147th Open Walking Thread presented by Johnnie Walker Blue

So is baseball and it's dying too.

 

"The Ohio event" will have a full field of top players. It's one of the top 10 events on the schedule. It's why it will no longer be "The Ohio event" after this year.

 

He was in contention. NBC did a great job of covering both Tiger and the tournament. But please continue to be a jackass whenever possible. It's more fun that way, right?

 

Fair enough.

Regarding both golf and tennis, my interest is basically only in the majors. I subscribe to the quote attributed to Pete Sampras in that John Feinstein book of long ago:
"Nobody remembers who won Philadelphia."

Edit:
I googled it, and here is the entire quote:
'No one remembers who won Philadelphia or Memphis,'' said Sampras, who did promise to return next year and defend his title. ''Where you make your name is the Grand Slams.''

 

Also, major Ryder Cup points up for grabs in Akron. If Tiger wants to be a Captain's pick, getting inside the top 15, which he's within realistic range of now, couldn't hurt.

 

Woods went way up in the points standings, from 31st to 20th. But I think it's simpler than that. It's a game of hot hands (ask Molinari!). If Woods feels his hands are getting warmer, he naturally wants to play more.

 

Keep being a jackass and bitching about Tiger getting all that coverage he does, regardless if he’s in contention or not. The numbers don’t lie, the stupidity it would take to not show him would get people fired.

 

It should be pointed out that Woods led the tournament for a stretch on Sunday and that for all of Sunday, he was paired with the guy who wound up winning. He HAD to be covered. If one of the other contenders who faded were paired with Molinari, we'd have seen more of him, too.

 

Just because the numbers say they should do it doesn't mean I have to like it. I've said several times on here that I understand why they do it. I'd just rather not be force-fed a guy who many weeks barely makes the cut while actual good players are playing. Again, I get it and have never suggested they do otherwise.

You would think, though, given that Tiger is on his last legs, they'd start force-feeding some other guys to the masses, so when he's gone maybe people will know who some other players are. Something has to come after the golden goose.

 

Nobody's saying otherwise.

And no, we would not have seen someone else who was paired with Molinari. Kisner was in the next-to-last group and finished tied for second, but dropped three shots in three holes and almost never got on the air again.

 

The problem with that is that there are too many of the new guys, all of whom have bursts of excellence, but then who struggle a bit while another guy gets his burst. Spieth is a prime example, and so is Koepka. Back-to-back US Opens is really something, but he had nothing last week. World number one DJ missed the cut and before that blew yet another major at the US Open. Bubba Watson has three Tour wins this year and has been no factor in the majors. In February and March, Mickelson, admittedly not a new guy but a known star, was the hottest player around. Now by his own admission he's scuffling. The high level of competition makes it harder for any player to have the dominance needed to really become a household name. Then again, it's always kind of been that way. There was an interregnum between Hogan-Snead and Arnie, Jack and Gary. There was a longer one between Jack and Tiger. The post-Tiger interregnum might be longer yet, but one or more popular and accomplished champions will eventually emerge. It's always happened.

 

Jason Day says hi.