With the looks of that swing off 18 tee, Stricker cant get in the clubhouse fast enough. My God that was awful.

Nice bogey on 18:rolleyes: Guy just cant seem to find his way home when it matters.

An absolute gift to Phil.:wf

Daaaaaaaaaaamn FREDDY. Great 2nd shot on 17. On a freaking rope.

tough way to lose suds , that putt on 18 never sniffed the hole

plays the 1st hole (the eaiset on the course 5 - 5 over the weekend to phil's 3-3) like a rag doll

he eaisly could have won this thing

What a bunch of chokers. No wonder why Tiger wins so much.

...there's that!

It was somewhat entertaining. Somehow, Stricker came out looking like a choke(again.) For a choke, the guy sure makes a lot of money. Mickelson is a choke, but Stricker didn't put him away(he had every opportunity to do it.) When nobody is really stepping up and scoring, power is deadly. Kev, Choi is good, but is swinging a knife while others are swinging an axe. What you mentioned is a power deficiency. On 17, Choi made a fairly long putt for birdie. The long hitters don't usually have those long putts for birdie on par 5 holes(they have them to make Eagle.) Choi should of been making birdie on the 1st hole(both days,) but it would only have tied Phil. Lack of power is a pretty strong handicap(nothing personal.)

Its not that strong of a handicap. The bottom rung of the money list is full of players with plently of power, while the top of the list is full of guys without a lot of power, but can chip and putt like nobodys business.

It's not a horrible handicap as far as money goes(they can do what Choi did this week.) It's a handicap as far as wins go. For instance, the guy who won Sony (Hawaii short course) this year would probably of had a tough time winning the week before (when long hitters were everywhere.) Neither Tiger or Phil usually play courses like the Sony, or the Hope. If shorter hitters are gunna win, it's usually when these guys don't come(which is actually quite often.) Luke Donald (and other short hitters) are up against it when long hitters are around. The odd tournament now is the Masters(the past 2 Masters winners aren't power players.) If Villegas can win twice, then power is key for winning(he can't putt.)

Look at the U.S Open last year. That's absolutely a case of Rocco not having the power to take care of business on the 18th hole. It totally determined the winner of that tournament. He couldn't overcome that.

scuds here is where you are wrong - only 3 players in the field reached #17 in 2 yesterday (COUPLES AND PHIL) and 1 other guy

choi can reach #1 in 2 every day , for some reason he didn't birdie that hole on the weekend phil played it in 4 under - thers is the diffference in the tourney right there - execution not lack of power

but you forget , woods powers didn't force the playoff there either , it was probably his greatest putt ever from 12 feet after having to layup and hit a 9 iron in for his third

The reason he had a chance to tie(with that putt) is because Rocco lacked the power to get to the 18th green as easily as Tiger could. If Rocco had the power of Phil, Tiger, Singh etc., then he wins that tournament, because he would of birdied the 18th.

Phil n' Couples are long hitters. It's not by accident they could get to the 17th, and Choi only get there in 3(with not an easy putt for birdie.) Choi should reach #1 in 2, but he didn't. It's a different situation. Phil can easily do stuff that others guys have to work harder to do. Over a 4 day span it's a big factor. Obviously it was easier for Phil to take care of business on the par 5 holes. I would imagine Choi is hitting different clubs to do the same job that Phil is doing. Phil hit one about 350 out there. That's obviously making things easier for him(2nd shot) than it is for Choi. Hey, they can beat the longer hitting guys, but they have to putt-chip really, really, well. Romero, and Choi didn't do that well enough. Choi took about 30 putts on Thursday. He scored 5 under. I told Gales he left atleast 2 or 3 out there. He missed the final putt on 18 on Sunday. There's 3 or 4 shots right there.

yup you were right - just wished he didn't botch the 1st hole over the weekend

Been nice, but all I'm saying is birdie on par 5 holes isn't any sort of gimme for Choi. For Tiger, and Phil they seem to need a big mistake to come away with just par. To me, that 1st hole there seems like it would be tough for some people(obviously not for Phil.) They drive from up on the hill (where the clubhouse is.) It's a lil odd. I never thought that was an easy 2nd shot hole, either(with traps n' mounds, seem like they can make that a bit of a blind shot.) He should of got birdie on one of the 2 days. Can't say I expected him to do it both days. I don't think people realize just how good Phil was playing during certain points of the week. I hate to say he's as mentally immature as a problem horse, but he does seem to pull himself up, and wait for competition.