Tiger Woods Appreciation Thread

[Dion]

The difference between Tiger and alot of his competitors is the mental aspect of the game. It's a reason why some many choke when up against Tiger in the final round. They can't handle the pressure.

[The Ditch]

Originally Posted by moon

Pathetic effort from those guys at the top of leaderboard and pretty much anyone in the the top 10-15 going into the weekend.

Johnny talked about guys choking to give Tiger wins before and while it doesn't happen in majors it sure happens in the regular events.

Unbelievable how bad all the leaders played to hand Woods this tournament. Sports radio will be disgusting tomorrow.

Talk about giving Tiger no credit Guy shot a freaking 65 on a day where only 7 other people shot under 70. So only 8 of 77 people shot under 70, I would say that the course was playing tough and he had an amazingly solid round.

[transplant99]

Yup...Tiger was simply better than the rest on Sunday with only Furyk even close among the leaders. That shot on 18 after his eagle earlier were classic tiger moments.

The guy has won both Arnie and Jacks tourneys this year....nice accomplishment. I really like his chances at BethPage....especially if he continues to drive the ball like he did this week. Hit every fairway in regulation yesterday...and that is extremely difficult to do on Jack designed courses.

[mykalberta]

Wow, Tiger shows why he is the best. Hard to fault TV coverage when he is basically the only guy that semi-consistently do that. You can think players choked in other leagues, in golf the evidence is there for all to see.

[moon]

Originally Posted by The Ditch

Talk about giving Tiger no credit Guy shot a freaking 65 on a day where only 7 other people shot under 70. So only 8 of 77 people shot under 70, I would say that the course was playing tough and he had an amazingly solid round.

Good for Tiger.

Just because he had a good round doesn't change the fact that the others choked.

His great round shouldn't have mattered if the others guys had just played similar rounds that they had in the other 3 rounds.

I don't expect them to match Tiger's 65 but I don't think it is crazy for them not to so 72, 73 or 75.

[The Ditch]

Originally Posted by moon

Good for Tiger.

Just because he had a good round doesn't change the fact that the others choked.

His great round shouldn't have mattered if the others guys had just played similar rounds that they had in the other 3 rounds.

I don't expect them to match Tiger's 65 but I don't think it is crazy for them not to so 72, 73 or 75.

You don't get it. His great round was just that, a great round that no one could match on a day when the course was playing difficult and the majority (90%) of the field showed that it was playing difficult. I think everyone on that course wants to go out there and beat Tiger, I know I would get annoyed with all the attention he gets and want to beat him on the course, but they couldn't match him over the 4 days in the end.

[moon]

Originally Posted by The Ditch

You don't get it. His great round was just that, a great round that no one could match on a day when the course was playing difficult and the majority (90%) of the field showed that it was playing difficult. I think everyone on that course wants to go out there and beat Tiger, I know I would get annoyed with all the attention he gets and want to beat him on the course, but they couldn't match him over the 4 days in the end.

I get it just fine thanks.

These guys had to go out and shoot a 69. Something that they had easily done all 3 rounds before this. The course wasn't that much tougher on the final day, they just sucked and choked it away.

They didn't have to go out and be world beaters just play the same golf they had all week.

[malcolmk14]

Originally Posted by moon

I get it just fine thanks.

These guys had to go out and shoot a 69. Something that they had easily done all 3 rounds before this. The course wasn't that much tougher on the final day, they just sucked and choked it away.

They didn't have to go out and be world beaters just play the same golf they had all week.

And that's what's so great about Tiger. He does it consistently, when others don't. He doesn't need to go low 60's to win, he just needs to hit a bunch of consistent 69's and he'll win his share of tournaments.

[moon]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

And that's what's so great about Tiger. He does it consistently, when others don't. He doesn't need to go low 60's to win, he just needs to hit a bunch of consistent 69's and he'll win his share of tournaments.

Wasn't that the exact opposite of what he did here?

He needed to shoot in the low 60's because he couldn't shoot 69 on the first two days.

[gonzo29]

Originally Posted by moon

I get it just fine thanks.

These guys had to go out and shoot a 69. Something that they had easily done all 3 rounds before this. The course wasn't that much tougher on the final day, they just sucked and choked it away.

They didn't have to go out and be world beaters just play the same golf they had all week.

Are you familiar with the concept of Sunday pins and firmer greens than the previous three rounds? A more difficult course along with increased pressure, and there's a reason why final round scoring averages are typically higher.

