NOT OT: Bubba's driver off the deck on 18 yesterday

[PThomas]

have you guys seen the shot?  Bubba slung a driver big-time right to left, using the slope there- the ball must have ran at least 50 yards on the ground -  to within 10 feet for eagle

the word "great" is far too overused, but that was truly a great shot

[Peter Ferlicca]

It was the coolest looking golf shot I have ever seen.  That doesn't mean it was the most miraculous shot I have seen, but when we are ranking shots by the creativity factor that has to rank right up there.

He hit a cut that was moving immediately off of the clubface to the left, it probably moved over 50 yards to the left.  Then it hit the ground rolled left another 50 yards, barely creped on the green and released 30 more feet right below the pin.  It was a definitely a shot that fits john kirks theory of a ball rolling more to provide excitement.

[Sam Morrow]

Hogan was never good enough to hit that shot.

[Phil McDade]

Well, I didn't see the shot, but that's a pretty typical shot on the 18th at that course -- one Coore and Crenshaw envisioned with the lay of the land. Els hit a closer one with a huge, sweeping draw (3-wood?) a few years ago.

Watson cuts EVERYTHING -- it's his natural swing.

[D_Malley]

If somebody ever hits a solid slinger with a driver, that will be a great shot, but because he's lefty, it was a cut shot.  Nobody can hit a solid hook with a driver...

Good point....this play really could only be pulled off by a lefty

[PThomas]

If somebody ever hits a solid slinger with a driver, that will be a great shot, but because he's lefty, it was a cut shot.  Nobody can hit a solid hook with a driver...

Good point....this play really could only be pulled off by a lefty

man you guys are a tough crowd!

[rjsimper]

The most impressive part is not the fact that he hit a 50 or 100 or 800 yard cut with a driver off the deck. Plenty of people can do that.

The most impressive part is that he did it off a severely downhill lie.

[jeffwarne]

Hogan was never good enough to hit that shot.

He could've easily hit that shot
...... then a crisp wedge

[JESII]

I figured the most impressive part was that he got the distance just right...

[Adam Clayman]

Shivas. Just like no one plays the ground game ?  Btw, you're wrong. Been there done that.

[PThomas]

Hogan was never good enough to hit that shot.

He could've easily hit that shot
...... then a crisp wedge

i was surprised, no stunned,  when Dan jenkins, the Keeper of the Hogan Flame, wrote a few years ago that Tiger plays shots that Hogan never did

[Mark Chaplin]

Playing around the par five 15th(?) at Olympia Fields North I pushed my tee shot into the right rough and was severely blocked out by the trees and 250+ from the green. My rather beautiful young caddie informed me Woods had hit the green from a similar place in the Open with an iron. I haven't seen the shot but it must have been pretty special. Needless to say I told her not to expect a similar result!

[Phil McDade]

OK, I'm sure it was a good shot.

But run-out on that hole is as much a feature of good luck as execution, isn't it? I mean, the odd bounce or two here or there and the ball's 30 feet off-line.

And a cut off a downhill lie for a lefty -- he's going to be falling out of his stance that way anyway, isn't he? Isn't the tendency off downhill lies to push things to the right (if you're a righty; left if you're a lefty), while the tendency off uphill lies is to pull things off to the left (if you're a righty; it's a pull to the right if you're a lefty)?

[PThomas]

Playing around the par five 15th(?) at Olympia Fields North I pushed my tee shot into the right rough and was severely blocked out by the trees and 250+ from the green. My rather beautiful young caddie informed me Woods had hit the green from a similar place in the Open with an iron. I haven't seen the shot but it must have been pretty special. Needless to say I told her not to expect a similar result!

i heard the same story from a member the last time i played there mark

[Chris Roselle]

Back in college I played in a few tournaments with Bubba down in Mobile, Ala. and I kid you not he hit it 100 YARDS past me.....But the most amazing thing about his game was his ability to hit any shot imaginable...He played in one tournament where he hit EVERY shot right to left in Round 1 and EVERY shot left to right in Round 2 and I think he shot 70 in the 1st and 71 in the 2nd....

