2021 PGA Championship - Phil!

[Shilgy]

1 hour ago, bladehunter said:

Hey. Don’t forget Joel Dahmens platter.  He followed up his Twitter jabs from Charlotte with a “ more power to him but I doubt he can pull it off “ speech with reporters this week.    I hope Phil tweets him a picture of the trophy next week after he rests a bit.  

And yours? Weren’t you one of the guys saying the course was so tough only the very top of the tour would survive? Phil, Higgs, Harrington, Rickie , Ancer, Streelman all top 10.

 

Perhaps I misremembered but I thought you posted that.  I’m too lazy to check and apologize if you did not.

[callawayjay]

3 hours ago, Christen_The_Sloop said:

By what measure?

Doing this at an advanced age against all odds. His adversary can’t stay out of the drama or else Jack’s number would be obliterated. Hell, Phil just cemented himself top 5. It’s arguable but he’s in the conversation. Just my opinion. 
 

This is just as impressive as tiger winning the masters in 19 if not more so because of the Venue. And head to head with the biggest major hunter of this current generation. 

[Shilgy]

17 minutes ago, Shilgy said:

And yours? Weren’t you one of the guys saying the course was so tough only the very top of the tour would survive? Phil, Higgs, Harrington, Rickie , Ancer, Streelman all top 10.

 

Perhaps I misremembered but I thought you posted that.  I’m too lazy to check and apologize if you did not.

Edited to add, couldn’t find that discussion so apologies to @bladehunter

 

Id rather do this than edit previous post and hope no one saw it.🙄

[grm24]

2 minutes ago, Shilgy said:

Edited to add, couldn’t find that discussion so apologies to @bladehunter

 

Id rather do this than edit previous post and hope no one saw it.🙄

I saw it LOL!

[J-Blade]

1 hour ago, Hookasaurus Rex said:

I see OJ is wearing his lucky stabbing hat...

I guess he's out looking for Nicole's killer again..

[dalehead]

I have two questions for the guy who won the PGA today. Who are you? And what did you do with Phil Mickelson? For 36 holes we kept waiting for Phil to be Phil. Instead he kept things under control. No bonehead decisions.    No wild shots followed by more bonehead decisions and wasted shots. Congrats Phil.

[Hankshank]

Noone killed Bambi

[aenemated]

2 hours ago, ProStryker said:

I used to like Brooks.  But he is quickly becoming a jerk that shows no class

 

Same.

 

I would dig the swagger and all, it was cool. I could appreciate it. 

 

But show some class, man. One of the greatest of all time by all metrics just made history and you're going to cry about your knee? But just the other day you were the big tough guy that could play through it.

 

If it was that bad, stay home. Don't show your a** in front of everyone. 

[philly2kuk]

Let me start this by saying I don’t like brooks. I don’t like his arrogant persona at all.

 

However, as someone that has recovered from two knee injuries (one to each knee), I can see why he would be that way out surrounded by people when his knee isn’t fully healed. From personal experience it doesn’t take much to knock that injury progress back and I’d have been annoyed too with how the fans behaved.
 

BUT I wouldn’t be trying to play golf if my knee was still six months from full fitness according to my doctors. Has he learned nothing from tiger playing through multiple injuries he shouldn’t have?

[Cornwall1888]

2 hours ago, tacklingdummy said:

Mickelson outplayed the field this week. Mainly because he was hitting fairways. Watch out for him at the US Open on his home course. Fantastic win. Oosthuizen is still really impressive in majors. The guy's ball striking is pure. If he could putt, he would be holding a few major trophies. 

Oosthuizen is #1 in strokes gained putting this year so he can definitely putt. 

[grm24]

2 hours ago, tacklingdummy said:

Mickelson outplayed the field this week. Mainly because he was hitting fairways. 

Actual numbers say otherwise. Phil was T57 in driving accuracy this week. 55.4% of his fairways.

