Tiger's bunker shot explanation on #6

[andef]

[quote name='dwing' timestamp='1343051006' post='5333306']
[quote name='avrag' timestamp='1343028991' post='5332516']
While I do think that he has done that in the past at times, in this instance, he is telling the thruth. The BBC on course commentator said it either before or right after the first bunker shot.
"Tiger told his caddie that he tried to bounce it off the face and back into the middle of the bunker so that he would have a possible shot for his next."
[/quote]

[b]Tiger's full of BS if he said he was trying to bounce it off the face back to the middle. He could've simply taken an Unplayable & got 2 club lengths dropped back in the bunker giving himself as good a lie as possible for the next shot. He went for it & failed.[/b]

Could it be he didn't know the rules? No chance. He went for it knowing it could be a huge momentum swing if he pulled it off.

And just as Tiger does on every other shot that doesn't work out , he takes liberty to bend a badly failed swing into something that was a "near perfect" ... ie; the "just 1 yard off" comment. I do think he actually believes what he says is true because of his personality makeup.
[/quote]

You're kidding, right? Taking a drop in a bunker most likely leads to a plugged or semi plugged ball, leaving him with the same shot and just a bit more room to get the ball up in the air.
They went through the decision on the broadcast and it was clear that Tiger tried to give himself a better lie and angle for his 4th, keeping the ball in the bunker.

[spitfisher]

[quote name='Willie Malay' timestamp='1343051310' post='5333328']
Makes much more sense on the second shot. No way it is logical it would go right on the first unless he's a complete idiot, which I'm not discounting.
[/quote]

Thats what I am saying, there was no question he was going for it ( the Pin, the drama, the momentum change and the "better than most" replay shot) on the first shot, his quotation above is BS if hes refering to the first bunker shot- which by all indications he was-- since he was asked about it.

makes much more sense for thhe second shot.

The dialog that I heard thru the feed between Joe and TW was that Thorbjorn got his ball out, but that was the day before and the pin obviously was in a much different location. I just looked at the video again, he had opportunity to go much further right,(read: not 90 degrees, but more llike 30degrees) based on where his feet were. He instead hit that ball straight into the wall with the hopes it would clear the lip.

[dwing]

Re; ..plugged lie drop in the bunker... the pros are more than capable of dealing with that.
My point was to dismiss his shot was a deliberate attempt to play it off the face back into the bunker "hoping" for a better lie. That ball had every chance of getting up above shoulder height & bouncing back into the bunker causing just as much a plug or worse.

First, he was going for it and 2nd he was hoping for a better lie if he didnt pull it off.
Maybe he should've played a left handed sandy out to the right ala Lee Westwood.

[HoffTTM]

No way was tiger trying to bounce that out to the right. He had basically 0 options that would give a guaranteed a good chance at an easy down in 3. Going out left wasn't really any easier than forwards and might have pulled a bad lie if successful. Forwards would have been a miracle shot just to get it out (unless you're Thorbjorn, when it seems to be a piece of cake), even chipping/putting the ball into a decent lie in the bunker wasn't easy.

Tiger just needs to stop the BS. He made what I think was the right decision amongst very bad options and was unlucky to get a horrible lie for the second bunker shot

[neova]

If tiger was trying to bounce the ball backwards into the back part of the bunker for an easier shot, he could have done what McDowell did and directly hit the ball to the back part of the bunker - much easier than to bounce the ball off the bunker wall..

Tiger went for the miracle shot and didn't get under it enough or skulled it. I guess he wanted to save face or make the media think that he was in control of the situation didn't just failed a heroic shot...

[Ranger Rick]

He didn't have space to make a swing like GMac.I also think he should have gone further right with his first attempt out but I think even then he was pretty close to the wall making it very difficult. What would the scenario have been if he played out left into the crowd? He could definitely have hit that shot and chances are he gets a decent lie.

[bunter101]

If he is trying to hit it off the face and back into the bunker, IMO he has swung far too hard, far too shallow and his alignment is poor as he can clearly get 30-45* further right.

[bunter101]

[quote name='farmer' timestamp='1343061035' post='5334530']
Nothing to do with Tiger, but those bunkers are as artificial and contrived as anything done by anyone but maybe Desmond Miurhead. The myth of "natural" hazards being a part of true links golf was exposed. The R&A should be embarrassed by leaving players with the choice of playing out of standing water in bunkers or dropping into mud.
[/quote]

Sorry, the R&A don't have control of the water table. And all bunkers are artificial unless the course is built on sand dunes or the desert. Pot bunkers ARE links golf and a proper penalty unlike your average courses bunkering.

[farmer]

The R&A doesn't have pumps? And, exactly, links golf is defined by being built on sand, with the bunkers being built by erosion.

[deasy55]

[quote name='farmer' timestamp='1343077305' post='5336516']
The R&A doesn't have pumps? [/quote]

If they pumped the water out it would have just filled up again because of the water table was so high. In fact, I'm sure they did try to pump it out.

[bunter101]

They did Deasy, but they just filled up again.

The pot bunker was basically a recreation of sheep holes that were found on links land. Basically sheep would go into depressions in the dunes to shelter from the wind and over time these depressions would get deeper.

