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Awsi Dooger

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Everything posted by Awsi Dooger

  1. Nothing new. Ohio is a swing state and Jack always publicly endorses the Republican nominee. And it's front and center at high profile events. I respect him for it even though I'm on the other side. There are countless pros who make snide disgusting comments behind the scenes, according to golf reporters, but seldom if ever are willing to state them for the record. Tom Lehman comes to mind.
  2. Van de Velde got the worst break in modern sports history on his second shot. Otherwise he can chump it around and still win. Only because Mike Tirico and Curtis Strange described the series of shots so ineptly on ABC, and never remotely began to hint at the odds against that second shot ricocheting off the grandstand rail and bounding back in front of the bern into heavy rough, is Van de Velde's collapse remembered as idiocy instead of incomparable bad luck. You can sense Tirico realizes his error. Nowadays whenever the Van de Velde situation comes up, including on the air last week, Tirico quickly emphasizes how unlucky Van de Velde was. No doubt Tirico was stung by proper criticism from other sources. Johnny Miller never comments on other golf announcers but he wrote a column in late 1999 describing Van de Velde's bizarre misfortune and that it was inadequately reported by ABC. I appreciate that Van de Velde is aware of Miller's summary. When asked about '99 recently, Van de Velde quoted Miller. Van de Velde's first shot was fortunate to miss the lateral bern but that doesn't threaten to counter the odds against the second shot ending up where it did. One is relative normalcy while the second one you almost can't begin to assign the likelihood. Everyone I knew in Las Vegas betting (and probability) circles immediately focused on the second shot, while the public at large happily ignored the bad luck and painted Van de Velde as a screwup. I note that nothing has changed.
  3. The version with the late comma. Definitely a slight pause. My impression was identical to others who posted earlier in the thread, that the comment probably didn't have anything to do with Michelle Wie. The person making the rant was startled upon realizing they were back on the air...instinctively used Michelle's name since she happened to be on camera, then realized the situation was hopeless and shut up. I still can't place the voice. Doesn't sound anything like Crafter. This morning I replayed the incident many times followed by Crafter's description of a shot several minutes later. Everybody in my family agreed there was little to no similarity. Besides, Crafter is a classy lady who would have owned up to it. Invariably the person responsible for the profanity is asked to make the mea culpa. That's what Ron Jaworski did on Monday Night Football last season. When I posted last night that the comment may not have come from the broadcast team, I meant the main announcing crew. It definitely sourced from Golf Channel. Not only did Tom Abbott apologize 15 minutes later, but very quickly after the gaffe you can hear the amusement in walking announcer Matt Gogel's voice. It's Gogel's first LPGA telecast. Val Skinner definitely is capable of a remark like that.
  4. I've listened to the original broadcast many times, which is less tinny than the YouTube versions. It certainly doesn't sound like Jane Crafter. More of a man's voice. And Crafter didn't seem even slightly embarrassed or hesitant for the remainder of the broadcast. Definitely a hint of a foreign accent, particularly when saying the name, "Michelle." I thought it was Tom Abbott initially. But during his apology 15 minutes later Abbott seemed to distance himself from it, saying, "I don't think it was (the F word)." If it was his work, he obviously would have known, and couldn't use an escape hatch like that. You might be correct, that it was somebody not on the broadcast team.
