2018 Northern Trust at Ridgewood CC

[Jagpilotohio]

Who's that at the top of the leaderboard?

 

Phil. -8

 

Can’t lay -7

 

Uilhein Hadwin and Finau -6

[egr2teup]

Here comes that freakin' beeping noise again.

 

I hate hearing it but that's nothing compared to what the players are going thru. SMH

 

Maybe the Tour has deployed an on-site device to bleep out drunken New Jersey outbursts live and in real time. The loud, constant beeping is just the price paid for not hearing the really annoying stuff...

 

You might be on to something but personally, I would've preferred use of a 12 gauge shotgun to stop those outbursts.

[FootWedge16]

Did Jordan Spieth miss a 7” putt??

 

Must be the mono

[heavy_hitter]

This is an unbelievable course and facility. My daughter played in the USGA Girl's Junior at Ridgewood a couple of years ago. Was a very memorable trip. A member watching my daughters group was tell us about number 12. The announcers keep referring to it as the 5 and Dime. The gentleman told me that the members call it the 5 and Dime for another reason. It is a 5 iron from the tee and if they don't hit the green they are making a 10.

[fillwelix]

Woods with a good par on the 1st

[Grantmur]

What the heck did DJ do on the first?

[fillwelix]

DJ is ejecting on the first hole

[carrier street]

DJ with a smooth 7 to start the day.

[redfirebird08]

Ugly start for DJ.

[bscinstnct]

DJ is ejecting on the first hole

 

[KillerPenguin]

Here comes that freakin' beeping noise again.

 

I hate hearing it but that's nothing compared to what the players are going thru. SMH

 

Maybe the Tour has deployed an on-site device to bleep out drunken New Jersey outbursts live and in real time. The loud, constant beeping is just the price paid for not hearing the really annoying stuff...

 

You might be on to something but personally, I would've preferred use of a 12 gauge shotgun to stop those outbursts.

Yes, threatening to resort to extrajudicial killing is definitely the way to go here.

[Cool Runnings]

Apologies, thought it was intended differently and I apologise if I came off hostile, I was surprised to see you back to be honest. We actually were finding a lot of common ground when you last posted if I remember correctly.

 

A lot has changed with Tiger since we last spoke. Do you still think he will never win again or has he convinced you more? What do you think of the putter change as well?

 

I'll try my best not to get to argumentive this time, it's just golf.

FIRs&GIRs&3-Putts

“Do you still think he will never win again or has he convinced you more? What do you think of the putter change as well?”

……………..

 

As I promised, here’s my thoughts to your 2 fine questions.

 

Firstly, I’m a Tiger fan but I tend to be brutally honest in my evaluations and I’ve always been one who has little time or inclination to sugar-coat anything or get overly romantic of the past - I like living in the present, but I’m curious and welcome the future.

 

As for Tiger’s season so far, from the context of where he’s come from 2 years ago when questioning if he’d ever physically be able to play the game competitively again - it’s been outstanding. But to your specific question “Do you still think he will never win again or has he convinced you more?” Yes it’s possible he could win again (given the right conditions / setup / course / strength of field / and his mental & technical vulnerabilities improve) but even then it won’t be easy and it’s no way a certainty either. Let me explain a little more.

 

As I’ve touched on before, due to the huge evolution and professionalisation of the game over recent times, the quality, competition and depth of talent today is far higher than it’s ever been and as a result far more difficult to win (this is widely acknowledged) and mentally Tiger is well aware of this reality too. Tiger also knows players today are no longer afraid of him, in fact they actually look forward to going against him and taking his scalp. Tiger in his peak years used his massive distance over the field as a huge advantage, today that’s all gone and now he’s only about 35th in distance with relatively poor accuracy. Compare him to DJ, Brooks, JT etc, he can’t live with them and they all hit irons and wedges close and putt lights out too. Tiger even spoke to this sobering reality at the PGA when saying “He [@BKoepka] is a tough guy to beat when he's hitting it 340 in the air ... @DJohnsonPGA's done it, now @McIlroyRory's doing it, Brooksy does it." - TigerWoods

In many ways Tiger has helped create the very fields he’s struggling to win against today, a bit like the old adage of the student evolving and surpassing the master (and his has nothing to do with surpassing his records btw).

