New thread as old one is nearly at 10000 post limit.
Old thread
10 years of learnings? People have become surgeons with a shorter period of learnings.
I seem to recall someone having a bit of a meltdown on the back 9 in Augusta about 13 years ago.
I personally wouldn’t call missing 2 putts a meltdown
he could have missed them on Thursday and it wouldn’t be getting this much attention
It’s being understood that he made 496 putts of 3 feet by some people.
People are not understanding it like that. It is not being presented that way. The stat from Justin Ray:
Rory McIlroy was 496-for-496 putting inside 3 feet this season before that miss.
There’s nothing misleading about that. If people don’t understand what “inside 3 feet” means, that’s not on the journalist. It’s not being used to exagerate anything nor is it misleading as you claim. It’s given in its context. Youve an odd and weird issue with the English language and how people use it.
How is a meltdown emotive? It’s a word often used in sport.
I think you are getting caught up in semantics.
A “meltdown” is commonly used in sporting parlance to indicate the person/team’s performance imploded due to pressure or emotion. There really is no other connotation inferred.
In relation to the putt statistic, I don’t think anyone thinks he succeeded in holing the precise same putt 496 times, I suspect everyone else took it =< 3 feet. And to be fair, you would be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn’t expect an elite golfer to hole those every time, that is the context to the stat.
As Oscar Wilde might say 'To miss one short putt is unfortunate; to miss two looks like carelessness'
It’s being understood that he made 496 putts of 3 feet by some people. In fact, the post I originally quoted said just that. Fact is, within that 496 will be a lot of much shorter putts, relatively speaking, than the ones he missed on Sunday. The stat is not really relevant.
Fact is, Rory missed two putts he’d have expected to make and did it when the pressure was on. That tells a story. It doesn’t need stats to be quoted, out of context, to illustrate what happened.
Have no opinion on either word. My point on the word “meltdown” is that I don’t like it but that’s not why I think it shouldn’t be used in this context. There are certain connotations that come with the word, it’s emotive, it’s hyperbolic and I don’t think it’s appropriate for sport.
But yeah, reduce it to I don’t think it should be used “because I don’t like it.” Jesus wept.
McIlroy let the pressure get to him, no doubt. But why people have to resort to pretty extreme words to describe it escapes me. Maybe it makes them feel better about themselves.
He must be close. Those who say he'can't compete or win at the highest level are ignoring the fact that he's regularly competing in Majors and competed brilliantly in the US Open where he beat everyone except himself.
have to laugh at people who don’t think terms or words should be used because they openly admit they don’t like said words or phrases ! 🤣
they probably don’t like terms such as millennials or softies either 🤣
the stat isnt misleading at all. He made 496 of the previous putts ranging from 0-3ft. All relevant information is given.
That putt was a gimme.
He should make that putt 96% of the time (and i suspect his actual stats are higher)
Both of those are very apt for how Rory and Bryson actually played the final round. I wouldn't call either a choker as I don't like the term though. I have to say that it was a very interesting final round played on a very tight and difficult course. Really enjoyable.
But the stat is misleading. I'm not disputing that the pressure got to Rory, it's close to impossible to make a credible argument that it didn't, but the stat without context is meaningless.
yeah that’s fair enough but let’s face it that’s the media for you. I just don’t feel sorry for sport stars when they screw up and still earn a few million. Yeah 18 was a lot tougher , I expected that to be a 50/50 given the pressure.
That impression is being given to maximise and exaggerate the scale of his failure to win….Much like some of the other hyperbolic language being used.
The stat is being used because its the most relevant stat available. Nobody has the stat on that exact distance and that stat would be meaningless. Inside 3ft is a putt PGA Tour Pros make 96% of the time on average. The putt on 16 he missed was a gimme.
The stats drop off very quickly after 3 ft.
There's no exaggeration, it was a choke.
