Right in the Lumberyard: The Golf Thread

[mojoween]

I get that Steph is a good golfer and Peyton can hold his own, but even with the handicap of Charles Barkley I don’t understand how the professional golfer was not favored in The Match Part III.

[AimingforYoko]

11 years old.

 

[mojoween]

Charlie.  C’mon kid.  You couldn’t have picked ANY other sport?

[twoods]

I know. Big footsteps to fill in, but if he’s a chill kid and realizes he won’t be as crazy good as his dad was, the. He will be fine. It seems like he loves playing golf right now, which is all that matters.

[kathyk24]

I watched HBO's Tiger documentary and it is excellent, My favorite interview was Tiger's college girlfriend she saw a side of him that no one else could see.

[woodstock]

Tiger injured in car crash

[Crashcourse]

He already had a bad back, so his golf career is probably over.  I just hope he's ok.  Plus, he's still got his adorable kids.

[AimingforYoko]

17 minutes ago, Crashcourse said:

He already had a bad back, so his golf career is probably over.  I just hope he's ok.  Plus, he's still got his adorable kids.

Yeah, a body can only take so much. I too hope he's OK, and that this was truly an accident.

(Just as an aside, your screen name is unfortunate for this story.)

[Carey]

Right now for me?  I'm glad he is alive, and that the wreck and injuries were worse.  It might be easy to say it this year given how I didn't think of him competing 2021 (at a high, championship level), but I think I'll worry about what's next after he overcomes this latest, unfortunate, and sad situation.  It hurts now given the character change in a positive direction & coupled with his rehab in recovery with the hope of returning as soon as possible, but I'd still be saddened if it occurred previously within the past 12 years.  I hope I'm wrong, and even though I'd be shocked if he never played "golf" again, as of February 23rd, 2021, I agree his career is done.

[Crashcourse]

On 2/23/2021 at 4:36 PM, AimingforYoko said:

(Just as an aside, your screen name is unfortunate for this story.)

Wow.  Totally unrelated. 

[AimingforYoko]

5 minutes ago, Crashcourse said:

Wow.  Totally unrelated. 

Of course it is, it was just a weird coincidence. Just like my name would be for any story about The Beatles.

[xaxat]

Setting aside his golf career, this NYT article about Tiger's accident is pretty grim.

Quote

Athletes with severe leg injuries thought to doom their careers have managed to come back — the quarterback Alex Smith returned to playing football last season after a gruesome leg break, and the golfer Ben Hogan returned decades ago after a car accident.

But Woods’s injuries are more extensive, and his path to recovery is strewn with serious obstacles. Infections, inadequate bone healing and, in Woods’s case, previous injuries and chronic back problems may make a months long or even years long recovery more difficult, and may reduce the chances that he will play again.

 

[emma675]

I read about his leg injuries and it's pretty gruesome. His right leg is basically shattered in a few pieces and they inserted a rod to hold the tibia and fibula stable, screws to reattach his ankle and foot (I think, I got a little queasy reading it), and doing something to his leg muscle to reduce inflammation and swelling. You couple that with his previous back surgeries, age, and alleged issues with pain killers, I don't think Tiger is going to come back. People were saying he was having trouble even standing and rising from a chair after his comeback at the 2019 Masters tournament, he was already in a pretty fragile physical state. 

Edited February 25, 2021 by emma675d

[twoods]

I’m just happy he’s alive. Seeing those images of his totaled car brought back Kobe’s death a year ago and being from LA county, I grew up idolizing those two athletes so I was expecting the worst. It will be sad if he never plays golf again, but I’m happy he will get to see his kids grow up.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Unfortunately, from years of watching TV medical shows, I understand too much about the medical report.   Don't do any additional searching to find out exactly what was done to treat him, unless you have a strong stomach. 

His smartest move was using his seatbelt.     The neighbors who called for help so quickly, and stayed with Tiger until help arrived were a great help to TIger.   Tiger is very lucky that he was found, and removed from the car so quickly, and was sent to the right trauma center.   The condition of the SUV certainly is a testament to the airbag system in the Genesis.     

Today at the golf tournament, a lot of the golfers wore red, and black in honor of Tiger.  Phil Mickelson, who has a huge wardrobe of all black, actually had to go out and buy a red and black golf shirt.   

Edited March 1, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[Carey]

I know it's Day One, but man, I think I might actually be very happy for Justin Rose if he were to pull this off.  He probably needs to be a little above average from here on out, at the very, very worst, in order to claim what he "threw away" four years ago

[AimingforYoko]

Congrats to Hideki Matsuyama, Japan's first (male) major winner in golf. I can't believe it's their first. He made it interesting down the stretch, but he hung on.

[Carey]

2 minutes ago, AimingforYoko said:

I can't believe it's their first.

It's not

[AimingforYoko]

5 minutes ago, Carey said:

It's not

Who?

[Carey]

2 minutes ago, AimingforYoko said:

Who?

Higuchi in the 70s.  Shibuno would be the most recent; Hideki is the 3rd, but first and only to don the Green Jacket

Edited April 11, 2021 by Carey

[AimingforYoko]

Just now, Carey said:

Chako Higuchi and Hinako Shibuno

I guess you missed my parenthetical.

