2016 RICOH Women's British Open

[hebsan]

Well, Ariya does come from "The land of smiles".

I loved that she gave several wai to the crowd when walking up to the 18th green.

[tbowles411]

I was traveling and never got a chance to comment:

 

I thought Ariya was going to collapse and she was proving me right until near the end of the round. She redeemed herself nicely and came away with the win. What amazed me is the fact she doesn't have a driver in the bag. I guess when you and pump a 3 wood 260+ yards on a rope you don't have to. But I forgot who said to imagine if she could hit driver. I know she'd be challenging Lexi Thompson distance.

 

All that being said, it was a good win that can only breed more confidence. She's arguably the hottest player on the LPGA.

 

I was pulling hard for Mo Martin. I didn't know she's been injured since the last British Open. She fell a few shots short, but she can definitely golf her ball. Short but accurate off the tee will always get it done if you can putt. Now that she's healthy, maybe another win will come. Maybe not this year, but maybe next? We'll see.

[Shilgy]

I was traveling and never got a chance to comment:

 

I thought Ariya was going to collapse and she was proving me right until near the end of the round. She redeemed herself nicely and came away with the win. What amazed me is the fact she doesn't have a driver in the bag. I guess when you and pump a 3 wood 260+ yards on a rope you don't have to. But I forgot who said to imagine if she could hit driver. I know she'd be challenging Lexi Thompson distance.

 

All that being said, it was a good win that can only breed more confidence. She's arguably the hottest player on the LPGA.

 

I was pulling hard for Mo Martin. I didn't know she's been injured since the last British Open. She fell a few shots short, but she can definitely golf her ball. Short but accurate off the tee will always get it done if you can putt. Now that she's healthy, maybe another win will come. Maybe not this year, but maybe next? We'll see.

Long and semi accurate is better for scoring :)

[Shilgy]

With Ariya I believe the girl has barely scratched the surface of what she can do-as scary as that thought is. Leftagain mentioned she is 108th in driving accuracy on the year. I wonder what she is in the last three months? I feel like she has become more accurate as her confidence has risen. Also, as I mentioned with Ko and being aggressive, Ariya can afford to take aggressive lines that most women cannot. She has the strength to play more confidently from the LPGA rough that most of the other players so is not harmed by that stat as most would be.

 

 

Interesting point, since the start of May when she got on her run her fairways average has been around 73% which would put her inside the top 50. I don't recall if Ariya has been using the no driver strategy all year (certainly since the ANA) but up until The Founders her average was only 53%,

73% is crazy good with her length advantage. The only male over that is at 73.86%-Colt Knost. Most of the mens top drivers using the strokes gained stat are in the 50's- 52-58%. Of the top 10 in strokes gained driving just Rory 62% Landry 64% and Boo 66% are over 60% accuracy. And they have heavier rough to contend with. With Ariya's strength she can handle being long and semi accurate.

[Qqq123xx]

I was routing for Mo Martin also. She just could not make a putt. Including that 3putt and missed two footer on back to back holes. Had some really good chances coming in. Oh well.

[Leftagain]

With Ariya I believe the girl has barely scratched the surface of what she can do-as scary as that thought is. Leftagain mentioned she is 108th in driving accuracy on the year. I wonder what she is in the last three months? I feel like she has become more accurate as her confidence has risen. Also, as I mentioned with Ko and being aggressive, Ariya can afford to take aggressive lines that most women cannot. She has the strength to play more confidently from the LPGA rough that most of the other players so is not harmed by that stat as most would be.

 

 

Interesting point, since the start of May when she got on her run her fairways average has been around 73% which would put her inside the top 50. I don't recall if Ariya has been using the no driver strategy all year (certainly since the ANA) but up until The Founders her average was only 53%,

73% is crazy good with her length advantage. The only male over that is at 73.86%-Colt Knost. Most of the mens top drivers using the strokes gained stat are in the 50's- 52-58%. Of the top 10 in strokes gained driving just Rory 62% Landry 64% and Boo 66% are over 60% accuracy. And they have heavier rough to contend with. With Ariya's strength she can handle being long and semi accurate.

 

The thing is though she is giving up her length advantage to achieve the accuracy, she is still hitting 1-2 clubs less than most of the other girls from the same spots so there is still an advantage in what she's doing but if she puts the driver back in play to fully take advantage of her length then the accuracy suffers badly, and with it the scoring ability.

