PGA Tour 2017-2018

[Jack Lambert]

Woods just bogeyed his last hole to go into the weekend tied for the lead at -4 for now. Some members of the media are reportedly in depression at this development. He's tied with Brandt Snedeker, Paul Casey, and somebody named Corey Conners. However, the big names in the afternoon wave sitting at -1 still have to tee off. This includes Sergio, Adam Scott, Justin Rose, and Matt Kuchar.

Woods' playing partners the first two rounds, Jordan Spieth and Henrik Stenson, must've fallen victim to that Woods intimidation stuff, because they're both about to miss the cut at +5! Spieth has been off this year though; he hasn't been himself so far, and from watching him his last couple of starts, his putting has been way off from his standards. Stenson, besides his great week at the British Open a couple years ago to keep Phil Mickelson from winning, has done nothing of note since then. Like Footballdad said though, you do have to give him a bit of credit. Woods has played a tough course well so far.

Of course, the media coverage is downright awful and embarrassing; who'd have guessed? The losers in the media have waited breathlessly for five years hoping Woods would return. If you think it's bad now, just wait and see what happens if he shoots a good round at Augusta, or if he wins this week. I was watching some post round coverage on the Golf (Tiger) Channel after Phil's win last week. Mickelson winning managed to keep Woods from being the topic of discussion for a solid 30-40 minutes. Imagine if Woods wins; it'll be nonstop coverage everywhere for a week.

 

[CrazyFinn]

It's truly despicable. He's front and center on ESPN.com and these media clowns have waited years for the return of their messiah, so they are going to soak this all in. You are correct, God help us if he wins a tourney or worst of all, wins Masters, it will be beyond insufferable. That's obviously what they are dreaming about every night as they go to bed with their Tiger blow up dolls.

Regarding this Tiger intimidation factor, I truly don't get it. He's a washed up 42 year old whose best days are long behind him, while some of these other players are in their primes so I'm puzzled about how weak their mental game must be to have that factor in somehow.

 

[Don Wassall]

Congrats to Paul Casey, who started the final round five shots back and won by one stroke, over Tiger Woods and Patrick Reed. Casey has won a number of times on the European Tour and is often in contention on the PGA Tour, but this was only his second PGA Tour win, the other coming back in 2009.

Unfortunately, Crazy Finn and Jack Lambert are right about the media and Woods. Finishing second guarantees that the traditional coverage of 95% Tiger, 5% all non-Tigers combined, is back for the rest of this year and beyond.

Watching some of yesterday's and today's action, I was appalled by all the NBC announcers working the tournament, but Dan Hicks is one who often slips under the radar because he's so bland and nondescript. But he's also a pure system hack, a mangina who can always be counted on to spout the party line.

As Hicks said today, "The PGA Tour is rejuvenated," lol. Golf has been doing fantastic without Woods, but now it's Tiger-mania again in media-land. I'll continue to enjoy rooting for Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson and a host of other great talents who I expect will dwarf anything Woods does in 2018.

 

[seattlefan11]

They think a sport is only relevant if blacks are best at it

 

[celticdb15]

ESPN with breaking news "Tiger falls just short." No mention of who won.

 

[Jack Lambert]

Congrats to Paul Casey, who started the final round five shots back and won by one stroke, over Tiger Woods and Patrick Reed. Casey has won a number of times on the European Tour and is often in contention on the PGA Tour, but this was only his second PGA Tour win, the other coming back in 2009.

Unfortunately, Crazy Finn and Jack Lambert are right about the media and Woods. Finishing second guarantees that the traditional coverage of 95% Tiger, 5% all non-Tigers combined, is back for the rest of this year and beyond.

Watching some of yesterday's and today's action, I was appalled by all the NBC announcers working the tournament, but Dan Hicks is one who often slips under the radar because he's so bland and nondescript. But he's also a pure system hack, a mangina who can always be counted on to spout the party line.

As Hicks said today, "The PGA Tour is rejuvenated," lol. Golf has been doing fantastic without Woods, but now it's Tiger-mania again in media-land. I'll continue to enjoy rooting for Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson and a host of other great talents who I expect will dwarf anything Woods does in 2018.

Those comments were disgusting. I was listening the coverage a bit yesterday, and it was terrible. I wasn't able to watch the post tournament show on Tiger Channel today, but I wonder if they talked about Woods or Casey first? And if they talked about Casey first, was it just in passing mention before they went on to analyze every single swing of Tiger's round? I think we all know the answer to that. I'm sure DWFs resented Paul Casey winning today. ESPN's "Golf" page is a joke. Out of the main stories, the first FIVE are on Woods. When they finally get to Casey, the headline is "Casey: 'If I didn't win this week, I wanted Tiger to." All this over a T2nd against an average field.

The buildup to the Masters will be unbearable, because it will be all Tiger, all the time. I guarantee every golfer from Johnson to Thomas to Spieth to Mickelson to Sergio etc. will be asked a hundred questions on him during Masters Week by the Tiger media on how much better golf is with Woods or their favorite Tiger memory or something like that.

