WGC - Bridgestone Invitational [spoilers]

Sounds better every day Osahar! Hope you enjoy the rest of it.
 
This is so cool, Osahar. Glad to hear you're really enjoying yourself.
 
Hark! Do I hear the Mayflower truck pulling up to Firestone........looking for Tiger?? :D (Oops...maybe to move him out instead of up.)!!!!!
 
You called it Johneli. Tiger at -7 and in 2nd with a 65 today. And he even missed quite a few putts that he should have made.
 
Ok, Day 3 is now in the books. Was one heck of a long day, but a LOT of fun. Got over to the course about 9:30 after eating breakfast at the hotel. Watched several groups tee off from the Bridgestone suite, then followed Charles Howell III & Anders Hansen for their round. For a couple of guys that were in the bottom half of the standings, they can play some damned good golf. Saw Howell drop 2 amazing putts from over 25' out (one was 33' and change I remember) and had a great round.

Stopped in and had lunch after that, then headed out to the 7th green to watch some groups come through until Hunter Mahan and Zack Johnson got there. We had planned to follow the two of them around for the rest of their round, but that's when it finally started raining heavy for a while. Broke out the ponchos for the 2nd time and just headed back to the clubhouse after they teed off on #8. Spent the rest of the afternoon watching the Golf Channel coverage in the suite where it was warm and dry!

Tiger had an amazing round today, really turned it up starting with the 9th hole. Watching Paddy answer back by moving from -7 to -10 was fun as well. Just a lot of great golf going on today.

After everyone was finished on the course, Bridgestone had a special treat in store for their guests. They shuttled everyone over to Hackers Bar & Grill. It's attached to the 9-hole public-accessible course at Firestone CC, located across the property from the main clubhouse. They had the whole placed closed down for their Ambassador and Clubhouse VIP guests. Out back, they had a tent set up with a calypso band, food including steaks on the grill, a full sundae bar, and (for us golfers) the best part - the whole driving range was set up with all their clubs out for anyone to hit and 2 ball fitting stations. All the WC wedges, J36 iron family, J38 irons (JB's spyshots), J36 hybrids, J33 & J38 Fairways, and J38 drivers. Might have missed something, but you get the drift. :banana:

Needless to say, we took full advantage of the range and I tried out the J33R driver (w/Graphite Design YSQ Tour AD Stiff), J38R (w/stock Fujikura Motore F1 stiff), J38 Fairway, J36 Hybrid, J38 iron, and WC wedges. Now, I've never even held a Bridgestone club before this weekend, but I absolutely LOVED both drivers. I think I liked the J38 a little more, but was able to hit both of them very well and LOVED how that Graphite Design shaft felt - the hype is deserved! I liked the J38 fairway, but didn't think it was better than the Nickent 4DX or Taylormade R9 fairways. The J38 irons are great looking in person, and perform better than anything I've hit personally. And the WC wedges definitely get my seal of approval - they just feel "right". The J36 hybrid I could do without, my Nickent 3DX RC's and several others I've hit felt better and performed better imho.

I could see myself with a J38R driver in the future, and maybe the irons. I liked the irons more than any of the Adams/Ping/Cleveland/Taylormade/Callaway irons I've hit, but there are some I'd still need to try before being sure (4DX CB/4DX Pro/Victory Red series/Mizuno).

Anyways, enough about my golf club-gasm. Was excited about getting to hit clubs that aren't even on the market yet, what can I say? :confused2:

And tomorrow promises to be a great finish to the tournament. It'll be interesting to see who takes it! :clapp:
 
Oh, forgot to add something earlier. The J38 irons they had there were equipped with Project X Rifle Flighted 6.0 steel shafts. I've never seen them on a club before - seeing a steel shaft with no steppings threw me off at first, but really liked how the club performed.
 
holy carp! That's one heck of a treat, that sounds amazing. I am SO happy to hear you are having a good time and Bridgestone is treating you right. I can't wait to hear what tomrrow brings for you. Great update, I love it!
 
Osahar,
You truly got the VIP treatment today and we could not be happier. That is what this amazing contest was about and we are just glad that one of our forum members one the biggest contest THP has ever done. Congrats and glad you got treated like royalty.
 
Oh, forgot to add something earlier. The J38 irons they had there were equipped with Project X Rifle Flighted 6.0 steel shafts. I've never seen them on a club before - seeing a steel shaft with no steppings threw me off at first, but really liked how the club performed.


Do you mean it looked like a graphite shaft instead of a traditional steel shaft? Goldwin made those years ago, if that is what you meant.
 
Do you mean it looked like a graphite shaft instead of a traditional steel shaft? Goldwin made those years ago, if that is what you meant.

Yes, exactly. At first glance I thought it was a shiny silver graphite, but they were steel. I've seen pictures of them, but never in person. Threw me off until I picked it up and realized it was steel. And after hitting them, I see why they are a popular shaft.
 
