Aug. 31, 2009
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What are our writers thinking about after the first event in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup? A rare missed putt by Tiger Woods, Padraig Harrington's recent resurgence and players reactions to first-time host Liberty National.
TALKING TIGER: Before the pundits start wondering what's wrong with Tiger Woods, who missed a 6-foot, 10-inch putt on the 72nd hole that ultimately would have forced a playoff with Heath Slocum, remember that golf is sometimes just a funny game.
Not ha-ha funny in the case of Woods, who bypassed talking to the media most of the week and who nearly took a swipe at a tee marker after one particularly errant drive. Those aren't signs of any sort of sudden inability to will his ball into the hole and make his opponents wilt in his shadow, though. They were just signs of frustration.
Frustration over a few bad shots and more bad putts on a course that Woods was largely mum about when asked his opinion of it.
"To miss as many putts as I did this week, to still have a chance on the last green with a putt, it goes to show you how good I am at hitting it," Woods said Sunday. "I don't ever call Stevie [Williams] in on this many reads."
And he won't have to going forward, either. TPC Boston, Cog Hill, even with its redesign, and East Lake are all places Woods has an impeccable record on. To paraphrase Alec Baldwin in The Departed, some guys don't trust a guy with an impeccable record ... I do. Especially when it's Tiger Woods. -- Brian Wacker
EASY (ALMOST) DOES IT: When he heard Tiger Woods had a 6-footer on the 18th hole to move to 9 under, Ernie Els headed for his car. The big South African was 8 under, tied for second, and Woods, after all, is almost automatic from that distance in the final round with a title on the line.
Els graciously took time out to talk to a dozen or so reporters outside the media center. Suddenly a groan could be heard in the distance as Woods missed the putt, and things got interesting.
So Els, who had closed with a 66, stepped inside the media center to sneak a peak at the TV. He had his photo taken with the two policemen handling his security, put his golf shoes back on and prudently headed to the range.
Turns out, Heath Slocum came up with a clutch 21-footer for par on the 72nd hole to win The Barclays. But Els took a ton of confidence from his performance at Liberty National, which marked his fourth top-10 in his last six starts.
"To get all the way back, almost have a chance of winning, it's quite nice," Els said. "From where I've come from, where my game has been, where my confidence has been, this is moving in the right direction."
Can a win be far away? -- Helen Ross
PADDY IS BACK: As recently as three months ago, Padraig Harrington found himself unable to make a cut on the PGA TOUR. He couldn't even break 70 from the second round of the Masters until the first round of the British Open.
So why has Harrington suddenly rediscovered his game? And why is he a couple of triple bogeys removed from taking Tiger Woods to the wire in each of his last three tournaments, all of which Harrington easily could have won?
The main reason is that Harringon is hitting the ball much straighter than he did earlier in the year, especially with his irons. That one improvement helps him hit more greens, make more birdie putts ... you get the picture.
"I think the first six months, that was frustrating," Harrington said Sunday. "It's nice to play better as I got more in contention. That's always a good sign. My focus is better, I hit the ball better. Coming down the stretch, that's exactly where I want to be." -- Ryan Smithson
MATTER OF COURSE: The initial reaction -- except from Phil Mickelson, who's a club member -- was mostly negative. Then some players jumped on board. Padraig Harrington even suggested it was worthy of a major. Tiger Woods, however, did not.
At the end, the reviews likely will be mixed. Most guys who played well at Liberty National will like it; most guys who didn't probably won't. That's how it goes, especially for a course hosting its first PGA TOUR event.
Course designers Tom Kite and Bob Cupp would like Liberty National to be part of The Barclays rotation. Will that happen? It's too early to tell and the next two years are already set with Ridgewood playing host in 2010 and Plainfield in 2011.