McIlroy is 35. He has 4 majors. He knows what it requires. I remember Faldo, then 35 as well, in 1992 at Muirfield. He went into it with a 4 shot lead but by the time he was standing on the 15th tee he was 2 behind John Cook. Faldo said he wasn’t choking but (like DeChambeau) he was making a mess of it all. Cook, now with the title in his grasp with a two shot lead, missed a 2 footer on the 17th for birdie and then bogeyed the 18th. He lost by a shot. Faldo having to hit, in his opinion, the shot of his life into the 18th to pip him. Did Cook choke? I reckon, like Rory, he did. Cook suddenly finding himself in the lead. A major on the line. Short miss and compounded by a bogey at the last. Rory missing shots, DeChambeau having to hit the shot of his life to pip Rory.
Pressure can do that regardless if you’re a journeyman having the week of your life or a 4 time major winner.
Distance-wise, it was his worst out of however many putts he's hit in 2024 which is a lot more than 497. The point is, the stat being quoted widely at the moment is painting a picture that he holed 496 putts from that distance in 2024. He didn't. That impression is being given to maximise and exaggerate the scale of his failure to win. Much like some of the other hyperbolic language being used.
FWIW, I thought the putt on 16 was much worse than the one on 18. The miss on 16 came from nowhere, it was relatively straight and he seemed to jerk it. The putt on 18 was a horrible putt. Wasn't a good effort by any means but it was a much tougher putt IMO.
ah right fair enough, I guess everyone has a bar for it. If this wasn’t then you must rarely see a sportsperson choke, fair enough
I couldn’t care less. But you seem a tad irritated when folks aren’t so ready to see it as “choking.”
It’s hardly an exact science/definition anyway. It can always be open to interpretation. Personally I don’t see it as clear cut as some others.
yeah so distance wise that would have been his worst out of 497.
Ye thats not what happened.
If that was the case there would have been no reason to go all Mr. Thundercloud, storm out and withdraw from next week. Because it would have been 'ah sure bad luck what harm happens to everyone all the time'. It doesnt.
He didn't putt 496 from 496 from that distance. It was within 3 foot - so that distance or shorter. Pressure got to him, no doubt. But stats like that, without context, are being used to maximise and exaggerate the scale of what happened.
That golf digest article is excellent.
Then Rory exits, and he looks worse than before. He's wearing his failure to such an extent that I have to look away. Suddenly, he's being followed by a stream of people that includes the Netflix crew and the smiling face of Sergio Garcia.
Of all the ways Rory's being trying to prepare to win majors - forget it all and hang onto this.
Jaysis, fairly pathetic stuff. I never stated you used the word wrong if you wanna get into childish responses.
mad how he putt 496 out of 496 before that at that distance. But yeah I’m sure it wasn’t nerves that he missed his 497th. Weird that people care so much about choking and bottling, it happened to him, he will move on I’m sure.
So I didn't say "wrong"? Good man.
He didn't have a meltdown
I'd consider that someone saying the word used is wrong. If you wanna argue semantics over the word "wrong", who cares?
Not sure I said it was "wrong".
Doesn't have to be a medical term. It's hyperbole and I think it's not really appropriate for the situation it's trying to describe. That type of phraseology just encourages extreme opinions IMO.
I think that is the point being made, Bryson didn’t have to play that well, and wasn’t when he was 2 behind with 5 holes to go. In fact, he played the last 4 holes +1, and held his nerve to capitalise on Mcilroys capitulation. When it came time to sink the winning putt, he was equal to the task, and went home with the trophy, that’s what counts.
It isn’t a medical term, is used in every day life without a defined meaning, so I’m not sure what connotations concern you.
There's a difference between a word you don't like and one that's wrong.
He missed a couple putts that happens time and time and time again in pro golf. Because it happened to be at a major nearing its end, the narrative that he choked is that much more appealing to pedal. Rory could have felt damn steely and confident putting those two missed putts, but that doesn't mean he sinks them. That's golf
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