Make Phil Great Again

[ebrasmus21]

We all love Phil.  He’s an all-time great.  A hall of famer.  A champion, a scholar and a philanthropist.  
 

What does Phil need to do in order to get one last shot at glory on the PGA Tour?  There’s so much young talent (I get it, I get it) but between Phil’s hand-eye coordination and his competitive spirit can he not make one more run with the young bucks?  
 

Again, I know this is the FIGJAM fan club on WRX but just curious to hear others thoughts. 

[Tasals]

Phil needs to string together a perfect four days, and get really lucky. You see this happen at The Masters, with the old guys in contention for the the first 1 to 1.5 days and just slowly fade away, father time is undefeated. He basically trounced the Champions Tour, was 70 yards past the guys in his group off the tee. He isnt long enough, or strong enough to keep getting away with sloppy shots against the younger guys.

 

He even said it himself during the champions tour interviews, he gets tired, but on the champions tour when he feels himself getting tired he can hop on a cart and ride three holes. He doesnt get those breaks on the PGA Tour.

[miamistomp]

 A fine golf career but I certainly don't care if he ever wins again

[2bGood]

He just needs to keep teeing it up. He can’t dominate an event but he is still good enough to win. 

[ChillyDipper]

He needs a Tom Watson 2009 British Open-like performance.  Masters, British, or especially a US Open would solidify his position as one of the games all-time greats.

[Emthree]

He just needs to sport those mirror aviators.

[JDCON]

Nobody is as great as Jack Nicklaus, but he made a run in 1998 at the age of 58 on Sunday at the Masters. Phil is in better shape than Jack at his age, but we’ll see. Phil doesn’t have Jack’s calculating mental game.

[bigred90gt]

2 hours ago, ChillyDipper said:

He needs a Tom Watson 2009 British Open-like performance.  Masters, British, or especially a US Open would solidify his position as one of the games all-time greats.

I think his 44 tour wins (9th all time) and 5 majors have pretty much already solidified that. Ain’t many people alive (Or already passed for that matter) that have had a better career. 

[golfgirlrobin]

Y’all acting like he’s 45 minutes from being a ceremonial starter at Augusta.  He won last year and had a T-2 at a WGC event literally last month.  Whether he will or not, we’ll see, but he’s more than capable of putting together another winning effort. 

[grm24]

3 hours ago, ebrasmus21 said:

We all love Phil.

 

Hate to break this news to you but no, not everybody loves Phil. He can still win on the PGA Tour but please don't assume that everybody loves him.

Edited September 5, 2020 by grm24

[Dr. Block]

My opinion is he needs to concentrate less on hitting bombs and more on driving accuracy.  He’s plenty long enough to compete when he’s swinging for accuracy.  If he’s in the fairway he can take advantage of his strongest attribute and that’s his short iron and wedge game. I think that is the only way he’ll find his high gear for four straight rounds.  When he’s trying to bomb it he loses his timing too often and is just too inconsistent.   

[cdnglf]

Judging from his twitter he seems to have found love, so that’s a good sign.

[GolfTurkey]

Phil is a phit and phlexible phifty and I phorecast a phifth place at the Masters in the phall. I'm on my phith beer...

Edited September 5, 2020 by GolfTurkey

[ebrasmus21]

6 hours ago, grm24 said:

 

Hate to break this news to you but no, not everybody loves Phil. He can still win on the PGA Tour but please don't assume that everybody loves him.

My good fellow, that wasn’t meant to be taken literally.  If I’m being honest it was mostly meant to upset @Ferguson

[elwhippy]

Sorry but we all don't love Phil. 

[King_Slender]

Phil might pull of a random tournament, but reading a recounting of the 2006 US Open and his meltdown on 18, he still doesn't get it.  After hitting 2 fairways all day, he still thinks his drive wasn't the issue and it was that he didn't execute on his second shot, trying to hit a cut around a tree with a 3 iron from the rough (albeit a clean lie).  Dude just had to hit 3-iron, 4-iron to the green, 2 putt and walk away with a win.  Worst case, a tie and a playoff where he could completely reset.  

 

Never count him out, though.  He never thought he'd win The Open, and he solved that puzzle.

[gvogel]

He had his greatest success playing a 2-wood off the tee, but he would rather hit Philthy bombs that get him into trouble.  That's Phil being Phil.

[Hawkeye77]

Who?

[ebrasmus21]

2 hours ago, Hawkeye77 said:

Who?

He’s a scholar and one of the great minds of this generation: 

 

[Dr. Block]

2 hours ago, gvogel said:

He had his greatest success playing a 2-wood off the tee, but he would rather hit Philthy bombs that get him into trouble.  That's Phil being Phil.

Maybe in another five years he’ll drop off enough physically that swinging like he’s in a long drive event won’t net him elite level distance.  Maybe then he will change his mindset, and that might be when he catches lightening in a bottle at another major. 