Woods is now at 10/1 odds to win the Masters.. as in just behind Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson. If you thought this coverage was bad, just wait. It's going to get a whole lot worse. Those odds are better than Spieth, Rahm, McIlroy, Day, and Mickelson. How in the world does this make any sense? If heaven forbid he wins at Bay Hill next week, he'll be the outright favorite, and the Masters Week coverage before the tournament starts will be unwatchable.

 

[Fighting Pride]

This tournament was completely unwatchable with Woods in contention.

 

[foreverfree]

Just as unwatchable is that white monstrosity around Woods's middle finger. No way can that be a band aid. Anyone know what it is?

ixnay

 

[Shadowlight]

Despite CrazyFinn's hysterical but sadly accurate point about Tiger Blow Up Dolls and the media's constant pining for another Tiger roar I am not the least bit concerned about him winning the Masters. While it is true we will have to listen to the Tiger talk which has now mutated into a weird fetish, the landscape is much different. He is playing better now but this is not the old days. Number one he is obviously not in his prime. Looks old to me. But even if he was in his prime these new crop of players are much more formidable than anyone that Tiger with the exception of Phil, had to deal with back when he was dominating.

The Tiger media brigade will continue but it will bring more eyes to the Masters which will only enhance the status of the new stud patrol like Thomas, Johnson, Spieth, Rahm and a few others.

Let Tiger continue playing reasonably well but remember at the end of the day he is not on top anymore and that is the most important thing. Yes the media assault is annoying and even if Tiger does manage to win a tournament or two this year it won't kill me. As long as he doesn't bag another major, and I think his chances of that are very remote, the new fresher faces will rule the roost.

 

[Jack Lambert]

But even if he was in his prime these new crop of players are much more formidable than anyone that Tiger with the exception of Phil, had to deal with back when he was dominating.

You're definitely right on this point. I think it's been discussed a few times on here; Tiger didn't have near the amount of talent chasing him whatsoever. Like you mentioned, Phil was the only real consistent threat he had to deal with during his prime, and one of the very few guys that actually beat him head to head. Guys like Furyk, Els, Goosen, Singh, Kuchar, etc., were solid, but not on the level of Tiger or Phil. With the new younger talent in golf, I also don't think he takes a major; maybe some smaller tournaments, but not a major or Players. I would like to see Spieth and McIlroy get out of their recent funks, though. At least Justin Thomas, DJ, and Phil are all playing great right now.

 

[Jack Lambert]

Henrik Stenson currently leads the Arnold Palmer Invitational with a score of 8 under par. The Messiah is currently at -4. Stenson had an amazing 7 birdies in an eight hole stretch today. If Woods would've done that, I'm sure the world would have shut down to admire his greatness. The PGA Tour Facebook page even had the gall to post highlights of Stenson's round. DWFs promptly put comments on such as "Where's Tiger" or "Who cares? It's not Tiger." Simply amazing, considering that page has been 90% Woods related recently. Guess that's not enough for DWFs.

 

[Flint]

I was wondering what the scores were in this latest round, I had not heard any Tiger news, so I figured he was not doing well, when he does well it's a lead sports story. On the Yahoo home page the golf lead article was: Tiger Woods drains 71-foot birdie putt to take lead in Arnold Palmer Invitational.
I wondered why I hadn't heard more about this but then after clicking on the article I saw that this was old news. Yahoo can't bear to face the current truth, he is tied at 17th. Don't worry though, the article mentions there is plenty of time to make up the deficit.

 

[Jack Lambert]

I noticed this today as well Flint. It's funny how Vegas made Tiger the Masters FAVORITE after a single round yesterday, with DWFs everywhere proclaiming their Messiah "was back," how he was going to really start winning again, and how he'll run over everyone else. Didn't see anything of that today. He's currently 7 shots off the lead, but he's got a good field in front of him this time with Stenson and young up and comer Bryson DeChambeau tied at -11. He's also got Patrick Reed, Rory, and Fowler ahead of him while Woods is tied at -4 with Bubba, Justin Rose, and Zach Johnson.

 

[Fighting Pride]

They also made him a huge favorite to win this week's tournament off his 2nd place finish last week. Bookies will be taking a lot of DWF money when he doesn't win any of these tournaments.

 

[CrazyFinn]

Woods with a nice collapse near the end today, back to back bogeys on 16 and 17, while McIlroy is on fire, looks like he's headed for the win. Three others are still in contention as well. But of course you wouldn't know who's leading if you are trying to follow on BSPN, only this:



Hard for me to pick a winner in terms of who's a bigger embarrassment when it comes to their unconditional Woods worship, the vermin over at BSPN, the NBC announcers, or the scores of DWFs who seem to have a permanent school girl crush on him. I think I'll go with the DWFs.

 

[Don Wassall]

Rory McIlroy shot a sizzling 64 including birdying five of the final six holes to win Arnie's tournament. It was his 14th PGA Tour win but he hadn't won since the day Arnold Palmer died in 2016, when he won the Players Championship and the FedEx Cup. His putting has been bedeviling him since, but he putted great today and is in his prime years to pick up more majors.

