Winning (Coyote) Ugly

As we know well by this point, These Guys are Good!  Umm, except when they're not.... The phrase winning ugly seems insufficiently descriptive of the Honda Hijinks we saw yesterday afternoon... it was more like winning maimed or winning hideously disfigured, or a winning two bagger....

Let's go to the videotape, and summarize the epic fails of the Killer R's:

• Rory - Seemingly in control with a three-shot lead after seven holes, the Cock of the Walk proceeds to play the next eleven holes in 6 over, including an obese fairway bunker shot on No. 16.  Kudos to Johnny for catching the extra couple of looks and the fact that he neglected to choke down on his grip. 
• Ryan - In control in the 18th fairway, the grizzled veteran of the R-gang chunked his wedge and was lucky to have it bound forward and stay dry, then made an ugly six on the easiest hole on the golf course.  Don't know that I've ever seen a guy walk after a 4-footer before... he had the coin out before the ball seemed to come to a rest.
• Russell K. - Found myself rooting for him for the joy it would elicit in Strathpeffer, Scotland (though Elsie and John had already arrived in Barcelona).   Johnny also gets credit for calling his rinsed ball on No. 14.  
• Russell H. - Seemingly in control on No. 18, his chunked chip cost him his first chance at it, though he did hit two strong shots on his second chance.  I've elided over his tee ball on No. 15 that didn't come within visual contact of dry land...

So, what can we take away from this seeming choke-fest?  Perhaps that we play a difficult game?  Or, as good as they are, they're human? Nah, let's just pile on while we can...

For Rory, I found this eerily reminiscent of his play at Dubai earlier in the season.  His progression of scores, 63-66-69-74 was virtually identical, and he seemed to lose his poise down the stretch.  I thought he looked tentative with the putter beginning on Saturday, and that was certainly the case on Sunday.  His speed on long putts remained good, but he looked very tentative on the short ones.  His putt for eagle to win on No. 18 was most notable, but not the only one.  And his chip on the 73rd hole, which he needed to hole, was at best curious.

For those that missed the B-Flight President's Cup at their home golf clubs, here's the Tour's highlight package:

I've deliberately left discussion of the Striped One to last, as I feel like I've sat through this particular movie way to often.  I'll take a quick bow for calling BS on Dave Sheldoski for declaring Tiger back on form based upon 18 holes, but the degree of difficulty on that prediction is awfully low.

Luke Kerr-Dineen posts a slideshow of Tiger's injuries at Golf Digest to take us down memory lane.  I for one didn't remember that he was wearing Stanford swag the first time his left knee went under the knife.  As one of the more insightful analysts noted earlier in the year:

Body Woes - Tiger turned 38 in December, and as Johnny Miller remarked about him ten years ago, he's an old 38. I've lost track of how many times his left knee has gone under the knife, and we've seen a range of injuries to virtually every joint on his body, as well as back issues attributed to hotel mattresses. We just can't take for granted that he'll be able to tee it up when the bell rings (bear with me as I liberally mix metaphors).

I'm on a roll with predictions, so I'll bet that he does indeed tee it up at Doral but that this isn't the last we hear of soft hotel mattresses.