Pond Scrum: 2011 majors memorable from first to last
In the final foray at the seasons fourth and final major, the final four holes were the story.
The PGA Championship annually bills itself as Glorys Last Shot? But it was more like Gory this time around.
Somehow, with a closing stretch that was reminiscent of Rory McIlroys meltdown at the Masters and his ascendance at the U.S. Open, another youngster swam laps around everybody and hoisted the Wanamaker Trophy at the end as a result.
Theres a statue of hometown boy Bobby Jones outside the Atlanta Athletic Club, and back in his day, folks sometimes called the Grand Slam the “Impregnable Quadrilateral.” That term surely applies to the last four holes at AAC, an acronym which, when pronounced as a word aloud, sounds a lot like the noise emanating from Jason Dufners throat at times on Sunday night.
As rookie sensation Keegan Bradley became only the third player in the past century to win a major in his first appearance, European Tour correspondent John Huggan and CBSSports.com senior writer Steve Elling tried to take it all in.
Tried to put the wildest hour in recent majors history into a semi-coherent form. Tried to comprehend the incomprehensible. Now they will again try to explain it.
Bradley trailed by five shots with three holes to play. Leader Jason Dufner morphed from Ben Hogan into Ben Stiller. But nobody was laughing, were they? It was far too surreal.
The tension at the 93rd PGA Championship, like the humidity, was so thick, you could have cut it with a dull belly putter.
In this weeks iteration of Pond Scrum, the pair put Sundays sublime and occasionally ridiculous affair into context with the first three majors of 2011 and trod onward from there. Mind the bunkers and water hazards, boys, because AAC is full of them.
The four majors are in the books. What are you going to remember most from the 2011 fearsome foursome?
Elling: No question, the bookends are what stand out the most to me. By that, I mean the amazing contrast between the Masters and PGA outcomes. In April, Charl Schwar he birdied the last four holes at Augusta National to win. Sunday, Jason Dufner bogeyed three of the last four to toss it away. At Augusta, players were standing on the gas until the end, with eight different guys holding part of the lead at various times. At the PGA, it was a series of car crashes and a riveting unraveling. Memorable for entirely different reasons.
Huggan: Indeed. If ever there was an event that made it obvious Rees Jones doesnt have a clue about how to set up a course for proper golf it was this one. Hole after hole it was the same thing: “Can you hit your ball between the bunkers?” Boring, boring, boring … and thats what the PGA was until the last 90 minutes when, as so often happens, match play broke out and saved the day.
Elling: More major memories: This remains to be seen, but my opinion could absolutely evolve over the coming years. If Rory McIlroy turns out to be as good as many envision, then that runaway win he posted at the U.S. Open could supplant every memory from 11. In a hurry. I wonder, will he still be as good after his arm is amputated? Kidding. Barely.
Huggan: The good news is that American golf may have found its new standard bearer. Bradley seems like a very appealing young man with a strong game and the guts to get things done under the severest pressure. Pity about the belly putter though.
Elling: Still mulling the majors: As well-received as the win by 42-year-old Darren Clarke was at the British Open, I dont see it resonating long. In fact, based on the way he has played since, its already starting to look rather … flukish. The planets, kismet and Lady Luck were surely aligned for Clarke, and itll be interesting to see where he goes from here. Hopefully this isnt destined to become an inexorable slide to irrelevance, so to speak.
Huggan: You are right in that Rorys performance at Congressional must go down as the No. 1 highlight of the majors year, but Darren at the Open runs that close. Darren has barely paid golf any attention since he won. He needs a break, whereupon hell be back and as good as a 42-year-old can be.
Elling: Another takeaway: Starting last year at the British Open with Louis Oosthuizen, five of the last six major winners have been 26 or younger. Thats a good sign. Hopefully, the public catches on to these kids. Just as hopefully, a couple of them turn out to be major fixtures. I agree with you on Bradley. Can a guy win top-rookie and player-of-the-year honors in the same season? He has a terrific shot.
Huggan: He does now. I just wish he hadnt announced how “proud” he was to be the first practitioner of the belly putter to win a major. That is point-missing on a grand scale and rather soured me on him after what was a terrific display, especially after that triple.
