Hey, Yang, it's a parking lot...!

[tlavin]

It was a stunning development, to be sure, but there's no doubt that Mr. Yang earned the trophy this week.  On Sunday, he beat Tiger by FIVE SHOTS to win the championship.  That just doesn't happen to Tiger.  Not on Sunday and not in a major.  If Mickelson had done what Yang did, we would all be discussing whether the real competition had finally arrived, but as it is, Yang will likely go down as a footnote.

[JSPayne]

Not to discredit Yang at all....that was one the best final round performances in a major I've seen in my lifetime (Rocco's is right up there too), but we all know Tiger and I honestly would have loved to see this one go at least in to a playoff, like it should have if Tiger really wasn't just playing his "B" game.

Tiger made great shots, even getting more aggressive on the back and just barely missing in several spots, hitting hard and bouncing off into NASTY rough.

But the real problem......

.....I literally counted 11 makable putts, albeit some as long as 20-25 ft, that Tiger missed. And Tiger just doesn't miss putts like that. You can say "oh, everyone's gonna have an off day and miss putts sometime" but in his short and spectacular history, Tiger never has, especially not in the final round of a major, with or without the lead.

So now the question burns......is Tiger falling slightly off his game or is his competition finally catching up to him? I lean toward the latter, as Yang hit some very Tiger-esk shots on Sunday. And should the latter be true, we're in for ALOT more really exciting and suspensful golf in years to come. I'm giddy with anticipation. 

[Richard Choi]

How could you say that Tiger missed 11 makeable putts and then turnaround and say that other players have caught up with him?

If Tiger had even a B putting game, he would have won. Tiger has shown time and again, especially this year, that it is not the driver or the irons determine whether or not he is going to win, but it really depends on the flat stick. Even when his other game is off, he can scramble enough to win a tournament as long as his putter is hot. But I really blame his Saturday round for the loss. He played prevent defense and all it did was prevent him from winning.

[PThomas]

the gritty Bruin

get it right Kalen - its always grittylittle Bruin

[JSPayne]

How could you say that Tiger missed 11 makeable putts and then turnaround and say that other players have caught up with him?

Richard,

You are partially correct.....my comments do seem like a bit of an oxymoron. Coupled with the fact that I am merely saying that the COMBINED competition provided by probably the next top 100 golfers is finally enough to give Tiger a real run for his money. I by no means believe that there is another "Tiger in the making" anywhere on tour yet that can give Tiger a mano-a-mano challange (though Rory McIlroy is peaking my attention), but the level at which Tiger plays I believe has finally gotten the majority of the rest of the players to really step it up a notch....some of them are getting more in shape, some are getting more creative with recovery shots, some are taking riskier shots more often, some are draining clutch shots (like Yang's eagle chip-in), some are throwing absolute DARTS in on every hole. What I'm saying is that the performance level of the Tour, it seems to me, has stepped up to Tiger's challange, and I like it.

Because, while fascinating, it does get rather repetitive when you can walk away for a few hours on a Sunday and come back and Tiger is STILL leading by 5. I've been watching alot more golf purely because of how dramatic many of the wins on Tour this year have been....with and without Tiger.

[Adam Russell]

Guys, I just got back from the UGA golf course today, and I've never seen so many Asians on one of the local golf courses before. It was slammed, like 9 different groups, mostly twosomes, most were walking and playing awfully bad. Did anybody else have a similar experience? I wasn't sure there would be much of a blip on the radar after yesterday, but this Yang guy might be spurring on a revolution...

[Richard Choi]

Looks like somebody agrees with me...

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/32443094/ns/sports-washington_post/

[Tom_Doak]

Bob H.:  I agree with your take on the four majors completely.

Yang's second on 18 was the Shot of the Year.  And all four majors were compelling and down to the wire.  Perhaps Matt Cohn should get a job as a golf writer on TV commentator, because he understands their view that the results were "disappointing," but that just goes to show that they're far from unbiased and they are unable to wait for the REAL story to be clear.  In fact, that's true of all reporting these days ...

Adam:  Maybe all those Asian guys are slighly less embarrassed about what you Georgians might think of them today.

[Matt_Cohn]

Tom - I can't tell if you're needling me or complimenting me!

In all four majors this year, the guy or guys that I *really* wanted to win all lost agonizingly. I recognize the big picture of all four of the events, but you can't blame me for being disappointed.

