Round 2: AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
February 10 2012
8:38 pm
Notes from inside the ropes
By Fred Albers, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
Stinger: Tiger Woods appeared to hurt himself on the eighth hole at Monterey Peninsula Country Club. His drive was in the middle of the fairway but in an old divot. Woods dug the ball out of the bad lie and onto the green but immediately after impact, he grabbed his right wrist. He continued to massage and flex the joint as he walked to the green. It turned out to be just a "stinger" and the pain did not last long, nor did it affect the rest of the round. In Woods’ words, "It’s fine now but hurt like hell when I did it."
Changing Conditions: Woods correctly noted the Monterey Peninsula course changed dramatically on his final nine holes. The mist turned into a drizzle, the course got longer and the greens became bumpy. Woods did not make a birdie on the last six holes and played them in 1-over par. The soupy weather absolutely affected play but it should be noted while Woods was missing putts and making bogey at the 16th, other players were making birdies over the same period. Phil Mickelson finished with a 65, shooting 29 on his final nine holes.
By The Numbers: Woods called it a solid round. The stats back that assertion. Woods missed just two greens and two fairways but shot just 2-under par. Statistics at Monterey Peninsula Country Club are a bit skewed when compared to Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill, the greens are large and the fairways very generous. The vital numbers in Woods round were 33 putts and two missed birdie opportunities at the third and ninth holes where he had opportunities from inside 10 feet.
Phantom Horn: Play came to a momentary halt on the 17th hole at Monterey Peninsula Country Club. Just as Woods was about to hit his approach to the green, a horn sounded. It had been raining for some time but it was not significant enough to stop play. It was determined the horn did not come from an official but from a nearby house, perhaps as a prank, and play resumed. Nobody likes a wisenheimer.
Wind Indicators: It is easy to tell the prevailing wind at Monterey Peninsula Country Club. Just look at the trees. There are cypress trees dotting the landscape and all of them lean inward, away from the coastline. It’s as if a giant hand pushed the gnarly limbs toward the east while the trunks remain firmly rooted in the ground. There must be a consistently fierce wind for that to happen, and there’s never a need to toss grass in the air to determine the wind’s direction.
Fred Albers is a course reporter for SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio and is inside the ropes this week at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. For more information on SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio, click here.
PGATOUR.com is part of Turner - SI Digital, part of the Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network 
what were the course stats for today
Phil is gonna win
November 15th, 2011 2:25 pm
Jim Stats is NOT 007…I am my own BOND.
I agree with Jim Stats and his recent comments. HAO needs to look at the big picture. Tiger had 14/15 good years on Tour. He can still give out a good game but his #1 position on the PGA Tour is over. The younger guys are taking over, so Tiger can still play but he will have to take a seat somewhere outside of the Top Ten in OWGR rankings.
Tiger will undoubtedly win a Tournament or two but I don’t think he will win another Major. Let’s wait and see what happens in 2012 when he plays against those European “Stars”
You know what’s hilarious? We have dozens of people here complaining about how much blathering coverage Tiger gets, while a report on Nick Watney’s round garners all of one reply.
If Chopra can repeat some of his Aces this week, he will be worth watching?
Rickie should be ready for a victory at the Beach this week.
Woods has lost the “Tiger” in himself since his last win 2 1/2 years ago at the BMW Championship, so don’t expect him top the Leaderboard because he is not 100% healthy yet. The best you can expect from “Meow” Woods this week is to see him past Mickelson in the OWGR rankings when the points are given out on Sunday.
007 – Are you joking? Have you even been watching Woods? Also, do you have a sense of history and know that you are saying the exact same things naysayers said in 1998 and again in 2004 about Tiger only for Tiger to turn around and make Butch Harmon (who said that Tiger was in denial about his swing when Tiger stated he was getting close) and Johnny Miller (who echoed the same sentiments and said Tiger should swallow his pride and go back to Butch) look like huge fools and proved pretty well that they really have no clue what they are talking about. They were saying that Tiger Woods was doing the wrong things and I remember when Tiger finished 46h at Bayhill (mostly because he finished bogey, double-bogey, triple-bogey), and Johnny Miller said Tiger’s swing looked “awful.” Even after Tiger started winning again, it took Johnny Miller a few more wins than it should have to get back on the Tiger bandwagon. However, he did make Butch look stupid and he did make himself look incompetent as his job as it pertains to recognize a good golf swing. Johnny Miller didn’t like Tiger’s swing at first until Tiger started dominating with it, then what could Miller say? Miller has also made predictions about a lot of young guys (and Mickelson, his favorite player), that have never panned out in the slightest. He doesn’t have the eye. I guess that is why he is more of a commentator and analyst rather than a swing coach.
