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chillidipper

Listed below are comments made by chillidipper between Monday, 30th March 2009 and Tuesday, 12th May 2009.

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European pair set sights on majors 2:26pm on 12 May 2009 Outstanding performance from Stenson and also very impressive by Poulter (much as it pains me to say so). It shouldn't be too big a surprise to see Stenson winning these sort of tournaments as he has shown over the last few years that he has no problem crossing the line and that he is comfortable at the top table. From Poulter's point of view it is another good performance and finish but he's now gone quite a while without a win and has never been a frequent winner or a winner of big events (for the most part). What is interesting to me is that between them they've only achieved 4 top 10 finishes in Majors and have never really come close to winning (let's be honest, Poulter did well last year in the Open but he was never in a position where it looked like it was his to win).

I think Wentworth has got a few problems to face. It is not a universally popular course, it has not been in great condition in previous seasons (in fact the greens seem to have been particularly poor), and it is possibly over-played by the top pro's (maybe not such an issue since the Matchplay has moved on). The other issue is that quite a few tournaments are played in Britain so there isn't the need for British golfers to show loyalty to this event.

As to Tiger, you say "Only his extraordinary competitive instincts are enabling the world number one to post scores" but I think you are forgetting two fairly big factors;
1) his incredible imagination and ability to play extraordinary recovery shots
2) the fact that the PGA Tour seem to have decided that rough is out of fashion this year (do you know if this has been a conscious decision Iain?). In a lot of tournaments it does seem that the rough is less severe than in previous years and the fairways seem a little wider, this is allowing the players to show what they can do from the rough and to be a lot more aggressive.
If Tiger doesn't have his long game sorted out by the US Open it could be very interesting. Before the season started I would've thought that Bethpage Black was pretty much the perfect track for Tiger but the rough is guaranteed to be deep and thick there and no amount of skill, imagination or raw strength will allow him to play the sort of incredible recovery shots that he (and Phil to some extent) has been showing in the early part of this season.
McIlroy paces himself as Laird looks to impress at Sawgrass 09:57am on 07 May 2009 Hopefully the change of coach will be the spark that the Laird needs to get going this season. Last year he essentially retained his card through a run of 3 or 4 good weeks in a row (although consistently making small cheques over the rest of the season certainly helped) so i'm sure he'll be a million miles from panicking yet.

I've no problem stating that i'm a huge critic of the 17th - both as a hole and more specifically as a hole at that point in the round/tournament. You say that it creates drama, and that can't be disputed, but one of my issues is that the drama is so contrived. It appears to be a hole that wasn't designed for golfing reasons (as we discussed on the 606 thread it seems it wasn't really designed at all, more a case of the architect being browbeaten by his wife), rather it was created for TV and spectators and, in my humble opinion, that is a terrible reason for a golf hole - it's pretty much akin to these courses popping up where each hole is a tribute to a famous hole at another course; a complete gimmick.

There are hundreds of quotes out there from the great and the good with regards the 17th but i'd prefer to take a quote from Fuzzy Zoeller (another getting discussed at length on 606) who wasn't actually talking about this hole or course but which perfectly sums up these sort of holes - "Where are the windmills and animals?"
Do former athletes make the best coaches? 11:07am on 09 Apr 2009 what's that old saying - "You don't need to have been a horse to be a jockey"?

I think that with a lot of top sports-people they have a high level of natural ability to begin with, and so they sometimes can't fully relate to the problems and frustations suffered by those who don't have this ability and can't do the things that come so naturally to those who have this ability.

In football terms I think this can be like the top players who carry on playing and go down the leagues. Often they will find this hard, not because they have lost their ability (although possibly pace) but because the players around them aren't as good. In the top tier you could take a touch and knock it wide knowing that the full-back would be coming into the space, in the lower levels you would do this and see the ball roll out as the correct run wasn't made, or you have to hold the ball up while waiting for players to get open - the end result for both is the same, people think you've lost IT.
Under the tree with Beefy 10:56am on 09 Apr 2009 PontiusPartridge,

couldn't agree more, although my favourite of the comments is from Iain Carter with "He hits the ball high". Stenson will be fuming that his secret weapon has been exposed to all his competitors - hit the ball high, like all great plans it's just so simple.
Why majors define a player's stature 10:57pm on 08 Apr 2009 It's an interesting subject and one that you could go around and around for hours.

There is no doubting that Major's are the biggest motivators for the top pro's (especially now that so many set up there schedules totally with the Majors in mind) and in a lot of ways they are the easiest way to place a player in the history of golf, but i've always thought that too many punters see them as the only thing that matters and are quick to dismiss anyone that hasn't done well in them.

There are a number of Major winners who would never be put in amongst the top 4 or 5 tiers of golfers (Lawrie as you mention, Hamilton, Beem, Micheel etc, etc) yet have that ultimate of golfing accolades. There are also players who have achieved a great deal in golf, and for golf, but never managed to win on that elusive week, sometimes through bottle, sometimes through bad luck, sometimes because although they played well one other top player played that little bit better. Some other golfers, like Norman, have won but seem to have a paltry return of Majors for their ability and impact on golf.

A continual subject on the golf board is the positioning of the Majors, namely 3 out of 4 being held in America. For many players they just didn't seem to do as well in America as they did elsewhere and there are obviously a huge number of reasons for this from conditions to atmosphere to the style of golf (and no I don't just mean Monty). Of course, the other Major is the Open Championship and as much as I love this, and links golf in general, it is a bit strange that it is one of only two or so tournaments in the season that is played over links golf - it must be kind of like tennis being played on clay courts all year, then popping onto a grass court for one tournament and going straight back to clay.

