The Open Championship- Royal Birkdale

PaulinMyrBch

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Yep, especially when your driver had been leaking oil.
Yea that, and Spieth just explained that the tee shot on 13 requires you to aim for the rough because the fairway roll feeds the trap. So after blowing it 100 yards right, Miller wants to take the 3 iron out of his hand from a perfect lie and re-tee on a shot where you can't even aim at the fairway. A good announcer would have told us the issue with aim of the tee shot. Instead he just went on and on about the drop. It's so lazy it's a joke.
 

cshea

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Kuch was standing on the 14th tee with a one shot lead. He played the next 4 holes in -2 and lost 3 shots to Spieth. That is nuts.
 

Deathofthebambino

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Apr 12, 2005
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Just finished watching it on DVR, and damn, what else can you say? Again, if Spieth haters want to hate, I feel for them. They are missing out. Only a few guys ever have had the ability to flip the switch and go like he did today. As soon as he "saved" bogey on 13, it was on. The dart on 14, the eagle bomb on 15, birdie on 16, birdie on 17, game, set, match.

Easy round to enjoy, because i would have been happy had Kuchar won too. Always liked him, but we're seeing the next great one and folks better get ready for it. I think he wins something like 3 of the next 5 majors.
 

FL4WL3SS

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Nobody is missing out on anything, we can appreciate what he's doing without enjoying watching him play. In the same way I appreciate Jack, but can't stand him. I was always an Arnie guy and would always root for Arnie over Jack. I'd rather watch guys like Fowler, DJ, Rory, Day and even guys like Rose, Stenson and others win.

So don't feel bad for me brother, I just can't stand watching him play. Personal taste and all that.
 

FL4WL3SS

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I spent years rooting against Phil, I guess Spieth is taking over as my go to player to hate now that Phil is getting old.

I can't really say I "missed" out all those years hating Phil. This is what sports are all about.
 

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Nobody is missing out on anything, we can appreciate what he's doing without enjoying watching him play. In the same way I appreciate Jack, but can't stand him. I was always an Arnie guy and would always root for Arnie over Jack. I'd rather watch guys like Fowler, DJ, Rory, Day and even guys like Rose, Stenson and others win.

So don't feel bad for me brother, I just can't stand watching him play. Personal taste and all that.
Just out of curiosity, you're 34 years old, so when did you root for Arnie over Jack? In the Par 3 contest?
 

dcmissle

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"Great display of guts, determination and skill."

Jack on Jordan.

Some people will just never get over that it's not Jack on Tiger. Tiger is 4 short, will always be 4 short and for some that is a very bitter pill.
 
I wish the Spieth-Greller bromance were less vocal, but apart from that, what else do the Spieth haters want from him? He's basically Pete Sampras or Roger Federer, both in how he comports himself and how he succeeds through consistency, without necessarily having the biggest weapons. Unlike Tiger, and very much like Jack, he personifies all of golf's traditional values. Seems to me like he ought to be the game's poster boy.
 

Deathofthebambino

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Nobody is missing out on anything, we can appreciate what he's doing without enjoying watching him play. In the same way I appreciate Jack, but can't stand him. I was always an Arnie guy and would always root for Arnie over Jack. I'd rather watch guys like Fowler, DJ, Rory, Day and even guys like Rose, Stenson and others win.

So don't feel bad for me brother, I just can't stand watching him play. Personal taste and all that.
Oh, I know plenty of folks who hate Spieth and don't appreciate what he's doing. No idea if you're one of them or not, but I have to ask, how can you not enjoy watching a guy go birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie from 14-17 on Sunday at the British, after basically butchering the course for the first 13 holes?

It's just something I don't understand. I was always a Tiger guy versus a Phil guy, but when Phil made the putt on 18 at the Masters to win his first Major, I was excited as a golf fan. I would love to see Fowler win his first, not because I love Fowler, but because I think it would be cool to see. I'm not really a Spieth fan, so much as I'm a fan of the history of the game, and I can't help but enjoy watching someone do something that has literally never been done before. I don't know how you appreciate what he's doing when you literally "can't stand watching him play." It just doesn't compute to me.

If there was some Ray Rice/Greg Hardy shit in Spieth's background, I could get it, and I can understand Red Sox fans not rooting for Aaron Judge, but as a baseball fan, I wouldn't understand someone saying that they hate watching him hit. If someone said to me "The home run derby sucked, because I can't stand watching Aaron Judge because he's a Yankee..," I'd feel bad for them. In my opinion, if they can't get passed the laundry to such an extent that they don't even want to see history when it happens, they're missing out.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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"Great display of guts, determination and skill."

