2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale Discussion Thread

[skydog]

27 minutes ago, Jack Watson said:

I like Kuch a lot but not his swing.  He had a lot of chances just couldn't roll his rock.  Still a great guy.  Hit it well.

 

Agreed. His swings always irks me too. I always think it's such a waste how short he hits the ball with how tall he is. Just can't help but think he could get more out of his game. 

[jamo]

2 hours ago, nevets88 said:

Whomever at Under Armour made the deal to sign Spieth to a long term contract before his first Masters win, I need to have some of that.  Don't recall seeing anyone else wear UA. I know UA has other PGA endorsements (Woodland), just never seen them. Which is fine if Spieth keeps this up.

 

Under Armour athletes also do really good cross-sport promotion. I saw on Facebook Tom Brady gave a shoutout to Spieth, and mentioned Steph Curry in it. It's to the point where I wonder if Under Armour somehow "strongly encourages" that. 

[BallStriker]

2 hours ago, Jack Watson said:

He had a lot of chances just couldn't roll his rock.  

I think the folks at AimPoint would have liked to see him hole a few putts.......not the best endorsement today

 

Edited July 24, 2017 by BallStriker

[Vinsk]

Kuch seems so hunched over it prevents him from utilizing his height. Have you noticed how he slightly pulls his body away from the ball just as he starts his bs? 

[Aguirre]

I saw very little of this championship, and zero shots of the final round. But what a fantastic segment with (Todd & David?) explaining the Spieth drop on Live from the Open. I've ripped the Golf Channel plenty in the past, but they do cover their home sport better than any sport-specific network does. 

2 hours ago, skydog said:

Agreed. His swings always irks me too. I always think it's such a waste how short he hits the ball with how tall he is. Just can't help but think he could get more out of his game. 

Haha. Yeah, he swings like I do. And I'm 5'6". But I would have been rooting for him today. Fellow hair casualty and of similar age.

[Chris223]

Rewatching the trophy presentation just after they finished, Kuch was pretty obviously emotional, moreso than I think most have ever seen him, he looked absolutely heart broken given how close he came, and like he said afterwards, you don't get many of these opportunities.  Still though, he would have had to shoot 66 just to get into a playoff, 65 to win, a big ask, there weren't a ton of low scores Sunday, he didn't lose it by any means, what can you do when you shoot 2 under for 4 holes and lose 2 shots lol.  Here's to hoping he wins a major though, it was really hard to see how clearly heartbroken he looked.  Just hope his performance this week is a kick in the rear for him to realize that he IS good enough to be talked about as someone who can win a major

[mvmac]

3 hours ago, jamo said:

It's to the point where I wonder if Under Armour somehow "strongly encourages" that. 

They have their passwords 

[weekend hacker1]

10 hours ago, GolfLug said:

Love Kuch, hope he comes away with a major before all said and done. He is a class act but couple of times I felt like he was almost too nice to JS.

Yes. Especially with the 13th hole debacle. Can you imagine Faldo or Woods taking that? They'd be over there kicking up a stink. Hell, even Jimenez did that a few years ago. And then afterwards he was all pals with Spieth on the green. Too nice to win.

[1badbadger]

Not sure if this was mentioned previously, but I got to thinking...what was the Titleist tour van doing on-site on Sun?  The vans typically pull out on Wed...

[saevel25]

8 hours ago, Vinsk said:

Kuch seems so hunched over it prevents him from utilizing his height. Have you noticed how he slightly pulls his body away from the ball just as he starts his bs? 

Height does help with distance, but not in every case. I don't think him not hunching over as much will help him gain that much more distance. His swing just doesn't look powerful like other of the bigger hitters.

16 minutes ago, 1badbadger said:

Not sure if this was mentioned previously, but I got to thinking...what was the Titleist tour van doing on-site on Sun?  The vans typically pull out on Wed...

Do they? What if a player needs a club replaced between rounds?

---

I get that it's the final round, but the amount of time Spieth took to get that shot resolved was absurd. My dad and I literally had lunch by the time he hit is shot. He needs to work on how slowly he plays. The number of times he backs off because of a slight gust of wind is absurd. I can't stand watching him play golf.

On that note, congrats to Spieth for adding another major to his resume. He can grind out a win with the best of them. When his putter is on he's one of the best from long to medium range I've seen.

[cape cod beachfront golfer]

I have not read thru all the posts but I will add a few comments...

Never heard of a course where the driving range was not out of bounds? In normal play at R Birkdale would I be allowed to do the same drop?

Would Montgomery or Sergio have been given the same 'support' from PGA, TV, and fans? Jordan may not like the 'Golden Boy" tag but he seemed to benefit from it here.

