2016 Players Championship Discussion Thread

[RFKFREAK]

I'm really enjoying today's action.

When the pros are playing like mere mortals, it makes me feel better about my game. :)

[newtogolf]

I don't like birdie fests, I much prefer to watch them be challenged and struggle to be -2 or - 3 for a round versus -9.  

[saevel25]

The #17 green is 25 yards wide and 20 yards deep. It's 142 yards on average from the Tournament tee box. 

Average leave for PGA Tour players is 5.5% from 100-150 yards. That means they should be +/- 8.25 yards on average. Even if we make the green just a 20 yard wide circle, their distribution is 33% smaller than the green size. 

I contest that they are too aggressive in their shot selection if so many of these players hit the ball into the water.  They maybe should aim for  the middle of the green 

 

[Gunther]

On Friday, May 13, 2016 at 3:20 PM, newtogolf said:

Spieth is still struggling, seems that last round of The Masters has left a scar.  

Sorry bud, that's absurd.  He's rusty.  He hit some great shots but his short game was off.  Jordan is fine, just a little frustrated right now.  I don't believe there's anyone mentally stronger playing the game at the professional level currently.

Edited May 14, 2016 by Gunther

[Chilli Dipper]

54 minutes ago, Gunther said:

Sorry bud, that's absurd.  He's rusty.  He hit some great shots but his short game was off.  Jordan is fine, just a little frustrated right now.  I don't believe there's anyone mentally stronger playing the game at the professional level currently.

I have to concur. Jordan's performance had less to do with the residual effects of the Masters than it did him not playing for a month.

[Natural Patrick]

2 hours ago, newtogolf said:

I don't like birdie fests, I much prefer to watch them be challenged and struggle to be -2 or - 3 for a round versus -9.  

I agree, especially a tournament of this magnitude.

[ChrisP]

4 hours ago, pumaAttack said:

i liked this tournament better when it was a birdie fest.  It's more fun to watch birdies and eagles than it is to see three putts and bogeys.

I disagree. You get birdie fests every week on Tour in the John Deere Classics and Humana Challenge's. The big tournaments should test the best players to the max. Seeing guys shooting 63 and 64 every day in a tournament of this magnitude isn't fun.

[saevel25]

1 minute ago, ChrisP said:

I disagree. You get birdie fests every week on Tour in the John Deere Classics and Humana Challenge's. The big tournaments should test the best players to the max. Seeing guys shooting 63 and 64 every day in a tournament of this magnitude isn't fun.

Still today was a bit crazy. Not sure much they could have done when you get dew points in the 40's in Florida! 

I would have like today and tomorrow be between yesterday and today. 

[Scotsclaff]

1 hour ago, Gunther said:

Sorry bud, that's absurd.  He's rusty.  He hit some great shots but his short game was off.  Jordan is fine, just a little frustrated right now.  I don't believe there's anyone mentally stronger playing the game at the professional level currently.

Wow,I don't go with that at all.

He just missed the cut,pretty obvious his mental game isn't as good as the players who made the cut.

Poor Knoxy, a 9 at the 17th.

Edited May 15, 2016 by Scotsclaff

[saevel25]

3 minutes ago, Scotsclaff said:

He just missed the cut,pretty obvious his mental game isn't as good as the players who made the cut.

Totally wrong. Sergio Garcia has made a ton of cuts and is one of the hottest tempered people out there. Look at Bubba Watson, he's a walking time bomb on the course and he makes cuts. 

People need to stop associated poor play with mental game.

[Buckeyebowman]

7 hours ago, colin007 said:

He's really getting to that level, isn't he...makes me uncomfortable.

While part of me can admire the amount of thought that a player and his (or her) caddie put into a shot, and the fact that the player has the skill level to pull it off, part of me cringes as well. If I put that many thoughts in my head prior to a shot, I couldn't start my backswing!

3 hours ago, newtogolf said:

I don't like birdie fests, I much prefer to watch them be challenged and struggle to be -2 or - 3 for a round versus -9.  

I agree. Anybody remember the old Bob Hope Desert Classic? You had to be at least 25 under to even be in the running!

