FORD CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY KCC MAR 28-31 (2024)

[GolfMoose]

4 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

The tour has had quite a few one time winners grabbing the major trophies. Crazy stuff. Pernilla, Yuka, 6ix, A Lim, Sophia, Hinako, and Mo come to mind. 

 

I had a look back on the PGA (don't follow it as closely) for the "only one win and it's a major" crowd and it seems the obvious Danny Willet is the only really recent one and there's only been maybe 5 in the 2000's? For the most part though big (or huge) names have won majors.  It looks like the LPGA has at times been like that....so was the 2018-2021 period an anomaly and if so, why?

 

It's unfortunate as most of those named have relatively engaging stories or personalities (my opinion anyway).  Again, I don't think the book is closed on Yuka yet and also her record lately keeps her out of that category for me.  I'm not sure there's too many players who are good for a half-dozen top tens a year repeatedly.  

Edited April 1 by GolfMoose

[Ant-Man]

Coming from someone who watched one round this week. The ladies are machines. I swear on most holes their drives were less than 15 yards apart. It was like they were throwing darts. 

It's scary how easy they make the game look.

[pmcuk]

7 hours ago, kmbean said:

Nelly winning this much is good for the LPGA.

 

This tour will benefit from having a really dominant likable’ish American player IMO.

 

Nelly seems to fall short of "likeable". Another poster called her "blah". My feelings as well. She comes across as a bit of an android. What she's like in private may be rather different. 

[JungleJimbo]

16 minutes ago, pmcuk said:

 

Nelly seems to fall short of "likeable". Another poster called her "blah". My feelings as well. She comes across as a bit of an android. What she's like in private may be rather different. 

 

This post-tournament interview bit, about almond croissants dominating Nelly's mind

= reminded me of Tom Kim's "i've been saving this bar of chocolate... and that's how i will celebrate tonight in Vegas" comment.

(but Tom Kim said it with more charm/ charisma?)

 

https://www.si.com/golf/news/tom-kim-shriners-childrens-open-chocolate-bar-las-vegas-pga-tour 

 

 

 

Edited April 1 by JungleJimbo

[Argonne69]

Enjoyable tournament. I wish Mother Nature didn't factor in as much, but then again it probably wouldn't have been so close if the winds hadn't picked up on Saturday afternoon. Definitely hope they find a different course for next year, though.

 

You have to go down to T30 to find a player who shot over par in the final round. 'Talk about focus and execution. 

 

Gabi Ruffles has earned $180,000 in her four starts this season. She earned $160,000 in 13 events to lead the Epson Tour's money list. 

 

[Titleist_PT23]

13 hours ago, Shilgy said:

Or….in the famous words of Dennis Green…they are what we thought they were.

 

 

When Nelly plays like she plays when she plays, she's unbeatable.

[woahnelly]

Hira Naveed moves T4 with Awesome Kim in the rookie of the year race. 

 

Pre season favorite Gabi Ruffles has a nice lead over Japanese players Mao Saigo and Mone Inami who sit 2 and 3.  Gru is 6.

 

I only count 3 Americans as rookies who received points so far?!? Kim, Malia Nam, and Gurleen Kaur

 

 

[subrew]

Nelly's social media stuff makes her look a bit less robotic.  A lot of the gals often travel together, so you'll see lots of instagram stories/reals where Nelly, Meghan, and lately Olivia Cowen drive together, room together, hit up coffee shops together in the morning.  Just being normal dorky selves.  

 

I should also add to, that we finally saw her involved in some of the Taylormade promotional stuff.  They had the entire TM gang out, and did a bunch of filming with Trottie and some of the Youtube guys like Grant and Micah.  She's not over the top out there, but she actually seems pretty easy going and knowledgeable.

 

A few examples:

 

 

 

Edited April 1 by subrew

[Lobby]

I loves me some Yuka. She’s the bomb!

[elwhippy]

Why did Lexi hit driver on 16th? Couldn't reach the green. Caddy needed to say no and hand her a hybrid. Korda, another long hitter, laid up. 

[AKL Kiwi]

I thought the field strength was stronger than Nelly's 62 RR points and she did manage to beat Hira Naveed RR 648 by two strokes! Seriously though it should be noted she won the last two in playoffs which tend to be a toss of a coin. I regard this tournament a genuine win and confirm she deservedly is RR #1. 

