Shaping up to be a great afternoon of golf in Norton, with birdies everywhere. Spieth starts off birdie, eagle, birdie to jump into a tie for first.
2017 PGA Tour
- Thread starter TFP
- Start date
JT did catch a break there and the nailed the putt. He's had some season. He'll have to do something pretty stupid to lose this one.
A full 180 degree turn. That was looking juicy and now it's extraordinarily ho hum. But JT has been phenomenal to watch. Spieth's closing ability the past two tourneys has been suspect.
If this happened to me, I would definitely not use a driver/3 wood to putt. My method would be the lob wedge with the blade on the equator of the ball, as that is already a shot I hit reasonably well from rough around the green.
By the way, Friday at the Dell was a lot of fun. I went with my brother and dad and spent most of the day there. Our clubhouse passes did almost nothing (access to the lobby only, which essentially meant a nice bathroom if you were nearby), but I am so glad I finally made the time to get there on Labor Day weekend, and it made watching the rest of the tournament on tv so much more enjoyable to actually know the terrain.
We were out at the landing area for the JT/Spieth/DJ group on 12 and thought JT must have really hit a terrible hook to end up on the 13th fairway, then got over there and realized it was a smart play for those who can carry the trees. Thomas ended up playing it that way all four rounds. DJ, meanwhile, seemed not to have the proper gameplan/knowledge of the new holes, as he hit his drive through the first half of the fairway and ended up in the rocky outcropping between stretches of fairway. He had to take a ridiculous stance to get his club on the ball and still managed to get it up on the green and make his par - such an athlete.
I've had to do this for a round before when I lost/forgot my putter - and probably putted better with my wedge than I do with my putter.
There was a lot of bitching about that hole from the players. The pot bunker in the fairway forces them left or right. Right of the bunker is much more narrow section of the fairway. It's a risk trying to hit it there, but no reward as the 2nd shot requires carrying the front right greenside bunker. The further left you went, the better the angle in and no bunker to carry. JT figured it out. Longer shot, but much better angle and more room to miss. Curious to see if they make changes again next year.
I went down to TPC late in the day around 3pm on Saturday. It was fantastic at that time. People were clearing out and I was one of like 5 people out on the front nine as groups were finishing up, then saw the big JT, Spieth, DJ group finish up on 18. I parked in the regular lot like 50 feet from the shuttle and was in and out with zero delay.
The other issue the players had was that it's a 500 yard hole. The designers were seemingly trying to force the players to lay up short of the bunker in the fairway (unless they still went with driver and had to land it in a part of the fairway that was like a postage stamp wide), but the players are not used to playing 200+ yard second shots into a par 4. These guys are basically playing every par 4 nowadays with driver and 8 iron or less, no matter how long the hole is.
I, for one, liked the idea. It's obviously not something I'd want to see on every hole, but to have one brutally hard hole like that on a course is interesting to me. The end result was if you laid up, you had a crazy long shot into a green that was tough to hold (especially if you came in from the right and had to carry it over the green side bunker), if you tried to hit driver, you had to hit it into a thimble and still risk running out of fairway, or you could try what Thomas did, which required someone to be able to get the ball up very fast off the tee to get it over the trees between the 12th tee and the 13th fairway. Lots of different ways to play the hole, none of which were easy, but certainly not over the top ridiculous like some of the shit you see at a US Open.
Really no surprise, there's no better picks. Excited for Hoffman, wish someone else had pushed Phil out, but whatever. There's enough new blood that it's palatable.
They really need to do something with this competition, though, because the Americans are going to wipe the floor with the internationals again. I don't even think it's going to be close the entire weekend.
They definitely do need to adjust something. These teams aren't remotely equal and while the International could somehow pull off an upset, the US team is stacked in a major way.
Day fires Swatton from his bag. He's really a fucking head case.
http://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/20694732/jason-day-makes-caddie-change-keeps-colin-swatton-swing-coach
http://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/20694732/jason-day-makes-caddie-change-keeps-colin-swatton-swing-coach
To me, that's more stunning than Phil and Rory.
Also weird to do it with 3 events left on his schedule. It couldn't wait a month?
Also weird to do it with 3 events left on his schedule. It couldn't wait a month?
Well, he mentioned in the linked article that he and Swatton are not on speaking terms, which makes it impossible for them to work as player and caddie.
With his mother's cancer diagnosis and treatment, Day has had a trying year. But from the way he sounded during the interview that led to the article, he's a man in the midst of an emotional meltdown. (Day said explicitly that "I'm blaming him (Swatton) for nothing.") Perhaps it would be best if he put golf aside and got himself together before coming back on tour.
