2012 AT&T National at Congressional Country Club Discussion Thread

[Double Bogey]

Originally Posted by B-Con

Video of Tiger's 9-iron shot around the tree:[if IE]>

[Zwick]

This guy right behind the tree was very lucky that the shaft didn't snap. That could have hit him right in the face. I can't believe he stood there.

[walk18]

That 9 iron shot is just another example of why it doesn't matter that "the new generation is so good today and they're not intimidated by Tiger". He wins because he is able to hit shots that other golfers simply can't, and he does it when it matters most.

[newtogolf]

They spectators were warned numerous times, even by Tiger, who told them the last time he had a shot like this he snapped the iron.  There are a lot of stupid people out there.

Originally Posted by Zwick

This guy right behind the tree was very lucky that the shaft didn't snap. That could have hit him right in the face. I can't believe he stood there.

[zipazoid]

Originally Posted by walk18

That 9 iron shot is just another example of why it doesn't matter that "the new generation is so good today and they're not intimidated by Tiger". He wins because he is able to hit shots that other golfers simply can't, and he does it when it matters most.

And he has the balls to do it. Anything could have happened on that shot - snapped club, injury, being impaled by the shaft, etc.

Far as intimidation (or lack thereof), he can still make Brendan DeJonge & Bo Van Pent wilt. I mean, that was just a 'trademark' final round Tiger played. He & Van Pelt battled back & forth, but down the stretch Tiger was nails. The exception was 16 when Tiger got a little too frisky with his approach. But what did Van Pelt do with the opening Tiger gave him? Fanned the pitch shot. So you can't make me believe that Van Pelt didn't get intimidated by the situation.

But again, Tiger's final round was just solid. Virtually every putt had a chance to go in, the irons were sharp. So yeah, maybe he's lost some of the 'intimidation factor' in that some players aren't as much in awe of him as they once were, but to me that's almost a moot point. If Tiger keeps posting 68s on Sundays when he's at or near the lead, that will be intimidating enough to register wins.

[newtogolf]

I knew Van Pelt was done on 15 when he hit his shot close to the pin and Tiger drained his putt from far away.  Van Pelt thought he'd be 1 up after 15 but when Tiger drained it you could see it in Van Pelt's face, he knew he playing for 2nd place.

Originally Posted by zipazoid

And he has the balls to do it. Anything could have happened on that shot - snapped club, injury, being impaled by the shaft, etc.

Far as intimidation (or lack thereof), he can still make Brendan DeJonge & Bo Van Pent wilt. I mean, that was just a 'trademark' final round Tiger played. He & Van Pelt battled back & forth, but down the stretch Tiger was nails. The exception was 16 when Tiger got a little too frisky with his approach. But what did Van Pelt do with the opening Tiger gave him? Fanned the pitch shot. So you can't make me believe that Van Pelt didn't get intimidated by the situation.

But again, Tiger's final round was just solid. Virtually every putt had a chance to go in, the irons were sharp. So yeah, maybe he's lost some of the 'intimidation factor' in that some players aren't as much in awe of him as they once were, but to me that's almost a moot point. If Tiger keeps posting 68s on Sundays when he's at or near the lead, that will be intimidating enough to register wins.

[zeg]

Originally Posted by zipazoid

And he has the balls to do it. Anything could have happened on that shot - snapped club, injury, being impaled by the shaft, etc.

Yep. In some ways it was a peculiar decision, I think. I'd have thought he could have had nearly as good a result with much less of a swing on that one, and as things turned out he could have spared a stroke. Of course, Monday morning backseat quarterbacking is easy, but it was quite a risk. On the other hand, Tiger knows better than we do what shots are risky for him, and he seemed to be pretty comfortable with it.

Personally, I got a bit worried when he went to the crowd and warned them that his iron could snap just before he settled in for his shot. I guess that's one more difference between Tiger and me---if I visualized that well enough to realize it was a serious risk, I would never get the image out of my head and I'd top the shot. Probably backwards.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by crayputter

Tiger needs another 200 points to get to no 1. I am thinking this event would offer about 40 plus points. I doubt Greenbrier would offer more than 40 (last year it offered only 30 plus points)....so he needs to win a major (or two) or win at least 1 major and another 2 big events (WGC, etc..) to be no 1 again. I did the math, and if Tiger won the next 3 events he is entered for ( Greenbrier, Open, WGC Bridgestone ) he will be at around 11 points and back to no 1...

Not necessarily. The other guys can fall back a little.

Originally Posted by colin007

Erik, you don't think he was swinging out of his shoes a few times? I'm not saying the whole tournament but more than once?

When your swing is in better shape, what's the problem with that? His "swinging hard" during the Haney years only got him into trouble because he was in lousy positions and thus hit lousy shots. If you're in better positions and swinging better, you can let it fly without much regard for where it's going. Look at his tee shot on 18. 40 yards past Bo Van Pelt, and when he needed it (as a birdie by BVP would have tied him again). And that despite not hitting the driver particularly well all day.

Originally Posted by zipazoid

Far as intimidation (or lack thereof), he can still make Brendan DeJonge & Bo Van Pent wilt. I mean, that was just a 'trademark' final round Tiger played. He & Van Pelt battled back & forth, but down the stretch Tiger was nails. The exception was 16 when Tiger got a little too frisky with his approach. But what did Van Pelt do with the opening Tiger gave him? Fanned the pitch shot. So you can't make me believe that Van Pelt didn't get intimidated by the situation.