  5. Uh, not exactly. This was an absolute silver platter for Tim Finchem. It's been quite hilarious to sample various sites, with proponents of slow play penalization positively giddy at the LPGA incident. Classic case of no clue what you're looking at, situational impact flying over heads like Tiger's yanked second shot at Wells Fargo a few weeks ago. The LPGA incident remarkably combined four aspects that the PGA wants no part of, and manages to avoid with its quiet after-the-fact policy...fines only: * Questionable on the spot interpretation, considering the variables at hand * Grandstanding rules official * Penalized player who is not considered a slow play problem * Altered outcome in a marquee event It's like Finchem ordered up a case of softener, and the trucks didn't stop pulling up to his house for a week. For one thing, just look at this thread. The word "if" must appear 1000 times. Among the four aspects, I'll start with the last. It's comical to propose Pressel was never three ahead. Of all the sites I've sampled, only here does that desperate claim show up. At the end of the hole, the official scorer called out the score for Pressel and Munoz, followed by "Pressel 3 Up." Identical to every hole of the entire tournament. To propose that she was never 3 up is every bit as absurd as insisting a horse never crossed the line first in a race in which he was subsequently disqualified. It requires stewards' judgment to make that call, similar to Doug Brecht's input here. The horse's number is atop the tote board until the subjective verdict, just like "Pressel 3 Up" stood on the placard until the next tee. Granted, some fragile LSU fans never granted USC's share of 2003, let along the full 2004 title, and were delirious once the NCAA intervened and declared the 55-19 victory over Oklahoma essentially never happened. It's also lame to suggest we don't know who would have won. As someone who deals with applied probability and sporting events literally every day, i think I have a good idea. Pressel was 10/13 (-130) favorite entering the match. With a 3 hole lead and 6 to play, the edge explodes to nearly 1/20 (-2000). I realize the media was too dense to explain it in those terms, just like they were still trying to pretend the GOP nomination was a horse race when Romney's trading price was above 95%. With a 1 hole lead and 6 remaining, Pressel was roughly 4/9 (-225), which is a nice edge but basically the same thing as a 5 point favorite in a football game. The math would not have veered nearly as dramatically if the call had flopped the situation from 1 up to 1 down, or All Square from 2 Up. Toward #3, Pressel is never mentioned among the most deliberate players on tour. It's like an NFL personal foul with the second guy caught, the less offensive action. According to LPGA blogger Tony Jesselli, who attended Sybase and briefly appeared on camera at the end, Azahara Munoz is now considered the slowest player on tour. Previously it was Sandra Gal, who was publicly ripped by several players, including Christina Kim, but Gal's higher profile status apparently pushed her to pick up the pace. Fining after the fact allows Finchem to avoid any danger of Ben Crane starting the clock and Bubba Watson caught in the speed trap. Extreme example, but a week ago I wouldn't have believed Pressel. Regarding #2 -- grandstanding official -- notice how the PGA handled the Dustin Johnson case, briefly calling him aside on the 18th green, then dealing with the specifics inside the trailer. That's the same private approach the tour has always taken, dating to DiVicenzo if not earlier. The LPGA has no problem making a spectacle of the Michelle Wie hazard incident, already cited in this thread, so naturally Doug Brecht decides it's ideal to wait until the next tee box -- and plenty of cameras -- to confront Pressel with his loud pronouncement. Then Brecht readily accepts TV interviews and spews nonsense, like "rules of the game." Finchem has to love the contrast at every turn. He knows darn well if he penalizes strokes during a round it's inevitably going to lead to reaction from the player in a public setting, attitude from the gallery, scrutiny toward the rules official, and focus on everything other than the golf and the result. On #1 -- questionable interpretation -- golf simply doesn't mesh with shot clock conformity. Too many unforeseen variables as an outdoor climate influenced sport on uneven terrain. Jerry Foltz somehow is summoned as the ultimate authority in this thread. Strange, because I don't remember him on LPGA telecasts prior to 2011. He's unquestionably a recent expert following Yani Tseng's group. Judy Rankin hardly applauded the ruling although she always steers toward the company line. Phil Parkin's version is ignored even though he was on site and reporting for Golf Channel also, with a deeper history covering LPGA events than (Nationwide) Foltz, including Solheim Cup match play dating to 2009 if not earlier. Parkin thought the penalty was unjust, emphasizing the gust that suddenly confronted Pressel on the 12th tee. She went to the bag and changed clubs herself, minus any type of discussion with her caddie, let alone what we've come to view as the norm within the PGA. On her second shot, relatively short (5-5) Morgan was left with a severely uphill nearly blind shot out of heavy rough. That type of shot suggests more practice swings than typical to gauge the required weight, and you can't see the target, a fairly significant variable. It was hardly a Michael Breed pitch into the net from a perfect lie in controlled conditions. Eight minutes behind pace. Gad. Twenty-nine seconds tardy. To