Superstar Field at Abu Dhabi This Week

[bruce]

12a.m in ca.Man i'm looking forward to this.

[brocks]

12a.m in ca.Man i'm looking forward to this.

Me too. Don't want to jinx him, but I just dozed off while watching the TGC promo of tonight's match, and dreamed that he took a big divot and popped up his first tee shot.

[mcfc_nick]

errrrmmm....its 3.30am here and im up watching it, so you can all shush! ;)

[jhwmusic]

And we're off!!! so excited for this!

[mcfc_nick]

solid....ish par

[mcfc_nick]

wow, JD's trying to rock a new look

[mcfc_nick]

birdie #1 of 2012 didnt take long for tiger or rory

[mcfc_nick]

he's looking ominous

[bplewis24]

Rory started shaky but obviously looking sharp now.  Tiger looking sharp tee-to-green, but just missed two very makeable birdie putts.

Brandon

[Beachcomber]

Rory just came back down to planet earth.

[Chilli Dipper]

Thank you, Golf Channel, for ruining my DVR by bumping the overnight airing of School of Golf I had set on record.

[Zwick]

Tiger is driving the ball very well so far, but he can't get the short irons and wedges close enough. Rory and Donald look both a bit ordinary today so far.

And well...they don't show any other players on Sky

[WWBDD]

Rory's playing his third shot out of somebody's martini ... hope he has a club for that.

[WWBDD]

Originally Posted by Zwick

And well...they don't show any other players on Sky

It's mostly Rory, Luke and Tiger on TGC too.

[jhwmusic]

I wish I had giant hospitality structures behind the greens at my course to deflect balls back towards the greens and keep them in bounds. If that wasn't there rory's ball would have been in the parking lot. He gets a free drop and now he has a 4 foot putt for birdie. I wonder how many strokes are saved on the PGA Tour from balls hitting spectators, grandstands, hospitality areas etc.. That just might be my first thread that I start.

[WWBDD]

Originally Posted by jhwmusic

I wish I had giant hospitality structures behind the greens at my course to deflect balls back towards the greens and keep them in bounds. If that wasn't there rory's ball would have been in the parking lot. He gets a free drop and now he has a 4 foot putt for birdie. I wonder how many strokes are saved on the PGA Tour from balls hitting spectators, grandstands, hospitality areas etc.. That just might be my first thread that I start.

In this case I agree ... Rory got a break, but often they are playing into much smaller areas around the greens than normal because much of it is roped off for the gallery.

[bplewis24]

Other than the 2nd (11th) hole, Tiger has been poor with the putter.  Just missed about a 3 footer for birdie on the 18th green (his 9th hole).

Brandon

[jhwmusic]

In this case I agree ... Rory got a break, but often they are playing into much smaller areas around the greens than normal because much of it is roped off for the gallery.

But that roped off area is still inbounds and the trouble areas would be behind the spectators...so I am unclear as what your point is. What I am saying is that players "occasionally" benefit from big crowds and structures that wouldn't be there if they were playing these courses any other time. Yea there are "smaller areas" but there is also backstops that keep their ball in play. Players with the biggest crowds, ie Tiger, Phil definitely save a few shots here and there on the tight courses because there is a wall of 15,000 fans surrounding the entire permitter of the hole. Balls that would normally go deep into the trees or into a hazard sometimes get stopped by some spectator's forehead. Phil probably benefits from this more than any player. So if you think about it, these popular players have a slight advantage. Just sayin