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This topic aged like a carton of milk left in room temperature.

I take my hat off to Rory, WOWOW! That must have been WAY harder than winning it 8-10 years back. To struggle for a decade, and to finally achieve it, one of the great golf stories of the past 20-30 yrs. Boy and he tried to give it away! As for my prediction, obviously off off off. I truly think all the things l listed are real, but to a far less extent I was thinking. Maybe those were more true back in the 2016-2022 period. The pressure was huge, especially-obviously on the back 9. That blocked chip into the creek, that had to be all pressure. And I think the missed putt on 18 in regulation - that was crazy. It seemed like he didn’t take any time at all, that had to be insane pressure. But raising my hand, that pressure and those missed shots were nothing related to any of the factors I listed out! Just pure pressure, built up over 10 years, man o man. And watching the emotion, man that is touching, good for him, his family, for golf. And finally, to the guys I rubbed the wrong way, my bad, really not my style. You guys have been here for years, I’ve been here for 2 days. You’ve built a great site and a great community. Humble apologies, and if you don’t ban me I hope to come back and join up for some lively discussion. Peace!

Got my first hole in one yesterday, playing with son at Yocha Dehe (Cache Creek) in CA. 90% 9 iron, 140 yards, hole 16.

Its been almost 10 months since my back problems arose, and I'm still working on getting back to "normal". Between the 10 weeks of forced idleness, and the lingering nerve impingement, my strength and stamina is still not where it once was. I've played a fair amount of golf, with no apparent ill effects, but every round has been played while riding in a cart. Yesterday, for the first time in a long time, I managed to walk the first 9 holes, before riding for the back 9. Sure, I'm tired, but I played reasonably well, my handicap is creeping down. All I need now is decent weather and a bit of practice!

If you're going to make claims, back them up with facts. Do you have any facts that support this claim that Rory does this when under pressure? Did the hyper aggression negatively affect his play when he won The Players this year making that 2 wins in 4 starts for him at that point? Can you provide some evidence directly showing how his hyper aggression has negatively affected his play? This isn't even accurate anymore, they called the divorce off. If you're going to criticize someone at least get your facts straight.

Current attendee list (10 confirmed, 1 tentative): @Hardspoon @iacas @bkuehn1952 @billchao @ChetlovesMer @Carl3 @StuM @vasaribm @DaveP043 @dennyjones @klineka (Tentative) I assume we'll have (3) total foursomes for planning purposes...maybe 4. I'll start to send out some preliminary thoughts on location and courses this week.

@Hardspoon will check in here tomorrow, I'm told. By a birdie. Named John.

I was just thinking about this. 60 majors played in since 2010. 42% of them top 10 finishes. 22% top 5 finishes. My goodness, 9 straight top 10 finishes at the US Open, regarded as the toughest course set up for the Majors. WTH! That is different than jacked, so no. No, it doesn't. It is tough to win majors. He is in rare company by winning the career grand slam. It is much tougher to win majors in the 2010+ years than it was prior. Look at the most majors list. If you cut it off at 5+ majors. There are 21 golfers ever to have 5+ majors. 17 of them won their first major prior to 1987. Maybe you could say he should have two more if things go his way. I don't think he should be near 10 or anything like that. 5 is reasonable at this point. He is tied for 15th ever. He probably has like 20 to 28 more competitive major rounds in him. Maybe in like the short term yes, but he would have gotten used to it in short order. He is a world class athlete in the golfing world. His ability to feel his golf swing is nearly unmatched. To say that him getting a bit bigger in 2014 has impacted him over the next 11 years, without him just figuring it out is really an absurd statement. Tiger Woods changed his swing like 3x and was elite. He got bigger, not jacked, and was elite. We are not talking about Olympic weightlifters here, or jacked body-builders. FYI, doing weightlifting through a full range of motion gives you more flexibility. Do you want to know who can get into the deepest squats in the world, people with gigantic legs, the Olympic weightlifters. Want to know who can't get down into a deep squat, lazy people who don't work out. Could muscle mass as the "extreme" side of things cause some interference in a particular golf motion, sure. Rory isn't even close to being that size. Yea, it could be mental. Sometimes you just need to get over the hump again even though you have 4 majors in your pocket. You only get 4 chances a year at this. You have to be on your game to have a chance on Sunday. So, for the stars to align for him to have the chances to even learn from his mistakes is not that much. Being T-5, 6 strokes back and not having that pressure on the Sunday is not a learning experience on how to close out a tournament. It makes sense why it could take this long. Also, he is playing against other good golfers. Sometimes, the best golfers in the world get beat. Nope, it isn't. I would agree it was loss of confidence or nerves, plus other golfers just taking it from him than it being related to him working out. I am actually willing to say, it is 0.0000000000000000000000001% related to him working out. So, round that off to ZERO! Let's not play the victim card here. He wasn't able to bomb it 330 yards prior to 2014 because he was a kid who still had baby fat on him. Look at the rolling 10 round average since he started. It looks pretty typical. Lots of ups and downs because you can't be on all the time. Even back in 2014, he never really had a 10 round average were his stroke's gained approach was negative. If you say his size causes him issues, then there should be something crazy here. The dips in 2014 on look the same. Did he have some early year crazy spikes, sure. Sometimes a golfer catches fire for a year. There are things call outliers for a reason. So, this is probably why you started this. You dislike Rory and want to wish it into existence that he would never win another Master. Again, you are not the victim here, so stop these self-deprecating comments to try to buy some sympathy.

