Let’s be real... sometimes the difference between winning and losing is luck

[SkiSchoolPro]

The only fairway I've hit in the last 36 holes was due to a tree deflection, but I digress...

 

Here's a collection of lucky bounces the PGA Tour made in 2013. (does not include majors so don't look for Couples at the 1992 Masters)

 

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The #1 lucky break for HI had to be one of the unluckiest breaks ever for Jim Nelford. As a journeyman pro, getting a win could have changed his career...yes, he still could have got it done in the playoff, but he would still have a W on his resume (and past Champion status) had Hale's ball stayed on the beach. For a guy with only a dozen top 10s (and 2 seconds) its doubtful there are not many situations that mattered as much to his career as Hale's fortunate ricochet.

 

Just found an interesting article about this from 2016 https://www.tsn.ca/n...h-loss-1.437011

[nicoy3k]

luck was on tigers side sunday- finally.

[Barfolomew]

Only problem is there is no such thing as LUCK! We get what we deserve...

[drbob28]

Luck had nothing to do with Tiger keeping his ball dry on the 12th hole. He's smart enough to know that you put the ball in the middle of the green there and don't go directly at the pin on Sunday. Tiger consistently plays much smarter than his opponents. If there is any luck involved, remember that "luck is the residue of design".

[Naptime]

Luck is part of the game. Tends to even out over the long run.

[Emerich]

Getting a bad lie in fescue at Carnoustie is not "bad luck".

 

Hitting the pin on 15 at Augusta on a perfect chip and having the ball carom back into the water (like Wood's did a few years ago) is bad luck.

[Naptime]

TC Chen double hit in the US Open.

[JAMH03]

> @nicoy3k said:

> Molinari and TW both hit bad drives on 10 TWs shaft wrapped around the fesuce... Molinaris didn’t

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> Xander had three of the worst bunker lies I’ve ever seen... still almost forced a playoff

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>

>

> Back to tiger... he’s good enough to win a major. When he catches the breaks he will win.

 

What your saying concerning luck is true. The conclusion not factoring in TW's brillance is very poor form.

[JORDANF1]

Nope, its you vs the course being played, i don't consider others bad shots as luck, TW won plain and simple .......... if he was 5 strokes in the lead would it still be luck nope.......he won by 1 stroke and that's that, people can dissect this all they want the win was the win..... regardless.

[A.Princey]

The other factor we aren't disussing is Tiger was on fire from 15-16, then basically turned off overdrive and played it safely in. As he recounts his round, his driving and shots shapes were a thing of beauty, and in that groove he could have just as easily gone -1 on the last 2 holes if needed. Par bogey was a bailout and concession of score because he only needed that to win. Plus there was a *lack* of luck on his last par putt, which he thought was pure and guaranteed to fall. Shorties all week like that too, c'mon man!

 

People acting like he was lucky to shoot 70 on Sunday, that's about the worst score he could have shot given his back nine charge. Tiger didn't almost lose it, he took the percentage play to guarantee a W, not a low score. Big difference, and it was smart.

[Man_O_War]

this is like reading a child's opinion about golf... this is what golf is. has always been.

[Man_O_War]

> @lowheel said:

> nicoy3k wrote:

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>

>

> Molinari and TW both hit bad drives on 10 TWs shaft wrapped around the fesuce... Molinaris didn't

>

>

>

> Xander had three of the worst bunker lies I've ever seen... still almost forced a playoff

>

>

>

> Back to tiger... he's good enough to win a major. When he catches the breaks he will win.

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> Lee Trevino famously said the more i practice the luckier i get... Tiger has gotten plenty of breaks in majors. thats golf and thats life. molinari outplayed Tiger in every facet today, this sounds like bitterness. Rory absolutely thinned/necked a 3 wood in 2014 at vahalla and it rolled 55 yards+ onto the green to 7 feet and he made eagle. Happens all the time in every major. Patrick reed hit the flag stick on the 71st hole with his 60 foot putt or it was going 10 feet by. I can go on and on.

>

> Dont be that guy. Tip your cap to francesco and appreciate the greatness you witnessed. he was the only guy in the last 4 groups to shoot under par and the only bogey free round... think about that for a second

 

Francesco played awesome golf..made huge mistakes that cost him the tournament and he didn't recover. hard to call it greatness seeing how he collapsed. he certainly was great in the first 3 rounds and a half plus. You do sound bitter.

[Pent08]

Don't know if it was mentioned, but how about Tiger's tee shot on #11? There were a million different ways that ball could've been stymied. Instead, he had a perfect window.

Luck is absolutely a factor. However, playing to the correct side of trouble sometimes gets masked as luck.

[denvergolf]

> @Barfolomew said:

> Only problem is there is no such thing as LUCK! We get what we deserve...