[Shilgy]

With Ariya I believe the girl has barely scratched the surface of what she can do-as scary as that thought is. Leftagain mentioned she is 108th in driving accuracy on the year. I wonder what she is in the last three months? I feel like she has become more accurate as her confidence has risen. Also, as I mentioned with Ko and being aggressive, Ariya can afford to take aggressive lines that most women cannot. She has the strength to play more confidently from the LPGA rough that most of the other players so is not harmed by that stat as most would be.

 

 

Interesting point, since the start of May when she got on her run her fairways average has been around 73% which would put her inside the top 50. I don't recall if Ariya has been using the no driver strategy all year (certainly since the ANA) but up until The Founders her average was only 53%,

73% is crazy good with her length advantage. The only male over that is at 73.86%-Colt Knost. Most of the mens top drivers using the strokes gained stat are in the 50's- 52-58%. Of the top 10 in strokes gained driving just Rory 62% Landry 64% and Boo 66% are over 60% accuracy. And they have heavier rough to contend with. With Ariya's strength she can handle being long and semi accurate.

 

The thing is though she is giving up her length advantage to achieve the accuracy, she is still hitting 1-2 clubs less than most of the other girls from the same spots so there is still an advantage in what she's doing but if she puts the driver back in play to fully take advantage of her length then the accuracy suffers badly, and with it the scoring ability.

Well, if she drops back to 53% again she is in the territory of Bubba and company and their accompanying length average. I don't think the women's version of Stenson will be permanent. I expect she will gradually work the driver back into the bag as her confidence continues to grow.

[Leftagain]

Well, if she drops back to 53% again she is in the territory of Bubba and company and their accompanying length average. I don't think the women's version of Stenson will be permanent. I expect she will gradually work the driver back into the bag as her confidence continues to grow.

 

True enough but I'm not sure there's a lot of relevance in comparing her to the men's game, even with Ariya's obvious strength advantage she can't get any control from the rough which makes it difficult to get into decent birdie range if you don't hit the fairway. Fairways and greens still rule..

[Shilgy]

Well, if she drops back to 53% again she is in the territory of Bubba and company and their accompanying length average. I don't think the women's version of Stenson will be permanent. I expect she will gradually work the driver back into the bag as her confidence continues to grow.

 

True enough but I'm not sure there's a lot of relevance in comparing her to the men's game, even with Ariya's obvious strength advantage she can't get any control from the rough which makes it difficult to get into decent birdie range if you don't hit the fairway. Fairways and greens still rule..

Her wedge from the rough versus even Ko's hybrid. I'll take the wedge. And she seems to be becoming a great putter as well.

[Leftagain]

Well, if she drops back to 53% again she is in the territory of Bubba and company and their accompanying length average. I don't think the women's version of Stenson will be permanent. I expect she will gradually work the driver back into the bag as her confidence continues to grow.

 

True enough but I'm not sure there's a lot of relevance in comparing her to the men's game, even with Ariya's obvious strength advantage she can't get any control from the rough which makes it difficult to get into decent birdie range if you don't hit the fairway. Fairways and greens still rule..

Her wedge from the rough versus even Ko's hybrid. I'll take the wedge. And she seems to be becoming a great putter as well.

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is while she's not taking driver it's not wedge vs hybrid, it's more like wedge vs 8 or 9 iron which is still an advantage but nothing like it could be if she could control her driver.

 

I find it interesting that here you have a total bomber but her success is coming through not trying to get it out there every time. As you say, her putting is pretty good so if she keeps it more in the short stuff she scores better, just like the best players of the last few years have done..

[Shilgy]

Well, if she drops back to 53% again she is in the territory of Bubba and company and their accompanying length average. I don't think the women's version of Stenson will be permanent. I expect she will gradually work the driver back into the bag as her confidence continues to grow.

 

True enough but I'm not sure there's a lot of relevance in comparing her to the men's game, even with Ariya's obvious strength advantage she can't get any control from the rough which makes it difficult to get into decent birdie range if you don't hit the fairway. Fairways and greens still rule..

Her wedge from the rough versus even Ko's hybrid. I'll take the wedge. And she seems to be becoming a great putter as well.

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is while she's not taking driver it's not wedge vs hybrid, it's more like wedge vs 8 or 9 iron which is still an advantage but nothing like it could be if she could control her driver.

