Westwood - Donald

FixdePitchmark

The lads need a good kick up the ****.

Do they want a Major handed to them?,


Just a bit annoyed , like the two of them.


Westwood hates interviews now, turning into a grumpy Monty. Can't blame him, media have a microphone in your face as you line up final put.

snowy666

Maybe a little harsh? They are consistently up there unlike most other players and it's hardly as though they're not trying.

In this event, I think the guys were just too far back to start with. Luke said - and was right - that he needed to get to 7/8 under so attacked the pin on 15 and just didn't connect properly. End of his challenge. Lee is still driving brilliantly and his iron play is solid, it's just the same old story with him - putting. Wouldn't be surprised to see him try something drastic soon like a long/belly putter/claw grip. He's been a below average putter for a while now. fwiw, his takeaway is too slow in my opinion. There's no rhythm to his stroke and he's being too technical on the putts. I'll add - before others do - that I can't putt for sh*t, it's just an observation.

Your point re immediate interviews is a good one. It's like grabbing a football manager immediately after a bad game. However, did you catch Luke and Lee's press conferences over the weekend? They were both cracking some pretty funny sh*t!

The comparison to Monty is way harsh too, as he needs to be hurt. In a painful kind of way. Was so happy when Butch Harmon and Ewen Murray joined the commentary last night.

ssbob

snowy666 wrote: »

Lee is still driving brilliantly and his iron play is solid, it's just the same old story with him - putting. Wouldn't be surprised to see him try something drastic soon like a long/belly putter/claw grip. He's been a below average putter for a while now. fwiw, his takeaway is too slow in my opinion. There's no rhythm to his stroke and he's being too technical on the putts. I'll add - before others do - that I can't putt for sh*t, it's just an observation.

Watching last night Lee from 8iron/9iron distance left himself too many in the 30ft area whereas Karlsson was peppering the pins(reckon his caddie made the mistake on 16, 2 clubs wrong there)

Lee tried the belly putter in the 2nd round of the masters but quickly changed back, I personally think he reads alot of the greens wrong, maybe he should use Billy a bit more when reading the lines?

Luke doesn't hit enough fairways but is remarkably consistent.

snowy666

True enough I suppose, he does have a lot of 'standing behind the hole not believing the ball missed by 6 inches high' moments, which would make you worry about his reads.

I made the distinction between 'drove brilliantly and irons were solid' as I agree he didn't pepper the flag, but that was really this event alone imo (and those flags were hardly there to be peppered this week). His ball striking is normally very pure, but as Scott and Garcia - two beautiful ball strikers, Garcia especially - are finding out, it's the 5/6 strokes lost on the greens per event, which decide 'winners' from 'top tenners'.

In reality, this could turn into the same thread as a million others... talking about the importance of putting! All these guys can strike a golf ball well enough and it's almost always the best putter of the week who wins the tourny, unless it's a very tight track like the US Open, where a truly brilliant player can stand out because of nutting it every time.

jjll

lees misses yesterday were amazing on the 2nd from 6 foot the ball was never online and on 5 from 4 foot missed completely then and 6 goes in water and still makes parr from 15 foot is he starting to go down the sergio road of anything inside 6 foot you hope he gets it but never confident

Whyner

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

Westwood hates interviews now, turning into a grumpy Monty. Can't blame him, media have a microphone in your face as you line up final put.

He's nowhere near a grumpy Monty, his interviews are fine, talks through the holes and comments.

Sh!t thread with sh!t comments

BoardsMember

Lee is also a poor chipper, which puts even more pressure on his putting. Unless he improves greatly, his best/only chance of winning a major would be in the wind of an Open Championship

Opics

At Luke Donald's age Phil Mickelson still had 0 majors (He was 34 when he won his first, Luke is 33). Luke has plenty time.

Lee has just been unlucky. And he's also running out of time. If he putts well in a major he will win it. (He led the field in GIR at the Open after 2 rounds and still somehow missed the cut)

ssbob

Opics wrote: »

Lee has just been unlucky. And he's also running out of time. If he putts well in a major he will win it. (He led the field in GIR at the Open after 2 rounds and still somehow missed the cut)

That stat at the Open can be very deceiving because he could be on the green and 30 yards from the pin where as another guy might be 5 yards from the pin and just off, however it is pretty bad going!!

Don't think Lee is running out of time, I reckon he has got another 5-7 years(and maybe more) of quality golf left in him(only 38) which gives him another 28 or so majors as long as he stays fit and healthy!

Think the US Open is the one most suited to Lee but as you say everything needs to go right for him!

BoardsMember

US Open suits his driving, but is the worst one for his short game, they tend to be hard and fast greens, lots of run offs etc, all of which will mean he'll be having to get up & down all the time.

FixdePitchmark

Just looked it up ,

Lee has been in top 3 , 6 times in four years (majors). won 7 times in that 4 yrs.

Luke has been in top 3, 0 times in four years (majors). won 5 times in that 4 yrs.

Trampas

majors are 4 weeks in the year which you need to peak.

not as easy as it was 10-20 years ago since the standard of golf has improved and a lot more golfers are in the shake up.

any old fart can win a major if he has his dream week.

nocal

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

Just looked it up ,

Lee has been in top 3 , 6 times in four years (majors). won 7 times in that 4 yrs.

Luke has been in top 3, 0 times in four years (majors). won 5 times in that 4 yrs.

That is seriously sloppy from Luke - especially considering that he was out for 5 months in 2008 with a wrist injury. Wuss!

FixdePitchmark

nocal wrote: »

That is seriously sloppy from Luke - especially considering that he was out for 5 months in 2008 with a wrist injury. Wuss!

Good call, I fall on attention to detail.

So zero top 3, in 13 Majors.

Only one Keano

You kinda feel Lee needs to be handed a major as he doesn't seem to play good enough golf (or hold enough putts) coming down the stretch to win one. His putts never seem to be hit with enough conviction and sometimes you feel he's more trying not to leave himself a tricky one back for fear of missing one. He is in pretty good shape with the exercise regime he's on so maybe he has a few years left to win one.

Luck on the other hand needs to get in contention in a major before he can consider winning one. He hasn't even come close yet but he defo has all the tools to win one.

Last one was agreat chance for both of them as with a lack of an established players on the leaderboard it was there to be won. If they had been tied for the lead going out on Sunday I think the likes of Dufner and Bradley would have not played as well on the final day.

Should be interesting to see how they get on in next few years but would love to see both of them winning one if not more:)

Anatom

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

The lads need a good kick up the ****.

Do they want a Major handed to them?,


Just a bit annoyed , like the two of them.


Westwood hates interviews now, turning into a grumpy Monty. Can't blame him, media have a microphone in your face as you line up final put.

I thought Westwood's and Donald's interviews on Sunday were fine. They both seemed in good form, considering the final result, and Westwood was cracking jokes too.

Don't forget they're having a reasonably good season, without actually cracking it on the final day. Westwood himself has said that he's playing pretty good golf but it seems to me he can't buy a putt.

I like both of them to be honest, and they're always worth a few quid...