2016 Golf thread

That'd be a hell of a feat if he did throw a club into Lake Michigan; he's playing in Houston.

 

touche.

 

Jason Day won for the third time in six starts and the seventh time in 17 starts at The Players. He seemed in complete control. I remember when everyone scoffed at this punk 19 year old from Australia who said he was going after Tiger. I realize he's 69 victories and 13 majors behind, but he is the clear-cut best player in the world right now. Spieth seems rudderless. Mclroy can't putt. Rickie has missed the cut in the last two big events, the Masters and Players. Bubba is being Bubba. Who knows what he will bring to the table each week? Instead of a Big Four or Big Three, it's pretty much a Big One.
And Day just lights up every press conference he's in. Unlike Tiger, he looks like he looks like he's having fun.

 

They are always the next biggest thing. Until they're not.

 

So unless they win 79 tournaments and 14 majors, they're shit?

 

Not at all. I just tire of hearing that Player X has a real good chance to be the Next Greatest Thing.

 

Got news for you: in every sport there is always a Player X with a real good chance to be the Next Greatest Thing.

 

Day's having a super year, but I think I'll wait until he wins a few more majors to put him in next huge star territory. Could happen next month, sure, but look what's happened to Spieth in 2016 compared to 2015. Being in that zone is hard to maintain.

 

Rory just sort of looks oddly disinterested at times.

Spieth is still 22, so I'm not going to make any great judgments about his career at this point other than to say the expectation needle got pushed way too high last year after he won the first two majors. (And let's not forget, if DJ knew how to putt, Jordan might not have won the U.S. Open.) Day is playing incredible golf and is a strong ambassador for the game.

 

Funny comment toward the end of Sunday's round. Day's son, Dash, was goofing around with Fowler and Miller says, "Dash, that's a great name for a boy. Wish I had thought of it."

Dan Hicks replies, "You had plenty of chances." (Miller and his wife have six kids)

 

I have no opinion on this, but it is notable how the top guys in 2016, with the possible exception of McIlroy, seem to be genuine pals. There was Fowler playing with Day's son on the 18th green yesterday. Hard to imagine T. Woods doing that with one of Phil's kids. Hold on, I do have an opinion. I like it.

 

I think Rory having once been the alpha dog, the anointed king of the sport (and the fact that he's lost that status) makes it a little harder for him to be best buds with some of the other guys. He did get invited to go on that Spring Break trip with Spieth, Fowler, Kaufman and Thomas that everyone was talking/complaining about. (He didn't go because he had a trip already scheduled with his fiancée.) You also have to remember that as the lone Euro in the group, it's a little weird for him to be tight with the American players because every two years, these guys are trying to kill one another in the Ryder Cup. JDay doesn't have that.

Rory's problem isn't disinterest (though I agree sometimes he looks like it), it's that he is not actually a good wedge player (2014 is looking like an outlier, stats-wise, with that club), and it puts way too much stress on his putter. He's as good with the driver as anyone, maybe as good as anyone who has ever played (if you look at strokes gained with the driver, he's way better than TW was in his prime with that club), but if you're going to leave yourself 120 yards on every hole, you have to give yourself good looks. Tiger did that so often. Tiger hit better approach shots, even when he was in trouble, than anyone. Rory's not giving himself enough good looks, and he's also putting a lot of stress on himself to two-putt from long distances. When you factor in that he's, at best, an average putter, that's tough. He manages to make two or three doubles every tournament that feel like a lack of concentration, and it always derails average rounds and turns them into bad ones.