(veteran)

20/07/2008 14:58

who's gonna win?

I predict A Kim is going to win this, trouble is BBC won't show him playing, wish we could see shots from more than just 4 or 5 players.

(Pooh-Bah)

20/07/2008 15:05

Re: who's gonna win?

Its getting as bad as the American coverage and more and more idiots are shouting "get in the hole"

I have all my fingers and toes crossed that Ross Fisher will come through. But I reckon Harrington will win it, he is just so mentally strong and has such a good short game.

(enthusiast)

20/07/2008 15:26

Re: who's gonna win?

If I had to put money on it: Harrington. Personal choice would be for Greg to come home 1st.

I agree that the coverage is far too limited. We should be seeing a wider range of players.

(enthusiast)

20/07/2008 16:21

Re: who's gonna win?

Too close to call. So many players still in the mix and i think it may be a case of not someone winning it but of someone losing it ( If that makes sense ). The loss of shots by the last 2/3 groups is slowly dragging a good few golfers back into contention.

Maybe Poulter to continue the good form ?

(enthusiast)

20/07/2008 16:26

Re: who's gonna win?

Poulter is looking quite strong.

A big slap on the back to David Howell for his 67 earlier today; a great round and his +12 (together with Ernie and Karlsson in the clubhouse) might not be that far away.

(Pooh-Bah)

20/07/2008 16:38

Re: who's gonna win?

The BBC is pushing boundaries today! They are blooming awful, I want to see A.Kim, R.Fisher etc not just Harington, Norman, Poulter + wood the commentary is sending me asleep, get someone with a personality, its like Steve Davis commentating on the snooker it just don't work.

GGGGGGRRRRRRRRRR!!!! And the idiot fans screaming get in the hole. htl is not happy!

(veteran)

20/07/2008 16:49

Re: who's gonna win?

Agreed, this is the worst I have seen the BBC perform in a long time, the cameramen cannot even seem to follow the ball on a number of holes.

To make matters worse, they are not broadcasting it in HD either.

(Pooh-Bah)

20/07/2008 17:03

Re: who's gonna win?

Poulter could do this folks!!!! I really cant stand the bloke but I cant help myself secretly wanting him to do it, after all he is the worlds number 2 golfer.

(Carpal \'Tunnel)

20/07/2008 17:14

Re: who's gonna win?

Ian's just hit 17 in two.....surely a birdie......and the outright lead???

He's doing well, can't believe some of the stuff he was up to yesterday.....if he wasn't so full of his own ability, he could have been 3 better this morning with some conservative play.

I'd be happy.....

(Carpal \'Tunnel)

20/07/2008 17:15

Re: who's gonna win?

"hmmm....not what we were hoping for"

Poulter 3 putts.....Harrington birdies....end of the 2nd best player in the universe!

(Pooh-Bah)

20/07/2008 17:26

Re: who's gonna win?

Think Harrington has this in the bag, what a shot on the par 3.

(Pooh-Bah)

20/07/2008 17:39

Re: who's gonna win?

Right, lets see what Harrington has in his locker. I reckon he is strong enough and will hold onto his lead.

(Carpal \'Tunnel)

20/07/2008 17:40

Re: who's gonna win?

Poulter scrambles par.....round of 69......very impressive.
If Harrington stumbles....could be a play-off....

where would my loyalties lie then?

all very entertaining....sip of Petermans....loving it

(old hand)

20/07/2008 18:07

Re: who's gonna win?

i made a error dropping padrig from my fantasy golf team,next to no points for me this week

(Carpal \'Tunnel)

20/07/2008 18:16

Re: who's gonna win?

I think that shot into the 17th has just sealed the victory for Harrington.

Bet the bookies have absolutely cleaned up. The occasional punter will have been bamboozeled by the odds on the bottler Garcia and mr overrated himself Justin Rose. These 2 were so heavily backed, I never gave either of them a chance to be honest.

(Pooh-Bah)

20/07/2008 18:52

Re: who's gonna win?

