Even though Tiger played his first full round of golf (or first round in the public eye) since knee surgery today, I'm more interested in the Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge.In case you've missed GD's nine-month publicity push on this, last year at Oakmont Tiger said that a 10-handicapper couldn't break 100 under real Open conditions. The mag decided to challenge the statement and have put together a foursome of 3 celebs (Tony Romo, Justin Timberlake, and Matt Lauer) along with a no-name (cancer fighter John Atkinson) to put Tiger's statement to the test.
Golf Digest has a breakdown of the celebs and their chances, here, but a not-so-close look reveals one glaring problem -- none of these celebs are 10-handicappers. In fact, Romo is nearly scratch and actually attempted to qualify for the Open. Golf Digest editor Bob Carney defends their choice to field better players, admitting that the critique is "a fair one," but ultimately argues:
"The only pretty sure bet to break 100 in the foursome is Tony Romo."
So from this can we assume Carney has confirmed that Jessica Simpson will not be in the gallery?
As for the no-name 8-handicapper John Atkinson, Carney says they "wanted a bit of drama in this," a comment that seems to say they have serious doubts that anyone higher than an 8 could even stand a reasonable chance of pulling it off.
Or they're giving Tiger an out so that when they all do it, he can come back and say, "I said TEN handicap."
But bookies seem to be siding with Tiger. Here's the latest odds:
Odds of Breaking 100:
John Atkinson 3/1
Tony Romo 3/2
Matt Lauer 3/1
Justin Timberlake 5/4
John Atkinsons Score:
Over 109.5 5/6
Under 109.5 5/6
Tony Romo's Score:
Over 105.5 5/6
Under 105.5 5/6
Matt Lauer's Score:
Over 109.5 5/6
Under 109.5 5/6
Justin Timberlake's Score:
Over 104.5 5/6
Under 104.5 5/6
Will Anyone Break 100?
Yes 5/1
I'm no gambling wiz, but how can the odds be 3/2 for Romo to break 100 but 5/1 that ANYONE will break 100?
Anyway, the point is that the general belief seems to be this will be as big of a feat as Tiger claimed it would. And really, at this point shouldn't be know better than to question something Tiger says?
FYI, the U.S. Golf Digest Open Challenge is scheduled to air on NBC on Sunday of Open Week from 2-3PM.
3 comments:
It hurts to agree with him, but Carney does have a point - handicaps ARE supposed to be adjusted when you go from course to course.
They didn't get into very much detail, though, about where they keep their handicaps or the slope/rating there. And how did they decide that a US Open course was just three shots more difficult than the home courses. I'd guess that Torrey Pines during the Buick would be harder than their home courses - and the US Open version would be even more difficult.
Following Carney's logic, three of these guys would be in the 12-15 handicap range at least.
Yes and no, I think.
Here's the YES part: No doubt an 8.0 index would be WAAAY above a 10 at Torrey from the tips under Open conditions. After all, most touring pros have indexes of at least +5.0 or so. If they'll as a whole average 74 for the week (a total guess), that would mean a scratch golfer (index of 0.0) would average 79. So Romo (and this is where my math gets a little sloppy) would roughly play to a 7 or 8 handicap. A guy with an 8.0 index would be at least a 15. So point made, only Romo would be playing at less than a 10.
But the assumption I'm making is that when Tiger said "a 10-handicap" he didn't mean a guy with a 2.0 index on a tough course, he meant that 10-handicap golfer who is excited about breaking 80 but only occasionally does.
It's amazing how he can make one off-handed comment and suddenly NBC is rushing into production on the idea. Should be fun to watch...
I still think they should'a picked me. I'm at least a REAL 10 handicapper.
Regardless, I'll be TIVO'ed and tuned in. Should be fun to watch Timberlake hack it around.
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