443 334 434 = 32 + 30-40 MPH of wind = Greatest Back 9 in Championship History?

[Brent Hutto]

I agree with Terry that the spectacular fairway wood approach on seventeen lacks the context to be up there with Sarazen's double-eagle or the other all-time memorable shots. It is certainly as fine a bit of ball-striking as I've seen but it didn't remotely decide the Championship.

Apparently on the BBC coverage when Harrington's iron shot flew over the flagstick on eighteen Peter Alliss said something like "Oh my, now he's just showing off". Same could really be said about the wood on seventeen, he was just putting on a clinic by that point.

Brent

I don't know which tourny you were watching.   The one I watched saw the approach to 17 nearly seal the deal.  I don't believe Harrington thought par was good enough on the 17th if he wanted to be almost assured of a two shot cushion on the last - hence the reason he chased after the birdie.

Ciao

I'm sure we watched the same tournament but perhaps we are remembering different endings. To my recollection, standing in the fairway on seventeen Harrington was at +5, Poulter had already posted his +7. Norman was at +8 and not in good position to reach the green. So Padraig had two shots over the clubhouse leader and only an unlikely eagle by Norman could even make it a contest, assuming a par from Harrington.

But perhaps I'm off on the details and it was tighter than the the 3-shot lead made it seem. At any rate, being in the fairway on the final Par 5, ahead by three with two to play versus the only guy still on the course isn't a super tight nailbiter. Still a brilliant shot in the wind under Championship pressure.

[Adrian_Stiff]

I agree with Terry that the spectacular fairway wood approach on seventeen lacks the context to be up there with Sarazen's double-eagle or the other all-time memorable shots. It is certainly as fine a bit of ball-striking as I've seen but it didn't remotely decide the Championship.

Apparently on the BBC coverage when Harrington's iron shot flew over the flagstick on eighteen Peter Alliss said something like "Oh my, now he's just showing off". Same could really be said about the wood on seventeen, he was just putting on a clinic by that point.

Brent

I don't know which tourny you were watching.   The one I watched saw the approach to 17 nearly seal the deal.  I don't believe Harrington thought par was good enough on the 17th if he wanted to be almost assured of a two shot cushion on the last - hence the reason he chased after the birdie.

Ciao

I'm sure we watched the same tournament but perhaps we are remembering different endings. To my recollection, standing in the fairway on seventeen Harrington was at +5, Poulter had already posted his +7. Norman was at +8 and not in good position to reach the green. So Padraig had two shots over the clubhouse leader and only an unlikely eagle by Norman could even make it a contest, assuming a par from Harrington.

But perhaps I'm off on the details and it was tighter than the the 3-shot lead made it seem. At any rate, being in the fairway on the final Par 5, ahead by three with two to play versus the only guy still on the course isn't a super tight nailbiter. Still a brilliant shot in the wind under Championship pressure.

yaay!!!! Finally someone is switched on!

[Mark Bourgeois]

I knew I wasn't crazy.  Check this link.  Man, I love the internet.

http://www.windfinder.com/wind-cgi/stationsbildseite.pl?STATIONSNR=gb23&DATUM=2008-07-20

Not sure where the "Liverpool" wind reading was taken; if the Met Office protocol is similar to the NWS it probably was taken at Lennon airport, which is fairly inland, particularly for a NW wind.

Why not pick Crosby, which is closer to S&A?

Crosby for Sunday:
http://www.windfinder.com/wind-cgi/stationsbildseite.pl?STATIONSNR=gb79&DATUM=2008-07-20

Note measurements are in knots.

[Garland Bayley]

I knew I wasn't crazy.  Check this link.  Man, I love the internet.

http://www.windfinder.com/wind-cgi/stationsbildseite.pl?STATIONSNR=gb23&DATUM=2008-07-20

What's your interpretation of the graph? My interpretation is that the wind maxed out on the final holes.

[Patrick_Mucci]

As to pressure, who puts pressure on Tiger ?  Billy Mayfair and Rocco Mediate are the only two, in a decade, that come to mind.