borrow from Monty Python -- Burn the witch! Burn her! Burn her! IMO, it was a 100% gutless move by the LPGA, buffered by the recent conniption toward slow play. Brecht sensed he could call any penalty under that theme and be applauded by the masses. The LPGA earns no benefit of a doubt, from those of use who actually follow it event to event instead of inheriting something to scream about. The scrutiny toward slow play is indeed arbitrary and imbalanced, by any definition. During Sybase two other players drew fines, according to tour spokesman Heather Daly-Donofrio, but only Pressel was penalized during play. Very frequently when the stroke penalties, or slow play in general, are mentioned on the specialized LPGA blogs you get a sense how inequitable the process can be. Somebody else correctly pointed out in this thread that the tour officials don't monitor every group. On the blog Life on Tour, run by an LPGA caddie, the thread from May 19th includes a comment from an LPGA caddie who posts regularly to that site under the name bocajr. He posted that he was in the group in Phoenix earlier this year when a player was saddled with a 2 shot penalty. In his view it was improper, a bad time. Bocajr emphasized that the player has no recourse to challenge the ruling unless two separate times are recorded, and they conflict. He wrote that different officials start the clock at different times, no matter what they want you to believe. Imagine if Candie Kung were on the clock when her ball hit the sprinkler head and bounded into knee high mush in front of the electrical box? 30 seconds, ma'am. Golf Channel cameramen committed a far more heinous act than anything Pressel managed when they brilliantly positioned themselves smack across the green from Kung's swipe, with the ball smacking into a portable camera on the ground, prevented from tumbling into the bunker. Yet not a peep. Altered shot on the 17th hole of the match play final yet we're stressed over 29 seconds, and in an event in which slow play hadn't even been an issue. Read any of the articles prior to Pressel/Munoz, or watch the Golf Channel coverage of days one through three. Nobody was fretting the pace of play. It was whine, and penalty, in search of a problem. BTW, I seldom debate back and forth on message boards. That leads to all the juvenile loss of temper and unfortunate words. The exchanges read pathetic from afar. But in this case I've seldom witnessed greater domination on a topic than brocks' input. It reached the point I couldn't believe anyone else continued to flail.
  6. Yeah, I think they have limited availability in terms of exemptions. Particularly the PGA exemptions, which are invariably lower profile events. Take what you can get. Kingsmill was a natural fit for the exemption to this Big Break. That event previously was very popular with the LPGA players, and the Kingsmill resort hosted the first ever all-female Big Break (III). The Kingsmill LPGA event was discontinued 5 or 6 years ago and it was a big surprise when a revived version was a late addition to the 2012 schedule. I haven't looked at the schedule closely but it's possible the Big Break Atlantis winner could receive a bonus exemption prior to Kingsmill. That's what happened with Carling Coffing. Her sponsors exemption was weeks prior to the Lorena Ochoa Invitational, which the the exemption in the Sandals Resorts package. Carling got the best exemption ever because that Lorena Ochoa event is only 30-odd players and no cut. She was guaranteed something like $10,000 minimum even with a last place finish, which she managed -- comfortably.
  7. The barefoot girl was Cirbie Sheppard, first eliminated at Ka'anapali, which aired in 2008. It was obvious from the outset that Cirbie was overmatched. She shanked one into the bushes in a challenge where the contestants had to hit two shots on a par 4, with the two worst results going to elimination. Others were 20 or 30 feet away while Cirbie was something like 150 yards. She didn't play terribly in the short game elimination challenge against Tina Miller but it was hilarious when Cirbie literally took 5 minutes to hit a shot from just off the green. She couldn't decide whether to chip or putt, and wandered around with each club in her hand while the announcers were astonished at the indecision. Too bad Big Break didn't have time to air the full 5 minutes, but we got the idea. I think Cirbie got married and had a baby not long after the series aired. Carling Coffing did fairly well in her big league opportunities. The LPGA exemption was into the Lorena Ochoa Invitational, a small field event in which she finished last. But she made the cut in the second exemption, the Dubai event on the LET. Carling also received a bonus LPGA sponsors exemption, which is typical for a winner of an all-female Big Break. The tournament wants to capitalize on publicity and popularity of the winner. Kim Welch also received a second exemption in 2008. Carling made the cut in her bonus LPGA exemption and was briefly on the leaderboard at -6 on Saturday before slowly giving way. Unfortunately, Carling has not been able to maintain that form subsequently. She's really struggling on the Symetra Tour. If one of the better and more popular players wins this Big Break, she'll likely receive a second exemption also, probably to Navistar, which is only two weeks after the scheduled Kingsmill exemption in early September. This Big Break finale airs in July and the exemption is only two months later. That should help toward the second exemption. Some Big Break winners are nearly forgotten by the time they actually play the event, nearly a year later.
