Dr Winston O Boogie jr |
05-13-2013 08:35 AM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Grooms
(Post 675593)
It wasn't a "very bad decision", he just missed it. That ball flies another yard, he makes birdie, Tiger hears the huge roar, all of a sudden it was the shot of the tournament and Sergio wins. He wanted to win it on 17 and came up 4 feet short.
It's easy for the arm chair quarterbacks to make the calls after the results are posted. :rolleyes:
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It was a bad decision because the risks outweighed the rewards. The margin for error hitting the ball on that line is very, very small. By hitting the ball over the bunker you have the possibility of it catching the slope and running down to the hole for a birdie. If it doesn't you still make par and are still in the tournament. Or you can make the long putt and still make birdie. By hitting it at the flag, you might have a 10% chance of hitting your target and winning the tournament. You have a 90% chance of the ball ending up in the water.
I don't think that any other player on tour would have aimed that shot at the flag.
If a player is two shots behind then and only then is the risk worth it. He would have to make two birdies in order to tie for the lead so he wouldn't have much choice unless he's counting on the leader making bogie on 18.
He was short by much more than a yard. It was more like three or four yards. And if he does hit it that additional three or four yards, he might hit the bulkhead and bounce into the water. If he hits it an additional ten yards it might go in the water over the green. The point is that he has to hit a very, very precise shot with almost no margin for error and the results on not hitting that exact distance would be catastrophic.
It's not a question of being a Monday morning quarterback. I would have said the same thing if you had asked me when he was standing on the tee. I would have aimed it at the center of the bunker if it were me standing there in that position and I think that almost every other pro on the tour would have aimed it over the bunker if he were in that position. It was a bonehead play that lost any chance to win the tournament. While Sergio didn't exactly lose the tournament, (he was only tied for first) he did hand the tournament to Tiger on a silver platter.
It was the worst decision that I have witnessed on the PGA tour since Phil Mickelson's masacre at Winged Foot
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