The Greenbrier Classic 2012 Discussion Thread - The Old White TPC - White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia

[brocks]

One thing that wasn`t mentioned in the article was Tom Watson skipping a Sr Major (after having won the first Sr Major of the year) to play in Greenbrier last year because of the commitment he had made.  I believe his is featured in the TV commercials for the resort.  Don`t think it was mentioned, but it looks like he is playing decently with a even par 70 yesterday to beat Tiger and Phil (whose 142 will likely miss the cut).

Good point. Tom is the "pro emeritus" at Greebrier, the title Sam Snead held there. I think "emeritus" is Latin for "trades name for dough." And I didn't realize that Phil had already finished his round. He's three off the current cut line. Tiger has only played two holes, even for the day after a good par save on 1. Both drives have been well over 300 yards, right down the middle, but his approaches have not been close. Edit: and he just three-putted the par-3 third hole, to join Phil at 2 over for the tournament.

[brocks]

Trivia time: If Tiger MCs today, a couple of streaks will end. He's never missed a cut when playing the week after a win, and he's never missed a cut in the same event as Phil since he turned pro. He did MC with Phil when he was a 17-year old amateur, at the 1993 Byron Nelson.

[sean_miller]

Pulling for Scott Piercy.

Hopefully the weather delay was good for whatever was ailing Vijay.

[brocks]

There are a lot of things I don't like about TGC, but thank God for it. We probably wouldn't see the Greenbrier at all on a Friday without it, and we sure wouldn't see the finish of a weather-delayed round on CBS or NBC. And this is as compelling a Friday as I can remember in a non-major week. It would have been very easy for Tiger to pack it in after his bogeys on 10 and 11, but it now looks like he has a fighting chance to make the cut.

[michaeljames92]

I think this just solidifies Erik's point about Tiger's best results tend to come at the harder venues, or at least venues set up hard. He does seem to play better when the field struggles to make a lot of birdies, and he can stroll around making a lot of pars and limit his mistakes. At least this is in recent years.

[jamo]

Giving Tiger the BTD on this one, since he said (I believe) that he hadn't played the course before last week. Maybe The Old White TPC on Tiger Woods PGA Tour '13 isn't as realistic as he thought?

[crayputter]

Giving Tiger the BTD on this one, since he said (I believe) that he hadn't played the course before last week. Maybe The Old White TPC on Tiger Woods PGA Tour '13 isn't as realistic as he thought?

Yes, it is the first time he's playing it ever. He didn't play that bad at all, shot even par....which made the cut last year, by the way. Also he never had a chance to practice on Tuesday, and you don't really practice in a pro-am, so really not surprising if he found himself struggling a bit especially on putting, where he just came off 2 courses that were nowhere NEAR 10.5 of TPC Old White's speeds. Of course, an MC is an MC, no excuses...everyone else played the same course too... Ultimately, it was that dreaded 3 putt double bogey that did him in on day 1....Other than that, to me, he seemed to hit the ball solid the two days.... Well...on to the Open Championships !! Cheers Ray

[turtleback]

Does anyone know why the greens are so slow there?  Was it weather related?  Were they that slow last year?  My general sense is that 10.5 is very slow for pgatour greens but I could be wrong.

[crayputter]

Does anyone know why the greens are so slow there?  Was it weather related?  Were they that slow last year?  My general sense is that 10.5 is very slow for pgatour greens but I could be wrong.

I hope I'm not wrong on the green speed....I believe I saw 10.5 on the info displayed in the coverage today... Ray

[ApocG10]

Originally Posted by turtleback

Does anyone know why the greens are so slow there?  Was it weather related?  Were they that slow last year?  My general sense is that 10.5 is very slow for pgatour greens but I could be wrong.

10.5 is not at all slow. Its not US Open fast,. but its faster than most peoples home courses by a long shot.

[colin007]

Originally Posted by michaeljames92

I think this just solidifies Erik's point about Tiger's best results tend to come at the harder venues, or at least venues set up hard. He does seem to play better when the field struggles to make a lot of birdies, and he can stroll around making a lot of pars and limit his mistakes. At least this is in recent years.

this.  i totally agree.

think of it like a bunch of major leaguers playing against triple A pitchers.  theyd all hit .450 and have 70 homeruns.  the best of the best wouldnt do much better so you wouldnt really know who is the best of the bunch.  whereas when you have topflight pitching and a hitter is still doing well hitting .330 you know hes better than the schlubs who hit .250.

all of these tour pros can go 4 under on any regular course.  put them on the tougher courses and the major venues and then the cream (usually) rises to the top.

[Beachcomber]

Originally Posted by turtleback

Does anyone know why the greens are so slow there?  Was it weather related?  Were they that slow last year?  My general sense is that 10.5 is very slow for pgatour greens but I could be wrong.

The greens are less than 18mo old.  They stated that the greens need to be more mature before they can really push them harder from a maintenance stance.

[nevrino]

This playoff is amazing one of the best i've seen!

[zipazoid]

Another lefty winner of the tour. That's doesn't suck.

[ApocG10]

Who won?

[Harmonious]

It was good to see two journeymen play so well for their big break.  I've been familiar with Kelly for over 15 years, and know the difficulties he has had, so it was great to see him on the big stage.  And Potter, too.  The guy turned pro after high school, and never did much until last year on the Nationwide tour.  Now he's a millionaire (sort of).

For all those guys who think they will become PGA tour players just because they practice a lot, take note.  Both of these guys were phenoms at an early age. They have been struggling for around 10 years, beating the bushes and the minitours. It's really not a bed of roses.

[brocks]

For all those guys who think they will become PGA tour players just because they practice a lot, take note.  Both of these guys were phenoms at an early age. They have been struggling for around 10 years, beating the bushes and the minitours. It's really not a bed of roses.

Strange that they would both complete their 10,000 hour of practice the same week.

[Harmonious]

Originally Posted by brocks

Strange that they would both complete their 10,000 hour of practice the same week.

Yeah, funny how that worked out.  Guess they both really, really, REALLY wanted it this week, too.  Oh well, good for both of them.

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