2020 CME Group Tour Championship Dec 17 - 20

[new2g0lf]

On 12/21/2020 at 9:06 PM, Awsi Dooger said:

The outcome seemed like a formality when Sei Young didn't put any distance between herself and Jin Young on Saturday. Sei Young is a flashier player but no question she is more erratic and error prone and mentally less sturdy than Jin Young. All my life I've watched the more vulnerable player give way on Sunday to the robotic methodical type, like Faldo over Norman in the 1996 Masters.

 

My opinion of Sei Young may seem harsh. But it is shaped by the three consecutive events I watched her play in late 2019 and early 2020. Yes, she pulled out CME on the final hole last year with the great putt. That doesn't deflect my memories of how she played that day. Not well at all, on a gettable course. Her scores declined every round. Then the same thing happened when I attended Diamond Resorts in Orlando last January. Everyone was touting Sei Young as likely to overcome Inbee on Sunday. I had my doubts, based on watching CME two months earlier. Sure enough, Sei Young was every bit as flat in Orlando. She missed the 3-way playoff. Then the following week in Boca Raton Sei Young again had huge opportunity on Sunday, especially with unproven Madeline Sagstrom in the lead. But Sei Young had easily the worst final round of any of the leaders, including an air mailed fairway bunker shot in the middle of the back nine, leading to double bogey. 

 

Bottom line I think her gutsy reputation is exaggerated. I'm well aware of the playoff results. That was a younger player and the type of thing that is prone to regression. I suggest she is now like a frontrunning racehorse who can relax and extend when not threatened by hoofs alongside. But if she senses a mentally strong and equally capable player -- especially Korean -- in her way, I think the strange fanned drives and mistakes will show up.

 

This player needs Johnny Miller leads. And she is capable of that.

 

Otherwise it was interesting to see so many blimp shots of the layout. I'm always attending the event so I don't get to see the coverage. The standout aspect is so much water that doesn't come into play at all, like the huge pond left of 10, and another huge pond between 9 and 18, plus the huge pond between 4 and 5. Such a waste. The second shot on 4 is really the only time the water comes into play on any of those holes, and that's only when the pin is tucked in the narrow early segment of that green. There is also water right on 13 and right on 14 that basically doesn't come into play. The 14th would be a much better hole for the ladies if they moved it up 15 yards and tempted the big hitters to attempt the green in two. That tee box can accommodate it easily. I have no idea why they are so reluctant. 

 

Fairways seemed to be running out more this year, making it even more curious Lexi was so hesitant with driver.

 

Also I continue to be sickened that young players like Nelly Korda and Yealimi Noh are making the misguided choice of crosshanded putting

Great analysis on Sei Young and the course.  I think some people are better being the rabbit and others are better being the dog.  The closer the dogs get the more distracted the rabbit gets.  A lot of male golfers would shrivel up when Tiger was chasing them.  On my limited experience in tournament golf, you try to avoid making mistakes with a lead and that is usually a flawed strategy because everyone behind you is playing to catch you.  Sei needs to remain aggressive and play her best golf without worrying about who is behind her.  

I also agree with you on the course, the women almost never had the water come into play, I don't know if they grew the rough longer around it or their shots weren't rolling as fast as the men but it was almost like there was no water on the course last weekend.  it's a great course, as you said, changing some tee boxes it make it much more exciting.  

[Raving Shanker]

I think Sei Young is going with the spontaneous feeling approach, rather than the technical. The commentators mention it a lot, and you can really see it in her approach. It is also what I am trying to do with my golf. The difficulty is, it is mentally taxing. If she is not 100% on, she can be a little off.

 

I agree with you about the water at Tiburon. Big water, no danger. Compare that with the Cedar Creek course at Champions. It has very small ponds in tricky places designed to grab a slightly errant shot.

[Sharrow]

On 12/22/2020 at 3:06 AM, Awsi Dooger said:

The outcome seemed like a formality when Sei Young didn't put any distance between herself and Jin Young on Saturday. Sei Young is a flashier player but no question she is more erratic and error prone and mentally less sturdy than Jin Young. All my life I've watched the more vulnerable player give way on Sunday to the robotic methodical type, like Faldo over Norman in the 1996 Masters.

 

My opinion of Sei Young may seem harsh. But it is shaped by the three consecutive events I watched her play in late 2019 and early 2020. Yes, she pulled out CME on the final hole last year with the great putt. That doesn't deflect my memories of how she played that day. Not well at all, on a gettable course. Her scores declined every round. Then the same thing happened when I attended Diamond Resorts in Orlando last January. Everyone was touting Sei Young as likely to overcome Inbee on Sunday. I had my doubts, based on watching CME two months earlier. Sure enough, Sei Young was every bit as flat in Orlando. She missed the 3-way playoff. Then the following week in Boca Raton Sei Young again had huge opportunity on Sunday, especially with unproven Madeline Sagstrom in the lead. But Sei Young had easily the worst final round of any of the leaders, including an air mailed fairway bunker shot in the middle of the back nine, leading to double bogey. 

 

Bottom line I think her gutsy reputation is exaggerated. I'm well aware of the playoff results. That was a younger player and the type of thing that is prone to regression. I suggest she is now like a frontrunning racehorse who can relax and extend when not threatened by hoofs alongside. But if she senses a mentally strong and equally capable player -- especially Korean -- in her way, I think the strange fanned drives and mistakes will show up.

 

This player needs Johnny Miller leads. And she is capable of that.

 

Otherwise it was interesting to see so many blimp shots of the layout. I'm always attending the event so I don't get to see the coverage. The standout aspect is so much water that doesn't come into play at all, like the huge pond left of 10, and another huge pond between 9 and 18, plus the huge pond between 4 and 5. Such a waste. The second shot on 4 is really the only time the water comes into play on any of those holes, and that's only when the pin is tucked in the narrow early segment of that green. There is also water right on 13 and right on 14 that basically doesn't come into play. The 14th would be a much better hole for the ladies if they moved it up 15 yards and tempted the big hitters to attempt the green in two. That tee box can accommodate it easily. I have no idea why they are so reluctant. 

 

Fairways seemed to be running out more this year, making it even more curious Lexi was so hesitant with driver.

 

Also I continue to be sickened that young players like Nelly Korda and Yealimi Noh are making the misguided choice of crosshanded putting

Really interesting analysis of SYK. I can't say I disagree, but have some additional thoughts about the last two events. It seemed to me like something was up with her swing.. I'm no expert at analyzing people's swings but like I like it looked like something was funky with her shoulder positioning. So many times she was leaning left after her swing or other strange follow-through motions. Maybe a bit of muscle fatigue or mild injury or tried to make some improvements that backfired and couldn't reset mid-tournament. I actually found myself rather impressed she didn't blow up and held it together for a good finish at CME, and well, she lost the Open on the second hole with that quad. As disappointing as that was, again, the way she held it together after that impressed me. 

 

I'm super curious how she'll perform next season. I'm sure number one seems more attainable with JYK out of sight, but hopefully now that she's back SYK can rise to the occasion and at least make her work to hang on to it. They have such different styles of play and I really hope to see a lot of battles between them over the next few years. Between the two of them, they could break a lot of records. SYK can take the dramatic ones and JYK the consistency ones. 😊