2018 Toto Japan Classic Nov 02-04

[rushfan96]

Feel awful for Minjee but that’s golf. Congrats to Nasa

[ClairefromClare]

Wow--we so rarely get to see Jiyai Shin; I hope she gets some broadcast time.

 

Carlota Ciganda, Megan Khang, and Nasa Hataoka have all been hovering lately. I'll go with Carlota (like always) but would be thrilled to see Megan get her first win.

 

Okay, almost--i got T2, T11, and 1. Plus we got to see Jiyai.

[Argonne69]

Well, that was certainly unexpected. Did they mention that Minjee was feeling a bit under the weather? The final group shot 8 over. Ouch.

 

'Nice win in from of the home fans for Nasa. This was certainly an exciting finish with a handful of players fighting to the finish. Two closing par 5's definitely keep the drama up. It was great to see the JLPGA players near the top. Momoko and Saki played solid.

 

Great final round by Jin Young and Megan.

[Mellow]

Gahhh Minjeeee :( Couldn't believe it, felt like the floor dropped out right from the start... Hope she can remember day 2 more than day 3. Things will happen for her, she's blossomed into this big factor nowadays.

 

This one felt kind of volatile across the three rounds.

 

Another data point for the 2018 home-field advantage! A big win for Nasa and for the tournament.

 

Very cool... after her first season, I'd really written Nasa off. But sometimes she really shows up and brings her game. She's got to be feeling great now.

[LeoLeo99]

Nice tournament and best toilet ever, lol...

 

Lol. I bet a heated seat would be wonderful in Lake Placid.

 

It's not the only thing that's heated.

[Golfer4Life]

Nice tournament and best toilet ever, lol...

 

Lol. I bet a heated seat would be wonderful in Lake Placid.

 

It's not the only thing that's heated.

 

Elaborate, lol.....

[ChronicSlicer]

But sometimes she really shows up and brings her game.

 

In all fairness, they all sometimes show up and bring their game. Sometimes they just show up..I can relate to showing up.. :D

[ChronicSlicer]

Did they mention that Minjee was feeling a bit under the weather?

 

C`mon Arg, no excuses needed. It happens to the best of them. I don`t Minjee leaving the top 10 for many, many years. Let`s hope anyway.

[Argonne69]

Did they mention that Minjee was feeling a bit under the weather?

 

C`mon Arg, no excuses needed. It happens to the best of them. I don`t Minjee leaving the top 10 for many, many years. Let`s hope anyway.

 

No, I agree. For whatever reason she simply didn't have it today. It happens. 'Just curious as I thought I heard the announcers mention something. I wouldn't be surprised. It seems more than a handful of players have fallen ill on this Asian swing.

[ChronicSlicer]

Did they mention that Minjee was feeling a bit under the weather?

 

C`mon Arg, no excuses needed. It happens to the best of them. I don`t Minjee leaving the top 10 for many, many years. Let`s hope anyway.

 

No, I agree. For whatever reason she simply didn't have it today. It happens. 'Just curious as I thought I heard the announcers mention something. I wouldn't be surprised. It seems more than a handful of players have fallen ill on this Asian swing.

 

Win or loose she`s always looking first class. On to Blue Bay they march!

[18majors]

Stooch

 

Brooke didn't have her best during the Asia Swing; is't simply her year end fatigue?

[Trugravity]

Arg, the announcers did mention Minjee was under the weather but didn’t go into detail. Given recent form, her score was shocking!

[Raving Shanker]

I finally got to see a video of the final round.

 

I am not a sadist (honest!), but I wanted to see how it went wrong for Minjee. The coverage did not show a single shot of her plummet to +7 on the round. Just plain frustrating.

 

Looking at the Japanese players, I feel I have a tendency to underrate them. The world rankings help to form my view, but I have to wonder whether they are right about this. I have no doubt that it's a case of LPGA > KLPGA > JLPGA, but not by as big a margin as I thought.

 

And speaking of j-girls, the great Haru (Nomura) was conspicuous by her absence. Does anyone know any back story to her form decline this year?

[Argonne69]

Keep in mind that a number of ex-KLPGA players move to the JLPGA tour, as the money is better, e.g. Jiyai, Bo Mee, Ha Neul.

[18majors]

I finally got to see a video of the final round.

 

I am not a sadist (honest!), but I wanted to see how it went wrong for Minjee. The coverage did not show a single shot of her plummet to +7 on the round. Just plain frustrating.

 

Looking at the Japanese players, I feel I have a tendency to underrate them. The world rankings help to form my view, but I have to wonder whether they are right about this. I have no doubt that it's a case of LPGA > KLPGA > JLPGA, but not by as big a margin as I thought.

 

And speaking of j-girls, the great Haru (Nomura) was conspicuous by her absence. Does anyone know any back story to her form decline this year?

 

Rolex World Ranking gives equal weight to KLPGA and LPGA of Japan; as a result it inflated the rankings of Japanese players. It's a vicious cycle that put those two leagues on equal footing on world's stage.

 

Top KLPGA players tend to play LPGA competitively; not the case with LPGA of Japan. TOTO Japan Classic is the exception, because it's played in Japan.

[Stooch]

Stooch

 

Brooke didn't have her best during the Asia Swing; is't simply her year end fatigue?

