ctyankee

I'm not going to 'hate' on someone because of the perceived 'privileges' they may have had, who their parents are or their financial situation. For all we know, we might not wish Andrew's childhood on our worst enemy. That said, would I root a bit harder for someone that is making money working in a diner, so he can afford to play golf (such as JR)? Yup. As someone else mentioned, Andrew is far from perfect, but he's not on video making negative comments about others. He's out there making good shots and clutch shots. So, if it gets down to a big-mouth happy dude with game or two whiny boys (Blake and Mike Perez), I'm rooting for Andrew.

The Notre Dame alums I've met though the years have all been fun and interesting people. I just can't stand two things: 1. "BIG" Notre Dame fans who not only never attended Notre Dame, they've never even been there for a football game. 2. Media coverage. If they stink, it's national news week after week. If they are winning it's big news. It really gets old. I would dearly love to see UCONN come in and kick Notre Dame next week. As it is, no way you beat Stanford in Palo Alto, which means goodbye Charlie. Perhaps then Notre Dame will take Michigan State off the schedule and replace it with St. Mary's.

No more like 'put up or shut up.' Apparently, you're doing neither.

Agreed on all points. It's hard to explain just how big Arnie was in the 60's but there were Arnold Palmer franchised dry cleaners. At a time when very few women (as a percent of the population) played golf, every woman in America knew who Arnold Palmer was. He was a sex symbol on par with Sean Connery. Guys wanted to be Arnold Palmer and gals wanted to be with him. Without him, golf is not the big time sport on TV every week. Nicklaus was great but he didn't get non-golfer TV sets turned on, Arnold did.

Apples and oranges comparing team sport with individual sports. But without a TERRIFIC goalie (who is also red hot) very few teams win the Stanley Cup. Stated another way, the goalie is ALWAYS the most important player on the ice. So, Gretsky is great but the sport of hockey reduces the importance of any one great scoring and passing star who is only on the ice x number of shifts.

It's fine to have an opposing viewpoint but if you want to be that way, then I don't want any weather related opinions from someone that thinks that Florida in July (mostly sunny days with a short shower that comes through around 4:30 p.m. like clockwork is some sort of "rainy season." Mmm-kay? You're ignoring the reality that if someone doesn't think they can hit a shot, they are probably right. Your 'likely' scenario is quite feasible but has him on the green in 3 in both situations. If I don't think I have that shot, I'm going back to the tee where I'll take my chances trying to make a putt for a 4. I would agree that going for the miracle shot has more upsides but it ignores: a. Hurting oneself badly on a risky shot, he has little experience with. b. He's not going to end up on a Youtube video under the title "Mike is a dumba$$ :)

I can but I prefer to say Winged Foot '74 - winning score +7. They don't call it the 'Massacre at Winged Foot' for nothing. When they write a book about Carnoustie '99, let us know. ;) Keep in mind that you made the CUT at Winged Foot if you shot +35 over par the first two days ... 'nuff said? Here's an article about it with some great quotes from those that were there. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...g=content;col1

Well, obviously we're moving far away from preference when we're now talking about difficulty. That said, if we asked a pro golfer whether he would rather play the toughest British Open layout on the toughest of days or play the toughest of U.S. Open set up to be murderous but play it on a perfect day with no wind ... he'll take The British Open loop in a heartbeat. Don't think so? Winged Foot '74 Link-styled courses need to rely on the wind to put bite in the course. At parkland courses they need only put the tees at the tips, lengthen the rough and speed up the greens. Then, courses that are already tough just the way the members play it become a blood bath. There were plenty of pros that were 30 over after only two rounds at the '74 U.S. Open.

^^^^ Agreed. There is embedded and there is embedded and with this you could only see the very top of the ball. Let's face it, if he HAD attempted to hit that shot and messed it up we would be all over him for such a stupid play. Lee Trevino commented on the pressure of the PGA tour saying something like 'That's not pressure. Pressure is when you're betting someone 100 dollars and you only have 10 in your pocket.' My point being is that there is pressure at any level and if the situation is big to that player, that player may choke. Look at the last Ryder Cup event. The best golfers in the world and the first day, first event, first tee results? 40+ yard wide landing area in the fairway and it wasn't probably until the 5th group of foursome's teed off that anybody hit it. Tell me that isn't nerves. Anytime someone is in a big situation they haven't been in or rarely are in ... nerves are a huge factor. It doesn't matter if it is the final day of Q-school or someone's first high school golf match. Heck, my first match as a freshman, the pressure got to me big time. But after that, it's not a big deal and consequently making shots isn't such a big deal. The same thing occurs on the PGA tour. As far as editing shots out of sequence. If that really is the case, that is amazingly low. It's suppose to be reality TV, not fiction. It's one thing to do some creative editing to highlight what the producer wants to highlight, it's quite another thing to INVENT things.

Easy shots become hard shots under pressure. If the last four weeks of this show don't make that painfully obvious there is probably nothing I can say to convince you. Even if he clears the water, does that make for a better option than the layup? If his 'bread and butter' shot is say 85 yards, why the heck would he want to risk carrying the water to then hit a 25 - 35 yard pitch that isn't his bread and butter?

