Running 2008 PGA Championship thread

Ser-gee-oohooh (choke choke chokechokechoke).

 

All pretty much fair points, though you can't have a short par-5 to finish off a major.

I was legitimately embarrassed for Nantz when he started talking about Sergio's "boyish exuberance"

 

You're right, nothing in his career supports the idea that Tiger could have possibly won this tournament.

 

No, it wasn't. Tiger actually wasn't in the tournament.

I'm fine with giving Harrington credit for playing great, and it is not diminished by the fact that Tiger was out. But it's idiotic to presume what Tiger would have done.

 

There is no way to know. However it is fair to point out that Tiger has not had his greatest success on traditional US Open layouts

 

I don't understand this. Are you saying Tiger's never shot low scores on tough courses where everyone else is struggling? How many tournaments has he won by at least eight shots? How about Pebble in 2000, etc., etc. Yes, Tiger has never won coming back on Sunday, so Harrington certainly deserves credit for that.

But it is impossible/ridiculous to say Tiger wouldn't have won something when he wasn't even in it! Does Harrington come back in the last two majors on Sunday if it was Tiger in the lead and not Greg Norman and Ben Curtis?

Or maybe Harrington doesn't shoot those low scores if he's playing with Tiger instead of Sergio and Tiger's fans are kicking the ball into the fairway for him.

I was half-joking with taking something away from his last two majors because Tiger wasn't in them. Obviously he deserved them and played tremendously. But if there are some people who slight Tiger's accomplishments because his competition isn't what, say, Nicklaus faced, how can you not mention that Harrington's last two came without Tiger in the field?

And Tiger's record in the 14 majors he played since the start of 2005?
Six victories, four second-places, one fourth-place, a third, a 12th and a missed cut. I don't think it's a stretch to say he would have been in the mix this weekend, and, again, might have fared a little better in the lead than the JB Holmes' of the world.

 

In your opinon, they were three "sure" double-bogeys. First of all, I don't remember three like that. Second, who's to say he wouldn't have found a way to make par. 64 Ws, 14 majors ... and you think he's lucky?

 

I know you don't remember three like that. That's what happens when you are an apologist. 14 majors.... lucky in two of them.

 

It was nice to see a major winner not named Tiger charge on the back nine on a Sunday instead of merely holding it together while others crumbled. Harrington's final three or four putts radiated the kind of sheer will power and intensity Tiger produces over and over.

That's what seems to have been missing from any challengers to Tiger, save a good charge from the field every now and then. Hopefully, Paddy keeps it up when Tiger returns. It was fun to watch.

 

Like he needs anyone to be an apologist. I think any good fortune that comes Tiger's way because of larger galleries is mitigated by the fact that those large galleries make more noise, and the larger media contingent is doing things like squeezing off the shutters in his backswing.

That said, any of you who seek to diminish what Harrington has done in the last two majors are just as idiotic. And do you think he gives a rat's ass?

 

Whether Tiger was there or not, that was riveting golf yesterday. I admittedly only watched it recorded (so I could both spend time with my boys and skip over commercials) but it was still some of the most exciting golf I have seen in my lifetime.

I wanted to root for Sergio but found it hard for some reason. He seems so smug. Even in losing, it did not appear he was the most gracious. In discussing his game with my buddy, he always appeared to me to be one of the best drivers of the game and tee to green awesome; yet I was really disappointed with his drive on 18 (even though he made an awesome 5 wood approach) and his indifferent bunker shot. He also chunked a pitch on the back 9 par 5. He played very well and his birdie eagle start was impressive.

I was rooting for Curtis because he may seem like vanilla but I thought he came across as serene and patient. Too bad his approach on 17 did not stick like those of Harrington and Garcia but skipped to the rough.

Paddy? Simply cannot root against him, his funky dance on 18 was priceless.