PGA Championship
- Thread starter cawoodsct
- Start date
Huh? Never seen anybody not like a cocky little guy? Geez.
Let's all love JT! He's from Louisville!
People confuse cocky with confidence. He's not from Louisville. He's from Goshen.
Agree to disagree. Needs to be himself instead of copying Tiger. Copied his club twirl. Copied his little left or right lean. I know they are best friends but the guy's a dork.
He's the benefactor of a 72nd hole collapse, so tonight is his.
Blame that on his caddie, honestly, when he was standing on the 17th tee, I thought to myself that par-par likely wins (and it would have), his caddie should have taken the driver out of his hands on 18, not a smart play at all, so say the least.
He played the wrong club, but had he gone with three woods or less, I don't see how he would have done much better. His nerves were so shot that he couldn't release the club. I'm guessing he's in a playoff if he doesn't hit driver, though as he takes water out of play.....possibly.
By the way, as bad as Mito's drive was on 18, that wasn't what cost him the playoff. That awful chip that rolled off the green is what really killed him.
Could have made a better chip on 17 for sure, that is as easy an up and down as you can get, most pros will convert that 80% of the time.
Don't know about the chip on 18 being the killer, even if he gets in the playoff, JT goes birdie-birdie-par in a three hole playoff, that would have been a big ask for Mito to match.
I think his brain was fried at that point and he knew he lost a major. Up 1 with 1 to play, you have to hit less than driver off that tee don't ya?
He had no chance in a playoff IMO. He has nobody to blame but his own nerves and its hard to fault him for that. He's never been in such a moment and that was arguably the hardest tee shot a guy could be in that hasn't even won a PGA tournament. His swing on 18 tee looked like something from a 14 handicapper. He may have even sh*t himself. We'll never know.
No way a caddie gets in the way there. What if he demands him to hit 3 wood and he screws that up? He's fired before he leaves the parking lot and he knows it. All a caddie can do there is get out of the way and tell him to trust his swing.
Sorry, but I have to respectfully disagree - what is the caddy getting paid for unless to give a 2nd opinion before a very young and very inexperienced tour rookie hits what could be a career defining tee shot? Surely he is there for more than being a cheerleader.
Of course, he may well have told him to leave the driver in the bag, and Mito told him to go pound sand, that too is unknown.
Caddies make a suggestion and then leave the final decision to the player. But people saying he should have broken his driver over his knee or taken it out of his hand don't know how things work. Make a suggestion and then let the player make the final decision. I would like to know if he suggested a different club, but I bet he didn't.
I always like to see how much money guys cost themselves. Had Mito pared 18 he would have another $1,830,000 and had he bogeyed he would have an extra $450,000.
I saw a piece on the Golf Channel, or maybe read it in Golf magazine on that very topic. Older pros advise young players that you have to forget about the money until the tournament is over, otherwise you will go batshit crazy worrying about how much that short putt you missed or flubbed bunker shot cost you. You have enough pressure on you as it is just to keep your tour card and keep improving, can't allow yourself to focus on the money while you are actually playing.
As for Mito, winning the PGA comes with a whole lot of perks and exemptions that would have been worth a hell of a lot to his career.
Yeah, I bet anything that all the things that came with the win besides money got into his head. Lifetime exemption to the PGA tournament, 5 year exemption to each of the other 3 majors, etc. Basically would have set him up for nice long career.
You have to hit driver on 18. Guys were having a tough time making par on that hole all day even with a perfect drive in the fairway.
It was a tough hole. However, from what I saw, it's a 500 yard, par 4. The water was about 300 from the tee. I'm guessing he could've hit a 275 yard 3-wood, eliminating the water. From there, he's got a long iron into the green. Tough par but should be a gimme bogie and a playoff spot. Instead, he Van de Velde's it and kills any chance of winning. I don't think he wins playoff, however. 2-under for the 3 holes is tough to beat, especially for guy who's clearly shaking in his shoes down the stretch (Mito).
The drive on 17 was the starting point....he had just come off a monster par putt and barely cleared the water w/ driver on 17. It was a relatively straightforward pitch up the hill that he could have been aggressive with but it appeared he was simply stiff as a board trying to execute that one which left a tough 13' putt. My guess he walks up to 17 thinking he must birdie and was pressing which affected all swings going forward.
You can't say JT would have had the same scores in a playoff w/ 3 people versus essentially a match play situation. Things could have played out differently depending on who went first, someone else put it close, etc.
Going to sign up for US Open tix at LA Country Club next summer, have family out there so going to get a week pass and share around the table.
Similar threads
