O, Sergio…
If you missed The Open today, you missed a really wild finish. Chunkedit has the highlights here. Here are my final thoughts.
1. Sergio didn’t choke, but he didn’t close. Sergio shot +2 for the day, with 3 birdies and 5 bogeys. Thinking back at his round, I can’t think of any really horrendous shot or stupid decision (like some of his competitors made). Sergio had a chance to win it on 18, after a pretty shaky front 9. Tiger would’ve closed this one out. Sergio couldn’t. Hindsight is 20/20, but I think Sergio played a little too conservative off the tee with this 2-iron, leaving some really long approach shots. If you remember Angel Cabrera at the U.S. Open, that guy was bombing his driver in the final round. Sergio’s just as good with his driver. It’s easy to second guess him now. But I think after Sergio lost the lead, he should’ve pulled out the big dog on the back 9 and gone for it. I also should add that Sergio didn’t get that many breaks today. His final putt to win the tourney edged the hole in the same way that Phil Mickelson’s final putt at the Masters did, only Phil’s dropped in and Sergio’s didn’t. Also, with the right bounce, Sergio’s tee shot on the par 3 16th that hit the pin could’ve been perhaps the most spectacular hole-in-one in major history. But not to be.
2. The luck of the Irish. Paddy Harrington got lucky to escape with a win, after hitting two balls into the water on 18–in what looked like the curse of Carnoustie, all over again. Not even Jean Van de Velde did that. Harrington’s finish was the shakiest final hole for a major victor I can think of.
3. Andres Romero was unconscious. I can’t fault Andres Romero too much for making a mess of 17. Basically, the guy was unconscious after hitting 10 birdies. When you’re in that kind of zone, you’re clearly not thinking.
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