The one expression I do not want to hear today: "Luck of the Irish!" Go Tiger!
 
Tiger is dialed in and playing great. Looking to be good finish.
 
Tiger falling back and Paddy playinig great right now.
 
This has been a fun round to watch. Tiger hit a 176 yard 9 iron out of the rough to within 4 feet of the pin on one hole and Harrington hit a 382 yard drive. These guys are so good, it is unbelievable. My two favorite golfers on the men's tour, so it is really great to watch them in this final twosome!
 
Agreed soxy. Looking like it is coming down to a great finish.
 
Tiger down by 1 just hit a 181 yard, 8 iron and left it 12 inches from the cup.
 
Paddy missed the green and went with a flopshot and hit it in the water over the green. Craziness.
 
Can everybody that doubts this guy understand 70 wins before the age of 34? That is stinking absurd.
 
This may sound extremely stupid/insane but sometimes I wonder if he is actually getting the credit he deserves...I just read JB's reply and think about it...3 less wins than Jack BUT 7 years younger...ridiculous!...I'm 40yrs old and I was too young, didn't really follow golf and/or remember the bulk of Jack's career and definitely not Arnie so I guess I'm partial towards Tiger...I know I very often take Tiger for granted until I actually bring myself back down to earth and look at the actual numbers AND what I've seen with my own eyes...numbers don't lie and as a Parcells/Belichick fan, they have always said "you are what you are" and what Tiger is, is the best of all time in my opinion...in my life I have had the chance to and have seen who I consider "Special" athletes who I have luckily have seen live (some are Bobby Orr, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Bo Jackson, Peyton Manning, Pedro Martinez, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, etc.)...I made a point to go to the TPC Mansfield (in MA) to see Tiger in person to add to that list and it was great (he hit driver out of the rough on a par 5 and I was 30 ft. from him)...we are witnessing golf and sport greatness and sometimes I have to remind myself of that
 
This may sound extremely stupid/insane but sometimes I wonder if he is actually getting the credit he deserves...I just read JB's reply and think about it...3 less wins than Jack BUT 7 years younger...ridiculous!...I'm 40yrs old and I was too young, didn't really follow golf and/or remember the bulk of Jack's career and definitely not Arnie so I guess I'm partial towards Tiger...I know I very often take Tiger for granted until I actually bring myself back down to earth and look at the actual numbers AND what I've seen with my own eyes...numbers don't lie and as a Parcells/Belichick fan, they have always said "you are what you are" and what Tiger is, is the best of all time in my opinion...in my life I have had the chance to and have seen who I consider "Special" athletes who I have luckily have seen live (some are Bobby Orr, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Bo Jackson, Peyton Manning, Pedro Martinez, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, etc.)...I made a point to go to the TPC Mansfield (in MA) to see Tiger in person to add to that list and it was great (he hit driver out of the rough on a par 5 and I was 30 ft. from him)...we are witnessing golf and sport greatness and sometimes I have to remind myself of that


Well the biggest difference between Tiger and Jack is that in Jack's day, there were always a half-dozen guys who were fighting it out week after week and at least another half-dozen who were consistently in the running.

Today there's Tiger in the lead and the nearest second place player hasn't even turned onto the same road yet. Today was about as close as it gets as far as serious challenges for Tiger go. So when Tiger has to essentially keep from beating himself instead of worrying about challengers, it's not hard to understand reaching 70 wins so quickly.

Back in Jack's day, the contenders weren't just a handful of so-so players either. There was Trevino, Player, Palmer (for a while), Floyd, Weiskopf, Watson, Moody, Casper, Seve (in Jack's later years), Kite, Crenshaw and the list goes on and on - a veritable "Who's who?" of golf history and each one capable of beating Jack regularly, not just once in a blue moon.

But who is really a serious and consistent contender these days? Sure, there are players today who - on their best day - can beat Tiger, but their "best days" are few and far between.

I'm not taking anything away from Tiger, but I'd love to see how he would have fared if he had to face golf's version of "Murderer's Row" every week. In all honesty, when people talk about Tiger being able to beat Jack's records, the only thing I think of that might be an obstacle for him would be boredom.


-JP
 
Could that also be because Tiger is soooo much better than anyone else that nobody can compete with him. Maybe Jack just was not that much better than his counterparts. Take Tiger away and we saw great competition between fabulous golfers with some rising to the occasion.
 
That is an interesting point JB, it's been all the rage lately to talk about how much better Nicklaus' generation of golfers is compared to todays players. You might be onto something there.
 
I absolutely believe it. Take a look at what these players do week in and week out and that the 200th guy 30 years ago was nothing and now they can come out and play.
 
Things such as the mini tours, college golf, etc... are all so much better and bigger now. Then you throw in video tape and that players can fine tune a swing that much better than before. There is no question.
 
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