Capelle On Golf

Tiger Woods
Woods missed four of the first five greens in places where mere mortals would have made bogeys or worse. But he escaped with pars on all four before missing a four foot birdie putt on the sixth hole. At this point, darkness set in, which is just as well because he was struggling with his C Game and looked prime to head north above the cut line. Unfortunately for Woods, he’ll be forced to go back to work early in the morning, giving him little time to work on his game. The good news, however, is that is going to rain most of the night, and Woods has won eight of his 14 majors on wet courses.

Phil Mickelson
Mickelson drove into a bad lied on the 18th hole, the ninth of his second round. Rather than playing a safe and sane recovery to the fairway, he went for the green, bring a big number into play. He scored a double bogey, leaving him at one over and in danger of missing the cut. But he fought back with a 33 on his second nine to finish at two under, six back of Matt Kuchar, who has one top 10 in his career in the majors, and five back of Nick Watney, whose only two top 10s have come in this year’s majors.

Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy seems determined to atone for his second round meltdown at the British Open. After starting his first round with a bogey and a double to go three over after his first four holes, he’s rebounded strongly, playing the his next 32 holes in eight under. At the beginning of the year I speculated on the chances that McIlroy and Rickie Fowler could be candidates for Best Ever. Seven months later, it appears that Fowler, as well as he’s played at times, lacks the consistency, having already missed eight cuts on the PGA Tour. McIlroy is a different story. He won at Quail Hollow with a closing 62 and recorded his second third place finish in a major at the Open. Which brings us to the PGA - if he is, indeed, a Best Ever candidate, there is no time like now for him to start winning majors. There are only two players ahead of him after the second day, and neither has won a major. So look out - if manages to win, it could be the breakout of golf’s next big mega star.

Seung Yul Noh
One of the announcers said that many tour pros consider this 19 year old South Korean phenom to be the Asian Rory McIlroy. Who knows, but he’s tied with the real life McIlroy after 36 holes with rounds of 68-71, and he is showing the kind of coolness that LPGA three time major winner Yani Tseng has showed in winning three majors by the age of 21. He won earlier this year on the European Tour and tied for 40th at this year’s U.S. Open. Will he fold this weekend like you’d expect an inexperienced teenager to do, or is he that special kind of player (like Tseng) who thrives on the heat? We’ll find out soon enough.

Dustin Johnson
This guy is a monster. On the dogleg par five fifth, which measures 598 yards, he hit the green with a drive and a wedge, though he did benefit from cutting the corner. One announcer said his drive was only 350 yards. At any rate, after two rounds, he’s only three back of the leader and seems determined to make up for his final round disaster at the U.S. Open.

Dave Feherty
It seems to be getting easier and easier for the scribes to pick on David Feherty, but hey, that’s the price he must pay for unabashedly supporting Woods through thick and thin. At any rate, on Friday he made what surely must be the dumbest announce quote of the year when he said Camillo Villegas is “The best athlete on tour without question.”  Yes, he’s in great shape, but that does not make him a great athlete. To be one you must have incredible eye/hand coordination and having the mental toughness to win the game’s biggest championships year after year - in other words, Tiger Woods. Being in great shape makes a person look like an athlete, but it doesn’t mean they are one.