Harding Park
Well, I can’t say I did well in predicting a score, but it was a shhotout down the stretch. In an earlier post, I said that 20 under would be the winning score. As mulligan claimed, it was a “local yokel” prediction, which I guess makes all the pros interviewed before the tournament (including Tiger) yokels as well. The worst winning score predicted by a player was Hensby at 12 under, while the rest were at 15 under or better.
But, as we saw from Big John’s crumble, putting made all the difference. Tiger and Big John had driving accuracy of around 40% (John a little better than that, Tiger a little worse). Both had GIR of 66% while Monty was a 75%, but Tiger blew away the leaders in the field with putting, averaging 27 putts a round.
I thought putting would make a huge difference at Harding (it always fools me no matter how many times I play it), but I never thought of it as a “bombers” course. Then again, I never thought of going for the green on 16…makes you understand “these guys are good.” But when you think back about the 1998 U.S. Open at Olympic across the lake, the same was true. Putting won the tournament.
I’m glad the course held its own. Despite my comments, you always like to see your local course hold up against the pros. Granted, the next time I play it, the fairways will be twice as wide, and the greens will be half as slow, but I’ll still get to try and carry the large pine on 18.