When Lexi took the lead I thought she was going to take this one but the golfing gods have never really been with her so was not surprised one hole derailed her chances. The course certainly favoured those who are bombers off the tee, there being virtually no penalty for not hitting the fairways which were also quite wide.  

While our Lyd's couldn't put in two great rounds she should be pleased in her overall stats with GIR and fairways hit. Just needed a few more of those close puts to drop including her only two bogeys but that happens some tournaments.

[postfold]

6 hours ago, elwhippy said:

Why did Lexi hit driver on 16th? 

 

One of those inscrutable questions, like the sound of one hand clapping.  We may never know the truth.

 

But we all knew it was game over the moment the ball left the clubface.  

[bobfoster]

18 hours ago, pmcuk said:

 

Nelly seems to fall short of "likeable". Another poster called her "blah". My feelings as well. She comes across as a bit of an android. What she's like in private may be rather different. 

She's totally a robot. And in my wildest dreams I could never be that perfect of a robot. Every golfer that makes a pro tour (any pro tour, even minor ones where you're lucky to break even) hits great shots. These are the elite - around 66+ million people on earth play golf, but only a few thousands - literally a fraction of a fraction of a single percent - hit the level where they can play competitive golf on pro tours - these people don't play the same game we amateurs do. It's just a whole different level of good.

 

The ultimate ideal for pros, the thing that makes the best the best, is not just hitting great shots (shots a lot of us would be happy to hit a few times a round), but hitting great shots consistently. Shot after shot, day after day, tourney after tourney. I don't actually care what any golfers are in their private lives, or whether their personalities are blah or not. Could care less whether Tiger did every Vegas showgirl, or Scottie is as boring as tree moss. Don't watch the PGAT or LPGAT to figure out how much fun any of these individual golfers would be to party with. Watch them to see amazingly disciplined golf.

 

And damn, if I could ever even approach not only getting a swing as pure as Nelly's, but getting a repeatable swing that pure, I'd be in freaking heaven. She's definitely an android, but she's my kind of android. Every single component of her swing thoroughly thought out. Every part of her body synchronized and moving fluidly. Almost can't imagine how many reps, how many long and dedicated hours it takes to achieve something like this swing. You almost need to be a decent amateur to even appreciate how very good the swings of people like Nelly (or the Lyds, or Lorena, or Annika) are. This is just perfection:

 

 

 

 

Edited April 2 by bobfoster

[JungleJimbo]

44 minutes ago, bobfoster said:

She's totally a robot. And in my wildest dreams I could never be that perfect of a robot. Every golfer that makes a pro tour (any pro tour, even minor ones where you're lucky to break even) hits great shots. These are the elite - around 66+ million people on earth play golf, but only a few thousands - literally a fraction of a fraction of a single percent - hit the level where they can play competitive golf on pro tours - these people don't play the same game we amateurs do. It's just a whole different level of good.

 

The ultimate ideal for pros, the thing that makes the best the best, is not just hitting great shots (shots a lot of us would be happy to hit a few times a round), but hitting great shots consistently. Shot after shot, day after day, tourney after tourney. I don't actually care what any golfers are in their private lives, or whether their personalities are blah or not. Could care less whether Tiger did every Vegas showgirl, or Scottie is as boring as tree moss. Don't watch the PGAT or LPGAT to figure out how much fun any of these individual golfers would be to party with. Watch them to see amazingly disciplined golf.

 

And damn, if I could ever even approach not only getting a swing as pure as Nelly's, but getting a repeatable swing that pure, I'd be in freaking heaven. She's definitely an android, but she's my kind of android. Every single component of her swing thoroughly thought out. Every part of her body synchronized and moving fluidly. Almost can't imagine how many reps, how many long and dedicated hours it takes to achieve something like this swing. You almost need to be a decent amateur to even appreciate how very good the swings of people like Nelly (or the Lyds, or Lorena, or Annika) are. This is just perfection:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[grm24]

Realize I'm way late to the party on this but a huge congrats to Nelly on her winning 3 consecutive starts. Impressive for any player under any circumstances. Especially considering her extended time off earlier this season. Would be great if she keeps it going.

