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Post by Richie3Jack on Apr 10, 2014 13:05:24 GMT -5
 Okay, holes trending as the 'Critical Holes' are #7, #12, #13 and #18. Stadler came in at -2 and played them at -3 Blixt played them at +1. Woodland played them at -1 My top-23 players to win were: •Keegan Bradley •Angel Cabrera •Stewart Cink •Jason Day •Luke Donald •Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano •Sergio Garcia •Matt Kuchar •Marc Leishman •Hunter Mahan •Hideki Matsuyama •Rory McIlroy •Phil Mickelson •Justin Rose •Charl Schwartzel •Adam Scott •Vijay Singh •Brandt Snedeker •Henrik Stenson •Steve Stricker •Nick Watney •Bubba Watson •Gary Woodland My top-10 picks are: •Rory McIlroy (9/1) •Adam Scott (9/1) •Phil Mickelson (11/1) •Jason Day (14/1) •Matt Kuchar (20/1) •Bubba Watson (25/1) •Justin Rose (28/1) •Brandt Snedeker (33/1) •Keegan Bradley (33/1) •Marc Leishman (100/1) |
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Post by Richie3Jack on Apr 11, 2014 8:50:47 GMT -5
Here's how my final 23 players are after round 1: •Keegan Bradley (+3)
•Angel Cabrera (+6) •Stewart Cink (+1) •Jason Day (+3)•Luke Donald (+7) •Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (+3) •Sergio Garcia (+3) •Matt Kuchar (+1)•Marc Leishman (-2)
•Hunter Mahan (+2) •Hideki Matsuyama (+8) •Rory McIlroy (-1)•Phil Mickelson (+4)
•Justin Rose (+4) •Charl Schwartzel (+1) •Adam Scott (-3)
•Vijay Singh (+3) •Brandt Snedeker (-2)
•Henrik Stenson (+1) •Steve Stricker (E) •Nick Watney (E) •Bubba Watson (-3)•Gary Woodland (-2) The bolded players are my top-10 picks. I was running down the numbers based on the past 10 Masters and figure that anybody that shot +1 (73) or better still has a good shot at winning. Anybody higher than +1 after Thursday saw their chances plummet dramatically. Even though I don't like using GIR, Tripp Isenhour (Pro Golf Synopsis reader) made a great point in that the winner will likely have to hit at least 50 GIR in order to win at ANGC. The only player to win in recent memory under 50 GIR was Schwartzel and he hit 49 GIR that tournament. So, that's 12.5 GIR per round. Here's a look at all of the players at +1 or better after Thursday and their GIR. It's sorted by GIR. Click to Enlarge  I feel that the most realistic chances to win are players that hit at least 11 greens on Thursday. You're really pushing it at 10 GIR because now you have to average 13-14 GIR on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. With that, the last 23 players I had that are at 11+ GIR and at +1 or better are: Bubba Watson Rory McIlroy Adam Scott Marc Leishman Matt Kuchar Soooo, it's getting dicey here. As I mentioned in my GolfWRX article this appeared to be as strong of a 1st time Invitee group of golfers we've seen in recent history. The following are 1st time invitees at +1 and 11+ GIR after Thursday: Jimmy Walker Jordan Spieth Kevin Stadler Roberto Castro Patrick Reed Jonas Blixt 3JACK |
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Post by Richie3Jack on Apr 11, 2014 20:00:58 GMT -5
Congratulations to Mike Weir for making the cut.
3JACK
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Post by willgolfer on Apr 11, 2014 21:50:52 GMT -5
That is nice for Weir. Do you know what teacher if any he works with now?
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Post by Richie3Jack on Apr 11, 2014 22:04:02 GMT -5
Not sure.
He was working with Grant Waite. He later started working with me for a couple of months. But, we decided that there wasn't much I could do until his driving got to a level where he could compete on Tour. I think he stopped working with Grant in December. Grant got him hitting it better than when he first started working with him.
3JACK
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Post by willgolfer on Apr 12, 2014 14:48:31 GMT -5
What kind of work do you do with golfers? Is it swing technique? Course management? Do you tell them what parts of the game they need to improve on?
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Post by Richie3Jack on Apr 12, 2014 19:43:48 GMT -5
Statistical consultation. Measuring their performance, setting benchmarks, and statistical analysis of golf holes, where most strokes are gained/lost for each event and how to play certain holes.
