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I like Snedeker early.
Mickelson arrives to the home hole 2 shots clear of the field. Tiger, wanting desperately to see his buddy complete the grand slam, is in the gallery. Phil, against the advice of Bones, pulls out driver and pulls it into the junk. He finds his ball is lodged on a stand of wirey grass and again ignoring Bones flails at it with a 7-iron. The shaft snaps with the bottom half of the club twisting and tuning toward the gallery. The broken head and remaining shaft lodge deeply into Tiger's left leg, just above the knee. Mickelson, still focused on the tournament glances over toward Tiger who is now prone and writhing in pain, and in a nod to his 80's upbringing, smiles and, under his breath, says "tits man" fully understanding the irony of his words. As Tiger receives medical care Phil and Bones trudge onward to his ball now lying cleanly but with a stand of the same wire grass very near. Phil figures he can manufacture a 73 yard hook with his 64° wedge and commands Bones "gimmie the lob". Assuming he will pitch out Bones lets out a sigh of relief and hands over the trusty 64. Phil, without a practice swing, takes his biggest backswing since the 1991 Tuscon and as he begins his forward swing is tackled by Bones. Rules officials gather and determine there was no attempt to hit the ball and this was all just good TV, might even make a series about it. Having now come to his senses, Mickelson pitches back to the fairway and wedges his ball onto the green some 3 feet from the hole. Phil fans are ecstatic and can be heard claiming victory, "he finally won, no way one of the best putters in the game misses this" to which a nearby fan, obviously a local, retorts "best putters in the gaaaaaaame... you are craaaaaaaaazeeee? He cannot make it from a fooooooooooooot". Mickelson, trying to take the 3/4" break out of the putt strokes a confident putt that catches the left edge and spins 13 feet down the hill. The crowd groans. Tiger, now on a stretcher carried by Hank Haney and Butch Harmon chuckles. Phil makes the comebacker to get into a Monday playoff with Joe Ogilvie. Ogilvie wins the playoff 72 - 77. Tiger retires from competitive golf citing total fulfillment.
Quote from: Terry Lavin on June 09, 2014, 07:27:12 AMIf the fact that the Women's Open is played next week persuades the USGA to avoid trying to engineer the course into green/brown asphalt runways and green/brown tortoise shell torture chambers, the winning score should be -7 or so. We will see some random results out of the sand/ wire grass hazards, but nothing like the typical six inch US Open rough. If it's a "soft" setup, we won't see a random (i.e.Michael Campbell) winner but more likely somebody like Rory McIlroy. If it gets too crunchy, especially on the greens, we will see a winner near par. Overall, the coverage will be led by the restoration and by Payne Stewart sentimentality. Overall it will be a good week for gca, perhaps the best ever. Having just watched a ten minute segment with Matty G. on Morning drive (including some "B roll" footage of Coore, Crenshaw and Mike Keiser on a private jet headed to Pinehurst) about Bill Coore, I'll venture to say that gca will get more positive exposure this week than ever before. All we need now is some TV time for Golf's Most Beloved Figure. Are there enough birdies out there to make it to -7? It seems like it would be tough to hit it close on enough holes to make enough birdies to negate the over par scores. Maybe if it is very soft...
If the fact that the Women's Open is played next week persuades the USGA to avoid trying to engineer the course into green/brown asphalt runways and green/brown tortoise shell torture chambers, the winning score should be -7 or so. We will see some random results out of the sand/ wire grass hazards, but nothing like the typical six inch US Open rough. If it's a "soft" setup, we won't see a random (i.e.Michael Campbell) winner but more likely somebody like Rory McIlroy. If it gets too crunchy, especially on the greens, we will see a winner near par. Overall, the coverage will be led by the restoration and by Payne Stewart sentimentality. Overall it will be a good week for gca, perhaps the best ever. Having just watched a ten minute segment with Matty G. on Morning drive (including some "B roll" footage of Coore, Crenshaw and Mike Keiser on a private jet headed to Pinehurst) about Bill Coore, I'll venture to say that gca will get more positive exposure this week than ever before. All we need now is some TV time for Golf's Most Beloved Figure.
Which big name will putt off a green?
Davis was building new tees 3 weeks ago. Something like a new 240 tee on a par three. This tournament will be seen as the end of the minimalist movement. People will beg for definition after hours of rulings after rulings. Worst US Open in modern history accentuated by a disputed champion.