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Kyle Stanley's stumble, Snedeker's win !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mddubya

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Nov 6, 2007
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Wow, lets hope Stanley can over come his massive choke job on the 18th hole. But major congrats to Snedeker for his comeback to put himself in a place to win. I wish I could say i saw it, but I didn't, I thought it was over, never imagined Stanley could make an 8 on the 18th hole, of course he didn't either.
 

LeftyHoges

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Couldn't believe this when I saw it either. Poor bloke. Did he just hit his third fat into the drink or what? And then to three putt to finish is just heart-breaking.

Hopefully it doesn't affect him too much and he can stay on track. Must've been striking the ball well all week.
 
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mddubya

mddubya

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Couldn't believe this when I saw it either. Poor bloke. Did he just hit his third fat into the drink or what? And then to three putt to finish is just heart-breaking.

Hopefully it doesn't affect him too much and he can stay on track. Must've been striking the ball well all week.

Apparently his wedge shot spun back into the water on 18 while holding what seemed a commanding lead. the 3 putted? Anyway, that could crush a mans spirit. Let's hope it didn't his. He had been playing great golf all week till then.
 

SilverUberXeno

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Jul 26, 2005
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If any part of it was a choke it was the three-putt. The wedge shot he hit into the green was great, but it spun so hard. Trickled off the green, trickled down the bank, stopped twice, then eased into the pond.

Ouch.
 

SiberianDVM

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The choking began at the turn; a lead that at one point was 7 strokes dropped to 6, to 5, to 4, to 3. What was a yawner suddenly was interesting again. Then it became a nailbiter.

Robert Garrigus now has a new member in his club.
 

eclark53520

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That's gotta be a real bitch watching your ball hit the green, come ripping back and start going down the bank towards the water. Then the ball stops a couple times, then just keeps rolling....

But the three putt? Damn..
 

LeftyHoges

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I haven't seen any footage but I can only assume the flag was front left of that green like it usually is on Sunday. And his wedge from 75 yards or whatever it was has landed on the upslope and ripped hard enough to come back into the drink. So then he's taken a little extra to make sure it doesn't happen again and put it 45 feet past the hole up on the back shelf?

If that's the case it's damn harsh on the guy and understandable to three putt from there as that would be a bitch of a putt coming back down that slope. Probably did well to get it within 4 feet.

*all distances from PGA tour iPhone app :)
 

eclark53520

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I believe he only had 204 downhill to the middle of the green on his second shot...whats that a 5i for him?

He should have just went for the green. You know a wedge from the fairway is going to spin like crazy. If he dumps it in the drink from 204, he's hitting into the green from the rough so little spin. Otherwise he's either on the green, or off the back of the green. All of those options put him in the hole quicker than a wedge pulled off into the drink and a 3 putt.
 

anonymous golfaholic

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After he spun his 1st approach off the green, I thought he then hit one long, through the green an into the rough. I didn't watch it either, so I'm not sure.
 

Augster

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Mar 9, 2005
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I have more invested in this than most. Stanley is on my fantasy golf team. More, I have a side bet for $150 against the guy that has Snedeker. This was really a shot in the balls.

Stanley's loss was unique, vs. Van de Velde's and Garrigus' collapses, in that all of his problems were mental. He hit the ball terrifically. Quite honestly, he needs to lose that caddie. That dumbass should have preserved the win. Players simply don't think clearly going for their first win, and that's where a caddie needs to step in and be the voice of reason.

In Van de Velde's case, he made terrible mental errors coupled with terrible swings. In Garrigus' case, he made the correct mental decisions, but he just couldn't execute the shots due to nerves. Stanley made mental error after mental error (coupled with his caddie so both of them were thinking stupid) but physically pulled off each shot he tried with great success.

570 yard par 5. Stanley is INCREDIBLY long. Even more so with the irons. He only carries a driver and 3-wood and the rest are 2-LW. He can easily hit a 5-iron 230, probably more. He knows he is 3 shots clear of Snedeker and it is match play situation. How often should a pro win a hole in match play if his caddie just says, "It's 1-hole of match play and your opponent just made triple. All you need is double to win." I doubt that conversation took place.

Stanley should have hit iron off the tee. He could go 5-iron, 5-iron (460 yards), GW for the last 110. Mental error number 1, he hits driver. Dumb.

BUT he kills it to a perfect spot.