3JACK
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Post by gmbtempe on Apr 12, 2014 22:39:57 GMT -5
Going to be interesting to see the future of golf without Tiger and Phil in the mix as far as television ratings, this is the first time neither has been in the mix. Maybe the Masters transcends and the numbers will be strong, I have no feel on what they will be.
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Post by Richie3Jack on Apr 13, 2014 7:16:36 GMT -5
It depends on how the PGA Tour and the Golf Channel handles it. They have to get off the Tiger kick and constantly stop discussing him and promoting him. This is what got them dependent on Tiger in the first place. Tiger didn't need all of the press and hype because he was going to get it anyway. Instead, they needed to promote lesser players and try to get a tan off of Tiger's sunshine.
Instead, they went on an all out blitz on Tiger and without him the rating drop. They should both be all about promoting new stars. Even if they are not legitimate stars, perception becomes greater than reality. That's what marketing a professional sports product is really about....constantly promoting an influx of new players.
3JACK
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Post by ericpaul2 on Apr 13, 2014 8:50:09 GMT -5
I agree Richie. They have been doubling down, which is the problem with any corporation. Someone very high needs to set a strategy that sacrifices immediate ratings for long-term success.
I do think they need to find players that are both intriguing and with high potential. They seemed to try to play up Rickie for awhile, but I don't think he has the potential to be as great as a Tiger or Phil. Ultimately, they need intriguing characters who will compete regularly on Sunday.
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Post by gmbtempe on Apr 13, 2014 14:31:58 GMT -5
Speith is an amazing young player because he just seems to do everything well but not really a master of anything. He drives it ok, irons ok, very solid short and putting game.
Maybe closest to Tom Watson? The stars usually have been the power players as they have the advantage.
The resume though is very much superstar, his am. career was amazing and now as a pro. He has a one shot lead at the time I am writing this.
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Post by gmbtempe on Apr 13, 2014 14:38:43 GMT -5
Really like the changes in Fowlers swing.
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Post by Richie3Jack on Apr 13, 2014 17:35:03 GMT -5
I agree Richie. They have been doubling down, which is the problem with any corporation. Someone very high needs to set a strategy that sacrifices immediate ratings for long-term success. I do think they need to find players that are both intriguing and with high potential. They seemed to try to play up Rickie for awhile, but I don't think he has the potential to be as great as a Tiger or Phil. Ultimately, they need intriguing characters who will compete regularly on Sunday. The Tour and TGC need to work with these players to help make them more intriguing. They need publicists for these top players and people to train them to make them a fun interview when they are being interviewed. They need to pull strings to get them on Late Night talk shows and other talk shows that are not just sports oriented. I look at somebody like Bubba and I see him as hugely under-promoted and under-marketed. Geez, a southern kid named Bubba that rips the driver every hole and flat out bombs it should be extremely marketable. The same with Fowler. They just seem to put their eggs all in 1 or 2 baskets and rarely seem to market somebody unless they are dominant. For instance, I'm a Cowboys fan. Tony Romo is a household name. The guy has 1 freaking playoff victory to his name. Yet, he is a household name. In the end, it doesn't matter that he's over-hyped. It matters that he is a household name and that is what continues to drive the NFL. Somebody like Bubba is so unknown to the public and has a Masters and other victories to his credit. It's really embarrassing he is not promoted better. 3JACK |
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Post by jeffy on Apr 13, 2014 20:04:05 GMT -5
Speith is an amazing young player because he just seems to do everything well but not really a master of anything. He drives it ok, irons ok, very solid short and putting game. That's a little unfair to Jordan; he has excellent ballstriking stats, not just "ok"; for 2013: Driving Effectiveness: 4th Danger Zone: 15th Safe Zone: 7th Birdie Zone: 18th Putts gained: 60th Short game: 47th Richie would know better than me, but Jordan's all-around ballstriking may have been the best in 2013. Jeff |
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Post by Richie3Jack on Apr 14, 2014 9:56:08 GMT -5
Jordan has fallen a bit this year with his ballstriking:
Driving Effectiveness: 75th
Green Zone (75-125 yds): 142nd
Yellow Zone (125-175 yds): 42nd
Red Zone (175-225 yds): 17th
Short Game Play: 60th
Putts Gained: 33rd
It's still a really good game to have.
As far as all-around last year, I liked Justin Rose's game a lot:
Driving Eff: 3rd
Green Zone: 6th
Yellow Zone: 20th
Red Zone: 2nd
Short Game: 35th
Putts Gained: 133rd
3JACK
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