2012 Memorial Tournament Presented by Nationwide Insurance Discussion Thread

[luu5]

Originally Posted by cruzthepug

Along with the fatigue he said that the way he's playing is non-productive for his preparation for the US Open. Sure he had a bad round and he thinks Friday would be more of the same, but he needs to suck it up. Anyone else would get reemed by the media, but since Phil is such a nice guy he gets a pass, bull $hit.

But why should he care?

[Yukari]

That's just a load of crap!  If Tiger did that, he would be burned at the stake by the media and the fans. (I hope you were joking--can't tell on the internet)

Originally Posted by brocks

I don't know, but it may establish one. The top players today all focus on the majors, and the other events are just preparation for them, so it makes perfect sense to cut short what is essentially a practice session that is not going well. Phil will probably be scouting Olympic within a few days.

I keep saying that majors are much harder to win now than when Jack was playing, because Jack was one of only a very few players who built his whole schedule around the majors. Now they all do it. This is the next logical step in the trend.

I hope everybody heard Phil's interview after the round, where he made it clear that he's not withdrawing simply because he shot himself out of the tournament today. He said it's more than that; he's also fatigued because he's just back from a vacation in France and Italy. If resting up from a vacation isn't a legitimate reason for a WD, I don't know what is.

[Yukari]

Yup! (Thursday's round--from Golf.com)

Toughest Hole

Hole 18 444 yards / par 4

11

Double Bogeys +

31

Bogeys

6

Birdies

0

Eagles +

Originally Posted by bplewis24

Looks like 18 is derailing a lot of potentially good rounds so far.  Tiger and Luke found it tough earlier, and I saw Adam Scott was on fire before getting to 18.

Brandon

[Aquaguru]

Originally Posted by Zwick

More important: Heavy rain at the Memorial this this night (according to GC's Sobel), that will bring down the scores a bit. I bet we see some 65's today (hopefully from Woods, McIlroy and Donald).

Here in Cincinnati, 90 miles away from the course it rained all night and is still spitting a bit in the morning.  Haven't heard anything about the weather or course but the rain did come.

[Aquaguru]

OK quick update.  Looks like play got started with no delay.  Stenson and Barnes have come out to low rounds to start off early, -3 and -2 thru 6

[RonTheSavage]

Whats wrong with playing his round today and just missing the cut? I read this morning on Stephanie Wei's blog that Phil quit because of how unorganized the tournament is. Patrons behind the ropes talking on cell phones near the tee boxes and the marshalls not doing anything about it. Bubba mentioned the same thing about cell phones in his post round interview.

[RonTheSavage]

Originally Posted by xxsoultonesxx

Sounds like Phil has a mean case of the f*ck its.

Absolutely Hilarious!

[Motley01]

I totally agree. You and everybody here who plays golf. Have had a bad case of the FU** ITs.

Give the guy a break, he's been the most comsement professional out there for the last 20 years.

And the fans taking photos with their cell phones bothered him also.

Ban cell phones at the tournaments, problem solved.

[brocks]

Play was suspended at about 9:30 AM local time. They had heavy rain overnight, and thunderstorms are a threat until early afternoon. They just put out a projection that play will resume at 11:30 EDT. Conspiracy theorists will note that a two-hour delay allows the live TV coverage to begin five minutes before Tiger tees off.

[k-troop]

Originally Posted by Motley01

I totally agree. You and everybody here who plays golf. Have had a bad case of the FU** ITs.

Give the guy a break, he's been the most comsement professional out there for the last 20 years.

And the fans taking photos with their cell phones bothered him also.

Ban cell phones at the tournaments, problem solved.

Yeah, and Eli Manning should be able to walk off of the field in Dallas if he gets tired of the fans booing him.

That's a bunch of crap.  I agree that the Tour needs to do a better job of policing unruly fans, and the mashed potatoes garbage is out of control.  But this is still a gentleman's game--you don't quit because you're having a bad day.  He has made a bazillion dollars playing golf because of those fans.  They went to Ohio to see him.  Plus, it's Jack's tournament (has Jack commented on this?).  Suck it up.  I'm soooooo sorry that you're too mentally exhausted to play another round of golf, Phil.  Try giving lessons to fat tourists in Scottsdale for 15 hours a day--see how refreshed you feel after that.

[k-troop]

Originally Posted by luu5

Mental health/fatigue is comparable to physical health/fatigue. What golf is about?

That sounds like some of the whining I hear from my Soldiers.  Golf is a game of honor.  We call penalties on ourselves (where applicable), and we don't quit just because we're having a hard time of it.

Don't get me wrong--I love Phil.  It's probably the fact that I am such a Phil fan that I find this so repulsive.

[Motley01]

Oh come on man, chill out.

