I think I said that Woods was mentally tougher but that Baddeley had the right attitude to win on Sunday. Unfortunately, Baddeley came apart on the first hole with a triple, and was basically toast after that.
On the other hand, I was right in observing that if Baddeley had just stayed "Steady Eddie" and shot 70 or 71 again, Tiger would not catch him. Tiger shot 72 (+2) and so went backwards on the day, allowing Cabrera to pass him. Cabrera's +5 finish would not have beaten a Steady Eddie Badds, either. If Badds had shot +3 for the day, he would have been in a playoff Monday with Cabrera. Alas, Baddeley made no birdies and was +10 for the day -- a train wreck.
So I was half right -- if Baddeley had played reasonably well, Woods would not have caught him. Woods went backwards, Cabrera posted the second best round of the day at 69 (-1) to pass him (Anthony Kim followed a Saturday 80 with a Sunday 67!), and Baddeley fell from grace.
Personally, I don't prefer Badds because of his putting or dis-prefer Woods because I think he has weaknesses in his putting. I just saw that Baddeley was having a special week and has been playing very well with BOTH his driver-iron play and his putting. Others have seen the same, and said so. On his attitude, it has been remarkably the same as that shown by Zach Johnson when he won the Masters. Both individuals are very secure in themselves, which I believe is a major personality trait for withstanding pressure. I don't really think the pressure made Baddeley massacre the first hole, though, as he has not played that hole well at all (double on Thursday, bogey on Friday, par on Saturday, triple on Sunday). After the 1st hole, he sort of steadied out, and was still in the mix with Cabrera and Stricker and Woods at +5 until he doubled the 7th hole and went to +7. Baddeley then made a mess of the back nine.
While Woods did putt better Sunday than he did Saturday, he still didn't putt great, with 30 putts Sunday and a 4-day average putts per green in regulation of 1.75. Niclas Fasth ended the Open with the best putting for the field, with 114 total putts and an average 1.58 putts per green in regulation. (I worked with Fasth and his coach in 1998, but I doubt Fasth remembers much of it.) Woods took 126 total putts and ranked 41st of 63 players. Woods only needed two fewer putts to take the title. (Cabrera didn't set the world on fire with his putting, but he took 124 total putts, with 28 on Sunday to Woods' 30.)
"My bad!"
Cheers!
Geoff Mangum
Putting Coach and Theorist
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