2012 Wells Fargo Championship Discussion Thread

[MEfree]

Speaking of Injuries, nice to see Mike Weir (playing under a major medical after injuring ligaments in his right elbow) in position to make his first cut of the year...his last finish inside the top 70 was almost 2 years ago and last top 10 was his first event of 2010.  His putting looks good (currently #3 in strokes gained), but he is near last in fairways hit (20%) and GIR (53%)- never been great in those stats, but those numbers aren`t going to get it done.

[k-troop]

AK hurt his wrist again?  Did he fall down the stairs at his hotel after too many tequila shots?

And it's great to see one of our own forum members tearing up a PGA Tour event.  Go Fake Webb!!

[MEfree]

Tiger needs a birdie or two coming in to make the cut.  Hit 12 of 15 greens so far, but at least one 3 putt and not a lot of makes.

Nice round so far by Watney- 7 birds and an eagle against 1 bogey with only one missed green through 15.

Glad to see Cink playing well also.

[MEfree]

Looks like I am a jinks- Weir bogied 3 of his last 4 and Cink made 2 bogies after I posted.

[brocks]

Wow, unless there's a sudden hurricane, Tiger missed the cut. Did not see this coming.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by mvmac

Tiger Woods back to competition in North Carolina this week.  He answered questions from his fans, and posted the video Monday on his website. Here’s a look at some of his responses:

> On what he’s been working on since the Masters: "At the Masters, I was kind of struggling with my ball-striking a little bit. Sean (Foley, his swing coach) and I fixed it. It had to do with posture. My setup wasn’t quite right, as well as my takeaway. I just needed to do hundreds of reps. I’m getting dialed in."

Woods also said he didn’t touch a club for the first week after returning from Augusta National but has spent the past two weeks working on his game.

> Woods said he has changed his swing over the years to alleviate stress on his left knee, which has undergone four operations. "Let’s just end it at four and have a nice, healthy happy life," he said.

> Woods said he has made an albatross twice in his career, but not in competition. One was during a practice round with former Stanford teammate Notah Begay at the Walker Cup in Wales in 1995; the other at Isleworth just two days after watching his friend Mark O’Meara make a 2 on the seventh hole.

> His favorite trophy from the majors is the Claret Jug, which is awarded to the British Open champion. "The history and what it represents," Woods said.

> Woods said the best putt he has made on the PGA TOUR was a par putt from just inside 4 feet on the final hole at the 1997 Masters, which he won by 12 shots with a record score of 270 for his first major.

"To set the record, all the history it meant at the time, to have my dad there at the back of the green," he said. "By far it was the biggest."

> Woods said he rotates between putting a 2-iron or a 5-wood in his bag. He said he generally uses a 5-wood in West Coast events but a 2-iron on the Florida swing. He said at Augusta he used a 5-wood.

"If it’s hard and fast and dry, I’ll use a 2-iron because I can chase it out there,” he said.

> Woods said he only tests clubs when he’s "hitting the ball well" because it gives him a truer gauge on the effectiveness of the equipment he’s testing.

And a few Notable Groups

Quote:

Tiger Woods/Webb Simpson/Geoff Ogilvy: Tiger Woods is a draw wherever he plays and this is his first start since he tied for 40th at the Masters. Webb Simpson actually lives in Charlotte and comes in with momentum after a tie for 13th in New Orleans. Ogilvy has only missed one cut this year but he’s still in search of his first top 10.

Rory McIlroy/Jim Furyk/David Toms: The group matches three winners of the Wells Fargo Championship Toms won the first event in 2003 while Furyk beat Trevor Immelman on the first hole of a playoff in 2006 and McIlroy closed with a phenomenal 62 to earn the title in 2010. Toms has four top-25 finishes at Quail Hollow while Furyk has six. McIlroy, the world No. 2, missed the cut in his only other appearance.

Phil Mickelson/Bill Haas/Keegan Bradley: This one matches the protagonists in the playoff at the Northern Trust Open that Haas won with a birdie on the first hole. The reigning FedExCup champ finished fourth here in 2011 for the second time in five years while Mickelson has six top-10s, including second to Rory McIlroy in 2010, and Bradley missed the cut last year in his only appearance.

