The Power Fade Golf Blog

*8/8/11 update by LG:  Let’s see how we did! (Grades below)

Tiger is coming back at the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone. He’s been a magician at Firestone, pulling out 7 wins at the course. However, in his last tournament (at Sawgrass), he shot 42 on the front 9 and pulled out. So, here are some predictions about Tiger’s return that we should address.

JK:
Tiger will (MC, Make Cut, Top 10, Win): MC – While I hope this was a joke, let’s go ahead and make it official.  WRONG
Final score relative to par: +4 – +1 – Close, but no cigar.  Tiger made 3 birdies coming in to put the kibosh on this 
Facial hair will be: Goatee  – Correct!  Apparently Gillette ISN’T the best a man can get.  Real men have facial hair.
Who will win? Graeme McDowell – Incorrect – Aussie Adam Scott took it down with Steve Williams on the bag and a putter longer than the list of issues with America’s finances.  Gmac took down solo 65th at +9.
Will Tiger be in the last group on one of the weekend days? No – Correct
Will Tiger ever hold the lead? No – Correct
What will be his biggest issue? Putting – Hard to say – Tiger says hitting the ball too straight caused a lot of issues for him.  Putting wasn’t great, but not sure it was his “biggest issue”
What will be his biggest strength? Confusing the media with cryptic answers – Not sure, Tiger’s always abundantly clear – It’s a process.  Going to go with Incorrect on this one. 
Who will caddy for him? Looks like it will be Bryon Bell – Well done. 

LG will not participate in this predictions segment, as he is on vacation. Have fun LG!

LG’s Answers:

Top 10 – Incorrect, but hey, at least I picked something that could have actually happened.
Final Score -8 – +1 – eh.  What are you going to do?  -8 would have just nearly made the top 10.  
Goatee – See above.  Because I am the only PF-er with facial hair, this is a double win. 
As much as I hate to say this: Rickie Fowler – T-2.  CLOSE!  Fowler and Luke Donald tied for first losers at -13 while Scott took down the title in style at -17.  
NO last group – Correct
No lead – Correct
Issue – Driving – Tiger described this as his biggest issue, but not because he was all over the place, but because he was driving it “too straight.”  I wish I had that problem, Tiger. 
Strength – chipping/short game – Tiger’s first round 68 found him hitting 75% of greens in regulation.  Clearly, his short game brought up the rear. 
Bell on the bag (but it should be me!!) – Correct!  

LG: B+
JK: C- 

All-in-all, Seems like LG came out on top.

Wow…were we wrong. Actual answers in bold.

(originally published Jun 16, 2011)
It’s that time of the year again! Our National Open is being played in our nation’s capital at Congressional near Bethesda, MD.

Here’s how we think things will shake out:

LG:
Winner: Dustin Johnson Rory McIlroy
Winning Score: -2 -16
Runner Up: Phil Mickelson Way wrong. +7, T-54
Low Amateur: Peter Uihlein wrong, Patrick Cantlay
“Unknown” in the Top 10: Jason Day correct (T-2), although I question if Day is really an “unknown.” The real answer is Kevin Chappell
Most difficult hole vs. par: 18
Easiest hole vs. par: 16
Last Year’s Winner (GMac) Will … (Win, Top10, Make the Cut, or Miss the Cut): make the cut, but be outside of the Top 10. Correct, T-14
Fred Funk will: MC Correct
How many prior winners will be in the Top 10: 0 Correct
Will there be a hole in one: No
…Which hole: n/a
Will Rory blow the 54 hole lead?  Probably. Hell No
Will Obama present the trophy?: He should! but no. Correct
Who will be more embarrassed at the end of the tournament? Mickelson or McIlroy?  If Mickelson doesn’t win, he should be more embarrassed.  I expect Rory will just be forlorn. half correct…Mickelson definitely should be embarrassed with +7. Rory was definitely not forlorn
Will someone win it, or will everyone else lose it?  Everyone else will definitely lose. Wrong. 4 rounds in the 60s, Rory won it
Who is most likely to “Dustin Johnson” it?  I’m going to go with Phil on this one.  I’d prefer to call it “Phil at Winged foot-ing it” yea, no one really did this, so, Phil’s +7 is about the closest thing to it