 

I also acknowledge Tiger is almost 43yrs old and despite being fully fit and healthy again (which is great news), mentally he still looks vulnerable out there as pressure increases, and we’ve seen this throughout most of the season. But lets be fair, Tiger has had a few great chances this year to seal a win but as I’ve already pointed to, in the key pressure moments he’s been found wanting. I actually believe the longer he fails to close out these winning opportunities, the harder mentally it will become for him to get one over the line in todays climate.

 

So in a nutshell, if Tiger’s putter can stay reliable, if he can ever sort out his erratic driving so it becomes a weapon not a worry, and if he can become better mentally under pressure - then with some luck against the right SOF, on the right course, with the right conditions & setup, yes I think it’s possible he can win again. But that’s a lot of ‘if’s that need to align.

 

That’s my brutally honest (and impartial as can be) assessment.

[dmasterdunk]

Who's that at the top of the leaderboard?

 

Phil. -8

 

Can't lay -7

 

Uilhein Hadwin and Finau -6

 

I never understand why people ask stuff like this. If they're posting on a forum, they can surely google a leaderboard...

[StlEER]

2 triples in last his last three holes. Pffft I can do that

[redfirebird08]

2 triples in last his last three holes. Pffft I can do that

 

Thought DJ started on back nine yesterday?

[TreyWingbat]

Who's that at the top of the leaderboard?

 

Phil. -8

 

Can't lay -7

 

Uilhein Hadwin and Finau -6

 

It's Cant-lee now. He's had the pronunciation changed since he shagged someone in 2016.

[StlEER]

2 triples in last his last three holes. Pffft I can do that

 

Thought DJ started on back nine yesterday?

 

Could have. I just saw the scorecard w/ the triple on 17.

[Bartin]

What the heck did DJ do on the first?

 

Made full contact on a wedge flop shot from the greenside rough which sent it over the green and up against the lip of a bunker where he couldnt get anywhere close to the hole then 3 putted from there. Reminded me of myself.

[jdl]

Did Jordan Spieth miss a 7" putt??

 

Just when you think his putting can't get any worse.

[seve1972]

carney....right in the fairway.......(deep rough)....

[QuigleyDU]

i was just thinking, is Mcllroy not in the field? i think he decided not to play the fedex cup last year right?

[carrier street]

What the heck did DJ do on the first?

 

Made full contact on a wedge flop shot from the greenside rough which sent it over the green and up against the lip of a bunker where he couldnt get anywhere close to the hole then 3 putted from there. Reminded me of myself.

 

Yep.

"I can make the easy bogey OR I CAN JUST HIT THIS INCREDIBLY INTRICATE SHOT AND TAP IN FOR PAR!"

**needs to use fingers to count shots**

[jdl]

i was just thinking, is Mcllroy not in the field? i think he decided not to play the fedex cup last year right?

 

Needed the time off to contemplate if he wants to be on the Ryder Cup team or not.

[carrier street]

i was just thinking, is Mcllroy not in the field? i think he decided not to play the fedex cup last year right?

 

Sitting this one out to sort out his swing or something.

[egr2teup]

My man, Harold. I see you.

[bscinstnct]

Apologies, thought it was intended differently and I apologise if I came off hostile, I was surprised to see you back to be honest. We actually were finding a lot of common ground when you last posted if I remember correctly.

 

A lot has changed with Tiger since we last spoke. Do you still think he will never win again or has he convinced you more? What do you think of the putter change as well?

 

I'll try my best not to get to argumentive this time, it's just golf.

FIRs&GIRs&3-Putts

“Do you still think he will never win again or has he convinced you more? What do you think of the putter change as well?”

……………..

 

As I promised, here’s my thoughts to your 2 fine questions.

 

Firstly, I’m a Tiger fan but I tend to be brutally honest in my evaluations and I’ve always been one who has little time or inclination to sugar-coat anything or get overly romantic of the past - I like living in the present, but I’m curious and welcome the future.

