2018 British Open Championship at Carnoustie

[iacas]

2 hours ago, brocks said:

Yeah, I was just looking at the points list.  It includes earnings from majors and WGCs in 2017, so I don't think Tiger can crack the top ten unless he wins both the WGC and the PGA.  Which is no longer out of the question, if his upward performance trend continues.😁

 

Top 8 I think.

[brocks]

2 minutes ago, colin007 said:

I'm extremely disappointed in Tiger....to be that conservative off the tee and then have it backfire even more? If you're going to lay up then you HAVE TO HIT THE MOTHEREFFING FAIRWAY!!!!!!!

It's times like this that I say he needs more of Rory's "eff it, I'm hitting driver" mentality.

SMDH. Ugh.

I'm extremely disappointed in Tiger... to play a major without consulting you first on his game plan.  I mean, where does he get off thinking he knows more than you about the state of his game, and how to win majors?

[iacas]

16 minutes ago, brocks said:

I'm extremely disappointed in Tiger... to play a major without consulting you first on his game plan.  I mean, where does he get off thinking he knows more than you about the state of his game, and how to win majors?

I feel like maybe you don't know @colin007's schtick here, @brocks.

That or you're both just goofing around. I'll assume that for now.

[colin007]

26 minutes ago, brocks said:

I'm extremely disappointed in Tiger... to play a major without consulting you first on his game plan.  I mean, where does he get off thinking he knows more than you about the state of his game, and how to win majors?

 

9 minutes ago, iacas said:

I feel like maybe you don't know @colin007's schtick here, @brocks.

That or you're both just goofing around. I'll assume that for now.

I'm not goofing, I don't think the strategy works, I honestly think he needs to be more aggressive. I'm super impressed with how far he's come all things considering, but he needs to step on the gas more often.

[skydog]

31 minutes ago, weekend hacker1 said:

Who says he was British or European? And it was one person.

He has been the best player in the world for the past 2 months. It's a great story. His putting today was fantastic (as well as his tee to green game).

Nothing against the guy. But I think most of the golf/sports world would have preferred a different outcome today...

[brocks]

1 minute ago, colin007 said:

 

I'm not goofing, I don't think the strategy works, I honestly think he needs to be more aggressive. I'm super impressed with how far he's come all things considering, but he needs to step on the gas more often.

Well, I was goofing.  I think he probably knows his capabilities better than you, and I haven't been able to relax when he pulls the driver out since about 2003. 

I even think it's possible that he has guys who know more than the average fan about golf in general, and his game in particular, to give him advice when he wants it.  And I'm very sure he doesn't intend to mishit shots with whatever club he plays. 

It's all very nice to say he should have hit it in the fairway with the wind gusting, but if you check that big board with the numbers on it, you'll see that the #1, #2, and #5 golfers in the world missed the cut, the #4 golfer who just won back to back US Opens finished T39, and YJS shot a nifty 76 today.

In conclusion, golf is hard.

[ChrisP]

To Tiger's strategy, I do think he should have hit driver or 3-wood on 11 and 12, but that's not my call to make. It's his. If he could go back in time, maybe he would have done it differently. Those were the two holes that cost him the major. Give him pars on those two and he's in at -8 and it may even win. You don't know how that would have affected Molinari down the stretch.

[brocks]

25 minutes ago, ChrisP said:

To Tiger's strategy, I do think he should have hit driver or 3-wood on 11 and 12, but that's not my call to make. It's his. If he could go back in time, maybe he would have done it differently. Those were the two holes that cost him the major. Give him pars on those two and he's in at -8 and it may even win. You don't know how that would have affected Molinari down the stretch.

I'm sure he would have played 11 differently if he had a mulligan --- he would have been LESS aggressive, and not have gone for the flop shot on his 3rd, which is what caused the double bogey.  The hole was only 385 yards and the wind was at its worst when he was on the 11th tee, he would have been crazy not to use an iron.  There was nothing wrong with the club he selected; he just mishit it.

As for 12, it has a fairway about wide enough for three carts, except for a landing area that he would have run through if he used driver.   He had just seen how hard it was to hit out of the rough, so he wanted to be sure he hit the fairway.  He mishit again and it missed the fairway by a few feet.  If he had hit driver, God knows how far into the junk it would have gone.

Mishits are part of the game; they don't mean you used the wrong club. 

