What's a poor blogger to do? A crack team of forensic psychiatrists left Vienna airspace moments after the conclusion of the Sergio Garcia - Rickie Fowler match, and we'll have to await their expert analysis before knowing what the heck happened on the 7th green in Marana, AZ yesterday. My sources do tell me that there is absolutely no truth to the rumor that Sergio ordered the Charles Bronson classic Death Wish on the Dove Mountain Resort's pay-per-view service last night, but that's all we know at this point.
But it's a rule of nature that a blogger must blog, so for anyone who missed it, here's the video of the exchange on the 7th green:
As Sergio explained later, he thought he had taken an inordinate time in making a drop on the prior hole when his ball ended near a swarm of bees. I didn't tune in until later in the match and haven't as of yet found any video of the sequence on No. 6. It seems to be a general consensus amongst the chattering class that Sergio did exactly nothing wrong on No. 6, making the concession on No. 7 way curious.
As you'll see below, Sergio had Rickie literally on his knees:
Sergio did extend his front-nine lead to 3-up after the events on the seventh hole, and the whole shebang looked to be an afterthought. Then Sergio looked victory in the eye, and apparently didn't like what he saw. He badly missed several putts coming down the stretch, 5-footers that never threatened the hole. Rickie deserves credit for hanging close enough, as well as for stuffing it on No. 18, but this match was all about the dark recesses of Sergio's mind.
While Sergio has sucked up most of the available oxygen, seven other matches were played and for the most part the match-ups didn't disappoint. Good friend Lowell Courtney continues his flood of cryptic Blackberry notes regarding fellow Portrush native GMac. And well he should, as his favorite son has now won three matches in which he had no right to make it to the 18th hole, much less survive. Quite the feat, winning three consecutive matches in which you never led until the final hole, in two of which the final hole wasn't, you know, the final hole. Good stuff and, as I responded to Herr Doktor Courtney, might have already secured his reservation at Gleneagles.
John Strege review golf history to share other strange concessions, and comes up with some interesting anecdotes but nothing really comparable. He leads with the Nicklaus concession to Tony Jacklin at the 1969 Ryder Cup. But that was a show of grace in what jack considered an exhibition, and he was acutely aware that the Ryder Cup was on life support for a lack of competitiveness at that point.
Strege also cites Phil, and I'm guessing the reader isn't shocked that Phil would be a tad reckless:
In a second-round match at the U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills in 1990, Phil Mickelson, facing a four-foot birdie putt, inexplicably conceded a 25-foot par putt to Jeff Thomas. Mickelson said he did so to "put pressure on myself."
However, years later, he confessed to Golf World's Dave Shedloski. "I'll never forget the look that he gave me," Mickelson said. "It was just funny. I ended up making a three- or four-foot birdie putt to win the hole. Why did I do that? Well, he took like two minutes to hit the chip shot, and he hit it 40 feet by the hole. Then he started the process again, and I just thought, 'just pick it up.' So he did, and I made it, and we went on."
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| Nicklaus conceding Tony Jacklin's short putt to ensure a tie in the 1969 Ryder Cup at, from memory, Royal Birkdale. |
There were a few interesting aspects to the concession, though none related to the events of yesterday. Despite the fact that Jack had been a force since 1962, this was actually his first Ryder Cup, as arcane rules mad him ineligible in the '63, '65 and '67 matches. Talk about fighting with one hand tied behind your back... Secondly, this act resulted in a lifetime friendship between the tow men, and they later co-designed a golf course near Sarasota, Florida that was named Concession Golf Club in honor of this bit of sportsmanship. Lastly, it's been widely reported that a number of members of the U.S. team, including Captain Sam Snead, were furious with Nicklaus.
He also cites Tiger in the chaotic final of the 2012 Ryder Cup:
In the 2012 Ryder Cup, Tiger Woods conceded a three-foot putt to Francesco Molinari on the last hole that enabled them to halve their match, which gave the Europeans an outright victory, 14 1/2 to 13 1/2. Had Woods not conceded the putt and Molinari missed, Tiger would have won the match and the Ryder Cup would have been halved, though the Europeans still would have retained the cup.
Why is this important? It was only to bettors. "Industry experts said the late drama cost UK betting companies around 10 million pounds [in excess of $16 million] in total," the Daily Mail wrote. "A Ladbrokes spokesman told MailOnline today: 'No-one bets on a tie. It cost us just over 650,000 pounds last night on Tiger's miss. Tiger is not a bookie's friend this morning."
I was not aware of the gambling implications, but it was mayhem, Tiger was trying to be gracious and in my humble opinion, should have been reciprocated by the Euros. Plus, he should have made his own three-footer. But one wonders if there isn't something more comparable in the long history of match-play events. Or perhaps our Sergio is truly a one-off?
Elsewhere, Shackelford posts this item at Local Knowledge on Jordan Spieth's match-play prowess. Now it's no secret that I link to Shack more than all other sources combined, but the gist of this piece is that Spieth is a match-play savant because he can make more 12-foot par putts than the average bear, despite thoroughly middling putting stats. Mark Broadie, call your office! Now, there's not a golf fan on the planet that doesn't see Jordan Spieth as a monster talent, but I'd be more interested if there were evidence or even a supposition that this is anything more than a great player with a warm putter. On the other hand, the recitation of Spieth's putting stats does tell us where he needs to improve.
For the unfamiliar, Stephen Hennessy provide this introduction to Frenchman Victor Dubuisson, and there was also this one by Jim McCabe. A simple man seems the be the theme, though one who has moved up 100 places in the world ranking in the last year and one who could stand a change in personal shoppers (sorry, not digger the wardrobe). But he can play, and loyal readers have heard me tout him previously.
Lastly, there's been quite a bit of fun had at the Duf's expense. Taking his hat off the congratulate Ernie after the conclusion of their match, provided this gem:
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| There, there Jason, I know a good barber that can make this right. |
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| File this under Things That Don't Get Old. |
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