 

As for Tiger’s season so far, from the context of where he’s come from 2 years ago when questioning if he’d ever physically be able to play the game competitively again - it’s been outstanding. But to your specific question “Do you still think he will never win again or has he convinced you more?” Yes it’s possible he could win again (given the right conditions / setup / course / strength of field / and his mental & technical vulnerabilities improve) but even then it won’t be easy and it’s no way a certainty either. Let me explain a little more.

 

As I’ve touched on before, due to the huge evolution and professionalisation of the game over recent times, the quality, competition and depth of talent today is far higher than it’s ever been and as a result far more difficult to win (this is widely acknowledged) and mentally Tiger is well aware of this reality too. Tiger also knows players today are no longer afraid of him, in fact they actually look forward to going against him and taking his scalp. Tiger in his peak years used his massive distance over the field as a huge advantage, today that’s all gone and now he’s only about 35th in distance with relatively poor accuracy. Compare him to DJ, Brooks, JT etc, he can’t live with them and they all hit irons and wedges close and putt lights out too. Tiger even spoke to this sobering reality at the PGA when saying “He [@BKoepka] is a tough guy to beat when he's hitting it 340 in the air ... @DJohnsonPGA's done it, now @McIlroyRory's doing it, Brooksy does it." - TigerWoods

In many ways Tiger has helped create the very fields he’s struggling to win against today, a bit like the old adage of the student evolving and surpassing the master (and his has nothing to do with surpassing his records btw).

 

I also acknowledge Tiger is almost 43yrs old and despite being fully fit and healthy again (which is great news), mentally he still looks vulnerable out there as pressure increases, and we’ve seen this throughout most of the season. But lets be fair, Tiger has had a few great chances this year to seal a win but as I’ve already pointed to, in the key pressure moments he’s been found wanting. I actually believe the longer he fails to close out these winning opportunities, the harder mentally it will become for him to get one over the line in todays climate.

 

So in a nutshell, if Tiger’s putter can stay reliable, if he can ever sort out his erratic driving so it becomes a weapon not a worry, and if he can become better mentally under pressure - then with some luck against the right SOF, on the right course, with the right conditions & setup, yes I think it’s possible he can win again. But that’s a lot of ‘if’s that need to align.

 

That’s my brutally honest (and impartial as can be) assessment.

 

 

So, to summarize.

 

 

Tiger might win again. But you're not sure ; )

[WidespreadPanic]

Since Shinnecock, I think I've heard Faldo say 50 times that golf was Koepka's 3rd choice behind baseball and basketball. Is this actually true? Has Koepka said this or is this along the lines of the linebacker comparisons?

[FIRs&GIRs&3-Putts]

Apologies, thought it was intended differently and I apologise if I came off hostile, I was surprised to see you back to be honest. We actually were finding a lot of common ground when you last posted if I remember correctly.

 

A lot has changed with Tiger since we last spoke. Do you still think he will never win again or has he convinced you more? What do you think of the putter change as well?

 

I'll try my best not to get to argumentive this time, it's just golf.

FIRs&GIRs&3-Putts

“Do you still think he will never win again or has he convinced you more? What do you think of the putter change as well?”

……………..

 

As I promised, here’s my thoughts to your 2 fine questions.

 

Firstly, I’m a Tiger fan but I tend to be brutally honest in my evaluations and I’ve always been one who has little time or inclination to sugar-coat anything or get overly romantic of the past - I like living in the present, but I’m curious and welcome the future.

 

As for Tiger’s season so far, from the context of where he’s come from 2 years ago when questioning if he’d ever physically be able to play the game competitively again - it’s been outstanding. But to your specific question “Do you still think he will never win again or has he convinced you more?” Yes it’s possible he could win again (given the right conditions / setup / course / strength of field / and his mental & technical vulnerabilities improve) but even then it won’t be easy and it’s no way a certainty either. Let me explain a little more.

