[Anthony Butler]

Pretty indifferent results most of the second half of the season from GCA's Poster Boy.

Now DFL by 5 shots at the Tour Championship. HUGGAN?

Based on what I saw at the Matchplay in Feb. I thought he'd go about 20 under at NSWGC in December at the Aussie Open. He'd be lucky to crack their pennant team the way he's going now. CLAYTON?

Anyone else know of anything that would distract his mind from hitting the little white ball? Nothing on Twitter account to indicate anything's up...

[Rob Rigg]

Geoff's swing is very timing dependant which means that it can still look great at full speed (which it always does - fantastic tempo) but it does not deliver. I think that is why he tends to be a streaky golfer - it just comes and goes.

Watching him at the Matchplay was sick - I have rarely seen such accurate ball striking from a golfer over the course of a tournament. It was something to behold.

Or maybe he is just thinking about his next "tweet" too much . . .

I hope his game comes back, I really enjoy watching that tempo on the tube.

[Dean Stokes]

Maybe he's been hanging out with Adam Scott too much lately.

[George Pazin]

That's golf. Everyone has just had their standards completely blown away by the mind-numblingly consistent Tiger. Most guys go through hot and cold spells.

[Phil McDade]

One of the commentators last week (Kostis? Maybe Faldo?) looked at Stricker's swing, and talked about how it's become very simplified, and not dependent on timing, and thus Stricker's consistent play this year is tied to a swing he can knowingly repeat, again and again, and not have to depend in "timing."

So I think there are ways in which golfers can mitigate those hot and cold spells. Tiger famously talked about re-working his swing after his record-breaking win at Augusta in '97; he said he had a great "timing" week at the '97 Masters, but didn't think he had a swing that was repeatable under pressure and could endure the long run of the Tour (and the sustained push for his goals).

Rich Beem has also talked about how his swing is largely one of timing -- another real hot and cold player.

[Wayne_Kozun]

Stricker's swing may not be timing dependent but his game got so cold that he pretty much disappeared a few years ago and needed consecutive "comeback player of the year" titles to get back to the top of the rankings.

[Mike_Clayton]

Anthony,

Interesting question.He has been far from terrible - but nothing close to the way he was playing at the start of the year.
I have not seen him play so it is hard to tell how he is going. The putting is always a factor at that level - good play is inspired by the few extra putts you might make and it works the other way too.
It is often a interesting transition from being married with no kids to having two and either travelling or leaving them behind.Neither is particularly easy.
He is playing a lot over the next few months so it will be intersting to watch - especially at Kingston Heath and NSW.

[Andrew Bertram]

Geoff really only wants to be in one place this weekend, Melbourne at the AFL Grand Final.

Golf will not be the first thing on his mind.

His beloved St Kilda has not one a premiership since 1966 and have not made the grand final since 1997, he is good mates with some of the players and he would much prefer to be there with 100,000 mad Geelong and St Kilda supporters in the freezing cold and wet than at East Lake today.



 

[Tyler Kearns]

64 today at East Lake.

TK

[Phil McDade]

Stricker's swing may not be timing dependent but his game got so cold that he pretty much disappeared a few years ago and needed consecutive "comeback player of the year" titles to get back to the top of the rankings.

Wayne:

Stricker's problems were related almost solely to his inability to drive the ball with any accuracy. At one point, I think he was ranked dead last or near it in terms of total driving -- distance + accuracy. He came back to Madison and worked on his driving with his father-in-law -- a well-known golf pro in these parts -- out of a heated trailer during the winter months.

But he also worked on his swing that he uses with irons, and several commentators have noted that it's a pretty model swing for young golfers to follow. I think we sometimes forget that a lot of golfers at Olgivy's level are really top-tier athletes, and thus have the ability to "time" their swings to make it go where they want to. But I think those that do are subject to more ups and downs than other players.

[Anthony Butler]

Geoff really only wants to be in one place this weekend, Melbourne at the AFL Grand Final.

Golf will not be the first thing on his mind.

His beloved St Kilda has not one a premiership since 1966 and have not made the grand final since 1997, he is good mates with some of the players and he would much prefer to be there with 100,000 mad Geelong and St Kilda supporters in the freezing cold and wet than at East Lake today.
 

Go see St. Kilda in the Grand Final or collect $275k just for turning up at the Tour Championship? Without giving out the results to anyone yet to see the game, Geoff probably made the right choice,

Having seen Geoff twice in the flesh this year... World Matchplay and Deutsche Bank in Boston, his swing appeared to be substantially the same to my untrained eyes and he shot something like 270, so a couple more putts and he would have been right in it. I thought the fact he went 63-75 the last two rounds of the Memorial might have knocked his confidence down for a while. He's only played the majors and the Playoff events since. Today's round maybe the start of something... I hope so. Would love to see him take the Aussie Open this year.