But no doubt Liberty National offers things no other course in America can match, like quick and easy access to Manhattan and up-close views of the Statue of Liberty. It's a unique setting for a golf tournament. Hopefully we'll get to enjoy it again. -- Mike McAllister
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| Road to THE TOUR Championship |
True story: I bet a colleague a dollar that Steve Stricker would make his 10-foot putt on the 72nd hole of The Barclays. Before Stricker took it, I said no way Heath Slocum, ranked outside the top 130 on TOUR in putting average each of the last two years, would make his 21-footer. So much for that. Slocum's putt found the middle of the cup and Stricker missed his. That was easily the shot of the tournament. Twenty-one footers on the last hole to win usually are.
Which did you think was the best shot of the week? Cast your vote here and check in each week on the Road to the TOUR Championship. -- Brian Wacker |
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| Stock up |
Ernie Els: Extensive work with Butch Harmon and Bob Rotella seems to be paying off for the soon-to-be 40-year-old, who now has a half-dozen top-10s this season, including three in his last four events -- two of which were majors. The difference? He's finishing his backswing and swinging more like the old Big Easy.
FedExCup rank: 11 (47 last week) |
Ian Poulter: He might not have contended Sunday, but Poulter continues to string together a pretty impressive record in big-time events. Aside from his tie for ninth at The Barclays, Poulter was T19 at the PGA, T15 at Firestone, T18 at the U.S. Open, eighth at Colonial, second at THE PLAYERS Championship and T5 at Quail Hollow.
FedExCup rank: 21 (34 last week) |
Padraig Harrington: I think we can all stop wondering if Harrington made the right decision to tinker with a swing that won him two major championships last year. One step back to take two steps forward was the thinking and he appears to be almost all the way back with three straight top-10s, including a pair of runner-up finishes.
FedExCup rank: 14 (66 last week) |
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| Stock down |
Adam Scott: He'll stick around in the states for the next couple of weeks, but Scott's season is basically over on the TOUR. Forgettable is probably the best way to describe it with 10 missed cuts, including a career-worst six in a row at one point, in 18 events. It can be blamed on any number of things, including swing changes, poor putting and injury.
FedExCup rank: 110 (116 last week) |
Anthony Kim: "Man, I hope something big is coming," a member of Kim's camp said in a text message before The Barclays last week. Unfortunately, the only thing big for Kim lately have been the numbers, as in eight straight rounds in the 70s dating back to the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. The next thing Kim needs to work on: His consistency.
FedExCup rank: 116 (111 last week) |
Phil Mickelson: It's tough to be critical of someone who's had to deal with the off-the-course issues Mickelson has faced this year, but for being a member at Liberty National, you figured he would do better than a tie for 52nd. That's three straight finishes outside the top 50, something that hasn't happened since 2007. Surprisingly, it's his short game that's been hurting him.
FedExCup rank: 10 (6 last week) |
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| A Quick 18 |
| Front Nine | Back Nine |
| The PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup sure got the kind of start they needed. Not only was there all sorts of drama the last hour of The Barclays, but Heath Slocum's win also gave hope to everyone in the Playoffs. He came into New York 124th in the standings and left third. | Sergio Garcia said Woods' failure to close the deal at Hazeltine didn't adjust his perspective in trying to chase Tiger on any given Sunday. "I'm not thinking any different than I thought three weeks ago," Garcia said. "We all think that he can be beaten. It's just difficult. But obviously if you play well and he didn't play his best, you can beat him." |
| On the flip side of that, Slocum entered the week 197th in the Official World Golf Rankings and with the win will pretty much be guaranteed a spot through THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. There are going to be some who are critical about that. | Garcia has his Playoffs beard going, and he's gotten plenty of comments about it. He was asked: Is it the males or the females who are commenting? "They are all male," Garcia said with a smile. "I've got no pull anymore." |
| For those who are critical of the system, it should be noted that Tiger Woods is committed to playing in all four Playoffs events and that can only be good for golf. "I got a lot of golf to play," he said. "Got the next three events, The Presidents Cup, then overseas for two, then my tournament in December." | Instead of "Y.E." Yang, fans at The Barclays decided to save a syllable and call the PGA Championship winner "Yeah" Yang. "I don't know if they are doing it on purpose or their own convenience," Yang said, "but I don't mind." |
| Even though Woods has some time before the next event -- the Deutsche Bank Championship doesn't start until Friday -- he won't be spending any of it in New York to see his good pal Roger Federer play in the U.S. Open. "Going to see the family instead," Woods said.