A few of you have commented on that if you can't do the big shots you're not going to make it on the tour anyway so ... might as well go home. I'd point out there are a bunch of guys (e.g. Tim Clark) who make a great living hitting wedge shots to par 5's. Each has to work to his own strengths with the point being that golf is a game played between the ears and JR mucked it up. If putting is your big strength, beat someone on the darn green. There is also a difference between a shot someone can handle and a shot someone can handle under pressure. Andrew was surprised he went for it and so am I.

Foxfire is fun and a good choice when getting your game together in the Spring. It features friendly fairways where the edges tend to move wayward balls back toward the middle. That said the east course was my favorite only because I played it a little better. West course ... hole #2 got me both times I played it. Friendly place too.

A nice one on Sunday (as if there are any bad ones). Wedge approach on par 5. One bounce, on second bounce it checked hard and spun right to left into the cup. Four birdies and an eagle on the round. Possibly my last round of the year so a nice way to end it.

Who shot JR? JR shot himself. I can't believe he went for a 225+ carry over water. Let the other guy take the risky shot (under pressure) and see how he makes out. Instead, JR saw that Mike had a good lie (in that pansy-ass rough) and faked himself out. Once he tanked it into the water, Mike had a shot with MUCH less pressure on it. Mike was mentally down and JR let him off the hook. You need to play to your strengths not to the other guy's game, particularly when your strong suit is putting. What a goof.

The new Yankee Stadium was built with taxpayer money. Plans for a new Fenway Park have come and gone and come and gone as taxpayers won't fund it and politicians fought various options the Red Sox brought forward. So screw that good business people stuff. George got his way because he could leverage taking the Yankees to Manhattan or (even better) taking them to New Jersey and STILL keep his season ticket holders. The Red Sox don't have those like options.

Well said. I sometimes use the phrase link-styled course as I don't want to get hung up on some lofty standard that misses the forest for the trees. That said I don't buy into the "hard as a rock" attribute. If someone were to say harder than soft American fairways ... no problem. But, most link-styled courses have sandy soil and most get a lot a rain, hardly conducive to rock hard fairways or greens.

I would hope not as you live in perhaps the sunniest city in the country.

Let's cut through the nonsense. Complaining about others also having money doesn't change the Yankee's situation. So let's eliminate the "Johnny was fighting too' craplogic. The Red Sox have the second largest payroll which is considerably larger than most teams. While the Yankees don't disclose their revenue, even those that follow the Yankees in the media believe that their revenue stream is more than DOUBLE any other team. The reason that the Yankees haven't won isn't because they haven't spent money. The reason is that the Yankees starting pitching and long relief prior to this year has been sub-championship quality. Big dummy George treated Pettitte like a leper with reports that calls from Hank and other Yankees getting him to stay. Without Pettitte this year, who knows what would have happened. Without Sabathia ... as they say in New York, forgetaboutit. Of course the Red Sox wanted Tex as he has a big bat AND a great glove. They also wanted A-Rod. Not only can the Yankees outspend the Red Sox without dipping into their own pocket they have the advantage of the nightlife of Manhattan and rubbing elbows with celebs. So, players use the Red Sox to get big offers from the Yankees - that doesn't mean they were ever going to Boston. Sure, some don't want the media spotlight of New York, but a good argument could be made that those sort of players won't bring you many championships either. If you have $100 seats at some other park, those are $1,000+ seats at Yankee Stadium. Get real. But, hey, if the Yankees want to agree that they can ONLY use the revenue generated by ticket sales to spend on the "product on the field" the rest of the league would agree to do likewise and would be doing cartwheels in their happiness to toss the Yankees cable advantage to the sidelines. It's not that the Yankees are breaking any rules that makes people dislike them. It's really two things. (1) An competitive advantage in a sport that should be competitive and (2) Yankee fans living in denial not just being a river in Egypt.

Congrats! Your life just changed forever! Now, as far as this 'Golfer of the Year' trophy ... seems misnamed to me. I'm sure your club champ doesn't consider any net contest winner to be 'golfer of the year.'

There is no salary cap in baseball. There is only a luxury tax (which might as well be called the New York Yankees tax). A salary cap is quite unlikely for baseball because the baseball union would fight it and the owners wouldn't stop the game for a year plus to get their way. The New York Yankees tax doesn't stop them from spending what they want, it only pools the tax to the other teams. The sad result of it is that the smaller market teams become the unofficial farm clubs for the big market teams.

I've only heard great things about Chambers Bay. I really want to play it at some point.

Baseball is now out of the Olympics because it isn't a international sport of note. So, they didn't want to force host cities to build the infrastructure for it when it wasn't warranted. The 'experts' were talking up the Phillies gloves as putting them at an advantage over the Yankees - specifically in the outfield and at catcher. The outfield of the Phillies looked mediocre at best. They even looked hesitant on fairly routine outs.

Yup, but what have really seen? To be a regular on the PGA tour you better putt like a god or putt decently and do everything else REALLY well. So far the ratio of video footage of guys sitting on a bench compared to guys making putts has to be (at least) 50 to 1.

Cool. Thanks anyway. I can always wait to rollout, no big deal either way. Cheers.

^^^^^ Worthwhile.