JK:
Winner: Stewart Cink Wrong. Cut
Winning Score: +1 WRONG -16
Runner Up: Matt Kuchar and Jason Day Day T-2, Kuchar T-14
Low Amateur: Peter Uihlein wrong, Patrick Cantlay
“Unknown” in the Top 10: Andres Gonzales wrong, MC. Correct answer was Kevin Chappell
Most difficult hole vs. par: 18
Easiest hole vs. par: 16
Last Year’s Winner (GMac) Will … (Win, Top10, Make the Cut, or Miss the Cut): Miss the cut. Too much going on in that dome. wrong. T-14
Fred Funk will: Seriously? Is he even in the field? MC correct
How many prior winners will be in the Top 10: 4 When I read this question, for some reason I thought this said “how many prior major winners in the top 10.” There were 3, Schawrtzel, Oosthuizen, and YE Yang. DLIII was T-11, so I almost got it.
Will there be a hole in one: No
…Which hole: n/a
Will Obama present the trophy?: If he reads the PF, I’m sure there’ll be a presidential veto of the authority to award the trophy. conclusion: obama does not read the PF
Who will be more embarrassed at the end of the tournament? Mickelson or McIlroy? Mickelson. Just seems to do dumb stuff in majors. correct.
Will someone win it, or will everyone else lose it? It’s the Open. Regardless of McDowell winning it last year, the bigger story will be everyone else losing it. jees was i wrong here
Who is most likely to “Dustin Johnson” it? Dustin Johnson. Again. T-23…I’d say I was wrong

Correct answers provided in block quote below:

Winner: Charl Schwartzel (JK & LG both said Tiger Woods, finished T4)
Winning Score: -14 (JK said -7, LG said -4)
Runner Up: Jason Day and Adam Scott (JK said Nick Watney, +4, LG said Steve Stricker, -5 (T11))
Low Amateur: Matsuyama (JK & LG said Uileihn)
“Unknown” in the Top 10: (JK said Charl Schwartzel–obviously right; LG said Anthony Kim, MC)
Most difficult hole vs. par: 11 (JK said 11, LG said 12)
Easiest hole vs. par: (JK & LG said 15–no confirmation yet)
Last Year’s Winner (Phil Mickelson): made the cut, but outside of the Top 10 (JK said Make the cut but outside of Top 10, LG said Top 10).
Sandy Lyle: missed the cut (JK & LG said this)
How many prior winners were in the Top 10: 2 (Woods & Cabrera) (JK said 3, LG said 4)
Was there a hole-in-one: I don’t think so (JK & LG said yes)
…Which hole: if there wasn’t one, then there wouldn’t be a hole.
Did Phil switch back to one driver: Yes, before the tourney started (JK said No, LG said probably not)
Which putter did Tiger use: Method (JK said Scotty Cameron, LG said start with Method then switch to Cameron)

All-in-all, not too bad.

———————————————————————————-
4/7/2011

OK LG, I thought it would be fun to put in writing our predictions for the Masters Tournament. I await your guesses (which will probably be as bad as mine).

JK:
Winner: Tiger Woods
Winning Score: -7
Runner Up: Nick Watney
Low Amateur: Peter Uihlein
“Unknown” in the Top 10: Charl Schwartzel
Most difficult hole vs. par: 11
Easiest hole vs. par: 15
Last Year’s Winner (Phil Mickelson) Will … (Win, Top10, Make the Cut, or Miss the Cut): make the cut, but be outside of the Top 10.
Sandy Lyle Will…(Win, Top10, Make the Cut, or Miss the Cut): miss the cut
How many prior winners will be in the Top 10: 3
Will there be a hole in one: yes
…Which hole: 16
Will Phil switch back to one driver: No, Callaway pays him way too much.
Which putter with Tiger use: Custom Newport 2 that won most of his majors

I’ll bet my guesses are at least 4 times better than yours.  (whatever better means)

LG:
Winner: TW
Winning Score: -4
Runner Up: Steve Stricker
Low Amateur: Peter Uihlein
“Unknown” in the Top 10: Anthony Kim? (does this count?)
Most difficult hole vs. par: 12
Easiest hole vs. par: 15
Last Year’s Winner (Phil Mickelson) Will … (Win, Top10, Make the Cut, or Miss the Cut): Top 10
Sandy Lyle Will…(Win, Top10, Make the Cut, or Miss the Cut): miss the cut (sorry, Sandy)
How many prior winners will be in the Top 10: 4
Will there be a hole in one: YES!
…Which hole: 16
Will Phil switch back to one driver: Probably not, but he probably should…
Which putter will Tiger use:  The Method on day 1, the Scotty for the rest of the tournament.