Now he has 239yards to the stick over water with INFINITE room behind the green. The only shot he can't hit is a huge block slice OB. He hadn't hit one of those all tourney, so it really wasn't a worry. I'm sure he was "worried" about not carrying the water. Um, his next shot should have been a 3-iron, 2-iron, or 3-wood over the green into the grandstands. Free drop, lying two.

He hit driver on the tee and decides to lay up??? This doesn't make any sense at all. If you are going to be aggressive, be aggressive. If you are going to lay up, lay up. Don't aggressively lay up. That is a recipe for disaster. As I said, his second shot, after choosing driver, should have been over the green lying 2. Then chip it on and 4-putt for the WIN! Even if he chunks it into the water, he's still only lying 3 hitting it to the green from the rough. Not that big a deal, but he hadn't really duffed a shot all tourney, so going over the green is almost a given.

He saw Huh's layup bounce into the rough. Stanley lays up, again, perfectly. From this new position, 90 yards or so I think, He shouldn't even be looking at the flag. He can hit it well to the right of the flag to go around the water, then FOUR-PUTT FOR THE WIN!! Or he can hit the ball all the way over the green, chip on and THREE-PUTT FOR THE WIN.

Idiot decides to try to make birdie and hits it perfectly. Unfortunately, he hit it too low so it spun more, didn't get far enough back and zipped back past the flag and down the slope into the water.

As I said above, his strategy didn't make any sense whatsoever. He keeps mixing aggression with passivity. Rotella would be pissed. He goes aggressive off the tee for no reason. Gets away with it. Goes PASSIVE for his layup, again for no reason. Then goes AGGRESSIVE on his approach for absolutely no reason. The only reason he goes aggressive there is hubris. He wanted to birdie to get to -20. That makes him a f.c.ing idiot. Take the win you dildo.

But the mental errors don't stop there. Oh no. The tourney is still his to win as he only lies 4. He takes his drop in the first cut of rough so as to keep the spin off the ball for his approach. He needs to put it on and TWO-PUTT for the WIN.

What does he do? He is "so scared" of spinning the ball into the water from 70 yards, even from the rough so that should take care of the spin, that he hits the ball WELL PAST the hole leaving himself a 40 foot downhill putt. Again, he should have been AGGRESSIVE with his approach at this point being he wouldn't be able to spin the ball back into the water. The rough just takes too much spin off.

So he makes sure he gets it on. Then the nerves kick in and he leaves his 40 foot DOWN HILL PUTT around 8 feet short! Misses the putt, thereby 3-putting, and goes into overtime. He and Sneds go back to play 18 again.

He kills a drive on the playoff hole to about the exact distance he had 20 minutes previously. He hits AN IRON OVER THE GREEN. Chips it down to about 3 feet and makes his birdie. Simple. Aggressive, aggressive, aggressive, make.

Then of course he 3-jacks, AGAIN, on the second playoff hole for the LOSS.

In these situations I don't ever fault the player. The player hits the shots and worries about the shots. A caddie needs to be there to discuss strategy and stand firm when a player decides on stupid strategy. Caddies have yet to hit any shots no matter what Stevie says.

Stanley had the nerves to pull off all of his full swings. His strategy was inconsistent and he lost feel with his putter, which is expected. The strategy gaffes should never happen. Not at that level. Not with TWO guys coming up with the strategy.

In Garrigus' collapse, his strategy was sound. He could have hit driver on the 18th, but he chose a hybrid instead. Unfortunately, he pull hooked the hybrid. The he was in jail and was just trying to survive from that point on and it was brutal. But every shot he selected was consistent and prudent for the situation. The nerves just destroyed him. On his playoff hole, he hit the same hybrid right down the middle. Just destroyed it. Because his collapse was because of nerves, he was able to learn from the experience and win later in the season.

In Van de Velde's collapse, he had terrible strategy, coupled with terrible swings because of nerves. He learned that under pressure, he can't make good decisions and he can't make good swings. He's been finished ever since.

Stanley hit every shot well. He has nerves of steel, though not with the putter under that kind of pressure. Unfortunately, the only hole he played well was the first playoff hole where he made every decision correct, and every swing correct. Hopefully he'll be back. For my sake.

Sorry for the long post, but between my league and side bets, his gaffe could end up fleecing me for around $750 in winnings I don't get plus bets I lose. I'm glad it's a long season.
 

azgreg

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Stanley is 3 under on the first half of the round today 1 back of Lyle.
 
OP
mddubya

mddubya

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Very well put analysis Augster. I've never seen you so I can't and won't comment on the other, lol. But I have to say, it was a good read, and I hate it cost you that much, ouch !!!!!!!!!!!
 

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