Yeah. I think that ball bounced a LOT - from 98 yards that ball should sit down pretty quickly but it bounced hard, but so what - Tiger should have played five yards shorter. Anyway, I imagine that BVP felt he had to knock his pitch to stone dead for birdie because he probably thought Tiger would make par or even hole out (hey, he did from a worse spot at Memorial). He wasn't so much intimidated by the Tiger Woods of current as much as the Tiger Woods highlight reel. The funny thing is, Tiger rarely needs to make those highlight reel shots - there really aren't THAT many of them - because the guys think about them so much that they flub their shots and Tiger can even BOGEY and still win the damn tournament.

So BVP feels he has to make birdie just to barely lead Tiger - maybe not even that - and he gets too cute trying to be perfect that he flubs it. In reality, all he really needed was a 20-footer. Tiger intimidates by making others think they have to be perfect and then when they can't be, they screw up. THAT is how Tiger intimidates.

BTW, I thought this was a funny line:

[dsc123]

I just got my cable back today so I didn't see anything that happened on Saturday, but I was there on Sunday.  Glad I can check "Seeing Tiger Woods win a golf tournament" off my bucket list.

I've actually never been to a tournament before and it was waaay cooler than I expected.  Its amazing how close you get to these guys.  Especially if you don't follow Tiger, then nobody's around.

[Jimdangles]

I know its probably not a big deal but what if tigers 9i did break on the tree shot and he was forced to use a less comfortable club on 18s approach. Do you think it would have changed things? Tiger would have been swinging a choked up 8i or a 110 percent pitch? There is a chance it could have changed the outcome.

But I think what may have been the most impressive (almost inspiring) part of sunday for tiger was the clutch driver on 18. He had pulled it on I think every drive of the day and he knows he has to put it in the fairway for the W and does so with authority. Really cool.

[Beachcomber]

Originally Posted by Jimdangles

I know its probably not a big deal but what if tigers 9i did break on the tree shot and he was forced to use a less comfortable club on 18s approach. Do you think it would have changed things? Tiger would have been swinging a choked up 8i or a 110 percent pitch? There is a chance it could have changed the outcome.

But I think what may have been the most impressive (almost inspiring) part of sunday for tiger was the clutch driver on 18. He had pulled it on I think every drive of the day and he knows he has to put it in the fairway for the W and does so with authority. Really cool.

If his 9i broke on the tree - by the rules of golf he is able to replace it - as long as he has a replacement club at the course.  Being it's Tiger Woods... I'm sure Nike has a replacement set waiting in the wings should he break a club.  Thus, as dramatic as you would like to make that shot on the 18th... It would have been with a 9i created to his exact specification(s).

http://www.usga.org/Rule-Books/Rules-of-Golf/Rule-04/#4-3

4-3. Damaged Clubs: Repair And Replacement

a . Damage in Normal Course of Play

If, during a stipulated round , a player’s club is damaged in the normal course of play, he may:

(i) use the club in its damaged state for the remainder of the stipulated round ; or

(ii) without unduly delaying play, repair it or have it repaired; or

(iii) as an additional option available only if the club is unfit for play, replace the damaged club with any club. The replacement of a club must not unduly delay play (Rule 6-7 ) and must not be made by borrowing any club selected for play by any other person playing on the course or by assembling components carried by or for the player during the stipulated round .

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by zeg

I guess that's one more difference between Tiger and me---if I visualized that well enough to realize it was a serious risk, I would never get the image out of my head and I'd top the shot. Probably backwards.

Quote:

Originally Posted by iacas

BTW, I thought this was a funny line:

Ha, I actually posted that (sarcastically) on an ESPN chat immediately after the tournament.  Something along the lines of:

The guy who won the AT&T; National today just might be the next Tiger Woods.  He is THAT good.

[chriskzoo]

I find the talk of the "next Tiger" (or at least next dominant player) pretty hilarious.  Every guy that wins is proclaimed as such, even though we watch Rory go out and miss 3 straight cuts, Donald continuing to have horrible showings at majors, and guys like Mahan get hot for 3 or 4 weeks then disappear.  This was Tiger's third win this year, the first time he's won 3 times in a year since 2009 - and in the 3 year in between, only one player (Furyk in 2010) has won 3 times in a year.  Nobody dominates like Tiger because nobody wants it more and is willing to put in the work to get there.

Tiger's swing is becoming lethal - a bombing power fade on #18 followed by a draw into the green is all you need to know that he is more in control of his swing now than maybe ever.

[Motley01]

He's hitting the driver longer too. That 340 yard drive on 18 was fanominal.

[chriskzoo]

Originally Posted by Motley01

He's hitting the driver longer too. That 340 yard drive on 18 was fanominal.

It's all the new swing.  He's hitting 5-10 yard draws/fades now instead of 20-30 yards off the tee and getting all that distance back.

[bplewis24]

Goodness, three players shot in the 80s on Sunday: Cantlay, Woodland and Howell III.  What is up with Gary Woodland?

[topspin4hand]

He's working on a swing change w/ Butch Harmon.  He's clearly still at the beginning of the process despite saying there weren't too many major adjustments planned.  More of these guys need to leave whats having some success alone.  I know "getting better every year" is the road to greatness, but there are more stories that see players go into reverse when they fiddle with their swing.

Even Yani Tseng made some adjustments - crazy imo - and look at how she's seen a little slippage.

Originally Posted by bplewis24

Goodness, three players shot in the 80s on Sunday: Cantlay, Woodland and Howell III.  What is up with Gary Woodland?

[brocks]

I'm too lazy to figure it exactly, but assuming the medium-strength field he beat is worth about 46 points, he'll add about 1.1 points to his average, giving him about a 7.8 average tomorrow, so he'll still be 4th.

According to the [url=http://www.officialworldgolfranking.com/players/bio.sps?ID=5321&name;=Tiger&Rank;=4&TotalPts;=312.61383]new rankings[/url] released today, the actual values are 48 points for the win, and a new average of 7.815.