BTW-the guy who kicked the winning point in St. Kilda's last premiership game is now the captain at New South Wales.  

[Danny Goss]

He cant be going too bad if he sits up until 4.00am watching the football in Melbourne and then goes out and shoots 6 under! I'll bet the rest of the field were well and truly tucked up in bed by then!

[Mike_Clayton]

My bet is that it was a pretty angry 64 after the Grand Final result.
Anthony- he was 63 75 at Memorial - but that 75 was largely trashed by making 9 with a wedge in his hand at 14.

[Anthony Butler]

My bet is that it was a pretty angry 64 after the Grand Final result.
Anthony- he was 63 75 at Memorial - but that 75 was largely trashed by making 9 with a wedge in his hand at 14.

If you're going to make a big number, Tour Championship results confirm that it's best to make it on Thursday... For those of you counting at home, Phil beat Tiger by 9 shots over the last three rounds.

With the 6 under weekend finish, Geoff's take for the week was $436,000. Should take some of the sting out of the Saints' loss.

[tlavin]

Unfortunately, he has a lot of company in the Flash in the Pan department.

[Mike_Clayton]

Terry,

are you suggesting he is a flash in the pan?

[Scott Warren]

4 wins, two of them WGC events, and 11 other top 10s in 48 tournaments over the past 2 years, after winning a Major... now that is some flash in the pan!

[Mark_F]

4 wins, two of them WGC events, and 11 other top 10s in 48 tournaments over the past 2 years, after winning a Major... now that is some flash in the pan!

For someone with his talent, he is a flash in the pan until he wins another Major, especially considering the circumstances of that win.

It's not like he strode up the 18th at Winged Foot with a three-shot lead.

[David_Elvins]

Unfortunately, he has a lot of company in the Flash in the Pan department.

Last 5 years.
Majors: 1 win, 6 top 10s in 20 majors.
World Golf Championships: 3 wins, 5 top 10s in 12 events.
over 150 weeks ranked n the world's top 10 golfers. 

[Mike_Clayton]

Mark,

It depends on how you define a flash in the pan (it is a stupid term anyway) - but he has played some pretty good golf in the almost 10 years he has been a pro.
And what about the circumstances of his win - he was one of four of the best players in the world who stood on that last tee with a chance to win - and the only one who didn't throw up all over himself  - quite the opposite in fact.

[Rob Rigg]

Aside from Tiger, every "top" pro golfer is streaky.

If you are not winning it does not mean you are playing crap golf right?

If 100 guys, or whatever, tee it up every week, think of the number of variables that are at play for any player to win.

Just to hoist one trophy you need to be at the top of your game, and that game needs to be better than every other guy in the damn tournament.

For GeO to win two legit tournaments this year, plus what he has done in the past, "flash in the pan" is a bit harsh.

One of the issues I have with ALL of the CRAZY money that the guys on the PGA Tour play for is - How can one stay sharp for the entire year after winning a couple of early tournaments and putting another $3 mil or so in the bank?

It is so easy to peace out after a crap round when it just doesn't matter if you win or compete for the rest of the season because you have probably locked in the majors and big money tournaments for that year and the next.

The incentive structure on the PGA Tour is just ridiculous. Too much cash for making the cut and not enough guys getting sent back to the Nationwide after finishing north of 75th on the money list.

[Brent Hutto]

Rob,

You suppose that the top players are motivated by making a lot of money. I don't doubt that's true for some people but some of the very, very best would be working at the game just as hard playing for ten thousand dollars as for ten million.

[Rob Rigg]

Brent,

Agreed - and that is the kind of passion we need out there.

Money does not matter for Tiger - obviously - but he brings it every single round.

I think if some of the other guys were fighting to pay their mortgage (at least on their second home), as they were 30 years ago, then Tiger would be challenged more often and the tournaments would be more exciting.

Seems like you have a few guys at the top who have this incredible passion, and then 100 robots who just do their thing from week to week, maybe a top ten, couple top 20s, and a few more cuts, collect $1M+ a year, keep their card and then do the same thing the following year and the following year.

That being said, these are the Top 150 or so golfers in the world which is a pretty incredible feat to begin with.

I just think the money is out of hand - which is not out of line with other sports.

[Mark McKeever]

I wonder what Scotty Cameron he is using.  He was putting lights out with that triple black tour newport for a while.

Mark

[tlavin]

Terry,

are you suggesting he is a flash in the pan?

You can't take his victories away from him, but he needs to win more consistently or he'll be worthy of the title...

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