2014 Golf Majors Thread

[Thomkal]

Welp we are in the last round of the Masters and Jordan Spieth is in the lead in the last round of the Masters-has holed out from a bunker and showing no real signs of nerves in this his first Masters. Kid is pretty damn good.

[Thomkal]

And just like that Masters nerves hit Spieth, combined with pressure from already Masters Champion Bubba Watson. Spieth bogeyed last two holes, Watson birdied the last two.

[Buccaneer]

I love the final pairing and would be happy to see either of them win.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

I love the final pairing and would be happy to see either of them win.

I'd rather see Matt Kuchar win but not looking like that is going to happen. I would prefer to see Spieth win over Watson-I just like seeing Masters winless over already Masters winners is all.

[Thomkal]

That could be a huge bogey save after hitting it into the water on 12 for Spieth

[britrock88]

Bubba cannot contain his aggression, even carrying a 3-stroke lead into the last few holes...

[Buccaneer]

That was cool, very happy for Bubba.

[JonInMiddleGA]

That kid gets him an exception from my standard Dawg hate

Congrats to Bubba Watson.

[Buccaneer]

I look forward to seeing great things from Spieth in the future.

[Buccaneer]

I saw something on a leaderboard that I had not noticed before: NC (No Card). I looked it up and it means that the player did not turn in his/her card for the round. Why would a player do that?

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

I saw something on a leaderboard that I had not noticed before: NC (No Card). I looked it up and it means that the player did not turn in his/her card for the round. Why would a player do that?

Had to stop playing in the middle of the round due to an injury? do you remember who it was and what tournament?

And way to go Adam Scott for winning in your first tournament since he jumped over Tiger to #1 in the world.

[Buccaneer]

Thomkal, I saw this at the bottom of the Senior PGA Championship:

CUT - Kirk Nelson (CP) - - - 82 81 - - 163
NC - Rocco Mediate - - - - - - - -
WD - Loren Roberts - - - - - - - -
NC - Steve Elkington - - - - - - - -

I would assume that if a player stopped playing due to injury, it would have been an WD. NC, as best as I can tell from the definition, the player finished the round but did not sign or turn on his card.

[Ryan S]

Rocco Mediate and Steve Elkington both withdrew mid round with injury. Loren Roberts did not start his round.

[Buccaneer]

Thank you.

[cartman]

Martin Kaymer is lapping the field. He has an 8 shot lead at 10 under after his 2nd round.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by cartman

Martin Kaymer is lapping the field. He has an 8 shot lead at 10 under after his 2nd round.

Rick Reilly approves.

[Young Drachma]

Kaymer is playing lights out.

[Thomkal]

Potentially big story developing, two time heart transplant Erik Compton is in second place in the US Open. Of course he's five behing Kaymer, who was floundering a bit till he made eagle on the 5th hole.

[kingfc22]

Curious to see if Kaymer starts poorly again today. If he does and Fowler can birdie one or two holes early, it could be an interesting afternoon with drama in the final pairing.

Based on some of the early scores, the course looks like there are some scoring opportunities and may allow somebody to post a final of -5 or -6 which I think will be what it takes to win today.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

Curious to see if Kaymer starts poorly again today. If he does and Fowler can birdie one or two holes early, it could be an interesting afternoon with drama in the final pairing.

Based on some of the early scores, the course looks like there are some scoring opportunities and may allow somebody to post a final of -5 or -6 which I think will be what it takes to win today.

Yeah definitely looks like someone can make a charge at Kaymer. Not sure it will be Fowler though-I think this is the first time he is in the final pairing at a major? Usually the results are not good in those situations-see Dustin Johnson at the US Open a couple years ago. Speaking of my boy Dustin, what a thrill it would be to see him make a charge and wipe away the bad memories of three majors he could/should have won and didn't. Of course it would be a great story if Compton somehow held it together.

Stenson of course is the most likely to give a challenge to Kaymer I think. Or Kaymer could just run away with it, which would be very boring.

[kingfc22]

Kaymer is running away with this. Too bad nobody in the top 10 coming into today has made a charge to make this somewhat exciting.

