2009 FedEx Cup Playoffs
08-23-2009
, 05:22 PM
Aug 27 - 30: The Barclays
Purse: $7,500,000
Liberty National GC - Jersey City, New Jersey
Sep 4 - 7: Deutsche Bank Championship
Purse: $7,500,000
TPC of Boston - Norton, Massachusetts
Sep 10 - 13 : BMW Championship
Purse: $7,500,000
Cog Hill Golf & CC - Dubsdread - Lemont, Illinois
Sep 24 - 27 : THE TOUR Championship
Purse: $7,500,000
East Lake Golf Course - Atlanta, Georgia
Starts this Thursday. I'm probably not the only one who is pretty confused by the whole system. I think most of us just watch the tournaments and at the end they tell us who has won and why and we still don't get it. I know Tiger committed to Barclay's and I read it would be tough for him to win the Cup if he skipped it (as he did in 07) because they tweaked the rules again.
Who knows?
Maybe someone can come in here and 'splain it. Anyway, Vijay won it last year even though Villejas won the last two tournaments including the Championship. Tiger will be a big favorite to win it again coming in this year.
Also, I'm going to East Lake, should be fun. Will take pics and post them here when the time comes.
Predictions/thoughts/sweats/explaining of rules go here!
08-24-2009
, 08:13 AM
08-24-2009
, 02:06 PM
08-27-2009
, 06:05 AM
08-27-2009
, 05:00 PM
08-28-2009
, 02:55 AM
Went to the Barclays today courtesy of ligastar, much props to him for sending me the ticket for free.
FWIW I just got back from a bar and haven't seen any of the coverage of the tourny so whatever I say may not be in line with how its being covered and I may ramble off on tangents due to the alcohol. This will probably be a long TR even tough my intent is to keep it brief.. whatever.
THE COURSE:
Before going I had watched a 1-hour long special on the making of this course and expected to be completely blown away by its majesty upon entering the grounds. Well, that didn't really happen. The property is relatively flat and although the course is long, it didn't really seem exceptionally difficult as long as a player was putting the ball in play. Very few trees lining the fairways and despite the fesque and deepish rough most guys who hit wayward tee shots seemed able to recover even on the longest of holes.
The Statue of Liberty and NYC skyline is eminently visible on a ton of holes and that cannot be downplayed. It is AWESOME. Before coming here I thought the vistas would be more of a gimmick or just make the course look like a fantasy course ala the Tiger Woods or Outlaw Golf video games, but I assure you its not like that at all. The views, particularly of the Statue itself on hole #2, are absolutely stunning. Its interesting that the drive from NYC took me nearly an hour (and another 20 minutes shuttle ride) but there is no denying the views are upfront and personal of the downtown NYC skyline, the Statue itself, and some of the bridges connecting NY to NJ and it comes off beautifully, really awe inspiring considering the abandoned warehouses and swampland that surround the whole area of the course.
The greens seemed exceptionally fast to me watching it and the fairways/fringes are cut so close around the greens that guys are taking putter more often than not from even several yards off the green rather than chipping it which I think is cool to see. They have a bunch of chipping areas around the greens where even well struck shots seem to collect and it was really interesting watching the players choose between different styles of chip/pitch/putts around the greens where a lot of guys wound up taking a few practice swings with a SW and then putting it back in the bag and putting from 10 yrds off the green, a lot of strategy for sure.
Most of the play I saw seemed to be on the front 9 and there are a lot of really interesting holes on the frontside which is unfortunate since the coverage on Sunday will probably be back nine oriented. The greens are extremely contoured and pin placement is everything, especially on hole #3 for instance. Also, hole #5 is probably the best hole on the course as far as variance goes. Its a pretty straightforward long par 4 where 2 good shots will get you a birdie opportunity, but I saw guys put their tee balls in the drink and drop from closer tee areas leaving themselves 300+ yrds for their 3rd, guys bail out right into the fesque behind trees and also guys pull their approaches left into the water/rocks (Justin Rose) for near impossible up and downs for bogey/double.
Woods:
Such an aura around him, the guy even walks like he's the ****. Surprisingly I was able to see Tiger hit a lot of shots, particularly on his back nine (the front nine of the course). The crowds weren't crazy and if you walked 1-hole in front of where he currently was you could camp out and get a front row view.
