Ya Gotta Love Woody

[Golfbum]

What a great round of golf Woody Austin played today. How can you not like this guy? He wears his heart on his sleeve and he is a heck of a ball striker.

I loved what he said in his interview on Saturday.

He said if Tiger slams his driver on the ground after a bad drive the announcers say he is such a competitor. If I do it I am a loose canon.

Tiger hates to make boogies more than anyone else. You think the rest of us like making boogies?

Atta Boy Woody Of course CBS has to continue showing the clip of Woody banging his putter shaft off his head from 3-4 years ago. Drop it and move along.

He made the PC Team with his performance today. Look our Montreal in the fall, here comes Woody!

[rezadue]

Ditto.

[MusicMan]

agreed ^ !

he said he had to make the crowed roar so tiger would know there was someone else out there chasing him...

atta boy Woody

[rezadue]

Woody appears to be someone with Cahones who does not shy away or melt when Tiger comes calling.

P.S. I just noticed my 900th post was "Ditto". How lame is that?

[DLIII]

If you win majors you're a competitor. if you haven't finished in the top ten of a major until today. You're a loose canon. That's just the way it is.

That being said. Woody Austin has some business left to be completed. I think he'll win a major next year. A guy that can hit it that straight on the back nine at a major has the game to win.

[Hacker]

I'd be interested in seeing how the "Woodman" plays against Mr. Woods in the final grouping of a major.........me thinks that he might not hit it so straight

[B Nation]

Atta Boy Woody Of course CBS has to continue showing the clip of Woody banging his putter shaft off his head from 3-4 years ago. Drop it and move along.

Excuse me, but that clip is fantastic. Don't ever stop showing it.

[jonf]

K, I have a question. Why would he take driver off the deck? And I don't mean that in the sense of "why would he do that, its so stupid". What I mean is, what exactly is the purpose of doing that? Obviously he feels it gives him some advantage over using a tee. Does anyone know what it is? I just can't picture it given the size of the driver heads. I can't imagine being able to hit it anywhere close to the sweet spot. Anyway, if someone knows the logic behind it, I'd love to know.

[mpare]

My guess is that he did it on Saturday and Sunday, because he wanted to move the ball left to right, and he finds it easier to do so by hitting it off the deck. I don't know enough about the physics of this shot, but there's no doubt that if struck correctly, it's a lot easier to move that ball that way by compressing it against the ground than hitting it off a tee. One thing is certain, though. It's not a high percentage shot, and you need a load of courage to hit that shot in the heat of competition.

K, I have a question. Why would he take driver off the deck? And I don't mean that in the sense of "why would he do that, its so stupid". What I mean is, what exactly is the purpose of doing that? Obviously he feels it gives him some advantage over using a tee. Does anyone know what it is? I just can't picture it given the size of the driver heads. I can't imagine being able to hit it anywhere close to the sweet spot. Anyway, if someone knows the logic behind it, I'd love to know.

[DLIII]

K, I have a question. Why would he take driver off the deck? And I don't mean that in the sense of "why would he do that, its so stupid". What I mean is, what exactly is the purpose of doing that? Obviously he feels it gives him some advantage over using a tee. Does anyone know what it is? I just can't picture it given the size of the driver heads. I can't imagine being able to hit it anywhere close to the sweet spot. Anyway, if someone knows the logic behind it, I'd love to know.

It's actually a very cool shot. The flight is low and penetrating, fairly straight and it runs when it hits the fairway. Kind of like a punch shot. Woody happens to fade every ball.

[jonf]

Okay. That just makes his decision seem even stupider to me. He was hitting his driver down the middle all day. And does he not realize where the sweet spot on a 460 cc driver is? Did he not also realize that everyone else in the field was hitting a normal driver shot and not encountering any particular trouble because of the higher ball flight? I mean, its unlikely that it would have made a difference, but that has to be up there with Phil as one of the all-time stupid plays on the 18th hole of a major.

[rezadue]

I am pretty sure he has more of an understanding of what his driver could do, compared to us hackers.

And to compare his decisions to Phil's is unfair as his worked out fine...

Okay. That just makes his decision seem even stupider to me. He was hitting his driver down the middle all day. And does he not realize where the sweet spot on a 460 cc driver is? Did he not also realize that everyone else in the field was hitting a normal driver shot and not encountering any particular trouble because of the higher ball flight? I mean, its unlikely that it would have made a difference, but that has to be up there with Phil as one of the all-time stupid plays on the 18th hole of a major.

[jonf]

well, he could have put it in the fairway, and put his approach much closer, at least giving himself a decent chance at the birdie.

[mpare]

Somehow I think that Woody was in a better position than we were to judge what the best play for him was on the 18th tee.

well, he could have put it in the fairway, and put his approach much closer, at least giving himself a decent chance at the birdie.

