Monday, September 25, 2006
Give them a Fighting Chance Stevie - Drown the 9-Iron Again
Europe won the Ryder Cup again over the weekend. That makes it an unprecedented 3 wins in a row for the Europeans.
On paper, the Americans looked far superior with the World's No. 1 (Tiger Woods), No. 2 (Phil Mickelson) and No. 3 (Jim Furyk) players but as usual (of late), the Americans lost, badly. Mickelson was particularly useless - playing 5 games (the maximum possible), losing 4 and tying 1.
At least Tiger didn't disappoint winning 3 out of 5, especially the final day Singles matches which the Americans needed to win 9 out of 12 matches and Tiger duly won his against Robert Karlsson. Ordinarily, Tiger winning his singles match is no surprise. In this case however, he played without his 9-iron for 8 holes and still won.
After hitting his 9-iron approach shot to the edge of the green (near a pond) on the 7th hole, Tiger handed the club to his long time caddie Steve Williams to clean and replace in the golf bag. When they got to the green, Stevie decided to rinse the clubhead in the pond. He stood on a rock and dangled the 9-iron over the pond just as the rock started sliding. As Tiger put it "it was either going to be him (Steve) or the 9-iron. He chose the 9-iron."
As it turned out, the pond was too deep for Stevie to retrieve the 9-iron. A diver in a wet suit had to be called in to retrieve the club. Meanwhile, Tiger had to continue playing without his 9-iron. It was eventually returned to him 8 holes later, on the 15th hole. Tiger won his match anyway.
It reminds me of the incident in 2000 when Steve Williams almost got Tiger disqualified from the U.S. Open in the 2nd round - when Tiger was leading the tournament. PGA Tour rules state that a player who runs out of balls during a round is disqualified. You can't borrow golf balls from another player. Every good caddie carries 7 to 8 golf balls in the bag at a minimum. Most of the time, Tiger uses the same ball throughout an 18-hole round but even he can shoot a ball into the water or lose it in a hazard sometimes so a few extra balls in the bag are a must.
In the 2nd round of the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, play was suspended for a few hours due to bad weather after Tiger had finished 17 holes. Tiger went back to his hotel room, took out 4 balls from the bag and practiced his putting. When play resumed, Tiger didn't put the 4 balls back into the bag. He had only 1 more hole to play, the 18th. But before teeing off, Tiger signed 2 golf balls and gave them to fans. That's 6 balls from the bag gone.
The 18th at Pebble Beach is a long tough hole with the Pacific Ocean running all along the left side. Tiger teed up and promptly hooked his drive into the ocean. He then cursed a blue streak on live TV (for which he later had to apologise) and asked Stevie for another ball to tee-up again. Steve reached into the bag only to realise that there was only 1 ball left. He didn't tell Tiger till after the round but if Tiger had put that 2nd ball into the ocean as well, they would have been disqualified.
Trying to minimise the chances of losing that 2nd ball, Stevie said "Tiger, maybe we should go with the 2-iron instead" of the driver because Tiger plays the 2-iron with much greater accuracy than his driver. Tiger replied "Just give me the ball Stevie." As Steve Williams later described it "I was praying he hit that ball on dry land otherwise we'd be disqualified and I wouldn't be here telling you the story. I'd be farming back in New Zealand!" Of course Tiger's 2nd drive landed safely on dry land and he eventually proceeded to win the U.S. Open by a terrific margin.
Little comedic episodes like that by Steve Williams really adds to the appeal of watching Tiger play. But perhaps Stevie's latest trick with the disappearing 9-iron could herald something more. Tiger has won his last 5 stroke-play events, including The Open Championship and the PGA Championship (2 of the 4 major events in the year). Maybe to give the other players a fighting chance, Stevie could periodically drown a club or 2 for a few holes and see how Tiger copes? Just don't hand him the putter next to a pond.
Europe won the Ryder Cup again over the weekend. That makes it an unprecedented 3 wins in a row for the Europeans.
On paper, the Americans looked far superior with the World's No. 1 (Tiger Woods), No. 2 (Phil Mickelson) and No. 3 (Jim Furyk) players but as usual (of late), the Americans lost, badly. Mickelson was particularly useless - playing 5 games (the maximum possible), losing 4 and tying 1.
At least Tiger didn't disappoint winning 3 out of 5, especially the final day Singles matches which the Americans needed to win 9 out of 12 matches and Tiger duly won his against Robert Karlsson. Ordinarily, Tiger winning his singles match is no surprise. In this case however, he played without his 9-iron for 8 holes and still won.
After hitting his 9-iron approach shot to the edge of the green (near a pond) on the 7th hole, Tiger handed the club to his long time caddie Steve Williams to clean and replace in the golf bag. When they got to the green, Stevie decided to rinse the clubhead in the pond. He stood on a rock and dangled the 9-iron over the pond just as the rock started sliding. As Tiger put it "it was either going to be him (Steve) or the 9-iron. He chose the 9-iron."
As it turned out, the pond was too deep for Stevie to retrieve the 9-iron. A diver in a wet suit had to be called in to retrieve the club. Meanwhile, Tiger had to continue playing without his 9-iron. It was eventually returned to him 8 holes later, on the 15th hole. Tiger won his match anyway.
It reminds me of the incident in 2000 when Steve Williams almost got Tiger disqualified from the U.S. Open in the 2nd round - when Tiger was leading the tournament. PGA Tour rules state that a player who runs out of balls during a round is disqualified. You can't borrow golf balls from another player. Every good caddie carries 7 to 8 golf balls in the bag at a minimum. Most of the time, Tiger uses the same ball throughout an 18-hole round but even he can shoot a ball into the water or lose it in a hazard sometimes so a few extra balls in the bag are a must.
In the 2nd round of the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, play was suspended for a few hours due to bad weather after Tiger had finished 17 holes. Tiger went back to his hotel room, took out 4 balls from the bag and practiced his putting. When play resumed, Tiger didn't put the 4 balls back into the bag. He had only 1 more hole to play, the 18th. But before teeing off, Tiger signed 2 golf balls and gave them to fans. That's 6 balls from the bag gone.
The 18th at Pebble Beach is a long tough hole with the Pacific Ocean running all along the left side. Tiger teed up and promptly hooked his drive into the ocean. He then cursed a blue streak on live TV (for which he later had to apologise) and asked Stevie for another ball to tee-up again. Steve reached into the bag only to realise that there was only 1 ball left. He didn't tell Tiger till after the round but if Tiger had put that 2nd ball into the ocean as well, they would have been disqualified.Trying to minimise the chances of losing that 2nd ball, Stevie said "Tiger, maybe we should go with the 2-iron instead" of the driver because Tiger plays the 2-iron with much greater accuracy than his driver. Tiger replied "Just give me the ball Stevie." As Steve Williams later described it "I was praying he hit that ball on dry land otherwise we'd be disqualified and I wouldn't be here telling you the story. I'd be farming back in New Zealand!" Of course Tiger's 2nd drive landed safely on dry land and he eventually proceeded to win the U.S. Open by a terrific margin.
Little comedic episodes like that by Steve Williams really adds to the appeal of watching Tiger play. But perhaps Stevie's latest trick with the disappearing 9-iron could herald something more. Tiger has won his last 5 stroke-play events, including The Open Championship and the PGA Championship (2 of the 4 major events in the year). Maybe to give the other players a fighting chance, Stevie could periodically drown a club or 2 for a few holes and see how Tiger copes? Just don't hand him the putter next to a pond.
# posted by Fore! @ 8:28 PM 