Does TST have an annual award for worst take ever? If so, this thread should get an early nomination. And while Rory is in great shape, he’s far from super ripped. IIRC, when asked he said that the green jacket he was wearing, which wasn’t tight on him at all, was a 38R. Not exactly Schwarzenegger size.

He explained it in the post round interview @ 6:12. It's a good interview where he talks about the mental struggle to win at Augusta, how there's been a lot of pent-up emotions since 2011 and that final round probably being one of the toughest days he's ever had on a golf course. I absolutely recommend spending 26 minutes on it. It provides some good insight on him as a player and person. There's been a lot of talk about him not winning majors and The Masters, which has been difficult for him. He's obviously got the game to win, but nerves seems to be a big reason why he's missed out on many of them. Some people seem to expect the best players to have a mind void of nerves and mental challenges when a lot is on the line, but that's simply not how it works. Some deal with it better than others, regardless of talent and skill. Rory seems to be one that struggle to keep nerves in check in those tense situations. This win is a huge monkey off his back and hopefully it will help him deal with those nerves the next time he's in a position to win a big tournament. That's the kind of person you don't even bother engaging with. No matter what you say and what evidence there is, they'll have an explanation for it.

Did you tell them that the PGA has nothing to do with the Masters?

I went to a concert when Rory was on 16. What did I miss?😜

This happened to Jordan Spieth as well. He won 3 majors. 2 in 2015 and 1 in 2017. Then he got all buffed up and now he doesn't win majors anymore. It's his huge muscles that are ruining his game. 💪

I’m 3 for 3 in willing Mickelson’s ball to find the water! 13, 15 and 16!

I'm 22 days and 6 hours away from playing the Cradle. Therefore I'm going with the Par 3 course!

This weather is curing my winter depression rapidly. “Dugnad” today. A Norwegian word for community or voluntary work. Many clubs has one in spring and one in autumn where everyone is invited to help with various tasks on the course to prepare it for the season or winter. Lots of trees and branches were cleared today. Opening in March is not unlikely at this rate. 15 C and sunny could be mid summer.

I like Justin Rose and I wouldn’t mind seeing him win another major, I just didn’t want him to win this one 😃

Very respectfully, I disagree. I still believe there’s a small kernel of truth to my theory. Hey, you, iacas and many others here are extremely knowledgeable, know the game inside out, know the tour inside out. I’m just a schmuck who posted a take, admittedly unsupported and not up to reasonable high standards. There’s a background to my take - I’ll attempt to briefly describe it. Back when Rory first came on tour, I thought he was great - most folks did, his talent was undeniable, and his youthful happy go lucky looking demeanor made him even more likable. And he won early, fast - at the highest levels. And then the physical workouts started. That was cool, man he’s looking good. And as it went along, was even a bit shocking. But all was still good in the Rory fan club. But as a few years rolled along and the majors stopped, folks like me started to question the effect of the physical build up. (raising my hand here - - folks like me were probably concentrating 95% on the majors record, and failing to acknowledge his stellar play overall) The matches with Patrick Reed... Somewhere around that time, Patrick became “the most hated man on tour”. Raising my hand again, not sure if that timing is accurate, or even if that moniker was deserved. But when Rory got into the screaming flex-off, it definitely detracted from the earlier Rory likability. It’s kinda like he was lowering himself to Patrick’s level. Not so great, for me at least. As the mid 2010s rolled along, and the majors drought continued, and the near misses at the Masters happened, the dreaded ‘choke’ perception inevitably raised its head and persisted. I joined in with the chorus, not disliking Rory, but certainly questioning his ability to close the Masters or any other major. Rightfully or wrongly, it was there. Then LIV came along. As that developed, I saw the anti-LIV sentiment develop along with it, and I took offense to it. My thought - these guys are being offered life changing $$, and the anti-LIV folks are trying to stop them from getting it. And then when Rory rose to ‘lead’ the anti-LIV sector, that really rubbed me the wrong way. The press conferences, the parking lot shouting match - it just all seemed really distasteful to me. And it seemed far far away from the early Rory, who I really liked. So all that (in my own mind) led me down the “Rory will never win.. yada yada”. Not based on any real statistical analysis. Not taking into account the incredible stats and winning record he had amassed. Purely based on perception and cultural silliness. AND - the physical thing, which as I mentioned, I think there’s a tiny kernel of merit there. So - fast forward to Rory’s post win press conference. THAT was the old Rory I remembered! The totally cool guy, humble, forthright, honest, self deprecating. He’s probably been like that all along. And he’s certainly backed off the hard core anti-LIV persona, at least in public. That’s it. Just a stupid unsupported take from a dumbsh*t golf fan. For me, this was the most exciting major since the Tiger era. I really thought it would be a gladiator death match between Rory and Bryson. I’m surprised that Bryson fell off - - I thought he was well-set-up to handle the pressure. I’m sure he’ll be there many times in the future, along with Rory.

