Has Paige Pierce peaked?

[VictorB]

Wow. Just saw the final score on UDisc. It's the kind of comeback only Paige Pierce can pull off.

It begs the question - why did the women play a 'final 9' and the men didn't? It wasn't even a true final 9, it was a resumed round. So, why did a cancelled round have to be resumed? Paige would have lost if they played the same format as the men. Sure seems like someone wanted to add a bunch of extra holes...can't imagine why or who that would benefit...

I know Siri makes some bad decisions from time to time, but this one seems to be waaaaaay out in left field.

 

[SD86]

PP did up her game towards the end, But Catrina for sure seemed to say.. fk it.. I'll take a bogie over slipping and getting a career ending injury from these sloppy muddy tee pads. And she clearly threw less than stellar shots seemingly on purpose, to avoid injury imop.

Catrina definitely played conservatively, and she was NOT liking those muddy teepads. My own knees were hurting just watching all of them throw off those teepads.

While PP hit the shots she needed (those three shots for the eagle on 18 were awesome), I felt like she didn't really light it up as much as the other players on the card came back to her. Maybe they got tired towards the end (it was a grueling weekend with the weather havoc, and they had to play 5 extra holes they had not known about at the outset of day 3).

None of that takes away from PP getting it together and perservering to win, though, so congrats to her.

 

[SD86]

It begs the question - why did the women play a 'final 9' and the men didn't? It wasn't even a true final 9, it was a resumed round. So, why did a cancelled round have to be resumed? Paige would have lost if they played the same format as the men. Sure seems like someone wanted to add a bunch of extra holes...can't imagine why or who that would benefit...

I know Siri makes some bad decisions from time to time, but this one seems to be waaaaaay out in left field.

Didn't the MPO play a final 9? I haven't watched the MPO footage yet, but I thought I saw Youtube 'recommending' a Final 9 MPO.

 

[VictorB]

Didn't the MPO play a final 9?

No.

The short of the story is that PDGA doesn't allow cancellation of a round and throwing out scores from a cancelled round. It has to be 'completed'. But, no one knew that until 12 holes into the Sunday round for FPO. Since the MPO didn't have scores for a partial round, this wasn't an issue.

It seems that Paige really didn't start going for it until after that point. It changed the entire tournament to the benefit of Pierce since she was behind by a decent bit at that point.

 

[SD86]

No.

The short of the story is that PDGA doesn't allow cancellation of a round and throwing out scores from a cancelled round. It has to be 'completed'. But, no one knew that until 12 holes into the Sunday round for FPO. Since the MPO didn't have scores for a partial round, this wasn't an issue.

It seems that Paige really didn't start going for it until after that point. It changed the entire tournament to the benefit of Pierce since she was behind by a decent bit at that point.

Ultimately, from what I'm seeing in the rules, the correct decision was made to have those FPO players play the extra holes to complete an official round. If the MPO hadn't started a round yet, then they didn't need to complete it, and all's good.

I agree that it changed the tournament to the benefit of PP. At the same time, as I watched with awareness of what had happened, I didn't think Pierce really 'turned it on'; she was still playing 'meh' until the final hole. The others just came back to her, especially Rebecca Cox.

 

[wproct]

I think Rebecca is going to continue to grow as a competitor and she seems to really have a good attitude and stays focused on her game. The field is going to get tougher in the future.

 

[SD86]

I think Rebecca is going to continue to grow as a competitor and she seems to really have a good attitude and stays focused on her game. The field is going to get tougher in the future.

If Rebecca gets her putting together, she's gonna be a 'contendah'...

 

[DiscFifty]

If Rebecca gets her putting together, she's gonna be a 'contendah'...

Everytime she drives, I keep yelling at her. Slow down woman and you'll probably throw 50ft further!!! She's really putting all of her energy way ahead of the release. If she held all that back and exploded at the release.....she would easily gain substantial distance. EASILY! I'm also hoping she doesn't have an injury due to that form. Scary stuff sometimes...

Lisa Fajkus's form is still bewildering to me. It's like she's trying to hyzer flip an anny line. It obviously works for her, but I always turn my face sideways like a confused dog when she drives. lol..

 

[sidewinder22]

Cox has the worst BH form.

 

[SD86]

Everytime she drives, I keep yelling at her. Slow down woman and you'll probably throw 50ft further!!! She's really putting all of her energy way ahead of the release. If she held all that back and exploded at the release.....she would easily gain substantial distance. EASILY! I'm also hoping she doesn't have an injury due to that form. Scary stuff sometimes...

I agree that she can improve her driving form and get better, but her real bane is her putting. Some of her closest putts were her worst in the NHM tournament. IMHO that really is where she needs to put in some work improving. If she really works on her putting (and gets coached up good and proper) she'll be right up there.

Lisa Fajkus's form is still bewildering to me. It's like she's trying to hyzer flip an anny line. It obviously works for her, but I always turn my face sideways like a confused dog when she drives. lol..

I agree. Definitely good practice for that 'questioning puppy dog' face...

 

[Silentmatters]

Watching Paige on the last hole nine of the NHMO, I noticed the complete lack of confidence in her expression for such a short putt? I am a Paige fan - my wife gives me a look when I say, "that's my girl!" We both are from the Dallas area. It bothers me when she is not doing well and still can remember not long ago when she was throwing as well and with as much confidence as Rebecca. Maybe there are things in life that are distracting her and she will eventually find her groove again as someone above said.

