2014 Valero Texas Open Discussion Thread

[Golfingdad]

Lol, you gotta trademark that!!

[nevets88]

Lol, you gotta trademark that!!

I'm afraid I'd get taken to the cleaners by Apple before I can finish pronouncing infinite. That's the address of its HQ: 1 Infinite Loop. I guess Andrew "no exit conditions out of" Loupe just isn't the same. :-)

[newtogolf]

So it looks like another week where we have a new champion and a star player

Agree. This has been a very boring year so far. It seems like every week a big name is in position to win and blows it (McIlroy Honda, Dufner-Doral, Rose-Valspar, Scott-Bay Hill, Kuchar-Texas) and then a no name wins. I really hope the Masters provides some drama. I really don't want to see a John Senden-Matt Every Sunday showdown for the green jacket.

I agree, just not sure if this is a true indication of parity on the PGA Tour if it's isolated cases of big name players not getting it done on Sunday.   Pretty crazy a 76 on Sunday wins the tournament.

[clutchshot]

I agree, just not sure if this is a true indication of parity on the PGA Tour if it's isolated cases of big name players not getting it done on Sunday.   Pretty crazy a 76 on Sunday wins the tournament.

Agreed. Nobody showed up to play today, I found myself yelling at the tv "someone do something!" I'm happy for the winner and he out performed the competition in the end, but 4 out of 14 fairways Matt K? Comon man.

[Valleygolfer]

Greens were killer today. They were not holding shots at all. I wondered why someone didn't hit short of the green and let it run out to the hole, instead of hitting the green and running off the back.

[colin007]

Awesome!  Just awesome @colin007 !

:-P

[DEsler]

That tournament was a classic example of 1) The importance of the short game.  2) The need for a shot clock.

Kuchar may not "win" a lot but he gets to play golf for a living and makes a heck of a lot of money doing it.  That is a big winner in my book.

[newtogolf]

That tournament was a classic example of 1) The importance of the short game.  2) The need for a shot clock.

Kuchar may not "win" a lot but he gets to play golf for a living and makes a heck of a lot of money doing it.  That is a big winner in my book.

Short game won Bowditch the tournament.  He knew exactly where to chip that ball to get the roll out he needed.

There is a shot clock, problem is they only use it when the group is usually too far behind to catch up.  3 hours for 9 holes is painfully slow.

[Kieran123]

Another tournament with absolutely nothing exciting about it. This year has been a blowout so far.

Crappy Sunday golf won the tournament.

[DEsler]

Short game won Bowditch the tournament.  He knew exactly where to chip that ball to get the roll out he needed.

There is a shot clock, problem is they only use it when the group is usually too far behind to catch up.  3 hours for 9 holes is painfully slow.

I should have said "permanent shot clock".

It's a shame that it is needed but it looks like it is.

[Foursum Golf]

Soo many practice swings by Loupe. He steps off it so much, too. It was painful to watch.

Looking forward to seeing Bowditch at Augusta. He is a deserving winner. He seems like a class act.

[jbishop15]

Speaking of Loupe, did anyone time how long it took him to swing? By my understanding the player gets 40 seconds to swing before they're going too slow, so I'm just wondering if it actually took him that long.

[tmac20]

Speaking of Loupe, did anyone time how long it took him to swing? By my understanding the player gets 40 seconds to swing before they're going too slow, so I'm just wondering if it actually took him that long.

I remember when they took him off the clock, he took over a minute for one shot out of the rough, and the commentators on Golf Central ripped him for it.

[jbishop15]

I remember when they took him off the clock, he took over a minute for one shot out of the rough, and the commentators on Golf Central ripped him for it.

That's crazy. Wow. I'm always a little skeptical about players being called slow because I think the cameras can influence it. Like we don't see everyone's preshot routine, just the action bits, but on Loupe or Na they seemed to really focus on them the whole time.

Over a minute is really long, though.

[colin007]

why were there no shots assessed?????  the tour has no one to blame but their damn selves!!? @???!??!#

[newtogolf]

why were there no shots assessed?????  the tour has no one to blame but their damn selves!!?@???!??!#

It seems pretty clear they don't want to impact the leaderboard of a tournament with such a ruling.  Had they penalized the final group, Bowditch might have had to play in a playoff.

[BENtSwing]

Bodwich

Quote:

Originally Posted by colin007

why were there no shots assessed?????  the tour has no one to blame but their damn selves!!?@???!??!#

It seems pretty clear they don't want to impact the leaderboard of a tournament with such a ruling.  Had they penalized the final group, Bowditch might have had to play in a playoff.

Do they have to penalize the whole group or can they single out one individual? I don't think Loupe took LESS than a minute for any shot that I watched. Gave me anxiety just watching him. Surprised he hasn't been blasted on social media yet...or maybe nobody cares about that tourney lol.

[Golfingdad]

Bodwich

Do they have to penalize the whole group or can they single out one individual? I don't think Loupe took LESS than a minute for any shot that I watched. Gave me anxiety just watching him. Surprised he hasn't been blasted on social media yet...or maybe nobody cares about that tourney lol.

No, they penalize the player not the group.

They put the entire group in a position to be penalized, oftentimes, due to the actions of one player, because you can only be penalized if you're "on the clock," which usually happens to the entire group as a whole, even though it was likely the fault of one guy ... sometimes even one shot/ruling.

But you have two get two bad times before they penalize you, and Loupe only got one bad time yesterday, which was why he wasn't penalized.

And I'm with @newtogolf on this one.  Nobody likes to watch slow play, but I think, even more so, nobody wants to see a tournament decided on a referee's decision either.  I believe they'll do everything in their power to avoid giving out stroke penalties to players in the hunt.