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121st US OPEN at Torre Pines


regaleagle

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Lots of possibilities this week.......it's very difficult to pick a winner with the quality golfers playing each week on the Tour these days.  Seems like every week we are surprised.  Phil Michelson has a chance to consummate his career grand slam this week with a win here.......the US OPEN is the only one he is missing.  I'm not pulling for DeChambeau or Brooks Koepka this week........just to clear the air on that one.  Rory and any other foreign golfers ain't on my wish list to win the US OPEN either.  A Michelson win would be unbelievable, but that's hoping for a little too much at this late date, IMHO.  Then there's our Texas guys Jordan Speith and Scottie Sheffler......both are highly capable!  They will be paired together today with newcomer sensation Will Zalatoris from Calif......he went to Wake Forest, but should do well on this course. Patrick Reed is from Houston, Jimmy Walker from San Antonio, and South African Dylan Fritelli is actually a UT grad off the Longhorn golf team(but I consider him a foreigner anyway).   It's wide open this week......who's your favorite to win it this week?

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Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka, and Collin Morikawa from L.A.(UC-Berkeley) will tee off at 10:29 this morning......that should be a "hot" 3-some to watch.  Speith, Sheffler, and Zalatoris drew a late tee-time today at 4:25 pm.......so that means they will have an early tee-time tomorrow.  These groups will tee off starting on #10 today, while groups like Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, and Justin Rose will tee off of #1 @ 4:36 pm today.  Tomorrow the groups will flip-flop tee times and starting tees, respectively.  

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I'ma thinkin' a late tee-time today will be more conducive to a windier condition later in the day than those that start out early.  So the leaders after Day 1 will most probably be coming from primarily the morning tee times today......just my opinion before anything happens.  After Day 2 we should have a pretty good idea of how things will begin to shake out for the weekend rounds.  Four Rounds of US OPEN pressure golf will probably mean a tight leaderboard for the final day on Sunday.

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Here's an interesting tidbit for this year's OPEN......Francesco and Eduardo Molinari of Italy are brothers and both are playing in this year's US OPEN.  I would be interested to see if there were ever any other brothers that competed in the same US OPEN together.  They are obviously not paired together......that would be too confusing.  Maybe Lanny and Bobby Wadkins did it before.......maybe not......I don't know.  Can't think of any other brother golfers on the PGA Tour in recent history(last 30 yrs) off the top of my head.

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Live televised coverage starts today at 10 am Central Time on The Golf Channel for those of us that love golf. I watch it every week......even the Ladies Tour.  Some of those ladies golfers are pretty darn good nowadays, Huh?  Of course the technological advances in equipment, golf balls, and teaching/learning methods has evolved so much in the last 10 yrs.  If you have the right teacher, the advanced equipment that is tailored for your swing specifically, and the desire to put in the time and effort to become an accomplished golfer.......then that makes things alot easier today than when I began golfing as a boy back in the late 60's with my Dad's used clubs.  The clubs, the real woods, the balls, and even the old Bulls Eye putter........they were very difficult to learn with compared to today's equipment.  And the golf courses are more manicured today, too.......that also helps alot.  The sport is just better today in every way........but it's still very difficult to master this great game of you against the course and nature.

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Every week on the PGA Tour.......you see some of the world's best golfers not even break par. These are young men in their prime.....using the very best equipment specially tailored for their swings. Just about all of these guys practically grew up with a golf club in their hands.......and had top instruction at an early age going forward to today.  Yet many of them fail to shoot much better than par........with some of those even making the cut to play on the weekend for the BIG BUCKS.  So what does that tell you, Huh?  That's how truly difficult it is to just shoot par.  And that's playing on highly manicured surfaces at these tour stops.

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Well the game is on now......the tournament has finally begun.  It's gonna be a long drawn-out affair these next few days for all the players, wives, and fans.  Some will play well on Day 1 and fall back on Day 2 while others do just the opposite.  Some will have tough sledding both days and then there are those that hope they have 2 good days to make the cut and position themselves at least in the middle of the pack for the weekend rounds.  But making the cut on Friday earns you a paycheck......and a little bit of a chance to move up the leaderboard and to finish nicely. 😎   A Top Ten finish would be a major league accomplishment for any of these golfers.......and pay very very well.

