Is Rickie a closer now???

[moonshine]

I can’t help but think, no. No he’s not. I know he won and that’s great, I was rooting for him. But I feel he stumbled badly and got lucky. Certainly didn’t close it out in a confident manner.

Hmmm. A triple and a double on the back nine? He won, but he ain't there yet.

double was on front side

[ZAP]

I don't think it matters what I think. Only what he thinks.

[Forged4ever]

Terrible break on 11 honestly, in normal conditions that shot prob is damn near perfect. Nailing that 15 footer for par after everything that went down showed a lot of gusto. Old rickie could have easily further unraveled from there.

Great point Krt!!

 

As bad as the final score was, he regrouped and delivered and as has been mentioned, the younger Rickie probably would have kept goin north and lost the tourney by a few, well, if any of those other gabrones woulda stepped up, lol.

 

Please ignore my initial post above about him bein a survivor, as I was just bein a d!ck, lol

 

There are a lot of ways to close it out and not all are textbook or HoF like however he got it done.

 

Plus, I absolutely hate it when I say “well, maybe I was a tad harsh and bein a d!ck” and Madison, and this time also her BFF Paige, chimed in, “yea pretty much,” lol

 

They think he walks on water, lol

 

Have a great day?

RP

[MattyO1984]

They think he walks on water, lol

 

 

If that were true, he wouldn't have needed to take either of those drops on 11 haha.

[Shilgy]

They think he walks on water, lol

 

 

If that were true, he wouldn't have needed to take either of those drops on 11 haha.

True, if he was playing floating golf balls. :)

[Pent08]

He putted incredibly well throughout the entire round. As much as I hate saying a +3 final round is considered "closing", he maintained his composure so well and stepped up when Grace opened the door.

[a_crook]

Uh, no.

[scotee]

Finishing over par in another final round is still concerning but........ He absolutely closed. After #11 most players would have folded. He finished. Last 6 holes 2 under. Refreshing to see a guy that doesn't whine or make excuses. I love the way he carries himself on the course.

[bobcat88]

I just don't understand why people think he's a closer. Look at his record playing with the lead, he is not a closer. The numbers are enough evidence to prove that. He absolutely plays better when chasing down leaders, and benefiting from poor play all over the leaderboard Sunday doesn't mean he closed anything at WMO.

[Birdie Mac]

Ok, once again. The question posed by the OP is not whether or not he's been a closer in the past. It's 'Is Rickie a closer now?' Did he turn a corner with this past tournament? I say decidedly yes.

[RuffingIt]

don't know anything about closing, BUT i do think he needs incentive in order to perform. Last victory that brought a lot of attention was when get got called out for being over-rated. What does he do the following week? Wins the Players. More people chirping about his ball & glove deal...wins WM Open. just my 2cents

[Shilgy]

I just don't understand why people think he's a closer. Look at his record playing with the lead, he is not a closer. The numbers are enough evidence to prove that. He absolutely plays better when chasing down leaders, and benefiting from poor play all over the leaderboard Sunday doesn't mean he closed anything at WMO.

Most players would fit into this description. It's a four day event, total score. On wrx players get derided for winning in a bad manner, for so called back door top tens and many other manners of finishes. So late good to me.

[300_Straight]

Rickie played great. Couple bad breaks and a few not-so-great shots to pull out a win on a pretty crappy weather day. It was a great win for him. Obviously loving that F9.....when I saw that on 17 I cringed given him past on that hole.

[Scotty1140]

Closer?

 

No. No way.

 

Every 54 hole leads he’s ever had, he’s played poorly on Sunday. A closer plays better and is more comfortable with the lead on Sunday than Fowler is.

 

He played a terrible 4th round at the WM. Handed the tournament away to Grace who tossed it right back to him. He handled the debacle at 11 very well, but the bottom line is, he surrendered a huge lead when almost none of his chasers were even playing well. Thomas and Kuchar particularly played awful.

 

The Players a couple years ago is the only time he’s grabbed a tournament by the throat near the end. And he did it in spectacular fashion. But unfortunately that seems to go against his typical trend for closing out tournaments.

 

I’m a big Fowler fan. The way he carries himself on the course and how he interacts with fans is something you could show every junior golfer and say “copy this guy”.

 

But he not a closer. Hopefully will be soon.

