2022 Professional golf thread

[HomerJSimpson]

Brilliant final round. Great watching these guys cling on.

The amount of brain dead shots resembles us hackers as they get more and more flustered. Tops , shanks, 4 putts. The whole repertoire was on show for most of the evening. Haha

Fantastic even on a course that isn't tricked up but in great shape to ask all the right questions.

 

[Boomy]

Brilliant final round. Great watching these guys cling on.

The amount of brain dead shots resembles us hackers as they get more and more flustered. Tops , shanks, 4 putts. The whole repertoire was on show for most of the evening. Haha

It was a gripping final round, great entertainment and seeing who could hold their nerve. Much prefer a finish like that rather than the unrealistic -30 on some of the PGA courses. It’s good to see them challenged and under pressure - earning their gazzilions ?

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Brilliant final round. Great watching these guys cling on.

The amount of brain dead shots resembles us hackers as they get more and more flustered. Tops , shanks, 4 putts. The whole repertoire was on show for most of the evening. Haha

Did you see McDowell's shank out of a bunker, over the head of his pp stood in another bunker 90° to his right . The commentators didn't really know what to say at first and then just went full on in to it. Laughing was the only way to deal with it.

 

[Leftitshort]

Fantastic even on a course that isn't tricked up but in great shape to ask all the right questions.

Are you talking about Bay Hill? Not tricked up?

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Are you talking about Bay Hill? Not tricked up?

They baked the greens from Friday , looked like they starved them of water but made the rough very lush - it was certainly a different course over the weekend

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I thought the course was set up well although I agree that the greens at the weekend didn't reward the players that hit fairway and some iron shots were punished unfairly. Think they could have given the greens some water without making the scoring that much easier

 

[Leftitshort]

They baked the greens from Friday , looked like they starved them of water but made the rough very lush - it was certainly a different course over the weekend

I’ll start by saying i’m not expert in course design and I have no clue what’s it’s like to play in those conditions, none of us do. But I know the only things bay hill has going for it are the purse & links to arnie. The coverage was impossible to watch on sat & Sunday. The course was the definition of tricked up with ankle deep rough and dead greens, they were impossible to hold & didn’t reward decent shots.
It was painful.

 

[Leftitshort]

I thought the course was set up well although I agree that the greens at the weekend didn't reward the players that hit fairway and some iron shots were punished unfairly. Think they could have given the greens some water without making the scoring that much easier

The greens looked dead

 

[Deleted member 15344]

I’ll start by saying i’m not expert in course design and I have no clue what’s it’s like to play in those conditions, none of us do. But I know the only things bay hill has going for it are the purse & links to arnie. The coverage was impossible to watch on sat & Sunday. The course was the definition of tricked up with ankle deep rough and dead greens, they were impossible to hold & didn’t reward decent shots.
It was painful.

Yep agree - I enjoyed watching on the Thursday and Friday - for me it had the right balance between a tough test but also receptive greens to reward good shots

Weekend the greens were gone and it was a test of luck at times - it was very close to US Open conditions but it was tricked up over the weekend

 

[Boomy]

I’ll start by saying i’m not expert in course design and I have no clue what’s it’s like to play in those conditions, none of us do. But I know the only things bay hill has going for it are the purse & links to arnie. The coverage was impossible to watch on sat & Sunday. The course was the definition of tricked up with ankle deep rough and dead greens, they were impossible to hold & didn’t reward decent shots.
It was painful.

Admittedly the greens would have benefitted from a drop of water over the weekend, they were certainly starved and not looking great.

But as for the rest of it, good, a real challenge and it rewarded accuracy. Those that were haemorrhaging shots were wild off the tees on par 3’s and 4’s and/or misjudging distances and ending up blindsided in bunkers (or in the water hazards) Plenty of opportunity on par 5’s - Gary Woodland’s being a prime example and he was in trouble off the tee. The rough length was bang on and a lot of them played great shots out of it, whilst others struggled - much better than the usual closely mown stuff in the US - there was a premium on accuracy instead of smashing everything without penalty. They don’t like narrow fairways and rough (that is actually rough) because they’re used to overly manicured courses. I’ve said it on another post, they earn millions, make them earn it.

I’m not sure you could class it as painful, it made for riveting viewing - and right to the wire. That -24 usual bollards is a load of rubbish, boring smash fest - bring a premium on accuracy, rough that deserves consideration and harder to drop & stop greens (maybe not as starved as Bay Hill’s though as I’ve said) It is supposed to be a challenge.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Admittedly the greens would have benefitted from a drop of water over the weekend, they were certainly starved and not looking great.