[Thomkal]

Kaymer wins by 8-was never really challenged so basically it was over by the 10th hole for him. Compton finished tied for second with Fowler at -1, Dustin Johnson finished at +1, had many chances but could not make a putt.

[Young Drachma]

11-year old Lucy Li shot a 78 in the 1st round of the Women's US Open today at Pinehurst No. 2. +8 at age 11 at Pinehurst is no joke, even if she's pretty likely to miss the cut.

Lucy Li, 11, cards 78 in historic U.S. Women's Open round - ESPN

[Thomkal]

Well my man Dustin Johnson is in some serious trouble:

Golfer Dustin Johnson taking leave of absence

So no PGA Championship next week, no Ryder Cup. Rumors speculating its to get help for a cocaine addiction, has had problems with alcohol in his past as well. PGA Tour is very tight lipped about things like this-and likely would not have announced this as a suspension if it is alcohol and/or cocaine.

Very sad right now.

[kingfc22]

Dustin Johnson is suspended six months by PGA Tour after testing positive for cocaine use - ESPN

Looks like the rumors were right.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

Dustin Johnson is suspended six months by PGA Tour after testing positive for cocaine use - ESPN

Looks like the rumors were right.

Yeah not so much "my man" anymore. Golf.com reporting he had "indiscretions" with at least one PGA Tour wife that ended a marriage. What a complete waste of talent.

[Thomkal]

Golf.com updated their story when the PGA Tour issued a statement saying Johnson has not been suspended after all:

"
UPDATE: 10:38 p.m. ET, 8/1/2014: After declining a Friday morning request to comment on the Johnson drug test results and his punishment, the PGA Tour released the following statement on Friday afternoon: “With regard to media reports that Dustin Johnson has been suspended by the PGA Tour, this is to clarify that Mr. Johnson has taken a voluntary leave of absence and is not under a suspension from the PGA Tour.”
The difference may be seen as semantic. Faced with a suspension for a failed drug test, a Tour player has the right, under published Tour guidelines, to appeal his penalty. The Tour was preparing for Johnson to lodge such an appeal. But Johnson waived that right and agreed to leave the Tour for six months.
The Tour’s one-sentence statement did not address Johnson’s drug test results or say whether Johnson's 11-week absence in 2012 was also a "voluntary leave of absence." In that period, when Johnson said he was not playing Tour events (including the Masters) because of bad back, he was seen hitting balls regularly in South Florida, where he lives. The Tour's policy of releasing no information on failed drug tests or resulting penalties essentially allows a player and his advisors to characterize an absence as they wish."


I don't think Johnson or his agent has officially denied the Golf.com report, and I also can't quite believe Golf.com would publish the original story without believing their sources to be true about this. Expect a lawsuit against them if they messed this up.

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Yeah not so much "my man" anymore. Golf.com reporting he had "indiscretions" with at least one PGA Tour wife that ended a marriage. What a complete waste of talent.

Alternatively, what a great use of talent: loadsa money, coke and women

Like the famous (over here anyway) George Best (1960s/70s footballer) story when a waiter delivering champagne to his hotel room, saw his bed strewn with money and the reigning Miss World, asked the immortal question: "Mr Best, where did it all go wrong?"

[kingfc22]

Fantastic golf being played right now over at the PGA Championship. Mickelson, Fowler and McIlroy all tied and Stenson 1 shot back.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Tremendous par by Fowler on 16. Phil is going to kick himself for that putt.

[Thomkal]

Can't believe they might finish tonight after the last pairing starting their round just before 4:30. It's too bad the course is playing so easy compared to the way the PGA wanted it to be.

[Buccaneer]

One of my favorite finishes ever. Rory is amazing and it was cool to see how they finished in the near-dark.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

One of my favorite finishes ever. Rory is amazing and it was cool to see how they finished in the near-dark.

And with thunder and lightning too!

[timmae]

Awesome finish... I was kinda rooting for Fowler but Rory is the true #1. Good stuff!

[Vince, Pt. II]

Really weird that they had Rory play up. Did they really think that the 5 minutes saved made that much of a difference?