Could Kucher have walked up, putted out, and finished the hole? I think the delay was immensely unfair to him. Plus the delay may actually have given Speith a much needed mental re-start.  Reminded me of some tennis 'injuries' that change the momentum of play.

[Midpack]

28 minutes ago, cape cod beachfront golfer said:

Never heard of a course where the driving range was not out of bounds? In normal play at R Birkdale would I be allowed to do the same drop?

Would Montgomery or Sergio have been given the same 'support' from PGA, TV, and fans? Jordan may not like the 'Golden Boy" tag but he seemed to benefit from it here.

Evidently there are only two holes on RB with OB, you could have easily looked that up. I seriously doubt the rules officials changes the rules for Speith or any player, especially on broadcast television. And I am sure he asked what was allowed. I'm not a Speith fan or foe, but your casual assertion may be OB.

http://golfweek.com/2017/07/19/british-open-2017-royal-birkdale-hole-by-hole/

Edited July 24, 2017 by Midpack

[cape cod beachfront golfer]

Yes, I now see 2 official OB's. But I did also see an OB was created for Hole 9 for safety reasons. Safety Reasons was the reason any course I have played would have Driving Ranges OB. I wonder if on the next rotation to R Birkdale the area will be deemed OB or possibly the corporate trailers located in a different spot.

[Marty2019]

I've been trying to figure out why Speith is so successful.   Obviously, he doesn't have the physical gifts of a lot of other players.  He's like 120th in total driving, for example.  

I think it's like what they said about General US Grant: "He has 4 o'clock in the morning courage."   Meaning, you could wake him up at 4 o'clock in the morning, and tell him his right flank has been destroyed, and his center is in danger of caving in, and he would stay cool and figure out what to do.  

I think Spieth is like that.   He has 4 o'clock in the morning courage.  

[Zekez]

1 hour ago, weekend hacker1 said:

Yes. Especially with the 13th hole debacle. Can you imagine Faldo or Woods taking that? They'd be over there kicking up a stink. Hell, even Jimenez did that a few years ago. And then afterwards he was all pals with Spieth on the green. Too nice to win.

Couldn't disagree more.  One can win without being a jerk.

[Groucho Valentine]

The whole up and down nature of Speiths round certainly did fuel the melodrama. But am i the only one that finds it annoying when sports media and fans canonize athletes as heroic? Com'on man...he just took relief and made a bogey... 

4 minutes ago, Marty2019 said:

I've been trying to figure out why Speith is so successful.   Obviously, he doesn't have the physical gifts of a lot of other players.  He's like 120th in total driving, for example.  

I think it's like what they said about General US Grant: "He has 4 o'clock in the morning courage."   Meaning, you could wake him up at 4 o'clock in the morning, and tell him his right flank has been destroyed, and his center is in danger of caving in, and he would stay cool and figure out what to do.  

I think Spieth is like that.   He has 4 o'clock in the morning courage.  

Being the best putter in the world helps too...

[Marty2019]

6 minutes ago, Groucho Valentine said:

The whole up and down nature of Speiths round certainly did fuel the melodrama. But am i the only one that finds it annoying when sports media and fans canonize athletes as heroic? Com'on man...he just took relief and made a bogey... 

Being the best putter in the world helps too...

Is he really the best putter in the world?   He's 68th in total putting right now.   He's 37th in strokes gained putting.   We see him make these long putts in the clutch, and we think he's the greatest putter in the world, but he really isn't.  

Edited July 24, 2017 by Marty2019

[saevel25]

1 hour ago, cape cod beachfront golfer said:

I have not read thru all the posts but I will add a few comments...

Never heard of a course where the driving range was not out of bounds? In normal play at R Birkdale would I be allowed to do the same drop?

This reminded me of this incident with Tiger Woods at Firestone CC during the Bridgestone Inv.

http://www.espn.com/golf/news/story?id=2561579

Quote

"I thought for sure that ball must have been out-of-bounds," Woods said. "Then, it wasn't out-of-bounds. On top of that, we had to somehow find it. It was a huge break to get out of there with 5."

Woods got a free drop because the grandstand behind the green is a temporary immovable obstruction. Rules officials had to walk in an arc away from the back of the clubhouse, then used lasers to determine the yardage -- 97 yards -- and Woods eventually hit a lob wedge to 30 feet and two-putted for bogey.

 

 

Rules official Slugger White said the clubhouse has never been deemed to be out-of-bounds. In fact, he said Woods' ball could have bounced across Warner Road and onto the North Course, and it still would have been in play.

Adding to Woods luck was that rules official Mike Shea said the ball was located -- or enough evidence to figure out what happened -- seconds before the five minutes allowed to search for a lost ball.

 

I've been to golf courses where the driving range is not OB. Formerly Granville GC, in Ohio, has their driving range to the left of the 18th hole. There is no OB posts.