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Mickelson is off early today with his group and preferred weather.......but he's finding lots of trouble in his round early on.  Hard to make up strokes in a US OPEN.  You get behind the 8-ball in this tournament and it's just very tough to climb your way back.  The preferred result is to pick and choose the spots to take a chance, and then to play relatively clean on the rest of the holes......don't play risky.   Of course Bryson DeChambeau already has stated yesterday that he's going for it on every tee.......just crushing the ball as far as he can hit it.  So that's his philosophy for his game at this moment in time.  We'll see how that works out for him with these narrow fairways and high rough.  But the grasses at Torrey Pines even though it may be high......the golfers say they can still get it out of the tall stuff easier with these grasses then some others around the Tour......so we'll see.

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The greens are fast and will get faster as the day progresses as the sun dries out the dampness from early-morning fog.  The winds also dry out the greens and then they get "harder" and slick......not to mention what the wind does to your ball flight and spin.  So that's why I say the afternoon tee times are at a disadvantage every day right off the Pacific Ocean this week.  The Speith, Sheffler, and Zalatoris grouping tees off this afternoon at 4:25 PM EDT or about 3:25 Texas time......which is about 1:25 PM out there in California.  I fully expect the guys will have some wind to deal with and faster, drier greens.  I think Speith really prefers super-fast greens.

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I kinda look for Victor Hovland of Norway to do well this week.......this guy's definitely got some game. I think this is his 2nd yr on the tour......he's been in contention on Sundays in lots of tournaments so far in his short career. But there are so many talented young players out there that are all very capable of playing great......that it really doesn't matter who the competition is.  The competiton is against yourself more than anything else......and sometimes the conditions if you handle them.  Alot of times it just comes down to how well and accurately you are driving the ball off the tees and putting well at that particular progression of time in the year......if your game is "on" or not.

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In major tournaments like the US OPEN.......I think alot of times it is more difficult for the seasoned pros to play their best game than it is for the younger, less experienced players to play their best game.  It's a mental thing.......the seasoned players have already been in these situations and have some mental "negatives" in the back of their minds that many of the younger players don't.  And also  maybe a little more pressure that is self-induced and also higher expectations than do the  less renowned players.

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And sometimes even having a preconcieved knowledge of the nuances of the course that they have played many times before will impact a more experienced golfer that has better knowledge of the course than a player that just plays the course the way it is set up and does not have much in-depth experience with that course.

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4 minutes ago, regaleagle said:

And sometimes even having a preconcieved knowledge of the nuances of the course that they have played many times before will impact a more experienced golfer that has better knowledge of the course than a player that just plays the course the way it is set up and does not have much in-depth experience with that course.

In other words........knowing too much is not necessarily a "good thing" on these types of events where the set up is "tougher or different" than it was before.  Now the golfer needs to get past all the previous knowledge and just take-in the course the way it is set up  and playing now.

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The good thing and perhaps best equalizer of these golf tournaments is that it takes 4 rounds of golf to crown a champion.  This gives all golfers a chance to make the cut after 2 rounds and then 2 more rounds to give it their best shot to win and place in the money each week.  The money is very BIG.....esp. at the top positions.  So if you can just make the cut on Friday.......then play great on the weekend.......you can make some serious money even if you don't place in the top ten spots.  Lots of PGA Tour players don't even win a tournament all year, yet earn over a million or even eclipse 2 million for that year.......the money is that good if you make alot of cuts.  You really only need to have a couple of tournaments during the year where you place in the Top 5 to earn over a million.......or just make alot of cuts.......because if you do, you should eventually find yourself finishing high on that final leaderboard on Sunday.

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Just to give you an idea.......this year's US OPEN has a total payout purse of $12.5 million and the winner's share is $2.25 million.  Even runner-up will get 1.35 million and 10th place will earn somewhere around $300,000 depending on the number of ties above and at 10th place.  The golfer that ends up in the last payout position should still earn in excess of $28-30,000......and that's about 60th place depending on the number of ties that make the cutline for the final two rounds on the weekend.