Another part of the game is the draw you get --- Tiger got a worse draw than anybody who tied or finished ahead of him.  I thought after Friday that it cost him four shots compared to the guys on the good side of the draw.   And four shots would have won it.

 

[ChrisP]

37 minutes ago, brocks said:

I'm sure he would have played 11 differently if he had a mulligan --- he would have been LESS aggressive, and not have gone for the flop shot on his 3rd, which is what caused the double bogey.  The hole was only 385 yards and the wind was at its worst when he was on the 11th tee, he would have been crazy not to use an iron.  There was nothing wrong with the club he selected; he just mishit it.

As for 12, it has a fairway about wide enough for three carts, except for a landing area that he would have run through if he used driver.   He had just seen how hard it was to hit out of the rough, so he wanted to be sure he hit the fairway.  He mishit again and it missed the fairway by a few feet.  If he had hit driver, God knows how far into the junk it would have gone.

Mishits are part of the game; they don't mean you used the wrong club. 

Another part of the game is the draw you get --- Tiger got a worse draw than anybody who tied or finished ahead of him.  I thought after Friday that it cost him four shots compared to the guys on the good side of the draw.   And four shots would have won it.

 

I believe Molinari got the bad draw, too. So that's pretty awesome that he won while getting the worst end of it. Schauffele, Rose, Kisner, Spieth and Chappell all got the easier side of the draw. But Molinari is probably playing better golf than anyone in the world right now. We always want our favorites to win, but if they don't, having the best player win isn't a bad consolation. Molinari is just playing better than anyone in the game right now. 

[brocks]

2 minutes ago, ChrisP said:

I believe Molinari got the bad draw, too. So that's pretty awesome that he won while getting the worst end of it.

Molinari got the second worst draw of the top 10, but he still teed off two hours before Tiger on Thursday, when the wind got worse as the day went on.

But that's always been a part of the Open, that and weird bounces.  It's part of the game.

[Vinsk]

1 hour ago, brocks said:

I'm sure he would have played 11 differently if he had a mulligan --- he would have been LESS aggressive, and not have gone for the flop shot on his 3rd, which is what caused the double bogey.  The hole was only 385 yards and the wind was at its worst when he was on the 11th tee, he would have been crazy not to use an iron.  There was nothing wrong with the club he selected; he just mishit it.

As for 12, it has a fairway about wide enough for three carts, except for a landing area that he would have run through if he used driver.   He had just seen how hard it was to hit out of the rough, so he wanted to be sure he hit the fairway.  He mishit again and it missed the fairway by a few feet.  If he had hit driver, God knows how far into the junk it would have gone.

Mishits are part of the game; they don't mean you used the wrong club. 

Another part of the game is the draw you get --- Tiger got a worse draw than anybody who tied or finished ahead of him.  I thought after Friday that it cost him four shots compared to the guys on the good side of the draw.   And four shots would have won it.

 

@brocks damn bro, I really enjoy reading your posts. That being said, I’ve said it ad nauseam but I truly believe Tiger would benefit from a ‘better’ caddie. I’m not a LaCava fan at all. Great guy, just not the right caddie for Tiger. Stevie had his douche moments but I think his attiitide is just better for Tiger. I know Tiger has matured, fatherhood has ‘softened’ him but in a good way. I think Tiger needs someone who he almost feels a sense of true respect to listen to. Stevie really made sure Tiger was focused. Not when Tiger was in his zone..then it’s just being along for the ride. But when things got intense Stevie wa there to keep him focused and keep his confidence strong. Today’s round Tiger asks, ‘ can I hit this club?’ LaCava says, ‘ well, yeah, I mean you might catch a flier, gotta plan for that if you don’t you’re there.’ Something like that. If Tiger asked me ‘can I hit this club’ I would’ve stopped him right there and get his head clear and focused. I dunno, what do you think? Are you ok with LaCava? Would a caddie change make a difference? 

Edited July 23, 2018 by Vinsk

[brocks]

1 minute ago, Vinsk said:

Are you ok with LaCava? Would a caddie change make a difference? 

I honestly have no idea; I don't have any knowledge of Tiger's relationship with Joey other than what I see when they're on the course.

