# The Open Championship 2019 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 18, 2019, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-open-championship-2019/837266 "2019-07-18T17:58:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-open-championship-2019/837266/1 "2019-07-18T17:58:07Z")
Here’s a thread to discuss the Open Championship. Ugh, this is sad, one of my favorite golfers of all time, David Duval, scores a 91 on the first day. > **[2019 British Open: David Duval makes 14 on one hole, shoots 91](https://www.golfchannel.com/news/2019-british-open-david-duval-makes-14-one-hole-shoots-91)** > > David Duval, the 2001 Open champion, had a multiple big numbers in Round 1 of this year's championship, which resulted in a 91. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-open-championship-2019/837266/2 "2019-07-18T18:12:59Z")
I sort of remember him suffering a tragic decline, so I googled him and got this from Wikipedia: \*\* > [@](#): > > Duval received his PGA Tour card in 1995, earning it after becoming two-time ACC Player of the Year, 1993 National Player of the Year, and playing two years on the Nike Tour (where he won twice). Between 1997 and 2000, Duval finished all four seasons top-5 on the PGA Tour’s money list, including being the leading money winner and scoring leader in 1998. In addition to his major title, he also won the 1997 Tour Championship and the 1999 Players Championship. > > Following Duval’s victory at the 2001 Open Championship, he never won again on the PGA Tour and his performance declined dramatically due to injuries and various medical conditions. As a result, he lost his tour card in 2011. \*\* He went from the very heights to the very depths as if someone flipped a switch. Very sad. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-open-championship-2019/837266/3 "2019-07-18T19:08:55Z")
Homertown favorite Rory McIlroy suffered an ignominous 8 on the first hole, and never really recovered, carding a 79. [https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/golf/2019/07/18/british-open-rory-mcilroy-begins-with-disastrous-quadruplebogey-8/396969](https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/golf/2019/07/18/british-open-rory-mcilroy-begins-with-disastrous-quadruplebogey-8/396969) ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2019, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-open-championship-2019/837266/4 "2019-07-18T20:09:48Z")
That’s a MESS of guys at -3! :eek: Some big names are gonna have to go low tomorrow to make the cut. After day 1, +2 is in 72d place. Mick is +5, Tiger +7, Rory +8… And yeah, Duval’s fall was astounding. Right up there w/ Ian Baker Finch! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-open-championship-2019/837266/5 "2019-07-19T13:00:05Z")
Once again, the interest in golf around these parts is underwhelming. Has long struck me as odd… Looks like a lot of subpar rounds being thrown up today. Gonna make it tough for those in the back to stick around for the weekend. Still early, but right now the cutline would be around +1 or +2. Lotta strong players in the top 10. Sure, someone in back can get hot and make a run, but with the leaders at -7 and -8, it is unlikely all the top players will take a dive. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2019, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-open-championship-2019/837266/6 "2019-07-20T18:54:16Z")
Shane Lowry’s round today was exceptional. 4 shots clear - with a course record on day 3 - and essentially a home crowd. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2019, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-open-championship-2019/837266/7 "2019-07-21T11:51:43Z")
Heck of a top 5 there. But 4 strokes is a heck of a lot to spot anyone over 18 - especially someone on top of their game. I hope he avoids a legendary flameout. Let’s not see a van de Velde or Norman, even if someone else gets hot. ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2019, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-open-championship-2019/837266/8 "2019-07-21T20:10:30Z")
For me, the problem with following this particular event is that it’s in England, meaning that the Hawaii broadcast starts at around 11:00 PM. So I can’t watch it unless I record it, and I can’t ever imagine caring that much. I didn’t find out until I checked the OWGR site today, but Phil Mickelson got an Outstanding Achievement award for 25 straight years in the top 50 in the world rankings. That’s…to be honest, not an accomplishment I ever envisioned him receiving. I mean, I never bought the complaints about him being “phony” or a “whiner” (pretty obviously the products of some petty loser with an ax to grind), but he always seemed so volatile to me, so prone to complete breakdowns. Golf is full of stories like David Duval and Vijay Singh, who were on top of the world for a year or two, and then something went wrong and they fell off the planet (Speaking of which, anyone