Elling: I believe it was Steve Pate who once said he would clinch the putter between the cheeks of his posterior if it would help. The belly putter is here to stay. In fact, I bet Tiger has one by now.
Huggan: By the way, does that Dufner fellow ever smile?
Elling: If Dufner smiled, the entire can of Skoal he has tucked in his lower lip would fall out.
Huggan: Speaking of fallout, golfs rulemakers screwed up when they said anchoring the club against your body is okey-dokey. It just cant be. Im with Tom Watson on this one. The putter should be the shortest club in the bag. End of story.
Elling: One last thought about the PGA. People call it the least important major, but for those who have watched over the past dozen years, it has been the most consistently dramatic. Its not even close. Think about the past few iterations, from the Tiger-Sergio duel, Shaun Micheels hero shot on the 72nd hole, the Dustin Johnson debacle on the final hole last year, Tiger nearly catching Rich Beem, unheralded Y.E. Yang taking Woods down in hand-to-hand combat, to Keegan Bradley making up a five-stroke deficit in three holes. No matter what you think of the players involved, or if they captured your fancy, the stakes are high and so is the angst. Terrific television. It almost never fails to entertain.
Was the golf course overcooked last week and are Phil Mickelsons veiled criticisms of Rees Jones legit?
Elling: John, we both knew the outcome of Sunday was in the cards. It was ordained Friday, when Woods, Mickelson, Stricker, Woodland, Manassero and others dunked balls on the 18th. Drama and trauma was a certainty. Was the course too ripe? Well, three of the first four holes on the back nine played under par, so players knew they had to make an early move and hang on. Few did.
Huggan: What was clear from last week is that Rees Jones doesn’t have a clue when it comes to setting up courses for top players. I want to see different players with different strengths playing holes in different ways. There was none of that in Atlanta. On every tee the players were told how to play each hole. That cant be right. Let them make up their own minds and we will have a far more interesting spectacle. No wonder Mike Davis at the USGA has sent Rees packing. No more can he stroll around calling himself the “Open doctor.”
Elling: I have very mixed feelings when hearing Mickelson belittle Jones. Its become rather catty to me. Phil is hugely pro-technology and went on a reasoned rant last year against another favorite target, Dick Rugge of the USGA, about rule changes designed to keep players from inhaling golf courses whole in a single breath. Mickelson fails to acknowledge that with players flying drives 300 yards in the air, changes to courses are a necessity. So while Jones and his ilk might not get it right every time, they have to add teeth to keep scores from becoming laughable. Keegan Bradley birdied two of the last three holes in regulation. Somebody managed to avoid the carnage.
Huggan: You are right. That is where Phils argument breaks down. Of course, he is being well compensated for his support of turbo-charged balls and clubs. I suspect, deep down, he is just as hacked off as I am. After all, it would be to his advantage if shaping shots returned to the pro game. He is one of the best when it comes to that.
Elling: Mickelson already has psyched himself out about his chances at the British Open, where he rarely has contende are not to his liking. Well, Jones had tweaked many of the major-championship venues used by the USGA and PGA. He needs to get over it. Adapt or perish. Get out of your own head, buddy. Come on. We love the guy, but hes a beaten man before he hits a shot on the Restoration projects.
Huggan: Where you are not right is in your “adding teeth” comment. Simply making holes longer and adding bunkers on either side of the fairway is brainless and produces brainless golf. Yes it is hard, but judging by the viewing figures most people agree with me that it is not interesting. Never forget: making a golf course hard is the easiest thing in the world.
Elling: Viewing figures often reflect the artists in contention, not the canvas. You know what would have changed the entire dynamic of the event? If they had elected to play the 18th as a par-5, as the members do. It would have created the type of excitement similar to Torrey Pines in 2008, when Jones wanted to play the 18th as a par-4 but was over-ruled by the USGA. Tiger making birdie on the 72nd hole is seared in our collective memory as a result.
Huggan: Making a course interesting … now that requires some talent.
Elling: You know what unnerved me more than anything? The inconsistencies in the sand. The best break of the week was for guys who hit balls into areas where other players had visited earlier, and the sand had been re-raked by a caddie afterward. Otherwise, it was clumpy and lumpy. Hey, I think I just described Dufners shirt.
