Big Break Palm Beaches Discussion Thread

[Big C]

Agreed. Now the "fun" stuff is over with (fine for the first half dozen episodes), I'd rather watch the last batch of players mostly just play golf. We've learned a lot about them, but surprisingly don't know them in the setting of a real round. It's a different kind of adversity when you're playing a round, compared with just doing each challenge in isolation. Bring it all back to the familiar stuff we love- a round of golf.

Mostly concur. That said, next week's challenge is my favorite in all of BB - the distance control challenge. I love watching those guys ratchet it up, 5-10 yards a time. Takes quite a bit of skill and precision to do it well.

[Undr Par]

I'm going with Richy to win it all, and honestly think it comes down to him and Kyle the 2 Yellow Jackets.....Kyle has the skill and game imho, but I think it's between his ears that gets in his way and I think everyone views him as the weakest left....

[RandallT]

Kyle Scott:

Richy Werenski:

I'm going with Richy to win it all, and honestly think it comes down to him and Kyle the 2 Yellow Jackets.....Kyle has the skill and game imho, but I think it's between his ears that gets in his way and I think everyone views him as the weakest left....

I had investigated each of them before the show started, and I picked Richy and Robert, I think, just from the profiles, snippets above. (although I had them beating George and Tommy in the semis!).  Richy and Kyle might tie for the loveliest companion challenge though.

[RandallT]

March Madness time, and we have a final four in Big Break. Can't say I'm too surprised with the departure this week. It was pretty much by the numbers, and the weakest guy so far in the season finally paid the price:

	Total	First Immunity	Later Immunity	Have Mulligan Left	Impressive Challenge	Terrible Challenge	Guaranteed Elimination Round	Not Picked for Elimination	Survived Elimination
		6	2	4	4	-2	-2	2	1
Brandon	24.00	3	1	1	2	2	0	0	0
Chad	13.00	1	1	0	2	2	2	1	3
Clay	38.00	4	1	0	3	1	1	1	2
George	-2.00	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	0
Justin	46.00	4	2	1	3	1	0	2	0
Kyle	2.00	0	2	0	1	5	2	3	2
Richy	42.00	4	3	1	2	1	0	1	0
Robert	40.00	3	4	0	3	0	0	1	0
Tommy	17.00	2	0	0	1.5	2	1	2	1
Tyler	6.00	1	0	0	0	1	1	2	0
Wesley	8.00	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Zach	-3.00	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	1

There's really not much separation here as far as how they've each done in the shows. Of the remaining 4, they've each gotten immunity 5, 6, or 7 times of the 8 so far. They've each had 2 or 3 impressive challenges through the season.  Nobody has had more than 1 really bad challenge, and Clay's was this past distance challenge in the last episode. He rebounded with an impressive elimination round though.

Of note, Clay is the only one left who has even been to elimination. And he's done that twice.

I thought the distance challenge was impressive for most of them. Anyone ever tried to see how many balls they could get in between 80 and 200 yards, with successively longer shots each time? I'd think 10 would be pretty good. 4 out of 5 of them equalled or bettered that. The top two performances in that challenge seemed ridiculously good.

[MrDC]

I think it comes down to Robert and Justin, with Robert winning who seems to have been just coasting the entire show, in another class, he's probably the only real possible pro in this competition.

Clay has been lucky over and over again, he's just not that good, and Richy is a bit better but not as good as the remaining two.

[Eack]

I think it comes down to Robert and Justin, with Robert winning who seems to have been just coasting the entire show, in another class, he's probably the only real possible pro in this competition.

I was questioning his ability to, then he did the distance challenge and some shots were insanely close and he just kept going and going

[DeadMan]

Robert and Justin were super impressive in the immunity challenges. Justin nearly got the maximum number of points if I remember correctly. Robert's distance control display was pretty damn good, too. Clay's elimination challenge was impressive, too. Kyle obviously imploded on the last hole, but Clay had a kick in birdie, and then another close shot to set up the other birdie. I think Clay is the weakest of the 4 left, but that elimination made me question that. It's really anyone's game at this point.

Although, I have to say that I figured they could go for longer in the distance control challenge. I bet most of them carry 4 wedges, and if you go with the 1/2, 3/4, and full swings with wedges, that should be 10 or 12 distances between 80 and 150 yards really. I figure that an aspiring PGA Tour professional would have those distances very repeatable, barring a bad mishit.

[rehmwa]

Seriously, 14 and 15 in that first challenge.  that was quite a feat.

That one likely took forever to shoot too.  I wonder if they had a fairly consistent weather period during that one.  It looks soggy on the course for some reason.  They are really chewing up the turf.

Kyle's meltdown wasn't really that surprising to me.  Good luck to him, regardless.

