Yup. Two shots did him in. The bogey putt he missed on 11 and the 2nd shot on 12 that led to the bogey.
Same with McIlroy. Blown bunny on 12 and then the crappy wedge on 18 finished him.
Yup. Two shots did him in. The bogey putt he missed on 11 and the 2nd shot on 12 that led to the bogey.
The insipid questions really incentivize players to learn how to be robots."What happened, Tiger"
"Uh, I made a few bad shots."
What do they think these guys are gonna say?
I'm with you here. He doesn't play to hope for a playoff. he plays to fucking win. Period. I loved the flop shot.Tiger was going for it. We all loved the fairway bunker shot, but if that hits the lip, we’d be pointing to that shot as the one that did him in. The flop shot was a foot short. If he pulls it off, its double hell yeah from us. He didn’t execute a few shots, but all in all he was aggressive and trying to go low.
They've been doing everything possible to avoid broadcasting what's happening on the course today, so maybe just hoping for a couple empty spots platitudes to pass the time."What happened, Tiger"
"Uh, I made a few bad shots."
What do they think these guys are gonna say?
I can't fault him that much for that flop shot. At the time, you had to think he had to keep going low. He was hot at the time and probably had the confidence to pull off that shot. I keep coming back to the point that if he made the bogey putt and kept himself at -6 maybe he rights the ship at 12. We'll never know.Tiger was going for it. We all loved the fairway bunker shot, but if that hits the lip, we’d be pointing to that shot as the one that did him in. The flop shot was a foot short. If he pulls it off, its double hell yeah from us. He didn’t execute a few shots, but all in all he was aggressive and trying to go low.
That's exactly right. We never even get to the flop shot if he doesn't miss the fairway with a 3 iron, and then have the rough grab his club head resulting in his next shot shooting into the gallery and ending up on the short side.The flop shot wasn't the issue, missing the fairway with an iron off the tee did him in.
Agreed. And its no accident the guy that made the fewest mistakes the last two days is going to win. Still a huge day for Tiger and a huge day for golf. Congrats to Molinari, he’s been playing great and definitely earned this one.I can't fault him that much for that flop shot. At the time, you had to think he had to keep going low. He was hot at the time and probably had the confidence to pull off that shot. I keep coming back to the point that if he made the bogey putt and kept himself at -6 maybe he rights the ship at 12. We'll never know.
It's spelled Edoardo or something weird. Pretty sure he's still playing on the European Tour. Interesting guy. SoSHers would love him. He's like the Bill James of professional golfers when it comes to stats.Who is the other Molinari brother...Eduardo? Where'd he go? When they were both good, I used to think of them in my head as Mario and Luigi. That's pretty messed up on my part.
He could still play if someone drops out, which usually happens.The Chappell birdie apparently bumped Tiger to 51. No Firestone.
Like New Zealand.Royal Portrush looks incredible.
And some random luck once he got there. Molinari was 15 feet away in the same rough, got lucky with the lie and made par. But Molinari didn’t do it twice. Those two 3 irons were the difference.The flop shot wasn't the issue, missing the fairway with an iron off the tee did him in.
Way overselling this guy. Prior to this season he had four combined professional wins on any tour, and only one in the last five years. At 35, he was a pretty classic journeyman.Molinari deserves this, he's been a very underrated player. Mostly because he came up through the European tour and only recently came to the US. It was only a matter of time until he won a major.
I said it earlier, but Molinari was like 7/15 hitting fairways today, and finished something like 74th out of 79 golfers for the tournament in driving accuracy. Somehow, he never seemed to find himself in any real trouble, no bad lies, no bad bounces, etc. Every time he needed a bounce, he got one, and of course, he made every 6 foot putt and in that he looked at. Everything just went right for him this week for him to get this victory.Way overselling this guy. Prior to this season he had four combined professional wins on any tour, and only one in the last five years. At 35, he was a pretty classic journeyman.
He's always been a great ball striker but a relatively shitty putter. During this run, and clearly this tournament, he's been putting like a maniac.I said it earlier, but Molinari was like 7/15 hitting fairways today, and finished something like 74th out of 79 golfers for the tournament in driving accuracy. Somehow, he never seemed to find himself in any real trouble, no bad lies, no bad bounces, etc. Every time he needed a bounce, he got one, and of course, he made every 6 foot putt and in that he looked at. Everything just went right for him this week for him to get this victory.