But as for the rest of it, good, a real challenge and it rewarded accuracy. Those that were haemorrhaging shots were wild off the tees on par 3’s and 4’s and/or misjudging distances and ending up blindsided in bunkers (or in the water hazards) Plenty of opportunity on par 5’s - Gary Woodland’s being a prime example and he was in trouble off the tee. The rough length was bang on and a lot of them played great shots out of it, whilst others struggled - much better than the usual closely mown stuff in the US - there was a premium on accuracy instead of smashing everything without penalty. They don’t like narrow fairways and rough (that is actually rough) because they’re used to overly manicured courses. I’ve said it on another post, they earn millions, make them earn it.

I’m not sure you could class it as painful, it made for riveting viewing - and right to the wire. That -24 usual bollards is a load of rubbish, boring smash fest - bring a premium on accuracy, rough that deserves consideration and harder to drop & stop greens (maybe not as starved as Bay Hill’s though as I’ve said) It is supposed to be a challenge.

The condition of the greens was the only let down and I hope they take the comments of the players into consideration for next year and keep a tad of moisture in them. Other than that if they set it up like this year it'll be another great watch. Good to see them come from some hit it anywhere courses to one where you need to plot and course manage

 

[Leftitshort]

Maybe it was one for the purist, I watched about 20 mins in Sunday and decided that it wasn’t for me. If it’s 6 inch deep rough 2 yards off the fairway & rock hard greens, it’s a test of luck not skill
IMO. If that’s your thing fair play. The issue is, if you set up that way & the wind picks up even slightly it becomes a lottery. I suspect I’ll enjoy it more this weekend at the players, at a proper golf course without the windmill & the clowns face down the stretch

 

[Boomy]

Maybe it was one for the purist, I watched about 20 mins in Sunday and decided that it wasn’t for me. If it’s 6 inch deep rough 2 yards off the fairway & rock hard greens, it’s a test of luck not skill
IMO. If that’s your thing fair play. The issue is, if you set up that way & the wind picks up even slightly it becomes a lottery. I suspect I’ll enjoy it more this weekend at the players, at a proper golf course without the windmill & the clowns face down the stretch

That is exactly why The Open (and US Open) is/can be so enthralling - if the course is set up tough and the wind picks up. Really CBA with boring target golf, it should be a challenge with a premium on accuracy IMO. It takes skill to keep it in play, and if you do go in the rough, then it takes skill to play the next shot out of it. Not sure it was 6 inches mind ? The world would be an awfully boring place if we all liked the same things though ?

 

[phillarrow]

That is exactly why The Open (and IS Open) is/can be so enthralling - if the course is set up tough and the wind picks up. Really CBA with boring target golf, it should be a challenge with a premium on accuracy IMO. It takes skill to keep it in play, and if you do go in the rough, then it takes skill to play the next shot out of it. Not sure it was 6 inches mins. The world would be an awfully boring place if we all liked the same things though ?

You beat me to it! For those moaning about rock hard greens, penal rough, etc. have you never watched The Open, or played links golf? Granted, the rough is often not quite so penal but factor in the contours of the fairways and there's an awful lot of luck involved with virtually every shot. Luck is just part of golf. ?‍

 

[IanM]

I enjoyed watching the players actually challenged for once.

Too often PGA Tour is too samey and "20 odd" under wins.

 

[Leftitshort]

You beat me to it! For those moaning about rock hard greens, penal rough, etc. have you never watched The Open, or played links golf? Granted, the rough is often not quite so penal but factor in the contours of the fairways and there's an awful lot of luck involved with virtually every shot. Luck is just part of golf. ?‍

Bay hill & a links course bare no relation to each other. The links course would give you a variety of ways to play it, wind would be a factor but you’d have a variety of options to get the ball close. Bay hill gives none of these options. The rough is grown up & the greens stressed to the point of losing them to make it artificially difficult.

 

[IanM]

The links course would give you a variety of ways to play it,

That's a really good point, but still nice to see a few beads of sweat under those sponsored cap-peaks!

 

[phillarrow]

Bay hill & a links course bare no relation to each other. The links course would give you a variety of ways to play it, wind would be a factor but you’d have a variety of options to get the ball close. Bay hill gives none of these options. The rough is grown up & the greens stressed to the point of losing them to make it artificially difficult.

I didn't say it was. ?‍

 

[Leftitshort]

That's a really good point, but still nice to see a few beads of sweat under those sponsored cap-peaks!

Nobody wants to see 30 under every week, but watching @ the weekend was like watching a Japanese game show

I didn't say it was. ?‍

literally did ‘For those moaning about rock hard greens, penal rough, etc. have you never watched The Open, or played links golf?’

 

[Boomy]

Nobody wants to see 30 under every week, but watching @ the weekend was like watching a Japanese game show
literally did ‘For those moaning about rock hard greens, penal rough, etc. have you never watched The Open, or played links golf?’

However you try to manipulate it to your point of view - just like on links courses, winning at Bay Hill involved accuracy and skill, with a little bit of luck (golf) Great to watch, unlike the ‘easy target golf’ peddled out most weeks which is so boring!