Huggan: Making it a par-5 is, in itself, not enough. It would have to be a par-5 they could barely reach in two and then only with two great shots. Im not sure the 18th last week was capable of that, given that the landing area was so small.
Elling: You have a point. Its just that, psychologically, I always like to see a guy win the tournament. Not another guy lose it, then hand it to the first guy. Or something akin to that.
Huggan: The bunkers were a joke. When balls start plugging on down slopes it is time to call halt and admit something has gone very wrong. Even the dopes who say “a bunker is a hazard and should be tough” were a bit quiet when confronted by some of the lies we saw.
Rory McIlroy became the talk of the tour Thursday when he raked a shot out of a tree root and hurt his right wrist and arm. Are the course-management criticisms he has heard from a wide variety of media analysts legitimate?
Huggan: He is definitely guilty of impetuousness that sometimes borders on madness. This was one of those occasions. But he is 22 and is supposed to be making mistakes. It’s just that he doesnt get to make them in the privacy of his own bad lie.
Elling: Of course the catcalls are legitimate. Has a single soul looked at the replay of the McIlroy shot at AAC and not cringed? The ball was resting against a tree root that was thic and Rory elected to whale away anyway. It was a potentially career-altering barely. Later, he ignored the advice of his caddie and trainer over another dicey shot. Egads, lad.
Elling: Why hit that shot on the third hole of the first round? It was reckless. Eventually, Rory admitted it was not a smart play. Savoir faire is one thing, but needlessly walking a medical tightrope in high winds is another.
Huggan: Having said that, he risked his whole career with that shot last week. I find it hard to believe his caddie didnt wrestle him to the ground in an attempt to get him to chip out. Now that would have made great television.
Elling: One of my favorite quotes of the entire week, and an incredibly illuminating one at that, came when McIlroys manager at ISM, Chubby Chandler, was asked about the criticism that caddie J.P. Fitzgerald has faced for failing to call Rory off certain risky shots. Chandler actually laughed. What difference does the caddie make, he noted? “[Rory] never listens to anybody,” Chandler said. McIlroy is his own man, for sure, but this was a boneheaded stunt. He has the MRI exam to prove it. You cant spell criticism without the letters ISM!
Huggan: I think youll find that Rory is a young man with a mind of his own. Im not sure that he listens to many people other than his parents. Especially his mum!
Huggan: Lets go back in time. Did you do anything stupid when you were 22? I bet you did!
Elling: Thats essentially what his dad conveyed when Rory went against the advice of his managers and decided to take up his PGA Tour card for 2012. Strong head. Strong tendons, too, thankfully.
Better question would be to ask whether I did a single thing that was smart. Perhaps not. I picked journalism as my major.
Huggan: Yes, although I suspect his social life has more to do with the PGA Tour decision than any desire to play more tedious courses like last week.
Elling: Speaking for every fan of the game, I am just glad he didn’t do serious damage to himself. I think the only guy with a right wrist that was more sore was Bryon Bell. We had Tiger hitting balls into 22 different bunkers over 36 holes. Thats a lot of raking for any caddie.
Huggan: I see McIlroy is off to Cincinnati this week. Interesting choice of vacation spots. Hang on, isnt there a tennis tournament there at the moment?
Elling: A womens tournament, perhaps? Coincidence. Pure coincidence.
Huggan: Hear, hear. Can you imagine the game without Rory? Ouch.
What happens now for the fading former world No. 1 Tiger Woods?
Elling: If anybody thinks they can answer that question, they are delusional. Woods isnt scheduled to play for two months. Hes falling out of the world rankings so fast, a teenager just passed him today, Matteo Manassero. A guy who had never made a PGA Tour start before this season just bolted past, too, PGA winner Keegan Bradley.
Huggan: I fear for Tiger, I really do. No one in the history of the game has ever undertaken two swing changes, never mind three as he is about to do. It is madness if you ask me. And I see you have.
Elling: Yeah, its been rather hard to miss, what with his drives sailing over my head.