Having had him on my Fantasy team for a number of years, I've probably paid closer attention to him than just about anybody in the US, and this is a shocking victory. Not a surprising one, a shocking one. His entire run the last couple months is shocking. This guy doesn't win tournaments. He'll find his way into a top 10 here and there, but winning and finishing in the top 3, nope. The golf Gods are smiling on him right now, and he has taken full advantage. I expect him to disappear back into obscurity in short order.
I think outside the legends or top all time, we probably discount how much your first paragraph could apply to the majority of the players. Looking at leaderboards doesn’t really tell us how many of those bounces - good or bad - the next tier down player gets and then it’s kind of crap shoot, imo. Are you putting hot, getting kicks, staying out of trouble? You can win. These guys are all so good that it’s a matter of inches unless you’re dominant. He deserved to win this tournament and a half dozen other guys did too. There’s probably many more we didn’t get coverage on that played just as well and hit the wrong bump or missed a spot by a foot and it cost them. Especially on a course like this it’s mitigating disaster/penalty. He played remarkably and didn’t fold. Good for him.I said it earlier, but Molinari was like 7/15 hitting fairways today, and finished something like 74th out of 79 golfers for the tournament in driving accuracy. Somehow, he never seemed to find himself in any real trouble, no bad lies, no bad bounces, etc. Every time he needed a bounce, he got one, and of course, he made every 6 foot putt and in that he looked at. Everything just went right for him this week for him to get this victory.
Having had him on my Fantasy team for a number of years, I've probably paid closer attention to him than just about anybody in the US, and this is a shocking victory. Not a surprising one, a shocking one. His entire run the last couple months is shocking. This guy doesn't win tournaments. He'll find his way into a top 10 here and there, but winning and finishing in the top 3, nope. The golf Gods are smiling on him right now, and he has taken full advantage. I expect him to disappear back into obscurity in short order.
That is really some kind of run. Out of nowhere is right but something has clicked. You don't run off those finishes with only lucky bounces.Frankie’s last 2 months have been insane. MC’d at the Players then 1,2,T25,1,T2,1. Wins include a major and the BMW PGA. As good a heater as one can go on.
I don't agree. Since 2009, he's been ranked top 50 in the world by years end in all but 2 years where he was 55 and 66 respectively in 2014 and 2015. He was ranked as high as 15th in 2010 and just got to 6th with his latest win. It's really impressive to be ranked so high for so long with so few wins. He's Italy's Matt Kuchar.Way overselling this guy. Prior to this season he had four combined professional wins on any tour, and only one in the last five years. At 35, he was a pretty classic journeyman.
Sure, but a guy who only has four wins on the Euro Tour, generally floats around 50th in the world rankings, and had only gotten “as high as 15th” for a couple of months years ago by age 35 is not someone about whom I’d say it was only a matter of time before he won a major. He was full time on the Euro Tour for a decade and only finished Top 10 in the Order of Merit once.I don't agree. Since 2009, he's been ranked top 50 in the world by years end in all but 2 years where he was 55 and 66 respectively in 2014 and 2015. He was ranked as high as 15th in 2010 and just got to 6th with his latest win. It's really impressive to be ranked so high for so long with so few wins. He's Italy's Matt Kuchar.
Molinari and Tiger have played 2 singles matches in the Ryder Cup. I don’t think Molinari was unnoticed as much as he was just as experienced and therefor as prepared as anyone could be for all that goes into playing with Tiger in a pressure packed situation.I wonder how much being paired with Tiger helped him. I'm sure he could feel the crowds, etc. pulling for Tiger and he was able to just plug along until he had his shot to score (14) and he capitalized. If he had been with someone else, he might not have gone unnoticed. Heck, it was in this very thread after 8 or 9 holes where someone mentioned "has he even made anything but par yet today?"
Heck, Tiger even teed off first on every hole up to 12. I'm sure the buzz around the tee box wore off considerably after Tiger's shot on every hole
I'd add that he's similar to Stewart Cink, one major, some tournament success, some national team success. But a very recognizable player.I don't agree. Since 2009, he's been ranked top 50 in the world by years end in all but 2 years where he was 55 and 66 respectively in 2014 and 2015. He was ranked as high as 15th in 2010 and just got to 6th with his latest win. It's really impressive to be ranked so high for so long with so few wins. He's Italy's Matt Kuchar.
He's been way more than a journeyman. He's a great player that had issues with putting and finishing off wins. It's pretty awesome to see a guy like him finally starting to put it all together.