know what happened to Lee Westwood? I could swear his time at #1 wasn’t _that_ long ago.); you figure it had to happen to someone as easily troubled as Mickelson. And it never did. Say what you will about his bad investments or his lack of team spirit or the many, many, many stupid things he’s said in press conferences, the man is a survivor. Now, with three straight missed cuts, it looks like 30 years may be out of reach, but I’m sure as hell not putting money on that. Anyway, Lowry won it running away; final margin was 6. He actually got a +1 72 in the final round, but because the weather was so bad nearly everyone else struggled as well, so it didn’t hurt him. Low round belonged to Francesco Molinari with a fantastic -5 66, but he started the day +2 so he wasn’t a factor. And now a humble request. Is there anywhere with comprehensive golf stats that I can search? Because it seems like the issue of “Massive choke job!” comes up on this board anytime someone takes a big lead into the final round, and as far as I can tell it almost never actually happens. I refer to things like [this](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=613053). Granted, massive turnarounds and spectacular upsets do happen in other sports with some regularity…heck, winning games 4-7 after losing 1-3 has happened enough times that we have a term for it (“reverse sweep” :D). But in golf, where everyone is on the same course and under (nearly) the same conditions, the odds that the leader will to terribly, _and_ that someone else will do great, AND that he’ll be _in a position to overtake the leader_…again, Molinari!..are forbidding. I mean, the more you reflect on it, the more utterly ridiculous it is that it was _Paul Lawrie_ who stole the '99 Open Championship, as there were at _least_ three others in the field in a better position _and[_ with much stronger credentials. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2019, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-open-championship-2019/837266/9 "2019-07-21T21:43:43Z")
Here are some famous “chokes” in golf Jean Van de Velde did have a massive choke in the 1999 British Open which is the tournament that Paul Lawrie “stole”. He had a 3 shot lead, and miraculously made a 8 ft putt to go into a playoff with Lawrie (and Justin Leonard). In the 2011 PGA Championship, Jason Dufner had a five shot lead when he teed off the 15th hole and ended up losing to Keegan Bradley in a playoff who made a triple bogey on #16. In 2016, Jordan Spieth was well on his way to winning his 2nd straight Masters when he famously dumped two balls in the creek on #12. Sam Snead needed a par 5 on the 72nd hole to win the 1939 US Open. He made a triple. He thought he needed to make a birdie to win, so he took some extra risk to make a birdie, when a more conservative play probably would have got him the win. Greg Norman had a 6 shot lead on Nick Faldo going into the final round of the 1996 Masters. Norman lost by 5 shots to Faldo. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-open-championship-2019/837266/10 "2019-07-22T08:01:14Z")
Norman already had a bit of a choker rep heading into that infamous round. So much so that early on that day, the TV commentators, thinking this lead choke-proof, were going on about what a bad rap he had got, how unfair these voices from people who wouldn’t know a mashie from a niblick, but at last the hour of redemption was at hand and hallelujah. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-open-championship-2019/837266/11 "2019-07-22T10:08:21Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > For me, the problem with following this particular event is that it’s in England, meaning that the Hawaii broadcast starts at around 11:00 PM. Just because this is the Dope, I feel compelled to point out that this year, The Open was held in Northern Ireland - part of the UK, for sure, but not in England. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-open-championship-2019/837266/12 "2019-07-22T12:37:34Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > For me, the problem with following this particular event is that it’s in England, meaning that the Hawaii broadcast starts at around 11:00 PM. So I can’t watch it unless I record it, and I can’t ever imagine caring that much. > > … > > I didn’t find out until I checked the OWGR site today, but Phil Mickelson got an Outstanding Achievement award for 25 straight years in the top 50 in the world rankings. That’s…to be honest, not an accomplishment I ever envisioned him receiving. … I’m a pretty avid golfer, and golf is just about the only sport I’ll watch on TV. IMO, taped is the only way to watch it. You can watch most of it on 1x (or even 2x) FF, slowing to normal for shots/players you want to watch. At the very least, you can FF through the ads, the interminable blathering of announcers, and the lengthy steely eyed walking around putts from every angle. I read a book once about the “business” of being a pro, and