Clay may surprise us, the elimination was a nice change to see three confident holes played with a couple really solid birdies.  But he really didn't have any pressure during the elimination as Kyle didn't step up at all.  He has so many chips on his shoulders, I'd think that would get in his way.  He doesn't need to....he plays fine.

I think it comes down to Robert and Justin, with Robert winning who seems to have been just coasting the entire show, in another class, he's probably the only real possible pro in this competition.

Clay has been lucky over and over again, he's just not that good, and Richy is a bit better but not as good as the remaining two.

I agree here - except I do think Clay has game.  But I'd rank the four in the same order.  Robert seems to me to be like Tony Finau was in the previous season, just even more stealth mode.  Justin is kind of in stealth mode too.  Real talents.

[divot dave]

If I had to pick between Justin and Robert, I'd go with Justin... He's not as long of a hitter... but he strikes me as a better all around player. very close tho.

Clay's elimination round was surprisingly strong... almost like he has another gear for the pressure of elimination. When you hear him talk, it almost sounds like he relishes the opportunity, which to me sounds like someone who is mentally tough. I would prefer he not resort to mind games... that almost proves the weakness of his game, but that doesn't make me like him less. He doesn't have the ability to beat either of the top two IMO, but its a toss up between him and Richy on any given day (IMO).

[RandallT]

Interesting that people are going with Justin over Richy, as I've always thought Richy was the stronger of the two. I think these last 4 guys are looking pretty even so far, based on what we've seen in the episodes.  From their past performances, I think the edge might go to Richy or Robert.  Robert has been playing LatinoAmerica tour, and Richy web.com.

Robert (made 10 of 16 cuts on LA PGA tour since 2014):

Richy (3 of 5 cuts made on web.com this year):

Justin has some web.com events in 2012/2013, but never made a cut. He's been doing pretty well on mini-tours since 2011, I think, so he's a tough competitor and really wants this.  Clay graduated college in 2012 and went pro, but then caddied for Cheyenne Woods to reignite his passion again in the game. No real tourney results that I could find other than some mediocre showing at US Open Qualifiers.

So Robert and Richy are the two guys who are in a groove professionally, and they are in the minor PGA tours working their way up. But Justin and Clay may be the two who stand the most to gain from a victory here, as they have not been able to play on web.com or other tour with regularity.

[divot dave]

Justin has some web.com events in 2012/2013, but never made a cut. He's been doing pretty well on mini-tours since 2011, I think, so he's a tough competitor and really wants this.  Clay graduated college in 2012 and went pro, but then caddied for Cheyenne Woods to reignite his passion again in the game. No real tourney results that I could find other than some mediocre showing at US Open Qualifiers.

So Robert and Richy are the two guys who are in a groove professionally, and they are in the minor PGA tours working their way up. But Justin and Clay may be the two who stand the most to gain from a victory here, as they have not been able to play on web.com or other tour with regularity.

He caddied for Cheyenne Woods???? sweet mary mother of joseph... that's enough to reignite passion in the dead

[RFKFREAK]

Interesting that people are going with Justin over Richy, as I've always thought Richy was the stronger of the two. I think these last 4 guys are looking pretty even so far, based on what we've seen in the episodes.  From their past performances, I think the edge might go to Richy or Robert.  Robert has been playing LatinoAmerica tour, and Richy web.com.   Robert (made 10 of 16 cuts on LA PGA tour since 2014): [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/content/type/61/id/116430/] [/URL] Richy (3 of 5 cuts made on web.com this year): [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/content/type/61/id/116431/] [/URL] Justin has some web.com events in 2012/2013, but never made a cut. He's been doing pretty well on mini-tours since 2011, I think, so he's a tough competitor and really wants this.  Clay graduated college in 2012 and went pro, but then caddied for Cheyenne Woods to reignite his passion again in the game. No real tourney results that I could find other than some mediocre showing at US Open Qualifiers.  So Robert and Richy are the two guys who are in a groove professionally, and they are in the minor PGA tours working their way up. But Justin and Clay may be the two who stand the most to gain from a victory here, as they have not been able to play on web.com or other tour with regularity.

If anything, I've learned from previous Big Breaks that unless the disparity in talent is really big (like Jackie & Fiamma a few seasons ago), then I feel it really comes down to who is playing best on that given day when they have to step up. I think overall, Robert and Justin have performed the best of the remaining players but the separation between those two and Justin hasn't been demonstrated during the show to be that big. I think Clay feels that his game doesn't get the same amount of respect as someone who went to a big time golf college. It the vibe I get from Richy. That being said, Justin seems to think he's a strong player and I don't recall Justin (or Robert or Kyle) saying anything negative about Clay's game. If anything, Justin seemed perplexed during the elimination challenge that Clay performed so badly during the first elimination challenge. At this point, I'm rooting for Justin & Clay but haven't decided if they're both in the last episode who I'll be pulling for.

