Are you kidding me? Play suspended for wind?

[Jim Franklin]

How hard does the wind blow in Bandon? Will we have to stop play?

[Matthew Petersen]

And I don't care what you say, playing in high winds (as long as it isn't cold and rainy) is fun.  Down.  Right. Fun.

Growing up in West Texas I never reveled in the joy of playing in high winds. It was not fun, it was torture.

Playing in a match in Andrews I watched a kid putt the ball up to the hole 5 times and it blew back to him each time so he finally got smart and putted it about 30 feet past the hole and remarkably it stayed put. So he faced a 30' downwind putt. He never finished. Another kid on my team skyed a 5 wood off the tee of a 140 yard hole and it actually came back over his head to the green behind him. If you think that is fun you don't know what you're talking about.

I played a round on the Big island of Hawaii a bit like that.

We came to a par 3 over water that was playing about 150 but dead into a howling wind (nothing like the winds on the Big Island). I had the honor and decided it was a 3 club wind, so I hit a 4 iron. I hit it well and hard and it took off and then almost immediately ballooned straight up into the air before coming down about five yards in front of us. That was one day that just wasn't even fun.

[Martin Toal]

I played St Andrews New a few years ago on a June in Friday teeing off at 1pm. The fact that the last group before us teed off at 11.15 should give a clue to the weather. There was a wind meter on the clubhouse roof which was showing 35-45 mph winds. I asked the pro whether he thought it would calm a bit, and he replied in a Northern Ireland accent not unlike my own "No chance, mate. If you're going out in that, you are f***ing nuts"

The first at TNC is a 345 yard par 4. My +2 handicap colleague hit 2 1-irons and was still 20 yards short. We had one birdie between a 3 ball of single figure handicappers. I hit a running semi duck hooked driver, a career 3 wood and a thinned 4 iron to a 485 yard par 5 and holed a putt. We all hit driver at a 185 yard par3. Nobody reached the green.

My +2 friend who had been a student and post-doc at St andrews Uni said he had never played in such a wind before, and was not planning to try to break his new record.

[Sean Leary]

Any comments on Phil's whining after his round? Unreal the free passes he gets here...

[Melvyn Morrow]

Sean

You are not still at it, who's whinning now

Melvyn

[Garland Bayley]

Did Phil whine? Well shame on him!

Some one please tell Phil not to go across the pond anymore.

[Dan Boerger]

Playing golf in those sort of winds might, in fact, be fun. Or, at least very different.

Earning a living in golf in those sort of winds would certainly NOT be fun for me.

[Rick Shefchik]

I agreed with the decision to suspend play -- it gave me time to mow the lawn. But it also occurs to me that one of the main reasons Jack Nicklaus always hovered his putter behind the ball, rather than ground it, was so that he wouldn't be penalized (or bothered overmuch) if his ball moved in windy weather. Smart guy.

[Sean Leary]

Any comments on Phil's whining after his round? Unreal the free passes he gets here...

I watched Phil's interview on ESPN and he was putting all the blame on himself. You must have seen a different interview.

He changed direction quickly, of course, because he isn't dumb,and knows it won't look good.. I actually have no problem when these guys make honest comments in the heat of the moment right after a round. I just think Tiger gets singled out.

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/britishopen10/columns/story?columnist=harig_bob&id=5385425

[Sean Leary]

Sean

You are not still at it, who's whinning now

Melvyn

Funny for you, of ALL people, to make this sort of comment....

[Fred Yanni]

I will say this - it gets pretty tiring hearing the masses revolt everytime Tiger or Phil say something.  Try Imagining having 2 bad days at the office then being forced to comment on it immediately after walking to your car.   Then a bunch of people all over the world, most of whom have no idea what they are talking about, start ripping you through every media outlet possible because they disagree with what they heard you may or may not have said...     Time to start cutting these guys some slack.

[Wade Whitehead]

The problem is simple: The greens are too fast.

