The Open Championship safely secured its spot on the TV calendar of all golf fans, for the next few years anyway, with the best finish to a major probably since the last time it was held in 1999 also at Carnoustie. I had to listen via satellite radio, and then subsequently watched the highlights later, of one of the most riveting championships for a very long time.
Sergio Garcia played, deserved and should have won his first major at arguably the toughest of the Open championship venues. Playing in the final group with Stricker, who was struggling, Sergio righted the ship so to speak and with 6 holes to go, was playing near flawless golf. Other than Garcia's slight hiccup on holes 5 thru 8, it was a perfectly played and thought out game plan. Realize that on every hole, and with each hole measuring ridiculous lengths like 513 yard par 4's, danger lurks with each and every stroke.
Having played Carnoustie in ideal conditions and in not so ideal April weather conditions I can tell you that it is a stern test without any other factors or pressures such as trying to win your first ever Open and major. I was a little surprised at the number of irons that players were using on each of the final closing holes. It may have indeed been the ultimate undoing of Sergio having to hit a 245 yard iron shot to the last hole to win.
He did almost pull it off and having hit a 7 iron into that green and been nervous the whole way until it landed on grass, I can't imagine "blasting" a two or three iron into that scary little gap. Much has been made of Sergio's putting woes and the switching to the belly putter and "but for the grace of god" (Peter Alliss comment) his putt on the final hole which disappeared ever so briefly and stayed out, would have rightly crowned him Champion golfer for 2007. He did look good with it, but alas and somewhat coincidentally still no one has won a major championship using a long, belly or some other combination of that.
My thoughts and impressions are that it really helps those players that have any breakdown at all in either hand, wow heavy stuff. Having watched lots and I mean lots of players switch back and forth the roll off of a belly putter and the like, is significantly better than many that I see trying to control their nerves and do it conventionally. Now realize that the issue is psychological, and the fact that with tension and pressure it becomes very apparent and a need occurs for some kind of intervention. My only thought though, until someone breaks that streak, is that if you have a weakness in putting from a psychological point of view it may and probably will show up when you least expect it to or more importantly when you least want it to.
In Sergio's case and in his defence, the putt on the final hole was a good one but still did not go in. Harrington on the other hand, with all of his drama and nonsense down the last hole still had composure and a good enough stroke to be able to roll in a 6 footer to be good enough to get into the playoff. I believe now that Garcia will go from strength to strength, and indeed old Paddy will too. We may see a few more of these type of players compete more in the "American majors" and give Tiger and Phil a good run for their money.
Talking of others how about Andres Romero from Argentina? What was he thinking and doing heading up the 17th hole at Carnoustie with at the time a two shot lead? With an iron in hand he pushed his tee shot into "bundai" as the locals affectionately call it, and proceeded to hit a two iron off of a wall and out of bounds. Now I know that caddies are valuable to their players, but what were they thinking with that lie and with that shot facing them? Obviously, not very much.
With a wedge or a nine iron especially the way in which he was putting, chances are he could have gotten up and down to maintain his two stroke lead or even have a shot lead heading up the last. His drive on 18 was by far the longest of the leaders and his 8 iron into the green and obvious miss hit lead to a bogey and subsequent one shot loss. Talk about going brain dead for twenty minutes, and never will this young man have a better chance. For Sergio Garcia there will be many more chances and that putter, if he can believe in it fully, will secure his first of many major crowns.
Dean Spriddle is the RCGA National Coach for the Women's and Junior Women's National High Performance teams. Spriddle is one of Canada's TOP 10 golf teachers as voted by the Globe and Mail. He is the Head Golf Professional at the Evergreen Golf Centre, Lethbridge, AB Canada.
Sergio Garcia played, deserved and should have won his first major at arguably the toughest of the Open championship venues. Playing in the final group with Stricker, who was struggling, Sergio righted the ship so to speak and with 6 holes to go, was playing near flawless golf. Other than Garcia's slight hiccup on holes 5 thru 8, it was a perfectly played and thought out game plan. Realize that on every hole, and with each hole measuring ridiculous lengths like 513 yard par 4's, danger lurks with each and every stroke.
Having played Carnoustie in ideal conditions and in not so ideal April weather conditions I can tell you that it is a stern test without any other factors or pressures such as trying to win your first ever Open and major. I was a little surprised at the number of irons that players were using on each of the final closing holes. It may have indeed been the ultimate undoing of Sergio having to hit a 245 yard iron shot to the last hole to win.
He did almost pull it off and having hit a 7 iron into that green and been nervous the whole way until it landed on grass, I can't imagine "blasting" a two or three iron into that scary little gap. Much has been made of Sergio's putting woes and the switching to the belly putter and "but for the grace of god" (Peter Alliss comment) his putt on the final hole which disappeared ever so briefly and stayed out, would have rightly crowned him Champion golfer for 2007. He did look good with it, but alas and somewhat coincidentally still no one has won a major championship using a long, belly or some other combination of that.
My thoughts and impressions are that it really helps those players that have any breakdown at all in either hand, wow heavy stuff. Having watched lots and I mean lots of players switch back and forth the roll off of a belly putter and the like, is significantly better than many that I see trying to control their nerves and do it conventionally. Now realize that the issue is psychological, and the fact that with tension and pressure it becomes very apparent and a need occurs for some kind of intervention. My only thought though, until someone breaks that streak, is that if you have a weakness in putting from a psychological point of view it may and probably will show up when you least expect it to or more importantly when you least want it to.
In Sergio's case and in his defence, the putt on the final hole was a good one but still did not go in. Harrington on the other hand, with all of his drama and nonsense down the last hole still had composure and a good enough stroke to be able to roll in a 6 footer to be good enough to get into the playoff. I believe now that Garcia will go from strength to strength, and indeed old Paddy will too. We may see a few more of these type of players compete more in the "American majors" and give Tiger and Phil a good run for their money.
Talking of others how about Andres Romero from Argentina? What was he thinking and doing heading up the 17th hole at Carnoustie with at the time a two shot lead? With an iron in hand he pushed his tee shot into "bundai" as the locals affectionately call it, and proceeded to hit a two iron off of a wall and out of bounds. Now I know that caddies are valuable to their players, but what were they thinking with that lie and with that shot facing them? Obviously, not very much.
With a wedge or a nine iron especially the way in which he was putting, chances are he could have gotten up and down to maintain his two stroke lead or even have a shot lead heading up the last. His drive on 18 was by far the longest of the leaders and his 8 iron into the green and obvious miss hit lead to a bogey and subsequent one shot loss. Talk about going brain dead for twenty minutes, and never will this young man have a better chance. For Sergio Garcia there will be many more chances and that putter, if he can believe in it fully, will secure his first of many major crowns.
Dean Spriddle is the RCGA National Coach for the Women's and Junior Women's National High Performance teams. Spriddle is one of Canada's TOP 10 golf teachers as voted by the Globe and Mail. He is the Head Golf Professional at the Evergreen Golf Centre, Lethbridge, AB Canada.
