Capelle On Golf

Tiger Woods
Woods started hot, moving to -3 after four holes, then he lost his way off the tee, missing six of his last eight fairways. On the par-three 17th he faced a 60 foot putt (720 inches). As the ball neared the cup, Woods raised his putter in anticipation of a monster putt dropping, but the ball stopped with the front edge of the ball a quarter inch short of the cup. When he was winning, these kind of putts seemed to find the cup. Woods said his goal was to shoot under par, and he did, with a 71.

Sean Foley and Tiger Woods
The whole golf world is watching and waiting for Woods to announce the official partnering of himself and super teacher Sean Foley, the guru has helped build the swings of Hunter Mahan, Sean O’Hair, and Justin Rose. According to Foley, “Nothing is official. Just sharing ideas.”  Whatever. We know Woods is super secretive, and so he may not want to deal with a 1,000 questions on the partnership while he’s in the midst of playing a major. At any rate, the pairing makes sense. We know Woods has almost always had a coach. Woods need helps. They’ve been spotted on the range. Foley accompanied him on two practice rounds. Woods is friends with several of Foley’s students. Foley is based in Florida, Woods’ home state. Etc.

Ernie Els
Ernie Els could be especially hungry for a major after blowing the U.S. Open, which he lost by only two shots. I don’t know where they are hiding the stats, but according to an announcer, Els, who was four under after 14, had hit every green but one. It could be that his game just fits this course as he did finish one back of a playoff in 2004. If he does win he tie Phil Mickelson with four majors, but would moves ahead based on the tiebreaker - he would have won three different majors to Phil’s two.

Phil Mickelson
Mickelson birdied the last two holes before darkness fell to go one under for his first 11 holes. Were it not for four of five miraculous chips and pitches, he might have already shot himself out of contention. Mickelson finished two shots out of a playoff at Whistling Straits in 2004, so perhaps he, like Els, has a affinity for this lakeside layout. As far as his recent poor starts, now we know the answer - he’s battling arthritis. That he’s giving up his beloved burgers says all you need to know about how seriously he’s taking his condition.

The Field is in Contention
About the only players who have shot themselves out of contention already are the club pros (only two matched or beat par), Padraig “The Mad Scientist” Harrington (75), John Daly (76), and Sergio Garcia (78). Otherwise, 77 players were at par or better when the horn went off ending play with , which had started three hours late due to fog.

Whistling Straits
Kudos to the PGA for bringing their major back to this course only six years after it made its major’s debut. I still not sure if this can be called a great course in the tradition of the Oakmont’s, Shinnecock’s, Pebble Beaches and St. Andrews’ of the world. But Whistling Straits is one of the most photogenic. There is variety in the holes with seven averaging under par, and five more that are averaging more than a quarter stroke over par. It’s a muscular par 72 that measures over 7,500 yards.