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Paul Daugherty
Enquirer columnist files news and observations

Paul Daugherty
Paul Daugherty has been an Enquirer sports columnist since 1994 and has been chronicling Cincinnati sports since 1988. He has covered almost every major sporting event in America, as well as five Summer Olympics. Along the way, he has been named one of the country's top-5 sports columnists four times, and Ohio columnist of the year on seven different occasions. Last year, he was voted 2nd-best sports columnist in the country, by the Associated Press Sports Editors.

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Monday, April 14, 2008

Steve Flesch

OK, confession right off the top: I watched the Sunday round.

I'd said Thursday on the radio (700 WLW, 6-9 weeknights, call me) I wasnt watching because the paper didnt send me and I was a baby. True and true. I watched Sunday so I could talk about it Monday night. I did it for you, in other words. And here's what happened to S. Flesch:

He misclubbed at 12, dropped his tee ball in Rae's Creek and came unhinged.

No sport owns your head like golf. Of all T. Woods' attributes, his brain should be No.1. Tiger wills himself to play well when it matters. (Well, mostly. Yesterday he played like a mortal. He played MUNI-ficently, flubbing putt after large putt.) On a difficult windy day when keeping it together emotionally was Job One, only Trevor Immelman pulled it off.

You could almost see Flesch flying apart. He'd played very well for the better part of 3 days, but Sunday he was hanging on. He was 2 behind when his 8-iron at 12 hung in the wind and came straight down, like it was a duck that ran into some shotgun pellets. And that was it.

The concentration needed to stay close abandoned him. It was like watching a climber on a sheer cliff, losing his grip finger by finger: Double at 12, bogey 14, 15, 16 (mother, make it stop) and 17.
He'll remember that tee ball at 12 the rest of his life.

The "Tiger-proofing'' of the Masters has made it play much more like a US Open. Sunday charges are rare, thrilling comebacks are the same. Graphic yesterday: 16 of the last 17 winners have started the final round in the last twosome of the day. So much for drama.

Immelman was steady, that's all. Daring and heroic used to win this event. Now, steady wins. Steady can be dull. Immelman even dunked his tee shot at 16.

Flesch was Open-steady for 65 holes. He played great off the tee, very good from the fairway. If he'd made a few more putts...

And if he'd picked a 7-iron instead of an 8 on 12, we might have a Cincinnati Masters champ this AM. As it is, Flesch should be proud of the effort, and understand more completely than any of the rest of us the mental Everest a Masters champion must climb.


16 Comments:

at 8:39 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't quite understand the concept of 'Tiger proofing' a course by essentially making it longer. If I'm among the longest hitters am I not at a greater advantage when the course is longer? Is there something I'm missing here?

 
at 9:32 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

They need to remove the "rough" so the errant drives roll into the pine straw and place a premium on accuracy.

Paul, I disagree that it now plays like a US Open. Last year's scores were due to the wind, same as yesterday. Low round of the tourney was a 67, with lots of guys shooting 68 and 69 throughout the week.

Brad

 
at 11:10 AM Blogger Cheviot Sports Authority said...

There was more excitement on the Food Channel. At least Tiger lost.
ST CSA

 
at 11:46 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

8:39, I was wondering the same exact thing...

The only thing I can think of is that by lengthening it, it puts Tiger more at risk of making a mistake trying to hit each shot to his max distance...

Whereas, if you're going to shorten the course, Tiger's on the green off the tee, or at least lays up and has a much more manageable second shot.

Interesting concept though.... Tiger-proofing the course.

I was looking at his scorecard for some correlation between his score and the length of the hole. On the long holes, he tended to either birdie or bogey, or eagle in one case.

I think lengthening a hole forces Tiger into attempting shots that the field is not capable of taking. If he hits it right, he birdies or eagles, but if he hits it wrong, he bogies.

M

 
at 12:24 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Doc - I missed yesterday's thread. Congrats.

 
at 1:48 PM Blogger Another losing season said...

First, the Master's rough is more of an eyesore than anything else and certainly not close to US Open rough conditions. Secondly, Tiger has always struggled with his driver accuracy all the way back to his amateur days. He has never gained command of this part of his game like the other parts. Thirdly, Tiger will always have an advantage on longer courses because his long iron play is so much better than anyone else's.

