PhillyHoya
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Post by PhillyHoya on Aug 16, 2009 19:24:29 GMT -5
Did Tiger choke? Or did Yang beat him?
I say it's a little of both. Before the PGA started, I told my dad I doubted he could pull off 3 in a row after two long weeks. Turns out I was right.
Anyways, discuss.
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DFW HOYA
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Post by DFW HOYA on Aug 16, 2009 19:44:28 GMT -5
Yang won, fair and square. Consistent drives, solid short game. Woods has nothing to be ashamed of and didn't choke--he finished 2nd after all.
As for Harrington, well...
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PhillyHoya
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Post by PhillyHoya on Aug 16, 2009 20:14:16 GMT -5
Yang won, fair and square. Consistent drives, solid short game. Woods has nothing to be ashamed of and didn't choke--he finished 2nd after all. As for Harrington, well... True, but Tiger couldn't make anything within 6 feet to save his life. I think Paddy's still psyched out from last week. |
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GIGAFAN99
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Post by GIGAFAN99 on Aug 16, 2009 20:20:46 GMT -5
YE Yang is now the second-richest golfer in the world next to Tiger. He is going to be advertising everything from drivers to diapers in Asia. Michael Chang was huge after winning the French and he's from Hoboken. This guy finally broke through and did it with arguably the two most memorable shots of the year.
Awesome stuff out of Yang. Luke Donald's in the last group with Tiger and he has to change his boxer shorts three times. This guy is waving at the camera like he's on Wheel of Fortune. Nice work Yangster.
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PhillyHoya
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Post by PhillyHoya on Aug 16, 2009 20:26:45 GMT -5
Yang could be the new president of South Korea tomorrow. And he'll reunify with the North by lunch.
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hoya95
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Post by hoya95 on Aug 16, 2009 20:35:40 GMT -5
That was a Buster Douglas moment. After watching so many golfers melt (nice chip, Paddy) and everyone playing with Tiger self-destruct for so many years, seeing some guy named Y.E. Yang beat him head to head for 4 hours was almost surreal. Can't give him enough credit. Except for the putt on 17, he held his nerve as well as you could.
Tiger didn't choke and will still win a bunch more majors. But he did shoot +2 for the weekend. Really don't see that often either.
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Boz
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Post by Boz on Aug 16, 2009 21:58:11 GMT -5
Tiger Woods had a two stroke lead going into Sunday.
He shot a 75 and lost by three strokes, with five bogeys on the day, including the final two holes.
If that had been any other golfer, particularly someone like Lefty or Sergio, everyone in the world and on this board would have called it a choke.
And they'd have been correct. This was a choke. It is just remarkable for the fact that Tiger has literally never done it before. (I read today that this was the first time he had lost with a two-stroke lead in NINE YEARS. That's pretty amazing!)
This is absolutely not to take away from Yang's performance. He played great and deserved to win.
But when just shooting even par will get you into a playoff, and you are the #1 golfer in the universe, I think it's perfectly reasonable to say that he choked.
Personally, I find it gratifying to know that he is a human after all.
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HoyaFanNY
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Post by HoyaFanNY on Aug 17, 2009 5:54:08 GMT -5
it (the choke) had to happen eventually...just proves he's actually human
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theexorcist
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Post by theexorcist on Aug 17, 2009 7:30:32 GMT -5
it (the choke) had to happen eventually...just proves he's actually human I just think back to Tiger's win over Mediate at the last US Open. The past four majors, he hasn't won one. In the British Open, he got cut. This last major, he choked. I know I'm holding him to a ridiculous standard, but you kind of wonder how much the injury affected him. |
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SirSaxa
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Post by SirSaxa on Aug 17, 2009 7:52:21 GMT -5
Tiger Woods had a two stroke lead going into Sunday. He shot a 75 and lost by three strokes, with five bogeys on the day, including the final two holes. If that had been any other golfer, particularly someone like Lefty or Sergio, everyone in the world and on this board would have called it a choke. And they'd have been correct. This was a choke. It is just remarkable for the fact that Tiger has literally never done it before. (I read today that this was the first time he had lost with a two-stroke lead in NINE YEARS. That's pretty amazing!) This is absolutely not to take away from Yang's performance. He played great and deserved to win. But when just shooting even par will get you into a playoff, and you are the #1 golfer in the universe, I think it's perfectly reasonable to say that he choked. Personally, I find it gratifying to know that he is a human after all. I think Boz has it right. Yang played great and did not falter in the face of the pressure of playing with Tiger. But Tiger shot 3 over par on the final day. He definitely choked. I would still pick Tiger as the favorite for the MASTERS next Spring. And every other 2010 major. |
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CAHoya07
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Post by CAHoya07 on Aug 17, 2009 9:53:41 GMT -5
