OT - US Open

[Chin Diesel]

I don't think Tiger Woods' personal life is all that unique, at least in terms of the shenanigans.

Nor do I think it affects his game.

The health problems surely do - the constant tinkering doesn't seem to help, either.

But I wonder if he isn't better off starting to play golf every week like, you know, a professional golfer?

Showing up once a month doesn't seem to be working out very well.

Agree 100%. Much like hitters, you have to play through the slump. He doesn't need more time on the range, he needs more time between the ropes.

 

[gwhuskyfan]

Traveler would be a great start. Easy course for most of these pros

 

[Husky25]

Traveler would be a great start. Easy course for most of these pros

Fat chance. Tiger always takes the week after a major off. He didn't even play in Cromwell when it was sponsored by Buick.

 

[gwhuskyfan]

Fat chance. Tiger always takes the week after a major off. He didn't even play in Cromwell when it was sponsored by Buick.

Yea don't expect it. If he were smart, he'd start playing weekly until his tournament in DC. Going to be embarrassing to miss the cut shooting 80s at your own event.

 

[jleves]

Scary stuff with Jason Day. Hope he is OK but I would be surprised if he can continue.

 

[TasteofUConn]

Tiger never has come to grips with who/what he is. It's all in his head. At least it was when his wife hit him with an iron. His swing didn't change in the 24 months after it all fell apart - his mental game did. I said at the time it happened that he needed to own it, admit he was a POS, ask for forgiveness, and get on with it. Instead, he buried it, and tried to focus exclusively on golf. Did not work. Now, it's been years, his body is probably failing, his swing has gotten so far out of whack from what won for him there is no easy recovery, and he's still the same POS that he was back in whenever.
Couldn't have happened to a bigger jerk. Dad taught him to be a great player, but never taught him to be a decent human.

 

[Leebo]

How does the stuff from 2009 or whatever have anything to do with his performance now? After he left in that immediate aftermath he returned to world #1 and was the player of the year in 2013.

 

[jleves]

Fox getting the US Open sucks, the coverage has been awful. Never thought I would miss Johnny Miller, but I do.

I'm so tired of hearing them breathing into the mic. It's beyond annoying.

 

[J187Money]

I don't think Tiger Woods' personal life is all that unique, at least in terms of the shenanigans. Nor do I think it affects his game. The health problems surely do - the constant tinkering doesn't seem to help, either. But I wonder if he isn't better off starting to play golf every week like, you know, a professional golfer? Showing up once a month doesn't seem to be working out very well.

I recall Jack saying something early in Tiger's career. Something to the effect of:

"Wait till he gets married..."

Jack basically said that had he stayed single and focused 100% on golf he would have far surpassed his career total in majors.

Looks like he was right.

 

[mauconnfan]

Tiger never has come to grips with who/what he is. It's all in his head. At least it was when his wife hit him with an iron. His swing didn't change in the 24 months after it all fell apart - his mental game did. I said at the time it happened that he needed to own it, admit he was a POS, ask for forgiveness, and get on with it. Instead, he buried it, and tried to focus exclusively on golf. Did not work. Now, it's been years, his body is probably failing, his swing has gotten so far out of whack from what won for him there is no easy recovery, and he's still the same POS that he was back in whenever.
Couldn't have happened to a bigger jerk. Dad taught him to be a great player, but never taught him to be a decent human.

Read the article in Golf Digest with his old caddie Stevie and maybe he's not half as bad as some think. But there are Tiger haters and most were there well before he cheated on his wife. That just made them feel so good about their hatred. Live in his shoes you may be though of as a too! Of course non of us are close and neither is anyone else on the tour!

 

[J187Money]

Read the article in Golf Digest with his old caddie Stevie and maybe he's not half as bad as some think. But there are Tiger haters and most were there well before he cheated on his wife. That just made them feel so good about their hatred. Live in his shoes you may be though of as a too! Of course non of us are close and neither is anyone else on the tour!

The world is a complicated place. It isn't crazy to say that all of that stuff affected him without passing judgement.

 

[uconnfan68]

I don't think Tiger Woods' personal life is all that unique, at least in terms of the shenanigans.

Nor do I think it affects his game.

The health problems surely do - the constant tinkering doesn't seem to help, either.

But I wonder if he isn't better off starting to play golf every week like, you know, a professional golfer?

Showing up once a month doesn't seem to be working out very well.

