This is an e-mail I sent to the my only friend (sleezyd) who plays WGT. We revel in our good and bad moments, seeing as to how no one else we know plays it.
I fired up a match play one morning at work, and next thing you know, I standing toe-to-toe with AvatarLee. You guys might find it entertaining.
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Ok bro,
Here's the run down.
We tied the first hole.
Second hole, we are both on the fairway...me about 104, him about the same. I go 9i, 130 yards into a 19 mph wind. I go past the hole 14 yards. He drops 6 yards from the hole. Lee takes it.
We halve the third.
Fourth hole, I iron on and drop fifteen feet downhill from the cup. Lee is laying with a gimmie for bird. I'm 5 yards away. I line it up perfectly. Give it oopmh to account for the notoriously gummy greens. My ball stops 2 inches short of the hole. Lee takes it. and he goes up another stroke on the fourth hole.
All my shots are looking good....drives are hitting the fairways, chips and lobs are landing inside of five yards, etc. I'm holding my own.
Fifth hole, par five, tee shots are great. I iron on and after my third shot I'm twelve feet from a birdie. Lee is up 2. Crucial hole.
Meanwhile, AvatarLee smacks his approach into the left bunker. He fights out and lands in double digits from the cup. Makes the comment, "I think I left my iron wedged in the side of that bunker." I think , "I've got this guy right now." Golden opportunity. HoleIt can bird out and get one stroke away from going all-square with the Canadian Killer. 12 ft putt for bird. Gentle left to right. Smooth hit. Aimed with the meter. 12 feet later, the ball makes whoopie with the cup and I officially took a stroke from the legend.
Next hole I'm feeling it. We halve it. I've got the northern neighbor right where I want him. I notice he is using the Ping wedge for his 60.
Sixth hole. Crunch time.
A little nervous off the tee, seeing how I've got some momentum and I don't want disappoint myself, you, or the Maple Leaf. Minor adjustments into a 17 mph right to left wind. On the fairway. AvLee follows up with the fairway. AvLee into the rough on his approach. I run on, past the hole, to set up a birdie putt of 63 feet. Straight on. No uphill. I'm thinking, "I get within 5 ft. There's no way that AvLee matches that from the rough." I putt from the 100 ft. meter, thinking I don't want to leave it short. I pull back to a little more than half way. 55 ft on a 63 ft putt should account for the little dip between midway through the lie.
And this is when the gremlins struck. Meter is smooth until it gets into the clicking region.
Mind you, I'm thinking I've bagged myself the wildest lynx on WGT, fully prepared to tie it up going into hole seven. Shoot. Even if I drop two strokes after that, I lose two down against the best. But I'm thinking more...I'm thinking, "I've got the champ by the neck right now. He knows it and I know it."
All this is going through my head. I'm confident I get within two yards of the cup. Right as I click, a burp of lag kicks in and when I do actually click, the meter stops just past the first meter line to the left of middle. Which means my less-than-two-yards-grab-the-champ-by-the-stones putt ends up being an embarrassing 20 ft left of the hole. On top of that, my coworkers, who've been totally silent and sitting at their desks the whole time this epic battle has been going on, decide to get up and look out the window right behind me. This makes me nervous. I don't want them to see me playing. More lag. I miss the putt a few inches left. Lee lands inside of 5 yards on his chip. Sinks it. Goes up two again.
I'm not phased going into 7. In my head, I've still got a chance. I'm face to face with the final boss and I'm not afraid. He's got chinks in his armor...chinks! I can take him.
I'm off the tee first. 21 mph wind, right to left. Bowl in the middle of the fairway. Big bunker right. Small bunker left. Avatar Lee mentions that this the hole where he dropped his 211 ft. putt. I prod. "Yeah, I saw that bad boy yesterday morning. Great shot."
"Did you bounce on off the tee?" His response confirms that he is not a cheat. "Hehe no...I was actually pissed at the time, I missed an easy birdie putt so I decided to whack it across the green and try for the diamond award."
He did it for kicks...for bogey. The man I'm playing sank a 211 ft. putt for fun. For fun.
My meter is choppy and my miracle run is coming to an end. I go left and end up on the edge of the bunker...30/40 lie in the sand. Lee goes left with me into the rough, 30/40 in the green stuff.
He rolls on within 6 yards. I 7i out and hit a nasty bump and I roll off the side of the green. I flop within 3 yards of the hole. Lee birdies. I'm two down. I thought I had the champ by the balls. Now my meter has me by the balls.
We go into eight and I still think I have a chance. Why not? I've played him hard so far. A couple of inches here and there and its all square. I've got this. I can take him, I think.
14 mph wind left to right. He lands 5 yards from the hole.
My meter is choppy. I hold it together as best as I can. I move the arrow a few yards left of the pin. I pull the flag. I'm going to get this close enough to smell the cup, I think. Nope. Meter goes right, ball floats more right, ball rolls off the green, 15 ft. from pin. I'm still fighting though. I can go out 2 down or I can go out 3 down. 2 down sounds better.
I'm laying on fairway grass. I'm thinking I use the 50 wedge with a full swing....drop it right of the hole to account for the right to left break on the green. Too risky, I think. 15 yards to pin. I've gotta flop it. Gotta flop. Usually I pull the arrow 4 or 5 yards left of pin. But this time I go halfway, thinking the break on teh green will bring the ball right into the bottom of the cup. I pull back. I come forward, I click just right of exc. The ball comes out solid.....lands right of the pin, makes a break for the cup, catches the edge. Rims out and stops 4 or 5 feet of the pin. AvLee comments on the shot.
AvLee lines up for a 6 yard bird. He's missing it, and I'm going out 2 down. 2 down sounds much better than 3. Lee guides it to the pin. The sweet rattling sound of the ball dropping in shatters my dreams. He wins, 3 up.