Elling: Where will Woods resurface? The PGA Tour said that since Woods is not eligible for the forthcoming FedEx Cup series, which starts next week, he can play overseas. Whether he does, well see. I think that would be a spectacular mistake. Why? Because he would be drawing eyes away from the PGA Tour product. Lets face it, Woods made an elective decision NOT to play this week in Greensboro in an 11th-hour bid to improve his FedEx points dilemma. That can rightly be questioned.
Huggan: I really don’t think hes going to come back from this one. Yes, hell win the odd event here and there on talent alone. But dominating like he did before? Those days are done. And the worst aspect of it all is that it is self-inflicted. He should have stuck with either Butch or Hank.
Elling: Did you see the slo-mo swing analysis on the Golf Channel on Friday night? It was … frightening. He in no way resembles a player who is getting better. His posture over the ball looked like Charles Barkleys.
Huggan: What he should do is come over and play in Europe for two or three weeks. Hed enjoy that. And so would the spectators. Bet he doesnt, though.
Elling: In a roundabout way, the sex scandal continues to have a direct impact on his present and future. Because of his divorce, Woods is said to have access to his kids at certain agreed-upon times. Given the particulars of their split, it seems pretty safe to assume that Elin is in no mood to capitulate to any last-minute changes in schedule, or many other requests for that matter. So now he isnt playing.
Huggan: Charles Barkley?? Thats a bit strong even for you. If he wanted to play, he could. Cant he spell N-A-N-N-Y?
Elling: You obviously did not see the footage. Two of us watching the that guy looks more like Barkley than Tee-Dub. Take the kids to Greensboro? Hmmm. Why not?
Elling: Meanwhile, Padraig Harrington, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Paul Casey, Ian Poulter and several other very high-profile players are teeing it up this week in Greensboro with the hope of improving their FedEx Cup standing. Whatever the issues he is facing at home, Woods decision not to play this week sends a bad message. More bad P.R. at a time when he cant afford it. Woods says he needs at-bats, then he doesnt try to qualify for the FedEx series? If theres more to it than this, he should say so.
Huggan: I did see the swing video analysis, but it wasnt that close to the Barkley shuffle. You exaggerate for effect my man.
Elling: Hey, I exaggerate for a living, pal.
Huggan: It makes no sense for Tiger to go on and on about how he needs “reps” and then turn around and say he may not play again until the Aussie Open in November. Makes you wonder if he really does care about getting back into the worlds top-30.
Elling: You know, he could fall out of the top 50 by years end, according to some scorched-earth projections. Mind you, he started the season at No. 2. I have seen meteors fall to earth slower than that.
Huggan: Exactly. Of course, that would get him out of playing Firestone next year. Every cloud and all that.
Elling: As for his schedule, agent Mark Steinberg did not rule out playing in the Fall Series. Thats hard to envision, but if he really wants to see live fire, playing against a B-level field at the Aussie Open, followed by an exhibition called the Presidents Cup and Chevron Challenge, i the guy is quite likely shutting it down except for a few hit-and-giggle events.
Huggan: He isnt even exempt for the Chevron, is he? And if ever we needed confirmation that the Presidents Cup is an almost meaningless exhibition, it is Tigers almost-certain inclusion in a team he has no business being on. Of course, the Internatio will be picked if he has to be. Japanese television has a powerful voice, apparently.
Elling: Guessing that NBC will likewise exert some leverage to ensure Tiger gets the nod, even though Bradley has not yet made the team and might need a captains pick to play. As for the short term and Tiger, I guess this means some other dude gets to take home a $10 million bonus this year.
Elling: Life on the tour sure is rough lately, huh? No Tiger to fight, four major titles up for grabs and $10 million in bonus money on the table in September.
Huggan: Have we considered the notion that he is simply deeply unhappy and suffering from a not-so-mild version of depression? Maybe he needs to give up golf completely and build an entirely new life. Just a thought.
Elling: Naw, he just needs a hug from Stevie. And a belly putter.
Huggan: Has there ever been a more meaningless and less-interesting money-grab than the FedEx Cup? You can add incomprehensible to that list, by the way.
Elling: Actually, the Skins Game was a far more meaningless money grab. At minimum, the FedEx series represents four elite tournaments with excellent fields. So until we get to the end, I mostly ignore the points stuff and cover them like regular tournaments. And were planning to cover all four of them, too.
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