I spent much of the afternoon watching the foursomes groups play #11 and then #17. Both were extremely compelling to watch.
On 11 it seemed like most of the US players bailed left, or at least were okay with the ball feeding all the way down. The pin position lended itself to this approach more than it might have normally. The int'ls all seemed to play more to the right and a lot of them ended up in the bunker or short of the green but on the pin side. Generally it seemed like playing to the bottom left was the better strategy today based on the approaches I saw.
#17 was even more fascinating. The pin was front left, on a little hump. There was nothing protecting the hole here except a little bit of tightly mown grass and gravity, but it worked wonders. Any player who came up short was basically doomed to make bogey, and almost everyone who hit it there did. I think it was the pivotal moment in the Fowler/Thomas collapse.
Match play and team play on the ultimate strategic layout. It was absolutely delightful. The only thing that was a downer was Tiger choosing to sit the entire day; I basically bought a ticket to see the golf course and the greatest player of my generation. While the golf course was every bit as advertised, the second part was a real personal setback for me because I'm not sure how many chances I will get.