Official 2013 U.S. Open at Merion Discussion Thread

[RonTheSavage]

Nothing wrong with being flawed, we all are. My only issue with Phil in this situation is that when he thought he was "off the record" he's cursing AT an official calling the hole Bull____. Tiger gets called out for cursing at himself. But as soon as the mics are hot Phil says this: "I thought that the golf course was fabulous. We had weather and we had some conditions with Sunday pins, it was difficult. But I thought that it was really well done and, you know, it was‑‑ I loved having the hard holes be really hard. And I loved having chances on the birdie holes. Fair or unfair course, setups are the same for everyone." How about apologize for losing your cool? Or were there no kids or women around to hear Phil? Thats BS in my humble opinion

[Mr. Desmond]

Nothing wrong with being flawed, we all are. My only issue with Phil in this situation is that when he thought he was "off the record" he's cursing AT an official calling the hole Bull____. Tiger gets called out for cursing at himself. But as soon as the mics are hot Phil says this:"I thought that the golf course was fabulous. We had weather and we had some conditions with Sunday pins, it was difficult. But I thought that it was really well done and, you know, it was‑‑ I loved having the hard holes be really hard. And I loved having chances on the birdie holes. Fair or unfair course, setups are the same for everyone."How about apologize for losing your cool? Or were there no kids or women around to hear Phil? Thats BS in my humble opinion

Phil has a reputation for being somewhat of a fake. I think that may be harsh. At the same time, Phil could have said, "I said some things on the course that I regret, but overall the setup of the course was fair and made you think on each shot. Did I think it was somewhat excessive? Yes. But then all of us played under the same conditions." Yes, I agree with you to the extent that what he said was not authentic at the press conference. He needs to connect the dots and convey a better story about his emotions on the course

[RPMPIRE]

Originally Posted by Lash

Who isn't like that? You've never said something you didn't completely mean after a bad golf shot?

Coming back and being more graceful in the interview says a lot to me. I'm not a hater or fan of Phil at all, but I thought it was the right move how he handled the press conference question.

If I hit a bad golf shot, I blame myself for a poor swing, not the course set up. I agree, Phil handled the the interview well, but what he said does not at all reflect what he said on the golf course.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Desmond

Yes, I agree with you to the extent that what he said was not authentic at the press conference. He needs to connect the dots and convey a better story about his emotions on the course

^^^This is what I think he should do better.

Either way, Phil shouldn't whine about the long par 3 17th hole since you just bogeyed the extremely short 113 yard par 3 13th hole.

[jshots]

Originally Posted by Fourputt

You can see your type of tournament any week, just tune in to the PGA Tour.  This was a Major Championship.  It's supposed to be different.

Well maybe they should decrease the size of the hoop for the NBA finals then? Maybe not the best comparison since the nature of Golf is very different but why not.

I agree a Major Championship should have something special about it. It's fine with me if that means they play a very hard course but Merion just isn't a VERY hard course. I just think Merion was forced into being harder than it was ever intended to play. A major championship is special just because it's a major. I still think an end of the year tournament like the fed ex cup deserves more recognition than the majors.

[zipazoid]

Originally Posted by Mr. Desmond

Phil was frustrated on Sunday, so I do not blame him for blowing up a little on Mike Davis.

Agreed, but apparently Phil forgot that it played 274 yards for everyone else too.

[Slice of Life]

I have to agree. He probably shouldn't have completely contradicted himself afterwards. But whatever, I still think he's probably a good dude compared to some other guys on tour. And let's face it...a 274 yard par 3 is pretty ridiculous. I might hit that once in ten tries. And that's pushing it...

[Lash]

Originally Posted by RPMPIRE

If I hit a bad golf shot, I blame myself for a poor swing, not the course set up. I agree, Phil handled the the interview well, but what he said does not at all reflect what he said on the golf course.

From what I have been around, you are a rare breed on the golf course! Most folks I know have cursed at the water or bunker or at least their clubs from time to time. Not many have your great attitude.

Originally Posted by jshots

Well maybe they should decrease the size of the hoop for the NBA finals then? Maybe not the best comparison since the nature of Golf is very different but why not.

I agree a Major Championship should have something special about it. It's fine with me if that means they play a very hard course but Merion just isn't a VERY hard course. I just think Merion was forced into being harder than it was ever intended to play. A major championship is special just because it's a major. I still think an end of the year tournament like the fed ex cup deserves more recognition than the majors.

In the finals, you play the toughest opponent. The one that affects your score. In majors, the competition really has no bearing on how you score. The course is your opponent..it is the one that controls how you score. And so, it makes sense to play the toughest opponent in a major just like you do in the NBA finals. Not the best comparison, but that is the best way if you are going to try to compare the two sports I think.