  8. I noticed the same thing early in the week, that Tiger's hands at address seemed to be further from his legs than normal.
  9. I'd love to wager the ball got stuck in a tree or debris. The reports of spectators seeing the ball land are not convincing. I've read comments under the related articles on GolfChannel.com from people who were on the scene and heard everything. Apparently two people claimed the ball landed but one of them changed his story to fit Russell's question -- 'Did you see the ball come to rest?" -- then a third guy belatedly agreed with their version. The guy who wrote the post is adamant that nobody saw anything definitive and it was the most outrageous decision he's ever seen. From the TV coverage you can see the ball drop from where it initially hit high in the trees, but that hardly means it hit the ground. One spectator named Crosby apparently was the primary source for Russell's decision. But Crosby's version is laughable. He said a group of about 12 spectators rushed to the ball then took off toward another fairway and suddenly the ball was gone. That means we're supposed to believe all of them came up with the same bizarre plan at the spur of the moment and managed to not only pocket Tiger's ball but dash away despite a Tiger crowd of that size, and with people moving toward them from all directions. Bottom line, eyewitness reports are unreliable, at best, and in this case there were only 2-3 shaky accounts, and conveniently late in the process just before Tiger was set to receive a penalty. How often is a ball pocketed in a PGA event as opposed to a ball stuck in a tree? Mark Russell may know the rules but he's obviously not an expert in applied probability.
  10. Just twice. Carling Coffing received two exemptions. The first was a no-cut limited field event, the Lorena Ochoa Invitational. Carling finished last. But she made the cut weeks earlier in the LPGA CVS Pharmacy event. She got into that event via sponsors exemption, one that obviously would not have been granted minus her Big Break victory. Carling's second exemption was the Dubai Ladies Masters on the Ladies European Tour. Carling made the cut and was actually tied for 7th after two rounds. Ironically, she never would have been in that event if she had advanced at Q School, since Q School finals were parallel to the Dubai tournament. The only other example of a Big Break winner making the cut in the event they directly earned via winning Big Break was Justin Peters, champion of the original Big Break. He got several exemptions on the Canadian Tour and made the cut in the last one.
  11. Thanks for mentioning that. I read the Live Chat transcript today. Looks like Nicole may have bent the rules a little bit prior to filming. The Morning Drive crew asked if friend Ryann O'Toole had given her any advice on what to expect on Big Break. Nicole said Ryann told her to be prepared for anything and to get plenty of sleep. During the Live Chat the same question was posed and suddenly Nicole's version was a bit different. She said the players weren't allowed to seek advice from anyone who had been on the show but that her advice to anyone would be to prepare for anything and get plenty of sleep. LOL. It seemed obvious that Nicole had talked to Ryann. The first I heard about Big Break Ireland was when Ryann mentioned it during a published interview, not long after her US Open breakthrough. She said she knew some of the players who would be on the cast that had just been announced. One problem: It hadn't been announced. The press release was a couple of weeks later. Ryann had info from an insider. Late in that Live Chat transcript Nicole said she hoped to have a former Big Breaker caddying for her in Q School finals. I wonder if she is referring to Ryann? Nobody asked the follow up question.
  12. I feel the same way. It's been standard golf throughout, or as close as Big Break can make it. Indian Wells was too slanted toward the short game. No circle chalk. No 1/2 stroke advantage in elimination. Nobody has been eliminated simply via hitting it closer to the hole. You have to hole out. I didn't even mind the larger cup because it was introduced early and there was an obvious reason for it -- feasibility of chipping into the hole in a low number of attempts. They might have been filming all day with a standard sized cup.