The upside is that you're so tense now that you can always blame your body for playing poorly.

Oh, I'm sad now. By his definition I am "jacked". Do I have to go back to being described as "in not too bad of shape for a guy of my age"? 🤣

But it makes it crystal clear that the major drought had nothing to do with his physique, since he was able to do all of that with that physique.

He started lifting and gained some muscle mass. Whatever you call it is irrelevant. You still haven’t been able to explain why that was preventing him from winning tournaments. You can have theories of course, but don’t confuse that with facts. In the first post you argue that Rory getting bigger hurt his game, but you failed to explain why and how you arrived at that conclusion. Don’t you see why you were “audited” as you said, when you make those assumptions without a sliver of evidence or explanation? The exact same theories were said about Tiger. He also aquired some muscle mass and people claimed it ruined his swing, but there were no facts to support it.

It's been a while since I practiced. Injuries compounded last year and I could play but I didn't want to make anything worse with repetitive stress so I shut down practicing basically in early summer. Just kind of getting back into things now and I'm not surprised to see I've regressed a bit. Hitting the ball well enough to get 8 GIR yesterday but the misses can be really bad - tops and toe shanks. Just settled right back into the constant problem areas in my swing, mainly the wrists/club position at A4 and not recentering properly. Going to focus on getting solid contact consistently back before anything else.

That it’s difficult is obvious, but part of what makes it difficult is impossible to see. The mental game. Some players thrive under pressure, while others crumble completely. Having the mentality to win major events is no good if you don’t have the game for it and having the game may not be enough if the nerves and stress cause too much trouble when the heat is on. Rory put a lot of pressure and expectations on himself, but it surely doesn’t help with all the media attention around his lack of major wins the last decade. He said in the interview that having all those legends of the game (Tiger, Jack etc.) saying he will win it one day just added to the pressure. They probably meant for those to be words of encouragement, while they had a negative effect on Rory. Ever since Tiger dominated, new promising players were “the next Tiger”. Rory has as good a game when he’s on, but Tiger was at a different level, over a long period of time. Anyone would be nervous in Rory’s shoes last week. How it would affect their game is very individual.

^^^ I think this year gave us something incredibly exciting, but also special. That list of career grand slam winner is something else. Well, except for Gary Player.

I'm going to pile on @TommyRude. The more I think about this take the funnier it gets in my head. Colin Montgomerie lost at least three majors down the stretch that I can think of. 1994 US Open shot 78 in a three-person-play-off losing to Ernie Els (and Loren Roberts). Montgomerie pulled drivers left and pushed them right the entire play-off round. 1998 Masters; pulled three of his last five approach shots left. Ended up finishing tied for eighth. 2006 US Open was tied for the lead (with Phil). He was sitting in the middle of the fairway on 18. Hit his approach short, pulled his chip shot long left, 3 putted. Therefore clearly, Colin Montgomerie's reliance on bulky musculature and overly testosterone driven attitude obviously caused these issues. 😁 If you want to go the other way, I know Brooks Koepka has credited all five of his majors to the fact that he's powerfully built. ... I'll suggest DeChambeau may say the same thing.

Happy for Rory. Sad for Rose. Not sad for Bryson.

Emotionally drained

All that buffing up, lady troubles…if only he..oh….nevermind.😏

He’ll prob win 3 more now

UPDATE: Even if I decide to retract my grovel, that first 5 holes was the most electric start that I can recall seeing at the Masters? Wowow! Even with my hyperbolic prediction, I’d hate to see him fall back now

I’m already nervous about Sunday….🥴

C'mon Rory I need someone to root for! Plucky little Irish midget but he's likeable

Are you trying to claim the accomplishments of Rae’s Creek? Are you Rae’s Creek?

