Pins, Grounding And Suspending Play

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Lawrence Donegan (here) and Steve Elling (here) sum up the player complaints from Friday's second round. They fall into two categories: hole locations and suspending play.

From what I saw of the course, the holes were fairly reasonable and not cut on high spots as several players have claimed. There were undoubtedly a few very difficult locations, like the 11th, which was almost inaccessible along with the 8th and 10th on high spots. But does every hole location have to be accessible? I think not.

As for the decision to suspend play and restart in conditions that soon were just as bad as they were when play was stopped? That's a trickier proposition.

I'm not buying the "they did it for Tiger" conspiratorial venting of players who were understandably cranky about getting in their playing zone and then having to pull up, only to face the same or worse winds when they went back to the course.

The issue of green speed is certainly on the table in this debate since the greens look faster than they were in practice rounds and it takes so little to put these greens over the edge. But ultimately, this may just be about the quirkiness of the rules of golf, as Bob Harig notes.

The reason for such consternation over a golf ball that rolls is the penalty that can be incurred if you ground your club. A player who rests his putter behind a ball is deemed to have moved the ball if the wind blows it.

"I understand the rule, but it's such an unfair rule because you haven't really done anything wrong and the ball starts to roll and you incur a penalty," said Trevor Immelman, who shot 74. "That was the kind of thing you had to be careful of today."

2010 Open Championship Friday

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What a nutty day of rain, followed by high winds, followed by an hour and five minute play suspension and more wind. The wind gauges came out (see right image), though the real issue was on the greens where balls weren't remaining in place.

Miles Evans reporting for Reuters, quoting the R&A's David Rickman:

"We certainly had problems at 12, 13, 10, seven, the odd ball oscillating happens, but when we have a series of incidents I'm afraid that's the time (to halt play)," the Royal and Ancient's director of rules David Rickman told the BBC.

"All we can do is monitor the wind so we're trying to establish when there's a drop and when that happens we'll seek to resume play when we can. Sadly the forecast is for it to stay windy until early evening."

After the delay I headed to the epicenter of trouble, the wondrous 7th and 11th greens and saw some epic shots, from a few 150 foot putts down on the seventh up to the eleventh green (all three putts). And then there was Ross McGowan trying the same distance with a four iron. He ended up taking four shots from there (I guess it's technically a four putt.)

I can't emphasize enough just how brutal the wind was out on the point, far more stiff a breeze than what we experienced up by the clubhouse. (For a fun account of some of the shots we saw, check out Dan Mirocha's rundown of the action at 7/11.)

Still, it was a shock that play was suspended when it was but not later on when some gusts had to be over 35 mph and players on eleven were struggling to keep their ball in place. Of course in the U.S. we'd just throw some water on them and continue play. But I think you also have to admire the R&A for not resorting to that as tough as it is to suspend play. No one feels good about altering the playing field artificially with water.

That said, the question that will be asked: what was the difference before and after the suspension? I'm not sure there was one.

"My friends say I look like Shrek, some of my friends, and you can't choose your friends, so what can I say?"

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Steve Elling on leader Open 36-hole leader Louis Oosthuizen and his Shrek knickname.

Largely unknown in the United States, Oosthuizen is writing yet another British Open fairy tale, hoping to become the latest in a series of unheralded winners at the oldest of golf's major championships after taking the early lead Friday at 12 under par.

The 27-year-old briefly used a headcover of the cartoon ogre, before his caddie somehow convinced him that it was bringing him bad luck. Of course, at least Shrek is a name that everybody can pronounce.

It has been cringe-inducing listening to the various news outlets absolutely butcher his surname this week, if not his first name, which is pronounced Louie, not Lewis.

Scott Michaux profiles second place man Mark Calcaveccia, who was in the group in front of Oosthuizen. Not surprisingly, they were the first groups off today.

 

Calcavecchia, who like many seniors is an early riser, was first off the tee at 6:30 a.m. Friday when the sun was actually out briefly before the rains hit. It was the perfect pole position for him to catch a spark and keep rolling.