  13. If nothing else, the timing worked out well for Anthony, like a high level warm up. I'd guess he will be in PGA Q School first stage in a few weeks. Last year he made it to second stage. I looked at his Timberlake stats and one of them was shocking: He averaged 338.5 yards on the first day, 2nd longest in the entire field. I don't remember anything resembling that type of distance during his two Big Break appearances at Mesquite and Dominican Republic. Otherwise, his ball striking was poor, a low percentage of greens in regulation. And he made far too many mistakes. That seems to be the theme among Big Break players who play big tour events; they can't limit the above-par holes. Ryann has the same tendency but she typically overcomes it with high percentage of birdies. Gerina (Mendoza) Piller actually is the steadiest of the Big Break alums. She has a chance at a long LPGA career, particularly if she increases her birdie rate just enough.
  14. That was classic. You try to make a point to downplay O'Toole's contribution, yet you botch the bottom line. O'Toole indeed earned 3 points -- halve with Christina Kim in Friday four ball, full point with Morgan Pressel in Saturday foursomes, full point with Stacy Lewis in Saturday four ball, and halve against Caroline Hedwall in Sunday singles. Pressel was mostly responsible for the foursome victory but O'Toole carried the pairings with Kim and Lewis. And Pressel emphasized that she was able to hit comfortable irons into the greens based on O'Toole's drives, and not the typical hybrid or fairway wood. The USA got more singles points (1.5) out of the two captain's picks -- Hurst and O'Toole -- than the combined number (1) among the seven Americans who are ranked in the Top 15 in the world in the Rolex Rankings -- Kerr, Creamer, Lincicome, Lewis, Wie, Stanford, and Pressel (the only victor). That's what lost the Solheim Cup. Elsewhere I keep reading bizarre rationalizations that focus on preconceived ideas (inexperience, lack of stroke play wins) and ignore what actually happened. If someone handed out a sheet with Solheim results and the event hadn't been televised or covered in the media, the overwhelming focus and shock would be the near-total lack of singles points by the American stars. The next highest rated American player was Brittany Lang at 29. She won, and overall the 5 American players not ranked in the Rolex Top 15 went a combined 3-0-2. O'Toole is erratic with approach irons. The commentators in every event emphasize that she doesn't take enough advantage of her length. I was astonished the problem didn't surface for nearly 4 full rounds at Solheim but when it did it was devastating to the outcome, similar to Inskter's inevitable yipped short putts, identical to several from Solheim 2009. Everyone is saying the pressure got to Ryann but the loose wedge on 17 and 9 iron to 18 looked very familiar. Her game is not LPGA caliber in those areas. She gets away with it because of two tremendous strengths -- long confident driving and aggressive effective putting, particularly for birdie. The shot that cost Ryann was the drive into the left rough on 17, forcing her to chop out of the fescue. One of her strengths let her down. Otherwise I think she would have made routine par to seal the match. Regardless, it was tremendous theater. I'm a bit perplexed that the related thread on this site is so brief, compared to literally hundreds of posts on other forums.
  15. That tournament is next week. Anthony Rodriguez got the exemption.
  16. What a minute, a win? Oh jeez. At no point in that tournament were Sara's true odds less than 200/1. And that's being conservative. Even when she jumped to -5 there were multiple classy players several shots ahead of her. And every single one of them were favored to have a superior round than Sara on Sunday. If a mediocre player shoots 65 or 68 on Saturday while a top tier player shoots 73 or 76, the top player is favored to have a better round on Sunday. Bet pro golf and you'll be jolted toward that reality in a hurry. Particularly in women's golf the distinct tiers separate in the late going. Sara collapsed to 76 on Sunday, after shooting a comical 85 in the final round of the Ladies European Tour event a week earlier, including 48 on the front nine. Sara needs Top 28 minimum this week to salvage any status for 2012. Otherwise it's off to Q School finals where she sneaked by on the number last year, despite nothing worse than a bogey over 5 rounds. You can't count on that again. I'll also concede I find her about as attractive as a bucket of dead ants, although the dead ants are considerably more sincere. Awesome photo of Paula Creamer, though. That indeed made this thread.
