The U.S. Open Leaderboard is crowded at the top as the leaders play the last nine holes. It should be an exciting finish.
Bob Green
Yokosuka, Japan
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The U.S. Open Leaderboard is crowded at the top as the leaders play the last nine holes. It should be an exciting finish.
Bob Green
Yokosuka, Japan
Personally, I think Tiger choked. He had a lot of opportunities and missed them all. His play from tee to green was strong, but once he got near the greens, he became very mortal and it cost him. He could not buy a putt from longer than 10 feet the final 2 days and that chip on 17 was just not even close to his best effort.
Nothign wrong with finishing second and there is some honor in being 2nd in the first 2 majors of the year, but it is kinda amazing to think of this guy playing in the final pairing in the Masters and Open and not winning either one. I guess it is a statement to his greatness that we expect him to win on the final day even when there are a ton of other great players also very much in the running.
It was exciting though. It felt like 5 or 6 different guys had the lead at some point during the day and there were probably another half dozen who were just one shot back at some point. The course was BRUTAL though!
I loved the short par-4s that were still potential bogey holes. Those were fun!
-Jason "mad props to Angel, great finishing stretch with some of the greats nipping at his heels" Evans
Tiger is the best putter on the face of the earth, and when he putts like it, he wins going away. When he putts like a mortal, he wins close or is close to winning. Sometimes, they just don't fall. Sometimes they do, even for me (or you!).Quote:
Originally Posted by JasonEvans
As to finishing second, Jack won 18 majors and finished second 19 times. Tiger still has a bunch of majors to go to equal Jack's record of both wins and second place finishes. And I think he'll get there.
It goes to show that the old saying is correct: "You drive for show, but putt for dough!" Tiger didn't chip or putt up to his standard this tournament.
Congratulations to Angel Cabrerra.
Bob Green
Yokosuka, Japan
Tiger has been 1st or 2nd in four straight majors and missed four straight major wins by a total of 3 shots. That's amazing. He had so many chances Saturday for a Miller-like score.
That said I was sorta pulling for Furyk, the home town boy.
I was at the Open Friday through Sunday.
On Sunday: Saw Tiger play 1 and 17... Cabrera play 12, 13, 15 and 17 (including his approach shot on 15, which he stuck to two feet)... Furyk play 1, 9, 12, 13 and 17. Seventeen was the hole to be at, which I hinted at in a post to the old board after last year's Open.
I also saw Cabrera stick his approach shot on 9 on Friday. He was the only guy all week with two rounds under par. I don't see how he doesn't deserve to win.
Tiger didn't lose this Open, Cabrera won it. Tiger's round on Sunday would have been perfect if he had had the lead going in, but I'm not sure which putts he missed that you would have expected him to make.
Furyk's mistake on 17 wasn't going for the green -- it was his pitch out of the rough. The rough on the front and left of the green on 17 was the thickest on the entire course. Of about 15 or 20 people I saw hit in that general area over three days, NOBODY hit what I'd call a good shot. If you're going to miss 17, the best place to miss it is into Big Mouth, which is what Tiger did.
There's a lot more I could write about the Open, but I'll stop for now.
I root for Tiger in every major because I want to see history in the making and he's on a historical quest, not just a single major championship quest. So I was disappointed in the outcome but Cabrera really deserved the championship. Woods didn't.
He played spectacularly on Saturday and couldn't get a medium length putt to fall. I agree that if he "lost" the tournament it was probably on Saturday.
That being said, he was not the typical Tiger woods you've come to expect. His double bogey on 3 was shocking because he made three terrible shots in a row and I don't think I've ever seen him do that before. Just before he hit his bump and run chip shot, Baddeley had almost the same shot and hit his perfectly.
On the 11th hole Tiger hit into the sand from about 120 yards away and couldn't get up and down. On 12 or 13 - can't remember - the par 3 - he hit his tee shot stiff to within four feet and had a relatively easy but very fast putt for birdie that he missed. It was right about then that I thought Cabrera was going to win because he had just birdied one of the two hardest holes on the course (15) with an absolutely amazing iron shot to two feet.
Watching the back nine I kept saying to myself, Cabrera is on fire. It just had the feel of someone who was going to win - until he bogeyed 16 and 17 putting Woods only one behind.
Tiger made some incredible par saves throughout the whole round - as opposed to Saturday, on Sunday he really had to grind out some pars - and I thought for sure he'd birdie 17. But his sand shot on 17 was another miss (for him) and birdieing 18 is such a long shot.
Although Woods did not play up to his standards yesterday, I really feel more that Cabrera won the tourney by playing a terrific round yesterday. As the only one in the field to have two rounds below par and to go the whole week without a double bogey, he absolutely deserved to win.
I also felt bad for Furyk because this is now two years in a row that he was less than an inch from being in a playoff. His par putt miss on 17 was agonizing.
The world now knows how tough PA golf courses are. I talk to friends in other areas who consistently shoot high 70's and I have been saying for years their game wouldn't break 90 on the average PA course.
Meh. While he clearly didn't step up, he didn't choke either. Pulling out all those pars was gutsy to say the least. He certainly had his chances, though . . .Quote:
Originally Posted by JasonEvans