Day Two 2011 Match Play Open Thread
/I blew it yesterday not opening up a thread but after Kelly Tilghman opened her on-camera time with info on where Tiger could drop to in the world rankings, it's my duty to offer a place to vent!
When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
I blew it yesterday not opening up a thread but after Kelly Tilghman opened her on-camera time with info on where Tiger could drop to in the world rankings, it's my duty to offer a place to vent!
All 32 matches are summed up at PGATour.com and the current bracket is here.
Jim McCabe files notes on the highlights from day one while Gary Van Sickle says Tiger's loss wasn't much of an upset. He also offers day two predictions.
Besides reporting on the pathetic pace of the Poulter-Cink match, Doug Ferguson's notes include this on Jason Day's savvy gamesmanship in his win over K.T. Kim.
"I made the choice to walk in front of him all the time, to be in front of him, just to show him that I was there, show him that I'm still around, instead of walking behind him and him being in front," said Day, a 3-and-2 winner.
"So, it was a little bit of a tactic to say, 'I'm still here, I'm still going to fight and I'm going to try and win as good as I could.'"
Steve DiMeglio points out that it was not a great day for the elite American players.
The Americans had four of the top 10 seeds at Dove Mountain, and Mickelson is the only one left. Matteo Manassero (FSY), the 17-year-old Italian, became the youngest winner in this tournament with a 2-and-1 victory over eighth-seeded Steve Stricker (FSY), while Jim Furyk (FSY) (No. 10) continued his struggles in losing to Ryan Palmer (FSY), who was making his Match Play debut.
In previewing the obvious match of day two (Mickelson v. Fowler), Randall Mell quotes Phil as saying he's well rested in part because of his daily jet commute during the L.A. and Pebble Beach stops.
Jim Moriarty suggests that the wackiest match crown belongs to the Els-Overton battle.
Only Tiger's former instructor is directing his hostile Tweets toward Tiger Woods senior spokesman, John Cook:

For Immediate Release...
Golf Channel on NBC – Golf Channel and NBC Sports will combine resources this week in their first event together under the newly-formed NBC Sports Group. Golf telecasts on NBC Sports will now be re-branded as “Golf Channel on NBC,” with NBC golf coverage incorporating the Golf Channel look and feel throughout every telecast.
Why can't we get Wednesday through Friday with Dan Hicks, Johnny, Gary and NBC graphics on Golf Channel, then on the weekend switch over to GC on NBC? A little cross pollination, if you will?
And signed legally binding contracts in advance of the May announcement...
Bill Fields filed this slideshow from the event on Monday, hopefully this means an article is coming as well.From today's conference call, reported by Randall Mell:
“Tiger just needs a win, the bottom line is that it could be the Hershey Bar Open,” Miller said. “He needs to say, `Hey, I can win again.' . . . He better win something before Augusta, because it's just too hard to go a couple years, or whatever it's going to be, to win at Augusta without winning. I’m not saying he can't do it, like Jack Nicklaus did winning the Masters out of nowhere in '86, but he needs a win.”
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
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