[PThomas]

OK, I'm sure it was a good shot.

But run-out on that hole is as much a feature of good luck as execution, isn't it? I mean, the odd bounce or two here or there and the ball's 30 feet off-line.

Phil, some die-hard GCA ground game proponents (NOT me, btw) are probably wishing you bodily harm re your above statement!

[Peter Pallotta]

I figured the most impressive part was that he got the distance just right...

Tee, hee

He must've laid up off the tee to just the right distance. These guys know exactly how far they hit their drivers off the deck...well, at least within ten feet or so

[Steve Lapper]

So much for the Tiger-era claim of not being able to work the ball with modern equipment!

[Phil McDade]

OK, I'm sure it was a good shot.

But run-out on that hole is as much a feature of good luck as execution, isn't it? I mean, the odd bounce or two here or there and the ball's 30 feet off-line.

Phil, some die-hard GCA ground game proponents (NOT me, btw) are probably wishing you bodily harm re your above statement!

Paul:

The greatest thing about the ground game -- and the reason more courses and architects ought to embrace it -- is the very notion of uncertainty, and bad luck, and the odd bounce, and the (alleged) "unfair" result. I mean, is there nothing more boring that someone sitting in a fairway, marching off yardage to the inch, then going to his 8-iiron, with no other outcome than whether he can hit the 8-iron well or not? Yawn.

The ground game produces more uncertainty to the game -- a good thing, I'd suggest, because it leads to more thinking on the course. As in, should I try this approach, or that approach? Will the ground option yield a Bubba shot, or something else altogether? And, I'd argue, the ground game is more democratic (small d); lots of folks struggle carrying that stupid creek fronting the green from 150 yards out. The ground game allows more players more ways to play the game.

[Matt_Cohn]

This is the video for those who didn't see it:

http://www.pgatour.com/video/r/highlights/top_shots/2011/01/06/mine_11hyundai_rnd1_18_2nd_eag_watson_25804.pgatour/index.html

The replay is from a much cooler angle than the live shot.

[Jim Hoak]

Not to get off point--but what is there about drivers off the deck?  Does it help your overall game to be able to do that?  A few years back, I watched Vijay warming up at the Masters before an early round and he hit drivers off the deck for 45 minutes.  I have no idea what he was trying to accomplish, since I don't think there are any (many?) drivers off the deck at Augusta.

[JNC Lyon]

Well, let's see...

Bubba hit the longest drive of the day at 18, and he still had about 320 left to the center of the green.  He hit a driver off a downslope that most of us Continental US golfers probably cannot imagine.  He had a canyon between him and the hole, which is why had to cut the ball so much with the driver.  He played for the perfect amount of curve, which is almost impossible considering how much he was trying to curve the ball.  He could have made nearly an identical swing and had the ball end up in the grandstands on the right or the ravine on the left.  Then, of course, the ball ended up 10 feet from the hole.  To top it off, he made the putt for eagle.

Bubba's second shot on 18 was definitely the shot of the day, and it was phenomenal!  Was there some luck involved?  Sure, but there is luck involved in every great shot.  Great shots involve taking some sort of risk.  Bubba's shot was something that most tour pros would never try in a tournament, but he pulled it off with flying colors.  It was a thrill to watch live.  It also reminded me why it is worth watching PGA Tour golf on any given day--you'll probably see something you've never seen before.

[JESII]

Why is the course so soft?


Jim Hoak,

Just a guess, but I'd imagine Vijay can get to the point with his ball striking that only a driver off the deck would reveal any kinks. It also sounds like a pretty good way to ingrain a smooth tempo...but you better be good enough to hit most of them on the clubface.

[PCCraig]

That was an awesome shot.

I can hit a slinger hook with the best of them, but off that lie with a driver I wouldn't have a chance. Bubba and his slice sure makes it easier to get it off the ground with a little loft.

[Phil McDade]

Better, and riskier:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szjQ1-jS9L8