[RandallT]

If anything, I've learned from previous Big Breaks that unless the disparity in talent is really big (like Jackie & Fiamma a few seasons ago), then I feel it really comes down to who is playing best on that given day when they have to step up. I think overall, Robert and Justin have performed the best of the remaining players but the separation between those two and Justin hasn't been demonstrated during the show to be that big.

I think Clay feels that his game doesn't get the same amount of respect as someone who went to a big time golf college. It the vibe I get from Richy. That being said, Justin seems to think he's a strong player and I don't recall Justin (or Robert or Kyle) saying anything negative about Clay's game. If anything, Justin seemed perplexed during the elimination challenge that Clay performed so badly during the first elimination challenge.

At this point, I'm rooting for Justin & Clay but haven't decided if they're both in the last episode who I'll be pulling for.

Good points. I like all of these guys left, but I think a Justin/Clay finale might be pretty fun. The best story might be Clay, coming from the First Tee program in Memphis, earning his way to a college golf program (but not at a Div I school).   I'll bet I know who anyone associated with First Tee is pulling for.

The teaser for the next episode clearly makes it look like Richy goes down.  I watched some of the summary show for the last episode (Clay was guest--> http://www.golfchannel.com/media/big-breakdown-clay-taking-fight-competition/ ), and he went way up in my opinion. Love the name of that show: Big Breakdown. Right up there with "Talking Dead" to recap the last episode. Anyway,  like I said, this is a pretty good crew of competitors, but a Clay victory would be a cool underdog story that would be compelling to watch.

I'll stick with my first prediction after reading all the profiles before even watching an episode: Richy/Robert final, with Richy winning.  But geez, watching that teaser made me think Richy is done. I think that's the final quote. Like "I'm done here" or something.  Why would they put that in unless it was a ruse?

[newtogolf]

Clay played well in the elimination challenge but he's very inconsistent in the immunity challenges.  I don't think he can beat Robert, Richy or Justin head to head.  I'm okay with any of the four winning but I think Robert has the best chance of making it at the pro level given his distance.

[Valleygolfer]

Good points. I like all of these guys left, but I think a Justin/Clay finale might be pretty fun. The best story might be Clay, coming from the First Tee program in Memphis, earning his way to a college golf program (but not at a Div I school).   I'll bet I know who anyone associated with First Tee is pulling for.  The teaser for the next episode clearly makes it look like Richy goes down.  I watched some of the summary show for the last episode (Clay was guest--> [URL=http://www.golfchannel.com/media/big-breakdown-clay-taking-fight-competition/]http://www.golfchannel.com/media/big-breakdown-clay-taking-fight-competition/[/URL] ), and he went way up in my opinion. Love the name of that show: Big Breakdown. Right up there with "Talking Dead" to recap the last episode. Anyway,  like I said, this is a pretty good crew of competitors, but a Clay victory would be a cool underdog story that would be compelling to watch. I'll stick with my first prediction after reading all the profiles before even watching an episode: Richy/Robert final, with Richy winning.  But geez, watching that teaser made me think Richy is done. I think that's the final quote. Like "I'm done here" or something.  Why would they put that in unless it was a ruse?

Duh.... This show is always a complete ruse. Trailers are always bs.

[natureboy]

Clay played well in the elimination challenge but he's very inconsistent in the immunity challenges.  I don't think he can beat Robert, Richy or Justin head to head.  I'm okay with any of the four winning but I think Robert has the best chance of making it at the pro level given his distance.

And distance control at scoring distances given the recent challenge.

[MrDC]

Predictable, Clay just lacked consistent good contact, although that challenge from the trees was kind of nutty and cost him, still, he was the lesser golfer so it played out right.

Next is Richy, he's good, but Justin is a bit better with his approaches.

And those back-to-back missed putts by Richy were ugly, and then blaming the grass, not good, you want to be a pro those have to go in every time.

It's Roberts show to lose.

[newtogolf]

Predictable, Clay just lacked consistent good contact, although that challenge from the trees was kind of nutty and cost him, still, he was the lesser golfer so it played out right.

Next is Richy, he's good, but Justin is a bit better with his approaches.

And those back-to-back missed putts by Richy were ugly, and then blaming the grass, not good, you want to be a pro those have to go in every time.

I felt bad for Clay at the end, his show persona was as inconsistent as his golf skills.  Unfortunately for him the cast this season featured a number of very good golfers.  I think he'd have placed even higher in past seasons, especially the ones that included both men and women.

Robert or Justin will have to choke for Richy to make it into the finale.  Richy doesn't seem to handle pressure as well as the other two.  I hope they do a 2 hour finale this season, I'd like to see more of the round from the final two.