golly, Ollie
Jose Maria Olazabal’s play to get into a playoff on Sunday was impressive. But, as soon as Tiger made the playoff, the look on Ollie’s face changed. CBS did great camera work in cutting away to Ollie on the range when the crowd roared on 18 after Tiger’s birdie. Ollie’s grimace seemed to indicate greater anxiety and almost disappointment when Tiger joined the playoff party.
And why shouldn’t Ollie get more anxious? After all, Tiger was 8-1 in playoffs and the World No.1 going into the tourney. But part of me thinks that Ollie should have tried to keep his “game face” on, without even acknowledging Tiger Woods’ birdie to get into the playoff. Here’s one time when the “Hal Sutton” attitude of take-no-prisoners, be-the-right-club-today! might have been better. Ollie should have wanted to go head-to-head against Tiger. He should have relished the opportunity. Maybe that kind of confidence would have translated into better play during the playoffs. For a guy who is touted for his iron play, Ollie came up really short — literally — on both playoff holes. First, his wedge from 90 yards rolled back onto the fringe. Then, on the 17th (which he parred everyday all week), his 2 or 3 iron hit the beach. From a two-time major winner, you’d expect a little more.
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