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I watched most of Fred's shots today at the AT&T.  He arrived, as always, last in his pairing at the driving range.  He wedged his way in between DLIII and Jim Furyk.  Standard program, wedges up through metals.  Laughing and joking with most caddies and players nearby and walking by.  They had the tee line too far forward to hear any conversations, but Davis, his brother (looked like Davis' brother on his bag) and Joey were all talking and laughing.

Fred went off the back, as you all see from shot link.  The first 8 holes were amazing.  His driver was super hot, in the middle of the fairway and long.  His irons weren't great which is why he wasn't able to take advantage of his good position.  Then, on 9 (actually 18), he started to pull his tee shots.  I couldn't tell why, he wasn't stretching any more than usual, he just wasn't able to find the fairway.  The course was in great shape and good scores were there to be had because of heavy rains last night, but not from the rough. 

On 6 Fred pulled his tee shot to the left rough, 185 to the pin (so says Joey).  I happened to be standing in that spot when he teed off so I was standing right next to him during his pre-shot routine.  What was amazing is that he was on a down hill side hill lie, which does lend itself to a cut, but I didn't comprehend the shot that he was taking.  There were trees down the left side of the fairway, about 100 yards away.  I figured he'd punch out, and get up and down for a par.  Instead, he took the ball over the trees and faded it to the left side of the green and made birdie.  I realize I'm no pro and I'm walking a course with different eye's than these players, but it's amazing how well these guys hit the balls out of the rough.  If you get a chance to watch them play, get as close as you can when they make recovery shots.  They are truly amazing.

Anyway, the entire round Fred was talking with Paul Casey and Boo.  At one point, Fred and Joey were laughing so hard standing on the side of the green I thought there were going to disrupt play.  I've been fortunate to see Fred when he comes to D.C., but I've never seen him this happy for the entire round.  Too bad he ended on a down note, but he'll crush the senior tour with a little practice.  He's still very long and his abilities are still good enough to compete on the PGA.  All of the fans were cheering him on with lots of 'Freddy!!' etc.

enjoy the rest of the tourney I'll hope to follow him again on Saturday

Thanks Doug – Sounds like a great day.  Are you heading back out there today or for the weekend?

I did head back to watch Fred on Saturday, where he played with Rocco. 

Same story as Thursday except he was much sharper with his irons.

His run on 7,9,10 was great.

7 and 9 are par three's each with their own tricks.

On 7, his tee shot landed to the short side of the green a little hotter than I would have thought for a hole that short, but… the ball rolled around the right side of the tee through the first cut, back behind the hole to the absolute top of the ridge, held for a minute where the crowd all started to cheer the ball, and it took one half turn and rolled within birdie range.  He didn't get a read, but had the same line on Thursday.  He rolled it straight in, SCWEET

10 as you know is a par 3 over water.  The trick as you saw on TV was the pin placement off the lower edge, there was no room for error short.  If you had any spin  the ball would roll back into the water, and the drop zone was 100 yards version of the same tee shot.  He landed just to the right of the pin with a one bounce check stop spin and had the straightest putt on the green, bottom of the cup!!!

9 was surprising.  He was about 230'ish to the green and short is not a great location as the hill is very step and the pin was tucked mid-depth far right side.  He hits an iron short right, I figured get a par and move on.  I was walking around the green when he approched his ball and I could barely see his shoes the grass was so thick.  I walked around the green and couldn't see him, Joe, his club at the top of his swing, nothing.  Next thing I see this ball rising up from the trees landing on the green as soft as a pat of butter, right next to the pin, the place went crazy.  He sinks the putt, another good putt one a distance that has hurt him in the past.

Another note.  The par three 2nd is a very long, up hill, into the wind shot.  We watched several people on that hole before his 1050 tee time.  There were some very long hitters that were using hybrids and some that hit irons.  Every iron shot (I'd say 4-6) were pull-hooked short left.  Fred steps up with an iron, which he used years ago during the open, and smoked it near pin high.  Now, the green was sloped like a putt-putt-golf green and he three putted, as did everybody else.  But, his length is still there and his touch is as awesome as always.

The fans were very pro Fred, but Rocco garnered more cheers, surprising.  I realize my 11 handicap doesn't count, but Rocco's swing is very home made.  Don't get me wrong, I wish I could play like he does, but watching him on the range didn't look any different from watching a good player on the local range, with the exception of his consistency, trajectory and that sweet sound of a pro contacting the ball first. 

On the comment about Fred being happy.  I remember a time when he played this tourney at the course next to Cong. when the open was at Cong the following week.  He arrived at the first tee box, turned to Joey and said, "I should have stayed at home today, what am I doing out here".  The entire round he was walking and looking into the sky thinking about something other than golf and his scorecard showed.  These two rounds he was into the game, talking with Rocco and Joey and laughing and playing hard. 

One last note, 'how do they do that'.  As I mentioned on Thursday Fred hits a cut from 185 over these trees and water on six and birdied.  Yesterday Baddely was sitting in the right rough, 170 or so from green with a tree 50 yards away, pin mid-depth right edge.  I leaned under the ropes and took a good look at the ball.  The top of the ball was lower than the grass, with lush thick grass behind the ball.  I turned to my wife and said, "ok, lets see what he does with this lie?"  I should have known better.  He had a pretty easy fade to the green to a pin on right around the tree, no problem for a pro, I wouldn't have carried the tree the grass was so thick.  He stands over the ball and asked the marshall to drop the ropes to his right and move the fans back.  I thought that was rather good of him so as not to hit a fan should he mi[naughty] the ball.  Yeah, right.  He was going to hit a draw under/through the tree.  No way!!!  He hits this bullet of a short, lands 2 feet in  the first cut, one big bounce to the green.  UNREAL.  He looked at his caddie and said, "that's how you do it" with this wry grin, very very nice.  Another example how good these guys are at this game.

Enjoy the golf today.  Remember, the Golf Channel stars coverage at 1:00 eastern time for 90 minutes, might be are only chance to see Fred.

Thanks again for the details of his round.  Did manage to catch him a few times this morning on the golf channel – but I only flipped over to the golf once in awhile – had to watch the end of the tennis.  I think the Golf Channel said that Fred and Joe were asking for updates on the tennis match.