2012 British Open Discussion Thread

[bplewis24]

  turtleback said:

Originally Posted by turtleback

You're in the Pacific time zone I assume?  I feel your pain.  I was just going to watch Tiger's tee shot on #1, but then he made birdie and next thing i knew it was 6 AM and I had watched his whole round.  But since I am a teacher on summer vacation it wasn't quite so bad.  One bonus of watching it live, if you happen to have DIrectv is you could watch the world feed with the English announcers on one of the bonus channels.  I switched back and forth.

Yup, Sacramento CA.  I actually decided to go to bed early (like 8-9PM) and get up at 1:30AM to watch the entire round before work.  It's 9:39PM now and I just came from the driving range.  I don't feel tired yet, but I bet I'm going to crash something horrible tomorrow about mid-day.

Funny you mention the DirecTV thing.  I'm actually getting it installed on Saturday.  The rep was selling me hard on the Golf bonus channels thingy.  I'm getting the whole shebang for $40/month for year 1 (free NFL Sunday Ticket) and $79/month for year two (no Sunday Ticket).

[Zeph]

  Hesko Hru said:

Maybe you even noticed that most of the long hitters are in the Pgatour.

That doesn't seem right.

[Zwick]

This championship needs some wind!

Day 2 started with blue sky and no wind, that's not the way it should be...

[brocks]

  Zwick said:

This championship needs some wind! Day 2 started with blue sky and no wind, that's not the way it should be...

It seems to be picking up a little. As I write this, nobody is more than one under for the day. If Rory manages to win this, it will be because the golfing gods are on his side. He has hit some terrible drives that ended up in good lies, including one that sailed over rough where he would have been absolutely dead, and landed in the short grass of another hole's tee. The casual water in the bunkers might also help some guys out. Phil had a ball near the riveted face of a bunker that he might have had to hit out sideways, but apparently it was touching some water, so he got a free drop a lot farther back from the face, which gave him a much easier shot. The Rule of Golf covering casual water in a bunker, as everybody knows, is 25-1/b(ii). If your ball is in casual water in a bunker, you can drop it with no penalty to the nearest point of relief in the bunker, no nearer the hole. If there is no place without water in the bunker, you can still drop it in a place where the water is shallower (or in these bunkers, I would guess the players will drop it where they have a chance to get out of the things), no nearer the hole. And as always, you can drop it outside the bunker on a direct line behind where it lay as far back as you want, but it's a stroke penalty.

[brocks]

I can't wait to hear Phil's comments about the sixth hole after his round today. He complained about it yesterday, saying the cup wasn't set deeply enough. Today, his short putt for bogey seemed to hit the liner and pop back out, which I'm sure made him furious. It was still no excuse for beaning a spectator with his next tee shot, though. At +6 (+3 for the day through just 6 holes) I think he has already written this week off. He's now laughing after bad shots as he plays 7, the absolute opposite of his game face. Who knows, maybe not caring will take the pressure off and help his game. But whatever Butch told him yesterday sure didn't seem to work.

[Infamous 273]

phil needs to start getting big here.  it sure looked like on #4 that liner was a bit high when ESPN showed the replay.

[Infamous 273]

rory back to -1 after doubling 9.  i think he needs a hug from sergio.

[topspin4hand]

Colsaerts is +6 through 12.  I'm not sure if the course is playing that hard or if he's shot himself out of being in contention.

[bplewis24]

So just so I'm clear here, Phil had a putt that was inside the cup and popped back out (like a ricochet)?  Or did it "lip out" with speed while appearing halfway down (which happens often)?

[nevets88]

Sneds is on fire. He's easy to watch too, plays fast, no fidgeting around, setup, pull the trigger.

[Infamous 273]

  bplewis24 said:

Originally Posted by bplewis24

So just so I'm clear here, Phil had a putt that was inside the cup and popped back out (like a ricochet)?  Or did it "lip out" with speed while appearing halfway down (which happens often)?

the replay looked like it was in to me, then 360'd around the liner, and came out.  it was kind of funny, just as phil was lining up his putt, the commentators were saying how he was complaining yesterday after his round about the liners not being deep enough in the hole.

edit:  i'm no expert and espn showed the replay once, so it could have very well lipped out while appearing halfway down.  it was just funny how he (phil) was complaining yesterday about the liners, and the commentators were bringing that very point up just prior to the putt.

[brocks]

  bplewis24 said:

So just so I'm clear here, Phil had a putt that was inside the cup and popped back out (like a ricochet)?  Or did it "lip out" with speed while appearing halfway down (which happens often)?

It was a lip out, but it went farther down into the hole than any lipout I've ever seen (but obviously that's subjective, and could be a matter of camera angle). It really looked like it was running along the edge of the liner for half a circumference before it came back out. As for Snedeker, it looks like it's his week. There's just no defense against a guy who makes everything. And he always seems to wind up with a good lie after his occasional bad shots. And he got the good draw. With some of the bunkers already full of water, if it starts raining like it's been threatening to for the last few hours, the afternoon wave won't have a chance of catching him.

[nevets88]

Why don't they use vacuums to get the water out of the bunkers?

[ScT1]

Yeah, I like too how Brandt Snedeker plays quickly.

I've been up early both days to watch the action. Last weekend, my old tv set finally bit the dust and I had to go out and buy a new tv. Watching this tournament on ESPN HD made it very tempting to call out sick today. Golf in HD is beautiful.

[bwdial]

  nevets88 said:

Originally Posted by nevets88

Why don't they use vacuums to get the water out of the bunkers?

I was wondering the same thing.  Are Shop-Vacs as unknown as dental care in the UK?

I keed... I keed.

[Infamous 273]

pic of the practice bunker with standing water as tiger prepares for rd 2:

[Timothy Voyles]

  Infamous 273 said:

Originally Posted by Infamous 273

pic of the practice bunker with standing water as tiger prepares for rd 2:

Looks like some of the local rags around here after anything near an inch of rain lol...

[TN94z]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spyder

Bro is sitting there concussed to hell and back and probably doesn't even know he's getting a signed glove.

Personally, I'd say listen... give me a damn Vokey for the goose egg on my dome. Not your sweaty mid-round glove.... He gave one to "Wozzilroy", he can give me one too... shankapotamus!

From what I have read, the kid was staying in a tent for the Open.  After hitting him with the drive, Rory put the kid up in a hotel instead of staying in the tent.  He will spend the rest of the week there.  Rory also gave him some spending money for dinner.

Quote:

McIlroy said: “I hated the thought of him spending the night in a tent after getting that bang on the head.