 

What if you get t-boned by a drunk driver, who ran a red light at a high rate of speed. Your wife and daughter die. Bad luck or you got what you deserved?

 

[Man_O_War]

> @Pent08 said:

> Don't know if it was mentioned, but how about Tiger's tee shot on #11? There were a million different ways that ball could've been stymied. Instead, he had a perfect window.

> Luck is absolutely a factor. However, playing to the correct side of trouble sometimes gets masked as luck.

 

it was the crowd, the stars, the planets, milky ways, honey ways, galaxy 1.....galaxy1000, black holes, white planets, yellow scuffs...basically all lined up for Tiger on Sunday. There is something very powerful about Tiger Woods. His father was right on

[Springbok45]

> @Man_O_War said:

> >

> > Dont be that guy. Tip your cap to francesco and appreciate the greatness you witnessed. he was the only guy in the last 4 groups to shoot under par and the only bogey free round... think about that for a second

>

> Francesco played awesome golf..made huge mistakes that cost him the tournament and he didn't recover. hard to call it greatness seeing how he collapsed. he certainly was great in the first 3 rounds and a half plus. You do sound bitter.

 

You do realise the quote your arguing with was made in July last year about The Open that Frankie won, not Sunday at Augusta.

His comments afterwards that the balls he hit in the water have probably gained him a few fans shows the level of feeling generated by Tigers win. Like the old saying goes "on any given Sunday...."

[redfirebird08]

> @Springbok45 said:

> > @Man_O_War said:

> > >

> > > Dont be that guy. Tip your cap to francesco and appreciate the greatness you witnessed. he was the only guy in the last 4 groups to shoot under par and the only bogey free round... think about that for a second

> >

> > Francesco played awesome golf..made huge mistakes that cost him the tournament and he didn't recover. hard to call it greatness seeing how he collapsed. he certainly was great in the first 3 rounds and a half plus. You do sound bitter.

>

> You do realise the quote your arguing with was made in July last year about The Open that Frankie won, not Sunday at Augusta.

> **His comments afterwards that the balls he hit in the water have probably gained him a few fans shows the level of feeling generated by Tigers win.** Like the old saying goes "on any given Sunday...."

 

I thought that was an awesome comment from Molinari about gaining fans from the double bogies. Great sense of humor and very classy position on the situation. That won't be the last time he has a great chance to win the green jacket. With his ballstriking, short game, and strong mental approach...it won't surprise me if he wins a green jacket very soon.

[RobotDoctor]

> @nicoy3k said:

> Molinari and TW both hit bad drives on 10 TWs shaft wrapped around the fesuce... Molinaris didn’t

>

>

>

> Xander had three of the worst bunker lies I’ve ever seen... still almost forced a playoff

>

>

>

> Back to tiger... he’s good enough to win a major. When he catches the breaks he will win.

 

Great call on Tiger. He caught some breaks for sure after a handful of poor drives. Making birdies on #14 on Friday and Saturday after his drives was a bit of luck and skill as well. The luck part was the drive ended up in a place where he could recover. He did. As you called it, good enough to win a major. Nice call!!!

[Pent08]

What about when Rory necked that 3 wood at the PGA Championship, which resulted in an eagle and catapulted his momentum through the back nine. Is it controversial to say that that was luck, even when he admitted it was not at all the shot he was trying to hit? Many people here seem to think so.

[redfirebird08]

> @Pent08 said:

> What about when Rory necked that 3 wood at the PGA Championship, which resulted in an eagle and catapulted his momentum through the back nine. Is it controversial to say that that was luck, even when he admitted it was not at all the shot he was trying to hit? Many people here seem to think so.

 

Outside of a blowout victory, I think every winner gets lucky breaks at some point of any given tournament.

[ex0dus]

Chances to win in the last 3 majors. Converted one. Doesn't look like luck to me.

[ssfranny]

> @nicoy3k said:

> Molinari and TW both hit bad drives on 10 TWs shaft wrapped around the fesuce... Molinaris didn’t

>

>

>

> Xander had three of the worst bunker lies I’ve ever seen... still almost forced a playoff

>

>

>

> Back to tiger... he’s good enough to win a major. When he catches the breaks he will win.

 

Well Molinari was running out of luck he made numerous 5-10 foot par putts. his shot on 12 was a full 1.5 clubs short even Jack I think said that. Think he was kinda in meltdown mode at that point. Lot of things went right for TW to win. koepka make putt on 18 its a playoff. Or DJ on 18.

[Golfjack]

Yeah Molinari was holding on for dear life the front 9. So many good saves etc but he didn't really have a couple birdies to build a cushion. It was just guys behind him falling back (Tiger getting 1 stroke back and then 2, Finau, Koepka). Then he finally faltered and Tiger flipped the script. I think Tiger's shot out of the woods was really amazing onto the green. That was over water too! Was pulling for Xander too what a gritty player, but alas he wasn't able to stick it close when he needed to make at least 1 birdie to make things interesting. Tiger played great. His score was the highest he could have scored over the last few holes. He just chose to play it super conservatively and rightfully so. This really was the perfect Masters. Probably a made for movie moment.