41 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

Totally wrong. Sergio Garcia has made a ton of cuts and is one of the hottest tempered people out there. Look at Bubba Watson, he's a walking time bomb on the course and he makes cuts. 

People need to stop associated poor play with mental game.

I agree with this as well. He went on vacation and just blew off golf for a while. Now suddenly, he's chopped liver?! One time I went on a fishing vacation to Canada, way up in the boonies. When I got back and was prepping for Monday, I realized that I hadn't had a single thought about work for an entire week! That felt so good, and I can't imagine that these guys are all that different!

Meanwhile, boy did the worm turn today! The doormat stood up and started slapping guys around! I saw the scoring from the first two days and wondered what was going on? I figured that maybe they had some rain and the wind wasn't blowing. Someone mentioned 40 degree dew points in Florida. Hell, we rarely see those in Ohio!

I have to admire Jason Day's resilience. He had a four hole stretch of double bogey, birdie, double bogey, birdie! He just would not give in or give up.

My big hero of the day was Ken Duke! DUKE! DUKE! DUKE!  He's just one of those guys like Fred Funk, and I was a big fan of Funky Fred, who is "just" a journeyman, but whose game I would kill to have!

[Lastpick]

I watched a segment on the Golf Channel today, and the guy in the know said that the greens got away from the tournament committee.  They were trying to get the greens to roll at 13, but due to low humidity and a little wind, the greens were faster.  I don't care for a tournament condition that is in my opinion unfair.  I was surprised that the players had such a difficult time adjusting to the green speed.  I will say that the disaster that befell Sergio Garcia is on him alone.  Why keep hitting the putt five feet past the hole.  Great viewing though, but the greens are putting players at a disadvantage at times.

[Chilli Dipper]

So, does Duke or Cejka channel his inner Hal Sutton or Fred Funk and show the young guys how it's done?

[Fourputt]

14 hours ago, Gunther said:

Sorry bud, that's absurd.  He's rusty.  He hit some great shots but his short game was off.  Jordan is fine, just a little frustrated right now.  I don't believe there's anyone mentally stronger playing the game at the professional level currently.

How can a Tour pro allow himself to be "rusty" as he enters the heart of the season?  He head is not in his game right now for whatever reason.

13 hours ago, saevel25 said:

Totally wrong. Sergio Garcia has made a ton of cuts and is one of the hottest tempered people out there. Look at Bubba Watson, he's a walking time bomb on the course and he makes cuts. 

People need to stop associated poor play with mental game.

So you don't think that a person's mental state can affect his play?  I wish you well with that fantasy.  

[Gunther]

1 minute ago, Fourputt said:

How can a Tour pro allow himself to be "rusty" as he enters the heart of the season?  He head is not in his game right now for whatever reason.

He was off a month, people bounce back differently.  He missed the cut here last year too so the course doesn't set up great for him.

No one, not even Jack or Tiger, are "on" every tournament.

The main point I was trying to make is that it has nothing to do with his Masters melt down, he is as resilient a player as anyone out there, more so than most.

[David in FL]

20 minutes ago, Chilli Dipper said:

So, does Duke or Cejka channel his inner Hal Sutton or Fred Funk and show the young guys how it's done?

Gotta be pulling for Duke today.  What a great story that would be!

[Fourputt]

16 minutes ago, David in FL said:

Gotta be pulling for Duke today.  What a great story that would be!

It would be cool, but I just don't see it happening.  I'd love to see Hideki Matsuyama keep it up too.  He had a phenomenal round yesterday as well and nobody even mentions that here.   If Day stumbles a little out of the gate, there are some good players in line to climb over him, but he has been clutch, and I don't expect him to slip.

[David in FL]

11 minutes ago, Fourputt said:

It would be cool, but I just don't see it happening.  I'd love to see Hideki Matsuyama keep it up too.  He had a phenomenal round yesterday as well and nobody even mentions that here.   If Day stumbles a little out of the gate, there are some good players in line to climb over him, but he has been clutch, and I don't expect him to slip.

Me neither.