top 10s - or even more - wins or top 5s - was what really made or broke a player in terms of prize money. If you look at players’ stats, they’ll list those - making clear their significance. You look at the yearly or all-time money lists, and you might be surprised at the number of players who have only a few wins, and only a relatively limited number of top 10s. A very few 2ds or 3ds can really move you up the list. And as volatile as Phil has been, he’s got 44 wins over some 30 year career. Just looked - he has 36 2ds, 27 3ds, and 195 top 10s. That’s an average of 1.5 wins and 6.5 top 10s per year. Another thing I’ve read, is that for most guys to make it on the tour, they need to have stretches where they get REALLY hot, go REALLY low. There are A (relative) LOT of scratch golfers - but far fewer who can get under 65. Something Phil definitely has. He has a 1 win earlier this year. So if you can get hot as often as he does, you can bomb out a lot too. In other words - consistency may be overrated? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-open-championship-2019/837266/13 "2019-07-22T13:55:06Z")
The Golf Rankings have a top heavy reward system for golfers. Players earn a lot of points for Top finishes and don’t lose that much for missed cuts. Lets look at two players in the Majors this year. Tiger Woods and Matt Kuchar. Tiger won the Masters, finished T21 in the US Open and missed the cut in the PGA and British Open. He earned 105.6 ranking points Kuchar made the cut in all the Majors, finished T8 at the Masters, T12 in the PGA, T16th in the US Open and T41 in the British. He earned 34.75 ranking points. Kuchar was a much more consistent golfer in the Majors this year, but Tiger earned 3x as many points, because he won one of the events. Mickelson has always been Consistent with his Inconsistency. Oxymoronic for sure. But he generally has a couple of very high finishes every year. and a lot of Missed Cuts. And since the golf ranking reward high finishes, he has always stayed in the upper echelons of the golf rankings. He has also been injury free throughout his career, never has a prolonged absence from the tour. As badly as Mickelson has played in the last 5 months he does have a win and a 2nd place from early in the year. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-open-championship-2019/837266/14 "2019-07-22T14:28:14Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > …He has also been injury free throughout his career, never has a prolonged absence from the tour. … But I think his daughter told me that he DOES have psoriatic arthritis… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-open-championship-2019/837266/15 "2019-07-22T16:46:56Z")
So, day before The Open begins, hubs is in a memorial tournament to raise money for charity, ( for research into the illness that killed his friend.) One of the things they did this year was a 50/50 pool for the Open. Everyone pays $20 to pull the name of a player. Whoever draws the winner splits the amount raised with the charity. He always buys in, after all it’s for a good cause! This year, he won! He’s a pretty crappy golfer so his friends are having a lot of fun with it! Over $700, not too shabby! Since I’m always ragging him about golf, he’s now flipping the script, as it were! HaHaHa! ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-open-championship-2019/837266/16 "2019-07-22T17:13:32Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > But I think his daughter told me that he DOES have psoriatic arthritis… 😉 For sure, I should have mentioned it. But he has not been absent from the tour because of it. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-open-championship-2019/837266/17 "2019-07-22T17:16:58Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > For sure, I should have mentioned it. But he has not been absent from the tour because of it. No man, just joking around. I find various aspects of those ads curious, not the least having his daughter apparently narrate some while never showing her full face. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-open-championship-2019/837266/18 "2019-07-25T05:04:51Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Here’s a thread to discuss the Open Championship. > > Ugh, this is sad, one of my favorite golfers of all time, David Duval, scores a 91 on the first day. > [Duval makes 14 on one hole, shoots 91 at Open - NBC Sports](https://www.golfchannel.com/news/2019-british-open-david-duval-makes-14-one-hole-shoots-91) Sorry I’m late to ask this, but I must: How in the world did you become a fan of one of the absolutely most boring golfers ever to grace the world stage? One of the best things about the surge to stardom of Tiger Woods was that he helped shove Duval off the stage. Besides, Duval has never had a chin, which I always find to be a sign of spinelessness in a person. