Would Spieth have melted down had the course setup not been so severe

[Ben Sims]

I think there's a few facts--sprinkled with opinion--that have weight in this conversation. I don't think any of them are related to course setup.


1) The eventual winner shot a bogey-free 67 on Sunday in a major.


2) Spieth (or Greller) was stupid after the tee shot on 12. You're one of the best wedge players in the game. You have a known distance from the drop zone. You're still tied for the lead if you double bogey the hole. And you walk over to a random area in front of 13 tee (a notoriously soft turf area by the way) to take your drop? I was flabbergasted. I looked at the friend and said "he's going to chunk this." Fog and friction of war.


3) Even after the ridiculousness on 10-12, Spieth finished the week #1 in scrambling for the tournament. His ball-striking--other than a few glimmers here and there--was consistently off. A nervous fan-blocked mid-iron due to a pin position is one thing. Consistently standing up through shots and relying on a stupid-hot putter to save you isn't related to course setup.


I thought it was a terrific Masters. Much more entertaining than last year's tournament. Course setup is almost always more dependent on weather than pin location. The weather was pretty tough, the scores bore that out. They say the Masters doesn't start until the second nine on Sunday. That was true yet agajn.

[John McCarthy]

Way off thread, but isn't Dottie Pepper a gem? 

[Kalen Braley]

Forget all those past years..

Just last year 32 players finished under par.   Additionally, totally agree with 2 previous posts.

1)  Hellavu US Open
2)  Score depends far more on conditions than year to year setup.  With 3 days of big wind of course it would be much higher scores.

[Matt MacIver]

On 12 Spieth's ball crossed the hazard - why couldn't he drop across Rae's Creek?


He's the favorite at Oakmont, best putter on the planet.


Love Dottie.


Great Masters, and back nine, though I'm deflated like Jordan is. If Willett wins 6 majors this will go down as an all-timer.

[James Brown]

On 12 Spieth's ball crossed the hazard - why couldn't he drop across Rae's Creek?


He's the favorite at Oakmont, best putter on the planet.


Love Dottie.


Great Masters, and back nine, though I'm deflated like Jordan is. If Willett wins 6 majors this will go down as an all-timer.

Only time will tell, but there is a locker next to Geoff Ogilvy with Willet's name all over it. 

[Ryan Coles]

On 12 Spieth's ball crossed the hazard - why couldn't he drop across Rae's Creek?


He's the favorite at Oakmont, best putter on the planet.


Love Dottie.


Great Masters, and back nine, though I'm deflated like Jordan is. If Willett wins 6 majors this will go down as an all-timer.

Only time will tell, but there is a locker next to Geoff Ogilvy with Willet's name all over it.

Sure.

And DJ, Rickie and co are out changing in the car park.

[BHoover]

Only time will tell, but there is a locker next to Geoff Ogilvy with Willet's name all over it.

Regardless of how many other majors he wins, or what you think of him, he still won a green jacket and always will have that.

[Tim_Cronin]

Spieth would not have melted down if he hadn't fanned it out to the right so often. That's what killed him. Including the tee shot on 12, which starts the dominoes falling.


Kudos for him for admitting a botched third on 12, and for talking in general.


Course setup? I think everyone had to play it and the conditions.

[jim_lewis]

The set up on # 12 was the same as it has been every Sunday for decades. The only player I ever saw challenge that pin on Sunday, make birdie, and go on to win was Crenshaw in 1984. You simply can not flirt with the right side of that green unless you are desperate or stupid.

[Matthew Rose]

Only time will tell, but there is a locker next to Geoff Ogilvy with Willet's name all over it.

Regardless of how many other majors he wins, or what you think of him, he still won a green jacket and always will have that.

Shot a bogey-free 67 on Sunday and played 16-18 solidly with the lead. Willett did plenty to take it.

[Kris Shreiner]

Yo gang,
Mr.Spieth lost this event mainly because he missed SHORT numerous times in crucial moments!  It started late in round three when several partial shots were WELL short of where he needed to land them for the proper release to finish within a reasonable distance to make a putt.
Plenty of guys have won a Major without playing flawless golf.
But you CAN"T dump it the water twice on the back nine  Sunday at Augusta, even when you had the lead, and expect to win.
How about the SIZE of some of those  chunked
Divots.....I think Resort condo developers could have made handsome profits on a couple of them. He was steep and abrupt on his finish, stabbing more than flushing .
Willett played a superb, bogey -free 67... a deserving champion.

K

[Jason Topp]

On 12 Spieth's ball crossed the hazard - why couldn't he drop across Rae's Creek?

It is a yellow staked hazard.  You must keep the point the ball crossed the margin of the hazard between you and the hole (or use the drop area).  Rule 26. 

[Matthew Sander]

Just look back at the scoring history of this tournament. Every so often, a U.S. Open breaks out...no big deal. For Pete's sake, the winner was -18 last year and will probably be between -8 and -12 next year. The first three days this year were tough as Hell due to weather conditions. Only a small handful of players took advantage of today's (somewhat) easier conditions. Ease up on the over emphasis of events in the short-term memory...

[John Kirk]

I'll post here since my buddy Ben is commenting here.

I thought the tournament was pretty boring.

The pin placements have become too formulaic, with many of the easiest pins all week saved for Sunday.  We also see some brutally difficult pins like on #3, #4 and #5.  We see the same pins every Sunday at the Masters.   And when 3 out of 57 players make an ace on the 16th hole, making a total of 5 aces in three years on Sunday, then something's wrong.  There was about a one yard window where all balls funneled down into the hole.  The fact that Oosthuizen hit JB Holmes's ball and still went in looked kind of bad.

