That answer is simple.  Only the player makes the decision to lay up or let it rip and go for the green on those water fronted par 5’s that are just egging you on to “man up,” be macho, to go for it.  “Man up” because we are talking about hitting long irons to hybrids and fairways woods.  We are not talking about hitting a smooth 5 iron or less to the middle of the green.

The layups that are causing controversy are ones to par 5’s when players were in the hunt, many times one shot back of the lead and have a chance to win.  And they all had shots well over 200 yards to water fronted greens. In the case of Ricky Fowler, who is the main subject of this article, his green was virtually an island.

I am writing this because I am tired of golf sports writers and commentators, and even golf professionals, being back seat drivers and dogging these professionals who choose to lay up.  My first question to all of them is, how many times have you been in that situation and thus have experience to judge another’s decision?  I have been there many times in professional tournaments, including a PGA Tour event and a US Senior Open, so I can speak from experience.  I have laid up and gone for it.  But each time the circumstances were different.

Ricky Fowler is a PGA Tour rookie and his #1 priority was securing his 2011 Tour card as well as being high on the re-shuffle of 2010 rookies that was happening after the Phoenix Open.  I goggled Rickie and the Phoenix open and found some articles with comments about Ricky and some quotes from him that are copied below.

I also found one that was written by PGA Professional, Greg Enholm titled ,“Winners Play to Win” and he brings up some super points about going for the green.  He introduced two other recent lay ups by Tim Clark and Michael Sim that not making birdie cost them to loose by a shot, as did Ricky.
I also found an article about the “Mack Daddy” layup pounding that a PGA Tour player has ever received and is still mentioned today, and was in conjunction with Rickie’s decision last week.  That infamous lay up was done by Chip Beck at the 15th hole in the 1993 Masters.  I also copied the article I found that describes the situation and Beck’s thought process.

Now, let’s look at some of those comments and quotes I found in articles about Rickie.

“Fowler virtually assured himself of keeping his Tour card for next season and zoomed to the top of the rookie rankings, which are re-shuffled after the Phoenix event.  He also climbed to 13th in FedEx Cup playoff points and needs to reach the top 10 to qualify for the World Golf Championships – CA Championship in two weeks.”

“I haven’t really thought about all the stuff,” Fowler said of the perks that come with his finish. “I think it basically gives me my card back, which was one of my goals going into the year, and I took care of that pretty quick, which is kind of a relief.
“I get to just go play golf now. It moves me up in the rankings with the reshuffle, so a lot of good things are happening this week.”

The reshuffle is important because it establishes a pecking order among rookies for exemptions into tournaments. That Fowler is on top comes as no surprise after a brilliant amateur career.

A Lesson Learned: Winners play to win
By Greg Enholm, PGA Professional

“So answer this one golf fans, what do Tim Clark (2010 Bob Hope), Michael Sim (2010 Farmers Insurance Classic), and Rickie Fowler (2010 Phoenix Open) now all have in common? They have all trailed the lead by one shot on the back nine of the final round, and they all laid up on reachable par fives coming down the stretch. Oh, and they also all lost by one. This is becoming a course management trend which defies golf logic in my opinion. Players are forgetting why they are in the last group and what got them there, making birdies and eagles! When you are trailing by one on a reachable par five there is no decision to make. It is a mandatory go!

“Let’s look at this past week. On hole no. 15, with water twenty yards short of the green, Rickie Fowler laid up from 230 yards out. Fowler can bomb it as a young twenty-one year old, this was very reachable for him. To compound matters, he hit to an in-between yardage, missed the green with his third shot and needed to get up and in for just a par. He never gave himself a chance at birdie!

“Consider the other scenario. Say he hits his second shot in the water. He could drop to a yardage of his choice and still get up and down for par. This also gives him a chance for the much better flip side, one where he flags a three iron, makes eagle and goes on to win the tournament. Think about the number-one player in the world. What would he have done? In fact, think of any of the top twenty golfers in the world. They all would have gone for it. Why? Because they all know how to win tournamnets, to take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves, and this was one of those opportunities.

“Golf is all about second guessing, second chances and learning from your mistakes. There is no doubt Ricky Fowler will be multiple PGA Tour winner, we are just going to have to see what he has learned from his past experiences.”

My feelings about second guessing and, as stated in the first sentence “it proved to be quite costly,” I ask, DID it prove costly?  Rickie finished second, making a lot of money, secured his card for next year and moved to #1 in the reshuffle.  What all these naysayers seem to forget and only dwell on is if he went for it and had positive results.  This article had him even if hitting into the water on his second shot getting it up and down for par.  What about not getting it up and down for par or even making bogey and worse.  Winning is important, but at what risk?

Chip Beck, like Rickie, did some good serious thinking,  evaluated  his situation, and made a decision he can live with.  Here are Beck’s circumstances and his thoughts and conclusions.

No regrets: a decade later, Chip Beck stands by his lay up
Golf Digest, April, 2003 by Ron Kaspriske

All right, let’s get right to it. Chip Beck had 236 yards to carry the pond on 15 on Sunday. There was a slight breeze in his face, a gallery of millions, and he needed to make up three shots to catch Bernhard Langer and win the ‘93 Masters.

What did he do?

“The same thing I’d do today,” Beck says from his home in Lake Forest, Ill. “I took out my 5-iron and laid up.”

Although it has been 10 years since his runner-up finish at the Masters, Beck still gets asked about that decision frequently. And, typical of his friendly demeanor, Beck doesn’t bite the head off the person who is asking: “Why on earth didn’t you go for the green in two?”

“I felt that if I could wedge on and birdie that hole, I could still win,” he says. “I didn’t want to throw away my chances to win, and that shot would have been stupid.” Unfortunately for Beck, his wedge shot from 75 yards missed the green and he made par. Langer cruised to a four-shot victory.

Nevertheless, Beck says the ‘93 Masters is a career highlight. But not his last. The man who once shot 59 in the Las Vegas Invitational and won four PGA Tour events is still playing. The 46-year-old is now on the Nationwide Tour and thinks his game is improving. “I’m looking forward to winning again,” he says.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Golf Digest Companies
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning

We can beat this should they have gone for it or not forever.  It is easy to stand outside of the ropes or in the press tent or clubhouse watching it on TV and make judgments.  It is another thing to be the player inside of the ropes, seeing the lie of the ball and the fairway, the wind and feeling his stomach wrenching and muscles tightening and what is going on in his mind.  And remember in Rickie Fowler’s and Chip Beck’s cases, they still had birdie holes left to play, so part of their strategy was not to sink (pun intended) their round on a high probability golf shot that could drown (pun intended) their chance of winning in one shot as well as jeopardize finishing second or third where the money they would lose would be significant.

These players first and foremost are out there on the PGA Tour playing and making career decisions.  If we write articles and or make comments on TV let’s maybe question their decision to lay up, but let us never disparage and ridicule or call them out on it.  Remember second is better than third and third is better than fourth.  And when they have multiple wins and never have to worry about money earned to keep their card, than maybe, like Tiger and Phil, they may go for more par 5, high margin of error water fronted greens.  Until then, laying up and finishing second is pretty good, commendable and profitable and deserves a well done for a good tournament finish.

The Surge!

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