  17. I didn't see the promo. But I read the press release on Golf Channel.com. It's 6 men and 6 women, filmed at the K Club, site of the 2006 Ryder Cup. One winner, not a team event. Let me guess, there will be a wisecrack on at least one telecast about Stevie Williams dropping Tiger's club into the pond. That happened at the K Club, if I'm not mistaken. If Big Break Ireland was filmed in May that would be conveniently sensible if some of the ladies are from the Futures Tour, which is typical. The Futures Tour was off throughout May this year. No doubt there will be plenty of European contestants.
  18. Good eye. Kent holding several clubs was a great clue. Besides, the Golfgal system wins again. I pointed that out on a couple of forums several weeks ago. Golfgal (Gayle Moss) interviews several contestants weekly during Big Break, getting their perspective on the most recent episode. This time it was David, Carl and Shank. Kent was absent. Not a good sign for Kent. Since she started this with Ka'anapali, the winner(s) has interviewed with Golfgal every time. And this is the fourth time the runner up did not participate -- Sophie Sandolo at Ka'anapali, Hugo/Camila at Michigan, Lili Alvarez at Sandals Resorts, and now Kent at Indian Wells. Let me emphasize Golfgal does not know the results. The players who have done well have a tendency to seek her out. She picks out a favorite or two and asks Golf Channel if they are available to interview. The crestfallen runner up obviously prefers to stay away, more often than not. Only Blair O'Neal at Prince Edward Island and Tony Finau/Kevin Erdman at Disney interviewed with Gayle after knowing they lost the final. As you indicated, David has been chirpy on the social media for months, including frequent conversing with Big Break winners Carling Coffing and Briana Vega, along with playing practice rounds with them in the Orlando area. Kent has been all but silent. It was similar to Big Break Dominican Republic, when players from the women's team were posting all over the internet for months while Blake Moore said he wasn't even watching the episodes. Big Break producers may head fake during promos. The players hint toward the truth, subtle as it may be.
  19. I'm worried Kent doesn't survive the next episode. The teaser that one shot changes the entire competition, and Carl's quote that some players haven't been tested, don't seem to make sense unless the money list is dramatically impacted, and that would mean either Will or Kent are eliminated, or somehow lose the bulk of their money without being eliminated. I hope we get a free for all with huge chunks of cash at stake, and on full holes not flip and tap.
  20. Big Break is increasingly dictated by lazy producers. They don't want eliminations that require extra holes to identify a winner, hence the 1/2 shot. They don't want full hole challenges that call for multiple tries before being decided, trudging cameras and crew back to the tee box, hence they lessen the number of actual holes played, and ties are decided by putt off. Once they brought back someone it was obvious at least one episode would feature multiple eliminations. I posted that on other forums after last week's show. You had 7 players and only 4 episodes remaining. Now it's a workable 5 and 3. Finales have typically featured 2 players but the last all-male Big Break (Disney) had 3 contestants in the final. Tonight's results seemingly weaken the finale. Petey and John are mini tour players who could threaten Kent over 9 or 18 holes. Hard to see Carl holding up once actual holes are played. I'm skeptical about Will. Shank and David have shown enough game but throw in the oddball shot now and then. Apropos the players who got scared and bought the 1/2 shot are now up against it. I hope it continues. David can justify buying the 1/2 shot all he wants, but doubtful he'd be in this predicament if he hadn't done it to begin with.
  21. That was my beef, and it worked against Feherty, Trevino and the audience. The opening segment was abysmal, and the standup skit and man on the street portion not much better. Feherty is great when he can play off someone else's words. He's not a monologue guy or even a skilled golf commentator. As someone posted earlier, he's not informative on the course. For this show to thrive Golf Channel needs to begin the interview portion almost immediately and allow Feherty to relax in his best role, listening and pouncing with an occasional humorous quick twist. After this episode I was left wondering how a full hour passed with so little input from Trevino. The promos seemed to promise detailed analysis of Tiger's swing, and Trevino's suggested remedies. Instead, we got a quick tease then literally nothing until the final 5 minutes. Feherty is a surprisingly good interviewer. I thought we'd be treated to Trevino's rapid fire opinions on one player after another, plus the state of the game, and equipment issues, and course setup, and so forth. When the clock neared 11 PM I was near disbelief, "That's it? What a waste."