Woods finished 8 shots back. Maestro (((Rich Lerner))) is in his glory, steering almost all of the Golf Channel's coverage back to Tiger, but I'm afraid Tiger worshipers are going to find out as this year goes on that Rory, Jordan, Justin (Thomas), Justin (Rose), Dustin and Jason all have more game than their middle aged hero does.

 

[Jack Lambert]

I wonder if the media members were contemplating suicide today as Tiger's drive on 16 went OB? I was following along via social media today, and up until that point, it was roughly 10 to 1 Tiger coverage by the despicable Golf Channel and BSPN golf "experts." I wasn't sure if Stenson, DeChambeau, and Rory were still playing until their Messiah launched one OB.

That's a good question, CrazyFinn. Both groups are pretty despicable. I'd have to go with the DWFs as well; at least some members of the media will give credit to others where it is due. The Tiger craxy DWFs, however, mostly don't care or dislike the other golfers, and hate when they get coverage over "their man."

 

[Jack Lambert]

Here's a name to watch for Augusta: Bubba Watson. Watson, who won earlier this year at Riviera, is currently 7UP through 10 over Kevin Kisner in the Dell Match Play Tournament. Watson beat the red-hot Justin Thomas 3&2 in the semifinals. He should definitely be one of the favorites for the Masters.

Although Watson has been criticized on here for crying a bit too much (I agree - he could tone that down), I am a fan of him. He seems to be his own man, is a devout Christian, has a self-taught swing, and actually has personality, something a lot of players on the Tour don't have. It's good to see Bubba winning again.

 

[Don Wassall]

Bubba becomes just the fifth player to win at least two WGC events and at least two majors. It was his 11th PGA Tour win. He'll be a favorite to win The Masters, which thankfully draws near.

 

[Carolina Speed]

Bubba becomes just the fifth player to win at least two WGC events and at least two majors. It was his 11th PGA Tour win. He'll be a favorite to win The Masters, which thankfully draws near.

Yep! Looks like The Masters is really shaping up to be fun to watch. Ricki Fowler is at -10 and a T2 and Jordan Spieth is at -9, T6 after round 2 of The Houston Open. With Bubba, Dustin, Justin, Phil and Rory all playing well should be a great four days of golf next week!

 

[Jack Lambert]

Yep! Looks like The Masters is really shaping up to be fun to watch. Ricki Fowler is at -10 and a T2 and Jordan Spieth is at -9, T6 after round 2 of The Houston Open. With Bubba, Dustin, Justin, Phil and Rory all playing well should be a great four days of golf next week!

Yet, with all these golfers playing great, including course horses Bubba, Phil, and hopefully Jordan Spieth now, the favorite is still Tiger. If Tiger manages to win next week with all of these guys playing the way they are, it'll be called the greatest victory in golf.

 

[Jack Lambert]

Ian Poulter wins the Houston Open in a sudden death playoff over young American player Beau Hossler to get into the Masters! After a few disappointing years, Poulter has really been playing well the last couple of weeks. Jordan Spieth finishes at -16, a couple of shots back of the playoff; it's good to see Spieth playing well before the Masters.

We are at CF joke about the media holding Tiger to be the "Messiah," but it appears that it isn't a joke anymore. Look at this DWF garbage.

https://twitter.com/JoelMBeall/status/980414221837111302

 

[Carolina Speed]

Ian Poulter wins the Houston Open in a sudden death playoff over young American player Beau Hossler to get into the Masters! After a few disappointing years, Poulter has really been playing well the last couple of weeks. Jordan Spieth finishes at -16, a couple of shots back of the playoff; it's good to see Spieth playing well before the Masters.

We are at CF joke about the media holding Tiger to be the "Messiah," but it appears that it isn't a joke anymore. Look at this DWF garbage.

https://twitter.com/JoelMBeall/status/980414221837111302

We weren't kidding.
Disgusting! But really doesn't make sense. Risen from what? What has he done? He hasn't really done anything!
I'm predicting he won't even be close to winning the Masters! Between Dustin, Justin, Bubba, Jordan, Rory, etc., TW has no chance next week!
Matter of fact, while I'm rooting hard for Spieth, I think someone that no one is looking for will be in the hunt if not win the Masters.

 

[Don Wassall]

I like this response to the blasphemous twitter:

Monty Capuletti
Replying to @JoelMBeall
The good news, Joel, is if you would have related Tiger to any other religion’s figure, you would be out of a job. Fortunately only Christians are open to mocking in 2018 Bravo #HappyEaster

Poulter had never won a stroke play event in the U.S. and hadn't won even in Europe for a number of years and was in 123rd place after the first round yet rallied to win, the only way he could qualify for The Masters. He's one of the all-time great Ryder Cup players though, glad to see him pull out the win in dramatic fashion.

The Masters begins Thursday! Can't wait!

 

[Don Wassall]

Bubba Watson won the Travelers Championship for the third time with a sizzling final round 63, passing up Paul Casey who started the round with a four shot lead but faltered on the back nine. It's Watson's third win this year and 12th of his career, with two of those coming in The Masters. He's slowly but surely building a Golf Hall of Fame resume.