I had no intention of watching but turned it on and Phil kept me entertained. Not sure who thought he and Chuck were underdogs. Steph and Peyton are good players but theirs swings aren’t capable of holding up like a pro. Phil was in his element.
The Match 3 Kickoff to THPers
Yes he has a long way to go, and made zebras look endangered in that horrid shirt. Barkley ragged him about it pretty bad early on. Love to see Romo give it a shot who also had some mini tour play.
Sucks that the competition didn't exist... Just goes to show how much better Pros are at the game of golf.
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- #329
Everybody has off days, although not everybody does it on a huge stage.
He has talked about his play on the Korn Ferry Tour and what the differences are between the best in the world and a player like him. He knows that he isn't anywhere near their level of play. But from a pure handicap standpoint, he is on the better side of scratch.
Three takeaways:
1. Phil is very good and talks a lot with most good stuff. Somehow he was the right coach for Charles.
2. Barkley gets props for improving and overcoming demons.
3. Curry and Payton lost with class despite an off day.
Want Romo in next match with a pro vs Phil and Charles
Heck give Bryson a chance as he would bring the viewers as well.
1. Phil is very good and talks a lot with most good stuff. Somehow he was the right coach for Charles.
2. Barkley gets props for improving and overcoming demons.
3. Curry and Payton lost with class despite an off day.
Want Romo in next match with a pro vs Phil and Charles
Heck give Bryson a chance as he would bring the viewers as well.
5150
Well-known member
Not surprised... although it’s for charity those guys are elite athletes and both are champions... I’m sure they don’t like getting their @$$es handed to them on live TV.
To me, it’s yet another startling exhibit of how good the Tour players are. Yes, it was an exhibition. Yes, it was in essence a home venue for Phil, but Phil has reached a point in his career, due to age, where he is struggling to compete well on the Tour (although he is taking no prisoners on the Champions Tour). The difference in skill and ability to execute shots is vast.
It’s like some posts I made this summer, when I had a chance encounter with a fringe LPGA player. She could absolutely kick my butt, every which way. Sometimes watching them on tv, it is not so obvious how great the best players are. When you watch them compared to mere mortals, it is obvious how great they are.
cjroman
Club Hoing Ain't Easy
Moving forward, I feel the two pro/two athlete format is better. Set up the match format to push the non pros to have to perform and carry more of the load.
Phil is awesome in this. I love the banter and the explanation of the shots.
Peyton was too quiet. He had a couple of good lines yesterday, but nothing like the previous match.
Bring back JT or some other young pro to do on course commentary.
Curry was well, a bit of a disappointment. I expected better play from a +1.
Great to see Chuck striking the ball better. He lagged some great putts to give Phil easy cleanup.
Phil is awesome in this. I love the banter and the explanation of the shots.
Peyton was too quiet. He had a couple of good lines yesterday, but nothing like the previous match.
Bring back JT or some other young pro to do on course commentary.
Curry was well, a bit of a disappointment. I expected better play from a +1.
Great to see Chuck striking the ball better. He lagged some great putts to give Phil easy cleanup.
5150
Well-known member
I recently read Tom Coyne’s Paper Tiger in which he spends a year practicing daily, working out, getting top notch coaching, etc to see what would happen if a single digit handicap tried to get a tour card. It’s a great read along with his other golf books.
Anyway - there’s a run in the book where he describes the different levels of golfers, including The Best Golfer at Your Club, who is probably a scratch handicap - and how scratch means nothing to the pros, and how The Best Golfer at Your Club simply cannot play when compared to the garden variety PGA tour player. It’s enlightening for sure.
Best player at my former club called Argyle CC in Silver Spring MD last ten years or so went onto college at Virginia and now a top 100 on tour - Denny McCarthy and the gap even then between him and other fine players was truly substantial. He was just that much better in all regards and under pressure got even better. He has a brother who has been runner up CC twice - who is longer than him but not in his league overall any regards.
LOL....Phil is and always be, "The Man"
I agree, but I also would put my money on you in a match against Steph Curry straight up.
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- #343
Dan is 3 strokes better handicap wise than Curry. Isn’t he supposed to beat him straight up?
I was in and out of the broadcast yesterday. I just caught that Curry was a plus, didn’t know exactly where he landed. I knew Dan was a plus, but didn’t know he is +4 until you said Dan only gets one stroke from Phil. I believed Dan and Curry’s indices were somewhat the same.
I sometimes wonder how meaningful indices are, once they are in the plus range. Many of the tour pros have +5 to +8 indices, but if I go play them on a difficult course, I know that I need more than 10 strokes to compete.
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- #345
You should listen to Off Course
I’m not sure I disagree, my point was everybody questioning a guys handicap (which happens every one of these), yet it’s legit. He has been open about it. He talks about his lowest (+1.5) and how he fluctuates to around a 2 depending on how he is playing.
He got beat by one of the best ever, at a course he had never played and struggled in a few spots. I think that is like a lot of golfers scratch or otherwise. To use a parallel, you are a very good golfer. You are on a journey to scratch. Once there could you show up at Steph Curry’s home course and beat him from the back tees? Maybe? It would be fun for you as a basketball fan I’m sure
With all that said, I’m not a super fan or anything. I thought he Tiger’d a bit on the mic, although the announcers only seemed like they wanted to talk to Charles. I preferred the Brady and Manning one where both non pros were talking. I just happen to enjoy the heck out of these and hope we get to see 1-2 a year for the long haul.
If I was sounding too harsh of Curry, then I was probably being overly critical. To my eye, there were many parts of his game, even putting, that simply did not look like a plus. I am not sure how many times that they got to play the course before being on tv. Even though Curry should be used to pressure, it may not translate from basketball games in an arena to teeing it up in front of a national tv audience. The guy has a seriously smooth full swing, with lots of club speed, that is for sure.You should listen to Off Course
I’m not sure I disagree, my point was everybody questioning a guys handicap (which happens every one of these), yet it’s legit. He has been open about it. He talks about his lowest (+1.5) and how he fluctuates to around a 2 depending on how he is playing.
He got beat by one of the best ever, at a course he had never played and struggled in a few spots. I think that is like a lot of golfers scratch or otherwise. To use a parallel, you are a very good golfer. You are on a journey to scratch. Once there could you show up at Steph Curry’s home course and beat him from the back tees?
With all that said, I’m not a super fan or anything. I thought he Tiger’d a bit on the mic, although the announcers only seemed like they wanted to talk to Charles. I preferred the Brady and Manning one where both non pros were talking. I just happen to enjoy the heck out of these and hope we get to see 1-2 a year for the long haul.
I would be the first to admit that handicaps do not travel well, especially lower handicaps. It is so easy to lose a stroke here or there and all of a sudden, you are fighting to break 80. I definitely know that my index doesn’t travel well. No matter what adjustments are made, the distance advantage of playing at 4000 feet does not translate to sea level. Anyway, that is a different story.
I enjoyed the broadcast immensely. Steph was not a tv star, but then, how often is he in front of a camera, being asked to be a glib conversationalist? With the exception of Phil acting as host, it was set up from the beginning to make Barkley the star, but it was a TNT broadcast, so that is no surprise. One thing for sure... It is difficult to compete at golf and have your attention distracted at the same time. I remember watching @OITW as the Morgan Cup, being able to take photo after photo in the midst of a pretty dang good singles match going with Jose. I actually marveled that he could do both. I am sure that Steph was feeling frustrated that he wasn’t playing to his capability and that makes somebody turn inward, as well. I will look forward to the next one.
He said he was afraid to play Dan unless he gets two pops.
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- #350
haha, sold. Playing for dinner at the club.