O.T.Where will Tiger finsh in this open

[Michael Dugger]

It looks like a bloodbath today.

[Jud_T]

McDowell looks really solid.  Was it a brutal setup when he won last time?

[Phil McDade]

McDowell looks really solid.  Was it a brutal setup when he won last time?

No -- pretty typical Pebble Beach in June, and it got hard the last day with some wind and tough pins. He won w/ E, after entering the final round -3 and trailing Dustin Johnson by three, who fell apart.

McDowell leads the Tour in driving accuracy -- not surprised he's doing well at Olympic.

[Mac Plumart]

Tiger lookin' good!

[Terry Lavin]

McDowell looks really solid.  Was it a brutal setup when he won last time?

I disagree with Phil. The Pebble setup was as close to unfair as you can come. The course was getting close to asphalt hard by the end.

[Michael Dugger]

The thing about Tiger thus far is he has played better than his score indicates.

And I think he has had some tough breaks, but worked through them. I mean c'mon, everyone is going to have to deal with some brutal bounces.

But I can really imagine a scenario where Tiger puts it all together.  I think he has survived his portion of bad breaks, and I foresee at least one 18 round on the weekend where he throws up 3-5 birds and wins this thing.

He has hit the ball and managed his game as well or better than anyone. With some luck and a streak of hot play, this tournament is his.

[Jud_T]

Michael,

He's won 8 out of 9 times when at least tied for the lead after 36 holes in a major so there's little luck involved. 

[Randy Thompson]

I give him 15%-20% chance of winning, 80% chance of finishing in the top 5 and 5% chanvce of not making the cut. How bout ya all? Speak now or forever hold your peace!

Tiger has played in 65 professional majors and won 14. So you think he is playing as good as he has vs the field  as he ever has?  With a a missed cut, and a couple of 40th places, I just don't think he has separated himself from the field like he used to. He is a top ten player in the world not the top player inthe world. 10% would be extremely high and closer to 3-5% I would but into, but 15-20%. Vegas will take those odds and make money betting against.

Remember this is the Olympic club............

Being that it is the olympic club is exactly why I gave those percentages. He is currently ranked fourth but held the number one spots over 500 weeks, for me that alone makes him the top player in the world and alive. Vegas won´t make any money this weekend betting against him.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Re Tigers strategy.

I wonder if he's taking irons off the tee's for 2 reasons.

1  To find more fairways

2  To have a longer club coming in.
Bear with me, as this is counter intuitive to how the modern player favours driver and “bomb and gouge”; but it worked for him at Hoylake. Rory gave the reason for his failure was he couldn't adjust to the need to bounce the ball on to very hard greens.  Maybe Tiger figures it's easier to bounce one on with a mid iron in your hand than with a short iron or wedge where you will not get the forward momentum? Is this as important as no 1 reason?

[Jud_T]

Pretty sad when a kid from Northern Ireland gets flummoxed by having to use the ground game...

[Jud_T]

Brian,

I realize that, but you'd think he'd have had a better chance of playing a few links courses growing up than your average kid from Bagdad, Florida.

[archie_struthers]

 

He has never had more control of the ball than he does now, particularly the tee shot.  If he starts putting , which is still the big if, it's going to be awfully hard to beat him.  

When he once again believes he's the best , and his  confidence is growing , he'll mash them again .


Remember what Trevino said about Nicklaus.      "it's not that he know he's better than us , or we know he's better than us, but he knows that we know he's better than us" .

[Phil McDade]

McDowell looks really solid.  Was it a brutal setup when he won last time?

I disagree with Phil. The Pebble setup was as close to unfair as you can come. The course was getting close to asphalt hard by the end.

Terry:

Oakmont and Winged Foot, among recent Opens, have played much harder than PB the last time around. Both had winning scores at +5. They also yielded fewer under-par rounds during the championship.

[Terry Lavin]

Phil,

WF and Oakmont are not comparable to Pebble.

[archie_struthers]

 

I watched Tiger play Thursday and Friday  and am quite frankly shocked he might be out of the hunt in this Open. It appeared he was back and poised to kill going into the third  round.  Just shows that it is so hard to climb back up the hill. His ball striking appeared fabulous, but the stinger devolved into a weak block and rock yesterday.




. Of course , don't forget Johnny Miller and his 63, so anything is possible.

[PCCraig]

. Of course , don't forget Johnny Miller and his 63, so anything is possible.

How can you when Johnny is in the booth? 

[archie_struthers]

   

"how can you when Johnny's in the booth


Now that's funny !!!!!!

[Niall C]

Last night was my first glimpse of this years US Open and it made compelling viewing. First off, I really like the look of the course. The SKY sports coverage in the UK was on the whole pretty decent, even Monty in the commentary box was a lot better than he usually is.

Tiger struggled from the first to the last. He could still win it but I think there's too many good players in the way who are no longer scared of him. All credit to him though, even though he was clearly out of sorts and feeling the strain, he didn't chuck it. A lesson there for young Rory I think.

Niall

[Kalen Braley]

I just can't wait to see the precious looks on everyone's face, especially Tiger, after he drops a messy 76 in the afternoon round tommorow as the course bakes out...

So I was off by a day....which is worse for him, cause now he only has one round to make it up.  He's going to need at a minimum a 67 to get to +1 where he might have a chance....more likely a 66 thou.

Safe to say, stick a fork in him...Tiger is D-U-N!!

[Sean Leary]

Once again, it seems like Tiger is just like the other top tier players. Human.

[Kalen Braley]

Once again, it seems like Tiger is just like the other top tier players. Human.

Exactly, human again...certainly still not the Tiger of old.

The old Tiger would have gone Terminator out there and dropped a 67 yesterday to crush the will/spirit of everyone.

[Terry Lavin]

If Tiger had putted like his playing partner Furyk, he'd be leading now. As it is, he'll get another Top 5, which ain't much for him.

[Garland Bayley]

If Tiger had putted like his playing partner Furyk, he'd be leading now. As it is, he'll get another Top 5, which ain't much for him.

I guess you didn't see Tiger's chip shot on 18 yesterday. What I saw was Tiger missing in the wrong places, while Jim missed in the right places, and got up and down.

Once again, welcome to the new Tiger folks. GMac for one has his number.

[Sean Leary]

His basic short game continues to be subpar. That to be seems to be his biggest shortfall.....

[Terry Lavin]

If Tiger had putted like his playing partner Furyk, he'd be leading now. As it is, he'll get another Top 5, which ain't much for him.

I guess you didn't see Tiger's chip shot on 18 yesterday. What I saw was Tiger missing in the wrong places, while Jim missed in the right places, and got up and down.

Once again, welcome to the new Tiger folks. GMac for one has his number.

What would I do without you?  Of course I saw that chip. Furyk would've made the putt.