The announcer that said his 80% swing looked perfect, with great results, is the guy Tiger should be listening to. And playing every week until he figured that out.

 

[Chin Diesel]

One of Tiger's problems is that for the first time in his life, practice and preparation haven't equaled results. It's easy to go on the range and practice and work on your game when you win 1/3 of the time and have the ability to lap the field. Tiger now has to go out, practice, work and play when the results aren't there. And that is a tough barrier to overcome when it happens for the first time in your life at age 35.
In short, it's mostly between his ears. Although his body positioning and torqueing on his down swing are waaaayyyy out of synch.

 

[TasteofUConn]

IDK. It just seems to me that the guy never got right in his head, for whatever reason.
In terms of him playing every week, can he even do that? I mean, what's not to say that wouldn't be too much for his body, which is a fall roster at this point.

 

[Leebo]

As someone pointed out the other day on the Golf Channel coverage, this is kind of trajectory is not unheard of among pros. Even just in recent years, there are several examples of people being near the top of the world rankings, falling sometimes hundreds of places, and climbing back up.

One such example is Henrik Stenson. Sure, no one cared much when he fell off the face of the Earth because he's never won a major, but he showed that you can be a top 10 player, fall out of the top 200, and climb back up.

So, when we know that Tiger did great even in years after the scandal, and we know that other golfers have "lost it" inexplicably (and subsequently regained it), it doesn't make sense to blame the scandal.

 

[D-NICE]

Chambers Bay should never hold another major championship ever again.This course is totally unfair with strange bounces, along with bumpy,mini-golf like greens. There seems to be more luck required than skill to win this championship. The spectators also seem to be a mile away, creating limited cheers. This course could get scary this weekend. Great choice USGA.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Scary stuff with Jason Day. Hope he is OK but I would be surprised if he can continue.

I suffer from vertigo from time to time .
It's hard to stay upright when everything is spinning.
Bending and head movement are diffificult but there are Med's that help.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Chambers Bay should never hold another major championship ever again.This course is totally unfair with strange bounces, along with bumpy,mini-golf like greens. There seems to be more luck required than skill to win this championship. The spectators also seem to be a mile away, creating limited cheers. This course could get scary this weekend. Great choice USGA.

I'll go the opposite. Proper shots, hit from the proper angle with the proper trajectory and spin are holding just fine. The problem for too many of the pros is they want to sky the ball to the pin, hop it once and have it check.

You can't do that here. Watching shots fly to the pin when the pin is blowing downwind leads to balls predictably blowing long. Course is much more fair than what I had anticipated seeing.

Greens are a valid point. I'm not a fan of mixed grasses on any style green because different grasses will obviously grow at different rates throughout the day created artificial breaks.

But I don't have any problem with the set up as a whole. Very fair for those who learn how to play the shots.

 

[Chin Diesel]

As someone pointed out the other day on the Golf Channel coverage, this is kind of trajectory is not unheard of among pros. Even just in recent years, there are several examples of people being near the top of the world rankings, falling sometimes hundreds of places, and climbing back up.

One such example is Henrik Stenson. Sure, no one cared much when he fell off the face of the Earth because he's never won a major, but he showed that you can be a top 10 player, fall out of the top 200, and climb back up.

So, when we know that Tiger did great even in years after the scandal, and we know that other golfers have "lost it" inexplicably (and subsequently regained it), it doesn't make sense to blame the scandal.

It is unheard of within golf in that Tiger is either the best or second best player to ever play the game. Sure there are plenty of examples of players who bounce from high to low in golf's world rankings.

But no one in the history of golf with 3 or more majors has ever fallen this far this hard. Never mind the second most majors of all time.

This is like watching Federer not being able to get out of the second round of tennis tournaments.

Or, as I said earlier in this thread, Ali against Holmes or Mays wearing a Mets uniform.

 

[HuskiesAllDay]

I don't buy that it's all mental with Tiger. To me it's all physical. The guy is broken. How many knee surgeries has he had now? He was never the same after the 08 U.S. open. Plus he's had Achilles injuries and a bad back for years now.

Golf is all about rhythm and a bad back will screw that all up very fast. I've had a bad back for years (herniated discs). I only play a few times a year but my back gets so tight which tightens my hips and glutes and it just gets to the point where i am so robotic and it's so hard to swing. There's no rhythm and every swing is slightly different. It's almost like my hips and lower back are separate from my lower legs and shoulders/arms. Very hard to explain unless you've experienced it.