"The R&A is nice enough to know that I like to play fast and they certainly know I'm not going to hold anybody up," he said. "But that was the first time I actually hit it first. So yeah, that's pretty cool."

 

"Mickelson let himself become one of those who would not be a factor at the 139th Open Championship simply due to a poor attitude."

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Tough love from Bob Harig after Phil Mickelson finished right before play was suspended.

Lefty's disposition did not become much better when he was talking to reporters after his round Friday and heard the announcement that play had been suspended due to high winds -- meaning those on the course were getting a break from the bad weather, or so it seemed.

"I'm happy for those guys," Mickelson said in full sarcasm mode. "That's great."

Weather is almost never a factor in suspending play at the Open due to the excellent drainage capabilities of sand-based links courses and a lack of thunderstorms.

But if golf balls cannot stay still on a green, there is no choice but to halt play

Open Championship Second Round Open Thread

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The rain has finally stopped so the late-early draw might get a chance to score. The forecast calls for a mostly dry afternoon with the same SW wind as yesterday of 20-25 mph with gusts to 35.

A Tale Of Two Rounds In One

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It's old news by now that the morning and afternoon draws saw radically different golf courses. I was out in the afternoon following some players, and I also parked behind the 7th and 11th greens, one of the best places in golf to see any action. The contrast in conditions was extreme to say the least, with the course a par 69 or so in the morning and playing to its normal par or even a stroke higher in the afternoon. The forecast is for the morning wave to get some lousy conditions early, but hopefully they won't and it'll balance out. 

Tom Watson summed it up nicely if not a tad chauvinistically in this story by Miles Evans:

"She didn't have her clothes on today," the five-times champion said after carding a one-over 73, kicking himself that he failed to capitalise on the flat calm conditions.

"She was ripe for low numbers and that's what happened out there today."

Obviously McIlroy's round is a record until Monday when the new 17th tee is re-abandoned, but it'll be a handsome record to hold for the next 72 hours. I don't care how soft the course is, anytime you can get around here in that it's stupendous golf.

John Daly's post round press conference was entertaining, though not in the way you'd imagine. He's so soft spoken and clearly humbled, as Jeff Babineau notes:

He’s 44 now, and going anywhere that offers a tranquil respite from his often tumultuous and sometimes soap-opera life is a welcome trip for Daly. He has battled alcoholism, depression, exhaustion, a six-month PGA Tour suspension in 2009, a foursome of divorces, sponsorship and financial woes, weight problems, a rib injury and lost status on the PGA Tour. His latest legal tango is with the IRS over back taxes owed – according to recent reports, he owes more than $1 million – but Daly said he’s busily trying to work it all out. It doesn’t help that endorsement checks that once arrived with six zeroes attached no longer find his mailbox.

Steve Elling tells us about the sense of destiny Daly is feeling:

Peter Alliss, the venerable and mirthful British golf broadcaster, actually picked Daly to win in a story published Thursday in the Scottish Sun, a spicy tabloid. It either makes him look like a lunatic or a genius, though with Daly, the line often blurs. Especially at the Old Course, where Daly finished 15th in the last visit in 2005.

"He just knew it," Cladakis said of the aura. "He just feels it. Magic."

It helps that the course has always been good to the long hitter, as John Huggan notes in a column defending the course from critics who might be ready to declare it out-of-date.

Oh, all right, there's even more to all those low numbers than even all of the above. Whisper it, but minus the aforementioned wind, the Old Course just isn't that difficult for the really proficient practitioner. It never really has been, as two-time U.S. Open champion Curtis Strange's course record of 62 more than amply indicates. It is, in fact, made up of 17 holes ranging from incredibly easy to pretty straightforward, plus one incredibly tough par-4, the 495-yard Road Hole. And, even more to the point when we are talking about a gathering of the world's very best players, St. Andrews delivers a disproportionate advantage to those able to blast their hot balls beyond even the middle distance.

