Running The Open thread

Sorry, I'm calling bollocks on this one.

The PGA European tournament is called the Omega European Masters.

 

Too many American sports fans tend to be myopic and think the world revolves around them.

Used to call the tennis tournament in Paris "The French Open", but now refer to it by it's official name "Roland Garros". I do use "Wimbledon" and "The Championships" somewhat interchangeably.

 

I would agree.

Not only did he tie for third, he finished only three shots behind winner Lee Trevino. A touch more luck in those four days and it could have transpired that nobody would have thought twice about Nicklaus winning the 1986 Masters at age 46, because that feat would have paled in comparison to Snead in '74.

The year before, in a remarkable burst of consistency, Snead shot four consecutive rounds of even-par 71 and tied for ninth place.

Say what you want about Tiger and Jack and Arnie and the rest......I don't know if we'll ever see another Sam Snead.

 

That goddamned putter.

 

Hell, he shot 71 at the PGA twice when he was... wait for it... 67.

 

That's the ONE argument I often make for Snead being the greatest golfer who ever lived. His ability to play at such a high level at the age he did.
Oh if only they had not outlawed the sidesaddle putting stroke.

 

Is he not the youngest golfer to shoot his age or better in a professional or sanctioned event?

EDIT: The Wiki says he shot his age (67) in the second round of the 1979 Quad Cities Open. It also says he shot a 66 in the third and final round of the same tournament. Unfortunately, a look at that year's tournament standings showed he shot a 74 in between and he finished in a tie for 36th place, 11 strokes behind winner D.A. Weibring. Still, wow.

Wiki also says he shot 12-under-par 60 at The Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia, in 1983 when he was 71. In 1997, when he was 85, he shot a 78 at the Old White course of The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Again, wow.

 

When and why did that rule get put in place?

 

Early '70s? I think it was because the USGA or whoever didn't think it was dignified and that golf meant standing next to the ball, not behind it. It was more like croquet the way he putted.

 

The Sergio stuff Jenkins is posting on his twitter page is pretty fucking funny.

 

So you're saying the USGA or whoever wouldn't have been a fan of Ty Webb?

 

Actually, the USGA did not ban the sidesaddle putting stroke. In fact, Snead went to the sidesaddle when the USGA banned his preferred stroke -- straddling the line to the hole and striking the putt between his feet -- in 1968. The new rule required the player to have both feet on the same side of the putting line, forcing Snead to go to the sidesaddle approach.

Here's the outlawed putting stroke:





And this is the sidesaddle stance Snead switched to: