Exhibit A (or B,C,D -- whatever we're up to): Tiger's Play on 17

[Mark Bourgeois]

Tiger's drive on 17 hit a tree high up, careening it down into the second cut, after which it took a big hop forwards until it hit another branch that threw it right down on the path.

The next shot -- incredible attempt -- put him in the bunker, which was bogeysville given the position of the hole and the slope of the green away from that bunker.

Now, no trees, what happens? His drive keeps going left of left, and now he's got no shot because the location of the hole, the bunker, and the fall-away slope of the green have put him way out of position -- the opposite side of where he needs to be.

Does he make bogey from there? Maybe, maybe not.  But more importantly he might lose a stroke to the field because he played the hole wrong relative to the hole location. The correct line to that hole (on a treeless hole) is right center or right.

Mark

[tlavin]

I see your point Mark, but let's face it, 17 wasn't much of a hole before the changes.  Also, it's hard to use this as an example when  you consider that Tiger absolutely smothered his drive and was lucky he had any kind of a shot to the green at all.  The bogey was much more the result of the tee shot than the pine grove.

[tlavin]

Are we to believe that the "changes" caused Appleby's triple bogey?  I think it's a failure of the gag reflex...

[Rick Shefchik]

When you hit it left of the Eisenhower tree when you're leading the Masters, design theory had absolutely nothing to do with it.

[Rich Goodale]

Rick is right.

And, I'm inclined to believe that Tiger hit a GREAT shot that was unlucky to have been plugged in the bunker.  If he's got a clean lie from that position (not downhill, IMO), he'll be up and down in two 80% of the time, and probably leading by 1 today.