Natalie Gulbis was the first to set a record this week at Chambers Bay. The newbie Fox Sports hire set the mark for shortest skirt ever worn by an on course commentator. Take that Roger Maltbie. Click here for a Getty shot of Nat’s gams.
All week we have been hearing what a tough walk this course is for the players. They are talking 9-10 miles of walking and the elevation changes are equivalent to walking up and down the Seattle Space Needle. That’s a tough day for sure.
The players aren’t the only ones having it tough out there the fans that are hoping to get an up close look at their favorite players are probably licking their wounds and soaking their feet tonight. There are so many wide holes on Chambers Bay that are surrounded by Robert Trent Jones Jr. signature dunes that there is no space for fans. Those faithful that forked over big bucks are being herded into grandstands and it’s virtually impossible to walk the course.
Cole Hammer stole the show early on today as the 15 year old made his way around Chambers Bay with the big boys. Let’s hope he has some fun on Friday at +7 he may not be here for the weekend.
Dustin Johnson and Henrik Stenson played well and had it a bit easier in the morning. For a minute DJ looked like he might have a blow up hole at eight but he righted the ship for a par and despite a bogey on nine, his final hole, he still holds a share of the lead.
Phil Mickelson played well early and went out in a first-rate three under 32 which could have been one shot better as he missed a short birdie putt at the second. But he got a little loose on the back nine with three bogeys to a lone birdie and finished at one under. Still, it’s a great position for Phil to finally get his grand slam.
So far the star of the day is Chambers Bay. A great day of weather gave way to some super scoring and with a little freshening breeze in the afternoon it almost became a real links. It is really more links-style than links for the purist but for it sure is a fun course to watch. The players were utilizing those humps and bumps and contours both on the greens and off. And for those that couldn’t find those wide fairways the bunkers, waste areas and deep fescue gave them all they could handle.
I’ve come to the conclusion that Chambers Bay is a lot like Bethpage Black, at least for the locals in the area. It’s great to be able to play a course that hosts a major but if you played such a tough course every week you’d give up the game.
Here’s the bitchin’ portion of tonight’s piece. I can’t decide what was more painful: Tiger Woods’ hacking it around like a 20 handicapper or the Fox telecast. Tiger First…it’s is just so bad. He was in places Robert Trent Jones Jr. didn’t even know existed. His driver, his irons and his putting made me gasp.
As far as the boys and girls of Fox: it’s obvious it’s their first Open, it showed in a big way. The collective group of commentators and announcers misspoke more in one telecast that the entire crews of the Golf Channel, CBS, ESPN and NBC have the entire season.
If Joe Buck said “Let’s take a break” one more time I’d scream. Take a break? Those boys of CBS are in their towers for four hours at The Masters and they get a 3 minute break each hour. I know Fox needs to generate some heavy cash to pay the USGA their gazillion dollars but this was ridiculous.
And it’s not just the quantity of golf they did or did not show it’s the quality of the telecast. So much for all the new high tech looks we were promised. Whoever is directing this band of newbies and misfits needs to realize that after the ball is in the air we should see a shot of it on the green when it hits, not a wide angle shot so far from the green that you can’t find the ball.
And forget the scoring system. They gave so many wrong scores I think Tiger may just have a chance. At best the telecast was uneven. At worst it was pathetic.
They have a long way to go but only a few hours to get it right. Maybe they should try this simple fix: more golf shots, less commercials, less “breaks” to the sports desk and less trying to figure out Tiger’s problem. Worry about the guys that can find the green. They are the ones we should be seeing.
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