[grm24]

On 3/31/2024 at 10:42 PM, GolfMoose said:

I had a look back on the PGA (don't follow it as closely) for the "only one win and it's a major" crowd and it seems the obvious Danny Willet is the only really recent one and there's only been maybe 5 in the 2000's? For the most part though big (or huge) names have won majors.

DW is recent. Louis Oosthuizen fits that category as well with his Open Championship win/rout in 2010 though that isn't really recent. He's possibly the biggest underachiever as wins go on the PGA Tour in history relative to his talent level. 

[bobfoster]

45 minutes ago, JungleJimbo said:

 

 

I have to say, Lydia is just my all time favorite. I literally cannot believe how well she can hit a golf ball. I mean, this girl is physically, like, tiny. She's about 5'5" (Nelly is 5'10" - Lyds basically comes up to Nelly's chin if they stand next to each other), and probably weighs less than 140 lbs - and seems to have actually lost weight lately - saw her the last couple weeks and she looks thinner. Forget holding a ball against the wind, it looks like a strong wind could blow her into a hazard. There's no way she should even be competitive on the LPGAT, let alone have a couple years when she dominated, and be a win away from HoF status. But, I mean, talk about optimizing your swing to get the absolute most out of your little body. Incredibly wide shoulder turn, and she fires her hips way early. Develops serious torque - though I wouldn't be surprised if she has a chiropractor and masseuse on staff, that swing has to be hell on the back. I wouldn't try to do this, but it is magical to watch. 

 

 

 

Edited April 2 by bobfoster

[mallrat]

19 hours ago, pmcuk said:

 

Nelly seems to fall short of "likeable". Another poster called her "blah". My feelings as well. She comes across as a bit of an android. What she's like in private may be rather different. 

I wonder how much of it is just her? My son asked for her autograph a couple years ago at the ANA. She almost came across as “you know who I am?.” Just didn’t seem comfortable in the spotlight or a reluctant star. I think being a star in tour goes against her natural instincts. Just seemed kind of shy 

Edited April 2 by mallrat

[Raving Shanker]

18 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

Enjoyable tournament. I wish Mother Nature didn't factor in as much, but then again it probably wouldn't have been so close if the winds hadn't picked up on Saturday afternoon. Definitely hope they find a different course for next year, though.

 

You have to go down to T30 to find a player who shot over par in the final round. 'Talk about focus and execution. 

 

Gabi Ruffles has earned $180,000 in her four starts this season. She earned $160,000 in 13 events to lead the Epson Tour's money list. 

 

I thought the weather saved it!

[pmcuk]

The thing about Nelly is that all the US fanboys see her as some kind of saviour of US golf and a role model for younger aspiring US golfers. So though many are fine with an android success machine, and why not indeed, you do need some kind of personality to reach out to your fans and followers. Nelly isn't obliged to do this - she can behave how she likes. It's just that if you see her as an inspiration to younger generations then you need to factor in what "inspiration" actually means in practice. 

[Lobby]

One thing we introverts hate (and I count Nelly as an introvert) is extroverts coming up to us and giving us advice about how to "fix" our shyness.   As if extrovertism is the true norm and introvertism is a flaw. 

 

We introverts have ZERO responsibility to entertain you.   You want entertainment?   Go watch the Real Housewives of Who Gives a s***

 

 

[Shakeshook]

3 hours ago, Lobby said:

One thing we introverts hate (and I count Nelly as an introvert) is extroverts coming up to us and giving us advice about how to "fix" our shyness.   As if extrovertism is the true norm and introvertism is a flaw. 

 

We introverts have ZERO responsibility to entertain you.   You want entertainment?   Go watch the Real Housewives of Who Gives a s***

 

 

Cameron Young is that you? 😁... But I love Minjee for that actually (she's an introvert and finds her peers too "chatty" LOL)

[pmcuk]

3 hours ago, Lobby said:

One thing we introverts hate (and I count Nelly as an introvert) is extroverts coming up to us and giving us advice about how to "fix" our shyness.   As if extrovertism is the true norm and introvertism is a flaw. 

 

We introverts have ZERO responsibility to entertain you.   You want entertainment?   Go watch the Real Housewives of Who Gives a s***

 

I take it that this is aimed at me. I'm a psychologist and you are exactly right about introverts. Extraverts are not the "norm" as you say, there are just a few more of them and they are a lot more noisy. My field is the performing and creative arts and I can assure you that I know introverts very well indeed. I would never try to "fix" them - on the contrary, I always went out of my way to value and support their gifts.    

