What a great finish to the Masters on Sunday! I was riveted to the television set as soon as I got home from playing golf. I missed Tiger's 4 under par front 9 to put him into contention and put some pressure on the young guns. I felt bad for Rory McIlroy. The drive he hit on the 10th hole was as far left as I have ever seen. When you saw him ask his caddy whether there was out-of-bounds on the left, you knew he was in big trouble. I did not even know there were cabins in the vicinity of the golf course. I have been watching the Masters for a lot of years and I had only seen the inside of the Butler Cabin, where the green jacket is awarded each year. Rory would have been the second youngest winner of the Masters at age 21. He showed amazing courage and poise after his disastrous round of 80 during the post-round interviews. There is no doubt in my mind that McIlroy will win his first major within the next year or two.
The Aussies put on quite a show. First, Geoff Ogilve starting hitting it stiff and tapping in for birdies to tie Tiger Woods in the clubhouse at 10 under par. Then the Aussie twosome of Jason Day and Adam Scott got hot with their putters each ending 12 under par and scuttling Tiger Woods' hopes of another green jacket (I think the USGA/R&A should outlaw the long putter, but that is a discussion for another day). But 26-year old Charl Schwartzel hung around making 10 straight pars and then birdied the last 4 holes to win the green jacket at 14 under par. Prior to Schwartzel, only Jack Nicklaus in 1986 played the last 4 holes on Sunday at Augusta in 4 under par to win the Masters. It was quite a display of shot-making by all of the young guns under the Sunday back 9 pressure of Augusta National.
My good friend and mentor (and jingoist), Fred Flintstone, was lamenting the lack of good young American golfers. Other than Tiger Woods, the only Americans in the top 10 at Augusta were Bo Van Pelt and Ryan Palmer. Among the American youth movement (under 30), you have Dustin Johnson (26), Nick Watney (29), Ryan Moore (28), Hunter Mahan (28), Ricky Fowler (22) and Anthony Kim (25). They have won a total of zero majors. Fred puts the blame squarely on video games for the dearth of young American talent. I think that golf (like everything else) has become global and players all over the world are receiving equivalent training, have access to the most-up-to-date technology, great training facilities and great courses, and the competition level is extremely high on all of the tours. One difference is that the great players from prior generations in countries like Spain, South Africa, Japan and Australia seem to take a more hands-on approach with the next generation than do the Americans. However, all of the young guns may have to wait a bit longer because Tiger is lurking and if he can figure out his putting woes, watch out!
Showing posts with label Hunter Mahan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hunter Mahan. Show all posts
Monday, April 11, 2011
Monday, October 18, 2010
World Of XXVII - Day 3
Day 3 of the "World Of" was even nicer than the previous day if that is possible. When we left for the course in the morning, the temperature was in the high 60s and the sky was clear. The high temperature for the day was supposed to be about 75. Spectacular!
Sometime during the middle of the night, the Big Man and the Big Dog (an interesting pairing) stole out of the house and back to reality, leaving us with our normal prime integer, 7, players. In the morning we played at Shark's Tooth and played our own ball. My two-man game partner was Cameo. I was 1 under bogey through 5 but had 3 double bogeys on the last 4 holes for a 46 on the front 9. Cameo and I "hammed and egged" it pretty well so when I had a good hole, he had a bad one and vice versa. On the back 9, I had a kick-in birdie on the 173 yard par-3 and a 44 for a 90 total. On the par-4 15th hole, Cameo and I were both in the collection area adjacent to the green when we had a T.C. Chen moment. While I have done this more times than I want to remember it is very unusual for a good player like Cameo to chili-dip his chip shot and hit the ball a second time on the follow-through.
The most famous double hit was in the 1985 U.S. Open at Oakland Hills. T.C. Chen was leading the championship in the final round by 4 strokes when he double-hit his fourth shot from the heavy rough at the par-4 5th hole. After a penalty, a chip and two putts, Chen made an 8 and lost by 1 stroke to Andy North. Interestingly, under Rule 14-4, you count the stroke for the first hit and add a penalty stroke to your score for the second hit. There is no additional penalty in stroke play.
The United States made a stirring comeback in the singles matches on Monday at Celtic Manor. Losing 9 1/2 to 6 1/2 heading into the singles, the U.S. needed 14 points to tie the Europeans and retain the Ryder Cup. With victories by Tiger Woods, Steve Stricker, Dustin Johnson, Zach Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Jeff Overton and a stirring comeback by Rickie Fowler to halve his match and a disappointing half by Stewart Cink, the U.S. and Europe were tied with 13 1/2 points each and one match remaining, but Hunter Mahan was trailing Graeme McDowell two down with two holes to go after McDowell's birdie on No. 16 (after the approach shot, fast-forward to about 1:50 on the video). On the par-3 17th hole, both players missed the green and Mahan chili-dipped his chip shot and ultimately conceded the hole and the match. While everyone will remember Mahan's chip shot at 17, McDowells' birdie on No. 16 and two missed 4 footers by Stewart Cink were really the difference. If Cink makes either putt to beat Rory McIlroy, the U.S. keeps the Ryder Cup with a tie.
