One Last Masters Question

It seems Tiger Woods never came into the press center after his Tuesday chat, right scribs?  And based on his Sunday post round scrum held with TV folks (the lame questions give them away), there are many questions left unanswered about his final round.

Since Tiger will inevitably be dogged by questions at his next Tour event, I'm curious what you would like to have clarified.

I know I have two simple questions that I'd like on the record:

Was the club broken on No. 11 the one you wanted to hit into No. 15 Sunday?

Did the trees on 15 block a straight shot a the flag?

Questions you'd ask if you had the chance? 

Comments

[AHW]

Q: "Did the trees on 15 block a straight shot a the flag?"

TW: "Of course they did. Didn't you watch the telecast?"

Q: "Um.. yes, dumb question, I guess. Now, well, do you think it was fair to be blocked by the trees, seeing as you only missed your drive by about fifteen yards to the right of where you were aiming?"

TW: "Hell yes, I knew they were there and I still put myself behind them. I blocked the drive, as you all know I'm prone to do these days when I'm behind the lead and think that I can make up all the ground I need just by swinging harder."

Q: "But you know, you put it exactly were Bobby Jones would have wanted you to hit... erm, played it!"

TW: "Bobby Jones died five years before I was born, and I play a game with which he would not be familiar. Maybe you think I should be rewarded for hitting long, sprayed drives, but read your blog comments, not many agree with you. Hey, aren't you the guy who doesn't like Bomb 'n' Gouge golf? Man, are you a study in contradiction..."

[Josh Hoisington]

I agree that this line of Geoff's is a little bit tenuous if not applied in all but the most hypothetical sense. Tiger knew what was going on and he had to play the course and the ball as it was.

However, AHW, I do have to correct you. Bobby was a modest man, but I assure you he woould be quite familiar with the way Tiger plays the game. He would be concerned with the distances his equipment allows him attain, but it's still the same game and I believe Bob could give Tiger a run for his money in just about every department of the game.

That's not my main correction, however. I understand it's difficult to grasp in this day and age, but I don't believe that Geoff is advocating a reward for Tiger missing his drive. The truth is, on Sunday, with the hole in the position it was, where Tiger was on the right was not the ideal position to be in anyway, even if he had a clear shot. On Saturday, it may very well have been ideal. A shot played from the right can take the impact of the slope and settle nicely on the left side of the green. Certainly for Alister MacKenzie, that loss of attack angle would have been enough penalty. Jones wasn't as hard-line as the Doctor, but I think he would agree. And the shot is long enough that a long iron would have to be played in, meaning the angles of attack still mean something because the height and backspin on the ball would not be enough to stop a ball on it's own without playing the proper angle. That's the essence of the MacKenzie philosophy on Driving, I believe.

Tiger still would have had to pull of a hell of a shot, and Geoff is saying it might have been fun for him to get the chance to do that without a damned tree in the way.


As an aside, I had the thought yesterday that if you make the 15th at Augusta a template for a short par-4, you may have the makings of a classic short par-four. Put the tee where most of the players good drives end up. It could be about 225-240 yards perhaps. The green is easily reached, but with the green the way it is, I think players would think twice and most would lay up. You have a nice wide lay-up area, which thankfully is mostly still the case there at Augusta, leaving a lot of options for the players. And we saw how much playing the lay-up to the proper side of the fairway made a difference on Sunday but especially Saturday.

[Hawkeye]

"However, AHW, I do have to correct you. Bobby was a modest man, but I assure you he would be quite familiar with the way Tiger plays the game."

Josh, AHW doesn't need any correction - the line is a paraphrase on Jones' comments to Nicklaus after his 271 in 1965, which were "Mr. Nicklaus plays a game with which I am not familiar". I would sure love to hear what he would say about Woods.

On angle of attack, I have to say that regardless of where the pin is cut on 15, the left half of the fairway is the place to be if you want to reach it in two. History has shown that to a left-hand pin, a drawn shot around the pines that lands in the middle of the green and uses the slope has a better chance of getting close than a straight shot that, in effect, lands on a downhill slope. Similarly, the right side of the 10th hole isn't the place to be even if the pin is cut left, due to the slope in the green. That's what's so intriguing and deceiving about the angles at Augusta - it's not just the look you have into the flag, it's the ball's angle of descent into the greens that is the clincher.

