The Man of the Week is Robert Allenby
by Ryan Ballengee on Feb 2, 2010 2:50 PM EST
in Pro Golf
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This was at Devil Ball Golf and I loved the shot. (Donald Miralle/Getty Images)
Frequent readers of mine over the years know that I have had it out for Robert Allenby for the better part of three years. The guy complains about almost anything - drunken fans, course conditions, Australia, you name it. It's grating and it's annoying for someone with so much talent to whine about that kind of small stuff.
In the last three weeks, though, I have quietly been observing how Robert Allenby has handled himself after effectively losing two chances to win PGA Tour events primarily because of flier lies at the Sony Open and Farmers Insurance Open. The guy has been a real man about how cruel blades of grass can be on his fate.
Allenby told the press after Torrey Pines, "Obviously, two shots have cost me two tournaments. But at least they are costing me tournaments."
That's it. No complaining about the grooves regulations (he actually endorsed them). No whining about fans, the greens, or anything else. He put his loss into perspective and accepted it.
Contrast that kind of responsibility and maturity as compared to the cowardly approaches of three players in the last two weeks that Shane Bacon chronicles.
At the Bob Hope Classic, both Bubba Watson (on 14) and Tim Clark (on the 90th hole) laid up on par 5s rather than be aggressive and go for the win. Michael Sim consistently did the same thing at Torrey South's par 5 finisher. Anyone who has ever watched that hole on TV knows that is not a three shot hole with the pin in the front left. Sim made par and lost.
In both Allenby cases, he was playing to win. Ultimately, he and his caddie misjudged the kind of contact he would make and airmailed the green. His aggression cost him in these two cases, but they could very well have made him the toast of the Tour had he been successful. Instead of playing safely and for a paycheck, the Aussie went after it with match play-style abandon.
Allenby is still going to drive me nuts from time to time, but the guy won a kangaroo pouch full of respect from me in the face of the behavior of his knee-knocking peers.
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Grooves
In regards to those flyers, weren’t the shots in both cases longer irons that were not affected by the new rules?
I have played Torrey many times having lived in S.D. and it’s some nasty rough. I wish I could have experienced flyers, more often it was in Feherty’s words "a dead mouse out of a cornfield’
On the shot that Allenby hit at 14, he said it was a 7 iron. Under the grooves rule, basically a 5 iron and above (any club with greater than 28 degrees of loft) is impacted.
Find me! Email: ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com, Twitter: http://twitter.com/waggleroomryan, or Facebook: http://facebook.com/waggleroom.
by Ryan Ballengee on Feb 2, 2010 3:17 PM EST up reply actions
There was some SERIOUS steam coming out of his ears after that drive at Torrey Pines on Sunday. Nobody actually SAW the ball go into the gunk, including the official who was supposed to be watching, but everybody knew it was there – so he had to go back to the tee. That official gave him the ruling then offered him a ride back to the tee. Allenby very subtly shot him a look and walked back to the tee. Now that was funny.
We don’t agree with each other on Allenby – I really like the guy – but I’m with you on this one, RB – he has shown a lot of maturity following some tough breaks this season.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
“Nobody actually SAW the ball go into the gunk, including the official who was supposed to be watching, but everybody knew it was there – so he had to go back to the tee”…
…These kind of rules make me embarrassed to be a golfer….although I don’t know why because I would never play by these stupid rules.
it does seem kind of dumb – but what would you do ? If you have to drop where the ball crossed the boundary line, but nobody saw where it crossed, how do you take a fair drop ?
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
Kind of dumb? understatement of the year….let’s put it this way…anywhere outside the hazard would be closer than back at the tee.
That’s good enough for you and me just out playing 18 at Pebble or Augusta (I don’t know where the rest of these guys play) :-D, but we’ve all seen balls that looked like they went out in one place, but we found them 50 yards behind where we thought. Tournaments have to be more sure of these things – and unfortunately – sometimes human error causes problems like Allenby had.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
Well consider this scenario then…2 players in the same foursome both tied for the lead in this tournament, both hit their balls into this gunk. the official sees one go into the gunk and gives player A a drop 2 club lengths from that spot. Player B (Allenby from this article) hits into the same gunk but the official doesn’t see it and he sends Player B (Allenby) back to the tee with a stroke and distance penalty. Now does that seem fair to you?
Sometimes human error does cause problems like this but these problems could be better solved by applying a little common sense rather than strict adherence to an old, inflexible rulebook such as golf’s.
I'm with ya court
Aside from Allenby’s cry baby attitude sometimes, I do like his performance on the course. I met him 2 seasons ago and he actualy bought me a drink and was a gentleman throughout our conversation. BTW you are dead on about the poor ruling he got from the “BLIND” official. No fans in the area to see it go into the pricker bush either as that perhaps may have swayed the official. It did cost him the tournament I believe.
"pain is only weakness leaving the body"
EXACTLY !
I watched his group interview at The Tour Championship and he gave stock answers and you could see his displeasure – but when I got to interview him one on one, and asked him some questions about things away from the course, he perked right up, made a couple of jokes, rallied for the courses in Oz, and was definitely looking forward to a pint.
