2012 Honda Classic Discussion Thread

[mtsalmela80]

You are the one who said it was part of his strategy to play poorly.

Originally Posted by brocks

Have some coffee.

[brocks]

You are the one who said it was part of his strategy to play poorly.

And you're the one who took it seriously.

[mtsalmela80]

I'm glad it was meant to be a joke.

Originally Posted by brocks

And you're the one who took it seriously.

[brocks]

Play has resumed. I don't think Tiger can make up nine shots on Rory, but he's going for it. He just busted his drive 340 on the par-5 3rd, on a drenched fairway. Hit his second to 27 feet, and drained the putt for eagle. I would really, really like to believe that the fact that he's first in driving distance this week will make the idiots shut up. I'm talking about the guys who say his poor play was caused by the PGA instituting drug testing, so Tiger had to get off the steroids. I would like to believe that, but I know it's just wishful thinking.

[Chilli Dipper]

The weather isn't looking that great today, and we know that McIlroy has yet to learn how to play well in windy conditions. Anyone who planned to treat today as a coronation may want to prepare a back-up plan.

[brocks]

Another birdie for Tiger, now three under through 5, tied for 9th.

[k-troop]

Originally Posted by brocks

Another birdie for Tiger, now three under through 5, tied for 9th.

He needs to shoot 60 to win.  Obviously it's possible.  Will be interesting if he gets to 7 or 8 on the front, within striking distance.  Then we'll see which Tiger we've got.

[Chilli Dipper]

Charl Schwartzel is 2-under for his first three holes. He can definitely shoot five shots better than Rory on a day like this. He did last April.

[brocks]

He needs to shoot 60 to win.  Obviously it's possible.  Will be interesting if he gets to 7 or 8 on the front, within striking distance.  Then we'll see which Tiger we've got.

Obviously he has to go for every pin, and in this wind, and with all the water around, that's a recipe for disaster. I doubt even the old Tiger could hit a risky shot on every hole without paying for it. But so far, he's having a great ball striking day, and a pretty good putting day. He just missed another birdie by an inch. And today, instead of putting from 25 feet for most of them, he's putting from inside of 10. Edit: and he just made another birdie on 7. Now tied for 6th. But that little bastard Rory just sank a 13-footer to save par. This may get really good, but Rory has to cooperate with a slice into a watery grave.

[brocks]

Charl Schwartzel is 2-under for his first three holes. He can definitely shoot five shots better than Rory on a day like this. He did last April.

Schwartzel is the only guy ahead of Tiger who's under par for the day, but they've only played a few holes. Rory made a really good par save on 2. And watch out for Westwood; he's -4 through 8. Update: Schwartzel just put one in the water.

[jhwmusic]

If they do it the way they usually do it, they'll just show recorded coverage at the scheduled time. Of course, this is not a typical weekend. As far as I know, this weekend was the first time they were showing live action on two different networks (Golf Channel was showing the Bear Trap while its big brother NBC was showing regular coverage) for a non-major, so I guess they'll have to show tape delay on both. The new tee times make no sense to me. OK, they're trying to miss the thunderstorms. But the [url=http://tourreport.pgatour.com/2012/03/03/sunday-times-moved-up/]article[/url] that announces the new tee times says they expect the storms at noon, which will be right smack in the middle of the leaders' round. So why not start play at 6:50, like they did Thursday and Friday, instead of 8:30?

Yeah, and predicting the weather in Florida is like guessing how many blades of grass make up the Bear Trap!

[brocks]

Yeah, and predicting the weather in Florida is like guessing how many blades of grass make up the Bear Trap!

It worked out very well; the weather delay offset the early start, so now we get to watch it live.

[jhwmusic]

I see Tiger is wearing the the black shoes again. Last time he wore those was at the Chevron and he changed back to the white ones at the turn. He probably made Nike design him a "play better" pair. Looks a lot better than the white with the black pants.

[jhwmusic]

It worked out very well; the weather delay offset the early start, so now we get to watch it live.

ahh...that explains it. Didn't realize there was a delay. I was just wondering why Rory was only on 3 and was supposed to tee off 1030 EST TIGER IS LOOKING GOOD! Probably not good enough to win but its gonna be fun to watch if he keeps it up.

[brocks]

TIGER IS LOOKING GOOD! Probably not good enough to win but its gonna be fun to watch if he keeps it up.

If Rory was the only guy he had to beat, I'd be more optimistic. But Schwartzel, Bradley, Westwood, and Rose are all in there. Hard to see all four of them, plus Rory, cooperating. I bet some friends, a month or so ago, that Tiger's first win would be at Doral. I'm feeling pretty good about collecting on that. But considering the conditions, Tiger just played his best nine holes since last year's Masters. Maybe even better, because he is putting on a driving clinic. He's hitting a lot of drivers today, and they have all been really long, and in the fairway. His only missed fairway was with an iron. I didn't look at the players before him, but unless I missed one, his drive on 3 was at least 30 yards longer than everybody who played after him.

[jamo]

TIGER IS LOOKING GOOD! Probably not good enough to win but its gonna be fun to watch if he keeps it up.

He could/should be a couple strokes lower too. A few really tough lip outs.

[jhwmusic]

He could/should be a couple strokes lower too. A few really tough lip outs.

I saw that...he could have shot 29 if those two went in. He also had a couple classic slow motion "Fu$k Me!" replays. I love it!

[brocks]

He could/should be a couple strokes lower too. A few really tough lip outs.

[quote name="jhwmusic" url="/t/55694/2012-honda-classic-discussion-thread/90#post_685329"] I saw that...he could have shot 29 if those two went in. He also had a couple classic slow motion "Fu$k Me!" replays. I love it! [/quote] LOL, he got robbed on those, but the golf gods just made it up to him. He made birdie on a hole where he was very lucky his approach didn't spin back into the water. He's now four back of Rory, who just shortsided himself. One gust of wind in the Bear Trap might decide this.