I find it hard to believe that tiger hasn't recovered mentally. It's been years now. I'm pretty sure no matter how off he is mentally he can still chip a ball or strike the ball well. He shanks (for pros) or miss-hits 2/3 of his shots now.

It has to be all the injuries. You simply don't go from being that good to this bad because your mind is "off".

 

[D-NICE]

I also like how the USGA claims how they like to host US Opens at public golf courses. Well not everybody can afford a $300 greens fee along with a $100 caddie tip, while also loosing a dozen golf balls.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I also like how the USGA claims how they like to host US Opens at public golf courses. Well not everybody can afford a $300 greens fee along with a $100 caddie tip, while also loosing a dozen golf balls.

If I lose a dozen balls, the caddie ain't getting a c-note.

 

[HuskiesAllDay]

As someone pointed out the other day on the Golf Channel coverage, this is kind of trajectory is not unheard of among pros. Even just in recent years, there are several examples of people being near the top of the world rankings, falling sometimes hundreds of places, and climbing back up.

One such example is Henrik Stenson. Sure, no one cared much when he fell off the face of the Earth because he's never won a major, but he showed that you can be a top 10 player, fall out of the top 200, and climb back up.

So, when we know that Tiger did great even in years after the scandal, and we know that other golfers have "lost it" inexplicably (and subsequently regained it), it doesn't make sense to blame the scandal.

That can't be a serious comparison. Henrik Stenson? Several examples of this?? That's absurd.

We're talking about tiger woods here. The most dominant athlete of all time besides maybe MJ. Henrik Stenson never won a major. Tiger blew away the field in a handful of them. Tiger was in contention in basically every tournament he played in for a decade.

You can count on one hand the number of athletes in any sport all-time that reached the levels of greatness that tiger reached. There is simply no comparison for this, and if there was its certainly not Henrik freakin Stenson.

 

[Leebo]

Okay, fine, he can't find his swing because of a scandal 6 years ago, not because losing your swing is a thing that sometimes happens to professional golfers.

PS, I never said Henrik Stenson was as good as Tiger or anything like it, so calm your jets. The fact that people who are worse than Tiger have completely lost it and made the journey back is kinda the whole point. It's a good sign for him, not a bad one.

I'm just sick of people acting like Tiger isn't a human just because he was better than nearly everyone.

 

[CTBasketball]

Chambers Bay should never hold another major championship ever again.This course is totally unfair with strange bounces, along with bumpy,mini-golf like greens. There seems to be more luck required than skill to win this championship. The spectators also seem to be a mile away, creating limited cheers. This course could get scary this weekend. Great choice USGA.

They're all playing the same course. How is it unfair?

 

[D-NICE]

Unblieveable round by Jason Day, executing great golf shots with Rocky Balboa, like heart and toughness. What a great story it would be if he could win the US Open, although I do not expect him to play the Travelers, next week.

 

[Robertelamin]

Yuck, no more links courses. Let the British Open have them. It just looks like one big brownish putting green where the fairway never ends and the putting green never starts. I don't mind tough greens but there are too many backstops so it is hard to know if someone hit a good approach or a terrible one, a few are fine but it is like a mini golf course. The lack of trees and any sort of greenery make all the holes look the same for the most part. (yes, I know, Links). I'd love to play it but I don't like watching it.

 

[uconn_jack]

If you ever played a true links course, you'd love watching them play on it too. Personally, I get bored watching them always play the perfectly manicured parkland courses. This is one of the more fun and interesting US Opens to watch in a while, IMO.

 

[Robertelamin]

The closest Ive come to a Links course is the Ocean Course on Kiawah Island. I guess Chambers Bay just doesn't do it for me. It probably doesn't help that Fox is new at this.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Kiawah, Chambers Bay, Shinnecock. I'll take any of them for a US Open over the plethora of cookie cutter, narrow fairway, five inch rough and target golf shots to the green.

You can over power Chambers Bay off the tee but you have to think your iron shot in to the green. You can't just loft it up, land it pin high, have it one hop and stop.

I'm a big fan of courses that make you think a hole in reverse. Figure out where you want to putt from, then figure out what spot in the fairway gives you the best opportunity to hit an iron to that spot on the green and finally figure out what club you have to hit off the tee.