# Tiger, again **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 9, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-again/505858 "2009-08-09T19:11:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-again/505858/1 "2009-08-09T19:11:58Z")
Unbelievable. There are some really big names moving up the leaderboard on Sunday, but Tiger is putting them away. -4 through 7 and in the outright lead after being 3 down starting out. This is actually a better field than next week at the PGA. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-again/505858/2 "2009-08-09T19:44:06Z")
When Tiger really gets determined, it’s almost impossible to stop him. He’s blowing Harrington away, and you’d think Paddy would be one of the few immune to the “scared of Tiger” hex. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-again/505858/3 "2009-08-09T20:06:48Z")
Nobody is immune. Maybe Phil has the weakest case of Tigeritis. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-again/505858/4 "2009-08-09T21:09:37Z")
Tiger blew the lead by hitting tee shots all over the place again. He is one back on 14. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-again/505858/5 "2009-08-09T21:32:04Z")
Wow. That was a hell of a shot Tiger just hit on 16. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-again/505858/6 "2009-08-09T21:33:40Z")
Dagger to Harrington’s heart. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-again/505858/7 "2009-08-09T21:33:54Z")
And Padraig is in the soup. Tiger has a tap in for birdie. This could end up being a 3 shot swing. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-again/505858/8 "2009-08-09T21:43:42Z")
That is one big ass trophy. Where do you put 7 of them. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-again/505858/9 "2009-08-09T23:33:24Z")
I haven’t looked it up, but it appears that the Greater Greensboro Open must have switched locations during Sam Snead’s 8 victories in that tournament. That’s the next record Tiger gets to try for. The shot on 16 was unfuckingbelievable! Clearly rattled Harrington. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-again/505858/10 "2009-08-10T00:46:33Z")
It was matchplay. You have got to be able to ignore your opponent and play the course. It is not easy. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-again/505858/11 "2009-08-10T01:38:19Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > It was matchplay. You have got to be able to ignore your opponent and play the course. It is not easy. I think you put that backward. Match play is all about playing your opponent. 100%. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-again/505858/12 "2009-08-10T02:42:35Z")
That is merely the format. If Harrington ignored Tiger and shot the course well ,he would have won. he couldn’t resist getting involved in Tiger hysteria. he was leading by 3 going in. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-again/505858/13 "2009-08-10T02:56:17Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > That is merely the format. If Harrington ignored Tiger and shot the course well ,he would have won. he couldn’t resist getting involved in Tiger hysteria. he was leading by 3 going in. OK, but that has nothing to do with matchplay. Leading by three means nothing in matchplay. You can score a fifteen on a par three while your opponent hits a hole in one, and all you suffer is one lost hole. ---
**Author:** ![Notassmartasithought](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c0e974/32.png) [@Notassmartasithought](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Notassmartasithought)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-again/505858/14 "2009-08-10T05:29:02Z")
The more interesting “match play” question here is whether Tiger became more aggressive because he saw Harrington’s lie on 16. We don’t know, and Tiger didn’t say immediately after, but according the folks on TV he hit an iron harder than he would ever ordinarily hit it, nailing that unusual shot. That’s what makes Tiger Tiger. When you start with anyone in the last twosome, you are playing match play as much as medal play. You can’t help yourself, it seems to me. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-again/505858/15 "2009-08-10T05:34:53Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > You can score a fifteen on a par three while your opponent hits a hole in one, and all you suffer is one lost hole. I believe that this is incorrect. You’d only get to take a tee shot; if you fail to ace like your opponent, you’d concede the hole, and not even get a second shot. ---
**Author:** ![Notassmartasithought](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c0e974/32.png) [@Notassmartasithought](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Notassmartasithought)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-again/505858/16 "2009-08-10T06:05:21Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > That is one big ass trophy. Where do you put 7 of them. There’s the house you own, and the yacht you own, and there is the room you build for the trophys. From the USGA Junior Amateur to the USGA Amateur, to the Big Four, I’d say he keeps them in the house or on the yacht. The non-majors probably are with his Mom or at home, but who knows? ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-again/505858/17 "2009-08-10T17:22:21Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](#): > > I believe that this is incorrect. You’d only get to take a tee shot; if you fail to ace like your opponent, you’d concede the hole, and not even get a second shot. If you tee off first, you could hit seven shots out of bounds and hole the next one. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-again/505858/18 "2009-08-10T17:29:47Z")
The point anyway is only that matchplay doesn’t count total strokes. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-again/505858/19 "2009-08-10T18:02:15Z")
Often when it comes down to 2 players playing for the tournament on the last day, it is referred to by the announcers as a match play event. While they are counting total strokes instead of holes, they are still playing head to head. They do not have to worry about other players. You just have to beat the player you are matched with. It has a lot of match play characteristics. It lacks only one. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-again/505858/20 "2009-08-10T19:21:48Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > It has a lot of match play characteristics. It lacks only one. Yeah, and it’s pretty inconsequential. What does scoring matter, really? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-again/505858.md?page=2)