Yesterday I had the pleasure of watching the pros over at Bay Hill. From a professional golf spectator's point of view, it would be pretty tough to top. We got to follow 4 of the top 5 players in the world for at least 2 hours each. Starting @ 7:15, we followed the Ernie, Reteif, & Tiger group play their entire 2nd round. The beauty of it was the small crowd in the morning - I couldn't believe how close we were able to get to them, at least for the first 9 holes.
Let's just say there was an interesting dynamic in that group. Retief played a beautiful second round, shooting an easy 67 that could have been 64 but for a couple of miscues. He nearly aced the 7th hole. This following his 78 in the first round. One thing that surprised me was he was by far the short hitter of the group. Most times he was 20-40 yards behind the other two when they all hit driver. Ernie had a mid round meltdown that brought him to the brink of missing the cut. He was 2 under standing on the 15th tee, but foolishly went for the 16th green from a questionable lie in the fairway bunker. He put it in the water, making bogie. After missing a relatively short birdie attempt on 17, he made triple on 18 from 150 out in the middle of the fairway. That 18th hole is a real bitch - there's even a downslope in the fairway if you can't hit it 270+ off the tee. I can't believe the size of that green. He kept making bogies on the front side, until he was one shot out of the cutline at +5 on the 7th hole...very reminiscent of his near collapse at Royal Melbourne (last year?). You could see it in his face. He made a gutty par on 7 after hitting it way left, short-siding himself. Then, he took a really aggressive line on 8, and made birdie from about 10 feet. He's just a pleasure to watch.
Of course Tiger is very impressive - you can almost see his mind cranking during the round. Not a whole lot of chatter from him, but he hit some amazing shots. He was deep in the face of the rough surrounding a bunker on the 15th, with a tree very close to him. It was so steep - he gave it a mighty lash and the ball went higher than any I've ever seen. Of course he took an angry swipe at the tree. Then, we were about 30 yards in front of him on the 5th hole. He hit his stinger and it was head height relative to us - trajectory control is amazing. One big surprise was how much Stevie talked to Ernie and Retief. An aside, I think Retief has a soft-spoken sense of humor. That or his caddie is a butt boy. His caddie laughed quite a bit throughout the round. Another interesting tidbit is that his driver headcover is a goose.
If that wasn't enough, they still had another round to play. After hanging out at the range for an hour (a must for any tournament spectator), we watched Campbell, Funk, and Hamilton play their first 6 holes on the back side. Hamilton really impressed me - he can work it both ways with seemingly equal proficiency - a great guy to watch. Of course Funk is fun to watch; though he wasn't putting too well. What gets me is how solid the guy hits the ball. Just a technician with the driver.
We finished the day by following the Vijay, Sergio, KJ Choi group play the first nine. The best thing was there was almost no crowd following them - Tiger was in the group in front so he cleared most everybody out. Couldn't believe how close we were. Another fun group to watch - Vijay should have been 5 or 6 under, just couldn't convert the putts. But Sergio is really something to watch - he shows tons of emotion. Then you see his gentle side. A kid was hanging out in a tree by the john on the 5th hole. They chatted and joked a little, and he flipped his ball over to him before the kid took off.
We did see some of the other pros as well - caught Weir, Pavin, and Cink for a hole or two. Even got to interact with Mr. Palmer. As far as the course is concerned - it has too much water for my taste. But, I think its a
great course for the pros. "Flogging" will not be effective here. The pros couldn't reach the 12th hole, only 530 yards. Players were not able to get the ball to the green from the rough at most times. It was pretty deep & thick - and the greens are firm enough that you just can't stop it from the rough. Combine that with the water around most greens and there is a definite premium on hitting the small fairways. Its interesting to see how the players make decisions on club selection. Vijay and Ernie were hitting lots of drivers, Retief mixed it up, and Tiger and Sergio hit quite a bit of irons off the tees. The most fascintating hole is #6 - just watching the different lines off the tee offers quite an insight into their thought processes. I think 18 misses the mark but it does provide for a lot of drama. There are some very good holes out there as well. However, I think its themes are a bit repetitive. Too many greens on the edge of the water, and the par 3s are all long slogs. I'd like to play it but not on an everyday basis - just too difficult. Reminds me a bit of Matt Cohn's drawing (no offense Matt - its just designed for really good players).