All the pros do it. How many times did Tiger walk off the course?

How many times did John Daly walk of the course?

How many times did Anthony Kim walk off the course?

How many times did Brandel Chamblee walk of the course?

There are way more others that have done it. Why bash on Phil?

Oh wait, since your in the miltary, you have a much higher standard. You've NEVER had a bad day?

[k-troop]

Originally Posted by Motley01

Oh come on man, chill out.

All the pros do it. How many times did Tiger walk off the course?

How many times did John Daly walk of the course?

How many times did Anthony Kim walk off the course?

How many times did Brandel Chamblee walk of the course?

There are way more others that have done it. Why bash on Phil?

When Tiger did it, I bashed him too.  And I got dog-piled by most of the forum for it.  I still think it's BS.  As for the rest of your list:  not exactly a who's who of golf role models.

[Aquaguru]

I'm a little surprised about the way the fans are acting.  I know in previous years they did not allow cell phones in during tournament rounds.  One thing that may have contributed to the unsettled crowds is that Fowler was in that group.  With Fowler there are so many little kids (boys and girls) that want to see him.  Most of the time these younger kids (8-15yrs) have a hard time sitting still.

I was up there for Weds practice round and have never seen more Puma clothes and flat billed hats in my life.  I will be going back up Sunday and if Rickie is in contention its going to be crazy for his group.

IMO I think the Marshalls should just throw these people out who are causing a disturbance.  The Memorial has designated phone areas where patrons can go if they need to make a call.  If people can't follow a simple rule like that then just throw them out.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by RonTheSavage

Whats wrong with playing his round today and just missing the cut? I read this morning on Stephanie Wei's blog that Phil quit because of how unorganized the tournament is. Patrons behind the ropes talking on cell phones near the tee boxes and the marshalls not doing anything about it. Bubba mentioned the same thing about cell phones in his post round interview.

Bubba is +5 and didn't quit.  So it's not simply the cell phones.  And I doubt this is the first tournament Phil has been a part of that had a large gallery following him that wasn't as orderly as they should have been.

Judging by the comments here, it's apparent that the first poster to broach the subject was right: Phil is getting a pass on this because people like him.  Tiger withdraws citing injury and he's bashed by a good % of people.  Phil withdraws citing needing to prepare for the US Open and mental fatigue, and now the patrons are at fault for making him uncomfortable.  The double-standard is pathetic.

If he has some family issues that he's dealing with or something along those lines, I could understand it.  But he needs to vocalize it (and yes, him and the Tour have a responsibility to the fans for him to do so...people pay specifically to see him play).  If we take him at his word and assume there is nothing else going on, then it creates a slippery slope where people don't need to have a good reason to withdraw.  And comparing mental fatigue to physical ailments is so laughable as to not take people seriously.

Brandon

[RonTheSavage]

The PGA Tour did a nice fan friendly thing and allowed cell phones at events. And the casual fan screwed it up for the rest of us. Im sure this subject is going to be revisited in the near future. Im going to Thursdays round of the US Open, and when my tickets were mailed to me the first thing I noticed was the bold letters reading cell phones and PDA's will not be allowed on the grounds. Kinda sucks but now more than ever I understand why.

Oh and Phil deserves the same amount of bashing that Tiger received when he walked off the course recently. He actually deserves more becasue his excuse was so lame. Jacks tournament dosen't matter so Im out......PEACE!

LAME

[brocks]

Judging by the comments here, it's apparent that the first poster to broach the subject was right: Phil is getting a pass on this because people like him.  Tiger withdraws citing injury and he's bashed by a good % of people.  Phil withdraws citing needing to prepare for the US Open and mental fatigue, and now the patrons are at fault for making him uncomfortable.  The double-standard is pathetic.

Hard to disagree with anything in your post. The only thing I can say in Phil's favor is that he truly must be extremely mentally fatigued, because he is normally very media savvy, and he's making himself sound like a huge jerk by saying he's withdrawing from Jack's tournament so he can concentrate on the US Open. I wouldn't have believed he was capable of such discourtesy to one of the game's icons.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by k-troop

He should be suspended from the tour. No reason to quit from a tournament unless you're physically unable to play. It's totally unsportsmanlike and contrary to what golf is about.

Gimme a friggin' break. He's mentally unable to play . I have no problem with him WDing. He's WDed something like 3 times in 450+ Tour events.

It'd be more unsportsmanlike for him to continue to whack it around, shoot 83, distract Rickie and Bubba in doing so, etc.

I'm not a huge Phil fan and I have absolutely no problem with this whatsoever.

I didn't bash Tiger for WDing either. At the end of the day they're all still independent contractors. They don't owe anything to the fans or "to golf," so long as they're aware of the fact that they might lose fans for their actions.