WGC Cadillac Championship

So far not a good start. A mini hurricane and a few hours of delay.

http://yfrog.com/nqtz0z

http://yfrog.com/gzfo7ulj

Hopefully it will end on a slightly better note. At least we have a great grouping to entertain us until friday, with Tiger, g-mac and phil playing together.

Anyway thought I would put up something where we could discuss this weeks event.

Nice one Mac - I was going to start one myself if no one else did. I've made it sticky for the weekend.

At least we have a great grouping to entertain us until friday, with Tiger, g-mac and phil playing together.

I wonder if that was tongue in cheek or if you've forgotten the "other" nice group of Kaymer, Westwood and Donald

Hehehe - you've gotta LOVE the BBC mods on the old place.

I just made a post there on Kwini's essay asking if it was going to be "lift clean and cheat" on resumption of play.

I guess the "cheat" word hit alarm bells in mod-central and some snotty nosed kid decided it had to be deleted before it opened the BBC up to some million dollar lawsuit

Funny you mention cheating, what do you make of adam scott's new weapon?

What weapon is that Mac? got a link to a pic?

Adam Scotts new weapon is not cheating, he's not the first to use the broomstick nor will he be the last! Only when the rules associations ban them can it be cheating.

I see Karlsson has a new man on his bag, Alister MacLean from this week is his new caddy by looks of it. Very experienced caddy, could this be he wants a better man on the bag who's been down the stretch in big events to help him or just a falling out with his old bag man

Has anyone else ever heard Bruce Critchley say in commentary that US golfers never have to play in windy conditions? Almost as daft as Johnny Miller last week saying that European golfers aren't used to playing over water!

Mav - I can't believe Karlsson has ditched his caddy - unless it is to do with an extended stay in US. He and "Lordy" have been together a long time and are great mates by all accounts.
The caddy merry go round is amazing!

Puligny heard those comments and cringed, some of these commentators need to seriously think before they speak half the guff they come out with is incredulous.

As for Caddys I can only assume it is to do with now full time PGA tour and MacLean has good pedigree in big events not doubt Lordy will be on a top bag again soon as he is a good caddy

Adams scott's putter is cheating just as much as drawing an aiming line on your ball.

McLaren wrote:Adams scott's putter is cheating just as much as drawing an aiming line on your ball.

why?

McLaren wrote:Adams scott's putter is cheating just as much as drawing an aiming line on your ball.

No its not its within the confines of the rules not cheating and to say so is ridiculous cheating by definition is seeking to gain an advantage over the field by doing something against the confines of the rules

Basically you don't like him using it doesn't make it cheating just means you don't like it and in this life and game we are not meant to like everything

Lets face it you know if you are cheating, the guilt must be debilitating for the users of these monstrosities.

Mac you are clueless, guilt! No relief more like that they are competing again by using a putter clearly allowed in the rules of golf so as for cheating seems like only in your world

Out of interest have you tried one of these things Mac?

I find they are more difficult to use than a standard putter. They are so long that the clubhead there is a completely different feel and pace off the putter head. I find that although they are more online that I can't control the distance at all with them.

I think they make the game harder... So am I cheating by not using something that makes it more difficult?

LJ make you spot on their, tried one myself just to see what they are like a fellow club player uses one and I too found it harder to use, judging distance is extremely hard. I find using a putter 1or2 inches shorter than standard easier so I guess I must too be a cheat!

You and me both Mave. 33.5 inches for me.

Agreed, I've tried broomhandles several times messing around in shops etc. I have no control over them at all. If anything, I take my hat off to someone that can control them, a better man than me!!

As for cheating, how can using something that is freely available to everyone be cheating? If the manufacturers only gave them out to selected players then yes, that could be an unfair advantage. But anyone can buy and use the things so until the R&A ban them, by all means carry on using them.

I've never heard anyone complain about me only having 35 inches

35 inches is a broomhandle for certain people

It would appear the previous 2 world number ones are, to put it politely, both number twos this week.

Getting back to the tournament, it looks like Saturday is going to be a day for the leaders to move forward. Scoring conditions seem relatively easy, and the lead may go up as high as -15 based on early play. Only Kaymer is going the wrong way, the victim of an unfortunate double due to a lake.

I can't believe the way Luke is playing the last couple of weeks. He has always been one of my favourite golfers to watch, especially because of his lack of length off the tee but I never expected him to do this well. Does he climb any higher than #3 this week if he wins again?

I believe he'll overtake LW if he wins, Davie.