WW

[Phil McDade]

Guys:

Get real please.

The example of the 3rd round from Muirfield was a joke and it scerwed Tiger royally -- among others.

That round should not have continued.

Matt -- Tiger did not get screwed royally. He played a bad round in very bad weather. Others who went off in similar conditions did not play as badly.

Tiger went off w/ O'Meara, both at 138 through two rounds, and shot 81. Soren Hansen and Thomas Levet went off at 138, and they shot 73 (Bjorn) and 74 (Levet). Soren Hansen went off at 137, and shot 73. Des Smyth went off at 137, and shot 74. Maruyama, famous for crouching behind a sign during a particularly bad stretch of weather, went of at 136 and shot 75. Harrington went off at 136 and shot 76. Even O'Meara, Woods playing partner that day, shot 77 -- matched by Tiger, that would've left Woods only two strokes out of the playoff following his Sunday 65. Bad weather, yes, but bad golf as well.

[Tim Pitner]

Matt,

On what basis would that round at Muirfield have been discontinued?  Too cold? 

As I recall, the eventual winner Els teed off not too far ahead of Woods that day.  It was Elkington and Appleby who were the real beneficiaries--they played early on Saturday, scored well and vaulted up the leaderboard, landing in that crazy two-group playoff. 

[David Lott]

A bunch of guys who weren't there of course know better than the people responsible for the tournament, who are.

[Ulrich Mayring]

The Phil Mickelson interview was not only absolutely classy, but brutally honest as well. Try to get a statement like this from Tiger, where Phil says he needs perfect conditions tomorrow, play a perfect round and then have the wind howling in the afternoon in order to get into contention. That's exactly his situation, but Tiger would have probably said something blahblah this or other.

As far as suspending play because of balls moving on the green - I agree somewhat with both sides of the argument. Fact is, wind is part of links golf and it sucks to suspend play because of it, period. Fact is also that players can't be blamed for trying to score as low as possible within the rules.

So the logical solution would be to change this rule. If the wind blows a marked ball away, replace it without penalty - just like you would do it when an outside agency (bird, greenkeeper) takes away the ball. Hitting a moving ball should also without penalty on the green, if the ball had been at rest, when you addressed it. So there, easy.

Ulrich

[George Pazin]

A bunch of guys who weren't there of course know better than the people responsible for the tournament, who are.

Introducing thought into the argument - that's way out of line, my good man!

The Phil Mickelson interview was not only absolutely classy, but brutally honest as well. Try to get a statement like this from Tiger, where Phil says he needs perfect conditions tomorrow, play a perfect round and then have the wind howling in the afternoon in order to get into contention. That's exactly his situation, but Tiger would have probably said something blahblah this or other.

Actually, I've heard Tiger say very similar things when he has trailed by a lot, which granted isn't often.

-----

I wonder if Tiger's weather critics will give him any credit for today...

[JohnV]

If a ball that was lifted can not be replaced in any place where it will come to rest due to the wind, it is no longer golf.  Suspension of play was the only option at that point.

We talked about the possibility of this at the rules meeting before the US Open this year, but thankfully the wind never blew that bad at Pebble Beach.

Melyvn, you are castigating the R&A for doing this, but it isn't the first time.  They also had to do it in 1998 at Brikdale.  I also believe it was done at a Senior British Open at Turnberry once although that entire round might have been blown away.

For people like Jay who say, "Well I've played in worse."  Perhaps you have, but I doubt you played under the Rules of Golf the entire time.

[Brian Phillips]

Peter Alliss had it nailed.  The players all want the greens to be fast, but then when they are fast the wind makes putting impossible, and then they want play to be called.

Tom, I have never heard a pro golfer complain that links greens are too slow, not on the radio or on TV.  I have heard them say it for parkland golf but never at a links tournament.

It is a bad situation.  I agree that it's hard to mark your ball and line up the cheater line when the ball might move on the green, but it is also true that when the wind is blowing 35 the players WANT THEM TO STOP PLAY and some may worry about the ball moving on the green more than is warranted.