Jack on Jordan.

Some people will just never get over that it's not Jack on Tiger. Tiger is 4 short, will always be 4 short and for some that is a very bitter pill.
Criticizing someone for not liking Jack and using the word 'bitter' is comical, since that's pretty much the first word used to describe him by most people. I assume he and Johnny Miller buy in bulk.
 
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Papelbon's Poutine

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Oh, I know plenty of folks who hate Spieth and don't appreciate what he's doing. No idea if you're one of them or not, but I have to ask, how can you not enjoy watching a guy go birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie from 14-17 on Sunday at the British, after basically butchering the course for the first 13 holes?

It's just something I don't understand. I was always a Tiger guy versus a Phil guy, but when Phil made the putt on 18 at the Masters to win his first Major, I was excited as a golf fan. I would love to see Fowler win his first, not because I love Fowler, but because I think it would be cool to see. I'm not really a Spieth fan, so much as I'm a fan of the history of the game, and I can't help but enjoy watching someone do something that has literally never been done before. I don't know how you appreciate what he's doing when you literally "can't stand watching him play." It just doesn't compute to me.

If there was some Ray Rice/Greg Hardy shit in Spieth's background, I could get it, and I can understand Red Sox fans not rooting for Aaron Judge, but as a baseball fan, I wouldn't understand someone saying that they hate watching him hit. If someone said to me "The home run derby sucked, because I can't stand watching Aaron Judge because he's a Yankee..," I'd feel bad for them. In my opinion, if they can't get passed the laundry to such an extent that they don't even want to see history when it happens, they're missing out.
There's a difference between hating and not liking, as in like 'I don't actively dislike him, but I also don't *like him either'. Which doesn't mean you can't watch him, on a day like today and say 'damn, that was impressive' and appreciate it, while also not actively rooting for him or getting excited. Much like your analogy to a Yankee, but remove the rivalry aspect.

As someone already said, that's the fun of sports. Outside team sports, it all comes down to personal affinities and there's always a certain 'can't put my finger on it' aspect to it, imo. For me, personally, he doesn't have it for me. Can't explain it. Can try but won't be able to put it into words properly and many won't because you're just kind of grasping at straws trying to verbalize it. Even as you're expressing it, you kind of are thinking 'is that really why I don't like him?'

He's obviously a great golfer and probably has already clinched a HoF career, I don't think anyone is disputing that. But when someone makes the argument that Tiger was corporate and wooden also, all I can say is that there's not a damn person that followed golf, whether they loved him or hated him, that didn't perk up when Tiger was in the mix on Sunday, for whatever reason that may be. Spieth most certainly doesn't have that.
 

Average Reds

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If anyone has tape of Miller saying going back to the tee wasn't the play on 13, I'd love to hear it. That type of unaccountability is the type of stuff everyone hates, but they let him get away with it. Just say its not how I would have done it, but it worked out or something. But going mute after you said go back to the tee 10 times is inexcusable. Can't wait till he retires.

Congrats to Jordan, kid can play.
Sorry for being so late, but I had to respond to this.

I've been on vacation and was not able to watch much of the Open. One of the only times I was able to do so included the 13th in the final round. And Miller said - several times, with an ever-increasing edge of scorn in his voice - that Spieth should just go back to the tee rather than play it the way he did.

Did Miller claim after the round that he never suggested the Spieth should go back to the tee? Because that's laughable. Hell, the last time he said it was right before Spieth hit his shot and you could tell that he was (at that point) rooting for disaster so he could lay an "I told you so" on us.

I am not normally a Miller-hater, but if he tried to walk away from his comments, he's a coward of the highest order.
 

PaulinMyrBch

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Sorry for being so late, but I had to respond to this.

I've been on vacation and was not able to watch much of the Open. One of the only times I was able to do so included the 13th in the final round. And Miller said - several times, with an ever-increasing edge of scorn in his voice - that Spieth should just go back to the tee rather than play it the way he did.

Did Miller claim after the round that he never suggested the Spieth should go back to the tee? Because that's laughable. Hell, the last time he said it was right before Spieth hit his shot and you could tell that he was (at that point) rooting for disaster so he could lay an "I told you so" on us.

I am not normally a Miller-hater, but if he tried to walk away from his comments, he's a coward of the highest order.
Not that I'm aware of. I was referring to the fact that he never mentioned it again. If he walked it back at all, I would have been surprised, but its impossible to at least not acknowledge that maybe Jordan knew what he was doing, and if you listened to the post round press conference, he clearly did. My point was Miller can't be so vocal about going back to the tee, then shut up completely once the players choice was better. Hell the broadcast didn't even say he was hitting 3 or laying 3 after the shot. The closest they came was saying he was on his fourth shot on his chip, but that was obviously later.

