Smooth 45, 36 today. Just happy to be out of the house after the air quality finally cleared in Portland.
Played my worst round of the year today. I topped two in the creek on the same hole and almost threw my club in there after the second one
It's odd to see the storyline of bomb and gouge all over the place. Bryson dominated the field in every aspect of the game this week. Distance was only a portion of that but he was the best in every facet of the game.
He actually gained just as much, if not more, in approach and short game this week than he did off the tee. And he was 18th in putting. “Bomb and gouge” is the new table stakes in golf. You have to be able to hit it 325+ these days in order to compete on the toughest golf courses. But there’s more to “gouging” than the term lets on. Bryson was only 7th in the field in terms of proximity to the hole off the tee, yet he destroyed those above him - namely DJ, Rory, and Wolff - when it came to getting the ball close out of the rough. Bryson gaining 40 pounds and 40 yards is all the rage right now. But having short irons the same length as your mid irons looks like a genius move with US Open rough.
He’s absolutely correct on arm lock putting. That needs to be done away with. But otherwise, Bryson has lapped Rory in Rory’s own style of golf.
I didn't really read this as whining or anything like that. The way I read it he seemed to be giving him respect for using the rules and the current situation to his advantage.
To this point, there is a long list of players that chased distance to their detriment. Bryson is one of the first to do it so quickly do successfully.
Yep, the 3 biggest factors to play well out of the rough are loft, speed, and angle of attack. Loft - bombing it as long as he does allows him to hit shorter irons in. But this isn’t an advantage compared to other bombers who are also hitting the same lofted clubs Speed - he can swing it really hard with control, and having a 7 iron length PW is a huge advantage over the field Angle of Attack - his short irons are practically vertical compared to a standard set. Another huge advantage out of the rough I hate the guy, but he clearly figured something out that nobody else has. And his two best rounds were actually the two days the course played the toughest. The tougher the course, the more he has an advantage.
The course recently that most rewarded driving accuracy was the one with the widest fairways, Erin Hills. Short hitters had a chance there because they could hit every fairway. Day, DJ, and Rory who couldn't hit those fairways were actually punished. I will die on the hill that Erin Hills was a worthy test regardless of what the final score to par was.
It’s simply a new form of anchoring. The spirit of the rule change was meant to bring the hands back into the putting stroke. This is basically a work-around to that rule. Im not blaming Bryson for doing it. If i was a tour pro, I’d optimize to every advantage the rules give me as well. But I think they’ll make it illegal in the next few years.
See, I think there's a clear difference between it and anchoring in that it doesn't involve anything other than the hands touching the club. To me, it's just a different type of grip.
I think you’re absolutely correct there. But most of these guys have the putter grip wedged into their forearm to control the face angle through the stroke. The only part of the body that should be able to touch the club is the hands. Use the long putters all you want as long as that remains consistent. That would be a much simpler rule to understand as well.
That’s the distinction to me and I agree. The putter rests on the arm. Also, Bryson, Bubba and Kucher all use the arm lock method which is pretty much an indictment of the method all by itself.
Bryson, Gus/Chad, Dan Quinn your fandom must be exhausting trying to constantly white knight these douchebags
You foolishly left off Snitker. Gus isn’t near on the level of Quinn or snitker for me. sad that I have levels of hate.
Today I was playing a par three course. I’m one of like 5 people on the course. No one is 3 holes within me. So naturally I’m working on stuff with multiple balls. Some guy in a golf cart on the 7th hole drives up to me in the middle of the “fairway” and instructs me that because I payed for 9 holes I only get one ball.
I have an uncanny ability to hit great tee shots on par 5’s, talk myself into my (Non-existant) ability to hit the green in two and invariably hit a 3 wood directly into the shit or top/fat it about thirty yards.