ODDS and ENDS:
(1) I have NEVER, NEVER, NEVER seen so many putts rolled in from substantial distances (10 feet, 20 feet, 40 feet, etc.) by an entire field during a single round of golf, at any level, much less one of the four major championships. Guys outside the top 100 after the first round were still able to make some 20 footers and the like. If they had the stat for total distance of putts holed for each player, it would prove my observation correct for all eternity. The greens are obviously not the last line of defense here, unlike Augusta, where the greens are the first line and the last line of defense. The ocean breezes are the defense at Kiawah. In some wind, and as the pressure builds, it has to get tougher, but there are going to be at least a few players in this championship who will be able to stay in the zone and keep making a ridiculous number of putts. I have NEVER seen anything like it.
(2) The comments I heard from Rory on Wednesday about the paspalum grass proved absolutely correct:
"Q. There's been a lot of talk about the paspalum greens. I wonder if you could tell us at what stage in your life you first heard that word, if you can spell it for us, and your general thoughts.
RORY McILROY: P‑a‑s‑p‑a‑l‑u‑m, and the Bear's Club actually have paspalum. We practice on paspalum all the time; me, Luke, Keegan, Dustin. It's something we are quite used to and something I was talking to Luke about yesterday, something that the guys that are members of the Bear's Club might have an advantage because we are used to how it reacts and we practice on that stuff on our off‑weeks, so it's actually quite nice . . . It's very spinny. When you see guys chipping off of greens and hitting wedge shots, it bites a lot. Even as I said earlier, when the greens are firm, just this certain type of grass, it just really grabs the ball. So you can be aggressive with your chip shots and definitely aggressive with your wedge shots, too."
Chip shots and pitches that looked very precarious, like over bunkers to downslopes running away, and off steep downslopes and back across swales to get to the green, just routinely checked to a stop when properly struck. There will not be a lot of putting from off the greens this week.
On Wednesday I also heard another commentator state that paspalum grass is not really that uncommon, and most of these world class players will have had a fair amount of exposure to it.
(3) I went looking for outright plays to add to my roster, but nothing stood out, and it felt like I would have been forcing a play rather than jumping on a play. I guess Justin Rose had as much appeal as any, but the 20/1 on offer had no such appeal. Maybe Saturday.
Friday:
Harrington(+136) over Mickelson/Love
Rose(+108) over Watney/Lawrie
Scott(+108) over Mahan/Garcia
Ogilvy(+124) over Dufner/Casey
Pettersson(+108) over Day/Gainey
GL
