Tiger's sand shot into bunker face

[joekelly]

On the final day, 6th hole, Tiger hit a ball into a greenside bunker and the ball lay less than a foot from the steep and terraced face. I was watching and as he played the shot  i saw the ball pop up and come within 6 inches of clearing the face. I really believed he missed getting out by only 3 inches.  I cannot find a replay on UTube. My friend says the ball was no where near the  top of the face, maybe only 2 feet up the 4 foot slope. What did you see?

[Zwick]

The first shot was not really close to get out, your friend is right. The second shot missed getting out cleanly by a few inches, hit the lip and flew left.

[jamo]

It wasn't even close. The ball initially hit the face less than halfway up. It ricocheted reasonable high but it was coming back towards Tiger at that point.

[TourSpoon]

Originally Posted by jamo

It wasn't even close. The ball initially hit the face less than halfway up. It ricocheted reasonable high but it was coming back towards Tiger at that point.

Yep, and he knew it immediately as he danced a jig (appropriate given the event) to get out of the way so it wouldn't hit him.

[CollegeGolfer]

Originally Posted by Zwick

The first shot was not really close to get out, your friend is right. The second shot missed getting out cleanly by a few inches, hit the lip and flew left.

flew right*, but yes, Zwick is about spot on.

[zeg]

Originally Posted by CollegeGolfer

flew right*, but yes, Zwick is about spot on.

Yep. He was 2-3 inches short of having a makeable bogey putt. That's golf.

[luu5]

And to my understanding he did not expect it to get out anyway on the first try, just to get into better place without declaring unplayable.

[reedf]

Graeme McDowel had the exact same shot when he got to that hole (nearly identical!). Graeme was much smarter in the way he played his shot though. He simply turned around and hit his ball into the middle of the bunker giving himself a very makeable sand shot (he missed, but had a tap in left). Of course had Tiger made his first attempt out, it would have been another miracle shot that he has become famous for!

[zeg]

Originally Posted by reedf

Graeme McDowel had the exact same shot when he got to that hole (nearly identical!). Graeme was much smarter in the way he played his shot though. He simply turned around and hit his ball into the middle of the bunker giving himself a very makeable sand shot (he missed, but had a tap in left). Of course had Tiger made his first attempt out, it would have been another miracle shot that he has become famous for!

IIRC, Graeme's first spot in the bunker was more similar to Tiger's second.

[ApocG10]

Originally Posted by reedf

Graeme McDowel had the exact same shot when he got to that hole (nearly identical!). Graeme was much smarter in the way he played his shot though. He simply turned around and hit his ball into the middle of the bunker giving himself a very makeable sand shot (he missed, but had a tap in left). Of course had Tiger made his first attempt out, it would have been another miracle shot that he has become famous for!

They were not even close to the same shot. Im a huge Gmac fan, but Tiger had the harder shot, by far. Its too bad that one hole killed his chance at winning. Had he par'd that hole, it would have been a much different sunday I think.

[BMac0223]

How about the stance Tiger had for his second bunker shot!  I've seen some weird stances from those deep European bunkers but that was unreal.  Too bad he made triple.

[reedf]

Originally Posted by ApocG10

They were not even close to the same shot. Im a huge Gmac fan, but Tiger had the harder shot, by far. Its too bad that one hole killed his chance at winning. Had he par'd that hole, it would have been a much different sunday I think.

Originally Posted by zeg

IIRC, Graeme's first spot in the bunker was more similar to Tiger's second.

Yeah, I guess I was watching a different match or something, GMAC's shot was clearly 2 feet left of tigers and at least 1/2 inch further from the wall! Tiger did make his shot much harder though.

[reedf]

Originally Posted by BMac0223

How about the stance Tiger had for his second bunker shot!  I've seen some weird stances from those deep European bunkers but that was unreal.  Too bad he made triple.

Anyone who says golfer aren't athletes needs to try that stance!

[zeg]

Originally Posted by reedf

Yeah, I guess I was watching a different match or something, GMAC's shot was clearly 2 feet left of tigers and at least 1/2 inch further from the wall! Tiger did make his shot much harder though.

Like I said, Graeme's first was about the same as Tiger's second, and in quite a different position than Tiger's first.

Would chipping or taking a drop have been a better play for Tiger? Evidently so for the first shot.

Maybe for the second. Remember, he did get it out onto the green. I don't know that you can hold his 3-putt up as evidence that he should have taken his medicine. It's hard to argue that a long putt is much worse than another shot out of that bunker.

But this all reeks of Monday morning quarterbacking.

[reedf]

Originally Posted by zeg

Like I said, Graeme's first was about the same as Tiger's second, and in quite a different position than Tiger's first.

Dude! I know the camera angles are different but Tiger and GMAC are damn near standing in the same footprints facing opposite directions. Use the irregularities on the bunker face as a reference.

[zeg]

Originally Posted by reedf

Dude! I know the camera angles are different but Tiger and GMAC are damn near standing in the same footprints facing opposite directions. Use the irregularities on the bunker face as a reference.

You are perhaps right that they're standing in the same place. That can be a pretty substantial difference in those bunkers, though, and McDowell's looks quite a bit closer to the edge (not "quite a bit" as in "feet," but "quite a bit" in a case where 6 inches can make a real difference).

The location of Tiger's second shot relative to the wall looks a lot more similar to Graeme's, regardless of the absolute position. If Graeme tries Tiger's first, because of the bunker wall he's aiming at the neighboring bunker, not at the left side of the green. He didn't really have the option to attempt a shot toward the green, IMO.

[jamo]

[URL=http://thesandtrap.com/content/type/61/id/56928/] [/URL]

To me, those pictures make it look like Grame's was in the middle of Tiger's two shots, though substantially closer to Tiger's second. . Separate the wall of the bunker into two parts: the jagged-looking part on the right and the smooth part on the left. Tiger's first shot is from the right side of the jagged part, his second is from the right side of the smooth part, and Graeme's is from the left side of the jagged part. I don't think I realized initially how different the camera angle was for Graeme's shot.

[Beachcomber]

That 2nd sand shot from Tiger - the stance (or lack thereof) was insane.  I'm surprised he even tried that shot.  Amazing that he was able to get it out.  But the thing I'm surprised is that Tiger went on record by stating that he intentionally tried to richochet the ball off the face of the bunker - and hoped it would bounce right.  But the ball bounced left - and nearly hit him.

Here is my question... Why would Tiger attempt to ricochet the ball of the face of the bunker - and not simply take an unplayable lie?  Then with the unplayable, drop further back in the bunker so that he could get the ball up and out?  He was already making the assumption that it was going to take him two strokes to get the ball onto the green.

Tiger's Thought Process

Shot 1 - Ricochet out to the right.

Shot 2 - Pitch/Chip from the grass onto the green (potentially hole out)

Shot 3 - Putt.

Unplayable Thought Process

Shot 1 - Unplayable lie (one stroke penalty, two club lengths for relief - or as far back between the hole and point of unplayable - but the drop must be made inside the bunker)

Shot 2 - Bunker shot

Shot 3 - Putt

Was Tiger afraid of a burried lie after the drop?  Is this why he didn't take the unplayable? From the looks - he was very lucky to even walk away with a triple the way he played the hole.