Recorded and watched on delay. Caught up for the 18th and play off, so perfect timing!
Some thoughts:
- Stupid that players can't wear shorts on Tour.
- I really enjoyed seeing the players carry their own bags. This should be introduced on Tour! Much better test of the player when they have to make their shot selection on their own, especially green reading. Having a servant to carry your equipment and measure distances for you is a very outdated concept.
- I really enjoyed the absence of long conversations between player and caddie, which is a major contributor to slow play.
- It was great to see the players ready to play when it was their turn.
- Without caddies, green books, practice rounds, the players chipping and lag putting was less than perfect. Made them look more human, and is probably a better comparison for us.
- Rory and Rickie looked class.
- DJ looked really rusty. He was well off the others and he stopped trying.
- Wolff can seriously bomb it, but swing looks like an octopus falling out of a tree. His fast hip twist trigger move is ok for full swings but not great on short shots where you need to maintain a smooth swing. I'm guessing on a good day his natural timing will look after him but on a bad day he will struggle with distance control on pitches.
- I thought the course looked nice, was a bit too wide open for these guys. Commentators kept saying it normally plays much firmer which would have made it more interesting. Certainly more interesting later when the breeze picked up.
- The problem with these events (Tiger v Phil etc) is the dead time between shots when you only have one group on the course. ok as a one-off, not every week.