[timmae]

Just to make FIG JAM squirm!

[AlexB]

Nothing at all on the Ryder Cup this year?

Not going to dwell on the result, but Mickelson's comments come across as an absolutely classless. You can't say he's two faced as Watson was sat two seats away, but wow. I've not seen anyone look as uncomfortable as Hunter Mahan sat next to Phil!

The weird thing is that half of what he said he could have taken on as a senior player. The players aren't socialising like they did 6 years ago? Why not sort a night out then? It sounds like someone removed from reality tbh, and the comments do indicate one of the reasons why the US team needs major changes. And this is from an Englishman...

[Buccaneer]

But Phil is right, it was horrible coaching even beyond the lack of teamwork (Phil should know, he had been there) - assuming you believe they had a chance against the likes of Rory et al.

[Thomkal]

You know what you get when you interview Phil-honest answers as he sees it no matter when asked or who it is asked about. Sometimes its needed, as the PGA Tour is notoriously closemouthed about many things. Other times its pretty classless. Like the "joke" earlier in the week about McDowell and McIlroy on opposite sides of a lawsuit.

And he should have waited to talk to the PGA privately on his thoughts about the Watson Captaincy. not when the guy was right down the row from him. I bet Tom didn't really have to think twice about not playing Phil on Saturday given the disrespect he gave Watson all week. And hey Phil you said it yourself, the US has lost eight Ryder Cups when he was on the team-maybe you should look inward a bit for reasons why they lost?

US didn't have the firepower-no Tiger, no Dustin Johnson after he made the team, etc. Too many veteran players who have horrible Ryder Cup players (Jim Furyk I'm looking at you) who make the team for their experience rather than their record. Look how more into the Ryder Cup the US rookies were (Reed, Spieth) and younger players like Fowler. Maybe future teams should be based on these younger players over the older?

Europe had the momentum from the last few Cups and the #1 player who is just so much better than anyone else right now (and even he had a rocky start to the weekend). They seem to get along better, and when a new player comes to the team (Dubisson), he's paired with someone who (McDowell) was asked by the Captain to get to know and play with months before the Cup.

[Buccaneer]

No firepower without tiger?!? It would've been even more of a rout if Tiger and Nike forced their way onto the team (as they expressed the desire to do so before pulling back). In any case, I'm glad that Rory and the Europeans won, they're better and had more fun doing it.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I've generally been a Phil fan, but not anymore. Tom is my childhood idol being from KC. He's been nothing but class his entire career. What Phil did was WAY out of line.

[cartman]

Somehow I think Lefty will be able to get over the loss of your support.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'm completely on board with Phil on this one. Watson was a disaster afaic, he has some calling out coming.

And Phil owned his own record, repeatedly, in the full comments. Not like he shyed away from that.

[Dr. Sak]

Not only that but Phil was at least man enough to do it with Watson in the room.

[Breeze]

Great Article on what the US needs to do, and the problems with this year's team.

http://www.golf.com/tour-and-news/ry...elson-team-usa

[Thomkal]

Tom Watson not looking good at all if this was true:

Captain Tom Watson ripped U.S. team during Ryder Cup meeting, angering Phil Mickelson - ESPN

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Tom Watson not looking good at all if this was true:

Captain Tom Watson ripped U.S. team during Ryder Cup meeting, angering Phil Mickelson - ESPN

Was just coming here to post that very story.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Was just coming here to post that very story.

I'm pretty sure now that Tom left Phil off the "playlist" on Saturday because he didn't like how Phil talked back to him.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

I'm pretty sure now that Tom left Phil off the "playlist" on Saturday because he didn't like how Phil talked back to him.

Maybe I'm misreading it but ... looks like the playing decisions were made Saturday before the incident at the meeting on Saturday night.

That decision boils down more to "Watson is a fucking idiot who had no clue how to pick a squad nor manage the one he picked"

Utterly & completely tarnished Watson image afaic, and actually gives me some respect for Phil (who I really care little about one way or another)

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

I look forward to seeing great things from Spieth in the future.

I said this after last year's Masters. Glad to see Spieth win this year.