Who's going to get fired?

[mike_beene]

Are they red staking holes like 9? And /or do they have any drop circles?

[Bill_McBride]

The last time I played the Blue was in 1975 - 40 years ago! - and it was a really good golf course, lots of fun.  I remember #1 as a short par 5 with so much sand in front all you could see was the top of the flagstick.  I felt like Lawrence of Arabia.   I'll never forget how safely I played #18, it's hard to believe you could play that far right and not be in a parking lot.  An easy 5 was definitely the best play, even so the pitch was tricky. 

[Jeff Tang]

I've played both Doral Blue and PGA National Champions and I think Jason's analysis is right on the money. The only thing I'd add is I think the Blue Monster is really well designed from a fairway bunker standpoint. It seems wherever you want to go there is a bunker to contend with whereas with the Champions course it's more about execution and just hitting it long and straight versus the more strategic from the tee aspect at Doral.

[Jason Thurman]

He hit a fade from 240 yards to a firm green that slopes left-to-right and that has water pinching in on the right side. I don't know why he'd be shocked that his ball didn't check up.

Do we know that he hit a fade? I don't think he did. We do know that his ball hit on the left side of the green.

I presume that Holmes hit a fade in the same way that I presume people in England were driving on the left side of the road yesterday. I don't have direct video proof that either of these things happened, but based on past experience I would bet large amounts of money that they did. Holmes draws the ball about as often as my grandfather.

[jeffwarne]

Trump may have a meltdown with two aces on #4 today

To be fair to Trump, when I first played that hole in 1983 it was 237 yards from a tougher angle further left which was max 3 wood for me then.(might be a 5 wood for me now that I'm 32 years more "fit")

Dustin hit 7 iron from 207-JB probably hit the same or 6

[Patrick_Mucci]

Jeff,

I've played the course a few times in 2014 and it's a stern challenge, especially as the wind velocity increases.

In reflecting about the course, it's a hard course to play "safe" on.

Laying back doesn't always provide you with an advantage

[jeffwarne]

Patrick,
If "laying back always provided you with an advantage"?
Why would anyone ever go for it?

I'm just saying that the holes aren't bordered by OB like so many of the holes at PGA national with water in play on the other side where the option is simply to execute with no bail.

You see a lot of wide misses end up badly out of position at Doral whereas at PGA National there's not room so they have to challenge the hole as laid out with no bail options.

The course is hard no matter how one chooses to play it.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Patrick,
If "laying back always provided you with an advantage"?
Why would anyone ever go for it?

Jeff,

Must I teach you everything ?

Laying back usually adds a stroke to your score, going for it can produce big numbers.
Golfers, ever ego driven, want to try to make the par or birdie, therefore, they'll go for it rather than settling for bogey.
The "advantage" is in avoiding big numbers, and not in shooting a lower score.

I'm just saying that the holes aren't bordered by OB like so many of the holes at PGA national with water in play on the other side where the option is simply to execute with no bail.

There comes a time when it almost doesn't matter, especially if you're content with ESC.

You see a lot of wide misses end up badly out of position at Doral whereas at PGA National there's not room so they have to challenge the hole as laid out with no bail options.

I wasn't comparing Doral with PGA National, you must have me confused with Mark Fine.

The course is hard no matter how one chooses to play it.

I believe I stated that.
And, I went further by saying that laying back doesn't give you that incremental feeling of security.

[D_Malley]

I'm not sure if it has been mentioned on here, but I thought the big architectural talking point this week was the tilt of the 1st green on JB's second round - was that 10 or 1? He hit an absolute bullet left centre that I assumed would get to within 10 or so feet - it kept feeding and feeding until it eventually found water. It seemed that from a nailed drive in the middle of the fairway, the margin for error was bordering on non-existant - it certainly looked absurd - thoughts?

Just because your drive puts you in a position where you can reach a par 5 in two shots, does not mean that is the correct play.

[Brent Hutto]

Is a fairway wood shot bounding over the 15th green at ANGC more or less unfair than a fairway wood shot bounding off the right side of the 1st green at Doral?