if tiger is anywhere near as hurt as he is letting on, there is no way he should be out there. that was the luckiest round of golf ever played. how else in the us open, the most penal golf venue these guys play, do you spray the vast majority of your tee shots and get a perfect lie every time at a us open? and chipping it way too hard, but it hits the flag pin, and drops into the hole for an eagle? i have never seen that.
he is an amezing talent and he managed to hole some long putts, but that was just luck on his side today. and forgive me if i do not buy this injured knee stuff.
Luck had nothing to do with those lies and hitting the flag pin. Tim Donaghy told investigator's that this US Open is fixed and the refs are doing everything possible to have Tiger win because the PGA wants the increased revenues from TV ratings because Tiger is a ratings king.
Or it could be that even at 50% Tiger is still 50% better than any other golfer alive.
IMO it's the latter but lots of people seem to be believing Tim Donaghy these days.
what kind of lie one draws on the rough is all luck. it is 100% chance. one guy hits it in the rough and has no play at the green, the next guy hits it two yards to the right, and it is a perfect lie.
but to miss the fairway at a US Open and draw perect lie after perfect lie, that is luck. to hit a flagstick 16 inches off the ground and watch it drop into the hole, that is luck. anyone who has ever played golf will tell you that. he hit the ball a mile off the fairway at 13, drew a perfect lie, hit an amazing shot, then drained an amazing putt for eagle.
he better start hitting fairways today, or pray for perfect lies in the rough and 60 foot putts or he will go home empty.
I play plenty of golf, I understand luck in golf. But if Tiger isn't so deadly accurate with his short game, he doesn't hit the flag and it doesn't just drop in. Players hit the flag a bunch on the fly but next to none fall into the hole. He had to have hit an almost perfect shot to have that happen.
As for the lies in the rough you are right, pure luck. But even with good lies in US Open rough, you still have to be an excellent player to get the results he does even from good lies. I've watched the Open extensively the past three days and Tiger isn't the only one getting good lies in the deep rough, but he is one of the few getting good results from hitting off of those good lies.
And I'm not even counting the times he had a horrible lie and was still able to hit a green or advance the ball 50-75 yards further than most.
Some of what happened yesterday was luck. But when you are as good as Tiger, sometimes you make you're own luck and others you are able to take advantage of your luck where the normally great player can't take advantage of it.
Those first two rounds Michelson got a lot of good lies in the rough. But he played stupid shots or hit bad shots and now he is a nonfactor. I think it was Curtis Strange who said either yesterday or Friday that the US Open is all about knowing how to and then performing the act of getting out of trouble giving up the least amount of strokes. That's Tiger.
Luck with some lies, yes. Being better than anyone on the face of the planet at being able to maximize the best results using the luck given is not pure luck, it is greatness personified. Tiger was not the only golfer with good lies. He was just the best golfer at hitting the shots out of those lies.
So please don't try to downplay Tiger results by saying it is luck. That's the equivalent of saying that it was luck that MJ was able to switch hands mid jump and still make the layup. MJ can do that and still hit that shot because he practiced forever to be effective using his left hand and because he has the god given athleticism to perform the act. The same holds true for Tiger. He's practiced those shots forever and has the god given athleticism and talent to maximize his performance on those shots.
Mere mortals shouldn't downplay the accomplishments of such greats as Tiger and MJ, we should marvel and feel lucky that we were able to witness greatness.