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Driver off the deck? Kevin Na explains decision that cost him Frys.com Open

Published

8 years ago

Oct 19, 2015

If you caught the final round of the Frys.com Open, you saw a few unexpected shots from Tour pros (cue Johnny Miller talking about choking).

In fact, Emiliano Grillo, the tournament’s eventual winner, missed a four-footer for birdie on the first playoff hole to extend his sudden-death duel with Kevin Na. Jason Bohn also hit one heavy down the stretch, saying “I think I just kind of peeked. Wanted to see where it was going before I made contact. Dumped it and chunked it.”

But “Mr. 16” Kevin Na went with driver off the deck at the second playoff hole to take the cake Sunday. Sidebar: Is driver off the deck ever really a good idea, especially in a high-pressure situation? Regardless, the results of Na’s attempt: A lovely, low, chunked, hooking effort that ended up well short, in the rough, and totally out of position.

Rut-roh.

Check out the shot here.

Here’s what he had to say about it after the round.

Q. Probably hit it left or right and get the ball over to the right and give yourself an angle. What happened?

KEVIN NA: You know, I hit probably five or six drivers off the deck this week. Drove it on 16. Drove this green. Almost drove 9. I’ve hit it perfect every time.

In regulation I missed it in the right spots. The driver is the only club that’s going to get me far enough right, past the front, where I can have an aim to win.

I hit it all the time. I was very confident. Only thing is it was dark. It’s a lot tougher. The ball was above any feet. Maybe I should have hit 3-wood. If I were to go to do it over again I probably would still hit driver.

I don’t know. Just a little unlucky there in the second shot. Driver is the right club. It was a little dark. Probably caught it 16th or 18th of an inch heavy and the club just turned over.

Of course, hooking drivers to lose playoffs is something of a habit for Na now. Remember his pull-hook at the Memorial last year (~2:30 in the video below)?

Oh no…

Bearing all this in mind, considering the situation, what do you think of Na’s decision?

(video, imagery via the PGA Tour’s YouTube Channel).

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11 Comments

Robert

Oct 21, 2015 at 2:42 pm

I started a thread once about hitting driver off the deck and the reaction was like I had said the Cleveland VAS irons were the best looking and feeling irons ever made.

With the lower CG’s, it’s possible to hit them off the deck again. Who’s to say he wouldn’t have chunked a 3 wood? Having the ball above your feet and hitting ANY long club is difficult.

And just because someone is a great golfer doesn’t mean they can handle being in front of all those people well. Everyone has different personalities and some handle those things well, some don’t. Some learn over the years, some don’t. I wouldn’t ever consider it a fault of a person for reacting badly in that situation and hitting a bad shot. Bad shots happen even without pressure of thousands of people watching.

Nobody is perfect.

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Jay

Oct 20, 2015 at 12:45 pm

I don’t care who you are, driver off the deck is never a good option. He should have hit 3 wood.

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Steve

Oct 20, 2015 at 11:22 am

I love when they say they would do it the same way, no you wouldn’t. Unless this is a Tin Cup moment. If he had mulligan, he would he 3 wood.

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Tom

Oct 20, 2015 at 9:17 am

I may not agree with the big D off the deck BUT I can’t disagree with his commitment to the shot.

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JohnJohn

Oct 20, 2015 at 12:04 am

This cat seems to find a way to sabatoge himself. He can’t get out of his own way.

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WOB

Oct 19, 2015 at 10:33 pm

“far enough right, past the front, where I can have an aim to win.”

Uh….. what the heck do you mean? So you were PLANNING to pitch one anyways from wherever it landed to the right of the cup about 60 feet away? So why not lay up and then, hit a perfect wedge to 3 feet or even into the cup a la Zach Johnson and walk away with a win? No confidence in sticking the 100 yard wedge from the fairway but would rather take a chance with a sketchy pitch from a mediocre lie behind the green? Check.

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Winmac

Oct 19, 2015 at 8:45 pm

It was a shot that he would have repeated. Didn’t work. Even if he decided to use a pitching wedge, if the shot would pull left, then it would.

Kudos to Kevin. He seemed to totally enjoyed playing. Even on bad shots.

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- Loohooser
  
  Oct 20, 2015 at 11:28 am
  
  Loser
  
  Reply Report comment
Josh

Oct 19, 2015 at 7:44 pm

golfwrx=forever hate kevin na. Someone is going to commit suicide dare he win a tournament

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Mats B

Oct 19, 2015 at 5:44 pm

Fully agree with John Figueroa, You play to win the game! Who’ll ever remember anyone who just sticks by….-If he didn’t hit it slightly behind and made it all the way…..It would have been one of his most memorable play off holes and Tournament titles….. 😉

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Rwj

Oct 19, 2015 at 5:24 pm

18th of an inch? Give me a break

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Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (1/16/24): Cobra Forged One Length irons

Published

3 months ago

Jan 16, 2024

Gianni Magliocco

At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals that all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.

It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.

Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, there is a listing for a set of Cobra Forged One Length irons.

From the seller: (@adamwittman): “4-PW, GW, lw. Nunchuk shafts. $350 tyd conusa.”

To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: Cobra Forged One Length irons

This is the most impressive current listing from the GolfWRX BST, and if you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum you can check them out here: GolfWRX BST Rules

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What GolfWRXers are saying about Kevin Kisner’s new Callaway X Forged CB irons

Published

4 years ago

Oct 15, 2020

Gianni Magliocco

In our forums, our members have been discussing Kevin Kisner’s new Callaway X Forged CB irons which he has in the bag at this week’s CJ Cup. WRXers have been commenting on the switch and the clubs themselves in our forums.

For lots more photos, check out the full thread here.

Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

btyh: “Holy offset.”
Glf_LU: “These are interesting. Not going to make a rush to judgement until I see them in person. It does look like a little more offset than I would expect to see in this model.”
bcflyguy1: “Kisner is not one to make a lot of equipment changes (see the GBB driver he’s still using), so if these do have staying power in his bag that will be interesting to see. I have to wonder if there’s something different about his set, because like others have mentioned there appears to be more offset on his than I recall seeing in the samples I’ve had in hand.”

Entire Thread: “Kevin Kisner’s new Callaway X Forged CB irons”

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WATCH: PGA Tour players play hole blindfolded and it’s hilarious/amazing

Published

6 years ago

Jun 25, 2018

GolfWRX Staff

As part of a Srixon campaign, four PGA Tour players recently participated in a three-hole challenge, with each hole being a different game; hole No. 1 was blindfolded, hole No. 2 was costumes and distractions, and hole No. 3 was alternate shot with a baseball bat. The teams were Smylie Kaufman and Sam Ryder against Shane Lowry and Grayson Murray.

Watch the full video below, since it is quite entertaining (albeit not the type of golf that Old Tom Morris surely had in mind), but in particular, make sure to check out the first hole where Lowry and Ryder play a full hole completely blind folded. It’s amazing to watch how badly Ryder struggles, and how Lowry nearly makes par.

What happens when 4 #PGATOUR pros take a day off?
Luckily, the cameras were rolling.
Watch @shanelowrygolf, @graysonmurray, @smyliekaufman10, and @samrydersu in #SrixonVS. pic.twitter.com/C4LJwQgmZ7

— Srixon (@SrixonGolf) June 25, 2018

Cleveland-Srixon’s marketing department has been hard at work crafting these viral-esque ad campaigns; if you remember, former long-drive champion Jamie Sadlowski recently dressed as 80-year-old Grandpa Jamie to fool range-goers. That video has since gathered over 1.2 million views on YouTube.

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