With his mother's cancer diagnosis and treatment, Day has had a trying year. But from the way he sounded during the interview that led to the article, he's a man in the midst of an emotional meltdown. (Day said explicitly that "I'm blaming him (Swatton) for nothing.") Perhaps it would be best if he put golf aside and got himself together before coming back on tour.
I thought that at first, and then after re-reading the quote, I think they're clearly still on speaking terms. Here's the quote:
"I'm blaming him for nothing,'' Day said of Swatton. "The last couple of weeks were tough. I never wanted it to turn into a toxic relationship, where he's taken me from where I was as a 12-year-old kid to where I am today and I'm not talking to him anymore.''
I think he's saying he didn't want it to get to the point where they are no longer speaking. I mean, the guy is staying on as his swing coach. Swatton basically stepped into the role of Jason's father after his real father died when he was 12, and I think most pro athletes (especially golfers) go through this with their father's at some point, where they have to finally "move on" from their father-as-coach relationship and become their own man/woman. I think it just happened a bit later on for Day than it has for many others. At least, I really hope that's the case here, and they aren't deep sixing what has been a really important and special relationship for both of them.
Yeah, I know people around here think of Day as a drama queen but this is unfortunate to see when you consider the personal trials he has gone through. I think he gets too much shit, personally, but that's a side point.
I'm glad to hear he's keeping him on in some capacity, as he obviously is more than a caddie in his life.
The selfish gawker side of me wants to know the details of these kinds of break ups, but it's neither here nor there and especially someone so central to his life it's good to see him still have a father figure in his life after what he went through growing up.
I'm glad to hear he's keeping him on in some capacity, as he obviously is more than a caddie in his life.
The selfish gawker side of me wants to know the details of these kinds of break ups, but it's neither here nor there and especially someone so central to his life it's good to see him still have a father figure in his life after what he went through growing up.
I agree with you - at first glance I took his quote to mean that they were not speaking currently, and looking at it again I think he means that he does not want their relationship to get to the point.
Day has had a very tough year and seems overwhelmed at the moment. It would be nice if he could regain his form as a top player, but there are more important things in his life now and hopefully he'll tend to those first.
Rob's quest through the playoffs continues today. -1 through 8 at the Boise Open. Looks like a birdie fest, leader is at -9 and 20 players are -4 or better.
Looks like Rob got in on that action. Currently sitting tied for 10th (with 8 others!) at -5 through 16 holes.
Yeah, Rob went 30 on the back nine to get to -6. Unfortunately, it looks like one of those courses where you're going to need to be -20 or something to be in the top 10 when it ends. That said, it's nice to see guys like Uihlein and Armour up there in the top 3. They finished 1, 2 last week, so they already have their cards locked up. If Rob can't get a top 5 or whatever, I'd rather have it be filled with guys who either have their cards already, or who have already made enough money in the playoffs to guarantee a card. The top 20 right now has 10 guys who got their cards in the regular season, and when you add in Uihlein and Armour, that's 12 of the top 20 that are irrelevant to Rob's chances. Rob comes in at 7th, and a top 10, maybe even a top 20, may be enough to get him his card, even if he misses the cuts in the last two events. Three days to Glory.
Based on the past few years prize earnings from this 4 weekend (3 last year) - I think a top 20 will do it. He hit 17/18 GiR which is amazing. I'd love to see him be able to play the last two with no pressure. 3 more day!
He's in at -3 for the day, -9 overall and currently tied for 4th. Lotta people still out there though.
Bogey free 68 today, Rob's in at -9 and currently T4. He'll probably drop a bit with the afternoon guys going out, but obviously in a great position headed to the weekend. Guaranteed a paycheck.
Any idea on the cut line for the AB Open? Curious who will be left. Sorry just saw it. Projected to be -2 at present.
I mentioned on the BC thread, I will watch the first half of the BC/ND game but may end up focusing more on the Boise Open once it comes on at 5
Lots of 65 out there on the course already today, so Rob is going to need a big round just to keep pace
Lots of 65 out there on the course already today, so Rob is going to need a big round just to keep pace
Yup, terrible day for Rob today. If it ended right now, he'd drop from 7th to 13th in the playoff standings, and we'd be right back to sphincter tightening time going into the last 2 events. Fortunately, he didn't shoot himself out of it today. A good day tomorrow, and he can easily jump back into the top 15 and lock up a top 25 in the playoffs. Big day tomorrow.