In the afternoon we headed back to Camp Creek. It felt like we had not played that course for weeks having played the last 3 rounds at Shark's Tooth. We were a little disappointed because the course superintendent had sanded the greens since our last visit, but it turned out the greens were still pretty fast and true. We played a "shamble" in the afternoon. I thought this was a made up "World Of" term, but it is actually a USGA "recognized" form of goofy golf in which all players tee off and the best ball is selected. Each team member then plays his own ball into the hole. According to the "recognized" experts on shambles, this game should be played with full handicaps to permit the higher handicap players to contribute. Since we only had 7 players (so what's new!), Smooth and Arnie, the two best players, and I played as a threesome, against Turtle, the Mouth, Cameo and Stinger, using the one low score. We played with some type of modified handicap system and we rotated an extra drive on each hole. We lost this game in the negotiations before the first drive. We rarely used the fourth drive because it was generally unnecessary and we were conserving our strength and we only had 3 scores against the other team's 4 scores. Although we got beaten like a drum, 6 under to 3 under, it was nice playing Smooth's or Arnie's drive on each hole and being long and in the middle of the fairway. I contributed a little bit here and there, but with the modified handicap, I only got a few shots.
We finished in the dark, just in time for dinner and Monday Night football. The perfect men's golf trip day! I was asleep by 10 p.m., but after 6 rounds of golf in 3 days I was still feeling pretty good.
Sometime during the middle of the night, the Big Man and the Big Dog (an interesting pairing) stole out of the house and back to reality, leaving us with our normal prime integer, 7, players. In the morning we played at Shark's Tooth and played our own ball. My two-man game partner was Cameo. I was 1 under bogey through 5 but had 3 double bogeys on the last 4 holes for a 46 on the front 9. Cameo and I "hammed and egged" it pretty well so when I had a good hole, he had a bad one and vice versa. On the back 9, I had a kick-in birdie on the 173 yard par-3 and a 44 for a 90 total. On the par-4 15th hole, Cameo and I were both in the collection area adjacent to the green when we had a T.C. Chen moment. While I have done this more times than I want to remember it is very unusual for a good player like Cameo to chili-dip his chip shot and hit the ball a second time on the follow-through.
The most famous double hit was in the 1985 U.S. Open at Oakland Hills. T.C. Chen was leading the championship in the final round by 4 strokes when he double-hit his fourth shot from the heavy rough at the par-4 5th hole. After a penalty, a chip and two putts, Chen made an 8 and lost by 1 stroke to Andy North. Interestingly, under Rule 14-4, you count the stroke for the first hit and add a penalty stroke to your score for the second hit. There is no additional penalty in stroke play.
The United States made a stirring comeback in the singles matches on Monday at Celtic Manor. Losing 9 1/2 to 6 1/2 heading into the singles, the U.S. needed 14 points to tie the Europeans and retain the Ryder Cup. With victories by Tiger Woods, Steve Stricker, Dustin Johnson, Zach Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Jeff Overton and a stirring comeback by Rickie Fowler to halve his match and a disappointing half by Stewart Cink, the U.S. and Europe were tied with 13 1/2 points each and one match remaining, but Hunter Mahan was trailing Graeme McDowell two down with two holes to go after McDowell's birdie on No. 16 (after the approach shot, fast-forward to about 1:50 on the video). On the par-3 17th hole, both players missed the green and Mahan chili-dipped his chip shot and ultimately conceded the hole and the match. While everyone will remember Mahan's chip shot at 17, McDowells' birdie on No. 16 and two missed 4 footers by Stewart Cink were really the difference. If Cink makes either putt to beat Rory McIlroy, the U.S. keeps the Ryder Cup with a tie.
In the afternoon we headed back to Camp Creek. It felt like we had not played that course for weeks having played the last 3 rounds at Shark's Tooth. We were a little disappointed because the course superintendent had sanded the greens since our last visit, but it turned out the greens were still pretty fast and true. We played a "shamble" in the afternoon. I thought this was a made up "World Of" term, but it is actually a USGA "recognized" form of goofy golf in which all players tee off and the best ball is selected. Each team member then plays his own ball into the hole. According to the "recognized" experts on shambles, this game should be played with full handicaps to permit the higher handicap players to contribute. Since we only had 7 players (so what's new!), Smooth and Arnie, the two best players, and I played as a threesome, against Turtle, the Mouth, Cameo and Stinger, using the one low score. We played with some type of modified handicap system and we rotated an extra drive on each hole. We lost this game in the negotiations before the first drive. We rarely used the fourth drive because it was generally unnecessary and we were conserving our strength and we only had 3 scores against the other team's 4 scores. Although we got beaten like a drum, 6 under to 3 under, it was nice playing Smooth's or Arnie's drive on each hole and being long and in the middle of the fairway. I contributed a little bit here and there, but with the modified handicap, I only got a few shots.
We finished in the dark, just in time for dinner and Monday Night football. The perfect men's golf trip day! I was asleep by 10 p.m., but after 6 rounds of golf in 3 days I was still feeling pretty good.
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