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Phil wins

Bravo

Well-Known Member
Aug 27, 2004
5,822
15
I agree...he was Mr. Fairways and Greens yesterday. Tons of GIR's....

Looks like Harmon is already working his magic...
 

sandwedge

Well-Known Member
Oct 19, 2006
790
0
He had a great tournament. It was good to see him playing well again. I think working with Butch is really going to help him. He moved back up to #2 in the world rankings.

I felt bad for Sean O'Hair. He had a great tournament and then threw it all away on 17 yesterday. Down by 2 going into the island green he really didn't have a very good chance to beat Phil. That hole and pin location really wasn't one that he should have been going for. He cost himself a lot of money by going for the flag both times.
 

Sandy

Well-Known Member
Aug 29, 2006
907
0
I thought it was interesting when they were discussing (on Friday's GC coverage I think) how Harmon could have had such a drastic effect so quickly, especially given how long it took for Tiger's swing changes to get set in place when he switched coaches. One of the commentators made the point that with a player like Phil who relies so much on feel over mechanics maybe all he needs is a coach who'll watch him and give him a couple of ideas for new things to try. Once Phil gets one that feels good to him, suddenly his natural talent will come back into it and he'll start hitting the ball well again. For the more technical players who use a scientific approach, they'll be judging how their swing is going through data analysis and not how it feels, so will take a lot of time before it feels natural to them. With Phil, the minute it felt right he was good to go.

Interesting theory, and I'm sure it took a lot more hard work than that seems, but I can see how that would work for him.
 

ezra76

Well-Known Member
Feb 5, 2006
12,412
16
Should make for a very interesting US Open.

BTW- O'Hair let it slip with poor putting and "WTF was that" short game shots a few holes prior. That all just set up the necessity to go for it on 17... why he went right at it instead of playing a cut off the bunker is beyond me though.
 

charnockpro

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2005
763
0
Great to see him win, i think as stated earlier his coach change is huge, i think the changes made were the ones widely predicted i.e lower body resistance, shorter-ish!! backswing.

I dont think he is quite there with the driver yet, but he is definitely closer than he was with Mr Smith, although his first masters was won by reigning in the driver, which has always been his nemesis.
 

Lemonhead

Well-Known Member
Nov 1, 2006
86
0
I guess I'll have to quit...

calling him "Chokelson". I've never been at Phil fan - don't know why. The guy's definitely had the game on yesterday. His approach on 18 was the only classic Phil screwup I saw. Other than that his game on Sunday was a masterpiece. I don't think I've seen him putt so well in the past year.

The interesting thing was Tiger's turnaround on Sunday. Watched the post-round interview and he said he just decided to take a quick read and then putt whereas all week he had been walking completely around the hold looking at the putt from every angle. I think he was way overthinking his putts.

Oh, and Sean O'Hair is painful to watch because ..... he's ..... so ...... slow ..... to (no wait, I'm going to double check that again). Because .... he's ...... so .... (did I type that right?). Because .... he's .... so .... slo (yep, I did. Wait there's a spec of dust on my keyboard, let me blow it off). Because .... he's ..... so ..... slow .... to .... play. Honestly, how many addresses, walk away, readdress, walk away, readdress, waggle, waggle, waggle, walk away cycles can one take?

Oh, I don't dislike Phil so much anymore. Still like watching Freddie.