First it was Tiger couldn’t hit any fairways and he was finished. Now his ball striking is coming around (after only 12 events with Foley – it took about 30 events with both Butch and Haney before Tiger truly was able to stop thinking about swing thoughts and then just play golf and dominate) and is looking good despite the limited time he has had to work on it. However, Tiger has always been faster than other players when it comes to swing overhauls. Look at Harrington and how long his swing overhaul is taking him and what it has done to his game. But we are talking about Tiger. I mean, he has dominated with three different swings. Why can he not dominate with this one 007? Do you have any real reasons or anything concrete to back your statements up? I didn’t think so. You never have and never will. You’re a troll.
We’ve all been here before.
In 1998, they were all saying he is gone forever. Tiger won an event in 1998, but I guess it was too small. Tiger had 1 win, 2 2nds, and 2 3rds in 1998. He had 13 top tens and only finished outside the top 25 twice (35 at players, 51 at Memorial). Now, how can someone playing that solidly WHILE going through a swing change not clue people into the fact that once that swing change is completed and he is fully comfortable with it that he will be dominating again? Can these people either not look at a swing and tell whether its good or not? I am guessing not. Ok, so you cant tell how well Tiger is hitting it based on Tiger’s very new and very impressive swing. If you know golf mechanics, you would know that this new swing is benefitting him in ways you can’t imagine. However, you can look at the stats and the results…maybe?
Because again in 2004, Tiger was over. This was when Butch said Tiger was in denial and Miller called Tiger’s swing awful and stated he should swallow his pride and go back to Butch. Now, this was Tiger’s second major swing change, and again he was being ripped for it and so was Haney. Why? Well, in 2004 when Tiger was working on this swing, Tiger won once, had THREE 2nds and THREE 3rds. He had 14 top tens in 19 starts and only finished outside the top 25 once (46 at Bayhill). Again, like in 1998, only won win, but more top 3s and more top 10s than anyone else in both years. Very strong indicators (even though most golf analysts that get PAID to see these kinds of things couldn’t see Tiger coming) that the new swing is working, otherwise Tiger would not have been playing so consistently.
Cut to today: Tiger has gone from shooting three straight 68s at FRYS, then he went down and finished in 3rd in a strong field at the Australian Open. Then he went and played in the presidents cup where, from what I saw and almost everyone reported, Tiger played beautifully in the wind but had trouble holding his semi-injured parter Stricker up by himself. Though of course, when it got to the singles and you could really see who was playing how well, Tiger had the biggest winning margin of the day when he beat Australia’s beloved Aaron Baddeley with something like 7 birdies through 12 holes. Then he goes to Chevron and wins by birdieing the last two holes with clutch approach shots and clutch putts. And for those who act like Chevron doesn’t count, that just shows how little you know about how these people out there playing really feel. They pride themselves on their abilities. Also, Chevron was the strongest tournament on the planet that week. Yes, it may have only had 16 players, but they were high ranked players. The Nedbank Challenge in South Africa only had 14 players in its field (why they are allowed to only have 14 and Tiger was forced to increase his field size to 16 confuses me a little) and its field was weaker than the Chevron’s. Does that mean that Luke Donald did not win that tournament? Does it mean that it has no indication on how he is playing? Or what about Rory, who, in the same week, went out to play in the Hong Kong Open (yes, for the appearance fee, which is fine, but also because he probably knew he had an actual chance of winning as compared to if he had teed it up at Tiger’s or Lukes event – I mean, Rory is young and probably needs the money more than the other older players perhaps)? Despite the Hong Kong open being a “full field” event, it still had a weaker field than the Chevron.
So, then after winning Chevron, Tiger goes to Abu Dhabi, plays against another extremely strong field, and was right there in contention again, knocking on the door. So he has gone 3-1-3 (with good Ryder cup play in there) and he is playing well again at Pebble. He said he was driving it straighter and that he just had to get used to it. Well, now he is hitting every fairway this week and hitting a lot of greens! All I can is: I have seen this in 1998 and 2004. First you will see Tiger knocking on the door with maybe a win or two in the beginning over 6 months, but there will be a lot of other top 3s, top 5s, top 10s. Then, once Tiger really starts to master this new move (one that has corrected many problems, some very important to Tiger’s longevity), Tiger will dominate again for the next 5-6 years and set records that nobody else will ever touch.
For the facts, because I cannot just say that Tiger has been better at Augusta over the last 15 years without backing up my statement (I for one am the type who likes to back up my assertions and comments unlike a lot of other people), I will. Since 1997 (obviously the year we have to use considering Tiger did not play Augusta as a pro until 1997. Now, if you take both the players and add up their finishes at Augusta national over the last 15 years, Tiger has a total of 93, which is an average of a 6.2 place finish. That is MIND BOGGLING. Phil Mickelson is also great, with a total of 153 and an average of a 10.2 place finish. To cut them down further:
Tiger: 4 wins, 2 seconds, 7 top 3 finishes, 9 top 5 finishes and 12 top 10 finishes in 15 playings. His results in the three Masters he did not finish in the top ten in were an 18th in 99, a 15th in ’03 and a 22nd in ’04 (though, recall that in 2003-2004 Tiger was remodeling his swing, because he came back and once the very next year). Talk about great stuff.