Too bad nearly everyone messed up on 18, or the field would be really bunched. Dustin Johnson's back-9 score of 31 looks quite good to me, but you will note that McIlroy birdied both 17 and 18 while everyone else was struggling. That has put him into the contest - he should certainly be relieved after his adventures at the Bear Trap last week.

That 17 foot par save by Watney is the sort of moment that wins a tournament, I wonder if that will the the turning point tonight?

Redrage wrote:That 17 foot par save by Watney is the sort of moment that wins a tournament, I wonder if that will the the turning point tonight?

He made not only that one, but another one that was over 20 feet - and then birdied 18! Nobody could beat that today, once Johnson missed his birdie putt on 17.

The most interesting rounds belonged to Tiger Woods and Rickie Fowler, both six under. It remains to be seen whether either one of them could do that if they were in contention. I thought McIlroy might play a role, but he had another Sunday fizzle.

I think McIlroy is more interested in tweeting than playing golf. He is not even half as interesting as Stephen fry, who only just gets away with it.

The most interesting person from the golf industry on twitter is hank haney gives a frank and honest opinion and free advice too.

Rory again proves a point both Mac and I have made several times in recent weeks, he doesn't have 4 good rounds in him, rather 1 good 2 average and a very average 1 at best and for that fact he will not win a major for sometime until he concentrates on improving his weaknesses.

Watney is having a fantastic year he really has improved himself in the off season with 7 top 10's and a win this year alone. He has a major winning game and could be a hot prospect at Augusta. The irony though is DJ lost his chance due to not playing his usual bomb off the tee at 16! Had he gone for the green most likely a 4 at worst.

Good to see Luke with another superb finish, fast becoming head and shoulders above Westwood whose game has deserted him this season so far, hopefully he'll come good for Augusta.

Still think despite his problems Woods will contend at the Masters

I'm thinking Butch Harmon will be laughing this morning, as his 2 charges beat the field. DJ seems to have a block on the final day, as he reminded me of last years collapse to allow GMac to take the title.

Phil was woefull again and if it wasn't for his swashbuckling style he would have had a 90. Kuchar yet again shows he has the game to win millions again this year, and Watney could do some damage.

Rory should have been in contention, but managed to hit every bunker on the course and did well to stay on the front page, but he needs a talking to after that final round. Luke should also have done better, and must have been favourite, but had no drive all day, and hardly hit a fairway.

Disappointing final day for Luke and young Rory but nice finishes (too little, too late) for Tiger and Lee.

Mahan seemed to self destruct again and Dustbin once again showed he has trouble closing the deal.

All in all a disappointing finish for Euro fans though. I must say I find Watney hard to warm to. He seems to have the "lights on but nobody home" look in his eyes (like a junior PhilMick). Everyone says he's a personable young man but I just can't take to him. Played some great golf though with a few real clutch putts

I looked at a couple of betting sites last night to check out Masters prices and yes you guessed, Woods is favourite! What a joke, there are at least 10 players whose games are in better shape to contend round Augusta.

Good news is that there are some great bargains to be picked up right now. 33's on GMac, one of the best putters on tour right now, that's got E/W bet written all over it.

drive4show wrote:I looked at a couple of betting sites last night to check out Masters prices and yes you guessed, Woods is favourite! What a joke, there are at least 10 players whose games are in better shape to contend round Augusta.

Good news is that there are some great bargains to be picked up right now. 33's on GMac, one of the best putters on tour right now, that's got E/W bet written all over it.

The only side note that I would make is that Augusta has a huge emphasis on experience which would be why Tiger's odds are so short. I've made a fair bit of money on Goosen over the years by backing him each way - he will generally be in the top 10 at some point on the last day so you can lay it back out and lock in some profit or even just keeping it until the finish would have been profitable. He's been longer odds the past few years as he's not playing quite so well but again, experience counts for so much at Augusta that he's the type of player that will always do well.

Maverick wrote:

Watney is having a fantastic year he really has improved himself in the off season with 7 top 10's and a win this year alone. He has a major winning game and could be a hot prospect at Augusta.

I backed Watney for all 4 majors last year. He had a terrific finish at Augusta and missed out on a place for me by a stroke. He just nicked me a place at St. Andrews and I couldn't see him not getting me at least a place at the PGA... but we all know what happened there Unfortunately he won't be much bigger than 33/1 come Augusta, and if he wins again he might be closer to 18/1 (I had 100/1 last year and still had 66/1 by the PGA). He has rebounded really quite well since then, I hope it continues too... he seems a very likeable sort of player.