2016 Bridgestone WGC @ Firestone

[Coronagolfman]

At bit surprising that the scores are so high at old Firestone - these guys are hitting 7, 8, 9 or PW irons to the greens and they still can't manage better then 5 or 6 under after 3 rounds?

Some of the holes are a bit longer than the days of the "Big Three" but you would think the scores would be in the -12 to -16 range for this relatively straightforward course.

Now, it is true that with a field of only some 60 players the tournament is missing some 80 more players of which some might have been able to get hot and shoot some good scores - but it still seems that in this age of live golf balls, sports training and technologically advanced drivers that these guys that routinely drive the ball 350 yards on a string should be able to tear up old Firestone.

[saevel25]

4 minutes ago, Coronagolfman said:

At bit surprising that the scores are so high at old Firestone - these guys are hitting 7, 8, 9 or PW irons to the greens and they still can't manage better then 5 or 6 under after 3 rounds?

Firestone South is a par 70 course. The average winning score is typically -13. It looks to be playing a tad tougher then it usually does. 

7 minutes ago, Coronagolfman said:

Some of the holes are a bit longer than the days of the "Big Three" but you would think the scores would be in the -12 to -16 range for this relatively straightforward course.

Firestone South is an old school course. It has a lot of ups and downs to the course. Also the fairways are narrow, the rough is high, and the greens have a good amount of slope to them. If it hasn't rained then it might be tough for these guys to hold the greens if they are in the rough. 

Straightforward course does not mean easy.

9 minutes ago, Coronagolfman said:

 but it still seems that in this age of live golf balls, sports training and technologically advanced drivers that these guys that routinely drive the ball 350 yards on a string should be able to tear up old Firestone.

They don't routinely hit 350 yard drives. DJ only averages 310 yards. The PGA Tour average is 288 yards off the tee.

Also, Firestone South is 7400 yards and has a course rating of 76. PGA Tour players should be shooting around 68-70 per round with that course rating. It's not a short course, especially for a par 70. 

 

 

[natureboy]

Day struggling a bit off the tee in his round (putting keeping him in it) and on his recent hole it goes to the rough bounces off a spectator's foot into the adjacent fairway. His reaction on the tee is great, fist pumps and laughs when he sees where it ends up.

[ChrisP]

Steven Bowditch +24? Looks like he's having an Ian Baker-Finch meltdown season. He's had more rounds in the 80s (and 90s) this year than in the 70s.

[Shindig]

3 hours ago, ChrisP said:

Steven Bowditch +24? ... He's had more rounds in the 80s (and 90s) this year than in the 70s.

Horray, I have something in common with someone who won the PGA Tour the last two seasons!

(Note: I added the ellipsis for clarity of what I was responding to)

[natureboy]

6 hours ago, Coronagolfman said:

Now, it is true that with a field of only some 60 players the tournament is missing some 80 more players of which some might have been able to get hot and shoot some good scores - but it still seems that in this age of live golf balls, sports training and technologically advanced drivers that these guys that routinely drive the ball 350 yards on a string should be able to tear up old Firestone.

If it was a major the 'back of the field' would be worth ~ 15% of the wins based on recent history. My estimate of win share from hot players above ~ 60 in rank in all PGA events would be ~ 40% of the wins. So for the WGC's somewhere in-between? Or are they equivalent to Major tests? I would say just by dint of no cut they are a bit closer to strong field regular tour events than to a Major.

[saevel25]

5 minutes ago, natureboy said:

If it was a major the 'back of the field' would be worth ~ 15% of the wins based on recent history. My estimate of win share from hot players above ~ 60 in rank in all PGA events would be ~ 40% of the wins. So for the WGC's somewhere in-between? Or are they equivalent to Major tests? I would say just by dint of no cut they are a bit closer to strong field regular tour events than to a Major.

Majors do not have the strongest fields. 

The scheduling is off this year because I think of the Olympics. This seems to be a one time shift in the date change of this tournament. That might be why it's a tad depleted this year. 

 

[BallStriker]

FWIW.....much more interested in the Cudda than Firestone.......love getting to watch this

[Natural Patrick]

4 hours ago, ChrisP said:

Steven Bowditch +24? Looks like he's having an Ian Baker-Finch meltdown season. He's had more rounds in the 80s (and 90s) this year than in the 70s.

Oh I agree. I follow the PGA tour pretty close and Bowditch has done a 180 since his last win.He has been in the bottom 5 in almost every tournament he has been in this year.

[boogielicious]

11 hours ago, ChrisP said:

Steven Bowditch +24? Looks like he's having an Ian Baker-Finch meltdown season. He's had more rounds in the 80s (and 90s) this year than in the 70s.

 

6 hours ago, Natural Patrick said:

Oh I agree. I follow the PGA tour pretty close and Bowditch has done a 180 since his last win.He has been in the bottom 5 in almost every tournament he has been in this year.

I fear it is my fault. I met him last September at the TaylorMade M1 launch event. Since then he has spiraled down. Maybe I'm a jinx? If so, for a small retainer, I can "meet" other players of your choosing .

[Lastpick]

The tournament field was doomed from the beginning.  Many of the qualifying European players opted out to play in the 100th French Open and rightly so.  The Bridgestone did not count as a European event this year because of the olympic schedule changes.  I am officially opposed to golf as being an olympic sport.  It just is not going to be that important in the grand scheme.  

Now as to the Bridgestone, it is amazing that the fairways are so tough to hit.  Jordan has a snowman or he is right there.  This has been a good tournament for watching.  

The one thing that I disagree with is getting paid for just showing up.  I think one should have to play to tournament to qualify for official money.  I don't know if they also get fedex cup points for just showing up.

[natureboy]

10 hours ago, saevel25 said:

Majors do not have the strongest fields. 

It may depend on the Major, but the US Open had 87% of the OWGR top 75 and 97% of the OWGR top 62. I would expect most of those missing from the top 75 simply were those that failed to qualify.

The official field for the Bridgestone Invitational has 74% of the OWGR top 62 

4 hours ago, boogielicious said:

I fear it is my fault. I met him last September at the TaylorMade M1 launch event. Since then he has spiraled down. Maybe I'm a jinx? If so, for a small retainer, I can "meet" other players of your choosing .

The golf cooler.

[natureboy]

In 2015, the US Open had ~ 81% of the top 78 OWGR and the Bridgestone WGC had ~ 68% of the top 78 OWGR.

@saevel25 I'm not saying WGCs are weak fields. They are clearly very strong. But how are these events stronger than Majors when the majors do top 50-60 OWGR plus qualifiers / winners / money list leaders (qualifications are very similar), they have more prestige, and they have a 36 hole cut?

[Natural Patrick]

19 hours ago, ChrisP said:

Steven Bowditch +24? Looks like he's having an Ian Baker-Finch meltdown season. He's had more rounds in the 80s (and 90s) this year than in the 70s.

He finished +28 Wow. From the scores he has posted this year. I'm not sure he could win on the Web.com tour.

[pin high]

Sure sounded like Day dropped an f-bomb on the 9th.

[ChrisP]

Kevin Chappell needs to shave that beard. I'm getting him too confused with Dustin Johnson. Even my gf who doesn't know much about golf asked me if they were brothers.

[Natural Patrick]

59 minutes ago, pin high said:

Sure sounded like Day dropped an f-bomb on the 9th.

That would be Awesome if he did ?

[Natural Patrick]

Congrats to DJ on another big Win.