[moon]

Originally Posted by gonzo29

Are you familiar with the concept of Sunday pins and firmer greens than the previous three rounds? A more difficult course along with increased pressure, and there's a reason why final round scoring averages are typically higher.

Higher yes. No problem but it isn't as though these guys are amateur hacks out there. They are professional golfers trying to win a golf tournament. It isn't supposed to be easy.

Guys face these "tough" conditions all the time and still do fine. These guys faced them and shot 72's, 73's and 75's. They choked. Not sure how people can argue that at all.

[malcolmk14]

Originally Posted by moon

Wasn't that the exact opposite of what he did here?

He needed to shoot in the low 60's because he couldn't shoot 69 on the first two days.

Sorry, didn't mean this weekend in particular. It was a little different. I'm talking about in general.

[malcolmk14]

Also - a little bit of info.

In the last 16 stroke-play events that Tiger's played, here are his results:

16 Tournaments
9 Wins
2 Runner-ups
13 Top-5's
16 Top-10's

The last time he finished outside of the top-10 was the British Open in July 2007.

Seriously unbelievable.

[transplant99]

The course wasn't that much tougher on the final day, they just sucked and choked it away.

Yes it was...and by a large margin. It has been that way for decades...Sundays are the hardest courses play as far as pin placements and green conditions...not to mention that when leaders finally come through there are divots galore on the fairways and spike marks abound on the greens.

76 golfers played round 4...9 were able to break 70. 28 guys shot 75 or higher.

It is a ridiculously tough golf course...in fact IIRC it had the second highest scoring rd of the YEAR last year....surpassed only by one of the British Open rounds.

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by moon

Higher yes. No problem but it isn't as though these guys are amateur hacks out there. They are professional golfers trying to win a golf tournament. It isn't supposed to be easy.

Guys face these "tough" conditions all the time and still do fine. These guys faced them and shot 72's, 73's and 75's. They choked. Not sure how people can argue that at all.

I don't understand how 72 is a "choke" when, as someone else mentioned above, only 8 out of 77 players managed to break 70. 69 out of 77 of the guys shot 70 or above. So 69 players (or basically 90% of the tournament field) are "choking" to give Tiger the win? You said it yourself - these guys aren't hacks. So how is it possible that 90% of them couldn't break 70 and were therefore all simultaneously choking?

Those shooting above 75... okay maybe that's getting into choke territory. But 72, 73... ?? Come on now.

[moon]

Originally Posted by Peanut

I don't understand how 72 is a "choke" when, as someone else mentioned above, only 8 out of 77 players managed to break 70. 69 out of 77 of the guys shot 70 or above. So 69 players (or basically 90% of the tournament field) are "choking" to give Tiger the win? You said it yourself - these guys aren't hacks. So how is it possible that 90% of them couldn't break 70 and were therefore all simultaneously choking?

Those shooting above 75... okay maybe that's getting into choke territory. But 72, 73... ?? Come on now.

Its a choke when you have played amongst the best all tournament long. I don't think that the top ten players in the tournament should expect or be expected to play the same as the other guys out there. If you are at the top of the leaderboard on Sunday you should play better than 90% of the other guys in the tournament, whether the course is tough or not.

It is choking to shoot 72 because shooting 69 which shouldn't have been tough for the guys who were playing there best all weekend long, would have put you in contention to win the tournament.

[The Ditch]

Furyk who came in second was in that top 10% and shot a 69.

[Ethaniel]

Moon,

have you ever played golf?
have you ever golfed a 60 - 72 score in 4 consistent rounds?
Let alone on the next day?

[GirlySports]

I can understand Tiger being great and shooting a low score on Sunday.
But all of the others not being able to break par? All of them? Furyk was the only other guy to go low.

I don't think it's just the more difficult pins. It's the crowds, the cameras, the media. Tiger's in everyone's head. They're defeated even before they tee off.

[moon]

Originally Posted by Ethaniel

Moon,

have you ever played golf?
have you ever golfed a 60 - 72 score in 4 consistent rounds?
Let alone on the next day?

So now I have to be at the level of a professional golfer to criticize them?

Of course I haven't shot 60-72 in 4 consistent (I assume it was consecutive that you meant) rounds. I am not a professional golfer.

I don't know why that means that I can't expect guys to do that if they want to win a golf tournament.