European Tour 2017 DP World Tour Championship

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Alci

Most people I have spoken to who saw him yesterday agree with what you say above. It seems he has deteriorated since the Hero.

Tiger certainly looked stiff in his 1st round, but there's a big difference in that and a full out gripping back spasm. It's almost impossible to complete and contend with a stiff back, but you can't even swing if you're in a severe spasm.

Thing about physio... It tends to either get the muscle fully out of spasm or hardly at all, very little in between. The worse part is once you have that tender back the spasm can be caused by anything. Sometimes things as simple as getting out of a chair or bending over to pick up a napkin off the floor. Then other times you might go days/weeks/months with vigorous activity of all sorts, with no issues at all. I went for 20+ years of it and it was awful. Most the time I was fine, but even when not hurting, I was always waiting for the hammer to drop, and it eventually would. Surgery fixed mine... Pity it appears Tiger wasn't so lucky.

robopz wrote:Tiger certainly looked stiff in his 1st round,

So did Mac watching him

raycastleunited wrote:

robopz wrote:Tiger certainly looked stiff in his 1st round,

So did Mac watching him

Oh sheesh....

One thing no-one ever seems to question about Woods is his medical care and the advice he gets. Perhaps his surgeon's had a bad day or two at the office that we don't know about.

Regardless, he's bringing so much pressure upon himself, hubris getting in the way of reality and common sense:
"I'm here to win the tournament."
"Working towards the first full week of April."
etc, etc.
Don't have to love him to feel he's rather bringing some of this on himself, which is too bad.

This is just an example of how thick (or deluded) Scummer Woods actually is.

He'd have to be retarded to think he could win a tournament given his last 18 months.

I get that he has to be seen to appear to think he can win a tournament both in terms of his image and his preposterous ego, but no other golfer would be that unrealistic or deluded given the same circumstances. Why wouldn't he just say something along the lines of-

"Well, I've been out for 18 months, my first priority is getting some sort of consistency, and then being competitive as soon as I can".

No one could hold that against him, and no one would think that an unreasonable or pessimistic outlook, nor would hit hurt his "brand" but claiming he's here to "win the tournament" is just laughable and frankly, very disrespectful to the other players who have spent the last 18 months being a country mile ahead of him. Plank.

Hard to see Stenson falling back into the pack tomorrow, so a nice start to the year from him.

Top 8 finishers in Dubai played the AM-PM wave.

deleted: Double Post.

Great result for Garcia. Enjoy it Mac?
Bit of a shame about Poulter's last round, but he's obviously not ready to put his feet up and admire his car collection just yet.

Was Stenson playing for 2nd place on the last two holes.

Was 4 behind on the 17th tee, a drive-able par 4 and the reachable (in Two) par 5 18th.

And Stenson uses a chicken stick off the 17th tee.

GPB wrote:Was Stenson playing for 2nd place on the last two holes.

Was 4 behind on the 17th tee, a drive-able par 4 and the reachable (in Two) par 5 18th.

And Stenson uses a chicken stick off the 17th tee.

Almost certainly, 4 behind a Sergio in the kind of form he's been in this week. He'd be thinking the absolute worst he's going to do is par par (which he did). So that's eagle eagle for a play off. Mess up and it could be 4th instead of 2nd.

Yes the 17th is driveable for them an it looks innocuous enough, how many did you see eagle it? Or get their birdie from being short right?

Do you think someone in Stenson position ought to be playing for 2nd place?

Maybe someone who scraping by, trying to retain a tour card.

But Open Champ, 2x RtD Champ, former FEX Champ? Nah. he should be going for it.

Not such a bad idea playing conservatively against Sergio. He has choked in the past. But no sign of this today. Hopefully we'll see him contend in the big tournaments coming up. He's a complete player if he can avoid getting in his own way.

I think a professional will maintain the best position he can in the circumstances as he sees them. Thats his job, there will be other opportunities. That's why he's got the things that you've listed and we're dragging our sorry arses out of bed to trudge to the day job this morning ;-)

Stenson was too far behind to go for 2 holywood holes. It made no sense to risk it in light of the number of strokes between them and the holes left, perhaps over 9 holes, but not 2.

I thought Stenson played it right. He went for 18 in 2, optimising his chances if Sergio got wet after laying up, and had his second to 18 finished closer, maybe putting a bit more pressure on Sergio. Stenson could have guaranteed second by laying up and taking a par. We've seen lots of players come to grief going for 18 - think Ernie a few years ago and Coetzee yesterday. Oh and I think we saw a good example of getting the shot over water after laying up go wrong with Tiger in this event.
Excellent play from Sergio all week.

