2012 Wells Fargo Championship Discussion Thread

[carpediem4300]

Originally Posted by 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?

why would he be fearful of danger "right off the tee" when his naturally shot is right to left and he continually struggles to hit a fade hence all his practice swings being wildly OTT?

i think sir faldo is talking out his arse tbh

[Awsi Dooger]

Originally Posted by 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?

I noticed the same thing early in the week, that Tiger's hands at address seemed to be further from his legs than normal.

[MEfree]

Originally Posted by Awsi Dooger

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.

Only speculation, but I doubt either happens very often.  Agree with you if the question is how often does a ball that goes into a tree get pocketed when few people in Tiger`s gallery see it land.

Originally Posted by carpediem4300

why would he be fearful of danger "right off the tee" when his naturally shot is right to left and he continually struggles to hit a fade hence all his practice swings being wildly OTT?

i think sir faldo is talking out his arse tbh

I thought Tiger was playing a fade more this year with his bad shots in the past mainly being blocks (right) when he got stuck.

Looking at Tiger`s stats for 2012 coming into this week, his right and left tendency were both 50%- a possible indication that he doesn`t know which way he is going to miss it.

Luke Donald saw a big improvement in his play when he mostly eliminated one side of the golf course going from 48.8/51.5 (low 90s in both categories) in 2009 to 55.6/44.4 (168th and 18th) in 2011.  The reverse for Tiger- in 2009, when he won $10 M with 6 wins and 14 top 10s in 17 events, he was 37.2% left (6th) and 62.8% right (179th).  So it seems he has gone from missing mostly to the right and playing well to missing both ways and not playing as good.

Although likely to drop after this week, the rest of Tigers stats are numbers that most pros would be happy with- #1 in scoring, 2 in total driving, 3rd all around, 12th in $

[Chas]

Originally Posted by MEfree

I thought Tiger was playing a fade more this year with his bad shots in the past mainly being blocks (right) when he got stuck.

Looking at Tiger`s stats for 2012 coming into this week, his right and left tendency were both 50%- a possible indication that he doesn`t know which way he is going to miss it.

Good points, both.  Anyway, Nick was just speculating of course.  He says that by all acounts (reliable sources according to him) TW is striping it on the range, he just can't take it to the course. Sound familiar ..... ?

[not me of course, I don't exactly 'stripe' it anywhere, not with any regularity. Think "cancellation of errors".]

There's a lot that's going right with Tiger's game.  Must be frustrating not quite to have it all together at the moment.

[DocWu1948]

Whether Tiger's ball got stolen or is still up there in a tree, I was surprised to read in a golf magazine earlier this month that the ball-moves-after-address penalty still applies unless the wind did it.

I thought they had "fixed" that rule, Then I chuckled when I see that Moore thought along the same lines  and he thought he should have gotten a break when his putt moved. Alas, one stroke behind because gravity moved the ball. Now that's bad luck when it involve a half million dollars.

[michaeljames92]

Apparently Geoff Ogilvy thinks he's hitting it ok.

From : http://www.weiunderpar.com/post/tigers-strange-day-the-curious-case-of-the-loststolen-ball

Quote:

Tiger’s ballstriking wasn’t horrible. He hit his driver decently on Friday, but his long irons were awful and his putting arguably worse.

Geoff Ogilvy, who was paired with Tiger for the first two rounds, along with Webb Simpson, felt that Tiger was actually playing well and would have been five- or-six-under had he putted “just OK.”

“He hit four or five pretty loose shots off the tee and that one at five but if he holed putts, he’d be in contention,” said Ogilvy, who also couldn’t get the ball to drop. “Well, he wouldn’t be out of the tournament if he made putts.

“I think he’s actually hitting it pretty good. That sounds ridiculous. He hit a lot of really good drivers. Unbelievable drive down 10 to start the day. I think he’s doing a lot of good stuff. If he tells you he’s close, I think he’s actually right.

[Chilli Dipper]

It should be an entertaining final day. There are ten very good players within four shots of the lead, and what strikes me is how not one of these guys plays the game in a way that's similar to any of the others.

[k-troop]

We'll see if Webb can hold it together today.  It seems that he coasted in yesterday, hitting several save swings over the last six holes.  It is definitely a fun leaderboard, though:  Cink, Rory, Webb, Watney, Fowler, Moore.

[Chas]

I noticed the same thing early in the week, that Tiger's hands at address seemed to be further from his legs than normal.

So that makes three of us, at least. Tx for describing his new address much better than I, and in far fewer words. Well, we'll have to wait for the Players for further observation. Looking for a good day's goff at the Wells Fargo today. I've got no dog in it really but would be nice to see a run by the big guy from The Ranch (aka RSF).

[I-league]

it doesn't look that we are gonna get our dream Rory vs Rickie finish

[brocks]

it doesn't look that we are gonna get our dream Rory vs Rickie finish :tumble:

Maybe you spoke too soon; it's shaping up nicely now. I kind of hope Ricky Bieber wins, just so I can stop grinding my teeth when people talk about how great he is.

[I-league]

Originally Posted by brocks

Maybe you spoke too soon; it's shaping up nicely now. I kind of hope Ricky Bieber wins, just so I can stop grinding my teeth when people talk about how great he is.

I sure did speak too soon. Play off time. Rickie + Rory + D.A

[Zwick]

Did Points mark his ball on the fringe there on 18? Looked like it to me.

Kinda shocked that Rory missed that putt, I was sure he would bury it.

[brocks]

Did Points mark his ball on the fringe there on 18? Looked like it to me.

I just backed up the DVR, and it sure looks like it to me, too. But since it's extremely likely that even if Points had a brain fart, his caddie, or Rory, or Rory's caddie, or somebody in the gallery, or somebody in the booth would have said something, I have to assume that the fringe isn't where we think it is.

[topspin4hand]

I'd like to hear Deasy's thoughts on this. He has ripped Fowler on more than one occasion, plus Ricky beat Rory to boot.

Very entertaining finish.

[Zwick]

Nice first win for Fowler, that second shot was really nice.

(I just hope the hype doesn't skyrocket even more...)

[iPutt]

Congratz to Ricky for his first win, I can't say why exactly but I've always pulled for him. He really seems like a nice guy.

His girlfriend is also quite attractive.....just saying

[CallawayGolf25]

Originally Posted by brocks

I just backed up the DVR, and it sure looks like it to me, too. But since it's extremely likely that even if Points had a brain fart, his caddie, or Rory, or Rory's caddie, or somebody in the gallery, or somebody in the booth would have said something, I have to assume that the fringe isn't where we think it is.

There was a different mow line around the edge of the green over by where his ball was, the light was just catching the grass differently... Could it have just been that?

Great win by Fowler... great approach!