2020 Professional Golf Thread

[BubbaP]

I guess cynically could say they've just re-badged a par 72 to a par 70 - but maybe they have set this up well.
Seems to be plenty of bogeys as well as birdies, regular wild shots ultimately being punished, and an exciting final few hours.

 

[davidy233]

Luckily I don’t have a commute to work at the moment - think I might be getting up five minutes before starting work - this is fascinating - lovely pitch in from Morikawa

 

[BubbaP]

Find it easy to warm to Morikawa - is almost "old fashioned" in how he plays. Not of the bomb n gouge gang.

 

[fundy]

Find it easy to warm to Morikawa - is almost "old fashioned" in how he plays. Not of the bomb n gouge gang.

Class act going to see a lot more of him

Stunning tee shot at 16, eagle will be him very close to the line

 

[davidy233]

And what a tee shot on 16 - the boy is the real deal

 

[Oldham92]

Thanks to that eagle putt I was able to cash in my bet for pretty much all of my winnings without a nervous last few holes!

Morikawa looks like a future multiple major winner.

 

[fundy]

Fair play to Paul Casey, never had him down as reliable when it comes to the crunch at the finish but hes done almost nothing wrong today, for someone who said somethings missing with the crowds, maybe thats actually benefitted his game

 

[Oldham92]

Fair play to Paul Casey, never had him down as reliable when it comes to the crunch at the finish but hes done almost nothing wrong today, for someone who said somethings missing with the crowds, maybe thats actually benefitted his game

I'd imagine the lack of crowd will benefit a lot of the less successful/smaller name players by taking a bit of the pressure off

 

[davidy233]

Fair play to Paul Casey, never had him down as reliable when it comes to the crunch at the finish but hes done almost nothing wrong today, for someone who said somethings missing with the crowds, maybe thats actually benefitted his game

And an absolute gent in his post round interview

 

[Deleted member 16999]

I wonder if Champ and Morikawa don’t get on or if Champ had said something previously walking down the 18th?
When Morikawa finished and left the 18th green Champ wasn’t there and was then seen walking 20-25yds ahead of him off the course, no shaking of hands/fist bump etc, possible Champ had a reason to get off the course quickly, but I also think it’s possibly bad manners not to at least wait to congratulate your pp who has just won a Major.

 

[croadymeister]

And an absolute gent in his post round interview

Yeah I am absolutely gutted for him because he has given so much for Europe in the Ryder Cup over the years.

Hate to be a doom monger but much like the 2009 Open was Westwood's last shot at a major,fear that may well have been Casey's. Such a pity that he, Poulter & Donald look to be ending their careers majorless.

 

[Dan2501]

Morikawa was superb, what a round of golf, that shot on 16 was so good. Major champion in only his 2nd major appearance, impressive young man, love the way he plays the game.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

I baled at around 10.30 so missed the bulk of the leaders rounds. With the excepetion of Koepka, who just had a bad round, it seems as though everyone played pretty well but Morikawa had a great round. He won, no one lost. Is that about right?

 

[Orikoru]

I baled at around 10.30 so missed the bulk of the leaders rounds. With the excepetion of Koepka, who just had a bad round, it seems as though everyone played pretty well but Morikawa had a great round. He won, no one lost. Is that about right?

DJ struggled a bit I think. For someone who's supposedly so calm and collected, he does have a bit of a Sunday wobble in him. Bryson went all out for it but a couple of mid-round bogeys cost him. Casey was really solid and consistent, and unlucky that Morikawa was in such good form. It was an excellent major Sunday, at one point I think there were six or seven leaders on -10! It took a while for someone to take the initiative and get to -11, Morikawa was the first to do that I believe with the birdie on 14, then that eagle on 16 was just superb and deservedly won it for him.

 

[PJ87]

I saw byrson make a great birdie from almost driving the green... Then turned off (had him to win) missed him bogeying the next 2 lol

 

[Grant85]

I think it was a good championship. They got as much out of a 7,160 yard course as they could. Firm greens and tight pins really put the premium on accuracy. Ultimately Morikawa was the most accurate and the bombers couldn't overpower a course with the greens firming nicely through the week.

