2023 Professional Golf thread

[BrianM]

He is looking very in control of his game but that is still a bold statement. I'd like Hovland to pinch it, he's on quite a run.

It was never in doubt, normally love the Players but it just never felt right this week in my opinion.
Scottie never had to get out of second gear it felt, even on the Saturday it felt like he already had it won.
Its the first time for me watching a tournament where I’ve felt they are missing LIV players, could a DJ, Smith etc made it more exciting, it does feel a wee bit diminished, not that SS will care what I think 😂😂
As spectators we want the best in the world and we never got that this week, roll on the Masters.

 

[Mel Smooth]

It was never in doubt, normally love the Players but it just never felt right this week in my opinion.
Scottie never had to get out of second gear it felt, even on the Saturday it felt like he already had it won.
Its the first time for me watching a tournament where I’ve felt they are missing LIV players, could a DJ, Smith etc made it more exciting, it does feel a wee bit diminished, not that SS will care what I think 😂😂
As spectators we want the best in the world and we never got that this week, roll on the Masters.

Agreed, I was watching it last night and was bored rigid, foregone conclusion long before it was over, so took myself off to bed. Pleased for Hatton though, who is very much the likeable knobhead of golf.

Any claims that the players is the 5th major look pretty hollow based on this weekend.

 

[IainP]

Maybe should be for 'random irritations', but the various click bait stuff on players 'losing' money...
I.e.
https://www.golfmonthly.com/news/pg...m_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=socialflow

He didn’t lose anything, just didn’t earn as much when the tournament actually completed.

Guess everything has to be a winning 'check' now also.🤐

And finally, the actual url has 'looses' not 'loses' 🤦‍♂️

SS made it look easy, if him & Rahm play well at Augusta it will be interesting

 

[clubchamp98]

Enjoyed watching Tyrell Hatton.
marmite player , but his golf was brilliant.
Hes not your usual golf robot ,shows his passion and frustrations I like that except the swearing!

Scheffler brilliant, but he did make mistakes he just didn’t let them get to him.

 

[IanM]

It was never in doubt, normally love the Players but it just never felt right this week in my opinion.
Scottie never had to get out of second gear it felt, even on the Saturday it felt like he already had it won.
Its the first time for me watching a tournament where I’ve felt they are missing LIV players, could a DJ, Smith etc made it more exciting, it does feel a wee bit diminished, not that SS will care what I think 😂😂
As spectators we want the best in the world and we never got that this week, roll on the Masters.

Yep, both of them! (possibly, the rest? Less so)

I reckon Westwood would have murdered this joke event and his total of 225 would have won by miles. (Then someone mentioned there was a 4th round to play!

 

[Swango1980]

I enjoyed last night. Especially watching everyone negotiating those last 3 holes of their round. So many car crashes, felt for the chap (Montgomery I think), who dropped 7 shots on 15, 16 and 17, going from -10 to -3, and pretty much losing $1.25 million in the process. Not sure what a top finish could have done to his exemptions going forward / impact on world ranking.

Inevitably, there will be tournaments in which a player wins by a comfortable margin in the end. Not all tournaments go to play-offs, or won on the last hole. But, good to see Hatton post an early score at least. And, you always knew Scheffler had that finish ahead of him. You could see that look in his eye as he walked from 16th to 17th, glancing over at the green. Desperately trying to control those nerves. And then the big fist pump when he hit the green. You could also see he was always going to go right with his drive on 18th. I'm not really a Scheffler fan, but he played great golf under the circumstances. I guess it is a bit like watching a football team winning 7-0 (cough!). There was still entertainment in Scheffler brilliantly staying in control, while watching others crumble around him, and proving it is not an easy game.

 

[JamesR]

Scheffler is excellent, but comparatively dull. I read on one twitter page that he effectively squeezes the life out of a tournament when he wins it. But I don't particularly mind that, as I like to watch excellent golf.

As for it having been a forgone conclusion, it worked out that way. But as we all know, anything can happen on that course, and in particular the closing stretch. So it's always worth staying up for, just in case.

 

[Liverpoolphil]

I don’t think it’s any surprise that the first big tournament of the year where someone walks away with it there will be the comments of missing LIV players etc

Scheffler was just that much better than everyone else and that’s why it was a such a big lead. He didn’t make mistakes.

