I know that by now you thought you'd dodged this bullet, but no such luck.... let's see if the SI guys have anything worthwhile to chew on this week. This week's e-mail gabfest includes an Anonymous Pro straight from the witness protection program.
1. Tiger Woods withdrew from the Honda Classic after 13 holes on Sunday with a bad back after shooting 65 on Saturday. Once his back is healthy, what does Tiger need to do to get back to his winning ways, and does he have time to do it before the Masters?
The Scribes - They are truly all over the lot, and even Butch gets thrown into the mix. For what it's worth, Joe Passov expresses dead certainty that Tiger will be in the mix at Augusta, yet another reason that he's not worthy of that plum gig. A couple of the gang note his 65 on Saturday as proof that he's making progress.
Best Line - Eamon Lynch, "His back isn't the problem. He stands on the tee with a driver in his hands and doesn't trust it. It is hard to win on Tour like that, and harder still to win majors."
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My Take - As I discussed at the time, Tiger's Saturday 65 was open to wide range of interpretations, with pretty bad ball striking numbers a concern. None of us are inside what Van Cickle calls Tiger's Cone of Silence, so we're not privy to how bad the back is and the limitations in getting his "reps." But his 2014 golf has n]been characterized by major deficiencies in his short game and putting, and we know with certainty that those specific skills are needed at Augusta.
2. Entering the final round of the Honda Classic with a two-shot lead, Rory McIlroy shot 4-over on Sunday and lost in a playoff. Are we sure Rory’s back?
The Scribes - Mostly in the pro camp, based upon the fact that he's put himself in contention with some regularity since late 2013.
Best Line - From Jeff Ritter, "If he was all the way back, he would've closed it out. But, to borrow one of Tiger's favorite cliches, he's close."
My Take - I'm going to go out on a limb and give you a maybe. There's little question that he's playing better than the dreadful lows of 2013. But his Sunday performance was really quite curious and eerily reminiscent of his Sunday at the Masters in 2011. He was candid after that meltdown in saying that he was confused as to how aggressively he should play. I get the sense that Rory can run away from the field when he's on, can storm back from a deficit with aggressive play but struggles when he needs to play strategically conservative golf.
3. Russell Henley joins Patrick Reed, Harris English and Jason Day as this season’s under-30 winners. What stands out to you most about this new generation of stars, including McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler?
The Scribes - Mostly a positive take, citing attributes like fearlessness and aggressiveness, offset by many failures to close.
Best Line - Lynch again, "Their inability to close tournaments. These guys aren't exactly making the engravers work overtime, which is why McIlroy doesn't belong among them. Two majors and a handful of other wins elevate him above players whose potential on the biggest stage is untested."
My Take - I agree with Eamon that McIlroy only shares his tender years with the other guys, though he hasn't done much of his closing recently (with the exception of his win in Australia in December). It's hard to generalize about a group of players, but this is the reason I've believed since +/- 2009 that Tiger would not get to 19 majors. In every major you've now got a group of 40-50 players that are really long and fire at every pin, and those guys listed are merely the young ones. Of those dozens of players, many will play too aggressively and hurt themselves, but a few will be on and sink some putts, meaning there won't be many cheap majors won in the near term.
As a related item, were Henley and and Brandt Snedeker separated at birth? They look quite alike and have freakishly similar mannerisms. Just askin'...
4. On the NBC broadcast Sunday, Jack Nicklaus said that when McIlroy’s playing well, “I don’t think there’s anyone that plays as well as he does in the game -- well maybe Tiger.” Which Tour player do you think has the best A-game?
The Scribes - Tiger gets more love than expected, and DJ and Phil each get a mention. Passov displays an apparent cognition problem, voting for Tiger, circa 2000. Ummmm Joe, the question kinda relates to the here and now, and you really have no choice at this point but to fall on your sword and free up your gig for this humble blogger.
Best Line - Josh Sens, "Thank you, Jack, for that bold, outside-of-the box thinking. The majors and margins of victory tell you that he gave the obvious two answers. If he'd said Jonas Blixt, we'd have something to debate."
My Take - Since Rory is the only one to lap the field recently in majors, you have to give him the nod.
5. We heard a lot about the Bear’s Trap at PGA National -- Nos. 15-17 -- this week. Is the Bear Trap an exciting wrinkle or an example of what's wrong with modern architecture?
The Scribes - Something of a split verdict, with the strongest support coming from the Anonymous Pro, the only one in the confab that actually, you know, plays the place in competition.
Best Line - Goes to Van Cynical for this worthy effort, "I'm not sure why any resort golfer would want to play the Bear Trap a second time. This is a no-fun resort course and an example of why players are leaving the game. Golf is too hard, too expensive and takes too long. This place hits for the Triple Crown."
My Take - For the second week in a row they've come up with a strong finishing hole, errr last question. I'm always sympathetic to architects working on the South Florida canvas, since I see the dilemma in creating strategic golf holes in such an environment. But what I think would be more interesting would be to defer this for a week and answer it in the context of what Gil Hanse is able to create a bit further down I95.
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