Marquee Groups on Thursday/Friday Good Idea?

[Vinsk]

https://www.golfchannel.com/article/golf-central-blog/mcilroy-marquee-groups-players-backfired-little-bit/

This obviously draws large crowds but do you think it’s a good idea? Rory seems to think it’s not the best idea. I think players like Patrick Reed would like it. Not sure if Rory is trying to say he personally doesn’t like it or not. Thoughts?

[Friz]

I'm not sure I understand his argument... He seems to be saying that since they are playing together Thursday and Friday they won't play together on the weekend when it matters.  That logic would imply they can't all succeed together early on... But I feel like it's a more common instance that when one guy in the group plays well other guys pick up their game too.

 

In the end, it's obviously good for TV and viewing early in the week, I just don't see it as any more likely that the top guys would get grouped together on the weekend if they played in different groups before the cut.  

[DaveP043]

If I read it correctly, Rory is saying that he believes the "star" players didn't play particularly well because they were grouped together.  My guess is that he feels like he played poorly due to the buzz around his group, and assumes that the others had a similar problem.  Maybe he's right, maybe the trend will continue.  Just as possible, one or more of the "stars" in the marquee groups may actually play well and shoot Rory's theory down.

[Friz]

1 hour ago, DaveP043 said:

If I read it correctly, Rory is saying that he believes the "star" players didn't play particularly well because they were grouped together.  My guess is that he feels like he played poorly due to the buzz around his group, and assumes that the others had a similar problem.  Maybe he's right, maybe the trend will continue.  Just as possible, one or more of the "stars" in the marquee groups may actually play well and shoot Rory's theory down.

Thats pretty much what I read as well, which doesn't seem to make any sense to me, these are the best of the best players in the world and he thinks they are all going to play worse because they are playing together?  I can't imagine any scenario where the best players in the world playing together should drive each others performance DOWN...I could only see them picking up their game to compete directly against the other marquee players

Is there somehow a difference if they were playing together on the weekend they'd be picking up their game?  It just sounds like Rory making excuses, which I really don't want to see from someone of his caliber

[Vinsk]

I dare say I think Rory may be developing a bit of the old Sergio whine. I think his inconsistency is starting to annoy him and he’s just belly aching about anything other than admitting it’s nobody's fault.

[krupa]

This was in the amazon ad on this page. We should get it for Rory.

[fishgolf]

On ‎5‎/‎31‎/‎2018 at 9:08 AM, Friz said:

Thats pretty much what I read as well, which doesn't seem to make any sense to me, these are the best of the best players in the world and he thinks they are all going to play worse because they are playing together?  I can't imagine any scenario where the best players in the world playing together should drive each others performance DOWN...I could only see them picking up their game to compete directly against the other marquee players

Is there somehow a difference if they were playing together on the weekend they'd be picking up their game?  It just sounds like Rory making excuses, which I really don't want to see from someone of his caliber

I can see the flipside argument that playing together does in fact add additional pressure where they have a competition within the competition.  The recent "star studded" pairings at The Players yielded pretty mediocre performance. Great for TV ratings and patrons, but not necessarily the best for the players.  I think it should be completely random until the final rounds cut is made.

[DaveP043]

4 minutes ago, fishgolf said:

I can see the flipside argument that playing together does in fact add additional pressure where they have a competition within the competition.  The recent "star studded" pairings at The Players yielded pretty mediocre performance. Great for TV ratings and patrons, but not necessarily the best for the players.  I think it should be completely random until the final rounds cut is made.

I can see that the "marquee" groupings probably has the effect of concentrating the gallery around these groups, increasing the potential for distractions.  But these players should be the most accustomed to dealing with big galleries, so the effect is to concentrate the gallery distractions on the players who should be dealing with it best.  To make it random, some rookie playing with Tiger or Rory, increases the distraction level on a player who is the least equipped to handle it.  I have no problem with either approach, I think Rory should stop looking outside of himself for reasons for his own mediocre play. 