 

https://www.pgachampionship.com/player/phil-mickelson

[Christen_The_Sloop]

1 hour ago, callawayjay said:

Doing this at an advanced age against all odds. His adversary can’t stay out of the drama or else Jack’s number would be obliterated. Hell, Phil just cemented himself top 5. It’s arguable but he’s in the conversation. Just my opinion. 
 

This is just as impressive as tiger winning the masters in 19 if not more so because of the Venue. And head to head with the biggest major hunter of this current generation. 

It is really great - honestly one of the biggest wins I can think of. Hugely impressive.

 

It's cool that he got it done at an advanced age. It's a testament to his greatness. It's just too bad his peak came so late. If he removed the monkey earlier in his career... But, now we are into ifs.

 

I think players who passed before the year 2000 would have a hard time comprehending what golf has become. This win for Mickleson is going to be worth hellacious sums. You'll see more and more older players win on the PGA tour now, because of that incentive and health awareness that hasn't ever been there. Contrast all of this with someone like Byron Nelson, who basically hung it up in his prime; all of his majors came in an 8 year window.

 

If Watson had won the British, we wouldn't be moving his place in the great scheme of things all that much. He would remain who he is, a top ten great. He wouldn't suddenly vault past Hogan or Hagen or Player.

 

 

[grm24]

6 minutes ago, Christen_The_Sloop said:

This win for Mickleson is going to be worth hellacious sums. You'll see more and more older players win on the PGA tour now, because of that incentive and health awareness that hasn't ever been there.

Not a chance in Hades.

[Soloman1]

1 hour ago, Hankshank said:

Noone killed Bambi

 

Who is this Noone person?

[Chris52]

Even driving it further than the young brigade on some holes. Love it!! 

[tacklingdummy]

1 hour ago, grm24 said:

Actual numbers say otherwise. Phil was T57 in driving accuracy this week. 55.4% of his fairways.

 

https://www.pgachampionship.com/player/phil-mickelson

 

Phil is 199th on tour for driving accuracy in 2021. 199th. For Phil that T57 with 55.4% of fairways is very good in a major where the course setups is made much more difficult to hit fairways.  He is so good other parts of his game, he doesn't need to lead in driving accuracy. He just needs to be better than he normally is. Phil was #1 in strokes gained tee to green this week at PGA and 29th for strokes gained off-the-tee this week.

 

Another example of just being better in part of the game is Keegan Bradley. A few years ago when he was playing excellent and was at the top of leaderboards regularly, but wasn't winning. Bradley ball striking is so good that he said  “This is going to sound weird, but my goal is just to putt average." Keegan knows if he just putted average he would be a the top a lot and have a much better chance of winning. 

Edited May 24, 2021 by tacklingdummy

[AndersUK]

1 hour ago, grm24 said:

Actual numbers say otherwise. Phil was T57 in driving accuracy this week. 55.4% of his fairways.

 

https://www.pgachampionship.com/player/phil-mickelson

 

I agree with tacklingdummy.  T57 is exceptional for Phil and he was hitting plenty of fairways for his standards and most importantly, hitting them when it mattered.

[tacklingdummy]

1 hour ago, Cornwall1888 said:

Oosthuizen is #1 in strokes gained putting this year so he can definitely putt. 

 

Yeah, but putted horrible Round 3. Ranked 78th out of 82 players. Missed a ton of putts he normally makes.  

[imakaveli]

Congrats Phil, what a tournament!

BK was right imho.

[MattyO1984]

Amazing performance from Phil! Inspirational stuff that is for sure. 

 

I had completely written him off earlier in the year. Glad to now be eating my own words.

[Ferguson]

Great win by Phil.  

[MattyO1984]

4 minutes ago, Ferguson said:

Great win by Phil.  

 

You OK Ferg?

[Ferguson]

6 minutes ago, MattyO1984 said:

 

You OK Ferg?

 

Never better.  Phil played an amazing tournament of golf.  I think the golf world needed a jolt.  