 

[Dan2501]

DJ struggled a bit I think. For someone who's supposedly so calm and collected, he does have a bit of a Sunday wobble in him. Bryson went all out for it but a couple of mid-round bogeys cost him. Casey was really solid and consistent, and unlucky that Morikawa was in such good form. It was an excellent major Sunday, at one point I think there were six or seven leaders on -10! It took a while for someone to take the initiative and get to -11, Morikawa was the first to do that I believe with the birdie on 14, then that eagle on 16 was just superb and deservedly won it for him.

He did, his score was helped by the 2 birdies he made when he was basically already out of it. Pretty sure Morikawa was 4 ahead when DJ birdied 16 and knew the championship was over before birdieing 18, had played fairly mediocre golf before that. Him and Scheffler played okay, just nothing special, a lot of scrambling for pars or long first-putts. Casey was impressive, Champ and Wolff made early runs, Day was very solid again this week and then I thought Finau and DeChambeau both played nicely, without those two sloppy bogey's to finish the front-nine Bryson would have been right up there, lost all his momentum, he'll rue those.

Also really happy to see Danielle Kang smashing it since the resumption of the LPGA. Back-to-back wins although the one last night assisted by Lydia Ko making a 7 on the 18th after being greenside in 2, ouch. Win's a win though and that's 5 now including a Major, big fan of hers, one of the most entertaining guests NLU have had on the podcast and in videos.

 

[fundy]

I think it was a good championship. They got as much out of a 7,160 yard course as they could. Firm greens and tight pins really put the premium on accuracy. Ultimately Morikawa was the most accurate and the bombers couldn't overpower a course with the greens firming nicely through the week.

Not techincally true, was behind almost all of the top 10 for strokes gained tee to green, unusually for Morikawa he outputted them all (especially Saturday/Sunday)

 

[Grant85]

Not techincally true, was behind almost all of the top 10 for strokes gained tee to green, unusually for Morikawa he outputted them all (especially Saturday/Sunday)

I know what SG is, but what I don't know is what data it's based on.

So someone hits it off the tee (400 yards from the hole) and they are 80 yards away in the rough. Do they get the same SG applied to that shot at the PGA championship as they would to the same numbers at the Rocket Mortgage?

I believe that's what they do. There's a table that says 400 yards, tee box, 4.03 shots. 399 yards, tee box, 4.02 shots etc. They don't reload the data for ever week or every venue.

If so, SG is flawed. Especially at a major when the test is set up that much stiffer with firmer greens especially. The firm greens massively placed the emphasis on accuracy as you had to be not only in the fairway, but on the correct side of the fairway. As we saw with Brooks, bomb and gouge wasn't an effective strategy.

Also - Morikawa won by 3 shots, so that was 2 putts he didn't actually have to make that just gave him a cushion.

 

[fundy]

I know what SG is, but what I don't know is what data it's based on.

So someone hits it off the tee (400 yards from the hole) and they are 80 yards away in the rough. Do they get the same SG applied to that shot at the PGA championship as they would to the same numbers at the Rocket Mortgage?

I believe that's what they do. There's a table that says 400 yards, tee box, 4.03 shots. 399 yards, tee box, 4.02 shots etc. They don't reload the data for ever week or every venue.

If so, SG is flawed. Especially at a major when the test is set up that much stiffer with firmer greens especially. The firm greens massively placed the emphasis on accuracy as you had to be not only in the fairway, but on the correct side of the fairway. As we saw with Brooks, bomb and gouge wasn't an effective strategy.

Also - Morikawa won by 3 shots, so that was 2 putts he didn't actually have to make that just gave him a cushion.

SG may have some flaws but its by far the best analysis tool out there currently, put it into context, Morikawa was 10 shots better with the putter based on SG putting than Wolff across the week, and 7 better than Casey and if youre not a strokes gained fan, then Morikawa hit 70.8% of GIR this week compared to Wolff who hit 77.8% and Casey who hit 76.4%. He played well but he didnt win this week by being the most accurate, he won by playing well tee to green and outputting those in contention, coupled with holding his nerve and a bit of fortune late on