"St. Andrews really suits the long-hitters, just because of the places they can put the pins," said Scotsman Andrew Coltart, who shot a nifty little 66 in the company of John Daly. "John can attack some of those pins with his lob wedge and pitching wedge, but I can't with my 5-iron or whatever. Where he can fly his ball at the flag, I'm trying to run mine up; that's a lot harder to judge. So it sets up for guys like him."

My time on the joint 7th and 11th greens impressed upon me the incredible precision necessary to make the crossing holes work. Only once did players approaching the 7th not wait until the group on 11 green was finished, and that was because the group of Martin Kaymer, Zach Johnson and Eric Chun were behind. Even more remarkable is the way in which the grandstand galleries know when to applaud and when to hold off out of respect for players on another hole. This explained the tepid applause for Johnson's excellent approach to the 7th. They simply were worried about distracting the player about to go on 11. Great stuff.

One Prediction: It'll Be Soft

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It was a nice rain today on the eve of the Open Championship and it continued into the evening, but didn't dampen the festive mood in town. Unfortunately, the course was already not that fiery because the irrigation system had been employed of late, so look for the Old Course to be vulnerable if the wind is down. But based on the weather forecast, the chances of benign conditions seems remote.
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"I think it's a good thing for St. Andrews so long as it does not stifle progress. I would want to be very satisfied that that was the case before being a supporter of it."

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The sacred contours of the second hole should be protected from "progress." (Click to enlarge)Lost in the R&A press conference talk over changing the Old Course boundaries, the last minute rough mowing and the overall jaw dropping wackiness that is a the R&A trying to set up their home links course, was a question and Peter Dawson answer in today's presser. Steve Elling reports:

The Old Course has reportedly been listed as a nomination candidate for World Heritage status, a program run by the United Nations to help ensure that cultural icons remain protected, if not unmolested, for enjoyment by future generations.

Sounds like a perfect match for the so-called Home of Golf, yet Dawson said he only conditionally supported the notion -- providing that it must still allow some wiggle room for further R&A tinkering.

"I think it's a good thing for St. Andrews so long as it does not stifle progress," Dawson said. "I would want to be very satisfied that that was the case before being a supporter of it."

Of course, his definition of progress is a lot different than the way others see it!

"That's a hard green to hit with any club in your hand, much less a 3‑wood."

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So many highlights from Tom Watson's press conference today (covered by Tony Jimenez here, Bill Fields here, Gary Van Sickle here and Jeff Rude here). It's so fun to hear Watson diplomatically explain why the new tee on 14 just doesn't work if there is any kind of hurting wind.

14 is the hole that's going to create some problems from the standpoint that when they move the tee back into an east wind, it's going to be very difficult for most of the field to carry Hell's Bunker.  Now we'll be going into the 4th fairway over there causing all kinds of delays coming in off the tee, like this, and from that standpoint it's going to make it play probably not the way they should play it.  I just don't like the idea of trying to be able to hit a 3‑wood over there and trying to get up around the 14th green.  That's a hard green to hit with any club in your hand, much less a 3‑wood.

That's the one change that I think that they'll probably ‑‑ they'll consider pretty strongly.  Maybe they won't use the back tee there.  

"I'm going to have to get a pilot's license for this thing, because it's always flying."

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Fun read from Bill Fields on Johnny Bulla, two-time runner up at the Old Course and great American character.

Bulla tried several putters on the Old Course's vast greens in 1939 after the putter he took overseas was ruled nonconforming by the Royal and Ancient Golf Association, but there wasn't much magic in any of them, particularly inside 10 feet. As the United Press reported of his final-round 73, "All through the round he alternately kissed the club when he holed out the long ones and threw it off the green in disgust when he missed the short ones, including a four-inch job on the morning round. Once, after missing a putt, he shouted: 'I'm going to have to get a pilot's license for this thing, because it's always flying.'"