Masters Running Thread

[Boobie Miles]

I agree on the pressure thing.

And re: not bringing his A-game, how is that any type of viable excuse? If he's not injured or has some other extenuating circumstance, who cares? Being the best and winning tournaments requires bringing your A-game or being so talented that you can get by with your B-game. But to use that as some sort of excuse, I just don't see it. You didn't play well -- that's why you lost.

Surely his A-game is leaps and bounds better than everyone else's A-game, but the fact is it's impossible to have your best game every week. And when that happens you usually lose. No shame it, but also not some crazy fluke.

 

[jgmacg]

Right now, I don't think "pressure" is a factor at all for Tiger.

I actually think the opposite is true. The pressure now is constant. And the pressure is completely internal.

Every time he picks up a club, he's competing with his own estimation of how well he should do.

Tiger Woods is the only golfer in the world who has to go head to head with Tiger Woods, shot for shot, week in week out, at every tournament.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

Right now, I don't think "pressure" is a factor at all for Tiger.

I actually think the opposite is true. The pressure now is constant. And the pressure is completely internal.

Every time he picks up a club, he's competing with his own estimation of how well he should do.

Tiger Woods is the only golfer in the world who has to go head to head with Tiger Woods, shot for shot, week in week out, at every tournament.

He has had to since he was 3.

 

[jgmacg]

And do you suppose that pressure has eased as he approaches Nicklaus and Snead? Or has it worsened?

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

And do you suppose that pressure has eased as he approaches Nicklaus and Snead? Or has it worsened?

Exactly the same.

Now... is he tiring of it? Maybe a different issue and answer.

 

[jgmacg]

Tiring of what? The pursuit? Or the pressure?

 

[armageddon]

Tiger long since conquered any idea of pressure as it pertains to a major.

With each missed major opportunity right now, though, ESPECIALLY at Augusta, the Nicklaus pressure will start ticking upward.

Right now, I don't think "pressure" is a factor at all for Tiger.

This is where I disagree. If he has conquered pressure why would he succumb to it in the future?

Just my view that he is feeling the pressure for a number of reasons and that isn't a bad thing.

It only means he is human and humans, even the greatest, sometimes perform below standards because of pressure.

I admit I don't read golf coverage religiously so I might have missed some stuff but it just appears no one seems interested/willing to broach the subject because of who he is, what he has done and what he is going to do.

That's my only beef.

I love watching golf and I love watching him play.

 

[armageddon]

Do you think he failed to handle the pressure this particular week?

Doesn't hurt to ask -- and I agree that no one ever asks -- but I didn't. I saw a guy who didn't play very well (at least by his standards), and still managed to finish runner-up in the Masters.

Buck: Yes, I did see a guy who appeared to flinch. Everyone notes how he finished second despite not being on his game. That's true.

But he had some miscalulations (distance/club) on certain holes, hit some errant shots that left him in difficult spots and missed several easy putts on the final day, a day in which the jacket was there for the taking.

He wasn't on his game. But my view the reason was that there was a lot weighing on him and he didn't handle it as well as we've seen in past tourneys.

 

[jgmacg]

Maybe his baby girl was sick this week.

We overthink this stuff sometimes.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

I would say the famous prediction about Tiger winning more green jackets than Jack and Arnie combined is now 6 feet under.

 

[micropolitan guy]

He did not play well on Sunday, when he was in position for a possible comeback win, due to the weather. And let us be completely honest here: If Mickelson misses those shots that Woods missed on Sunday, people would say he gagged like a dog.

But he's won so often, people believe he's gag-proof, which is nonsense, because everyone gags at some point or another, even the greatest athletes in their sport.


Whatever. The guy makes unbelievable shots. But golf is still golf and it "humbles" everyone. Woods has won one of the last five (or six?) Masters, and it took a miracle shot to do that the last time when he beat DiMarco in the playoff - a win he almost gave away by going bogey-bogey on the final two holes, I think.

It's not a stretch to wonder if maybe that's getting in his head a little bit.

I will say, while he generally ices anyone who is in the least bit critical of him, I don't think he believes the fawning crap either. He works his butt off to get better, isn't afraid to change his game to improve, and for that I respect him greatly, even though I don't want him to win.

He is the best golfer in the world right now, that goes without question, playing as an individual. His Ryder Cup record needs some work, but that's just not his mentality.

I often wonder how many fewer majors he'd have if Payne Stewart - a guy with some serious stones who would not be intimidated by Woods, as others were from 2000-06 or so - had lived. Stewart was playing unbelievably well and had several more years in his prime, which came very late in his career.

Several of those majors Woods won, Stewart might likely have instead. But we'll never know.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

He did not play well on Sunday, when he was in position for a possible comeback win, due to the weather. And let us be completely honest here: If Mickelson misses those shots that Woods missed on Sunday, people would say he gagged like a dog.

But he's won so often, people believe he's gag-proof, which is nonsense, because everyone gags at some point or another, even the greatest athletes in their sport.

I think writers need the goat or the hero, so this term, gagging, comes into play.

I guarantee you he did not gag.

He just missed.

When Tiger misses that 8-footer on Thursday, he'll miss it all week.