was US Open round 1 and 2. While everyone was playing like crap, Dustin Johnson seemed to obliterate the course and finish strong round 3 with -6. It was honestly tough to watch him just butcher up hole after hole on Sunday. Felt bad for the guy.

[kafka01]

Lets just call it a deviation from his normal game and when your trouble already starts at the teebox (e.g. some commentators noticed that he was overswinging a bit compared to the way he swung before) you can kiss the rest of your game goodbye.

But he will figure it and wont repeat the error next or maybe overnext time. And people saying that he is finished cuz of that - come on, we all make mistakes, but that doesnt mean we throw the towel and hide for the rest of our lives - we work harder to make it back.

[Rugger]

If DJ didn't choke yesterday, there's no such thing as a choke.

[MSDOGS1976]

It's all a matter of semantics. Some say choke, others will simply say the 'pressure' got to him. Basically the same thing. But it's not the end of the world for him. He's young and has plenty of time to mature and learn how to handle pressure. He's proven he can handle it a regular tournament. Just has to learn to do it in a major.

[elvis14]

I hate to say it because I was really rooting for him and and he seems like a pretty good kid but DJ flat out choked yesterday. I hope he shakes it off and plays great going forward. Wow can he hit it a ton!

[mrmiller8]

You cant choke on a course that caused pros to shoot in the 80's all week.....

[BallStriker]

You cant choke on a course that caused pros to shoot in the 80's all week.....

I think this hits the nail on the head......as for a "choke," see Robert Garrigus

[DavidFehertysBike]

I hate to say it because I was really rooting for him and and he seems like a pretty good kid but DJ flat out choked yesterday. I hope he shakes it off and plays great going forward. Wow can he hit it a ton!

I dont think he did, he just had a bad round in brutal playing condiditons. If he had a 3 or 4 stroke lead with 4 holes to play and then perform the way he did, then you could say he choked. Choking is having a tournament in the bag and then giving it up. In no way did DJ control that tournament with just a 3 stroke lead on a day where the course was playing well over par.

[soup]

I think what Johnson did is the exact definintion of a choke. Multiple shot lead and you shoot 82, while everyone else is shooting 74 and 75?

Now, had Dustin Johnson shot 69, but Graeme went out and shot 65 to beat him by a shot - that's not really a choke. Dustin had to shoot 76 to win.

At least Dustin got it over with quickly.

[Deryck Griffith]

I dont think he did, he just had a bad round in brutal playing condiditons. If he had a 3 or 4 stroke lead with 4 holes to play and then perform the way he did, then you could say he choked. Choking is having a tournament in the bag and then giving it up. In no way did DJ control that tournament with just a 3 stroke lead on a day where the course was playing well over par.

It's not a choke. It's a high level tournament with high level conditions in which the leader struggled and lost. End of story.

[Elsfan]

Actually it was worse. If he had a three shot lead and threw up all over himself starting at hole number fifteen that would have been a choke. However he prematurely choked and couldn't handle even the first few holes that were by far the easiest on the course. Many questioned whether his swing would hold up under major pressure. He might disappear for a while and I definitely wouldn't be surprised to not see name on a leader board for a while.

Dustin choked the hardest but Tiger, Ernie, and Phil borderline choked themselves.

[BallStriker]

Tiger, Ernie, and Phil borderline choked themselves.

Wow...tough crowd....I think it needs to be said that if Ernie Els shoots a 70 to win at -1, you could make an argument that McDowell's round was just than PMick, Ernie and Tiger (and in fact, it was worse than PMick and Easy)

I don't think anyone choked......its the US Freakin Open....

[James_Black]

Actually it was worse. If he had a three shot lead and threw up all over himself starting at hole number fifteen that would have been a choke. However he prematurely choked and couldn't handle even the first few holes that were by far the easiest on the course. Many questioned whether his swing would hold up under major pressure. He might disappear for a while and I definitely wouldn't be surprised to not see name on a leader board for a while.

It depends on what you call a choke.

Is a choke shooting just over par on an impossible course? how many people finished under par for the 4 days? on that last day only 5 people shot a round under par on sunday. The course was just too hard, Gmac only finished level par for the week.