The one difference is that the PGA was exciting to the last shot, while the other three majors felt anticlimactic.

A lot of people were disappointed when the Jets beat the Colts in Super Bowl III, too.

I get to feel disappointed when my guy or my team loses. Golf is a still a sport, right?

[PThomas]

good to see Yang win...he might never have the chance again

which is the same reason why i rooted for Rocco last year, Mike Donald at Medinah,...........

[Jason Walker]

It cracks me up when people say "if only Tiger had his B putting  game" or he missed "11 makeable putts, including some 20-25 footers".  Are you really serious?  How many majors would Phil M have if he could have only knocked down a few clutch 5 to 10 footers?  You could make an argument for any high-level tour pro that if they only putted a little better they'd have had a chance.

Adam--how's the UGA course doing?  I figure I played about 150 rounds there in the early 90's but haven't played it in probably 10-12 years and obviously not since it was redone.

[Brent Hutto]

Yeah, if I made all my 25 footers last weekend I'd have shot 75 instead of 90.

[George Pazin]

The difference is, Tiger usually does make at least a few of those, certainly more than any other golfer in recent memory. I don't think anyone was saying he should have made all 11.

The really curious thing is that he said in his post round press conference that he only made 1 putt all day, the one on 14. How the heck did he post a score, not holing out the other 17? Guess there really are different rules for Tiger.

[PThomas]

The difference is, Tiger usually does make at least a few of those, certainly more than any other golfer in recent memory. I don't think anyone was saying he should have made all 11.

but as Brent said George EVERYONE can say i would have shot x if a , b and or C would have happened

a b and or c did NOT happen for Tiger yesterday, so he lost

[Matt_Cohn]

Can somebody please explain the title of this thread to me? Thanks. 

[Brent Hutto]

It's a Caddyshack reference.

That was my first thought when I saw the headlines this weekend, Tiger was up against Rodney Dangerfield's partner from Caddyshack!

[PThomas]

Can somebody please explain the title of this thread to me? Thanks. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=171FURqSIQc

[George Pazin]

The difference is, Tiger usually does make at least a few of those, certainly more than any other golfer in recent memory. I don't think anyone was saying he should have made all 11.

but as Brent said George EVERYONE can say i would have shot x if a , b and or C would have happened

a b and or c did NOT happen for Tiger yesterday, so he lost

Again, the difference is, Tiger almost always does it.

The rest of us can say, if we had done this or that, and I agree it has no meaning. Tiger REPEATEDLY does this or that, that's why it's not ridiculous to say "If he had only done this or that". I'm not arguing he played well and got bad breaks, I'm merely pointing out why it makes sense to mention the if's for Tiger and Tiger alone (at least among today's crowd).

[Richard Choi]

Let's go to the VIDEO TAPE!!!

Here is what Tiger did on the greens yesterday and compared with Tiger Wood's average for 2009;

1st - 6ft miss, tap in
2nd - 15ft miss, tap in
3rd - 35ft miss, 3ft in
4th - 4ft miss, tap in
5th - 4ft in
6th - tap in
7th - 30ft miss, tap in
8th - 15ft miss, tap in
9th - 35ft miss, 3ft in
10th - 12ft miss, tap in
11th - 40ft miss, tap in
12th - 15ft miss, tap in
13th - 15ft miss, tap in
14th - 12ft in
15th - 12ft miss, tap in
16th - 45ft miss, 5ft in
17th - 18ft miss, tap in
18th - 12ft miss, tap in

Putting from 3 to 5 feet: Average 92.79%, Final Round (75%, 3 of 4)
Putting from 5 to 10 feet: Average 61.98%, Final Round (50%, 1 of 2)
Putting from 10 to 15 feet: Average 30.59%, Final Round (12.5% 1 of 8 )
Putting from 15 to 25 feet: Average 13.13%, Final Round (0%, 0 of 1)
Putting from >25 feet: Average 8.63%, Final Round (0%, 0 of 5)

As you can see, he is below his average on EVERY distance stat. Putts from 10 to 15 feet really killed him. On an average round, he probably makes at least 3 more putts, in which case, Tiger would have won.

[Matt_Cohn]

Let's go to the VIDEO TAPE!!!