Any tournament where someone walks away with it becomes a bit boring -whether that’s a tour challenge event or a major.

It happens

 

[Bdill93]

Interesting stat I saw tweeted yesterday -

No one in the last 20 years has won both The Players and The Masters - they tend to do pretty badly too!

So don't bet on Scottie defending!

 

[Orikoru]

Interesting stat I saw tweeted yesterday -

No one in the last 20 years has won both The Players and The Masters - they tend to do pretty badly too!

So don't bet on Scottie defending!

There's loads of things nobody had done until somebody did do them.

 

[sunshine]

Interesting stat I saw was there had only been 6 holes in one at the 17th in 30 years from 1986-2016, but there have now been 7 since 2016.

Don't know what has led to the increase:
- Tour pros are more skilled so they are more accurate with their short irons (sorry "dialled in")
- Technology advances mean they are now hitting a wedge instead of an 8 iron
- Easier pin positions
- Pure luck

 

[Bdill93]

Interesting stat I saw was there had only been 6 holes in one at the 17th in 30 years from 1986-2016, but there have now been 7 since 2016.

Don't know what has led to the increase:
- Tour pros are more skilled so they are more accurate with their short irons (sorry "dialled in")
- Technology advances mean they are now hitting a wedge instead of an 8 iron
- Easier pin positions
- Pure luck

I wonder if the average scoring stats of pros has reduced in the last 20 years or so... maybe that would indicate the players are better than ever?

There's loads of things nobody had done until somebody did do them.

Yeah but to break that and defend the masters - some doing!

 

[BiMGuy]

I think the depth of talent in professional golf is deeper than it has ever been.

Technology has helped, but the pool is bigger the players are now stronger, faster and are able to dial in distance better.

 

[sunshine]

I think the depth of talent in professional golf is deeper than it has ever been.

Technology has helped, but the pool is bigger the players are now stronger, faster and are able to dial in distance better.

Money has helped. Playing for $4m+ is going to improve the strength of the field.

 

[BrianM]

Scheffler is excellent, but comparatively dull. I read on one twitter page that he effectively squeezes the life out of a tournament when he wins it. But I don't particularly mind that, as I like to watch excellent golf.

As for it having been a forgone conclusion, it worked out that way. But as we all know, anything can happen on that course, and in particular the closing stretch. So it's always worth staying up for, just in case.

You’re right when you say anything can happen, but the course set up seemed easier this weekend, if there was maybe a shot or so in then it could of been more interesting, but he was never losing from the 1st hole on Sunday.

 

[CountLippe]

It would have required an on form Rahm or Rory to get close to Scheffler this week. I have absolutely nothing against him, indeed he comes across as a humble guy, there's just nothing that makes me root for him.

As good as the standard is at the top of professional golf, a chasm seems to be developing between these 3 and the next wave (which is about 20 deep!).

 

[Bdill93]

It would have required an on form Rahm or Rory to get close to Scheffler this week. I have absolutely nothing against him, indeed he comes across as a humble guy, there's just nothing that makes me root for him.

As good as the standard is at the top of professional golf, a chasm seems to be developing between these 3 and the next wave (which is about 20 deep!).

Yeah I thought Morikawa would be around the top 5 for some time after his awesome first 2 years but even he is struggling at the moment!

 

[CountLippe]

Yeah I thought Morikawa would be around the top 5 for some time after his awesome first 2 years but even he is struggling at the moment!

The awesome 2 years thing is quite common - see keopka, spieth, day, cam smith,

 

[Slab]

Yeah I thought Morikawa would be around the top 5 for some time after his awesome first 2 years but even he is struggling at the moment!

A good number of the very best pro’s only seem to have a concentrated 2yr period at their absolute peak. Lots win events years either side of the ‘peak’ but the sheer rate of success does seem to be quite concentrated
A much smaller group are able to extend their peak to 3-4 years (again with wins still coming well outside that peak period)

The very rare one or two get their peak period to last 10 years (you know who I mean) but for many I reckon they have just 2 years to build most of their CV

 

[Bdill93]

The awesome 2 years thing is quite common - see keopka, spieth, day, cam smith,

Yeah, just thought he might be different

In actual fact most of the biggest golfers seem to have had a "hot streak" at some point and only a few have sustained over years and years.