Lucas Glover/Kyle Stanley/Lee Westwood: Glover is the defending champion after beating his good friend and former Clemson teammate Jonathan Byrd on the first hole of sudden death. He’s off to a slow start this season, though, after injuring a knee when he fell off a paddle board in Hawaii. Stanley won the Waste Management Phoenix open earlier this year while Westwood has three finishes of fourth or better, including a tie for third at the Masters in his last start.

What a tool - the average thesandtrap armchair swing coach could have sorted out his setup issues in about 5 minutes. Whoever said Tiger "owns his swing" is also a tool.

[Mr3Wiggle]

Originally Posted by brocks

Wow, unless there's a sudden hurricane, Tiger missed the cut. Did not see this coming.

LOL.  Poor Tiger.  Someone picked up his ball too.  What a day!

[brocks]

LOL.  Poor Tiger.  Someone picked up his ball too.  What a day!

I'd pay money to have seen Tiger's reaction to that live. You could probably have fried an egg on his forehead.

[I-league]

anyone see Keegan four put from 15 feet ? just 2 very aggressive puts going wrong and a poor 3rd put from 10 feet before tapping in.

[VOX]

In the immortal words of Seve when asked how he four putted at the Masters: "Berry seemple. I meece, I meece, I meece, I make"

[brocks]

I hate meeces to pieces. If you get the reference (Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks), you're an old fart like me.

[Ben]

Rory is TOO good!

Originally Posted by brocks

I hate meeces to pieces.

If you get the reference (Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks), you're an old fart like me.

Isn't it "I hates..." [/oldfart] :)

[brocks]

Rory is TOO good! Isn't it "I hates..." [/oldfart] :)

I think that's Popeye.

[Chas]

Apparently a spectator saw Tiger's ball end up in a tree but didn't speak up in time to prevent the free drop. Is this confirmed or just more lore ....?

[Dormie1360]

That was reported, but who knows.  He missed the cut so it really didn't make a difference.  Boy I'd love to be wrong, but I think Tiger, and some announcers, are in serious denial about the state of his game.   I continue to see things that Tiger does now that he never use to do......regardless of swing changes.  I'm beginning to think it's 90% mental at this point.  He use to contend with his "C' game.

[Chas]

I began to wonder if Tiger was playing the ball a bit farther in front of him than before (when viewed from address position, i.e. 90 deg to target line). Then a commentator suggested he was "reaching". Did anyone else notice that? Is this part of a new address posture, or are we just making it up?

[Chas]

Anyone hear Sir Nick talk about Tiger's "demons" in a piece late on Friday? Per Faldo, T has become fearful of certain situations, e.g. danger to the right side off the tee, and needs to simulate them ON THE COURSE. That is, 'Get off the range Tiger old chap!'. Any thoughts?

[Awsi Dooger]

Originally Posted by Chas

Apparently a spectator saw Tiger's ball end up in a tree but didn't speak up in time to prevent the free drop. Is this confirmed or just more lore ....?

I'd love to wager the ball got stuck in a tree or debris.

The reports of spectators seeing the ball land are not convincing. I've read comments under the related articles on GolfChannel.com from people who were on the scene and heard everything. Apparently two people claimed the ball landed but one of them changed his story to fit Russell's question -- 'Did you see the ball come to rest?" -- then a third guy belatedly agreed with their version. The guy who wrote the post is adamant that nobody saw anything definitive and it was the most outrageous decision he's ever seen.

From the TV coverage you can see the ball drop from where it initially hit high in the trees, but that hardly means it hit the ground. One spectator named Crosby apparently was the primary source for Russell's decision. But Crosby's version is laughable. He said a group of about 12 spectators rushed to the ball then took off toward another fairway and suddenly the ball was gone. That means we're supposed to believe all of them came up with the same bizarre plan at the spur of the moment and managed to not only pocket Tiger's ball but dash away despite a Tiger crowd of that size, and with people moving toward them from all directions.

Bottom line, eyewitness reports are unreliable, at best, and in this case there were only 2-3 shaky accounts, and conveniently late in the process just before Tiger was set to receive a penalty. How often is a ball pocketed in a PGA event as opposed to a ball stuck in a tree? Mark Russell may know the rules but he's obviously not an expert in applied probability.