atwal strategy on the 18th @ wyndam

what are your thoughts about arjun atwal's strategy on the 18th hole at the wyndam last weekend? he purposely overclubbed on his approach to use the grandstand as a backstop and get a drop. i thought it was crazy at the time, but he carried his plan out to perfection.

Yeah they were talking about this on XM radio the other day and a guy called in saying why is it that Dustin Johnson gets a penalty for what he did and ultimately loses a major because of it yet Atwal can intentionally hit it to that spot and in their words manipulate the rules to get an easier shot for the win. I think it's important to know the rules and use them to your advantage, on the other hand I think he could have just played to the fat of the green and two putted easier than mess around with that drop and subsequent chip. If he ended up bogeying the hole and say lost in a playoff he would have gotten hammered by the fans and media for that decision. But it worked, good for him.

i agree with you P4B. i think playing for the center of the green would have been safer. it wasn't a easy up and down from there, especially with the pressure of a 2 year tour exemption over his head.

He played it perfectly which was amazing. I thought he was gonna blow it for sure, seems to happen anytime someone tries something cute like that.

Pros will do that from time to time. Depending on the hole it will take a lot of trouble out of play and leave them with a relatively easy up and down.

I'm against what he did. The average Joe doesn't get that kind of help, if we overshoot the green we are penalized. We took advantage of the technically at won the tournament. What happened to the best player making the best shots to win? Sorry, but I don't agree with a player making a move like that.

Is what he did really that different from a guy looking at a downhill run to a green across a firm fairway and deciding to just give the ball a gentle nudge down the hill so that it just runs its natural course ending up at the hole instead of trying to hit a more correct wedge shot that spins and stops on the green? Crossing over to a different sport we do not question football teams deep in their own territory with the lead at the end of the game when they purposefully take a safety instead of risking a fumble and possible touchdown by the opposing team. Is there really a difference? Everything carries some element of risk so whatever the player does it could blow up in his face.

I do think it is fortunate for golf generally that we see very few of those kinds of opportunities week to week on the tour and it probably even speaks well for the people who are responsible for setting up the courses that we see very little of what is sort of a gimmick play very often. So while I don’t fault the guy for doing it I would think that competitive tour golf was less interesting if we saw something like that week in and week out. For the same reason I am glad that we do not see every pro football team send its punter or QB to the back of the end zone to take a safety every time that play is a possibility.

I think it was the best way to make sure he gave himself a chance to win. Take into consideration the lie he had. The ball was going to jump out of the rough with a much smoother swing with a wood than trying to hack it out with a iron. We have all been there; deep rough, swing out of our shoes, club face closes down = O.B. I think even with taking a iron to the fat part of green still would have required long iron at least. Not to mention, even if he got it to green out of that rough, it would have probably ended up over the back anyhow. Great decision, execution, WIN. Congratulation 1st PGA Tour Winner, Arjun Atwal.

good point chawnm. i've had my share of 5 irons out of the thick stuff that only go about 50 yards.

9-Iron Man said:

I'm against what he did. The average Joe doesn't get that kind of help, if we overshoot the green we are penalized. We took advantage of the technically at won the tournament. What happened to the best player making the best shots to win? Sorry, but I don't agree with a player making a move like that.

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But the average Joe isn't hitting into the 18th green surrounded by media towers and pavilions either. Sometimes it's more than making the best shot to win, it's utilizing the best strategy too. He still had to make the shot right? If he flubbed his chip he'd be getting crushed for not just going for the green.