Well done mr harrington. Special mention for ian poulter, running out to the practice ground, I felt he was a little premature and looked a bit silly. He should have waited until he everyone was through the 17th.

(addict)

20/07/2008 18:58

Re: who's gonna win?

I see the Poulter knockers are at it again. Respect the efforts and the play at least people.

Congrats to Paddy (even if I didn't really want him to win!). Anyone that can shoot -4 for the last 6 has earnt their win. Shame for some of the others, but all round a damn fine tournament. Always good to see golfers having to really work hard, think hard and tough it out.

However, the BBC should probably not be allowed near another golf tournament for years. Absolutely awful coverage. Hardly any focus on anyone outside of the front 6 and about a 50% chance of seeing anyone hit a shot or seeing where the ball went. I know it's been windy, but how hard can it be to at least be ready with a decent camera shot of the bloke hitting the ball?

Thank the Lord that Sky have the Ryder Cup...

(addict)

20/07/2008 19:34

Re: who's gonna win?

got to say I am more than happy,Paddy Winning and Fuyrk in top 7 has seen me net �235!
The coverage was pitiful.Showing leaderboards like one that showed Stenson at plus 10 then showing him over a par putt at plus 9 2 mins later kinda gave it away that he was missing it!!And as for some of the commentary......jesus just awful,Linekar saying things like 'and here is the champ walking' you dont say Gary!!How he gets the gig I do not know and also the Irish lottery presenter guy....jesus what about getting some folk on that know a thing or 2 about the sport!

(old hand)

20/07/2008 19:53

Re: who's gonna win?

Great finish, though the BBC were guilty of following the leaders maybe a bit too much at time, something I've critisised the USA coverage for in the past.

So as much as I object to having to pay for sky sports its clear that their cameramen & directors are more experienced & therefore better at covering the big events.

We must bear in mind that the weather has been very windy, so under the curcumstances, the cameramen did well to focus & follow a speeding white spherical object at well over a hundred mph using high zoom settings.

I think had Poults' putting been as hot on the front nine as it was on the back, then things could well have been better.

Greg Norman really didn't seem to have the same relaxed focus as he did the rest of the week, but to come to the open initially as a warm up to the seniors at Troon & be in contention, not to mention leading for three days & still finish well up there at the end even considering the mare he'd had today. At 53 he was looking as good as players 20 years his junior, which is not really supprising as if you stop & think about it Greg Norman was & is the first of the new breed of player, that worked out & put in the sort of practice that was important to reach the level of play, he clearly had returned to.

(Carpal \'Tunnel)

20/07/2008 19:54

Re: who's gonna win?

2nd rate coverage but a first rate champion. Slightly gutted as I was going to pick him on Wednesday night for the dream team until I heard he was on the verge pulling out (no honestly) and didn't think he'd have a prayer.

Great champion, great speech and heres to a 3rd win next year

(old hand)

20/07/2008 19:57

Re: who's gonna win?

Like Dougie you mean? Badly missed I thought.
Another thing, I'm not a fan of family running on to the green after they've won. Why can't they just wait until they've came off? Why do they have to get on the green? To me, it's as if they're trying to bask in the reflective glory. It annoys me a wee bit. I can't remember many other wives running on to the grren. It's seems to be a bit of a new phenomenon.

(enthusiast)

20/07/2008 20:00

Re: who's gonna win?

got to say i really enjoyed it harrington looked so relaxed on the last three holes so executed his shots with ease. pity norman didnt put him under a bit of pressure to test him more. quite impressed with poulter shows he can be a threat if he gets in contention.

(veteran)

20/07/2008 20:01

Re: who's gonna win?

One thing that really wound me up during the coverage was the amount of times they showed a putt with the hole obscured by an umbrella, flag, caddy etc. Surely they have more than one camera angle and, if not, move on to something else as there is no point showing a putt if you cannot see the result.

(Carpal \'Tunnel)

20/07/2008 20:28

Re: who's gonna win?

I think you'll find it's the media types who send the families onto the green for the 'soft' shot, though I suspect that Chris Evert would not have done so.