I did it all for the Stussy.

Agreed - I wasn’t a fan of his in the early years, but I’ve grown to have more respect for him than nearly everyone else on Tour. His last few holes today were so deflating I prefer older Rory better, the Anti-LIV Rory

From the Song Piece of Work off the album License to Chill by Jimmy Buffett. Written by Will Kimbrough. Wicked, holy, full on fake Best known for my big mistake I'm Zen wise, peaceful, gone berserk Good god almighty I'm a piece of work I’ll take number two please.

Right hand in particular too strong, face pretty closed coming down (resulting in you trying to push the ball right with the path).

I'd find a free fitting, take your clubs, and see what you can see. For example, we have a PXG fitter come to our academy every Tuesday, and he's great about sharing info about why he's having you hit a certain shaft or clubhead or something. And… if you don't see much of a change, skip it.

He's been working on increasing his speed and is the third longest hitter on tour currently. Min Woo Lee: The secret to optimizing the driver swing from a talented Despite his slender build, Min Woo Lee is one of the longest drivers on the PGA Tour. With extensive tournament experience, he shares simple yet...

44/36/80 - I figured things out half way thru the round. Too late for a good score but enough to provide me with some hope for the near future.

At first glance - option 1 mainly because I’ve never played a dedicated par 3 and 18 holes of par 5’s, well l’m pretty sure I would be exhausted from playing that length. I have rarely made the green in two on a five, so not getting there in two is not a sore spot. At second glance, it’s still a par 3 with 6i max.

Par 3. Decidedly more fun than what sounds like a long/boring day (par 5). Of the ones I've played, the Sandbox (17 par 3 holes) was a hoot. Plus who wouldn't want quadrupled odds of a hole-in-one as a bonus..😊

I'll try to post a bit more here as the season moves on. Yesterday was my first "referee gig" this year, the first of a two-day event for juniors. No real unusual rulings, but a couple of slightly complicated situations with two consecutive drops. There's a hole with a Red Penalty Area down the right, with a cart path running parallel. On a couple of occasions a player had to take Penalty Area relief. Two clublengths from the point of entry required dropping no further left than the center of the cart path. Once that relief procedure was completed, he took relief from the cart path. Due to the relatively small distance between the path and the PA, the Nearest Point of Complete Relief was to the "fairway side" of the path. I made the Player consider a drop to the PA side, with the player's feet clear of the path (i.e. complete relief from interference), but that would have put the drop in the Penalty Area, which isn't acceptable. Something which I now see as common, this 36-hole event is defined as four 9-hole stipulated rounds. This is done so that, if bad weather sets in, there can be legitimate results if everyone has completed at least 9 holes.

TRUE linkswear™ | 15 Years of Evolution Free your feet from the confines of traditional golf footwear. Introducing the TRUE™ Original Series featuring a wide toe box and zero drop experience. As close as you can get to walking barefoot without getting... The TRUE OG or Original or Tour are almost the only shoe I wear to play golf. I occasionally wear the Knits or some of the other shoes, but given that it's often soft or dewy or unknown… I often opt for the waterproof OG/Tours. I'm really looking forward to the OG3 Pro.

G'day all. My name's Glenn and my mates call me Corbs. I'm a 50-something-year-old Aussie who HATED golf until COVID when I got utterly and irrevocably hooked. I'm playing three rounds a week and loving it. My best mate that I started golf with during COVID hit an Ace this week! Our foursome - including his son - all watched the ball disappear and we went absolutely mental! Only been playing a few years and improving quickly and trying to get to under 17 handicap this year. Thanks for having me!

This is a decent sized carpet python we had to move from beside the green on Hole 3 at my home course. These are non-venomous but would give a damn painful bite and you’d be almost certain to get an infection without antibiotics. The ones you need to avoid that are common here are eastern browns and redbelly blacks. They are angry and aggressive if provoked whatsoever. And deadly. So it ain’t worth looking for a ball in long grass!

PT is going good. Gained 5-10 degrees of rotation in the hips and torso since I started. Which is pretty good. 5 is considered a major improvement. Rotational strength is up.

Was pleased with my round yesterday for a change. Not at the level of most on the forum so probably easier to please. My goal is generally bogey golf and with age that’s beginning to be a struggle. Started with four doubles but managed to right the ship and have my best round of the year, 88, through seventeen rounds. Realistically I won’t get any better but can be more consistent which is now my goal. Will be 80 later this year.

This reminds me, I'm not a retired geotechnical engineer. My new career as volunteer golf rules official typically pays me a ham sandwich and a soft drink, but its more fun.