| How good was Dustin Johnson's final-round 7-under 64 on Sunday? For one, it was a course record. For another, it could have been much lower since Johnson missed four putts from inside 7 feet. "But I chipped in twice," Johnson added. Fair enough.
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| Prior to the final round, Ernie Els told himself to shoot 65 and see what happens. Well, he nearly did that, shooting a 5-under 66. Had Els shot a 65, of course, he might have won. "I would have taken this finish after my start," said Els, who opened with a 72. "I was in control. Even my emotions were a bit more in control." | Chris Riley had a far more costly missed putt. Riley, one of the best putters on TOUR, missed from 5 1/2 feet on the final hole Sunday and as a result, finished 103rd in the FedExCup standings, just 5 points out of the 100th spot. Only the top 100 players advance to next week. |
| If you're wondering why Els laid up on the drivable par-4 16th hole Sunday, it was because he had cracked his driver the day before. The replacement driver, Els said, had a different shaft that was resulting in a lot shots to the right. With a creek on the right, you don't want to miss right there. | Ian Poulter went to just his second baseball game Wednesday night at Yankees Stadium. "We didn't get there until the fifth inning, traffic was pretty bad," he said. Welcome to fandom when attending a Yankees game, Ian. As for the stadium itself, he was impressed, though had the same take a lot of people have. "[Prices] are a little steep. They have got to pay for a billion dollar stadium, right?"
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| Third-round co-leaders Paul Goydos and Steve Marino entered the final round tied at 8 under. They left it having played Sunday in a combined 10 over. Meanwhile, Heath Slocum, Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington, Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker were a combined 19 under in the final round. | Whether they actually liked Liberty National or not, the players certainly couldn't complain about one thing -- the condition of the course, which held up very well under rainy conditions for much of the tournament. "It's probably the best-conditioned golf course that we've played all year," said Steve Marino. |
| If Goydos was the decision-maker, he would like to see threesomes going off two tees on Saturday all the time, as was the case at The Barclays. "To me, that seems like a fair way of doing it, split tees," explained Goydos, saying it prevents a player from getting a weather advantage during moving day. "But I think television kind of likes those twosomes."
| Tweet of the Week: "All in a name: Heathcliff Slocumb had five wins in three different seasons. Heath Slocum now has one win in three different seasons." -- Friend and ESPN.com golf writer Jason Sobel (@JasonSobel) on Sunday after Slocum's victory at The Barclays. |
| Goydos, by the way, is on board with the restructured FedExCup point system that prevents the winner from being decided prior to THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. "It's not going to be a perfect system, no matter what they do," Goydos said. "This one is pretty good." | FedExCup Mover of the Week: Slocum had the biggest jump, obviously, moving from 124th to third, but Harrington also jumped from 66th to 14th. However, this week's mover is Fredrik Jacobson, who went from 107th to 48th with a tie for sixth. That'll earn him a trip to Boston and probably Chicago, too.
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| The Forward Spin |
The TOUR heads from a course that players knew next to nothing about to a TPC Boston track that they know well and like. The next stop is Beantown for the Deutsche Bank Championship, where Tiger Woods has finished outside the top 10 only once in four tries. Woods won there in 2006 and twice has been a runner-up.
Translation: Expect more of the same this year. It's a big golf course that plays right into the game's of players like Woods and Vijay Singh, who's won twice there and finished second once. |
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PGATOUR.COM'S Brian Wacker wrote Stock Up, Stock Down, the Quick 18 and Forward Spin.
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