Young Lad, Andy Zhang not doing so well at start of US OPEN

[brendy]

Fingers crossed it is just nerves and he will get a few back.
520 yard par 4 first hole has to be a screamer no matter how far you hit it too.

 

[muttleee]

Re: Young Las Andy Zhang not doing so well at start of US OPEN

I wonder if any of us could do better than a 7 on that hole?

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Re: Young Las Andy Zhang not doing so well at start of US OPEN

He hasn't folded completely and is doing better than a few top names.

 

[Tiger]

Re: Young Las Andy Zhang not doing so well at start of US OPEN

Even if he won it I'd still think it was wrong. He's too young to be playing a tournament like this. There should be rules in place for his own welfare.

 

[Golfmmad]

Re: Young Las Andy Zhang not doing so well at start of US OPEN

Even if he won it I'd still think it was wrong. He's too young to be playing a tournament like this. There should be rules in place for his own welfare.

Rubbish - it's a great experience for him.

 

[beggsy]

Re: Young Las Andy Zhang not doing so well at start of US OPEN

So you think it's fair he goes and takes the pi55 out of the under 15s and wins every week if he is good enough why not test yourself against the elite

 

[muttleee]

Re: Young Las Andy Zhang not doing so well at start of US OPEN

Finishing 9 over after being 8 over after 5 shows a lot of character.

 

[triple_bogey]

Re: Young Las Andy Zhang not doing so well at start of US OPEN

Good luck to the little lad.....Boys living the dream. Playing a major and meeting his hero(TW,who else) in person.

 

[muttleee]

Re: Young Las Andy Zhang not doing so well at start of US OPEN

Good luck to the little lad.....Boys living the dream. Playing a major and meeting his hero(TW,who else) in person.

Scary to think that this kid wasn't even born when Tiger won his first major.

 

[palindromicbob]

Re: Young Las Andy Zhang not doing so well at start of US OPEN

Finishing 9 over after being 8 over after 5 shows a lot of character.

And 3 over after one. That is amazing scoring from the lad to only lose 6 shots over 17 holes after that start.

 

[Tiger]

Re: Young Las Andy Zhang not doing so well at start of US OPEN

Rubbish - it's a great experience for him.

That's rubbish. The level of coverage, hype, exposure etc. that's a lot to take on for a 14 year old. He's still just a child.

 

[Smiffy]

Re: Young Las Andy Zhang not doing so well at start of US OPEN

That's rubbish. The level of coverage, hype, exposure etc. that's a lot to take on for a 14 year old. He's still just a child.

Errrr....so why did he take up golf in the first place??? If he had always dreamed of being a pro golfer he knew it was going to happen. So why wait????
I bet if you had asked him 100 times "would you rather play in the monthly stableford this week-end or peg it up in the US Open" what do you think his answer would have been????
And I bet if he finishes plum last this week-end and you asked him afterwards if he wanted to have another bash next year, he'd say "Yes" without hesitation.
Get in there.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Re: Young Las Andy Zhang not doing so well at start of US OPEN

Even if he won it I'd still think it was wrong. He's too young to be playing a tournament like this. There should be rules in place for his own welfare.

If you're good enough you're old enough. Better to shoot +9 at the US Open and be tied with the world number 1 than shoot +9 at some other micky mouse event and be cut adrift. There are no expectations for him here, no-one expects him to make the cut and pretty much whatever he shoots, he won't be alone, like I said, tied with the world number 1, 1 behind the masters champion, 2 behind the defending US Open champion and ahead of Miguel Angel Jimenez. If I was him this morning I'd be looking at that and feeling pretty good about it.

 

[Tiger]

Re: Young Las Andy Zhang not doing so well at start of US OPEN

If you're good enough you're old enough. Better to shoot +9 at the US Open and be tied with the world number 1 than shoot +9 at some other micky mouse event and be cut adrift. There are no expectations for him here, no-one expects him to make the cut and pretty much whatever he shoots, he won't be alone, like I said, tied with the world number 1, 1 behind the masters champion, 2 behind the defending US Open champion and ahead of Miguel Angel Jimenez. If I was him this morning I'd be looking at that and feeling pretty good about it.