 

I find it interesting that here you have a total bomber but her success is coming through not trying to get it out there every time. As you say, her putting is pretty good so if she keeps it more in the short stuff she scores better, just like the best players of the last few years have done..

I totally agree she is now. I still believe she will start using driver more. We'll have to wait and see. She is practically one of the bombers without the driver. 13th in driving distance although i don't know how much she has fallen in the ranking since dropping driver.

PS right now it's more than wedge versus 8 to 9 iron. She is averaging 15 or so yards longer and is probably two clubs, at least one for sure, longer than the likes of Ko with the irons.

[Argonne69]

Right, we're probably talking 2 clubs maximum on average. The tour average is 250 off the tee, and the top 5 are 281 - 271. If we assume Ariya could average 275, she's only gaining 8 yards over her current 267. Is it worth it? Maybe she could jump to #1, but she'd only be gaining a club at most.

[DavePelz4]

LPGA players particularly are prone to brain facts... any miscue they have a serious chance making bogeys or worse. They usually don't miss the fairways or greens.

 

Look at Ariya's double on #16...it really is not unlike a teen capper LOL (2 around the green and took 4 to get down).

 

For the marquee players, when they are putting decent, they are top 10 easy...

When they are dropping bombs and making a couple key putts when it matters, they win.

 

When the putter is not going, gotta be the most helpless feeling for them☺

 

Brain facts? Sounds serious. Mrs. Pelz never has to worry about me having any brain facts.

[Shilgy]

Right, we're probably talking 2 clubs maximum on average. The tour average is 250 off the tee, and the top 5 are 281 - 271. If we assume Ariya could average 275, she's only gaining 8 yards over her current 267. Is it worth it? Maybe she could jump to #1, but she'd only be gaining a club at most.

I think Ariya's average would jump more to the 280-285 range hitting driver well. She is 13th on tour averaging 266+ without it. A lot of 2 irons in that number as well.

[Argonne69]

Right, we're probably talking 2 clubs maximum on average. The tour average is 250 off the tee, and the top 5 are 281 - 271. If we assume Ariya could average 275, she's only gaining 8 yards over her current 267. Is it worth it? Maybe she could jump to #1, but she'd only be gaining a club at most.

I think Ariya's average would jump more to the 280-285 range hitting driver well. She is 13th on tour averaging 266+ without it. A lot of 2 irons in that number as well.

 

I don't doubt she could hit 285+ on a good drive, but the average is taken from 2 holes, one downwind and one upwind I believe. Lexi averages 281. 'Not sure if Ariya could outdrive Lexi on a consistent basis.

[Shilgy]

Right, we're probably talking 2 clubs maximum on average. The tour average is 250 off the tee, and the top 5 are 281 - 271. If we assume Ariya could average 275, she's only gaining 8 yards over her current 267. Is it worth it? Maybe she could jump to #1, but she'd only be gaining a club at most.

I think Ariya's average would jump more to the 280-285 range hitting driver well. She is 13th on tour averaging 266+ without it. A lot of 2 irons in that number as well.

 

I don't doubt she could hit 285+ on a good drive, but the average is taken from 2 holes, one downwind and one upwind I believe. Lexi averages 281. 'Not sure if Ariya could outdrive Lexi on a consistent basis.

So we have an opinion-that's an okay thing. :)

[pipi]

I was just reading "Stock watch" by Ryan Lavner on golf channel. where he stated that Ariya will overtake Lydia using the evidence that Ariya should have won two majors after throwing away the ANA, fair enough. He failed to even mention that Lydia threw away the KPMG by missing a close birdie putt that she would have made 19 times out of 20, Easy to jump on the bandwagon without giving both sides of the story, better to sit back and enjoy what will happen over the rest of this season and the next I think.

[Shilgy]

I was just reading "Stock watch" by Ryan Lavner on golf channel. where he stated that Ariya will overtake Lydia using the evidence that Ariya should have won two majors after throwing away the ANA, fair enough. He failed to even mention that Lydia threw away the KPMG by missing a close birdie putt that she would have made 19 times out of 20, Easy to jump on the bandwagon without giving both sides of the story, better to sit back and enjoy what will happen over the rest of this season and the next I think.

Dang rookie! This is what we do on wrx-discuss and sometimes argue over speculation. Welcome to wrx! :)

[pipi]

Dang rookie! This is what we do on wrx-discuss and sometimes argue over speculation. Welcome to wrx! :)

 

 

Thanks, you are right, be great to watch it unfold!