 

Nah fatigue has nothing to do with it IMO. Her putting and consistency of her short game has regressed since she came on tour. Her ballstriking was very good during the Asian but her putting was terrible. It's her talent and her career so she can do what she wants but IMO she's doing herself a major disservice sticking with her dad as coach. She and her dad did a great with her swing and driving using concepts that longer drivers use in their approach. Her father is a retired school teacher and not a professional golf instructor and I think she needs a pro to help with element of her short game and definitely her putting. I personally feel that putting skill is something you either have or don't, but with good instruction you can gain better speed control and learn to read lines better, which can make you a solid putter but will never make you a great putter. I guess my overall point though, Earl Woods passed on Tigers teaching to the pro's once he made the PGA (although always there to help if needed), so if that was good enough for one of the best players to ever play the game it's probably a good strategy for Brooke too lol

[Argonne69]

You thinking Brooke's ambitious schedule takes away from her short game and putting practice time? I have to imagine that playing so many tournaments grinds her down to the point where she spends less time practicing.

 

[Stooch]

Hard to say cause we aren't there watching the practice time, but giving an opinion I'm betting it's more how (what) she's practicing rather than the time. I always see pic on twitter of her at the course when she not on tour, so I think she puts in the time but is she putting quality time with proper instruction and practice habits. Brooke always says she isn't technical but a feel player, which kinda make me think she subscribes to the Brittany Linscome school of practice lol

 

Another big factor IMO, was her time with the Canadian National team. I'm pretty sure I read where she was being pushed to make changes to her swing and she wanted no part of it (I can't blame her). That may have scared her off pro coaches. Like I said before I think she can keep her father as coach cause he works with all time anyway, but maybe she needs a short game guru that she can see a few times a year to help keep things tight. She can bring her dad so he see the teaching techniques and what is being worked on and use the same techniques when they work together. Her Dad can stay her coach cause that seems important to her and the short game teacher can be called an adviser in the media, I'm sure the teacher won't mind as long as the cheque clears lol.

 

It's been 3 years on tour where that part of her game hasn't improved and probably looking at the numbers has regressed and maybe it's time to try to improve by using another set of eyes. If coach recommends change the swing than run as fast as you can the other way but more likely than not a short game teacher isn't interested in changing your swing, rather just messing with grip, pressures and angle of attack on the down swing

[Argonne69]

I totally agree that her ballstriking is fine. She's currently #1 in total driving, and 3rd in ballstriking. 'Don't fix what ain't broke.

 

I also agree that a putting instructor might be worth a shot. It did wonders for So Yeon. However, she's #14 in putts per GIR (1.768), and finished 2016 at #33 (1.794). Without scrambling stats it's hard to nail down, but my hunch is that her proximity to the hole on chips/pitches isn't as good this year.

 

Her putting average is slightly higher this season (29.78 vs. 29.64 in 2016), but that's to be expected given that she's hitting slightly more greens (74.9% vs. 72.6 in 2016).

 

As a whole, her scoring average is 0.37 strokes better this season compared to 2016, but 0.12 strokes higher than last season. It could be a simple matter that the competition has gotten better, and there's a hot putter out there each week.

[Stooch]

Well it's all relative she has 7 wins and is Top 10 in the world, so her game isn't terrible. When I say good and bad with top players I usually use the top 25 players as a measure. IS Brooke a bad putter compared to the rest of the LPGA no, but she probably ranks near back of the Top 25 or at least Top 10. I always check Brooke's stat each round and she does have really bad stretches. I do know following lots of rounds live, Brooke does have a crazy amount of 3 putts. Her swings are the thing I notice most, she putts very good then completely loses it and having 36 and 37 putts per round few times during the bad stretches (tournaments). You are very right though, without proximity stats we can't get the true picture. You may be putting decently but if you aren't hitting your irons and wedges anywhere near the hole your putts per round will jump.

[Raving Shanker]

As we don't have access to deep enough stats on the game, we can only assess Brooke's game on the basis of what we see. I think her chipping and putting strokes can develop serious tempo problems at times. The fact that her ball-striking stats are supreme, yet she is not dominating the LPGA, bear this out. She can tend to be in denial about it too, because there are times when it works for her. Who among us hasn't been guilty of that?! I'll never forget a round in the Aussie Open 2017 where i followed her and Lydia Ko in the same group. Brooke would just step up and smash it effortlessly, while Ko laboured over her address, set up, swing etc. At the end of the day they had the same score!

[Argonne69]

For the best ball strikers, it boils down to the short game and putting. Jin Young, Minjee, Brooke, and Jodi are excellent ballstrikers, but the latter only have one win this season, and Jodi has yet to win. Ultimately one must a) hit approaches close enough to the hole to give a high percentage of makeable birdie putts, and b) make the putts. Obviously they're not quite getting it done.

 

Having strokes gained data would give us a lot more insight into the specifics.

[Stooch]

As we don't have access to deep enough stats on the game, we can only assess Brooke's game on the basis of what we see. I think her chipping and putting strokes can develop serious tempo problems at times. The fact that her ball-striking stats are supreme, yet she is not dominating the LPGA, bear this out. She can tend to be in denial about it too, because there are times when it works for her. Who among us hasn't been guilty of that?! I'll never forget a round in the Aussie Open 2017 where i followed her and Lydia Ko in the same group. Brooke would just step up and smash it effortlessly, while Ko laboured over her address, set up, swing etc. At the end of the day they had the same score!

 

That's one thing I really notice also, when she's off Brooke is really decelerating coming through the ball. To me that's more getting your head right and committing to the shot you selected, than any real technical flaw. I also agree about her denial, she very head strong and do it my way sorta girl lol

[95124hacker]

Momoko Ueda has some serious bootylicious junk in her trunk!