Essentially I don't believe that Majors should be seen as the be all and end all of someone's golfing achievements, but the fact is that they will always be seen as such.
Aussies worth a listen 4:40pm on 08 Apr 2009 to be honest Brewster, I don't think I could comment on most golfers opinions on things outside of golf - sure there are a few like Faldo, Monty, Zoeller, Trevino, Feherty who can have a good line or a quick comment but they are few and far between.

If you actually go back to this article and read what is written, what is Ogilvy talking about in much of this interview?? TIGER WOODS.
It's easy to praise the best in the world, but what would people say if Tiger came out and blew his own trumpet? It is golf after all, it's not boxing. I've heard many interviews where Tiger gushes about meeting Jack or Mr Palmer (now that is something that sticks with you, not Arnold, not Arnie - MR Palmer. A real touch of gentlemanly class, much better than controversy). To hear the best around gush about a current peer would just sound fake, although he has praised McIlroy a good amount recently.

The other quotes from Ogilvy will have been covered by Tiger numerous times in the past - first major? Definitely. First Australian? transfer in any number of other things for Australian and you know it has been.

What did Norman say that was so wonderful? Augusta isn't what it once was?!?!? Everyone has been saying that - Mike Weir went so far to say that some of the magic of the event has been lost as you're unlikely to see the famous Sunday back 9 charge anymore.

Tiger probably does between 5 and 10 times as many interviews as anyone else and, for the most part, he is probably no worse than anyone else. Sure, he could be more gregarious, he could spout his theories on everything but most sportspeople and musicians who do this are extremely tiresome and appear sanctimonious - what's worse, slightly boring or Bono-esque self-rightousness?
Aussies worth a listen 3:35pm on 08 Apr 2009 Brewster's Millions, some Tiger quotes for you;

“Hockey is a sport for white men. Basketball is a sport for black men. Golf is a sport for white men dressed like black pimps.” (not wholly original, but still)

“A child born to a black mother in a state like Mississippi...has exactly the same rights as a white baby born to the wealthiest person in the United States. It's not true, but I challenge anyone to say it is not a goal worth working for.”

"I did envisage being this successful as a player, but not all the hysteria around it off the golf course.”

"I don't see myself as the Great Black Hope. I'm just a golfer who happens to be black and Asian. It doesn't matter whether they're white, black, brown or green"

“Green and black go well together, don't they?” (just as it's Masters week)

"I've always thought that that hole is too gimmicky for the 17th hole of a championship. As far as the 8th hole, I think that would be a fantastic 8th hole, but not as the 71st hole of a tournament or 17th hole of your round." (talking about Sawgrass, not exactly controversial but a good way to annoy the PGA as they have their HQ their and position it as one of their top tournaments)

No-one's saying that he is a rent-a-quote golfer in the making and there is no disputing that he is very well media trained, but if the questions he's asked consist of;
How do you rate your chances? How's the knee? What do think of (insert name of young golfer here)? etc, etc What do you expect him to say?
"If I don't win i'll top myself, everyone else here is well below me"
"My knee's great but if you want to talk about body parts, let's talk about the rack on (insert name of hot female golfer here)"
"I don't know why these youngsters keep trying to take me on, i'm gonna choke the life out of his golf game, i'm gonna send him home to his momma crying."
Aussies worth a listen 09:42am on 08 Apr 2009 Iain,

Tiger has been dealing with the media for years, and month on month, year on year he gets asked pretty much the same questions.

Was it not the case a few years ago when he actually took a member of the media to task for asking a ridiculously pointless question, something like 'so are you happy to win?', or did I imagine that??
I know that more recently he did seem to become extremely exasperated when asked if he expected to win - his answer was something along the lines of "I don't know how many times I can say this to you, I expect to win everytime I tee it up."

I really don't like the media circus that is the Tiger Woods show, but I can turn over the station when it gets too much - I can't imagine what it's like to be in the centre of it.

If you were preparing for a huge week in your professional life would you rather be praticing or fielding the same questions over and over and over and over and over and over again, questions which have no more depth than 'What is your favourite colour?'

He may not be a great interviewee, he may be brilliantly trained to say nothing at all while speaking a lot, and certainly nothing controversial - look at all that kicked up that one time when he did allow a slip of the tongue - but we certainly won't find out when he is asked the same questions over and over again.
Woods sets the agenda in thrilling style 09:48am on 30 Mar 2009 meant 'significant MINORITY' not majority - far too early for me
Woods sets the agenda in thrilling style 09:32am on 30 Mar 2009 Good article, I don't think anyone could begrudge you mentioning Tiger this week!!

As has been said above a lot of it was down to the collapse of O'Hair, but Tiger did what was required of him to put the pressure on. His quick start never really allowed O'Hair a chance to settle and it can't be a good feeling to be strugling with your driver yet to see Tiger in the middle of the majority of the fairways. I saw a telling stat on the coverage last night that Tiger's partners in the last group on a Sunday have outscored Tiger 8 times, been level with him 8 times and been beaten by him something like 70 times - incredible.

Quick question Iain; Do any of the tournaments try to do anything to control the crowds following Tiger?
Watching the coverage last night I noticed the noise from the gallery when Tiger wasn't playing was really not what you'd hope for at a golf tournament, but especially not on the Sunday. This isn't a new phenomena but even the commentators were making reference to it which I don't really recall them doing much since the early days of his career. It must be hard enough playing against Tiger without having to contend with the gallery running about and talking all through your shots as a significant majority have absolutely no interest in your golf - they're only there to see the Tiger.

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