[phan52]

Originally Posted by Mr. Desmond

Great point. One expects changes to the course to make it more challenging, longer and narrower for professionals, but not every shot should be fraught with drama. And that is where the USGA failed, IMHO. Not every shot should be a nailbiter. If you have to do what they did to a course, take the tournament somewhere else.

I don't think they had to do that to the course. The greens were all the protection they needed. Sure, there would have been a few more birdie chances but, when the greens are that difficult to read and you have enough diabolical pin placements, having the chance doesn't necessarily mean they are going to make birdie. I think if they at least let them have a first cut of rough and played the 3rd and 9th holes at a reasonable length, the scores wouldn't have gone much lower than -6 to -8 or so. And what's wrong with that?

My educated guess what happened is, they expected the easy holes (1, 7-13) to be a birdie fest so they set up the rest of the course to hold back the score. What they didn't anticipate was that there are NO easy holes when the greens are that hard to read. The best players in the world can figure any green out, given enough time. But the vast majority of them had never even seen Merion before the last couple of weeks, so it got them.

Originally Posted by RPMPIRE

^^^This is what I think he should do better.

Either way, Phil shouldn't whine about the long par 3 17th hole since you just bogeyed the extremely short 113 yard par 3 13th hole.

Phil wasn't complaining about 17. 17 was built to play long. 3, on the other hand, is supposed to play no more than about 190-200 yards and they made it 275 against the wind on Sunday. I'm surprised Phil is the only one who we heard  bitch.

[newtogolf]

Originally Posted by jshots

Well maybe they should decrease the size of the hoop for the NBA finals then? Maybe not the best comparison since the nature of Golf is very different but why not.

I agree a Major Championship should have something special about it. It's fine with me if that means they play a very hard course but Merion just isn't a VERY hard course. I just think Merion was forced into being harder than it was ever intended to play. A major championship is special just because it's a major. I still think an end of the year tournament like the fed ex cup deserves more recognition than the majors.

For what it's worth, I agree with you jshots.  I stated in earlier posts I felt while watching the US Open that the course seemed artificially hard.  I never had that feeling watching a Major in the past.

[Slice of Life]

What a bunch of whiners.

[Mr. Desmond]

What a bunch of whiners.

Lets get back on topic ... :-)

[Zwick]

Tiger is out of the AT&T; National, will have to rest his elbow to be ready for the Open: http://web.tigerwoods.com/news/article/2013061951107326/news/

[Yukari]

Sounds like tennis elbow or a golfer's elbow to me. Just guessing as I had issues with my left elbow.  Needed 7 weeks or rest to fully recover.  I mean seven weeks of no golf or weight lifting whatsoever.  Mine was due to weight training.

Originally Posted by Zwick

Tiger is out of the AT&T; National, will have to rest his elbow to be ready for the Open: http://web.tigerwoods.com/news/article/2013061951107326/news/

[Mr. Desmond]

Tiger is out of the AT&T; National, will have to rest his elbow to be ready for the Open: http://web.tigerwoods.com/news/article/2013061951107326/news/

Speaking of Tiger, did anyone else notice that he seemed to have mentalky checked out of both the Memorial and the Open when things weren't going his way. It seemed that mentally he wasn't into it over the weekend when things started to go bad. Previously, he would grind and grind. Now... Not so much.

[RonTheSavage]

I noticed that also. It's like he wanted to be anywhere else.

[Shorty]

Originally Posted by Mr. Desmond

Speaking of Tiger, did anyone else notice that he seemed to have mentalky checked out of both the Memorial and the Open when things weren't going his way. It seemed that mentally he wasn't into it over the weekend when things started to go bad. Previously, he would grind and grind. Now... Not so much.

To a point I agree. I don't think he ever fully gives up because pride makes him realise that 74 is better than 76.

The most obvious thing is how he pretends to be all chirpy and positive in his interviews and usually throws in a few nicknames of "the guys" out there to show he's cool and one of the boys.

[BostonBrew]

Just caught this story on Golf.com.

$10,000 worth of alcohol stolen from US Open tent. That must have been one hell of a party.

http://blogs.golf.com/presstent/2013/06/10000-worth-of-alcohol-stolen-from-us-open-tent.html?sct=hp2

[saturday]

Just caught this story on Golf.com. $10,000 worth of alcohol stolen from US Open tent. That must have been one hell of a party. [URL=http://blogs.golf.com/presstent/2013/06/10000-worth-of-alcohol-stolen-from-us-open-tent.html?sct=hp2]http://blogs.golf.com/presstent/2013/06/10000-worth-of-alcohol-stolen-from-us-open-tent.html?sct=hp2[/URL]

John Daly strikes again.