 

As I’ve touched on before, due to the huge evolution and professionalisation of the game over recent times, the quality, competition and depth of talent today is far higher than it’s ever been and as a result far more difficult to win (this is widely acknowledged) and mentally Tiger is well aware of this reality too. Tiger also knows players today are no longer afraid of him, in fact they actually look forward to going against him and taking his scalp. Tiger in his peak years used his massive distance over the field as a huge advantage, today that’s all gone and now he’s only about 35th in distance with relatively poor accuracy. Compare him to DJ, Brooks, JT etc, he can’t live with them and they all hit irons and wedges close and putt lights out too. Tiger even spoke to this sobering reality at the PGA when saying “He [@BKoepka] is a tough guy to beat when he's hitting it 340 in the air ... @DJohnsonPGA's done it, now @McIlroyRory's doing it, Brooksy does it." - TigerWoods

In many ways Tiger has helped create the very fields he’s struggling to win against today, a bit like the old adage of the student evolving and surpassing the master (and his has nothing to do with surpassing his records btw).

 

I also acknowledge Tiger is almost 43yrs old and despite being fully fit and healthy again (which is great news), mentally he still looks vulnerable out there as pressure increases, and we’ve seen this throughout most of the season. But lets be fair, Tiger has had a few great chances this year to seal a win but as I’ve already pointed to, in the key pressure moments he’s been found wanting. I actually believe the longer he fails to close out these winning opportunities, the harder mentally it will become for him to get one over the line in todays climate.

 

So in a nutshell, if Tiger’s putter can stay reliable, if he can ever sort out his erratic driving so it becomes a weapon not a worry, and if he can become better mentally under pressure - then with some luck against the right SOF, on the right course, with the right conditions & setup, yes I think it’s possible he can win again. But that’s a lot of ‘if’s that need to align.

 

That’s my brutally honest (and impartial as can be) assessment.

 

I think it’s a fair assessment apart from a couple things.

 

I would presume by right SOF you mean it would need to be on the weaker end? I don’t really see where this would come from, his three best chances to win came in 2 majors and the Valspar this year, Valspar is obviously not a great field, a good finish at API and a finish at Memorial which I think everyone can agree he played better than, a good Players Championship as well (not saying he was close to winning them but he had good performances in really tough fields).

 

Also the whole struggling under pressure thing, I can see where it comes from but I can’t agree with a lot of it. Normally people point to the back nine scoring average and yes I won’t deny it’s way worse than the front but I’ve noticed a different trend which is more good nine/bad nine, he plays the back nine of rounds well when he has a poor front nine and vice versa, R1 of Quicken Loans (this was less extreme), PGA and Memorial to blame a few. This is still a concern to me obviously because he’s struggling to put a full round together, I put it down to him just not being what he once was and I’m doubtful he’ll be able to consistently put it all together for a round, closest we’ve seen was final round of Bellerive. I can’t comment on the open to be honest, I was at there for 6 days including Sunday so I still don’t really know a lot about how people really played, with Spieth and Tiger being my two favourite players I didn’t want to dwell that much on the Open, lol. PGA was interesting, I understand why people called the drive on 17 a choke but I think I disagree on what a choke is in the first place, to me a choke is when pressure causes you to do something you wouldn’t normally do - so a really bad putter missing an important 7 footer isn’t really a choke to me but a historically good putter missing an important 7 footer I could consider a choke (there are obviously a lot more variables here but I’m already getting taken away to the land of hypotheticals, lol) so I wouldn’t consider Rory’s poor wedge into 18 at Carnoustie a choke (I could hear the groans even from the 17th green) as he isn’t exactly the world’s greatest wedge player. So it’s hard for me to call Tiger missing the fairway with a driver a choke (I realise that you didn’t say that, I’m just going with what people have typically said).

 

Since I mentioned last time that I don’t think Tiger can win another major, I thought I’d say that I would still be surprised if he gets 15 but he’s got a significantly better chance than he did before the Open.

 

Thank you for the response.

[Bartin]

Since Shinnecock, I think I've heard Faldo say 50 times that golf was Koepka's 3rd choice behind baseball and basketball. Is this actually true? Has Koepka said this or is this along the lines of the linebacker comparisons?

 

He has definitely said baseball, not sure on basketball.

 

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/he-just-won-the-us-open-but-brooks-koepka-would-rather-be-playing-baseball

 

“If I could do it over again, I’d play baseball -- 100 percent, no doubt,” Koepka told our Jaime Diaz.

[FootWedge16]

Would be great if DJ could win this week with a triple on his card each day.