Okay, here's my take on the course as of today. The closing holes are bears. Tiger dumped two in the water trying to go for it on 18. The group of Monty, Els, Garcia, and Goosen all reached easily with irons. They got to 18 around 1:30. The timing of this hole may come into play. I believe it was playing 491 today. Layup opportunity is there but nothing around the green. The rough on the backside of the green looked nasty. If someone goes long here, you could see high numbers.
The two par threes in the closing are both going to see high scores all day.
Overall, the course layout is fairly simple until the end. I think you will see a lot of movement (in the wrong direction) on the leaderboard when it comes to these holes.
I watched DLIII for two holes. He was playing in probably the best group of the day to watch. He was paired with Norman and Elkington. He may have been in some pain because Norman and Elkington were joking around quite a bit with the crowd while Love stayed to himself. Love is never overly cheerful, but he was stand-offish from the other two players as well.
If it rains anymore this week, I don't see the scores being very low. The fairways were checking up everywhere. The first four holes were the driest of the day, so the wetness may come into play after that.
Wind: No factor today. This course seems to be able to muster up some pretty good gusts because of the tunnels that the trees create. The players will not want some of these holes to play any longer than they should because they were decently tough today--in perfect conditions.
Heat: I would be completely surprised if someone goes wire-to-wire here. The heat was bad. The weatherman this morning said that the humidity would be moving out, but there higher temperatures on the way. I look for higher scores during the weekend because of this--but this may be cancelled out if it does not rain and the ball starts rolling more. Keep an eye on both of those factors. Most of the guys on the Tour are in great shape, but look for the thoroughbreds to really shine when their second winds are counted on Sunday.
Attitude of individuals: I feel that Vijay Singh is ready to play this week. He seemed focused in his press time, and looked great on the course. I also feel that Tiger wants this one really bad. The Public is starting to doubt his dominance, so what better time to come storming back?so of course Tiger will be a factor (aren?t I a damn genius
) My gut says Garcia should be dangerous on this course. AAC allows for some wild play without too much punishment. Of course Cink (I believe you can get him around 30-1) is someone to watch because he knows the course so well.
That?s all I have from today. I have a friend going tomorrow an if he comes back with good info, I will post it here. I don?t know if this is useful information, but these are just my observations.
Good Luck
------------------
Sic 'em
dawgball