[Carey]

5 hours ago, AimingforYoko said:

I guess you missed my parenthetical.

No need to put that in parenthesis, in my opinion.  It's all good!

I really do agree with you that it hasn't happened until today for the men.  Maybe people here in the US think Japan is known for their skills in Baseball and Soccer, but they do love their golf I believe.  While Hideki is well known, I think he gets overlooked in favor of several other players that might "lead the sport of golf" the Way Tiger Woods did.  The so-called golfers that would succeed Tiger as the next face of the sport have failed to live up to those expectations.  IIRC, only DJ has won a major more recently than Woods.

Either way, the sport has grown to a point where someone different has won a major, be it the US Open, the Open, the PGA, and the Masters.  I have to check to see how close Matsuyama has come toward his first title.  I had watched a lot of golf outside of the major events. Hideki has been rather good over the years, so this was due.  FWIW, this is 10 years removed from his amateur win at Augusta in 2011

Edited April 12, 2021 by Carey
Edited for Clarity

[Bewitched]

44 minutes ago, Carey said:

.  IIRC, only DJ has won a major more recently than Woods.

DJ is the only Masters' winner since Woods, but there have been 6 other major winners since Tiger won the Masters' in 2019 (Koepka, Woodland, Lowry, Morikawa, De Chambeau, Johnson).

[Carey]

3 hours ago, Bewitched said:

DJ is the only Masters' winner since Woods, but there have been 6 other major winners since Tiger won the Masters' in 2019 (Koepka, Woodland, Lowry, Morikawa, De Chambeau, Johnson).

I'm sorry.  I misspoke (or rather, mistyped).  What I meant to say is that there have been several players that may or may not have been coined the next face of golf.  People were called "haters" whenever they would say "Not so fast!" or "let's wait 5 years and review that statement" which is fair enough IMO.

You had Rory in early part of the previous decade, then there was Spieth in the middle of the decade (and it wasn't looking too bad until the second half of his final round in April 2016).  At least Jordan won another major since then but then he went several years without winning anything.

McIlroy's success had people saying "Tiger who?" which was common but several of those comments have been deleted over the past 24 months.  After all, no majors from Rory in nearly 7 years (though he has had some success since his 2014 PGA win).

More recently they've been saying that with Koepka but with everything that's happened, it's still way too soon to write him off.  DJ has two major wins, but to be fair he's had a ton of success on the tour.  Morikawa winning last August was great, but same thing as everyone else: they have to get close to half a dozen major victories coupled with at least twice as many wins on tour within the PGA before they can be considered the face of golf.

Hideki's Masters win was awesome; it features a lot of history, and it was a man who has been rather good on tour but just couldn't collect a super big win given the competition and the tough nature of the sport.

Right now, with or without Woods it's still entertaining (not as much but it's okay).  If you spend time following a number of people and do the research on their history, you would be able to watch a lot of tournaments without the "Who's Who" factor within the PGA.  Now, next week might be tough, but the PGA Championship, US Open, Open, and the FedEx are coming up in each of the following months.  There are some other events that are worth watching; next year's Players Championship will be tough only due to a lot of other stuff happening

[mojoween]

I wondered when we were going to get our first Hideki Matsui flub, and as far as I can tell it was this morning on ESPN radio.  I’m not judging, it’s an easy slip of the tongue to make.

[JTMacc99]

On 4/11/2021 at 7:17 PM, AimingforYoko said:

Congrats to Hideki Matsuyama, Japan's first (male) major winner in golf. I can't believe it's their first. He made it interesting down the stretch, but he hung on.

At the end of Round 3, Nick Faldo pointed out the tremendous amount of pressure that was going to be on Matsuyama on Sunday. It was at that point that started to really root for him. My brother was texting me about him blowing it when he put his ball in the water on 15, and I explained to him the pressure on him right now. When he holed out for the win on 18, my brother sent me "THANK GOD."  Heh.

I saw an article that the victory should be worth about $600 million dollars for him, or $20M of endorsements per year for the next three decades.  That was another thing I told my brother, that there were tremendous financial implications for him should he win, but I didn't realize it was $600 million of financial implications.  

[Crs97]

Impressive win for Phil today!  

[CrazyInAlabama]

I cheered when Phil won.    

However, what the hell were the PGA organizers thinking?    They should have had a lot more guards for Phil, and the rest of his group, and for at least the next two groups.   That mob scene on 18 was horrible.   I was so worried that Phil or Brooks, someone else would get stepped on or grabbed, and get hurt.      Brooks said that he was trying to protect his knee in the crowd, and took some smaller hits to it by celebrating crowd members.    That crowd scene could have ended in tragedy, and the organizers didn't plan for it.  

[twoods]

Yeah there were way too many drunk adults out there, and then running to the 18th before the players could even make it to the green. Koepka and Michelson looked annoyed and I don’t blame them because that was one scary sight. Glad no one got seriously hurt and hope Koepka didn’t reinjure his knee.

[xaxat]

I remember watching Nicklaus when he won the Masters in '86  thinking it was pretty impressive for an old man.