As a golfer, I knew what his options were and I knew the process he was working through, but it took the broadcast a long time to explain that, and then Miller kept butting in about "back to the tee". To give Miller some credit, he probably thought Jordan was just going to wedge it back to the fairway which makes re-teeing a reasonable alternative, but they should have been on the distance and should have been aware he may play to the green.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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Not that I'm aware of. I was referring to the fact that he never mentioned it again. If he walked it back at all, I would have been surprised, but its impossible to at least not acknowledge that maybe Jordan knew what he was doing, and if you listened to the post round press conference, he clearly did. My point was Miller can't be so vocal about going back to the tee, then shut up completely once the players choice was better.
I didn't catch that hole, but this is the biggest reason I don't like Miller. He does it all he time or will even double down and say something like "well, he pulled it off but he still should have...". He also usually prefaces it with something like "I was walking the courses today" and then tell us why the player is playing the wrong shot, or how he played a similar shot like forty years ago and he did it differently. He rarely if ever gives kudos unless there's some level of back handed compliment or a qualifier involved.
 

The Needler

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As a golfer, I knew what his options were and I knew the process he was working through, but it took the broadcast a long time to explain that, and then Miller kept butting in about "back to the tee". To give Miller some credit, he probably thought Jordan was just going to wedge it back to the fairway which makes re-teeing a reasonable alternative, but they should have been on the distance and should have been aware he may play to the green.
Even then, I don't think it's a reasonable alternative to go back to a 499-yard par four tee and hit driver, 6-iron (I think that's what Kooch hit in) rather than going wedge, wedge.
 

patinorange

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I just watched the DVR of the last nine holes. I have some mixed feelings on Spieth. He seems a little passive aggressive on the course when a camera clicks or something isn't quite right. Tiger kind of owned his assholiness on the course. Spieth seems to want to have it both ways. But overall, I think he is a genuine assassin. That was something. Kuch played very well and got destroyed. When Tiger was at his peak, he never missed an important putt. This kid is in the same mold. I'm not sure he has the long game to win as many majors as Tiger or Jack, but he has the competitive spirit, that's for sure.

I actually love Johnny Miller, but I think he is heading towards the end. Lots of rambling yesterday.
 

PaulinMyrBch

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Even then, I don't think it's a reasonable alternative to go back to a 499-yard par four tee and hit driver, 6-iron (I think that's what Kooch hit in) rather than going wedge, wedge.
Agreed. A good crew would have been explaining he gets to go back as far as he wants and then deal with the line of sight. It was crucial to the next shot, getting to a spot where he could clear the hill and get a good lie. It was a brilliant use of the rules and if NBC was on it, they would have been explaining he was about to play a 230ish yard par 3 with a blind tee shot. They didn't even have the yardage on the shot. Just a horrible way to handle it. And I agree with a point made yesterday in that Miller would not have gone back to the tee if it was him. Unless of course he just didn't understand his options, which seems entirely possible.
 

Mr Mulliner

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This seems as good a place as any to relate the story of how I stole Johnny Miller's car.

My firm was having a conference in Napa, where Miller lives, and he was the keynote speaker, or some such nonsense (I skipped his presentation and played 18 holes instead, so I have no idea what it was about).

Anyway, I arrived late morning from the east coast, and immediately met some friends for a round, just leaving my bags at the pro shop to check into the resort later. After playing, I checked in, and found out my room was about a half mile away in some kind of casita. So, I talked to my friend who had a rental car parked out front - he said the keys were in it, it was a silver Camry, take it to your room and then bring it back for the reception. All fine.

I found the car, saw an itinerary for our firm in the passenger seat, assumed it was the right car, and drove off. Took my time showering, had a beer, then drove back about two hours later, parked wherever I found a spot, and headed to the reception.

I handed the keys to my buddy, who immediately said those weren't his keys. He had no response to my, "well, then whose fucking car was I driving?", so I decided to just put the keys back in the car and leave it unlocked, albeit 5 spaces or so from where I found it.

As I put the keys back, I took a look at the old school day-planner in the console. Inside it said "Property of J. Miller".

I told our CEO that if Johnny mentioned any shenanigans with regard to his rental car, I'd be happy to explain myself. Apparently he never noticed, and my life continues without a felony theft on my record.

Edit: whose, not who's you dumbass, and other typos
 
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