Real Life Fantasy Golf - Following Rob

The Napkin

wise ass al kaprielian
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Up next - the RSM Classic in Sea Island, Georgia. Looks like they play one round on the Seaside course and one round on the Plantation course and then Rounds 3 and 4 are on the Seaside course. Winner receives 500 FedEx points and the purse is who the hell knows, I can't find it and gave up looking.

Our hero tees off at 11:30 on the 10th hole of the Seaside course with Adam Schenk and Conrad Shindler.
 

Deathofthebambino

Drive Carefully
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Apr 12, 2005
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Welp, tough day today, but clearly, the Seaside course was the harder of the two. The leader is at -9, but you have to go all the way to Nick Watney at -5 to find the leader on the Seaside Course, which was a par 70, versus the Plantation which is a par 72. Of the top 27 after today's round, I think only 5-6 played the Seaside.

Rob finished +2 for the day, and is tied for 135th, with the cut line around -2, but if the conditions are the same tomorrow, along with the scores, I imagine that cut line is going to drop by at least a couple shots, and if Rob can put up a decent round, he may see another weekend.

Never over til it's over...
 

Stitch01

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Yeah was trying to find the difference between the two courses for betting stuff but havent been able to yet, clearly Plantation was the easier course. Going to be windier today, would think that effects the Seaside more but might make it harder to go super low at Plantation today as well. Probably has to shoot a 67 or 68 at Plantation to make the cut. I hink the cut was -5 last year, but doesnt seem likely to get quite that low this go round. Not the best course for him as this tends to turn into a putting contest.
 

bostonbeerbelly

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Get two more birdies, make the weekend and play with house money. He just needs to make cuts and hope he gets hot for two rounds and grabs a top 10 here or there.

I follow him on just the shot tracker so my observations aren’t super informed.

Areas for improvement
- holes 1 and 18 he seems to bogey at a rate higher than others. Usually 18 can be a tough finishing hole, but as noted in this thread he usually finishes poorly.
- 5-10’ putts and this could include 3-4’ as well he needs to make more of these to put himself in more top 10 situations. Seems he three putts so often from about 25-35’ where he lags to 3-4’ and then misses that. So maybe it is putting in general.

The PGA stat tracker seems to agree with that last point. He gains .37 shots tee to green and then loses .7+ on the green.
 

cshea

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The PGA Tour website is going wonky on me, so hopefully the triple is a glitch. It keeps bouncing back to -1 through 1.
 

cshea

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-2 is is going to be dicey for the cut. 70 guys there now. 2 par 5’s left hopefully he can collect a birdie in there somewhere, -3 should be good.
 

The Napkin

wise ass al kaprielian
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projected cut back to -3 with his birdie (71 currently -3 or better, 58 at -2 or better). hold the line
 

Deathofthebambino

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Yep, it was a good day, 6 birdies, no bogeys, clean card. I had a feeling he was going to have one of these in him soon. Just needs a good weekend. A few shots here or there are so big for him. FYI, going into this tournament, he's at 121st on the Fedex points list. LOL. It's really early, but I'll never stop watching it.

Bostonbeerbelly, the putting issues are brand new. Literally, they have only begun since he got his card this year. He's been one of the better putters on the Web.com/Nationwide tour for about a decade, with a couple of top 5's on the Tour for total putting along the way. I can't tell you how strange it is to see him missing putts inside five feet like he has been lately. His brother said he's never seen it before. He could go years at a time without missing inside 3 feet, and he seems to be doing it weekly lately. Hopefully, he'll get that figured out because that's the strength of his game, whereas his driving accuracy has always been his Achilles heel (when you combine that with the fact he's not long, it's his putting that actually saves him more often than not). He has to get the putting going again if he wants to be on this Tour for more than one year this time.
 

Deathofthebambino

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Two birdies on the front 9 today. Now tied for 38th through 10 holes. Couple more coming in would be nice. Hopefully, he doesn't have some bad holes coming in. He went out on the back nine today, so he's finishing on the front 9. No idea if that's good or bad, but we'll find out.
 

Deathofthebambino

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And there it is, sitting at -3 through 15 holes, no bogeys, par 5 coming up, and he makes a double. No idea why he can't play the last 3-4 holes, but it's been going on forever...If only courses were 14 holes....
 

Deathofthebambino

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He got one back at 18 (#9) to finish -2 for the day, but damn. He's tied for 43rd, still in striking distance of a top 25 if he can have a good round today. That one hole just killed him. If he simply makes par on that par 5, he'd be in a tie for 25th. Birdie, and he'd be in a tie for 13th. Just can't throw any strokes out there. Anyway, if he can put together a round tomorrow like he did today (minus one hole) or yesterday, he'll get a very nice check and a bunch of points.
 

SumnerH

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Jul 18, 2005
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He got one back at 18 (#9) to finish -2 for the day, but damn. He's tied for 43rd, still in striking distance of a top 25 if he can have a good round today. That one hole just killed him.
Isn't that normal?

