2017 Farmers Insurance Open Discussion Thread

[iacas]

19 minutes ago, GolfLug said:

I am not about wage war with the PGA or anything but I don't know man, the whole thing is that this is on 18th or in effect 72nd struck me as messed up that's all.

Especially since the PGA has next to nothing to do with this…?

[GolfLug]

26 minutes ago, iacas said:

Especially since the PGA has next to nothing to do with this…?

Or whoever the course setter uppers were.. lol!

Like I said, this wasn't a serious comment. A passing impression and I am still holding it cuz it's Sunday night and I am drinking a glass of red wine and that's how I feel. I remembered this happening to Kyle Stanley as @Chilli Dipper posted. Saw it again today and I mentally pictured them pin setters high fiving each other. Them sadist bastards. lol.

Apologies to the PGA if that helps. Did I hear some instructor mention somewhere that golf is hard? ..  

[CarlSpackler]

1 hour ago, David in FL said:

How is it unfair, if everyone has the same pin?  

Difficult?  Sure.  Nothing wrong with a difficult pin on 18 on Sunday on the Pga Tour...

Yes. Difficult pin = risk vs. reward.

[Double Mocha Man]

2 hours ago, jamo said:

That putt was amazing.

He put in on a good line with the proper speed.  The rest was luck.

[Buckeyebowman]

5 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

He put in on a good line with the proper speed.  The rest was luck.

You're right. I'm sure Rahm would have been delighted with 2 putts from where he was! Plus, his was the only putt I saw break left at the hole. Everything else putted from above the broke right!

[Rainmaker]

1 hour ago, GolfLug said:

I am not about wage war with the PGA or anything but I don't know man, the whole thing is that this is on 18th or in effect 72nd struck me as messed up that's all.

It might be fair but I really don't like to see well struck shots hit the green and then spin into the water.  IMO - they should have the grass long enough to stop it before it hits the water.  

Just saying right now - if that ever happens to me I'm taking an automatic birdie.  

[iacas]

9 minutes ago, Rainmaker said:

It might be fair but I really don't like to see well struck shots hit the green and then spin into the water.  IMO - they should have the grass long enough to stop it before it hits the water.

If it has too much spin… it wasn't a well struck (properly struck) shot.

[Rainmaker]

3 minutes ago, iacas said:

If it has too much spin… it wasn't a well struck (properly struck) shot.

Yeah, true . .of course what I meant was if I hit one of my "knuckle ball specials" that bounce off the green at 25mph . .that can (and should) go in the water.  But if all you did was overspin it - the water seems a bit harsh.  I don't think it's unfair...and I do like watch golfers struggle with tough layouts or conditions . .but I'm just not a fan of that particular set-up.   

[DeadMan]

I'm going to be a contrarian and say that pin position makes the hole better. It means your best shot at birdie is going for it in 2. Otherwise, you have to play for a par or hit a spectacular wedge to get a birdie. I fail to see how that's unfair. Not being able to stop a putt near the hole is unfair. But making it so the best players in the world have to hit 2 good shots or one fantastic shot to get birdie is not unfair.

By the way, if I, a lowly 6 handicap, can take spin off the ball on an approach shot, PGA Tour players definitely can do it.

[Hacker James]

The tribute poster to Arnold Palmer strikes a chord with me. I graduated from High School in 1960 and in 1961 was serving with the US Navy in Washington D.C.  I really had not played golf until years later, but I remember watching Arnold on TV (Black and White). Arnie had won at Torrey in 1957 and again in 1961.

[PabloMoorzio]

6 hours ago, Double Mocha Man said:

He put in on a good line with the proper speed.  The rest was luck.

No, not having anyone do that putt down in any fashion, was a great putt, sure there was some luck, there is with every putt unless played in an air pressure/temperature controlled space age room. 

A young kid mixing it up with the big boys, first go at the event and under pressure, think was joint lead at time of putt?

It was a great putt! 

[boogielicious]

11 hours ago, GolfLug said:

Yeah, no place for mediocre in the PG of A right? Y'all better be sharper than fresh a Gillete. You battle cabbage all day then suck it in the water of a perfect lie with what should be a ho hum GIR shot. I think they double roll the bottom of the green just give you a nice parting eff yoo on the way out.. lol! 

Just ask Kyle Stanley. He had a 3 stroke lead going into that hole and did the same thing and triple bogeyed the hole in 2013. Lost the tournament in a playoff.

Gillette has two ts BTW.

[mcanadiens]

I don't watch a lot of golf on tv because I'm usually trying to play it. Yesterday, with the weather FUBAR, we had the golf on and saw Rahm's putt. That was definitely a pretty cool moment.

 

[Double Mocha Man]

11 hours ago, Rainmaker said:

Yeah, true . .of course what I meant was if I hit one of my "knuckle ball specials" that bounce off the green at 25mph . .that can (and should) go in the water.  But if all you did was overspin it - the water seems a bit harsh.  I don't think it's unfair...and I do like watch golfers struggle with tough layouts or conditions . .but I'm just not a fan of that particular set-up.   

If he doesn't want all that backspin then he should have hit his layup approach into the rough.  

Edited January 30, 2017 by Double Mocha Man

[nevets88]

Animated graph of winner's score progression:

 

[Blackjack Don]

It's great to see all these young guys challenging for wins. Great future for the PGA, and TV, unless they kill it with commercials. Good grief, I taped it and seems like very five minutes I had to fast forward through another batch of commercials. The leaderboard was on continuously as they went from one break to another. Some golfers look like NASCAR drivers. For those who are traditionalists, this isn't what they want to see, is it?

[Golfingdad]

I meant to say something on Friday evening but became busy and sidetracked and then forgot but ... a thought popped into my head during the first couple of rounds of this tournament and so I put together a little "science fair project."  First, I learned earlier in the week that the remodeled north course now has bentgrass greens instead of poa annua.  Then I was reminded while watching Tiger, DJ and JD struggle on Thursday that poa gets really bumpy and unpredictable in the afternoons.  So I developed a hypothesis that perhaps there would be a noticeable difference in scoring between the players that played early on the south course and late on the north in the first two rounds vs. those who played late on the south and early on the north.  I wondered if the former group would fare better than the latter because of the green conditions.

The short answer turned out to be, basically ... no.

It seems as though no matter how I separated out the groups, the results were the same.  It could be that perhaps more better players played the south in the afternoon, or it could be because the tee times were all fairly close together, or it could be that my lack of knowledge of statistics prevented me from correlating something that was actually there.

More likely, though ... perhaps its just more proof of how there is virtually no separation value in putting?

 

[iacas]

3 minutes ago, Golfingdad said:

More likely, though ... perhaps its just more proof of how there is virtually no separation value in putting?

I'm not going to suggest that this is all of it, but I think it's a good chunk of it to be sure.