Using the same Sunday pins year after year cheapens the tournament, and makes it less interesting.  I'm bored with the same old pins, the same old broadcast, and the same old announcing style.

I hereby suggest that moving forward, "patrons" shall be referred to as "punters".

[Philip Caccamise]

The fact that Jordan was 5 up turning to the back 9 with less than stellar ball striking is a testament to how good he really is. Alligator blood with the putter.


Danny Willett played a brilliant round of golf and deserved to win. He made some superb swings down the stretch.

[Wyatt Halliday]

On 12 Spieth's ball crossed the hazard - why couldn't he drop across Rae's Creek?


He's the favorite at Oakmont, best putter on the planet.


Love Dottie.


Great Masters, and back nine, though I'm deflated like Jordan is. If Willett wins 6 majors this will go down as an all-timer.

Jordan's talent with the putter is extraordinary but it takes much more than that at Oakmont. I have a terrible feeling that place is going to eat him alive. I'm calling for a trunk slam on Friday and it has nothing to do with the events of yesterday. Hope I'm wrong...

[Mark Chaplin]

They did stand aside to let Speith win, but he hit the worst chuck I've ever seen in professional golf, barely reached the water.

As for the English a decent performance.

[archie_struthers]

 




He was struggling with his swing , obviously trying to to find  a way.  In the end , golf is so hard.  Sometimes one little crack leads to the end. It's happened to all of us , and them .   Just makes what Nicklaus and Woods did
so amazing.

[jeffwarne]

1980 - 19 players under par

1990, 1980 warmer weather, much less wind.

Here's all you neo know though
1965.  minus 17 wins
1966 even par wins (cold windy)

2015 minus 18 wins.
2016 minus 5 (cool windy low humidity)
Same setup, different conditions.

Those disappointed by a lack of "roars" should go watch a movie, or cage fighting.The setup on Sundays is a bit too theatrical and manufactured as it is to cater to the average ADD fan...

[Carl Rogers]

Par the shortest par three and win the Masters.

WW

Wade, I agree.  The Player cannot win the Masters on 12, but you can sure lose it.

[BCowan]

1980 - 19 players under par

1990, 1980 warmer weather, much less wind.

Here's all you neo know though
1965.  minus 17 wins
1966 even par wins (cold windy)

2015 minus 18 wins.
2016 minus 5 (cool windy low humidity)
Same setup, different conditions.

Those disappointed by a lack of "roars" should go watch a movie, or cage fighting.The setup on Sundays is a bit too theatrical and manufactured as it is to cater to the average ADD fan...

U can say that again.  You just redeemed urself.   

[Kalen Braley]

I'll post here since my buddy Ben is commenting here.

I thought the tournament was pretty boring.

The pin placements have become too formulaic, with many of the easiest pins all week saved for Sunday.  We also see some brutally difficult pins like on #3, #4 and #5.  We see the same pins every Sunday at the Masters.   And when 3 out of 57 players make an ace on the 16th hole, making a total of 5 aces in three years on Sunday, then something's wrong.  There was about a one yard window where all balls funneled down into the hole.  The fact that Oosthuizen hit JB Holmes's ball and still went in looked kind of bad.

Using the same Sunday pins year after year cheapens the tournament, and makes it less interesting.  I'm bored with the same old pins, the same old broadcast, and the same old announcing style.

I hereby suggest that moving forward, "patrons" shall be referred to as "punters".

John K,

Outstanding post, couldn't agree more.  I too wondered about that traditional Sunday pin on 16, especially after seeing that ball get knocked a good 6 inches off its line and still go in...

Its the little smarmy things about ANGC that are the most tiresome to me as well.  1st cut and 2nd cut.  Patrons, not fans.  No running allowed, 1st nine, 2nd nine, etc.  I know i'll get some kickback here, but FFS, seems to be a bit much on the pomp and circumstance.....

[George Pazin]

I thought the tournament was pretty boring....

Using the same Sunday pins year after year cheapens the tournament, and makes it less interesting.  I'm bored with the same old pins, the same old broadcast, and the same old announcing style.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.


I'm amazed anyone could find this boring. Unless you find all televised gold boring. Spieth played well the first day, then consistently squandered every opportunity to stomp on the necks of his competitors, as another golfer circa 2000 would have done. Understand, I'm not blaming Spieth, just saying as special as he is, he's not the one. And I don't think Rory is either, even as I root root root for him.


Setup had little or nothing to do with Spieth's poor play on Amen Corner.


I can't believe any sane fan of golf would slander Geoff Ogilvy in such a fashion, either. Them's fightin' words to this guy... Look me up if you come to the Burgh for the US Open and we'll drop the gloves.


 


Fun toonamint. If you didn't enjoy it, you don't enjoy toonamint golf.


Not that there's anything wrong with that.


-----


Excellent post, archie, says everything that needs to be said in mighty concise fashion. Well done.

[Howard Riefs]

Silly topic. Spieth led all players in birdies with 22.


http://www.masters.com/en_US/scores/stats/birdies.html

[BHoover]

Silly topic. Spieth led all players in birdies with 22.


http://www.masters.com/en_US/scores/stats/birdies.html

But this inconvenient fact does not square with the GCA narrative. So it must be an outlier, like the 18th hole being only up to luck.