 

But you misunderstand what I was saying. I wasn't talking on behalf of myself, I was answering the assertion made previously that Nelly was "good for US golf". OK, in simple terms she's a brilliant golfer and her wins are inspirational. Fine. I was just asking what it takes to go further than that and be a kind of "ambassador" for the game? I was asking a question, which I thought was clear enough, since she is regarded by some as an "ambassador".

 

If your answer is "Who Gives a s***" , believe me I'm absolutely fine with that. It just doesn't answer the question "what does it take to be an ambassador?" Maybe that's a question for a different place and focus. 

[BadgerLin]

9 minutes ago, pmcuk said:

 

 I was just asking what it takes to go further than that and be a kind of "ambassador" for the game? I was asking a question, which I thought was clear enough, since she is regarded by some as an "ambassador".

 

This doesn’t really answer your question, but I would say the greatest ambassador for the LPGA in my memory was Lorena Ochoa.  Combination of terrific golfer and unfailing warm interaction with everyone with whom she interacted.

[pmcuk]

In terms of being an "ambassador" you can see it both ways. Lobby a few posts back is exactly right that any performer has zero responsibility to be an ambassador. The Beatles were completely open about taking drugs - that was their business and actually part of their own personal journey. They didn't ask to be ambassadors and what they did with their worldwide fame was up to them. 

 

The other way of seeing it is that when you have many followers in your footsteps, especially younger and impressionable ones, you may want to think about how you can use this in a good way. 

 

It's a choice - I can see it both ways. Probably a question that will always divide views. 

 

 

 

.

Edited April 2 by pmcuk

[woahnelly]

I

6 hours ago, pmcuk said:

The thing about Nelly is that all the US fanboys see her as some kind of saviour of US golf and a role model for younger aspiring US golfers. So though many are fine with an android success machine, and why not indeed, you do need some kind of personality to reach out to your fans and followers. Nelly isn't obliged to do this - she can behave how she likes. It's just that if you see her as an inspiration to younger generations then you need to factor in what "inspiration" actually means in practice. 

 

I think the beloved Rose is a more realistic role model. There is a surge of Asian American golfers (mainly Chinese, Korean, Indian) who generally coming from higher income and more affluent backgrounds too who value education - you can turn pro AND get a degree from Stanford?!?  Wow! There is still a sense of tribalism and pride amongst the older gen, maybe slight closet racism.  Tiger may of smashed these stereotypes a bit, but they still exist. The parents / grandparents are the ones paying/pushing for it all anyhow.

 

I don't think Rose will ever teach the heights of Nelly, let alone RR #1, but she can be part of the main cast if she plays well enough. 

 

[ChronicSlicer]

On 4/1/2024 at 11:26 AM, woahnelly said:

Hira Naveed moves T4 with Awesome Kim in the rookie of the year race. 

 

 

 

 

Pretty sure you spelled Auston wrong.

[Lobby]

2 hours ago, pmcuk said:

 

I take it that this is aimed at me. I'm a psychologist and you are exactly right about introverts. Extraverts are not the "norm" as you say, there are just a few more of them and they are a lot more noisy. My field is the performing and creative arts and I can assure you that I know introverts very well indeed. I would never try to "fix" them - on the contrary, I always went out of my way to value and support their gifts.    

 

But you misunderstand what I was saying. I wasn't talking on behalf of myself, I was answering the assertion made previously that Nelly was "good for US golf". OK, in simple terms she's a brilliant golfer and her wins are inspirational. Fine. I was just asking what it takes to go further than that and be a kind of "ambassador" for the game? I was asking a question, which I thought was clear enough, since she is regarded by some as an "ambassador".

 

If your answer is "Who Gives a s***" , believe me I'm absolutely fine with that. It just doesn't answer the question "what does it take to be an ambassador?" Maybe that's a question for a different place and focus. 

Thank you

[woahnelly]

4 minutes ago, ChronicSlicer said:

Pretty sure you spelled Auston wrong.

 

286 driving distance off the tee, she is awesome 

[ChronicSlicer]

13 minutes ago, woahnelly said:

 

286 driving distance off the tee, she is awesome 

60.7% fairways hit, 140th place out of 150...yep huge uncontrollable drives are the bee's knees.