I always thought that the ability to avoid "that one hole" on a regular basis is what makes Tiger or Jack in their prime so great, and for most of the world you spend your career trying to have a tournament or three where you manage to avoid "that one hole".

Every scrub golfer's had a single hole where they're a world-beater, and most people on the tour have had a 9-hole stretch like that; it's consistency that makes peak prime golfers so crazy good.
 

Deathofthebambino

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Apr 12, 2005
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Early scores don't look great today. Rob is sitting at even through 8 holes (all pars), and he's up to a tie for 41st. A cough, good back nine, cough, and he could pull a top 25 out of this.

It's almost surreal that I'm talking about Rob playing on the weekend in PGA Tour events, and regularly finishing pretty well, and still noting the "bad" holes. I mean, this is the dream and all, and if it only lasts one year at a time, so be it. The odds of getting to where he is, and doing what he's doing, were so long that every day should be treated like a gift.

But damn, just one good weekend. :)
 

The Napkin

wise ass al kaprielian
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Finished round 1 even, tied for 78th. Looks like driver killed him - 43% accuracy and 181 average length (because of #9?).

2 birdies, 2 bogies (both on par 3s)

Something odd happened on hole 9, his drive is listed as 53 yards?
  • Shot 5 in the hole
  • Shot 4 putt 39 ft 6 in., 3 ft 5 in. to hole
  • Shot 3 171 yds to green, 42 ft 10 in. to hole
  • Shot 2 277 yds to right fairway, 183 yds to hole
  • Drop in primary rough, 460 yds to hole
  • Shot 1 53 yds to cart path, 457 yds to hole
 

Deathofthebambino

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He would have had to have been trying to cut a corner or something to hit a tree that close. Otherwise, it would be like a a 200+ yard backwards ricochet off a tree? That would be something. I think more than likely the site is just screwed up, as usual.
 

cshea

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He would have had to have been trying to cut a corner or something to hit a tree that close. Otherwise, it would be like a a 200+ yard backwards ricochet off a tree? That would be something. I think more than likely the site is just screwed up, as usual.
You are probably right. Since he got a drop off the cart path though, I suppose it’s possible he hit a tree 200+ yards out, ball landed on the cart path and rolled back 150 yards or something.
 

The Napkin

wise ass al kaprielian
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Here's the hole:









It's basically straight so not sure trying to cut a corner. There's definitely a cart path right there though. Weirdness.
 

Deathofthebambino

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Back nine has definitely been playing easier, from what I can tell looking at a bunch of scorecards yesterday and today. Hopefully, he'll pick up a couple more coming in and then on to the weekend.
 

cshea

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Here's the hole:









It's basically straight so not sure trying to cut a corner. There's definitely a cart path right there though. Weirdness.
Yeah has to be a shot like mess up. I could top one and end up there, but no pro would ever do that, and if he somehow did, we’d have highlights. Option 2 would be drilling the V tree. That would’ve required a backwards and left bounce to the cart path, roll back around a slight curve and of course over the bridge crossing the hazard.

Seems unlikely. We’ll go with shot link stinks.
 

Deathofthebambino

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Well, he made par all the way in, and finishes at -1. Cut line has moved to -2, and he's tied for 75th. Gotta hope a few guys start falling apart coming in, or he'll be watching this weekend.
 

Deathofthebambino

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Cut line back to -1, with Rob tied for 72nd. No idea how to gauge where it will end up, but it's going to be close either way.
 

Doug Beerabelli

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Rob even through 2 holes at Career Builder (old Bob Hope). He's on the Stadium Course of PGA West today, so I believe that's a more difficult test than the other 2 courses. Let's hope he cashes this week. Started on back 9.

Rahm is -5 though 6 holes at La Quinta CC. I did that once...on a mini golf course.
 

Deathofthebambino

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Apr 12, 2005
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-5 round today. T24, but he had the second best round at the Stadium Course.
Yeah, i wasn't sure which course he played, and how it was playing. That's a nice sign. Hope he can keep it up. Needs to make some prize money in these "smaller" events that aren't as well attended by the top players.
 

TFP

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The Stadium Course is no joke. Easily the hardest course I’ve ever played in my life. -5 for Rob will hold up nicely if he can capitalize on the easier courses.
 

TFP

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#humblebrag
Haha my score was triple digits. There's no bragging about any of it, it absolutely put me through the grinder.

It's a public course though. Highly recommend it if anyone goes out to Palm Springs.
 

Deathofthebambino

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Apr 12, 2005
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Just looking at about 20 scorecards, with no idea who is playing what course, I don't think the one he played today was the easiest. The first four holes he played were par 4, 4, 3, 4. The one that guys seemed to tear up today started 4, 4, 3, 5. And the one that he played yesterday and looks like it played the hardest again today starts 4, 4, 4, 3. I think he's got the easier one tomorrow, at least based on the cards I've looked at today.

I would love to know where Rob stands among the guys who played the same two courses he did on days 1 and 2.