No reason to go for 18 in two unless you chase an eagle. Laying up and a pw in gives you a decent birdie chance, but at less risk.

This is just another example of people having poor course management.

It's like taking a shot from the half way line when you have a minute left.
Stenson did the right thing, the title was to all intents and purposes way out of reach he played the % play and put himself in a position should Garcia capitulate, rather than chase an absurdly small chance of victory which would most likely end up in him dropping several places and valuable OWGR points.

Pedro - forgive me, we may be saying the same thing, but:
The question posed by GPB was whether Stenson was playing for second on 17/18. Frankly I'm not sure 17 is worth a response, but for what it's worth Stenson laid back and gave himself as good a chance of birdie as if he'd tried to drive the green. Almost certainly took worse than par out of the equation - good professional golf.
Second shot on 18 - he is clear of 3rd place by one shot behind Sergio by 4 - he's seen Sergio lay up. Stenson in first cut, good lie and decides to go for the green. Possibilities are eagle, birdie, par or worse if he gets wet. Provided he clears water worse case is bunker at back and probable par (second place). If he was only interested in second he lays up, pitches 20-30 feet behind the flag takes par, second place cheque.
If Sergio messes up, by giving himself better chance of below par Stenson is in a position to capitalise. By laying up, and going for birdie he is taking on a more difficult pitch. He has simply weighed the odds - as good as guaranteed second, rather than a share of second - and taken a shot to nothing in case Sergio gets wet and ends with a 7 to Stensons only chance of eagle and a playoff.
Did he play for second? It ain't that simple - but his chances of second tied were increased by taking the shot over water, and without the shot over water his chance of first was non existent. Stinson never gave up hoping for first, but being a pragmatic Swede..........

Puligny, Yes I think we're saying the same thing. Stenson did right on 18 if he wanted to hold on to a chance of victory. But the back of 18th green is not easy, clearly 3 putt territory with the large sloping green, and water obviously in play out of the semi-rough, so clearly more risky than laying up. But since par would secure solo 2nd for Stenson he did the right thing.

Super, are you talking about 17 or 18? Wasn't it game over after 17?

I'm talking about in general Pedro, certain people seem to be saying he should have tried to go Eagle, Eagle. That's just preposterous. Can anyone remember the last time someone did that?

Stenson has to hope for a couple of birdies by playing to his strengths, whilst minimising the risk of a holocaust score and hope that Garcia had a couple of bad shots.

The result was outwith his hands, but he put himself in as good a position as he could given the circumstances and the risk.

Great to see Stenson on form, what a year it could be with Matsuyama (someone whose high ball flight should be perfect at Augusta), McIlroy and a few others in good form going into the season, makes a change from it being a raft of Saffers at this time of year as is normal.

Was Sunday a day when 2 2017 major winners both won and signalled their intent. Sounds like the source of a new thread

Hope so, JAS; off you go then!

Wiesberger currently -9 for his round after 15 holes. Has birdied the last 9 holes! So 10 birdies in total so far and 1 bogey!!

Boo, he's parred 16!!

Wow, Some good rounds. Were those 9 birdies consecutive? EDIT: YES!!! Should have read Humpy's post more closely. Sorry!


A tough cut to miss for Graeme Storm, as that will end his chance to qualify for the Mexico WGC unless he gets a last-minute entry for next week.

Just watched today's play, before rugby! What a great swing, and short game demo from Lipsky. Only seen bits of him in coverage before, but just about every shot today. Impressive. Not the boldest of putters!

Lipsky looked so good when he won a couple of years ago that it's surprising he hasn't played better since then. (PS: Lipsky went to the same, highly competitive academically, Northwestern University as Luke Donald - and where Matt Fitzpatrick made a fleeting cameo.)
But he gets himself a ticket to the WGC Mexico next month.
Those not already qualified in the Top Ten R2D with one Aussie week to go include:
Tommy Fleetwood, Fabrizio, Lipsky, Brazel, Larrazabal.

What does everyone think about this Super 6 tournament?

sirbenson wrote:What does everyone think about this Super 6 tournament?

Refreshing they try something new. Can't really imagine how it'll work out though. May be a bit OTT with fireworks and music. But let's give it a chance. I like the thing with mics on all players and caddies. That should be permanent. Just like cockpit cams have made F1 more fun to watch, mics on players could do the same for golf.

Yeah, I like the concept. The fireworks and music part might be a bit questionable, but apart from that it seems like a good idea. There will always be 4 day events but this could be a good format to shake things up a bit.

