Tiger's Going To Check Up On His Spin Rates

There have been many awkward, empathy-inducing comments from Tiger Woods as he continues to struggle, but this might have been the saddest:

Q. Did you learn anything about your game this week?

TIGER WOODS: You know, it's kind of funny because I didn't -- we were talking about that the other day; I hit the ball solid. It's just that it wasn't getting through the wind. I don't know what was causing that, and it's something that we're going to have to take a look at, look at my numbers, see if the spin rates are on or not, but it was so frustrating because all my shots that I hit solid and flush into the wind, they just weren't carrying at all.

John Strege has this roundup of some takes on Tiger, including this from ESPN.com's Kevin Van Falkenburg who says we're seeing something unprecedented.

But after watching him trudge around the Old Course for three days, and seeing the melancholy look on the man's face when it was finally over, I no longer feel even a hint of schadenfreude. I feel only empathy.

When he took off his hat on the 18th green to shake hands with Jason Day and Louis Oosthuizen, he looked as close to broken as I've ever seen a truly great athlete look. He entered this event thinking he had a real chance to contend. He wasn't even close to making the cut.

John Huggan builds a case for Tiger being done.

Right this minute, Tiger is not capable of winning major championships. Nor is he capable of winning a regular tour event. He is, in reality, a well-below average PGA Tour player.

The numbers are instructive. So far in 2015, Tiger has hit 52.86 per cent of the fairways he has aimed at. That would make him the 194th most accurate driver (out of 199) on the PGA Tour. In ‘greens in regulation’, his percentage is 61.11, “good” enough for 190th spot. But the most egregious figure is his stroke average of 72.796. Only former Masters champion Mike Weir is worse. Little wonder then, that Woods is ranked the 241st best golfer on the planet.

Ryan Lavner at GolfChannel.com adds this and more about the spin rates comment:

“We're going to have to take a look at my numbers, see if the spin rates are on or not,” he said.

What happened to just hitting golf shots?

Now fully healthy, Woods has been working through this most recent  swing change with Chris Como for about nine months. It's unclear if he's made any progress at all. His good swings are very good. He pures it at home, and on the tournament range, and in practice rounds – or, in other words, when it doesn’t matter.

Doug Ferguson noted that Woods' preparation was strange, too

He looked lost on the Old Course.

"I felt like I was playing well enough to win this event," Woods said.

He arrived on Saturday to do a junior clinic for Nike - Woods typically is all about preparations at the majors - and then after practice rounds on Sunday and Monday, he didn't play another practice round on the Old Course until the championship started. Woods said he knew the course, practiced in both wind directions and wanted to conserve energy for what usually is a long week.

Da Anderson's Ginger Beer Is Back (At The 2015 Open)!

The R&A is paying homage to the drink and man that inspired the 4th hole's branding as Ginger Beer.

The "Gunner" comes in a bottle decorated by a label featuring an image of Auld Da Anderson selling his Ginger Beer and food items (historian David Hamilton theorizes that the round objects are poached eggs wrapped in sausage and deep fried). I came across it at the British Golf Museum's new cafe with sensational views of the courses here.

Anderson was a caddie, ballmaker and clubmaker, and keeper of the green at St. Andrews before transitioning to his role selling beverages and food on the course. Many believe he served at the 9th hole, but the most consistent location of his Ginger Beer Cart was most likely the 4th.

The non-alcoholic Gunner consists of part Ginger Beer, part Ginger Ale, lime squeeze and 2 dashes of Angostura Bitter.

The spectator village here is particularly good, as Ryan Herrington notes in this post with extensive photos. As he points out, you can come here without seeing a shot and have a grand old time.

A key part of the village: exhibits from Emory University and St. Andrews University. The Emory collection is devoted to Bobby Jones' life in St. Andrews and includes pages from his manuscript (with Jones markings) for Golf Is My Game, along with a postcard sent after the Freedom of the City speech.

And watching over this to keep the gulls away? This hawk...(thanks Nancy for the link):

Meet Fearnley the Eagle.He's at The Open to keep pesky seagulls away from food in the Spectator Village.

Posted by The Open on Friday, July 17, 2015

Good Read: "Mickelson dances golf's invisible line"

Phil Mickelson, who opened with a 2-under-par 70 in the windy afternoon conditions at St. Andrews, is profiled by ESPN.com's Kevin Van Valkenburg as the 2013 Open Champion "dances with golf's invisible line."

There is plenty of good stuff here, including this:

Mickelson said he and his wife, Amy, laughed recently when they remembered how upset they were 20 years ago when he wasn't included in a magazine story prior to the PGA Championship listing the game's "young guns." Justin Leonard was in there, and so was David Duval, but not Mickelson. Amy was so upset about it, she even walked up to the writer at the tournament and confronted him about it.

"We look back on that and we laugh," Mickelson said. "We were so immature that we felt we had to have input and say in every little thing." His face has grown noticeably weathered in recent years. Up close, his cheeks are pink and splotchy in spots, a visible consequence that comes from having spent the past four decades walking golf courses around the world, soaking up the taxing rays of the sun. There are small bags under his eyes, and he bends at the waist to read putts instead of at the knees, a telltale sign that the years, and all those steps, are adding up.

Video: Champions Challenge Recap, Arnold Palmer Interview

Before we get too deep into this Open Championship at St. Andrews, memories of Wednesday's Champion Golfer's Challenge should not be left too far behind in the rear view mirror. How lucky we were see Arnold Palmer hit what is possibly his last shot at St. Andrews, and witness Peter Thomson and Gary Player coming back one more time. Kudos to the R&A for having the event, presenting it with dignity and injecting a sense of celebration.

It's difficult not to get emotional watching Arnold Palmer's interview with ESPN's Tom Rinaldi afterwards. You can view it here.

Here is The Open official recap.

2015 Open Championship 1st Round Notes And Comment Thread

The Open is here and coverage kicks off at 4 am ET in the United States, with ESPN on for a whopping 11 hours Thursday and Friday. Multiple alternate feeds are available, including @TheOpen's Road hole feed and featured groups in morning/afternoon waves.

The full lineup is viewable here and you'll need the WatchESPN app to view on mobile devices.

With Jordan Spieth's Grand Slam request, subscribers to the Longhorn network will also be able to watch Spieth's featured group Thursday. 

The announce lineup is the same:

Mike Tirico and analyst Paul Azinger will call the play from the main booth adjacent to the 18th fairway. Hole announcers will be Curtis Strange, Sean McDonough and Scott Van Pelt, with Tom Rinaldi conducting player interviews.
 
On-course reporters for the morning players will be Andy North (with Jordan Spieth group), Billy Kratzert (with Bubba Watson group) and Dottie Pepper (with Tiger Woods group). For the afternoon session, Kratzert will follow the Phil Mickelson group and Judy Rankin will be with the Justin Rose group.
 
Later in the afternoon, Van Pelt and North will move to the booth, with Rinaldi and Dottie Pepper moving to hole announcer positions. Gene Wojciechowski will conduct player interviews. For the afternoon session, Kratzert will follow the Phil Mickelson group and Judy Rankin will be with the Justin Rose group.

The Open's official site includes extensive live coverage, though I'm not sure what is available in the USA. Check it out here and please let me know. And if you are looking for background sound only, The Open's live radio broadcast is most enjoyable.

The "Traditional" leaderboard