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I'm still playing with "old" equipment.......my 2012 set of Titleist irons(3-W, gap & SW) and 2 fairway metals.....18 & 21-degree.  My Driver is a Taylormade R-9......that's how old it is.......but I like it and hit it out there consistently about 260......sometimes even longer.  But if I had the new more advanced clubs of today instead of those 13 y.o. irons and metals........I'm pretty sure I could improve my game by at least several strokes per round on average.  That's just the magic that happens with today's advanced equipment over the equipment that is 10 yrs or older now.  Lots of good stuff in golf in the past 10 yrs for sure......even in quality golf equipment pro-line like I have.  I tend to use equipment that the pros use on Tour......mainly because I have a good game and want to use the best because I'm at a level where it makes a difference for my game......whereas a golfer at a lesser level would not see much difference playing with higher quality clubs over midrange clubs.  So why pay the higher price?  A top-of-the line set of Titleist clubs will go for in excess of $2500 today.......not counting a new golf bag or any other accessories.......just the clubs.  At trade-in value......even though my Titleist clubs I have now are in superclean shape and a full matching set of the highest quality you could buy.......I would be lucky to get $400 for the whole set including the metals and driver because they are considered "outdated" now.  For someone moving from midrange to top quality and improving his game......maybe a young high schooler or even a young man playing the game.......this kind of used set of tour-line clubs would be an excellent move up and an excellent set to buy to save himself lots of money and still have a fantastic set of tour line clubs in the Titleist brand......if he can hit stiff shaft blades.

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I would like to buy some new stuff now.......made more specifically for my swing speed and tech advances now.......but I really need to spend some time getting "fitted" again and do some shopping around first before jumping over to a new set.  We had so much rain this Spring that now all the courses are in better shape than they have been for years in Texas......except for West Texas.  So I'm ready for another "updated" set again......it's expensive, but I love golf and I'm a better than average "Joe Golfer" that thinks he's better than average, LOL.  Just sayin' it like it is......I've been playing this game competitively for about 50 yrs now.......not nearly as much as some guys, but quite a bit early in life and now quite a bit in my later years.  For me......it's like riding a bicycle once I have laid off for awhile......it don't take much to get right back at it. But that's just me, not necessarily true for your average golfer.  There's alot of golfballs to hit and knowing what to do properly to get back on your game right away......and most golfers just do not have the training and discipline to self-help themselves without lots of practice first.

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Staying in shape and good health is very seriously key to being able to play this game with skill......it takes lots of co-ordination and body control to hit quality shots consistently........not to mention good touch and a honed short game.  But it's also a good way to keep your body and mind healthy.......so that's a good thing too.  

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24 minutes ago, RETIREDFAN1 said:

My clubs cost me $150......😂😂😂

There's no doubt that anyone who is really looking can find a great set of used clubs......full sets of name-brand clubs......for a bargain!!  It would be crazy not to do this unless you just want to move up your game to a little higher plateau.......and only if you are already at a fairly high level for it to do you any good.  Otherwise.......don't go buy a new set, go buy a great used set that feels right for you and is in superclean condition.

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15 minutes ago, regaleagle said:

There's no doubt that anyone who is really looking can find a great set of used clubs......full sets of name-brand clubs......for a bargain!!  It would be crazy not to do this unless you just want to move up your game to a little higher plateau.......and only if you are already at a fairly high level for it to do you any good.  Otherwise.......don't go buy a new set, go buy a great used set that feels right for you and is in superclean condition.

Got mine at Academy for $150.....brand new....lol

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7 minutes ago, RETIREDFAN1 said:

Got mine at Academy for $150.....brand new....lol

Sounds to me like you opted for a decent set that they had on sale, and then bargained them down from there, Huh?  And most probably irons only, right?  Just a good driver and fairway metals new could easily run $300 for a midrange set.  I won't pay those high prices for Metals.......I can always find one I like that's only one or two years old that is still brand new for a sale price and then bargain them down from that.

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