1998 Br Open....Tiger shot 66, but lost by two when O'Meara shot 68
1999 U.S. Open..Payne Stewart shot 70, 3rd lowest round of day, to beat TW (who also shot 70) by 2
1999 PGA           Sergio Garcia:  71, pushed Tiger to last hole
2000 PGA           Bob May: three 66's in a row, forced Tiger to shoot 31 final nine just to tie
2001 Masters     David Duval: 67...72 hole total 274...Tiger had to shoot 68 and 272 to win
2002 PGA           Rich Beem: 67, beat Tiger even though Woods staged furious rally on final 9
2005 Masters     Chris DiMarco: 68, forced playoff, beat all others by 7 strokes
2005 U.S. Open  Michael Campbell: 69, played near-flawless final 9, only player to match par for 72 holes
2006 Masters     Phil Mickelson: shot 69, played near-flawless golf final 18 to win
2006 Br. Open    Chris DiMarco: 68, Tiger had to shoot 67 (low round of day) to win by 2 at -18
2007 Masters     Zach Johnson: 69, low round of the day, to win, Tiger 2nd
2007 U.S. Open  Angel Cabrera: 69, 2nd-best round of the day, to beat Tiger by 1
 

Now show us the golfers who put pressure on Tiger when he was leading going into the final round and down the stretch.

Funny how the list thins out.

[Garland Bayley]

As to pressure, who puts pressure on Tiger ?  Billy Mayfair and Rocco Mediate are the only two, in a decade, that come to mind.

1998 Br Open....Tiger shot 66, but lost by two when O'Meara shot 68
1999 U.S. Open..Payne Stewart shot 70, 3rd lowest round of day, to beat TW (who also shot 70) by 2
1999 PGA           Sergio Garcia:  71, pushed Tiger to last hole
2000 PGA           Bob May: three 66's in a row, forced Tiger to shoot 31 final nine just to tie
2001 Masters     David Duval: 67...72 hole total 274...Tiger had to shoot 68 and 272 to win
2002 PGA           Rich Beem: 67, beat Tiger even though Woods staged furious rally on final 9
2005 Masters     Chris DiMarco: 68, forced playoff, beat all others by 7 strokes
2005 U.S. Open  Michael Campbell: 69, played near-flawless final 9, only player to match par for 72 holes
2006 Masters     Phil Mickelson: shot 69, played near-flawless golf final 18 to win
2006 Br. Open    Chris DiMarco: 68, Tiger had to shoot 67 (low round of day) to win by 2 at -18
2007 Masters     Zach Johnson: 69, low round of the day, to win, Tiger 2nd
2007 U.S. Open  Angel Cabrera: 69, 2nd-best round of the day, to beat Tiger by 1

The interesting thing about your list Jim is that only one name appears that many people might nominate as one of the greats that might be compared to the greats that rivaled Jack.  The question I am pondering is, will Padraig and Tiger go head to head at Augusta next year?

[JESII]

Garland,

I would venture to say...

O'Meara was great - certainly in 1998
Stewart was great
Sergio may yet prove great
Duval was great
Mickelson is great

[Garland Bayley]

Garland,

I would venture to say...

O'Meara was great - certainly in 1998
Stewart was great
Sergio may yet prove great
Duval was great
Mickelson is great

But in looking for Tiger's contemporary rivals O'Meara, Stewart, and Duval are done. So you come down to the same list as I do.

[JESII]

Jack overlapped with very few "greats" for more than a handful of years though, right?

[Phil McDade]

Garland,

I would venture to say...

O'Meara was great - certainly in 1998
Stewart was great
Sergio may yet prove great
Duval was great
Mickelson is great

Orville Moody certainly was great for that one week in June in 1969, too.

Let's see......

O'Meara -- 2 majors in the space of six months.
Stewart -- 3 majors.
Sergio -- bagel.
Duval -- 1 major.
Mickelson -- 3 majors.

Golfers who went head-to-head w/ Jack in one or more majors and actually, you know, came away with a win, which none of those guys (really) have done:

Player -- 9 majors.
Watson -- 7 majors.
Trevino -- 6 majors.
Palmer -- 6 majors.
Floyd -- 4 majors.
Ballesteros -- 5 majors.

Sully -- I'd argue you have a rather generous notion of greatness.

[JESII]

Phil,

I wouldn't argue against that last point...

[Mike Sweeney]

I knew I wasn't crazy.  Check this link.  Man, I love the internet.

http://www.windfinder.com/wind-cgi/stationsbildseite.pl?STATIONSNR=gb23&DATUM=2008-07-20

Shivas,

I love the internet too. As Mr Moore can attest from the Maine Island Tour, after spending 6 summers fishing in the Baltimore and Wilmington Canyons (100 miles off Jersey in the Atlantic), I do know coastal wind. Liverpool is a different world from Birkdale. 