  22. Those are two excellent points. I knew instantly why Robert putted it. Every swing has been a stab, and he's putting crosshanded. Zero confidence. He knew he could skull or chunk the chip shot. On a putt of that length you basically can't embarrass yourself. Your strategy may be second guessed but that's preferable to the type of shot he was semi-likely to hit with a wedge off a tight lie. The drive that hit the fairway was low toward the heel. I wish I could say I didn't recognize it. Those shots feel terrible and are produced by an awful swing but normally you get away with it, a low banana that starts 10-15 yards left of target and wanders weakly, generally finishing right center of the fairway or near the right edge. Floyd apologized for the shot, joking, "That's the only way I can hit the fairway." *** Interesting discussion here on the value of buying the half shot. I appreciate Robert's description when he went to elimination, that it was merely buying a playoff. As a gambler I'm sure I would have rejected the option and mouthed off. But it's true the value can shift dramatically from challenge to challenge. Shank's edge was greatest, a step ladder format. David bought a half shot in a challenge he could lose several shots merely by being uncomfortable from one distance. In later episodes I'm sure I'll root against the guys who have succumbed to the 1/2 shot buy. I like David but in his weekly interviews with Golfgal he's defensively insisted buying the 1/2 shot is a "no brainer." LOL. Yeah, if everyone in the country drives on the left side tomorrow then it's a no brainer to follow suit. If all the contestants get scared and surrender half their money, and no one misses a turn in elimination, then it's simply lower dollar amounts on top. As someone posted, we don't know the perfect strategy because the producers can dramatically alter the significance of the money list later in the series. In Las Vegas I know the math on every number, so that dictates strategy in buying a half point, or playing money line as opposed to spread, etc.
  23. He's receiving the souffle treatment here. On other forums consensus is just a wee bit outside. I love atypical bluster when it's clever and over the top. So far it's been marine jargon at every turn. Could be the producers' fault, but already tiring, almost at parody level. Aaron Wright during Big Break Prince Edward Island was understated and solid throughout. He never had to tell us he was a marine. I hope Russell lasts long enough to exhaust the supply and come up with some original material; situational reacting and not reciting the toted lines. Brian Skatell was a treasured riot because everything was unpredictable. Devastating visuals within a few words. Auditioning for this show earns my respect, let alone making it. Put any of us on the show and we'd fold beyond any estimate. And posting on forums like this is a bonus, much appreciated. But behavior is what makes or breaks a contestant's reputation. Witness Blake Moore, who was asked to leave his club. So naturally the viewers' early focus is who can play and who sounds like a gem or a brick. I'll play you for any amount? You made my point. That's standard fare.
  24. I agree with that. And if you look at those putting categories and input the numbers into Excel spreadsheets -- as I have -- for more than a decade for use in betting head-to-head matchups, you wonder how Tiger ever gained the reputation as an awesome putter. He's been far down the list in key categories time after time. In particular, his putting in the 10-15 foot range varies dramatically from year to year, he's had many lousy years with high 3 putt percentage above 3%, and there have been seasons when it's laughable how few putts he holes outside 25 or 35 feet. Tiger has always been an aggressive and dependable short putter and, of course, he's made memorable clutch putts in big events. That contributes to a reputation above reality in terms of overall putting excellence.
  25. That was a tape of the '75 Masters. The greens were markedly slower in that era, even at Augusta, which contributed to the pop style of putting. *** BTW, believe it or not Tiger has not missed a putt inside 3 feet this year according to the official stats. The misses certainly looked shorter than 3 feet once or twice last week but on PGATOUR.com the official "Putting from 3 feet or Less" category lists Tiger as 115 for 115 this year, one of 52 players yet to miss. And it's updated through the Masters. If we're focusing on the yips the question should be targeted at Ernie Els. He's already missed 9 times inside 3 feet this year, the most on tour.
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