What was the name of that British golfer that was heralded as being the next best thing...was it Gordon something??? What happened to him. Where is he now? Let's use women's tennis as an example: there are an awful lot of precociously talented youngsters that go on to have big careers (Martina Hingis springs to mid) others who do ok but say the impact of starting so young caused them problems (Jennifer Capriati springs to mind) and others who really fail to live up to the hype and fade away into obscurity (I really hope Laura Robson won't be one).

When a supremely gifted young footballer breaks through the ranks at Manchester United you don't give them their first start in the Champions League final. The way I see it this is all accidental. I'm not sure they realistically expected him to make it to the Olympic Club on the back of the qualifier, he probably entered that for the experience.

Knowing what America is like, they are going o pounce on him as the next big golfing superstar, the heir to Tiger's throne and all that nonsense.You do not know how he is going to cope with that. I really hope it works out for him and he makes it on tour and in the future they replay footage of his first US Open tournament following his maiden US Open win and ask him how much of a difference that one event had on his career. What I worry about (and I think it's a realistic worry) is that there is a growing weight of expectation either piled on from outside or driven internally and he cracks mentally under the strain.

It's a lottery. No-one has any idea what the long term impact of this will be on him. I've said it once and I'll say it again: he's amazingly talented but he is still a CHILD!

 

[garyinderry]

Re: Young Las Andy Zhang not doing so well at start of US OPEN

only seen clips of him last night but he seemed to really enjoy that birdie at the last. fist pumps and all. fair play little dude! enjoy! give it your best.

 

[CMAC]

Re: Young Las Andy Zhang not doing so well at start of US OPEN

At 14 I could hardly hold a conversation with an adult! even worse if it was a good looking female adult (hormone explosion at that age) so I think he is doing phenomenally well under this pressure on a really really tough course.
He's only 2 shots worse than world number 2:mmm:
and SAME as world number 1

 

[GreiginFife]

Re: Young Las Andy Zhang not doing so well at start of US OPEN

My concern for him is something that Tiger points out. I'm not concerned about his age, it's the American way of over-hyping anyone talented that's my biggest fear for the boy. Failure to live up to huge expectation doesn't just affect the young (footballers in their mid/late twenties that fail to live up to massive price tags) it can mentally crush anyone.
But as conversely pointed out, he would probably bite their hands off to be invited back so it's swings and roundabouts in that respect.

 

[Tiger]

Re: Young Las Andy Zhang not doing so well at start of US OPEN

But as conversely pointed out, he would probably bite their hands off to be invited back so it's swings and roundabouts in that respect.

You don't always know what's in your best long term interests though. That's where good quality coaches, managers etc are worth their weight in gold. Doesn't get any better with age either, just look at Jimmy Anderson's reaction when he was rested for a dead rubber against the West Indies...

 

[muttleee]

Re: Young Las Andy Zhang not doing so well at start of US OPEN

When a supremely gifted young footballer breaks through the ranks at Manchester United you don't give them their first start in the Champions League final.

You can't compare a team game like football to an individual one like golf. Apples and oranges.

 

[Tiger]

Re: Young Las Andy Zhang not doing so well at start of US OPEN

You can't compare a team game like football to an individual one like golf. Apples and oranges.

Why not??? Wayne Rooney first started playing first team professional football aged 16 and so have many others. Their manager's eased them into the professional game they didn't drop them into the most pressured, media scrutinised match. And if anything it's an unfair comparison to football because the player has the support of their team mates. In golf, tennis, athletics, swimming they are often out there on their own.

My point is that a lot of people are making the "if they're good enough, they're old enough" argument. I'm saying that it's not all about talent and that the pyschology of sport is becoming increasingly important. Just because someone has the natural talent doesn't mean you should throw them in at the deep end. Even experienced, mature adults can have a mental meltdown, especially in a game like golf when mental strength is so important. Look what happened to David Duval, I for one really hope he can make his way back to the top. Not read the article in this month's GM yet but I do wonder if the pressure of dethroning Tiger (and the US hoopla that followed) was a main contributing factor in his downturn in form.