Nothing really to say about it other than it was great to see him hit a "bad" shot into 5 (where he layed WAY back of his fellow players w/ apparently a 4-iron
) and pull his patented "GOD DAMNIT" where he drops the club on his follow-thru and just stands there with his hands on his hips looking at the ground, starts making hand gestures while looking towards the hole, and then stands there some more looking stunned while everyone in his group (including his caddy) is walking towards the hole and ignoring his histrionics.
FWIW I love Tiger, and I always root for him, but I absolutely relished watching him go through this reaction that I see so often on TV and was actually laughing out loud while it was going on. As expected, he made a sick up and down to save par from the greenside bunker on this hole and even acknowledged the crowd after his bunker shot, it was that good.
Phil:
Man, people really love this guy. I know the hype is that NY crowds love Phil (think that spine chilling putt on 17 @ Bethpage in the '02 Open) but you really can't imagine it until you see it. People are in awe of Tiger, but they genuinely root for Phil, that's the difference, and its palpable. His galleries weren't quite as deep but far more people were rooting him on with a "C'mon Phil!" and he responded everytime with a smile and a nod. He made eye contact with the big collections of spectators on every hole and even managed to high five/fist bump the drunken dudes reaching over the ropes from one green to another tee box. And of course, he gave balls out to kids watching him.
Tiger is 100% oblivious to the galleries, which I personally think is fine, but Phil has a layer of himself geared specifically for the fans and I respect him for that, whether its fake of not, he puts forth a true effort and it makes it easy for people to root for him. I root for Tiger AND Phil, is that ok?
Randoms:
I ran into Peter Oosterhius on the course, he was riding around in a golf cart marked, "Oosterhius" and had his arm in a sling. I asked him what happened and he said, "I was getting my wife a bottle of water." Ummm, ok. When he was saying what happened he said it in his distinctive voice/accent and gave a toothy grin so it was all good by me.
The concessions were horribly overpriced.
Bubba Watson took a divot on #3 with what looked like a SW that literally sounded like a sack of potatos hitting the ground when it landed 20 yards in front of him. It was about a foot and a half long and 6 inches deep, it bounced when it hit the ground, sick. I told the marshall, "my divots look like that too" and he had a good chuckle.
Stewart Cink is huge, Richard S. Johnson is tiny.
I'm glad I went on a Thursday. Tiger had some deep galleries, Phil was close behind and Harrington was probably the next biggest. That said I was able to get a clear view of all of them on most holes though it probably helps that I'm about 6' tall and could look over women/children on any hole even if it was 4 deep at the rope.
In conclusion:
I had a great time, Ligastar is the man and I thank him for letting me see this event for free. Anyone reading this who is thinking of going to a golf event, GO, it is 100X better than going to a baseball or football game, you can walk on the field!
FWIW I just got back from a bar and haven't seen any of the coverage of the tourny so whatever I say may not be in line with how its being covered and I may ramble off on tangents due to the alcohol. This will probably be a long TR even tough my intent is to keep it brief.. whatever.
THE COURSE:
Before going I had watched a 1-hour long special on the making of this course and expected to be completely blown away by its majesty upon entering the grounds. Well, that didn't really happen. The property is relatively flat and although the course is long, it didn't really seem exceptionally difficult as long as a player was putting the ball in play. Very few trees lining the fairways and despite the fesque and deepish rough most guys who hit wayward tee shots seemed able to recover even on the longest of holes.
The Statue of Liberty and NYC skyline is eminently visible on a ton of holes and that cannot be downplayed. It is AWESOME. Before coming here I thought the vistas would be more of a gimmick or just make the course look like a fantasy course ala the Tiger Woods or Outlaw Golf video games, but I assure you its not like that at all. The views, particularly of the Statue itself on hole #2, are absolutely stunning. Its interesting that the drive from NYC took me nearly an hour (and another 20 minutes shuttle ride) but there is no denying the views are upfront and personal of the downtown NYC skyline, the Statue itself, and some of the bridges connecting NY to NJ and it comes off beautifully, really awe inspiring considering the abandoned warehouses and swampland that surround the whole area of the course.