[Vindog]

He's a winner. Who cares if he's a closer?

 

Unless you're going to ask a question just to answer "No" Then I guess you might care.

[Forged4ever]

He's a winner. Who cares if he's a closer?

Now THIS is a closer!!

 

Seriously, lol

 

~ 5 PGA Tour Victories

 

~ #23 on the ALL-TIME Tour Money Earning’s List with $36,000,000+ and he should easily move into the Top-20 this year

 

~ Almost a decade’s worth of Ryder Cups(4) and he should easily surpass a decade’s worth shortly.

 

~ One of the kindest, if not THE kindest, Super Stars that you’d ever meet

 

As Vin stated above me, who gives a s*** if Rickie’s a closer(well, Vin has more class than I so he worded it differently?)???

 

Rickie’s a Winner!!!

 

On the golf course!!

 

And more importantly, in life!!

 

Isn’t that the bottom line??

 

And he just turned 30!!

 

Cheers?

RP

[bbedell]

But he closed after that horrific rule on 11, and will be solid heading into the rest of 2019. 1 Major this year.

 

I'll take the under

[MattyO1984]

Ok, once again. The question posed by the OP is not whether or not he's been a closer in the past. It's 'Is Rickie a closer now?' Did he turn a corner with this past tournament? I say decidedly yes.

 

One tournament win where he stumbled across the line does not make him a closer. If he goes on to win a heap then sure, he can call himself a closer but his win at the weekend was like those that you seen in the speed skating at the Olympics. They all crashed, Rickie was the won that got up and stayed up, that doesn't make him a closer now.

[Bad9]

Rickie obviously put himself in the best position for the win. He knows he can't hold leads on the back nine of the final round. He knows hes better at putting on a charge from behind to win. When he got to 5 up he knew if he didn't do something he was going top let it slip away again. He tanked it on 11,12 and 13 to ensure he was behind and shot -2 over the final 5 holes for the come from behind victory.

[new2g0lf]

Ok, once again. The question posed by the OP is not whether or not he's been a closer in the past. It's 'Is Rickie a closer now?' Did he turn a corner with this past tournament? I say decidedly yes.

 

One tournament win where he stumbled across the line does not make him a closer. If he goes on to win a heap then sure, he can call himself a closer but his win at the weekend was like those that you seen in the speed skating at the Olympics. They all crashed, Rickie was the won that got up and stayed up, that doesn't make him a closer now.

 

There's two ways to view Sunday, they all choked / crashed or the conditions were poor and Rickie played the best golf out of those still in contention. Neither scenario significantly helps the criticism of Rickie not being a closer but one makes a better case than the other. Reviewing Sunday with a critical eye, he didn't really close as there was a point he lost his 5 stroke lead and was in 2nd place, which he fought back to win. To me a closer comes into Sunday with the lead and never relinquishes it, Rickie didn't do that. I do give him a lot of credit for coming back from 11 and playing good enough golf the rest of the round to win. As others of said, winning > closing, the money and points he got doesn't change because he lost the lead but it's still something he needs to work on.

[KevCarter]

He's a winner. Who cares if he's a closer?

Now THIS is a closer!!

 

Seriously, lol

 

~ 5 PGA Tour Victories

 

~ #23 on the ALL-TIME Tour Money Earning's List with $36,000,000+ and he should easily move into the Top-20 this year

 

~ Almost a decade's worth of Ryder Cups(4) and he should easily surpass a decade's worth shortly.

 

~ One of the kindest, if not THE kindest, Super Stars that you'd ever meet

 

As Vin stated above me, who gives a s*** if Rickie's a closer(well, Vin has more class than I so he worded it differently)???

 

Rickie's a Winner!!!

 

On the golf course!!

 

And more importantly, in life!!

 

Isn't that the bottom line??

 

And he just turned 30!!

 

Cheers

RP

 

Richard, you're good at math...

 

If I wanted to reply +1Gazillion to your quote, how many zeros would I have to type behind the 1?

 

:-)

 

Cheers

[WidespreadPanic]

A closer Rick is not. He stumbled over the finish line for this win. Did the same at Honda. And let’s not forget all the times he didn’t win because of bad final rounds.

 

But if you heard that interview, he doesn’t really care. He’s got 5 wins, a smokeshow wife, and a ton of money.