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-open-championship-2019/837266/19 "2019-07-25T05:42:00Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > And now a humble request. Is there anywhere with comprehensive golf stats that I can search? Because it seems like the issue of “Massive choke job!” comes up on this board anytime someone takes a big lead into the final round, and as far as I can tell it almost never actually happens. I refer to things like [this](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=613053). Granted, massive turnarounds and spectacular upsets do happen in other sports with some regularity…heck, winning games 4-7 after losing 1-3 has happened enough times that we have a term for it (“reverse sweep” :D). But in golf, where everyone is on the same course and under (nearly) the same conditions, the odds that the leader will to terribly, _and_ that someone else will do great, AND that he’ll be _in a position to overtake the leader_…again, Molinari!..are forbidding. I mean, the more you reflect on it, the more utterly ridiculous it is that it was _Paul Lawrie_ who stole the '99 Open Championship, as there were at _least_ three others in the field in a better position _and[_ with much stronger credentials. I don’t know of a database. But I will contribute one huge choke I personally witnessed. In 1977, the PGA Championship was played at Pebble Beach Golf Links. It’s the only time the PGA has been there (the Open, of course, has been there 6 times). The course was suffering from a major drought; only the tees, landing areas, and greens were watered. For three-and-a-half rounds, Gene “The Machine” Littler was flawless, reaching 11-under par after the front nine on Sunday, for a 5 shot lead over Jack Nicklaus, and 6 over Lanny Wadkins. But with the tournament seemingly won, Littler proceeded to play the next 6 holes in five-over (bogies on 10, 12, 13, 14, and 15). He righted the ship by parring in to finish 6-under. Meanwhile, Lanny Wadkins birdied 18 to get to 6-under. Nicklaus, standing on 17 tee at 6-under also, bogeyed the hole to drop out of the lead; his approach on 18 finished above the hole some 30 feet away, and he missed the putt to miss out on the playoff. Five years later, 17 would again be unkind to him (perhaps more than making up for that fabulous 1-iron in 1972). The 1977 PGA Championship was the first major championship in history to go to sudden death after stroke play. The playoff started at 1 (TV hadn’t figured out that this was a silly idea yet). Wadkins sank a putt of about 15 feet for par to match Littler’s par; they both got routine birdies on 2 (then played as a par-5 easily reachable), though I recall that Wadkins’ shot was slightly pulled and went through/around the old pine tree guarding the left side of the green. At 3, Littler’s age (47) finally showed; his approach finished in the let rough short of the green, and his pitch finished about 20 feet away. Wadkins was also in the rough, but his chip ended up about 5 to 6 feet away. After Littler missed his par putt, Wadkins rolled in the winner, then jumped about 6’ in the air. I’ve always felt sad for Littler that he didn’t win that tournament. His only major was the 1961 US Open at Oakland Hills. Interestingly, Littler had won once on the PGA tour that year, at Houston. The runner up? Lanny Wadkins. Someone who almost managed a similar choke was Hal Sutton in 1983 at Riviera in the PGA. Sutton entered the final round at -10, with Ben Crenshaw just 2 back. But as the day progressed, Ben played horribly (finishing with a +6 77), while Sutton was methodically eating up Riviera. After 11 holes, Sutton was -13, and had a several shot lead. BUT, 3 groups ahead was the Golden Bear, and Jack was showing that he still had it. When he hit his tee shot on the short par-3 16th to within 5 feet, and then sank the putt, he had gained 6 shots to par, and stood at 9-under. I didn’t even bother to watch the putt go in; I was high-tailing it up 17 to get to the green ahead of Jack’s Pack. As I passed the 15th tee, the roar went up from 16. On the tee was Sutton, who had at this point bogeyed the 12th, 13th and 14th holes to drop to 10-under. It looked like he might manage the same choke job he had completed earlier two weeks earlier, where he had dropped a six-shot lead and finished 3rd. Sadly for Jack’s fans, it was not to be. Jack played the 17th conservatively, and his wedge to the triple-tiered green finished short, leaving a long putt that he missed. Birdieing 18 is always an ask, and more so back when the tee shots on that hole usually left mid-to-long irons into the bowl-shaped green. Jack parred again, and then waited while Sutton managed to steady himself, and come home with four pars to win. It was the last 2nd-place finish at a major for Nicklaus. I recall that, as I saw Sutton on the 15th tee, after Jack’s birdie roar had been heard, I shouted some encouragement to him. Something like, “You can do it, Hal!” I will never forgive myself for having managed to give Sutton what he needed in the way of encouragement to win. 😛