[philsRHman]

If he was trying to bang it off the face, why go at it with a wedge rather than a 5 iron? He wouldn't even need an explosion swing if he's just trying to punch it into the wall and bounce it back.

[pinehurst]

Clearly he was trying to get the ball out of the bunker, but it looked like he also figured that if it didn't make it, the ball would bounce off the face to the right. You could see him pointing at the face and motioning to the right to the right with Joe. He was hoping against all hope at a safe exit or lucky bounce right, instead he got neither. Tough break, but that is golf. Those bunkers looked hellish. The second shot out of the bunker was amazing, but the 3 putt not so much. He is going to have a difficult time winning a major if his 150-90 yd game isn't better. I think his swing has gone from more of an arms hands action to a pivot body driven motion, and while he might be straighter, he seems to have lost some of his distance feel. He needs to reign in those short irons a bit. Butch had him work hard on that after 97 when he used to hit SW 150 yds all the time.

[Wasted_Talent]

If all he wanted was to get it in the middle of the bunker he could have grabbed his putter and putted it there. BS on his part.

[ColdFyre]

[quote name='deasy55' timestamp='1343077746' post='5336546']
[quote name='farmer' timestamp='1343077305' post='5336516']
The R&A doesn't have pumps? [/quote]

If they pumped the water out it would have just filled up again because of the water table was so high. In fact, I'm sure they did try to pump it out.
[/quote]
^^ this ^^

They even said it during the broadcast. They WERE pumped. They just filled up due to a higher than normal water table.

[502 to Right]

Tiger lied in the post-round interview. Big deal. He's done it a million times before and he'll do it a million more. He is a liar.

[bscinstnct]

[quote name='Saint308' timestamp='1343095592' post='5338568']
If all he wanted was to get it in the middle of the bunker he could have grabbed his putter and putted it there. BS on his part.
[/quote]

Haha!

Best post ever and I would have paid handsomely to see the expression on his face if one of the geniuses in the press tent had been smart enough to say that to him.

His head might have exploded.

[HCEG1]

Just watch the practice swings. It's clear he was trying to take it on & get the ball to rise almost vertically. La Cava is on record as saying he thought he could pull it off.

He witnessed a masterclass from Thorbjorn Olesen the day before from an almost identical position. Almost defied reality & physics. Mind-blowingly excellent!

[K31795]

[quote name='Saint308' timestamp='1343095592' post='5338568']
If all he wanted was to get it in the middle of the bunker he could have grabbed his putter and putted it there. BS on his part.
[/quote]

This. And yes I have done this.

[rafal]

[Ranger Rick]

Mind your from that gif the wall is angled as if it would shoot off to the right, he might have tugged it a touch though or it hit a corner of a brick and deflected left.I don't think he is stupid enough to believe he could get it out from that lie, the position with a perfect lie perhaps ( he does swing hard) but with a fried egg... not a chance. I believe him.

[JaxBeachNole]

[quote name='farmer' timestamp='1343061035' post='5334530']
Nothing to do with Tiger, but those bunkers are as artificial and contrived as anything done by anyone but maybe Desmond Miurhead. The myth of "natural" hazards being a part of true links golf was exposed. The R&A should be embarrassed by leaving players with the choice of playing out of standing water in bunkers or dropping into mud.
[/quote]

I agree 100% that it's is ridiculous to have that situation throughout the whole tourney. It's not like the weather they had was odd. There should be steps in place to fix it.

As for Tigers play on 6 I believe what he said. Why would he lie?

[dwing]

Thanks for tagging that video rafal... clearly he had room to angle right to better his odds at having the ball bounce back into the bunker right. That would also have slightly opened up a little more room to clear the top of the bunker as the apex of the bunker wall is over that way.

To top it off... he caught a break the ball barely touched the bottom face of the bunker on the way down kicking it away from the wall or he might have had one of those semi plugged lies tight to the face.

[SheriffBooth]

Just looking at him in the GIF, my best guess is that his thinking was "I'm going to hit this as hard as I can and if it climbs out by a miracle then great. If not, it'll bounce to the right and into the middle of the bunker." But it bounced left instead. But maybe Tiger is controlling my mind into thinking that...

[Tee Time!]

I thought his ego got the best of him there. Seemed like he was trying to pull off a miracle shot (which he's done before) but I don't know if the shot he was trying to hit was possible (if he was going at the pin). If he was really trying to do what he said and hit it off the face of the bunker to have it come out to the right, then pitch onto the green then why not just hit it out backwards and to the right?

[ej002]

I just think if he was trying to bounce it right, he would have tried to catch it a little cleaner. He takes a divot four inches back, that tells me he was trying to go straight out.

[2putttom]

High hopes gone err.

[rafal]

[quote name='ej002' timestamp='1343156443' post='5343586']
I just think if he was trying to bounce it right, he would have tried to catch it a little cleaner. He takes a divot four inches back, that tells me he was trying to go straight out.
[/quote]

This, let's be realistic, look at his setup, that's not a man going to bounce ball right as his primary objective. He was trying to get out not only IMO but also others.

[Awsi Dooger]

Tiger aiming left is not news

[Chilidog]

So he would take a chance of the ball hitting him and getting a 2 stroke penalty than taking an unplayable? If he takes the unplayable, he is at the same stroke count as hitting it off the bunker and backwards any way. So, he is either an idiot or lying. Simple as that.