Phil: 3 wins, 0 seconds, 6 top 3 finishes, 8 top 5 finishes and 11 top 10 finishes in 15 playings. His results in the four Masters he did not finish in the top ten in were a 12th, 24th, 27th and a missed cut (I was lenient on him in my calculations by making his missed cut count as 45th place despite the fact that his 76-74 missed the cut by probably 2 or 3 strokes, and his place would have been something more like 70th. Either way, His numbers are terrific and very close to Tiger’s. Phil just has 1 less win and 2 less 2nds, one less top 3, one less top 5 and 1 less top 10 than Tiger. The fact that he has a missed cut isn’t good, but by now its already seen that Tiger is better at Augusta from the other numbers, it doesn’t really seem to matter too much.
Another issue has been Tiger’s putting lately, especially in majors but most especially in Augusta:
In 2006, Tiger was in contention for the tournament. Ultimately he ended up finishing in 3rd, three stokes back. The reason he didn’t win was because of his putting. I don’t even need to speak about the first 63 holes really either. I can just say that in 2006 coming down the stretch, Tiger missed a 5 footer for eagle on 13, a 12 footer for birdie on 14, another 5 footer for eagle on 15, a seven footer for birdie on 16, and then three putted from 14 feet on 17. Think about that. It took Tiger’s bad putting only 5 holes to make a difference. If Tiger had made both of those 5 footers, who knows if he would have put some heat on Mickelson, maybe Mickelson would have fallen back. If Tiger had made the 5 footers and not three putted from 14 feet (though, at that time he was just being agressive and knew he needed the birdie), he would have been in a playoff. If he had sunk the 7 footer, he would have won outright. You can use any combination you like, but Tiger threw away 6 strokes in 5 holes with his putting on the back nine of a major. Granted, I will say that afterwards, Steve Williams was quoted as saying that is the only time he has ever seen Tiger try TOO hard. He clearly knew it was the last tournament his father would be alive to see him play.
As far as for the rest, you can just look. Tiger went into the final round in 2007 (Phil Mickelson was a non-factor that year) one stroke back of Appleby and in the final pair. Remember, the conditions were dry and cold at Augusta national that year. Tiger shot a good solid even par round under those conditions but Zach Johnson got hot that day and went low and beat Tiger by 2. However, again, Tiger ended up ranking I believe 43rd in putting that week, and since we know only 44 and ties make the cut, he was clearly putting poorly (horrendously compared to his standards). I am surprised he managed to grind and keep himself in contention in some of those things.
Another thing that has bothered me is that there seems to be this nation that Phil Mickelson owns Augusta National because he is so great at playing there, and I agree, he is great playing there. However, Tiger has a better record than Phil, and while its not really exactly close, it is ultimately, in the bigger picture, not all that much of a difference. However, Tiger and Phil seem to practically own Augusta and you seem to me guaranteed to have one in contention on Sunday, and plenty of times have had both. Since 1997 (obviously the year we have to use considering Tiger did not play Augusta as a pro until 1997). Now, if you take both the players and add up their finishes at Augusta national over the last 15 years, Tiger has a total of 93, which is an average of a 6.2 place finish. That is mind boggling. Phil Mickelson is also great, with a total of 153 and an average of a 10.2 place finish. To break it down down further:
Tiger: 4 wins, 2 seconds, 7 top 3 finishes, 9 top 5 finishes and 12 top 10 finishes in 15 playings. His results in the three Masters he did not finish in the top ten in were an 18th in 99, a 15th in ’03 and a 22nd in ’04 (though, recall that in 2003-2004 Tiger was remodeling his swing, because he came back and won the very next year). Talk about great stuff.
Phil: 3 wins, 0 seconds, 6 top 3 finishes, 8 top 5 finishes and 11 top 10 finishes in 15 playings. His results in the four Masters he did not finish in the top ten in were a 12th, 24th, 27th and a missed cut (I was lenient on him in my calculations by making his missed cut count as 45th place despite the fact that his 76-74 missed the cut by probably 2 or 3 strokes, and his place would have been something more like 70th. Either way, his numbers are terrific and very close to Tiger’s. Phil just has 1 less win and 2 less 2nds, one less top 3, one less top 5 and 1 less top 10 than Tiger. The fact that he has a missed cut isn’t good, but by now its already seen that Tiger is better at Augusta from the other numbers, it doesn’t really seem to matter too much.
DOES ANY ONE KNOW THE STATUS OF STEVE STRICKER?HE SAID AFTER HAWAII HE WOULD TAKE 4 WEEKS OFF.NEXT WEEK IS WEEK 5 AND HE IS NOT LISTED IN THE FIELD.IS HE HAVING HEALTH PROBLEMS AGAIN OR JUST TRYING TO HELP OUT THE ILLINOIS BASKETBALL TEAM?
tiger playing crap today again owell
Really David? Maybe you should wait until someone has played more than three holes before opening your mouth ;)