 

[SD86]

Watching Paige on the last hole nine of the NHMO, I noticed the complete lack of confidence in her expression for such a short putt? I am a Paige fan - my wife gives me a look when I say, "that's my girl!" We both are from the Dallas area. It bothers me when she is not doing well and still can remember not long ago when she was throwing as well and with as much confidence as Rebecca. Maybe there are things in life that are distracting her and she will eventually find her groove again as someone above said.

I think there was a Slomez on that last putt, and I saw Paige's face after she made that last putt. She looked very relieved to have made it. And at the time, the players on the card weren't completely sure who was leading and by what, due to the added holes and the uncounted-then-recounted four holes from the day before, so I don't think Paige knew for absolute sure she'd won. So that look of relief may have been what you're saying: a lack of confidence in the putt then relief she made it.

 

[JC17393]

Watching Paige on the last hole nine of the NHMO, I noticed the complete lack of confidence in her expression for such a short putt? I am a Paige fan - my wife gives me a look when I say, "that's my girl!" We both are from the Dallas area. It bothers me when she is not doing well and still can remember not long ago when she was throwing as well and with as much confidence as Rebecca. Maybe there are things in life that are distracting her and she will eventually find her groove again as someone above said.

I don't think it necessarily has to be something off the course or a distraction in general. It could just be she's in a bit of a rut with some aspect of or her entire game and hasn't been able to shake out of it.

She talks a bit about it in her Instagram post following her win on Sunday. The money quote: "The last hole will forever be in my memory bank as one of my greatest feats. A walk off eagle to win my first tournament of the year. And to do so while not feeling 100% confident in where my game is currently. I overcame when the pressure and stakes were high, and I proved to myself that I am capable no matter what thoughts may drift in from time to time."

Maybe the win is a turning point for her. Confidence is a hell of a thing when it comes to this game. When you're on a roll, it's tough not to be confident. When things aren't going so hot, it's tough to manufacture confidence. Sometimes all it takes is one event, one moment to turn things around.

 

[Twmccoy]

Watching Paige on the last hole nine of the NHMO, I noticed the complete lack of confidence in her expression for such a short putt? I am a Paige fan - my wife gives me a look when I say, "that's my girl!" We both are from the Dallas area. It bothers me when she is not doing well and still can remember not long ago when she was throwing as well and with as much confidence as Rebecca. Maybe there are things in life that are distracting her and she will eventually find her groove again as someone above said.

She's definitely off putting. During the 1st round she was missing some putts badly. I won't say they were tap ins, but she was air mailing stuff. Her body language looks off. She's tense and jittery putting.

There was one (short) putt that she stood there and deliberated over for a while, like she wasn't sure what to do with it.

 

[Silentmatters]

I don't think it necessarily has to be something off the course or a distraction in general. It could just be she's in a bit of a rut with some aspect of or her entire game and hasn't been able to shake out of it.

She talks a bit about it in her Instagram post following her win on Sunday. The money quote: "The last hole will forever be in my memory bank as one of my greatest feats. A walk off eagle to win my first tournament of the year. And to do so while not feeling 100% confident in where my game is currently. I overcame when the pressure and stakes were high, and I proved to myself that I am capable no matter what thoughts may drift in from time to time."

Maybe the win is a turning point for her. Confidence is a hell of a thing when it comes to this game. When you're on a roll, it's tough not to be confident. When things aren't going so hot, it's tough to manufacture confidence. Sometimes all it takes is one event, one moment to turn things around.

That's an interesting post - I must have missed it so thanks for sharing. I agree that Confidence, once lost, is hell to get back. Her drives on the last hole was old Paige - was incredibly proud of her. Here's to her finding that confidence and holding on to it.

 

[mizunodave]

So the correct ruling would have been to come out Sunday morning and start on hole 5 and complete round 2, correct? Then you can play 9 holes of round 3 or not at TD discretion. By starting Sunday at hole 1 I think they really got things messed up.

 

[JC17393]

So the correct ruling would have been to come out Sunday morning and start on hole 5 and complete round 2, correct? Then you can play 9 holes of round 3 or not at TD discretion. By starting Sunday at hole 1 I think they really got things messed up.

That's correct. Had they re-started on Sunday morning on hole 5, they wouldn't have needed to play nine extra holes. They could have stopped after 38 total holes, same as the men did.

Frankly, I think they could have done without the extra five holes if they'd simply decided to call round 2 a 23-hole round (4 holes Saturday + 19 holes Sunday). I believe the only reason to tack on those five holes to make a 9 hole "round" was to, in a way, make up for the fact that the women played the first 10-11 holes of Sunday's round unaware that Saturday counted. Had they known going in that those scores were in play, the way they played from the beginning could/would have been different.

I mean, they started Sunday thinking the standings were Cat and Rebecca tied with Lisa 4 back and Paige 6 back. If instead they'd started hole 1 knowing it was Cat up by 4 on Lisa, 5 on Rebecca, and 8 on Paige, the whole round plays differently but it's fair to end after they complete 19 holes (and 23 total for round 2) on Sunday.

 

[Silentmatters]

Two wins in a row!

 

[Hyzflip10]

Two wins in a row!

Shhhh, some people here are emotionally invested in believing that she has peaked.

 

[Jimb]

Having two wins in a row still doesn't mean that she hasn't peaked already.

Sure, Tiger won today, too. But something tells me that he probably already peaked.

Spoiler

Note that I'm not saying that Paige has peaked. I was just making an observation.