[tiderider]

phil need to go out to a golf course one night ... strip ... and just lie down in a fairway ... any fairway ... roll around ... crawl on his belly ... feel that short grass ... dig his fingers and toes into it ... become one with the fairway ... learn to use the power of the fairway ... 

[8milespast]

6 hours ago, King_Slender said:

Phil might pull of a random tournament, but reading a recounting of the 2006 US Open and his meltdown on 18, he still doesn't get it.  After hitting 2 fairways all day, he still thinks his drive wasn't the issue and it was that he didn't execute on his second shot, trying to hit a cut around a tree with a 3 iron from the rough (albeit a clean lie).  Dude just had to hit 3-iron, 4-iron to the green, 2 putt and walk away with a win.  Worst case, a tie and a playoff where he could completely reset.  

 

Never count him out, though.  He never thought he'd win The Open, and he solved that puzzle.

 

You act like it was 

 

a) automatic that he'd have hit that fairway with a 3-iron

b) automatic that he'd have hit that ridiculously firm and contoured green with a 4

and

c) that he'd have automatically two-putted from anywhere on that green, which, again, is one of the most difficult in America.

 

Everything he does is calculated. It was a 450+ yard dogleg left, my dude. A 3-iron may not even have put him in 3-iron range, and any errant approach would have put him in thick-a** rough or with a super-tough bunker shot from cushy bunkers that almost nobody was getting up and down from.  There's a reason the winner ended at +5 that day and needed three miracle up and ins on the last 4 holes to do it. That course, as constructed, was an absolute monster.

Edited September 5, 2020 by 8milespast

[tiderider]

21 minutes ago, 8milespast said:

 

You act like it was 

 

a) automatic that he'd have hit that fairway with a 3-iron

b) automatic that he'd have hit that ridiculously firm and contoured green with a 4

and

c) that he'd have automatically two-putted from anywhere on that green, which, again, is one of the most difficult in America.

 

Everything he does is calculated. It was a 450+ yard dogleg left, my dude. A 3-iron may not even have put him in 3-iron range, and any errant approach would have put him in thick-a** rough or with a super-tough bunker shot from cushy bunkers that almost nobody was getting up and down from.  There's a reason the winner ended at +5 that day and needed three miracle up and ins on the last 4 holes to do it. That course, as constructed, was an absolute monster.

he had a better chance playing for two long irons instead of a driver and an 8 iron ... hindsight IS 20/20, and the first two shots he hit were horrendous decisions ... 

[bladehunter]

Well I for one love Phil.  
 

And I’d say if he stopped playing a driver unless it’s a  60-80 yard wide target ,  his scores would improve. Or better yet.  Stop trying to hit it hard. 

[puttfordoux]

He needs to get back with Bones. Not really, but it sounds good.

[hoselpalooza]

17 hours ago, GolfTurkey said:

Phil is a phit and phlexible phifty and I phorecast a phifth place at the Masters in the phall. I'm on my phith beer...

 

no judgements here as long as you don't take over this thread with a philibuster...

[ebrasmus21]

27 minutes ago, hoselpalooza said:

 

no judgements here as long as you don't take over this thread with a philibuster...

I wouldn’t mind seeing some phireworks from Phil this year as he phights for another green jacket.  

[PZero]

All the greats make a run late in their career to win a major. Phil is one of the great ones.

[MUNIGRIT]

23 hours ago, 8milespast said:

 

You act like it was 

 

a) automatic that he'd have hit that fairway with a 3-iron

b) automatic that he'd have hit that ridiculously firm and contoured green with a 4

and

c) that he'd have automatically two-putted from anywhere on that green, which, again, is one of the most difficult in America.

 

Everything he does is calculated. It was a 450+ yard dogleg left, my dude. A 3-iron may not even have put him in 3-iron range, and any errant approach would have put him in thick-a** rough or with a super-tough bunker shot from cushy bunkers that almost nobody was getting up and down from.  There's a reason the winner ended at +5 that day and needed three miracle up and ins on the last 4 holes to do it. That course, as constructed, was an absolute monster.

Yup Driver was the right tee shot and it was the second shot that blew the tournament. 

 

The whole all he had to do was hit 2 long irons is comical in itself. What was he hitting a 3 iron back then 230? He would have had a shot to an elevated green that if you go long in made for a most likely 3 putt. See monty there. People act like he would have easily hit fairway and middle of the green 2 putt par with zero pressure. Driver was the play he just made an awful swing.

Edited September 6, 2020 by MUNIGRIT

[Cincy_Ken]

+1 

I don't remember the actual stat but I thought he hit like 2 fairways all day and had missed fairways with irons. Hitting a long iron approach into 18 at WF isn't a great proposition. The problems were 1 not just hitting a poor drive but hitting one of the worst drives of his life and 2 not getting out safely to ensure he made 5.

 

It's really more symbolic of his career than any other moment. He was never able to develop a consistent fairway finder under pressure.  If he ever found that shot we're talking about a top 10 player of all time and probably double digits majors.  He's probably the worst driver of the all time top 20