Go about 3/4 down this page link for a video of Paddy's shot onto 17 green on Sunday. See "Shot of the day", go to Sunday, click the link, see Paddy's pant legs, see where the flag is, see where he is lined up, see where the ball starts off towards the left grandstand, see how the ball lands diagonal on the green when Paddy was center of the fairway, and then report back!

http://www.opengolf.com/Home/ChampionshipGolf/TheOpenChampionship/News.aspx#

[Mike Sweeney]

Back to back 32's on the Sunday back 9 of The British and now PGA. Is Tiger getting nervous?

Nah, but that was also very nice if not as impressive as The British Open.

[Jim Nugent]

Mike, I found it even more impressive.  Two 66's in a row.  Great shot after great shot, with supernatural putting.  And this time he was challenged right to his last putt. 

Stunning display of golf by Paddy.  Man, the Euros must be feeling awfully good about the RC. 

[CHrisB]

I knew I wouldn't miss Tiger being away. Just another incredible display by Harrington.

[Phil Benedict]

Harrington is the first guy in the Tiger era who really seems to relish the pressure of major championship golf.  He looked like he was enjoying himself today. 

Ironically, I switched to the Golf Channel when the PGA was decided and Harrington was doing a Playing Lessons on some links course.  He was talking about how golfers who grow up on links courses don't have the best swings because of the nature of links golf.  Said he spent the last 10 years developing a swing suited to other types of golf courses.  Maybe that's why he's a bit of a late bloomer.

[Garland Bayley]

I've been trying to tell you this guy is good. In a short amount of time he has already caught Els and Lefty, and he is just getting started.

[John Nixon]

Man, the Euros must be feeling awfully good about the RC. 

Because of one player? see: Woods, Tiger: presence on US Ryder Cup team.

[Rick Shefchik]

Last guy I saw drain that many crucial putts (other than Tiger) was Retief Goosen.

He was in the Big five for about a year, then the putts stopped dropping.

I'm as impressed as anyone by Harrington's year+, but I gotta see him do it a few more times. Floppy had a little run going a couple of years ago, too...

[Gerry B]

i agree about goosen - 2004 at shinnecock - unplayable greens - the only guy who made everything - everyone else crashed and burned

conversely the worst meltdown on a back nine has to be arnold palmer at olympic in 1966 - 32 on the front - 7 up with 9 to play - shoots 39 on the back and loses by 4 shots to billy casper in a playoff

[Jim Nugent]

Man, the Euros must be feeling awfully good about the RC. 

Because of one player? see: Woods, Tiger: presence on US Ryder Cup team.

Because at the PGA they had 3 of the top 4...4 of the top 9...probably 6 of the top 15 and 7 of the top 20.  Those players stepped up when the heat was on, playing good to great final rounds.  In Tiger's absence, Harrington has taken the mantle as world's best player.  Sergio is playing tremendous golf.    

Meanwhile, with one main exception, and maybe two smaller ones, the U.S. players were mostly invisible.  

[John Nixon]

Jim, stop using facts to support your argument.   

[Tom Birkert]

Amazing performance by Harrington, especially on the back nine, but I thought Sergio played incredibly well and his putter really is coming round for him.

The bogey on 18 was irrelevant given Harrington's putt that had just gone in. He recovered from the one bad shot he hit all day on 16 with a superb up and down, and then striping a fabulous iron on 17.

Sergio will win a major, I'm sure of that.

The best thing about the day for me was the Golfing Gods embarrassing mr JB Holmes. How he's allowed to get away with his slow play I do not know, but I find him impossible to watch. Thankfully his 7 on the first, coupled with a storming outwide 9 of +8 meant I didn't have to endure his OCD routine.

[Bill_McBride]

Mike, I found it even more impressive.  Two 66's in a row.  Great shot after great shot, with supernatural putting.  And this time he was challenged right to his last putt. 

Stunning display of golf by Paddy.  Man, the Euros must be feeling awfully good about the RC. 

66 + 66 = 132 on the last day of the Open on that course?  Could be the best single day of golf in majors' history, up there with Johnny Miller's 63 at Oakmont, but morning and afternoon rounds.  His putting down the stretch was unreal and demoralized Sergio.

[Jonathan Cummings]

I played golf with Andrew Magee (Magee will do the BBC broadcast for the Ryder Cup) Saturday and we both agreed that Harrington will be the most daunting player against the US at the RC.