The greens seemed exceptionally fast to me watching it and the fairways/fringes are cut so close around the greens that guys are taking putter more often than not from even several yards off the green rather than chipping it which I think is cool to see. They have a bunch of chipping areas around the greens where even well struck shots seem to collect and it was really interesting watching the players choose between different styles of chip/pitch/putts around the greens where a lot of guys wound up taking a few practice swings with a SW and then putting it back in the bag and putting from 10 yrds off the green, a lot of strategy for sure.
Most of the play I saw seemed to be on the front 9 and there are a lot of really interesting holes on the frontside which is unfortunate since the coverage on Sunday will probably be back nine oriented. The greens are extremely contoured and pin placement is everything, especially on hole #3 for instance. Also, hole #5 is probably the best hole on the course as far as variance goes. Its a pretty straightforward long par 4 where 2 good shots will get you a birdie opportunity, but I saw guys put their tee balls in the drink and drop from closer tee areas leaving themselves 300+ yrds for their 3rd, guys bail out right into the fesque behind trees and also guys pull their approaches left into the water/rocks (Justin Rose) for near impossible up and downs for bogey/double.
Woods:
Such an aura around him, the guy even walks like he's the ****. Surprisingly I was able to see Tiger hit a lot of shots, particularly on his back nine (the front nine of the course). The crowds weren't crazy and if you walked 1-hole in front of where he currently was you could camp out and get a front row view.
Nothing really to say about it other than it was great to see him hit a "bad" shot into 5 (where he layed WAY back of his fellow players w/ apparently a 4-iron
) and pull his patented "GOD DAMNIT" where he drops the club on his follow-thru and just stands there with his hands on his hips looking at the ground, starts making hand gestures while looking towards the hole, and then stands there some more looking stunned while everyone in his group (including his caddy) is walking towards the hole and ignoring his histrionics. FWIW I love Tiger, and I always root for him, but I absolutely relished watching him go through this reaction that I see so often on TV and was actually laughing out loud while it was going on. As expected, he made a sick up and down to save par from the greenside bunker on this hole and even acknowledged the crowd after his bunker shot, it was that good.
Phil:
Man, people really love this guy. I know the hype is that NY crowds love Phil (think that spine chilling putt on 17 @ Bethpage in the '02 Open) but you really can't imagine it until you see it. People are in awe of Tiger, but they genuinely root for Phil, that's the difference, and its palpable. His galleries weren't quite as deep but far more people were rooting him on with a "C'mon Phil!" and he responded everytime with a smile and a nod. He made eye contact with the big collections of spectators on every hole and even managed to high five/fist bump the drunken dudes reaching over the ropes from one green to another tee box. And of course, he gave balls out to kids watching him.
Tiger is 100% oblivious to the galleries, which I personally think is fine, but Phil has a layer of himself geared specifically for the fans and I respect him for that, whether its fake of not, he puts forth a true effort and it makes it easy for people to root for him. I root for Tiger AND Phil, is that ok?
Randoms:
I ran into Peter Oosterhius on the course, he was riding around in a golf cart marked, "Oosterhius" and had his arm in a sling. I asked him what happened and he said, "I was getting my wife a bottle of water." Ummm, ok. When he was saying what happened he said it in his distinctive voice/accent and gave a toothy grin so it was all good by me.
The concessions were horribly overpriced.
Bubba Watson took a divot on #3 with what looked like a SW that literally sounded like a sack of potatos hitting the ground when it landed 20 yards in front of him. It was about a foot and a half long and 6 inches deep, it bounced when it hit the ground, sick. I told the marshall, "my divots look like that too" and he had a good chuckle.
Stewart Cink is huge, Richard S. Johnson is tiny.
I'm glad I went on a Thursday. Tiger had some deep galleries, Phil was close behind and Harrington was probably the next biggest. That said I was able to get a clear view of all of them on most holes though it probably helps that I'm about 6' tall and could look over women/children on any hole even if it was 4 deep at the rope.
In conclusion:
I had a great time, Ligastar is the man and I thank him for letting me see this event for free. Anyone reading this who is thinking of going to a golf event, GO, it is 100X better than going to a baseball or football game, you can walk on the field!
Last edited by Brocktoon; 08-28-2009 at 03:03 AM.