Could even be good for the likes of Tiger who is struggling to play even 36 holes, he may be able to play 6 a day over the two days, and the greensomes format could be kinder on his back.

Fully Agree Pedro - I really applaud them for trying something new. (Hoping things change generally not a good strategy).

Reading the bbc report of the 6 hole event I am reminded of the old exhibition events like the battle at bighorn where the players were mic'ed up. Obviously the field is bigger and the format expanded but to begin with this event will probably be considered more an exhibition event rather than "proper" event.

Qualification seems odd given they will more than likely have to delve well down the list to get the first player willing to play.

"Countries will be represented by their leading ranked and available European Tour member as of 13 March, who will then choose a team-mate."


Despite the slightly negative comments above I actually think that if they can pick a good TV spot this event should be pretty fun to watch. There is certainly enough 72 hole strokeplay to watch in a season.

But playing in Perth I'd doubt how many in Europe would sit glued to the screen watching it live. And in general if you have to watch a rerun it somewhat loses appeal as you've probably already checked out the scores.

Looks like there's been a bit of confusion here, I (and others by the looks of it) was talking about the GolfSixes team event that will be played over the 6th and 7th of May on the ET. Team event with Music, Mic'd up players etc. Hadn't realised this weeks tourney in Aus had changed format also. I always find it difficult to keep track of Aus events because of the time difference, and when it's not live unless something dramatic happens or its a nail biter I tend to give it a skip.

Yes I'm mixing them up also. Sorry btb.

They did something (a bit) similar on the Ladies tour last week. Don't know how successful it was.

Like most of us over here, I'm rarely interested in any Aussie events due to the time difference. Although I did see an amusing video on ET instagram page this morning of a kangaroo interrupting play by hopping across the fairway.

The golf sixes is a great idea. Apart from the fireworks and music. No sport is enhanced by fireworks, if you are the type of moron who thinks fireworks are a good idea you really have no interest in sport whatsoever so not really worth targeting.

They have slightly shot themselves in the foot with the choice of venue. Pelley talking about making golf more inclusive etc and then the tournament will be played at Centurion which is one of the few clubs not open to visitors. Even Wentworth with its astronomical prices is still open to the public.

But enough of the criticism. I applaud the ET for trying something new. The greensomes format also encourages attacking golf, I expect we will see flurries of birdies and no "grinding". 20-20 cricket had a lot of critics when it started but look how successful that has become.

Although I like the idea of players and caddies wearing mics, I find it intensely annoying when the commentators continually think they have to apologise in a grovelling manner because one of them just might have dropped a swear word (as we all do when we're playing and something goes wrong - even me!). FFS (oops, sorry) get over it. It's the real world. It happens in nearly all sports now, especially rugby, and sometimes I have to play the coverage back to catch the word the commentators are apologising for because I didn't hear it. If they'd kept quiet, I wouldn't have noticed and neither probably would anyone else.

 

Exactly LP, it's only a swear word. Who effing cares?

Yeah, I love to hear kids swearing.

Christ, everybody knows swear words, they are exposed to them on a daily basis, but it doesn't mean that you repeat it.
I was young when I first heard swear words, but it didn't mean that I started saying them at every opportunity.

With the over sensitive media and audience, player mics won't happen in America then..

But you're ace super. If only we could all be so, something to aspire to. I think there should be more swearing on CBBC to be honest but the Frak Kumquat just Frak ignore my Frak Kumquat pleas.

Yes but why be rigid about it? I think most people can see through when swear words deliberately are being used to cause stir.
If you have a fascist approach to using swear words, or showing nudity, as American media are a prime example of, people get a f-ked up relationship to it. Calm down, ease up and embrace the real world.

No Monty, I was just brought up to know when and when not certain language should be used.

There's lots of things we aren't sanitised from in our lives, but that doesn't mean we go out and do them just because we are exposed to them. To mention that swearing on CBBC should be more common is just being idiotic.

The word 'merkin' must be really offensive to some people.. especially monty.

super_realist wrote:No Monty, I was just brought up to know when and when not certain language should be used.

Sounds idyllic.

pedro wrote:The word 'merkin' must be really offensive to some people.. especially monty.

If you need a Muppet covering there is nothing better than a merkin. Want to borrow it? It's a bit sweaty but montys had his fill...

MontysMerkin wrote:

super_realist wrote:No Monty, I was just brought up to know when and when not certain language should be used.

Sounds idyllic.

Not idyllic Monty, just what NORMAL people do.