  

[chillybilly]

I'm not saying it conclusively made all the difference or even some difference but 'Sunglasses Phil' seemed to be a different player and the sunglasses are a critical element.  I understand the practical backstory of the sunglasses but when you consider the Zen Golf approach that he's been espousing it makes a bit more sense.  The mirrored glasses allow him to look where he likes when he likes or, crucially, look nowhere at all ie close his eyes as he does his deep-breathing routine without feeling self-conscious about it or giving the jackals in the media an opportunity to print a thousand photographs of him with eyes shut.

 

Phil is famous (?) for his near-constant acknowledgement of crowds as he walks to tee boxes, down fairways, on and off greens, etc. making eye contact and doing his little shy head nod.

 

He may very well have been looking around him just as actively as he's always done but I don't think so.  He seemed to be locked in, staring down the fairway and taking deep breaths despite the absolute chaos around him.

 

In addition, Phil either consciously or unconsciously has adopted Arnie's famous Thumbs Up gesture.  Less golf-y and genteel than a wave of the hand or the usual tugging of the cap brim, the Thumbs Up is man-of-the-people stuff.  At the risk of being a bit cynical, it also allows him to make the maximum number of people think he is responding to them individually.  He isn't, of course, especially when his attention is directed elsewhere.  But, like Arnie, he knows that people's imaginations will fill in the picture.  And, like Arnie, it's not as if he needs to recruit a fan base at this point.  So Thumbs Up is as much about keeping the lid on the boiling crowd pot as it is in saluting them.  Obviously the events on #18 demonstrated that all control was lost but for 71 holes it was effective enough.

 

 

[Ferguson]

It was Phil's week.  He showed up ready to win and outplayed the field.  Honestly, it was the first full weekend of golf coverage I watched since the Players and Augusta Masters.  I was pulling for him.  His Saturday front nine was outstanding.  

 

Bruce said he was irked by fans.  This is twice now he was taken down in a major by an old guy on Sunday.  

More stem cells, Bruce?   Maybe that will help.   

 

[Dill Pickleson]

I think this win really says something about fitness, Phil is noticeable leaner, and it paid off.

Edited May 24, 2021 by Dill Pickleson

[chillybilly]

21 hours ago, The4TH said:

Should come back to kiawah island more often. Fun tournament to watch and I think the championship still up to grab!

 

While I like the course and love the Lowcountry, I think having events only infrequently at Kiawah keeps it somewhat mysterious and magical - Brigadoon-like.

 

Dottie Pepper related an interesting anecdote:  in prior tournaments, the crowd walking through all the sea oats knocked the seed tops off and the seeds were scattered around the property, with some seeds germinating in the turf areas of the course, causing problems.

 

If you've been to the coast eg Lowcountry or Outer Banks, you know that sea oats are zealously protected because they are usually the only thing keeping the dunes in place and thus keeping the beaches somewhat stable.  Unfortunately, in the case of the Outer Banks, a direct hit by a hurricane meant that the dunes held up fairly well but the beach below them was badly eroded.

 

I'm nobody's idea of an environmentalist but tidal islands have always been at risk of being reclaimed by nature.  Having large crowds there over multiple days on frequent occasions would only exacerbate problems.

Edited May 24, 2021 by chillybilly

[GolfTurkey]

Phantastic performance by Phil. Personally I rate this considerably higher than Tiger and Jack’s last Masters.
 

Yes it was a great comeback from injury by Tiger but he was 43 and Jack was 46. Phil is freakin almost 51, that’s nuts.

[Ferguson]

2 hours ago, GolfTurkey said:

Phantastic performance by Phil. Personally I rate this considerably higher than Tiger and Jack’s last Masters.
 

Yes it was a great comeback from injury by Tiger but he was 43 and Jack was 46. Phil is freakin almost 51, that’s nuts.

 

I never would have thought that, and more importantly, I know I never have would said that. 

 

Edited May 24, 2021 by Ferguson

[Holy Moses]

4 hours ago, grm24 said:

Actual numbers say otherwise. Phil was T57 in driving accuracy this week. 55.4% of his fairways.

 

https://www.pgachampionship.com/player/phil-mickelson

A T57 is incredible for Phil, especially with the nearly 48” driver he was swinging