Worst Collapse in a Major?

[Buckeyebowman]

On 4/14/2016 at 3:38 PM, Golfingdad said:

Might consider it a blessing at this point.  He's way more of a household name than Todd Hamilton or Ben Curtis.

Yes, but for what reason? Because of failure! Because he came off looking like an idiot! 

I thought about Norman at the '96 Masters, but I read several articles afterward that had interviewed Norman. He said he felt his timing go on Saturday. He was able to keep it together enough to scrape it around in even par, but Faldo was coming on. Norman said that when he warmed up on Sunday, his timing was completely gone, and he had no idea where the ball was going!

5 hours ago, iacas said:

Wasn't a collapse at all - he hit the shots he was trying to hit. It was simply some bad, horrible, rotten luck. He made a medium-length putt just to force the playoff.

Really? Seriously? Was he trying to hit shots into the stands or into the burn? I watched the telecast  and saw Van de Velde and his caddie arguing on the tee about pulling the Driver. His caddie should have punched him a couple of times in the head to bring him to his senses. 

Bad luck is one thing, but it's usually brought about by bad decision making! 

[Beastie]

On 4/11/2016 at 8:08 PM, bkuehn1952 said:

Palmer's collapse wasn't quite as bad as it first appears.  Casper shot -3 for the inward nine and Palmer +4  Bad but not like going into the final day of the Master's with a 4 shot lead and shooting 80.  I picked Rory.

In some ways Van de Velde was the victim of a bad bounce.  I suspect he wanted to hit it into the stands and get a drop.  Instead it ricocheted back over the burn into gnarly rough and the rest was history.

Van de velde got lucky off the tee. He shoulda hit 5 iron 5 iron pitch. 

[iacas]

1 hour ago, Buckeyebowman said:

Really? Seriously? Was he trying to hit shots into the stands or into the burn? I watched the telecast  and saw Van de Velde and his caddie arguing on the tee about pulling the Driver. His caddie should have punched him a couple of times in the head to bring him to his senses. 

Wrong as usual. He was aiming away from the OB left of the green.

54 minutes ago, Beastie said:

Van de velde got lucky off the tee. He shoulda hit 5 iron 5 iron pitch. 

Nah. Driver, penalty drop, he's hitting three into a green where he only needs to make double. He could hit driver, drop, wedge, wedge, putt, putt.

Driver was fine.

[CarlSpackler]

16 hours ago, iacas said:

Bad luck ≠ collapsing.

Bad choices != Bad luck. His caddy should have pulled a Romeo. He could have double bogeyed the hole with a 7i and won.

[iacas]

29 minutes ago, CarlSpackler said:

Bad choices != Bad luck. His caddy should have pulled a Romeo. He could have double bogeyed the hole with a 7i and won.

He didn't make bad choices.

The bad luck was hitting that little thing sticking out on the railing.

[CarlSpackler]

7 minutes ago, iacas said:

He didn't make bad choices.

The bad luck was hitting that little thing sticking out on the railing.

He would have avoided this "bad luck" by taking a little medicine and playing for par/bogey. He didn't have to go for the green.

[iacas]

18 minutes ago, CarlSpackler said:

He would have avoided this "bad luck" by taking a little medicine and playing for par/bogey. He didn't have to go for the green.

Why should he have laid up? Because of the odds of a 1 in a million thing happening? What if he laid up and hit a sprinkler head and the ball bounced into the water or the thick rough or whatever? You'd be saying "he should have just gone for it and gotten green side in two."

He played the hole well. He got screwed by a freak bounce.

You can't hit 7I off the tee because it likely wouldn't have even reached the fairway, so let's stop with that type of nonsense, too. Yes, he went back a year later and made 6 hitting only his putter… after a few tries. Would you advise he only hit putter because he pulled it off once? No. So don't advise he play the hole with wedges or 7Is or whatever because playing it the way he did resulted in a one-in-a-million type shot against him.

[ChetlovesMer]

Funny, as I look at this question. I think I'm one of the few who voted not based on what it meant to the player, or even by what happened to the player. I voted based on how I personally remember it. For me, watching Phil knock it off the hospitality tent is imprinted in my memory. Phil moved on and nobody feels sorry for him. 

I didn't see the Arnold Palmer thing. I wasn't born yet. I'm sure I watched all the rest of them. Nothing sticks in my mind like Phil at Winged Foot. So, I voted based on my memory of it. Not based on level of collapse, or historical significance. 

The one I actually remember second most clearly is Lorena Ochoa at the 2005 US Women's Open. 
My wife and I are both Ochoa fans and she was totally charging down the back 9. Birdie after birdie, she seemed to be on a roll. Then she almost literally missed the ball with her 3 wood on the tee. I've never seen a pro put such a poor swing on the ball. My wife and I were both like "Oh my gosh, she almost missed the ball". That one sticks in my mind as well. 

[CarlSpackler]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

Why should he have laid up? Because of the odds of a 1 in a million thing happening? What if he laid up and hit a sprinkler head and the ball bounced into the water or the thick rough or whatever? You'd be saying "he should have just gone for it and gotten green side in two."

He played the hole well. He got screwed by a freak bounce.

You can't hit 7I off the tee because it likely wouldn't have even reached the fairway, so let's stop with that type of nonsense, too. Yes, he went back a year later and made 6 hitting only his putter… after a few tries. Would you advise he only hit putter because he pulled it off once? No. So don't advise he play the hole with wedges or 7Is or whatever because playing it the way he did resulted in a one-in-a-million type shot against him.

If it's not a valid option, then remove it from the survey. Otherwise, I will stick by my answer. I think he royally effed up after lucky break on an errant tee shot.

[iacas]

6 minutes ago, CarlSpackler said:

If it's not a valid option, then remove it from the survey. Otherwise, I will stick by my answer. I think he royally effed up after lucky break on an errant tee shot.

Oh brother.

I'm expressing my opinion, and the foundation for such, and you're doing the same for yours.