I find your idea on the 15th as a short Par 4 interesting, but it would have to be at least 290 yards - that's how far most of these players hit a downhill 3-wood these days.

[ian andrew]

Does Augusta still present as many options as it did when you first played the course? If yes - which ones do you miss the most?

[Hawkeye]

That would be a great question to ask, Ian - I assume that you mean "if no".

[Steven T.]

My question is: Zack Johnson was -11 on the par5s and never went for any of the greens in two. Would this change your strategy if the conditions were the same next year?

[Smolmania]

To answer that last question (good series of responses here btw), no. It seems to me that the beauty of the reachable par-5 hole is that there are a wide variety of responses. If I could hit it like Tiger, I would think that his Sunday play on 13 would have been the same, but that with the tree blocking his approach, that a more prudent play on 15 would have been to rely on his short game (he did, as we know, get it up and down after dropping) and lay up. The real problem he had was his inability to consistently find the fairway with the driver -- hence, the 3 wood on the reachable 8th hole.

But, I don't see Tiger's "approach" changing to meet the methodology of Zack Johnson, any more than Greg Norman would change his style because someone like Corey Pavin was having success with an alternative method.

[RM]

Ian- Tiger clearly misses the option of hitting wedge into a par 5 after having the freedom to spray his drive who knows where.

[Kristen]

Q: How is your experience here going to influence your own course designs?

[mtwetten]

Did the long waits you faced on many holes because of the pace of play of Harrington and Rose, particularly the time you waited over your 2nd shots on the 15th and 17th holes, affect your concentration?

[mtwetten]

Did the long waits you faced on many holes because of the pace of play of Harrington and Rose, particularly the time you waited over your 2nd shots on the 15th and 17th holes, affect your concentration?

[Bill-mania]

Closely related to Geoff's 2 questions:


Q: Tiger, you said after the round on Sunday that hitting the green in 2 on #15 would have been a "miracle". If it was that difficult of a shot, why not layup and take your chances at birdie from the fairway?

[Josh Hoisington]

Hawkeye, I'm aware of Jones' comments about Nicklaus, which is why I said he was being modest. I'm not saying he wouldn't think highly of Tiger, just that he'd be a lot more "familiar" with the way he, or Nicklaus for that matter, plays than he let on. That was just his nature, to say very nice things about people and downplay his own ability.


Also, regarding my par-4/15th template: assuming the course plays firm, do you really think players would want to be hitting long, downhill 3-wood shots into that green? I admit if the course plays soft you might need to have the tees on my hypothetical par 4 go well back, but there were plenty of players uncomfortable with taking what would be even a 3 or 4 iron into the 15th green.

[Hawkeye]

Josh, to answer your question first: Off a tee peg and with a left-to-right ball flight, absolutely do I think most everyone would have a crack at it from 280-290. Do I think most would prevail? No, not even 50%.
I'm glad you responded, because I was thinking about it while cooking dinner; Ben Crenshaw nailed it when he said that the Augusta of old would give a players a green light, and the player would go for it and relish the challenge. The pitfalls of a less-than-perfect shot would only be apparent prior to the execution of the shot to the experienced players. Now, with more clearly defined fairways and with more trees, pitfalls are apparent for everyone (although not the most dangerous ones), and Augusta doesn't flash a green light very often. That, I think, is the main reason we viewers feel that some of the excitement has worn off.
To get back to the original question: A teed-up, downhill 280 carry would be precicely the kind of green light Crenshaw was talking about - inviting but dangerous.

[mtwetten]

I agree with Hawkeye that Crenshaw/Coore would love a short downhill water guarded par 4 and so would most players. Crenshaw/Coore courses tend to have these type of holes fairly often, at least ones I've had the pleasure to play. I'd picture it about 10 yards back from the top of the crest on 15 and the pond could even be brought closer to the tee box and some of the landing area reduced bringing the water into play

[Andrew H]

What went into the club selection on #8 off the tee?

At what point in the round did you get the sense it might not be your day?

[Andrew H]

One more and this one is better:

Tiger, where does today rank in terms of disappointments in major championships over the years? Any major or near-major that this tournament reminds you of?