The Open Championship at the Old Course

[daschoo]

Just home, was a great afternoon. Spent most of it at the 17th green so unfortunately saw Spieth blow his chances.

 

[Doc50]

Have to laugh at the term cautious aggressiveness. You do realize you contradicted yourself, right?

You don't play golf, do you?

 

[honyock]

Zach had a bit of good fortune, in that he got out early today and played the vulnerable front side before the weather came in.
He also was far enough back that he wasn't involved in the terrible 2nd round finishing wind debacle.

He's the kind of golfer who can win these, though -- tough, relentless, resilient, straight driver, and great short game.

Glad to see another US victory.

I missed the last few holes in regulation live and just caught the end of the playoff. I'm really happy for Zach. To add to what you said, he's got a reputation as a good guy and by all reports is very popular and well liked and respected by his fellow players.

And he's living proof that you can have significant success on the tour these days even if you aren't a long hitter. It does help that he's pure deadly with wedge and putter.

And that was a great interview he gave right after the round. Great to see someone humbled and that appreciative of the moment. I was rooting for Spieth but its hard not to be happy for a class act like Johnson.

 

[daschoo]

I missed the last few holes in regulation live and just caught the end of the playoff. I'm really happy for Zach. To add to what you said, he's got a reputation as a good guy and by all reports is very popular and well liked and respected by his fellow players.

And he's living proof that you can have significant success on the tour these days even if you aren't a long hitter. It does help that he's pure deadly with wedge and putter.

And that was a great interview he gave right after the round. Great to see someone humbled and that appreciative of the moment. I was rooting for Spieth but its hard not to be happy for a class act like Johnson.

Vast majority of the crowd were supporting Oosthuizen but Johnson definitely won folk over with his speech when presented with the jug. Came across as a good guy. Was pleased for him but would still rather Spieth had won or more preferably one of the Scots.

 

[burmafrd]

You don't play golf, do you?

that has got nothing to do with really lame wording like that.

 

[Doc50]

that has got nothing to do with really lame wording like that.

Respectfully, I would say that there aren't many pros who grip it and rip it, or who routinely play with an aggressiveness that doesn't assess the relative risk.

You may have heard some hole locations referred to as "sucker pins", meaning that the landing area is too narrow, or the green leaves little margin for error in that spot, with the error being a 1-3 stroke deficit. However a shot played to an area 15-20 ft laterally may be much safer, and still leave a makeable putt. You may have also heard said about Jordan and others that "he misses well"; doesn't sound like a very good choice of words unless you understand that everyone has a margin for error on their shots, and a miss that still leaves a chance to score is wise, while a miss that leaves a sure double-bogey or worse is unwise. That's the kind of cautious aggressiveness to which I was referring, one that is calculated to get the best score while limiting any damage that might just ruin a good round.

Look at #8 for Jordan yesterday. He had a 100ft put that he desperately wanted to get close, had not much practice on those since the putting greens are relatively small, and he obviously was afraid of leaving it short. Therefore he gave it some extra oomph, it raced by the hole, and it kept on rolling to the opposite edge of the green. He may have been surprised by the grain or slope past the hole, but it then took 3 more shots to get down; one of the best putters in the game essentially 4-putted for double-bogey, which retrospectively cost him the tournament. No question that he missed some other makeable putts, and had additional miscues during the tournament; everyone has them. But I would wager that #8 is what he's most lamenting today, because he got overly aggressive in a situation that is not consistent with his general scoring strategy, very uncharacteristic of his excellent course management.

A player can be too cautious, sometimes appearing to take birdie out of the equation, and just play it safe, accepting par as good enough.
Guys with a substantial lead may do that, and get caught from behind. St. Andrews showed that weather alters the course and resultant strategy a lot;
as is often the case on difficult major courses, there are times to score and times to survive.

Someone who has had great success, but has given away more than one big tournament due to over aggressiveness is Phil Mickelson.
He actually had it going yesterday, was getting close at 9 under through 16, and hoping that the squalls would worsen and cause the leaders to falter, possibly giving him a great come-from-behind win. But he came to 17, one of the most difficult holes in golf, playing into the wind (which amplifies spin). and hooked his tee ball into the Old Course Hotel. He made triple, and was done, no matter how bad the weather would get.

FWIW, I describe my own game as consistently inconsistent.

 

[burmafrd]

Respectfully, I would say that there aren't many pros who grip it and rip it, or who routinely play with an aggressiveness that doesn't assess the relative risk.

You may have heard some hole locations referred to as "sucker pins", meaning that the landing area is too narrow, or the green leaves little margin for error in that spot, with the error being a 1-3 stroke deficit. However a shot played to an area 15-20 ft laterally may be much safer, and still leave a makeable putt. You may have also heard said about Jordan and others that "he misses well"; doesn't sound like a very good choice of words unless you understand that everyone has a margin for error on their shots, and a miss that still leaves a chance to score is wise, while a miss that leaves a sure double-bogey or worse is unwise. That's the kind of cautious aggressiveness to which I was referring, one that is calculated to get the best score while limiting any damage that might just ruin a good round.

Look at #8 for Jordan yesterday. He had a 100ft put that he desperately wanted to get close, had not much practice on those since the putting greens are relatively small, and he obviously was afraid of leaving it short. Therefore he gave it some extra oomph, it raced by the hole, and it kept on rolling to the opposite edge of the green. He may have been surprised by the grain or slope past the hole, but it then took 3 more shots to get down; one of the best putters in the game essentially 4-putted for double-bogey, which retrospectively cost him the tournament. No question that he missed some other makeable putts, and had additional miscues during the tournament; everyone has them. But I would wager that #8 is what he's most lamenting today, because he got overly aggressive in a situation that is not consistent with his general scoring strategy, very uncharacteristic of his excellent course management.

A player can be too cautious, sometimes appearing to take birdie out of the equation, and just play it safe, accepting par as good enough.
Guys with a substantial lead may do that, and get caught from behind. St. Andrews showed that weather alters the course and resultant strategy a lot;
as is often the case on difficult major courses, there are times to score and times to survive.

Someone who has had great success, but has given away more than one big tournament due to over aggressiveness is Phil Mickelson.
He actually had it going yesterday, was getting close at 9 under through 16, and hoping that the squalls would worsen and cause the leaders to falter, possibly giving him a great come-from-behind win. But he came to 17, one of the most difficult holes in golf, playing into the wind (which amplifies spin). and hooked his tee ball into the Old Course Hotel. He made triple, and was done, no matter how bad the weather would get.

FWIW, I describe my own game as consistently inconsistent.

sloppy wording is sloppy wording. Raise your standards.

 

[Rogah]

that has got nothing to do with really lame wording like that.

No, but it has everything to do with the fact that you don't know what you're talking about.

 

[Doc50]

sloppy wording is sloppy wording. Raise your standards.

The wording is intentional golf speak.