Wentworth a true test

[golfdonkey]

Really enjoyed the PGA Championship at Wentworth - and the West Course is still a great test. Only 28 players broke par for four rounds compared with 60 in the States at the Crowne Plaza event. Of course the weather played a part on the final day but the golf at W was as it should be - par or (slightly) better was a good score. The winning score in the States was predictably -14 (sometimes it's -22 or something silly). Here's to proper, challenging golf in Europe (or perhaps the Americans are just better players? I don't think so).

 

[Dave3498]

I watched the full coverage of the PGA at Wentworth and I must say that it was spellbinding stuff. We had a large selection of potential winners from about the 10th hole, and of course the eventual winner didn't really get much of a mention until late on.

I know that the weather was a factor, but don't you think that some of the course management left a lot to be desired? I can't count the number of times I saw approach shots screwed back away from the hole. Surely if you know that you are going to put a lot of action on the ball, it should land beyond the hole and screw back, as Justin Rose did on the 18th. of regular play. That was the only time I saw this happen, even though there was plenty of room beyond the pin in many cases. They all seem to be dead scared of a downhill putts.

I was also surprised to see Justin Rose go out of bounds off the tee. If that hadn't happened, he would have won by 2 shots. I know it is easy for us lesser mortals to say, but it seemed to me that a well placed 3 wood off the tee on many holes, would have been preferable to some of the drivers hit into the rough. The difference quite often is a driver and a 6 iron to the green, as opposed to a 3 wood and a 5 iron.

I have always been surprised at the lack of course management skills of some of the top professionals. They seem to get by on their playing talent alone. I think that is one of the major the differences between Tiger Woods and the chasing pack. Tiger's golfing brain is far better than the theirs, and apart from a few notable occasions, his course management is impeccable.