[Golfbum]

well, he could have put it in the fairway, and put his approach much closer, at least giving himself a decent chance at the birdie.

Now maybe, just maybe good Ol Woody knew he was going to finish second to Tiger. Afterall Tiger had a 2 shot lead at that time. Woody likely figured Tiger would not make 6 on the 18th.

As Mpare said and I agree. Pretty sure Woody knew what he was doing, he didn't need to call one of us for a decision!

[jonf]

Again, I just can't see how hitting a 460 cc driver off the deck could EVER be the best decision. It's an extremely low percentage shot, and the payoff is minimal (and I'm still not quite sure what that payoff is, other than extra roll)

[Hacker]

Now maybe, just maybe good Ol Woody knew he was going to finish second to Tiger.

Who knows what 'Ol Woody was thinking..........afterall, he 'thought' that he played a better round than Tiger did on Friday

[3Jack]

Don't like him.

Anyone who qualifies for the Open Championship yet chooses not to attend is not someone who I will ever cheer for nor like as a golfer / person.

[rezadue]

Agreed.

Somehow I think that Woody was in a better position than we were to judge what the best play for him was on the 18th tee.

[rezadue]

For you it maybe a low percentage shot. Perhaps he has played it enouhg that it is no longer a low percentage shot. Perhaps he thought it was worth the gamble.

After all he was behind Tiger, not ahead of the field like Phil, which you used as an example.

Again, I just can't see how hitting a 460 cc driver off the deck could EVER be the best decision. It's an extremely low percentage shot, and the payoff is minimal (and I'm still not quite sure what that payoff is, other than extra roll)

[davevandyk]

Don't like him.

Anyone who qualifies for the Open Championship yet chooses not to attend is not someone who I will ever cheer for nor like as a golfer / person.

Why would a golfer go to the Open if he thought his game had 0% chance of competing? If he was trying to make the Pres' Cup team or climb the FedEx points, he prolly thought he had a better chance of getting points in the States, then travel to Britain, or perhaps he was looking forward to the WGC and PGA and thought he could use the rest.

Fred Funk doesn't go to the British either, he feels he just doesn't have the game. Nick Price routinely didn't play in the PGA in his latter years either.

[dH]

Well said Mpare!!

I love all these monday quarterbacks... Just because YOU can't phatom hitting a shot don't play out that the guy hitting it is stupid. Your on a computer talking about golf from work or school or home. He's playing on the PGA tour. Nuff said

Somehow I think that Woody was in a better position than we were to judge what the best play for him was on the 18th tee.

[Golfbum]

Don't like him.

Anyone who qualifies for the Open Championship yet chooses not to attend is not someone who I will ever cheer for nor like as a golfer / person.

So you must dislike a lot of golfers then? Because Woody is not the first one to qualify for The Open Championship and not go.

As someone said, maybe he feels his game is not suited for that style of golf. So why tack on such great expenses to travel there, motel there etc and then miss the cut?

Woody is not the first guy to turn down The Open Championship and he won't be the last.

What about Woods? He has not returned to Canada since he won the Canadian Open at The Abbey. You must dislike him a lot too.

[Hacker]

What about Woods? He has not returned to Canada since he won the Canadian Open at The Abbey. You must dislike him a lot too.

Come on now GB you are comparing apples to oranges there - alot of the top players in the world elect to miss our little shindig...and we aren't the OLDEST MAJOR like The Open is

[3Jack]

So you must dislike a lot of golfers then? Because Woody is not the first one to qualify for The Open Championship and not go.

As someone said, maybe he feels his game is not suited for that style of golf. So why tack on such great expenses to travel there, motel there etc and then miss the cut?

Woody is not the first guy to turn down The Open Championship and he won't be the last.

What about Woods? He has not returned to Canada since he won the Canadian Open at The Abbey. You must dislike him a lot too.

I frown and, and would never again respect nor be able to like any golfer who competes at the highest level who chooses not to compete in the world's most prestigeous event.

So his game isn't suited for that type of event. So what? Why not challenge yourself, try to get better under those conditions on those types of courses? What else are you in it for?

As for Tiger not returning to the Canadian Open after he won it in 2000, the only reason he came in the first place was to have the US Open, the British Open, and the Canadian Open trophies on his mantle at one time, which he achieved. He only entered the event when he learned that Trevino was the last one to do it trifecta in the early 70s. You can fault him for not coming back to defend his title in 2001 for sure, but Tiger hasn't had the chance for the trifecta since then either.

And as Hacker said, the Canadian Open isn't comparable with any major. It's no more and no less than another stop on the Tour now. If the Canadian Open goes to a rota system a la the British Open, and sticks to classic courses, then it has a chance to redeem some luster, but even then it won't begin to approach major status.