Golf - classic or dud

this is kinda insane...he is putting insanely well.

10 clear? Not supposed to get this excited about golf on a Friday afternoon unless it's the Ryder.

(Of course, a bunch of ppl, incl Yang, haven't even teed off in r2, so one of them could shoot a 65 or something...)

could not be rooting harder for McIlroy. was crushed when he blew the last one

man going 65-64 is so pimp

in the water at 18...

BETHESDA, Md. -- Rory McIlroy has birdied the 16th and 17th holes to reach 13-under par at the U.S. Open, the lowest score at any point in the 111-year history of the tournament.

McIlroy hit his second shot on the par-4 17th at Congressional on Friday to 8 feet and made the putt that put him at 13 under. He eclipsed a record held by Tiger Woods (2000) and Gil Morgan (1992), both reaching 12 under at U.S. Opens at Pebble Beach.

McIlroy is searching for his first major victory. He leads Y.E. Yang by 10 shots with two holes to play in the second round. Yang had an afternoon tee time.

McIlroy eagled the par-4 eighth hole when he holed out from the fairway to get to 10 under.

wow, so if he goes under par in round 3 or 4 he'll just be breaking his own record, daaamn

aw

still, cutline should be at -3 and he just plays the wkend himself or vs a few dudes

double bogey too...still.

any golf pros here? why am I slicing my driver but not my irons? hand rotation?

angry peach!

cozen, you need to have the ball closer to your front foot when you address it, adjust your stance accordingly

/protip

that's for the driver/woods only

mcilroy on some tiger woods shit - too bad i havent been able to catch any of this

i'll watch him play tomorrow, he shouldn't collapse until sunday anyway

darragh, ball is already three balls toward the front foot at address

from googling, it seems this is a common problem

think I might try it ahead of my front foot, will give the head more time to get square

mcilroy on some tiger woods shit - too bad i havent been able to catch any of this

i'll watch him play tomorrow, he shouldn't collapse until sunday anyway

in his defense he only collapsed once and only had one bad hole today even though the pressure was clearly on him

would be awesome to have another golfer like this to cheer for.

yes absolutely

hmm cozen i believe u may be what is known as a 'poor golfer'

I suffer from somewhat of the same complaint tho it manifests itself in different ways

cozen do you create a divot when you hit your irons? creating a divot means you're staying down and through the ball- it's going straight. the natural inclination when hitting woods is to come up so you don't chunk it- stay down as much as possible when hitting woods without hitting sod. i had a bad slice and now it's a plable fade

also try to put the front foot slightly ahead of the back one- the farther the front foot is ahead of the back foot the more likely you are to hit a hook/draw

just got back from the driving range fyi ;)

kinda funny that berman is announcing this like americas cup or something -- "the swedes have passed the spainards"

Played today for the second time in a week. There is some oujia board action happening sometimes when I think to myself, goddammit, just put your head down and hit that ball. I was making these awful 10 yard chip shots this morning, just paused for a moment and blam, 80-yard Gateway Arch to the green. It's a fun feeling.

All I know is golf is frustrating as hell if you're not good at it.

I spend more time at driving ranges than actual golf courses. It's cheaper, for one thing, but the sound of a golf ball being smacked by a driver's sweet spot is amongst life's greatest small pleasures.

brownie, I have a natural fade (outside-in swing). tried hitting the driver today (on course probably not the best place to try fixes but w/e) with an accentuated in-out swing (aiming the down swing at one o'clock) and it's was hitting a straight push (leads me to believe there are two issues: not turning hands over so club face open at contact hence the push, couple with outside-in swing)

accentuating the inside-out swing was interesting though: could feel my right elbow much closer to my body when swing out on the downswing, which I think is how it should be

mid 80s on past three rounds but really want to break 80

harrington is so depressing to watch these days

is anyone watching this? rory is just...wtf

garrigus & his kiddie putter is lol

my 'wtf' is for Garrigus' toy putter...that's the shortest putter I've ever seen anyone use

xpost!

yeah i keep laughing every time they show it

jeeeeeesus

r<3ry

was a great shot there by serg

yeah amazing.

great moment

Rory bringing it home. He's gonna do this

yep can't see him failing the way he's playing. he has produced some unbelievable approach shots all day long. i'd say he'll feel he could have had a few more birdies. that said he saved par v well a few times too.

he played to keep it on an even keel, i think he could have attacked it more today but i think he'll go out to beat the course tomorrow, will win by more

he fairly attacked it imo...just wasn't putting as well. like he was close to the pin loads of times. would be v annoyed to par the 16th too.

199 thru 54 holes is still madness

yeah ridiculous really

I hope he wins--twice in a year would be cosmically cruel. I don't think it's quite the gimme Costas just described--a four-stroke swing on a single hole is not all that unusual--but he'd really have to be creative to lose this one. (Imagine how exciting the British Open would have potentially been if he'd hung on at the Masters...)

what's really encouraging (for him) and terrifying (for the others) is that his style doesn't really seem to include defence. like he just attacked the pins all day today and was completely in control. easier to make par when you're inside 8 feet over and over again. that birdie he got from the rough, was it on the 11th, that was incredible. plus the saved pars in the first few holes with the approach shot to about a foot and the bunker shot were both amazing too.

i'm going to the open on the saturday next month, so here's hoping he's still in this kind of form.

yeah he gave himself chance after chance for birdie today, and as you said his putting was a little off. it could have been a massacre by this stage

Over on the Tiger thread, I think I estimated his chance of catching Nicklaus (after this year's Masters, and that one ominous putt he missed) as down to something like 30 or 40%...somewhere in there. If McIlroy goes out and wins big tomorrow, I'd be inclined to cut that in half.

I predict a 70 and a 6-shot margin of victory.

here's the betting lines to win:

Rory McIlroy -2000
Field (Any Other Player) +850

pretty sure the mothers of the other players are rooting for mcilroy at this point

as long as he doesn't get a call from the mafia like he did last time

"Over on the Tiger thread, I think I estimated his chance of catching Nicklaus (after this year's Masters, and that one ominous putt he missed) as down to something like 30 or 40%...somewhere in there. If McIlroy goes out and wins big tomorrow, I'd be inclined to cut that in half."

Don't think its anything to do w/McIlroy tho'. He culd win many majors, not sure (and its not a criticism) he doesn't have the drive that Woods had (and probably still has, even if much of the body and mind are unwilling to accommodate).

All for another day - this is so great. Hope it all happens in a very boring way tonight.

Very quick explanation--I don't want to derail the thread into Tiger talk. If McIlroy wins today, especially if he does so convincingly, obviously that'll sweep away whatever mental garbage was lingering from the Masters (based on the past three days, apparently not much). And at that point, I could easily see him going out and winning four or five majors over the next five years. If that were to happen--a huge, speculative if, I know--then it's just math: five fewer chances for Tiger would cut his odds considerably.