Agreed -
The other thing you can take away from this is the tremendous difference in temperament between Tiger and Sergio. Does anyone think that if Sergio had a 2-shot lead and hit it into the water at 14, he would have gone on to win the way Tiger did? To me the real story is not that Sergio hit it into the water and fell apart, it’s that Tiger hit it into the water and was able to keep it together and win the tournament. I’m no fan-girl anymore, but there’s still nothing quite like watching Tiger play his A-game.
I just wish someone would come along who is also on their A-game, and challenge his ass.
I gave three allowable options and for some reason you trimmed it down to two by discounting the option of dropping anywhere behind the water hazard along the line through the hole and last point of entry into the water hazard. He could have dropped in front of the tee markers to move closer to the hole (maybe not a bad idea, since he did twice come up short from the tee markers). He could have dropped in the rough grass between the tee box and the lake, on the tee box in front of the tee markers, or as far as he wanted behind the tee markers-- including off the back of the tee markers or behind the bleachers. That is assuming the line on which is is allowed to drop goes through the tee box. Of course he could have also tried to play the ball out of the water. Some of those options are obviously not reasonable.
Probably not the same, but I was surprised Serg hung in there after the early 3-putt.