I rather doubt that they have more than one camera angle on any green, except possibly the 18th.

Overall though the coverage was poor, verging on dire

.

Still, we ended up with a first class contest where the best golfer over 4 rounds won, not the usual longest drive contest.

Four definite winners out of this for me Harrington of course, Poulter who finally put four rounds together, Norman absolutely incredible exhibition for three rounds and Wood, 5th place as an amateur in those conditions is not to be lightly dismissed.

(Carpal \'Tunnel)

20/07/2008 20:39

Re: who's gonna win?

Quote:

Special mention for Ian Poulter, running out to the practice ground, I felt he was a little premature and looked a bit silly. He should have waited until he everyone was through the 17th.

Billy-n-m on the practice ground.....If he'd waited and something dodgy had happened to PH, then it would have looked sensible.
Fair play to him generaly.....but he did some silly things (I watch most of it) and could have been a good few better with the calmness of PH or the strategy of Faldo or Tiger.

(old hand)

20/07/2008 20:53

Re: who's gonna win?

harrington wins the Irish PGA in the European CLub a links course in Wicklow in 2007 & 2008 a week before the Open and then goes and wins the Open-proving a hard weeks competition on links is a great way to warm up for the Open rather than play the parkland Loch Lomond.

Great credit to Norman for 3 great rounds and to Poulter for a great tournament especially his back nine today.
Looks like Harrington and Poulter have nailed their Ryder Cup spots giving Faldo a helping hand for his wildcards.

(Pooh-Bah)

20/07/2008 21:18

Re: who's gonna win?

Fair play to Poulter he seemed gracious in defeat, much in the same way that Harrington was gracious and a perfect gentleman in winning. He deserved to win and it is great to see him retain a major something that only an elite group of people have ever done. I honestly thought that when Poulter holed his putt on 18 that Harrington would be hard pushed to keep his card Bogey free but he countered this thought with a truly tremendous eagle. Yes the coverage was poor but the action was great and still very enjoyable. It is about time the bbc either moved up a gear in the image stakes or simply let sky, who have the larger budget, take over and deliver higher quality results. I think what frustrated me the most was that due to the lack of variety in the groups who were being shown it felt like loads of players such as Stenson were sneaking into contention undetected when by all rights he was clearly playing some good golf during the week but I had little idea as he never got covered by the bbc and I therefore saw nothing of him which is highly disappointing and this is the case with others as well.

(Carpal \'Tunnel)

20/07/2008 21:42

Re: who's gonna win?

yes it is time the bbc moved up a gear but giving it all up to sky - no way.

I'm trying to think this through and work out how the coverage can be improved. simply adding more cameras isn't the answer as, oddly enough, there isn't the room nor the camera angles available on the courses without interfering with play. On some holes there just aren't the camera angles, have a look at your course with this in mind. Courses weren't and shouldn't be designed for tv (could this be why american golf is so much more about target shooting - because it's easier to televise?).

Then think how you watch live golf; you have a choice, follow one match or watch a lot of matches through one hole, or do a bit of both. This is essentially what the beeb are doing when what we really want is full coverage of all the matches in progress so that we can choose which we watch instead of a producer choosing for us.

For interactive tv, the answer may be a half-way house; use a split screen, show four holes at a time then you can dip into whichever you like for the commentary.

(Carpal \'Tunnel)

20/07/2008 21:45

Re: who's gonna win?

Great tournament, seen most of it. (even had CCTV zoomed into toshiba's window at times to see the score)

Really wanted Greg to do well if I'm being honest and I even had a secret bit of hope for Poults (being English and all)

But fair does to Paddy, what a great finish. And that second shot was just magnifico, 272 yards with a 5 wood and a 40mph cross wind. Unbelievable. Definitly a match winner!

Do wonder how close the final day would of been if TW was there but I am glad he wasn't as we would of only seen two players today instead of 6.

Really cant wait for Sept now, infact i'm re-arranging my holidays tommorow!

(old hand)

20/07/2008 22:25

Re: who's gonna win?