Incredible stuff. I think everyone and their mother was banking on Tiger to win after he shot an opening round 67 to seize the outright lead. A four-shot lead after two rounds? Done deal, maybe he'll win by double digits. Two-shot lead after three? OK, slight hiccup, but still no chance he will lose. Then this. I agree with Boz that this is at least a partial choke job by Tiger. He shoots even-par, makes three more putts (which would have still put him at a mediocre total of 30 for the round), he's in a sudden death playoff with Yang. Instead, he shoots 75, including bogeys on the final two holes, and loses by three in an almost Mickelson-esque finish. Gotta hand it to Yang - just solid all round long, and his chip-in at 14 was spectacular. But even more spectacular is that this is the first time that you can say that Tiger has even come close to choking in a major championship. His 14 major tournament streak closing out on Sunday is all the more incredible now. Very good article on Golf.com discussing this. www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1916823,00.html Great for Yang - still can't believe he is the first Asian born golfer to win a men's major championship. Excellent for golf worldwide. What's next for Tiger? After knee surgery last year, his overall 2009 season is definitely still a success - 5 wins so far, with a few more events to play. He just didn't win any majors - 3 top 10's and a missed cut, pretty good for any other golfer, but not for Tiger. First O-fer in the majors for Woods since 2004. Tiger stands at 14 professional major titles, 2nd all-time, 4 shy of Nicklaus. I think the next few years will be very interesting for him. Can he be as dominant as he was? How many more majors does he have left in him? He is 33 years old, not old yet, but I'd say definitely in the latter half of his significant PGA career. Does he have the longevity that Nicklaus had, winning majors into his 40's? Will his swing (and knee) hold up? Time will tell. All the great ones face adversity at some point, and I think this past Sunday was the first time I've ever seen Tiger look human during the clutch moments down the stretch in a major. Just a blip, or a sign of things to come? All I can say now is it is a long time to the 2010 Masters. A lot of time to think about and discuss these things. |
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kchoya
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Post by kchoya on Aug 17, 2009 12:03:20 GMT -5
Tiger Woods had a two stroke lead going into Sunday. He shot a 75 and lost by three strokes, with five bogeys on the day, including the final two holes. If that had been any other golfer, particularly someone like Lefty or Sergio, everyone in the world and on this board would have called it a choke. And they'd have been correct. This was a choke. It is just remarkable for the fact that Tiger has literally never done it before. (I read today that this was the first time he had lost with a two-stroke lead in NINE YEARS. That's pretty amazing!) This is absolutely not to take away from Yang's performance. He played great and deserved to win. But when just shooting even par will get you into a playoff, and you are the #1 golfer in the universe, I think it's perfectly reasonable to say that he choked. Personally, I find it gratifying to know that he is a human after all. You're right. I was on the fence about whether or not Eldrick choked. But you framed the argument correctly. If anyone else had done this, we'd be saying he choked. So you have to say Tiger choked. |
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hoyarooter
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Post by hoyarooter on Aug 17, 2009 12:21:00 GMT -5
Yep, I'm totally with Boz here, too. We've never seen this from Tiger before (heck, he'd never lost a major in which he led going into the final round), but taking a two stroke lead into the final round and then carding a 75 in fairly normal conditions is a gag job. But definitely credit to Yang. I didn't see his shot on 18, but that chip was a shot for the ages.
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Boz
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Post by Boz on Aug 17, 2009 13:02:12 GMT -5
By the way, I think kudos to the officials and course for this major.
A good, tough -- but fair -- test in Minnesota this week. No real gimmicky difficulties, but punishment for mistakes. Weather played a factor, as it should, and while there were definitely some good scores posted over four days, there was never one day (or more) when the course could really be "had" by a majority of players.
Just thought it was worth mentioning, because that's not always been the case, in my opinion anyway. I think sometimes in the past the PGA has been a little too easy or -- to make up for that -- unfairly difficult.
No majors for Tiger this year, but there's still the Tour Championship & I know he'll want to win that.
And it should be a really interesting President's Cup this October. Greg Norman & Freddy Couples as captains, Yang on the International team with his win, two good rosters now set and just waiting on the captains' picks.
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hifigator
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Post by hifigator on Aug 17, 2009 16:06:16 GMT -5
Tiger choked by Tiger standards, but that just goes to show how good he is. I was totally impressed with Yang. He had plenty of chances to feel and give into the pressures, but he didn't. I'm reminded in this sense of how all the pressure is on the favorite in situations like this. If Yang comes up short, then it's almost an afterthought. SO my hat's off to mr Y.E. Yang. By the way, could Hollywood have scripted that any better if they were trying? I mean, we had the no-namer from an entire area that had never produced a Major winner before. TO make it worse, he was paired up, almost in a match play type of situation against the best in the world. That was just some incredible and very entertaining golf down the stretch.
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