Phil, what were you thinkin?

Kurtman9

I like Phil, but man, what a way to lose it. It seemed as though he had it in the bag. Reminded me of Jean van de Velde.

Axtell

Why the US open feels the course needs to be a torture test instead of a difficult course boggles me.

I guess the 'powers that be' get off on the fact of making the best golfers in the world pull their hair out? Who knows...but it's too bad Phil didn't win another major today.

CardCoreCollector

Why the US open feels the course needs to be a torture test instead of a difficult course boggles me.
I guess the 'powers that be' get off on the fact of making the best golfers in the world pull their hair out?

I don't know Ax, i sort of got a kick out of seeing those guys struggle a bit out there.

Now they know how us weekend hackers feel most of the time lol

Dave

ChrisC

Kurtman - I was thinking the same thing. How painful to watch.

ToppsCo1lector

^^
Ax that's the definition of the US Open. I mean, the British Open has more natural obstactles for the golfers(ie: WIND! lol) and I love watching the tourney. Glad to see Jim Furyk do well, he's one of my favorites.

bri2327

Phil let that one slip away. I thought he had gotten over that stage in his career and would have had his head in the game more. All he needed to do was hit a 2 iron off the 18th and the championship was his. Oh well, its nice to see a first time major winner too, Im happy for the guy either way.

As for the difficulty, that is what the open is all about. I think if asked almost any golfer would say the exact same thing. What is funny is certain people who will remain nameless who add their two cents to the thread who undoubtably do not have the first clue about golf.

Stone193

I didn't want that to happen to Phil - he seemed on such a roll!

And, yes, the US Open is a challenge. Any "true" weekend duffer who doesn't practice - that would be me -
is lucky to shoot 180 on a course like that! Of course, no mulligans or kicking the ball from under the bushes!

And, I like to see them challenged once in a while - seeing a guy score 27 under for a tournament is just too humbling...

mike

Axtell

if I want to see struggling golfers, I'll head to any number of local courses and watch there.

I want to see stars shine, not hitting above par. Of course the golfers are going to say the PC thing and say they like the tough course, but a tourney winner at 5 over par?

and bri, if you want to call me out, at least have the nuts to say my name, not dancing around saying 'remain nameless'. Either refer to who you're talking about, or don't talk.

bri2327

Ax, I am not getting into a pissing match with you on this. There is nothing PC in anything these golfers say about course difficulty. They enjoy these challenges and look very forward to playing courses like this.

I am not talking about this out of thin air. I played 3 years of college golf and was a 1 handicap at my best. I grew up around the game, have been around numerous pros and have enough experience in tournament play to know what players enjoy and what they dont. Anyone who plays at a high level relishes the challenge of playing the toughest possible layout. Shooting a 62 means nothing to these guys, nor does the courses which they shoot that on. There are literally 1000's of 13 yr old kids playing down south who can shoot in the low to mid 60's on any given day.

If you are going to come on here and try to act like you have a clue about the game you better come with alot better. Anyone who knows the game looks forward to the toughest of majors, on the most challenging courses. It is evident in your rant that you know zero about the game or its history.

ToppsCo1lector

But with a course as difficult as that one, 5 over par is a grrreat score. It's these guys jobs to play the most challenging and longest courses in the world, and I'd much rather see guys work out of jams and hard-lies then just making the fairway off the tee and the green in regulation, that to me is boring. But when you see these guys make incredible shots off the fairway, that just leaves me in awe sometimes. Like why can't I do that?! Well, I beat my older brother when we go out(It's our tradition to go golfing whenever we see eachother now) and that's good enough for me! lol.

bri2327

Ax, do you even realize the foolishness of your comments ? You are comparing the worlds best golfers shooting an average of around a 74 on maybe the single most difficult layout in the world for 4 grueling days to that of an average hacker who cant break 100 if his life depended on it at the average local muni course. It is akin to watching a well fought baseball game that ends in a 1-0 score and comparing it to a drunken weekend beer league softball game.

Axtell

<< <i> Ax, I am not getting into a pissing match with you on this. >>





<< <i> Ax, do you even realize the foolishness of your comments ? >>



/sigh

Liar.

WeekendHacker

I need to chime in on this. PGA players have the chance to rip up courses every weekend with the exception of a few weekends a year. They know going in that certain tournaments will be difficult. There is more to golf than just hitting a ball 300 yards (or more), taking a wedge into the green from 130 (or so) yards, making a putt for birdie and going to the next hole and doing the same thing. Golf is probably more mental than physical and certainly more mental than any other sport out there. To win a major championship - they need to play their best golf on the toughest courses under the toughest conditions. They not only need to beat the other players, they have to try and beat the course, and in a major - sometimes the course wins - that's major championship golf. That's what makes these tournaments Major Championships. Why do you think those tournament get so much coverage and the players desire those championships more than any others? I've lowered my handicap to 9 this year; from those distances, with that rough, under those conditions, I'd probably struggle to break 100 on a that course. When it comes to golf's toughest tests, this is the test of all tests and most students will not pass. Hell, the # 1 golfer in the world didn't even make the cut. Granted he is probably still going through the struggles of mourning since his Dad recently passed, but it is that tough of a course. He had NEVER missed a cut in a major as a pro until this past weekend. Stats going into this weekend as a pro: Tiger Woods - Tournaments played: 195 - cuts made - 190. Majors played: 38 - cuts made 38. Don't try and explain to me that these events should be made easy, it's been this way since it was created, the players haven't complained, there is no reason to change it - they expect it to be difficult. And maybe most importantly, anything of this magnitude worth winning should be an incredible difficult challenge, it will make tasting victory that much sweeter.

CardCoreCollector - you stole my user name - it's all good. Anyone of us on these message boards who golf's started out as a weekend hacker.

bri2327 - you are on the money, in this thread and others. Don't let one instigator tempt you into an irrelevant debate on trivial matters.

Barndog

Mickelson's collapse certainly took most of the heat off of Montgomery. He should have won this one if not for succumbing to the potential and the pressure with that lousy shot he hit from the fairway on 18. Would have been nice to see him win a major.

Kurtman9

Phil's decision to use driver off the tee was questionable at best, but his explanation in the press conference sounded logical (if he missed fairway with shorter club, he would be too far back to reach green on 2nd).

IMO, the really bad decision was on the 2nd shot. He was in jail there and should have just chipped out into fairway and played for a bogey with a shot at par. Before he hit his 2nd, the network showed an overhead shot from the blimp and I cringed when he went for the green and knew he was placing double into the realm of possibilities.

Live by the sword, die by the sword I guess.

Cubfan

I really dont care if the winning score is -20 or +10 as long as there are a good number of people in contention in the final 9 holes of the tourny.

Yesterday met that criteria. The golf is exciting because there is competition and pressure not if the score is -20 or +10.