All that said, the only thing that kept Tiger from winning was his abysmal putting all four rounds. He has struggled with his putter mightly this year and still manages to stay in contention. He even won at Bay Hill and putted awful by his own admission. That is testament to how far superior the rest of his game is.

Personally, I can live with the lengthened Masters course but I don't like the added trees on holes 15 and 17. I'd like to see those go. Before those were in place, a player could bomb a ball right into the slopes on 15 which gave him an additional 50 yards thus making a decision to go for the green more likely. Some of the drama has been taken away.

 
at 2:05 PM Blogger dll111 said...

You guys are missing the point. Tiger-proofing the course wasn't meant to prevent Tiger from winning (in that regard, it's somewhat of a misnomer). It was meant to make sure that no one ever again would shoot -18 at Augusta, as Tiger did in 1997.

Lengthening the course was needed if Augusta and/or the PGA Tour aren't going to require players to use a less rocket-like golf ball and less trampoline-like drivers, which is the eminently more logical thing to do, but would piss off the manufacturing industry. But putting in the rough, err, "second cut," along with all those trees has just absolutely ruined what was great about that course, what made that course different than every other course save St. Andrews. The ability to choose different avenues to the green is gone. The strategy is gone. The openness of the course is gone. The ability to shoot 65 on Sunday is virtually gone. The Old Course in Georgia is gone. What's left is another American parkland course, just with ridiculous greens and some bumps in the fairway. It's pretty sad actually.

Hey, the Mona Lisa's pretty small. Can't we change that?

 
at 4:32 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

every year i try to watch this thing. but after seeing the clips of nicklaus winning in '86, and then of arnie, and then the old newsreel of bobby jones - on and on - and the same old pan and glide shots of the flowers and perfectly clipped greens and fairways, it just seems to get more and more boring and staid.

i don't know why it is, but it just feels all-too-perfect, clipped, prepared, and pampered.

contrast that look with most of the british open venues, with the scraggly rough, gray skys and blowing wind, and it just feels like those venues show the true essence of golf.

 
at 5:03 PM Blogger Cheviot Sports Authority said...

Golf no longer has any credibility. The giant clubs with a six inch 'sweet spot' and golf balls that fly 400 yards, what a challenge.
ST CSA

 
at 6:07 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

I can't understand the enjoyment of watching golf. I've actually watched paint dry and had more enjoyment.

 
at 6:55 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Why're people who obviously don't play commenting here. The arts blog needs posters badly - be good people and help them out, OK?

 
at 7:10 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

First, I'm really amused by the absurdities they've created at the greens. When you have to shoot the ball uphill to get it downhill or around lips and over rolls, then you've made guesswork more important to putting than skill.

I assume we'll soon be seeing windmills, tunnel holes, and swinging dinosaur tails. Why not? If putt-putt's the wave of the future, why not just go for it now?

Let's have the Geico Gecko Hole where you have to dodge the spinning Gecko. How about the Bud Light Bottle hole where you hit the ball into the open neck of the bottle and it runs through a chute to another level where in drops into a Bud Light Draft Beer Mug?

Advertising and ridiculousness all rolled into one.

 
at 8:06 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

7:10 - greens with a lot of slope were a part of the original design by Jones and McKenzie. Greens in those days were much slower and could handle the break. The club hasn't done much at all in terms of changing the shape of the greens. It puts a premium on hitting the correct shot.

It's amazing how hilly the course is in person. TV doesn't do it justice.

 
at 8:24 AM Blogger Anonymous said...

I do play golf but will still agree. Aside from tennis, golf is the most boring thing to watch on... Ooo, Arts blog? Point me there!

Carson Palmer will win the Green Jacket (or gold)

Mike from scott

 
at 3:53 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks Doc, for your interview with Steve Flesch last week. I heard it and decided I was going to root for Steve. I watched more golf last weekend than I had my entire life and I actually won 6 pack and a pack of smokes because of the insight you provided. Not really a "golf guy" but at least now I'll have someone to root for. I already checked his tee times for Hilton Head.

 
at 4:19 PM Blogger ewad said...

One thing though the course wasn't totaly US Opened... if it was the winner wouldn't have shot -8.
It only becomes an issue when Tiger doesn't win.

 
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