At one time, now I'm going back a couple of decades here, the BBC offered the best golf coverage... Reason, well they had the experience. The problem currently with the BBC is that they don't cover enough.
If you only did something 4 or 5 times a year, you'd look a bit amateurish. Something the large US companies have no excuss for. The BBC certainly has the money, but not the regular experience with, bet most of the cameramen & directors are more used to covering footie matches where there is 22 men & only one ball to follow.

And as for the putts disapearing behind people, brollies or bags on the ground, well that is rife no matter who is covering the golf on any week, which is no less annoying, but a fact.

Generally the commentary is very good, even, or especially Mr Alliss's odball comments. I'd really rather hear more of Mark James's comments as they are really insiteful, apt & interesting.

As I say all that's needed for the BeeB is more practice at covering these events during the year & maybe a change of director, nothing more.

(Pooh-Bah)

20/07/2008 22:32

Re: who's gonna win?

Line acre had a glorious moment showing his lack of golfing knowledge this morning when they were filling time before bbc1 live coverage (coverage had started on the red button)
Jimmy Bruen (who has an ulster-wide competition named after him) footage, it ended with poor gary saying "and what a swing he has" to which Nick Faldo replied "yea he makes Darcy look normal" the camera immediately popped back to Linekers face looking very confused and eventually errupting an indiffernt grin, he had no idea who Darcy was!

(old hand)

20/07/2008 22:55

Re: who's gonna win?

Oh One thing, You'd think that at 7:10 this morning I could have gone to BBCi & seen the early starter,.... like heck I could... Very odd as they've given us coverage via the red button before on a big weekend like this.

(addict)

20/07/2008 23:00

Re: who's gonna win?

Quote:

Great tournament, Do wonder how close the final day would of been if TW was there but I am glad he wasn't as we would of only seen two players today instead of 6.

Such a great tournament that the whole TW issue faded into the background. Would have been happy for any of the first three to win. Harrington deserved it in the end - (and I had Carnoustie down as a bit of a fluke).

AliB

(old hand)

20/07/2008 23:40

Re: who's gonna win?

Quote:

Quote:

Great tournament, Do wonder how close the final day would of been if TW was there but I am glad he wasn't as we would of only seen two players today instead of 6.

Such a great tournament that the whole TW issue faded into the background. Would have been happy for any of the first three to win. Harrington deserved it in the end - (and I had Carnoustie down as a bit of a fluke).

AliB

I really can't see how Mr Woods being or not being at a tournament makes the slightest difference, because although he may be the best golfer around, he doesn't perform well every week. Heck if Rocco Mediate, someone with one of the worst swings in Pro golf can almost beat the supposedly great Mr Woods then anyone can.

So to me there is no TW issue as regards the Open or any other tournament he choses to not play in for whatever reason.

(Carpal \'Tunnel)

21/07/2008 08:32

Re: who's gonna win?

Interesting comments from Jack Nicklaus and Peter Alliss regards attendances. Jack was saying that attendance in the US was down 25% due to the lack of TW. Alliss said the attendance at Birkdale was up despite the weather and no TW.

Makes you wonder just what effect the move of the World Matchplay to Spain will have on attendances. I can't see it being that well supported in comparision to the support that it has had at Wentworth.

One to watch next month, Masters at Woburn.

(old hand)

21/07/2008 20:54

Re: who's gonna win?

The debate about TW missing is really a non event-Harrington won last year with TW in the field.

It may have been an issue if someone without a major had won the Open but given a man with a major in his back pocket won when TW was playing has to silence this "Argument".

(old hand)

21/07/2008 21:09

Re: who's gonna win?

Quote:

The debate about TW missing is really a non event-Harrington won last year with TW in the field.

It may have been an issue if someone without a major had won the Open but given a man with a major in his back pocket won when TW was playing has to silence this "Argument".

You're absolutely right RGS. Harrington won it last year with Tiger in the field. This year he won in style. There is no doubt that Padraig is a two-time winner. Good for him!

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