Lemonhead
 
OP
warbirdlover

warbirdlover

Ender of all threads
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Jul 9, 2005
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  • Thread Starter
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  • #9
O'Hair wasn't that slow on the earlier rounds. He got too "tentitive" on the final day and didn't trust his judgement. He looked all together different from the relaxed player he was in the earlier rounds. As Ezra said, he lost the tournament before the 17th. He made the statement "I didn't bust my butt all week to end up in second" which is why he attacked the pin on the 17th. If he wanted to win he had no choice. If he wanted second place money he could have played safe. I give him credit for that. He's got drive. He's only 24 years old. He'll be around awhile. :)
 

Bravo

Well-Known Member
Aug 27, 2004
5,822
15
I thought it was interesting when they were discussing (on Friday's GC coverage I think) how Harmon could have had such a drastic effect so quickly, especially given how long it took for Tiger's swing changes to get set in place when he switched coaches. One of the commentators made the point that with a player like Phil who relies so much on feel over mechanics maybe all he needs is a coach who'll watch him and give him a couple of ideas for new things to try. Once Phil gets one that feels good to him, suddenly his natural talent will come back into it and he'll start hitting the ball well again. For the more technical players who use a scientific approach, they'll be judging how their swing is going through data analysis and not how it feels, so will take a lot of time before it feels natural to them. With Phil, the minute it felt right he was good to go.

Interesting theory, and I'm sure it took a lot more hard work than that seems, but I can see how that would work for him.

Perfect analysis....I agree. It will be interesting to see if he really contends again at the USOpen and The Open Championship....we'll see if he has mentally recovered from last June.
 

Lemonhead

Well-Known Member
Nov 1, 2006
86
0
Sean "Tin Cup" O'Hair. That's what we saw on 17. Shades of old Phil where ego takes over. That's youth talking. His quote is the classic. So he didn't bust his butt all week for 2nd place, so now he busted his butt all week for what, $747,000 less. Dumb play, Sean. Sure he wanted to win, but he didn't think things through. Had he played it smart, he might still have gotten into a playoff if Phil's ball went a few more feet left. He would have still been 2 back going into 18. All it would take is a mishit by Phil and a birdie by Sean and it would have been a playoff. Phil made the mishit, but it didn't matter. Sure, Sean made bogey but he might not had he lost the tournament on 17.

That's what I love about golf, it's such a chess game!

Lemonhead
 

flomarilius

Nike staffer :)
Jun 19, 2006
648
0
According to the Miami Herald, O'hair said that he didnt want second. He knows he was gonna make alot of money in his career so he really wanted the crystal. Hence his intension to go at the pin. Also, he said if that would have been a birdie he was going to max out his driver right over the lake on 18 as far as he could to get the easiest and shortest shot into the back of the green.
 

cabinessence

Never Say Die
Jul 28, 2005
534
0
O'Hair is not a delicate flower -- he'll be fine. His performance afterwards was more impressive IMHO than the actual tournament. It sounded like he was reading straight out of a Bob Rotella book and that he actually meant it.

He hit a perfect shot with the wrong club. Tiger Woods gets accolades for preaching that second sucks, now when Sean says the same thing it's a sign of youth and ego. Give me a break.
 

Lemonhead

Well-Known Member
Nov 1, 2006
86
0
I never gave Tiger accolades for not playing for second. I don't think Sean should have been playing for 2nd. I think he made a foolish play. The right line with the wrong club is still the wrong shot. It was a gutsy move, but a foolish one neverless. Sure, when you are behind you must attack but he attacked twice in the one place where he should have played smarter.

So, he's 2 back with 2 to go. Phils on in 1 and will probably make par. Okay, so do you try and ace it or get close enough to have a better birdie opportunity and then move on to 18 with another shot to close it to a playoff? At worst, you move into 18 still with the opportunity for a 2-shot swing and then you are still in the playoff. I think you work for the playoff. It seems that Sean tried to go into 18 with a tie and in the end lost everything. That's what I'm saying.

Lemonhead
 

MCDavis

The Plaid Duffer
Staff member
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Oct 19, 2006
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I was pulling for O'Hair and was disappointed that Phil won. I don't dislike Phil, I just don't care whether he wins or not.

O'Hair played a heckuva tournament and didn't make any mistakes that Phil, Tiger, or the rest of them haven't made. Like was said, he will be around for a while...good player.

It was nice to see Sergio come out of the pack and get in postion to take 2nd.
 

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