Thirty plus years later, I watched Mickelson yelling "Damn straight! Show them we still got it!"

[xaxat]

I can't imagine the emotional swing Jon Rahm just went through. He sinks a put on eighteen to take a six shot lead at the Memorial.

Starts heading towards the clubhouse and is informed he has tested positive for the coronavirus and will have to withdraw.

Edited June 5, 2021 by xaxat

[twoods]

Yeah I just read that. Poor guy. I guess it was a contact tracing protocol so he must have been around someone with covid prior to the tournament. And since he was tested, it’s assumed he wasn’t vaccinated since they don’t do a contact protocol with vaccinated golfers who were around someone with covid. Lose out on over a million dollars and a win because you chose not to get a vaccine. Double bummer.

Edited June 6, 2021 by twoods

[mojoween]

From what I understand, not being a super major golf aficionado myself, is that the camps are “Tiger or Phil, but Never Both”.  As a casual, I am Tiger.

However.  The more Phil does these Matches, the more likable he is, and I don’t know why that is.

[xaxat]

Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm are out of the Olympic golf tournament after both tested positive for COVID-19.

[twoods]

Rahm is positive again? Dude, how many strains do you plan on getting in the next year? Poor guy.

[AimingforYoko]

We need to get Rahm in a lab, quick.

[xaxat]

The next Olympics, the IOC should allow the men to wear shorts. The IOC is not beholden to the traditions of R&A, PGA etc. 

Shake things up, shame the governing bodies, generate some buzz.

Just look at how much people are talking about Rory's hat situation.

[Rickster]

I guess marrying his Slovakian wife sure paid off for Rory.

[xaxat]

For someone who crows about taking a scientific approach to golf, DeChambeau's views on covid and the vaccine are decidedly unscientific. 

[twoods]

“I’m letting someone else get the vaccine because I’m healthy and don’t need it. Oh there is enough of a supply to go around that I can still get it? No thanks. It needs to be saved for the high risk people.” What a loon.

[JTMacc99]

On 8/4/2021 at 11:38 PM, xaxat said:

DeChambeau

Interesting discussion of him in SI. 

I like the line, "The question is: Does he really believe the things he says?"

I watched The Match where he was teamed up with Aaron Rodgers versus Mickelson and Tom Brady.

Those two together made me root really hard for Tom Brady, which I think says it all. 

[xaxat]

Wow. My local CBS affiliated decided to air an hour and a half of local news and totally blew off the end of The Northern Trust.

[woodstock]

Golf will get the Netflix treatment

The series has helped increase F1’s popularity; it will be interesting to see how Netflix covers the PGA tour.

[JTMacc99]

I LOVE it when this happens. Hee!

 

[Carey]

Of course, you had to have those folks complain about that segment, saying "Stop slowing down the game!" or "Waste of beer!"  And there was a made point.

However, whatever.  This was an awesome moment.  Yeah, I wouldn't waste my beer, but it's nice & refreshing to see people having a great time, especially in that setup.  Finally, it's the 3rd round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open

[JTMacc99]

9 hours ago, Carey said:

Of course, you had to have those folks complain about that segment, saying "Stop slowing down the game!" or "Waste of beer!"  And there was a made point.

However, whatever.  This was an awesome moment.  Yeah, I wouldn't waste my beer, but it's nice & refreshing to see people having a great time, especially in that setup.  Finally, it's the 3rd round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open

Who was complaining? Whoever it was, they should know that there is a tree who spends it's entire life generating the oxygen they waste, and they should go apologize to it.

 

[Carey]

3 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

13 hours ago, Carey said:

Of course, you had to have those folks complain about that segment, saying "Stop slowing down the game!" or "Waste of beer!"  And there was a made point.

However, whatever.  This was an awesome moment.  Yeah, I wouldn't waste my beer, but it's nice & refreshing to see people having a great time, especially in that setup.  Finally, it's the 3rd round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open

Who was complaining? Whoever it was, they should know that there is a tree who spends it's entire life generating the oxygen they waste, and they should go apologize to it.

Yeah right!  Just your typical Twitter folks complaining as if complaining was an imperative daily chore.  Furthermore, I'm guessing that getting a seat at the 16th was a little more expensive than a typical seat at a regular season game for other sports (excluding your obvious priceless events & franchises).  Therefore, tossing the beer is not the end of the world for those in attendance

Edited February 13, 2022 by Carey
Beer Toss = No Big Deal

[twoods]

Wow, that looks like so much fun. My husband said that everyone on that hole is so drunk since they are betting on every single player with their friends so that explains all the beer in the air. When Tiger had a hole in one eons ago they were throwing their cups on the green just like that. 

Edited February 13, 2022 by twoods

[Rickster]

I guess my opinion is a little different. I felt bad for the players, caddies, officials and volunteers forced to clean up all that crap tossed by those entitled folks in the stands. If you want to toss your beer cup, go down and pick it up. If you’re not allowed to go pick it up, don’t toss it in the first place.

[twoods]

At least they get to sit back down in their now soggy, beer-drenched seats and have to deal with wet underwear for the next few hours.