I do wish Tiger could find a coach he trusts and not try to coach himself, but on the other hand, if you had told me in January that he would have the outright lead on the back nine on Open Sunday, I would have thought you were crazy, so it seems like he knows what he's doing.

Maybe it just works better for him to make up his own mind and fully commit to a shot or a swing philosophy, than to have somebody tell him he's wrong.  I don't know, probably no more than five or six people in the world know.

 

[Vinsk]

26 minutes ago, brocks said:

I honestly have no idea; I don't have any knowledge of Tiger's relationship with Joey other than what I see when they're on the course.

I do wish Tiger could find a coach he trusts and not try to coach himself, but on the other hand, if you had told me in January that he would have the outright lead on the back nine on Open Sunday, I would have thought you were crazy, so it seems like he knows what he's doing.

Maybe it just works better for him to make up his own mind and fully commit to a shot or a swing philosophy, than to have somebody tell him he's wrong.  I don't know, probably no more than five or six people in the world know.

 

Good point. I can say I truly believe if he gave Butch Harmon a call it wouldn’t be a bad thing. Thanks for your input.

[nevets88]

This is anecdotal but it seems when the ball goes off the fairway, the European crowds don't do that mad scramble for positioning Americans are wont to do. That's not to say that doesn't happen in UK see when gates open at Wimbledon. 

That fairway bunker shot on 10, that was crazy clubhead speed to get over the bunker face. 

[RussUK]

All in all a very enthralling and entertaining Open. Well done Mollinari, well deserved win after a great run up. Shame about Tiger as if any US player was going to win i'd have prefered it to be him. Lets be positive though, for him to be competing for (and for a time leading) a major after the problems he's had are a major positive.

I think the media did its usual and overhyped Tiger.

On another note, please can moronic idiots stop shouting "Get in the hole" everytime a player tee's off (especially a par 5!). Tiger managed to get away with it but to shout out at the top of a players backswing is just stupid and dangerous.

The PGA tour has had those idiots for a while but they seem to be creeping on to the other tours and its a minority that spoils it for the rest of us. I'll get down off my soapbox now.

[weekend hacker1]

9 hours ago, colin007 said:

I'm extremely disappointed in Tiger....to be that conservative off the tee and then have it backfire even more? If you're going to lay up then you HAVE TO HIT THE MOTHEREFFING FAIRWAY!!!!!!!

It's times like this that I say he needs more of Rory's "eff it, I'm hitting driver" mentality.

SMDH. Ugh.

If he pulls out his driver it can go anywhere. 

9 hours ago, skydog said:

Nothing against the guy. But I think most of the golf/sports world would have preferred a different outcome today...

Maybe in the US but not here and not when the winner was a leading European player. Now, if Kisner, Chappell or Schaufelle had won I would agree with you.

[NZ Golfer]

6 hours ago, Vinsk said:

@brocks damn bro, I really enjoy reading your posts. That being said, I’ve said it ad nauseam but I truly believe Tiger would benefit from a ‘better’ caddie. I’m not a LaCava fan at all. Great guy, just not the right caddie for Tiger. Stevie had his douche moments but I think his attiitide is just better for Tiger. I know Tiger has matured, fatherhood has ‘softened’ him but in a good way. I think Tiger needs someone who he almost feels a sense of true respect to listen to. Stevie really made sure Tiger was focused. Not when Tiger was in his zone..then it’s just being along for the ride. But when things got intense Stevie wa there to keep him focused and keep his confidence strong. Today’s round Tiger asks, ‘ can I hit this club?’ LaCava says, ‘ well, yeah, I mean you might catch a flier, gotta plan for that if you don’t you’re there.’ Something like that. If Tiger asked me ‘can I hit this club’ I would’ve stopped him right there and get his head clear and focused. I dunno, what do you think? Are you ok with LaCava? Would a caddie change make a difference? 

Yeah Tiger and Steve seem to have a very good on course relationship that brought the best out in Tigers game confindence too bad they hate each other with a passion now

 

[Valleygolfer]

16 hours ago, nevets88 said:

Wait, that's my plan!

 

I can totally see him doing this.... dressed like that guy that was in the movie "Eurotrip." Great to see Molinari win this. 

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/golf/open-2018-fan-ejected-course-12963530.amp

Certainly sounds like something an American would say... 

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/golf/open-2018-fan-ejected-course-12963530.amp

Certainly sounds like something an American would say...