I don't think it is a bad situation at all.  The winds were gusting up to 42 mph at one stage. That is a little freakish even in Fife especially in July.  They had to stop for less than an hour, that is no big deal. 

I think you are being harsh on the Pro golfer as well, of course they would like the R&A to stop the tournament if their ball is oscillating and is affecting their concentration and could cost them a stroke.

[Tim Pitner]

I wonder if Tiger's weather critics will give him any credit for today...

Sure, George.  I haven't seen much of his round, but it appears that he's hung in there well.  Of course, it remains to be seen whether (1) the weather will continue (sounds likely) and (2) Tiger can win (which I sense won't happen, but you can never discount). 

[Tom_Doak]

Tom, I have never heard a pro golfer complain that links greens are too slow, not on the radio or on TV.  I have heard them say it for parkland golf but never at a links tournament.

I think you are being harsh on the Pro golfer as well, of course they would like the R&A to stop the tournament if their ball is oscillating and is affecting their concentration and could cost them a stroke.

Brian:

I thought it was time someone was a bit harsh on the pros.

To your first point, I thought Tiger himself said earlier this week that he prefers the greens faster and that was one of the main reasons he'd switched putters -- not exactly the same as saying the greens are too slow, but that was surely part of his point.

To your second point -- in the old days, if the ball was oscillating, you just made damned sure you didn't sole your putter.  Yes, it affects their concentration hugely and will likely cost them strokes.  I always thought that was the rub of the green.  Your remarks set the bar very low ... if they are going to suspend play every time players' concentration is affected and it might cost them shots, we'll soon be playing only on video games.

To me, they suspended play too soon ... basically Duffner just said he couldn't play and they stopped it.  Nobody tried to putt and had the ball move on them; it was still just a hypothetical problem.  And as I said in my first post, the players are ALWAYS going to try to find reasons to stop play when the wind is blowing 30-40 and they are facing a string of bogies in front of them.

[Garland Bayley]

Tom, I have never heard a pro golfer complain that links greens are too slow, not on the radio or on TV.  I have heard them say it for parkland golf but never at a links tournament.
...

It is well known that Ben Hogan complained significantly about the greens at Carnoustie being too slow. After which he went out and won the championship.

[David_Tepper]

"If a ball that was lifted can not be replaced in any place where it will come to rest due to the wind, it is no longer golf.  Suspension of play was the only option at that point.

We talked about the possibility of this at the rules meeting before the US Open this year, but thankfully the wind never blew that bad at Pebble Beach.

Melyvn, you are castigating the R&A for doing this, but it isn't the first time.  They also had to do it in 1998 at Brikdale.  I also believe it was done at a Senior British Open at Turnberry once although that entire round might have been blown away.

For people like Jay who say, "Well I've played in worse."  Perhaps you have, but I doubt you played under the Rules of Golf the entire time."

John VB -

Thanks for your knowledgeable and correct post. It is always helpful to get the facts to balance out the half-baked opinions and conjecture we all too often read here on matters such as these.

DT

[Rick Shefchik]

To me, they suspended play too soon ... basically Duffner just said he couldn't play and they stopped it.  Nobody tried to putt and had the ball move on them; it was still just a hypothetical problem.  And as I said in my first post, the players are ALWAYS going to try to find reasons to stop play when the wind is blowing 30-40 and they are facing a string of bogies in front of them.

I saw a shot of Duffner replacing his ball, then picking up his ball mark, after which the ball immediately rolled away from him. I think that was the point at which he called in the rules official. I'm not saying they definitively needed to stop play, but at that point at least one ball was beginning to move...

[Tom_Doak]

Rick:

I saw the same shot, and didn't understand it.  If he had removed the mark properly, and then the ball rolled away, I thought the rule was that he played it as it lies (from the new position).  No penalty.