Van Sickle On Doral's Setup Shift

I always enjoy a healthy Gary Van Sickle venting and I'm glad he spoke up on the difference between Doral the first three days and Sunday's killjoy setup.

Thanks to reader Chicago John for passing this along:

More important, the greens got firm as bricks and the pins were tucked in nasty places. In other words, everything that made the first three rounds so dramatic and exciting and the leaderboard so star-studded went out the window. Three days of birdie-fest morphed into a small U.S. Open for the final round. Birdies were hard to come by. The leaders played a war of attrition. Tiger showed off his short game and made a lot of pars.
 
Interesting, yes. Thrilling, no.

Comments

[Lynn S.]

What did Rory shoot the final day?

[Nathan]

Rory shot a 7-under-par 65 in the final round.

[digsouth]

I believe Lynn knew what Rory shot---the point being -good rounds could be had---but Lynn, the retort would be, if the setup had remained as it was TFS, then Rory may have shot a 61....

The setup certainly took all the chasers to a place almost out of the race, and to that, a good point was made by Gary.

[Lynn S.]

digsouth

I agree mostly with what you say. I think they were concerned about a 61 and looking like a Palm Springs event. However Tiger could have easily shot 73 and been caught which would too have been interesting. A good tournament doesn't have to be a birdie shoot out. A good balance should be sought.

[ol Harv]

The Mike Davis school of course set-up.

[Erik J. Barzeski]

Low scoring would let someone shoot a low number to catch and beat Tiger. Where are the conspiracy theorists that the setup team wanted Tiger to win so they rewarded par on the final day, virtually assuring nobody could catch up to him?