[Jackhammer993]

Rickie love is a powerful force. Not to much bad to say about the guy but when I think of him I think more about the person than the golf game. When he’s on I love the pace his putts go into the hole. It’s kind of like Crenshaw where the ball seems to crawl into the hole. Other than that it’s his orange shirts and friendly without being phony disposition which is in stark contrast to people like Matt Kuchar and Phil at times.

[CasualLie]

It's like most people here either:

 

A. Didn't watch the tournament on Sunday but "read" about it or saw golf channel highlights to form an opinion.

B. Started drinking early for the Super Bowl

C. Have no clue about Branden Grace

D. Really do not understand what closer means

E. All of the above

 

Grace putted above his head on Sunday, so better than most (to paraphrase dumb Gary Koch) he had the wet green speed down, combined with Fowler's ugly 11th hole to even get in a conversation he did not belong in. He didn't choke. He did what he was doing all day - sprayed tee shots. He was even below average in GIR. It's no shock he hit one in the water on 17. And he obviously couldn't handle a little pressure and manage a relatively simple pitch. What was that tee shot on 18?! Choke? No, just the way he played that day.

 

A closer just brings it home, that's it. It doesn't matter if you load the bases in the bottom of the ninth, doesn't matter if you shoot 75. Did you win? Given Sunday's results and the topic question, yes, Rickie is a closer. Today. Next time out, we will see...

[mds5062]

No, he is an calm, level headed golfer that doesn't have that killer instinct/crazed mentality with winning. Seems like he wants to win but its not the sole thing driving him. Nothing wrong with that but the tour had promoted him too much as a top 5 guy which he is not.

[Forged4ever]

He's a winner. Who cares if he's a closer?

Now THIS is a closer!!

 

Seriously, lol

 

~ 5 PGA Tour Victories

 

~ #23 on the ALL-TIME Tour Money Earning's List with $36,000,000+ and he should easily move into the Top-20 this year

 

~ Almost a decade's worth of Ryder Cups(4) and he should easily surpass a decade's worth shortly.

 

~ One of the kindest, if not THE kindest, Super Stars that you'd ever meet

 

As Vin stated above me, who gives a s*** if Rickie's a closer(well, Vin has more class than I so he worded it differently?)???

 

Rickie's a Winner!!!

 

On the golf course!!

 

And more importantly, in life!!

 

Isn't that the bottom line??

 

And he just turned 30!!

 

Cheers?

RP

 

Richard, you're good at math...

 

If I wanted to reply +1Gazillion to your quote, how many zeros would I have to type behind the 1?

 

:-)

 

Cheers

Thanks a lot though in full disclosure Madison said all that and she’s down in Fla with Paige at my Sis’s and was heading to the course so I agreed with everything and as I’m a lil bitter that I’m stuck up here in this crappy weather with IVs plugged into my arm, I figured that I’d post it, lol ;)

 

She actually said that the thread should be closed on Vin’s post and while I agree that it’s a fitting “closer,” I’m bored and good for probably 1-2 more asinine thoughts/posts on the subject, so I want it to run a while?

 

Stay wel Brother?

Richard

[Matt J]

You'd have to ask Allison Stokke, ba dum, tshhhh.

 

She's engaged to marry him, let's see if he gets that closed.

 

Personally, I didn't watch some of the early drama with the chip into the lake, bad luck on the drop, etc. - but, walking up and hitting that 50+ foot eagle putt to tap in was pretty clutch.

 

There have been a lot of tournaments and a lot of majors even where guys have pretty much just hung on and won. Molinari at the Open last year comes to mind. Hard to say sometimes when no one in the field goes out and gets it, is it the course, weather, etc. ? - I like Kevin Kisner, but he's played himself out of contention coming down the stretch in a lot of big tourneys in the last couple of years. Spieth's performance against Kuch is one of the examples of a guy really closing lately and it was only after playing very poorly early. I guess Koepka, but his strategy seems to be more steady eddie and hope the field collapses. Must be the beta blockers ;)

[aliikane]

Ricky has been cursed at the Waste Management in the past, but he broke the curse by winning. However, the curse of big numbers coming down the stretch may still haunt him in the future of the that tournament.

[bscinstnct]

[MattyO1984]

 

Rookie move, Rickie needs to be getting some advice from his friend Duf.