Faldo nailed it at the end of ‘09 – Allenby is a perfectionist and it costs him. He is such a great ball striker that he expects every putt to go down, and when they don’t all fall, he gets frustrated.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
I don't know anything
about Sim other than what I have read in the papers…he seems to have game, and is young, so I’m willing to give him some slack at this point…as for Bubba….I think he is gonna be a plodder….I admire his length, but as we all know, that isn’t everything…even Davis Love 3 had to throttle it back when he learned what winning took…I look at the bombing movement as having run it’s course…maybe we can get back to shot makers…sure a lot more fun to watch….I also think Allenby has remarkable talent…I think his behavior down under taught him a bit…keeps his mouth zipped more….STUB
Stub – I don’t know how much of the final round you saw, but Sim started yanking approach shots long and left – not the place to be on that 18th green. Maybe he got a little gunshy looking at 250 to the hole and figured he had a better chance to get close by spinning a wedge back down the hill than pitching from the rough behind the green ? He just put a little too much zip on that wedge.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
It's only Very early February, but
Allenby’s 2009 putts-per-GIR ranked him 182nd.
Allenby’s same stat for the nickle’s worth of 2010: 19th
For total putts per round, 2009: 173rd
For 2101………………………………..49th.
More power to him.
Don't worry, nothing will be allright.
I would love to see him turn it around because he is an impressive talent from tee to green (excluding green).
Find me! Email: ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com, Twitter: http://twitter.com/waggleroomryan, or Facebook: http://facebook.com/waggleroom.
by Ryan Ballengee on Feb 2, 2010 3:40 PM EST up reply actions
Court, when
you start yanking them left, it’s usually from trying to hit too hard…Isn’t this kid one of the longer guys off the tee? we have plenty of other young guns who hit it long, and still would have had a go…that pin down front is a killer for any type of spin back…I have seen more than one ball go into the water from trying that…Ken Venturi once said in regard to wedge play….“I know how far I can advance the ball, but I have no control over how far it will spin back”…I’ve always thought those were good words to live by…I never in all the years playing was a big spin backer…I preferred to drop them softer like Lee T…STUB
So far this year, Sim is 134th on Tour averaging 274.4 yards off the tee – so he’s not overly long.
He was in a tough spot – a tour rookie playing a shot he had never played before in a tournament under a lot of pressure. It’s a lot easier to get a wedge to stop where you want it to than a 3-wood. If he pulled the 3-wood and yanked another shot long and left, the best he would have made, barring a miracle, was par. With the wedge, he figured he at least had a chance at birdie, he just put too much zip on ball.
I don’t envy that position and certainly can’t fault the guy for not trying the “hero” shot in a borderline situation when he had been yanking approach after approach long and left. He had to hit the shots he believed he could hit best – and that shot from back left is a real bear.
Same goes for Tim Clark the week before. Borderline yardage – all carry over water and rocks – back left even on the green was no prize – long right was a gamble with the new grooves and water behind the shot. He played to his strength and gave himself 8’ for birdie.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks that if Court
were a lawyer he could’ve gotten Bernie Madoff off with just a warning.
by TXQ on Feb 2, 2010 4:51 PM EST up reply actions
lol – thanks TX – but I’m thinking Bernie would have been the one case Perry Mason lost “on purpose”.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
Ahh. Now I can presume that at least one person got my
Hamilton Berger connection.
by TXQ on Feb 2, 2010 4:56 PM EST up reply actions
True but he still couldn’t get you off from your stupid statement, ie. “don’t dislike” is still a double negative!
There you go impressing people again.
Also, it’s i.e., not ie.
And it takes a comma, not a period. Otherwise a perfect sentence. I gave up on you yesterday. You’ll never see my point about double negs that say the opposite of what was intended.
Please go play your impish games with someone at your level.
by TXQ on Feb 2, 2010 5:12 PM EST up reply actions
I find if I drop them soft
or drop them hard, doesn’t much matter. Water is water.
by TXQ on Feb 2, 2010 4:36 PM EST up reply actions
The rule is a tough rule,
but necessary. Most times there aren’t officials or witnesses at the scene and the player starts looking for the ball, can’t find it and the ‘assumes’ it went in the hazard. If anyone saw it enter the hazard, no problem. But, if you cannot find it, you have to declare it as lost, otherwise you are guessing and you cannot guess at the rules, whether you care for the rule or not.
I'll keep an eye out for you...at www.oneeyedgolfer.blogspot.com
by One-Eyed Golfer Guy on Feb 2, 2010 7:32 PM EST reply actions
Agree 100%
Very well said Ryan and I couldn’t agree more.
He’s annoying with all his rants and excuses but he’s been good of late. I do want him to do well obviously and find him a bit of an enigma because he does some real serious charity work and helps many kids out.
He really can’t be all bad but after a golf round he doesn’t always portray himself that way.
He has been winning but not on this tour. He will eventually, he’s too good a ball striker not to.
Mon O' the Week
Such a bonnie concept deserves extension; and I dunny refer to the hated ball retriever — though in justice, it’s very existence goes some way to [dare I put it] retrieve the dunning specter of a spring of tournament belts won by the likes of the irretrievably unexciting Master Ben Crane, to whom human competition is apparently anathema.
So I come to ask: Why not similar recognition for the most wee quiverin’ Mouse of the Week as well? Young Master Sim might could use the airly edoocation — though the other two seem too far gone.
Another possibility: weekly consideration of whether the body of evidence under autopsy makes substantial contribution to an All Is Forgiven Mister Woods Please Come Back Soon Before We All Turn Away To Quoits plea.
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