Here is what Tiger did on the greens yesterday and compared with Tiger Wood's average for 2009;

1st - 6ft miss, tap in
2nd - 15ft miss, tap in
3rd - 35ft miss, 3ft in
4th - 4ft miss, tap in
5th - 4ft in
6th - tap in
7th - 30ft miss, tap in
8th - 15ft miss, tap in
9th - 35ft miss, 3ft in
10th - 12ft miss, tap in
11th - 40ft miss, tap in
12th - 15ft miss, tap in
13th - 15ft miss, tap in
14th - 12ft in
15th - 12ft miss, tap in
16th - 45ft miss, 5ft in
17th - 18ft miss, tap in
18th - 12ft miss, tap in

Putting from 3 to 5 feet: Average 92.79%, Final Round (75%, 3 of 4)
Putting from 5 to 10 feet: Average 61.98%, Final Round (50%, 1 of 2)
Putting from 10 to 15 feet: Average 30.59%, Final Round (12.5% 1 of 8 )
Putting from 15 to 25 feet: Average 13.13%, Final Round (0%, 0 of 1)
Putting from >25 feet: Average 8.63%, Final Round (0%, 0 of 5)

As you can see, he is below his average on EVERY distance stat. Putts from 10 to 15 feet really killed him. On an average round, he probably makes at least 3 more putts, in which case, Tiger would have won.

I think you're overestimating the length of many of those putts, too!

[PThomas]

but he's had other problems putting recently too...a few recent Masters for one...

there was one Masters when he had great chances for eagle on 13 and 15 the last day, i mean 12 feet or so, and missed them both

you can play this what if game all day:  in the 67 Open at Baltusrol Jack hit 61 of 72 greens in regulations but putted like shit and came in 2nd by 4 i think...would a "typical" putting week for Jack had won for him?  of course but he putted like crap and lost

Tiger putted poorly, shot 75, and gave it away yesterday...a pedestrian 71 would have won for him

oh, and he hit a bad iron on 17 despit all the announcers telling us how pure it was, blah, blah, blah....all i know is he hit it over the green and made bogey

[John_Conley]

Can somebody please explain the title of this thread to me? Thanks. 

Please tell me you are kidding.

[Matt_Cohn]

Can somebody please explain the title of this thread to me? Thanks. 

Please tell me you are kidding.

Geeze, I can't say anything right on this thread, can I? Calm down John. I've seen Caddyshack 10 times.

[Carl Nichols]

Let's go to the VIDEO TAPE!!!

Here is what Tiger did on the greens yesterday and compared with Tiger Wood's average for 2009;

1st - 6ft miss, tap in
2nd - 15ft miss, tap in
3rd - 35ft miss, 3ft in
4th - 4ft miss, tap in
5th - 4ft in
6th - tap in
7th - 30ft miss, tap in
8th - 15ft miss, tap in
9th - 35ft miss, 3ft in
10th - 12ft miss, tap in
11th - 40ft miss, tap in
12th - 15ft miss, tap in
13th - 15ft miss, tap in
14th - 12ft in
15th - 12ft miss, tap in
16th - 45ft miss, 5ft in
17th - 18ft miss, tap in
18th - 12ft miss, tap in

Putting from 3 to 5 feet: Average 92.79%, Final Round (75%, 3 of 4)
Putting from 5 to 10 feet: Average 61.98%, Final Round (50%, 1 of 2)
Putting from 10 to 15 feet: Average 30.59%, Final Round (12.5% 1 of 8 )
Putting from 15 to 25 feet: Average 13.13%, Final Round (0%, 0 of 1)
Putting from >25 feet: Average 8.63%, Final Round (0%, 0 of 5)

As you can see, he is below his average on EVERY distance stat. Putts from 10 to 15 feet really killed him. On an average round, he probably makes at least 3 more putts, in which case, Tiger would have won.

This assumes that the greens at Hazeltine were playing at the Tour average of difficulty [or the average difficulty of those courses that Tiger played this year], but it looked to me like they were more difficult than the norm.  It wouldn't surprise me if the entire field putted worse, on average, than average tour stats.

[Richard Choi]

Carl, that would be true for most golfers, however, Tiger is a bit different.

Tiger has played very few events this year (12). That includes 4 majors + The Players and 3 WGC events. Other than the Buick Open, he has not played anywhere where greens were not "major quality".

And we all know that his putting is at least good as any other events if not better during the majors (at least majority of the times).