[Barfolomew]

> @denvergolf said:

> > @Barfolomew said:

> > Only problem is there is no such thing as LUCK! We get what we deserve...

>

> What if you get t-boned by a drunk driver, who ran a red light at a high rate of speed. Your wife and daughter die. Bad luck or you got what you deserved?

>

 

Obviously you believe in luck... I dont

 

To get back to a golf perspective lol.... You absolutely deserve where you're ball ends up cause you hit it there BUT when I bomb it waaay over 3 bills and I land in a divot I couldn't even see sucks! But I would never call that bad luck cause that where I hit it....

 

But thats why I started that thread where I think you should be able to pull drives out of divots in the fairway and want the rules changed as such. Should be rewarded for hitting fairway...

[GolfCsty]

Luck is just probabilities in practice. Still gotta be good enough to take advantage of the situation.

[Dave230]

Luck doesn't exactly even out for everyone but the best way to deal with luck is to put yourself in the mix enough times so it should fall your way. Tiger competed in the previous two majors and it didn't, but this time everything went right for him. That's what Nicklaus was best at, Nicklaus was maybe lucky to beat Doug Sanders but unlucky to lose to Watson or Trevino chip-ins other times. That's how it goes.

[Birdie Mac]

> @redfirebird08 said:

> > @Springbok45 said:

> > > @Man_O_War said:

> > > >

> > > > Dont be that guy. Tip your cap to francesco and appreciate the greatness you witnessed. he was the only guy in the last 4 groups to shoot under par and the only bogey free round... think about that for a second

> > >

> > > Francesco played awesome golf..made huge mistakes that cost him the tournament and he didn't recover. hard to call it greatness seeing how he collapsed. he certainly was great in the first 3 rounds and a half plus. You do sound bitter.

> >

> > You do realise the quote your arguing with was made in July last year about The Open that Frankie won, not Sunday at Augusta.

> > **His comments afterwards that the balls he hit in the water have probably gained him a few fans shows the level of feeling generated by Tigers win.** Like the old saying goes "on any given Sunday...."

>

> I thought that was an awesome comment from Molinari about gaining fans from the double bogies. Great sense of humor and very classy position on the situation. That won't be the last time he has a great chance to win the green jacket. With his ballstriking, short game, and strong mental approach...it won't surprise me if he wins a green jacket very soon.

Absolutely agree. I've been a Molinari fan for quite some time. I love his steady, consistent game and how he manages the course, which is why I was gobsmacked when he dunked it on 12. He did handle it with class, and no doubt he'll get his green jacket soon.

 

 

[Ferguson]

No luck.

 

Just momentum and the control of one's emotions to make good decisions.

 

Tiger's mom taught him to never let up. When he saw the door open at 12 it was all over. He started to make really good decisions but kept the gas pedal down with smart shots at 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17. 18 was a gimme.

 

The way I know luck had nothing to do with it was Tiger's putt on 17. It was a lag, an effing lag. Tiger had the momentum after a fantastic drive and second shot, and knew that all he needed was par on 17. So, rather than be aggressive, he eased it down there to calm his brain for 18 and tapped it in.

 

No luck.

[gvogel]

> @Pent08 said:

> What about when Rory necked that 3 wood at the PGA Championship, which resulted in an eagle and catapulted his momentum through the back nine. Is it controversial to say that that was luck, even when he admitted it was not at all the shot he was trying to hit? Many people here seem to think so.

 

Good point. What about Charl Schwartzel on the first hole, last round when he won the Masters. His second shot on 1 was way right of the green, almost in the woods. He hit a low screaming chip which raced across the green, hit the flag stick, and went in for 3. If it misses the flag, he makes 5.

 

Tom Watson said that to win a major, you had to be playing very well, and you also needed a couple of lucky bounces along the way.

[Ferguson]

> @gvogel said:

> > @Pent08 said:

> > What about when Rory necked that 3 wood at the PGA Championship, which resulted in an eagle and catapulted his momentum through the back nine. Is it controversial to say that that was luck, even when he admitted it was not at all the shot he was trying to hit? Many people here seem to think so.

>

> Good point. What about Charl Schwartzel on the first hole, last round when he won the Masters. His second shot on 1 was way right of the green, almost in the woods. He hit a low screaming chip which raced across the green, hit the flag stick, and went in for 3. If it misses the flag, he makes 5.

>

> Tom Watson said that to win a major, you had to be playing very well, and you also needed a couple of lucky bounces along the way.

 

Just as Cink about Watson. He got lucky.