Daly double
John Daly admitted after his round that he’s having his worst putting year. 127th in putting, averaging 1.79 strokes per hole. Where’s the claw when you need it?
I had a chance to review again JD’s two costly 3-putts. It was pretty painful to watch. Here’s my assessment:
1. Daly’s 3 putt on 17 from 30 feet out was probably more explainable. JD was putting downhill on a slick green and the birdie putt just got away from him, running 4 feet by the hole. The come-backer of 4 feet had a right to left break. I think JD both pulled it and didn’t play enough break. The comebacker was a tough putt.
2. Daly’s 3 putt on the 2nd playoff hole was befuddling. JD hit an excellent birdie putt from about 25 feet. It had a chance of going in. The comebacker was a foot and half, maybe a few inches more, but that’s it. That’s right around the distance (17 in.) that Dave Pelz instructs people to aim for. So far so good, so what happened? The comebacker did not look like a difficult putt at all — fairly straight, all you need to do is to get the ball rolling on line. On the replay, JD seemed to me to just flat out pull the less-than-2 foot putt. Who knows, maybe nerves and loss of confidence from the 3-putt on 17 played a part in it? When you start talking about the “worst putting year” of your career, that can’t give one a good frame of mind to hole must-make putts.
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