[fishgolf]

10 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

I can see that the "marquee" groupings probably has the effect of concentrating the gallery around these groups, increasing the potential for distractions.  But these players should be the most accustomed to dealing with big galleries, so the effect is to concentrate the gallery distractions on the players who should be dealing with it best.  To make it random, some rookie playing with Tiger or Rory, increases the distraction level on a player who is the least equipped to handle it.  I have no problem with either approach, I think Rory should stop looking outside of himself for reasons for his own mediocre play. 

Random pairings makes it completely unbiased.  Rookies get experience they need for the long haul and the stars can only gripe about the luck of the draw.  Besides, what rookie wouldn't want to be paired with one of the top 10 players in the world.

[DaveP043]

2 minutes ago, fishgolf said:

Random pairings makes it completely unbiased.  Rookies get experience they need for the long haul and the stars can only gripe about the luck of the draw.  Besides, what rookie wouldn't want to be paired with one of the top 10 players in the world.

I didn't say don't use random pairings, only that it changes how the gallery will be distributed.  Someone is going to be disturbed by the gallery, no matter what.  Every one of the top players has played well while dealing with huge galleries.  Going back to the original topic, I think that for Rory to suggest that pairing top players together puts those top players at some sort of disadvantage appears to be Rory simply looking for excuses.

[fishgolf]

15 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

I didn't say don't use random pairings, only that it changes how the gallery will be distributed.  Someone is going to be disturbed by the gallery, no matter what.  Every one of the top players has played well while dealing with huge galleries.  Going back to the original topic, I think that for Rory to suggest that pairing top players together puts those top players at some sort of disadvantage appears to be Rory simply looking for excuses.

Perhaps the case with Rory, but his gripe (or others) would have no basis if it were just the way the draw turned out. As for gallery distribution, that shouldn't be a prime consideration IMO.  They can always adjust the tee times and front or back 9 starts to help spread patrons out.

[iacas]

5 hours ago, fishgolf said:

I can see the flipside argument that playing together does in fact add additional pressure where they have a competition within the competition.  The recent "star studded" pairings at The Players yielded pretty mediocre performance. Great for TV ratings and patrons, but not necessarily the best for the players.  I think it should be completely random until the final rounds cut is made.

…and…

4 hours ago, fishgolf said:

Random pairings makes it completely unbiased.  Rookies get experience they need for the long haul and the stars can only gripe about the luck of the draw.  Besides, what rookie wouldn't want to be paired with one of the top 10 players in the world.

The PGA Tour doesn't use random pairings. That would be dumb, too - they don't want Tiger Woods out there first off the tee with two random schmucks, nor do the fans.

They're randomized within two or three large classifications, but they've never been "random."

[fishgolf]

46 minutes ago, iacas said:

The PGA Tour doesn't use random pairings. That would be dumb, too - they don't want Tiger Woods out there first off the tee with two random schmucks, nor do the fans.

They're randomized within two or three large classifications, but they've never been "random." 

I know that. My point is that, by making it completely random, even if done in groupings by world ranking, etc., that would make Rory's complaint/issue really sound just sour apples.  Personally, I don't think Phil, DJ, JT or most of the top players would really care who they are paired with; they might welcome the break.

[Shorty]

Amazing how Rory can make some honest commentary and it is interpreted as a "whine" or a "complaint".  He kept emphasising that he knew the reason but didn't necessarily think it was a great idea.  And then he is painted as a whinger. Not true. He's starting a conversation. That's not a negative thing.

[Vinsk]

6 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

I think Rory should stop looking outside of himself for reasons for his own mediocre play.

Bingo.

36 minutes ago, Shorty said:

Amazing how Rory can make some honest commentary and it is interpreted as a "whine" or a "complaint".  He kept emphasising that he knew the reason but didn't necessarily think it was a great idea.  And then he is painted as a whinger. Not true. He's starting a conversation. That's not a negative thing.

It’s my bad that I can’t recall the other comments. But I know I’ve heard Rory ‘complain’ recently more and it seems to be when he plays poorly. When he’s playing well (API) he’s all easy going and thinks things are fine. When he’s  not there’s always something he’s ‘starting a conversation’ about.

Edited June 1, 2018 by Vinsk