Forgotten Champions
Hello. Well, what a US Open! There were so many story lines it will take me all week to comment on them. Let's begin.
There are two people's names that are not being mentioned as much as they should be today. The first is Billy Casper, the 1959 US Open champion when it was at Winged Foot. Casper had a bizarre strategy of "laying up" at the par 3 third hole. He would then chip his ball onto the green, and one-putt for par. He parred the hole every day using this method.
If Colin Montgomerie and many others would've used this method, they would've shaved at least 2 valuable shots off their scores, which could've been the difference between winning and losing. In fact, I believe almost every par 4 hole at Winged Foot could've been played this way because of the open fronts to the greens, and no water. Would this strategy have produced a win? Maybe. It probably would've lessened the number of double bogies. Only one person didn't have one all week.
That person is Number 2 on my list, Geoff Ogilvy. Get used to his name. I feel we'll be hearing it a lot. Ogilvy looked solid in all parts of his game. He also did no worse than bogey for 72 holes. It's a stat Ben Curtis had at the 2003 British Open as well.
What did Ogilvy do better than anyone else? He stayed in the present, and focused on making pars. The last 2 holes show how well he was able to do it. The chip-in for par he had on the 17th was such a great shot, reminding me of Tom Watson in the 1982 US Open at Pebble Beach. To make a shot like that when he absolutely had to (at the time he was +5, one behind Mickelson and Montgomerie, so he probably knew +6 was too high) was remarkable.
Then on the 18th he hit a perfect drive, only to find it in a divot. He hit a great shot, only to see it land a couple of feet short, and roll back down the hill. To collect himself and get up and down, again when he knew he had to, was a tremendous achievement.
What happened next? Well, you'd have to be in a TVless cave to not know. However, what somewhat bothers me is reports indicate the media was more interested in covering the losers than this fine player. Apparently Ogilvy's news conference was not well attended.
Let's hope the 29-year-old Ogilvy goes to the same heights as the 29-year-old who won the 1974 US Open at Winged Foot (since called the Massacre), Hale Irwin. I would hate to see Ogilvy end up in the same category as Paul Lawrie, the 1999 British Open who will be forever upstage by Jean Van De Velde.
Congratulations on a great win, Geoff!
Regards,
Steve
There are two people's names that are not being mentioned as much as they should be today. The first is Billy Casper, the 1959 US Open champion when it was at Winged Foot. Casper had a bizarre strategy of "laying up" at the par 3 third hole. He would then chip his ball onto the green, and one-putt for par. He parred the hole every day using this method.
If Colin Montgomerie and many others would've used this method, they would've shaved at least 2 valuable shots off their scores, which could've been the difference between winning and losing. In fact, I believe almost every par 4 hole at Winged Foot could've been played this way because of the open fronts to the greens, and no water. Would this strategy have produced a win? Maybe. It probably would've lessened the number of double bogies. Only one person didn't have one all week.
That person is Number 2 on my list, Geoff Ogilvy. Get used to his name. I feel we'll be hearing it a lot. Ogilvy looked solid in all parts of his game. He also did no worse than bogey for 72 holes. It's a stat Ben Curtis had at the 2003 British Open as well.
What did Ogilvy do better than anyone else? He stayed in the present, and focused on making pars. The last 2 holes show how well he was able to do it. The chip-in for par he had on the 17th was such a great shot, reminding me of Tom Watson in the 1982 US Open at Pebble Beach. To make a shot like that when he absolutely had to (at the time he was +5, one behind Mickelson and Montgomerie, so he probably knew +6 was too high) was remarkable.
Then on the 18th he hit a perfect drive, only to find it in a divot. He hit a great shot, only to see it land a couple of feet short, and roll back down the hill. To collect himself and get up and down, again when he knew he had to, was a tremendous achievement.
What happened next? Well, you'd have to be in a TVless cave to not know. However, what somewhat bothers me is reports indicate the media was more interested in covering the losers than this fine player. Apparently Ogilvy's news conference was not well attended.
Let's hope the 29-year-old Ogilvy goes to the same heights as the 29-year-old who won the 1974 US Open at Winged Foot (since called the Massacre), Hale Irwin. I would hate to see Ogilvy end up in the same category as Paul Lawrie, the 1999 British Open who will be forever upstage by Jean Van De Velde.
Congratulations on a great win, Geoff!
Regards,
Steve
posted by Irrelevant at 1:06 PM
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