Tiger Woods Wins at Congressional

Question

Well, it looks like Tiger Woods has regained a bit of his old form. By winning at Congressional in the AT&T, he has now surpassed Jack Nicklaus on the PGA Wins list, w/ 74, and is now in second place behind Sam Snead w/ 82.
He is also number 1 in Fed-X Cup points, passing Jason Dufner.
While I am far less a fan of Woods, than I was just a few years back, due to activities off the course, I have to say that he is certainly one of the best, who has ever played the game.
I made a comment, not THAT long ago, that he would not win another "major," and he almost made me eat my words, at the US Open. If I was incorrect about that prediction, then so be it. I do not think that he can touch Nicklaus' record of majors' wins, 18, but might even be wrong about that too. At 14, and with maybe another 24 majors ahead of him, I suppose that it is possible.
Maybe The Open Championship (British Open) will be a test of my prediction? Royal Lytham & St. Annes could be a worthy test for Woods, and depending on the weather, could close out 2012 with no "majors" for him.
He IS making a comeback, but I wish that he was not "coming back," from what he is.
Hunt
PS - not sure what the deal is, but this is the third time, that I have tried to post this. No errors, no warnings, just an offer to take me to the forum, that I tried to post to, or the main forum page. Odd. If it gets posted multiple times, I'll see that others are deleted.

Answer 1

OK, in that cited case, only the first nine holes are used to start the tournament. One foursome on 1, one on 2, etc. The open play golfers are scheduled, so that all should have cleared hole #9, before the start of play. Then, at say 1:00PM, each foursome on 1 - 9 tees off. The foursome on #1 will end, with #18, where the foursome on #2 will play #18, and then #1. The foursome on #3 will play through #18, and then holes #1 and #2.
Starting multiple foursomes on different holes, at the same time, is called a "shotgun start," as at private clubs, without homes along the course, a shotgun was fired, at the appointed time. Then, they went to air horns (like the one that the course provides you with... ), as the fowl on the course were eating the shotgun pellets.
Though there are variations, and often confused, and confusing names, a "scrambles" is where all four players hit from the tee. The foursome then decides whose tee shot, they will use, and play out the hole, repeating the process, until the putt is holed. Say we decide that my drive is the one to use, then we all go to that spot, and hit from that area (usually within a club's length, and usually from a similar lie*), but after our second shots, we decide that yours was the best, we gather up around your second shot, to hit our third, and the process is repeated, until one of our foursome hits to the green. We all putt, and if someone holes out - hole complete, and we use the cumulative score for our hole, though we chose the best shot, for each shot. If no one sinks the putt, then the one closest to the hole, or perhaps with a better line, is marked, and everyone putts from there.
As mentioned, there are variations to a "scrambles." For years, one tournament started out, like above, with the best tee shot chosen, but then, each golfer in the foursome was on their own, and had to complete the hole. Two scores were assigned - overall score for the entire foursome (best score out of the group), but then another, individual score. That variation takes a bit longer, as each golfer completes the hole.
There are also often stipulations, for the use of tee shots. In the Lou Grubb, each player in a foursome MUST have 4 tee shots used during the 18. That means that if we are playing our last hole, and I have only had 3 tee shots used to that point, we MUST use my tee shot, even if it ends up behind the giant green frog. There is a bit of psychology, that can go into choosing whose tee shot to use. If player A has few tee shots used, to that point, the foursome might decide to use a shorter tee shot from them, to insure that everyone has used 4 tee shots in the 18. This really comes into play with mixed foursomes, with the ladies. We might sacrifice some yardage, to make sure that all of the ladies do get their 4 tee shots in. However, some courses really give a benefit to the ladies, who are most often playing from forward tees, so then it can be the reverse, where the ladies are nailing drives from forward tees, and the guys need to get their 4 tee shots in.
There can be other psycology employed, as if my tee shot is longer, but puts me in such a place, as I have say "tree trouble," we could choose to use another player's tee shot, that might be shorter, i.e. farther to the hole, but is in a better position. Still, with a "one club in the same lie rule," it could be that within one club length, we might have a better shot, around that problem tree?
Some scrambles have no minimum required number of tee shots, so if you have one long, straight hitter on your team, you may legally use EVERY one of their tee shots, if they are better.
You might hear terms like "best ball," used for a scrambles tournament format, but that term has an official meaning, that is different. You will see real Best Ball in the Ryder and President's Cup matches. True Best Ball is usually a team of two golfers in a foursome made up of two teams, and there are a few specific aspects, that would likely not come into the mix, unless maybe one is playing club vs club golf, where each foursome has two players from club A, and two from club B.
For most tournament, each cart will get a complete set of the "rules" for that tournament.
Hope that helps,
Hunt
* That "similar lie" aspect means that if I hit my tee shot into the first cut of the rough, and we decide to play my shot, we may NOT play any shots from the fairway, even if it's within one club length. All four shots MUST be played from the first cut of the rough, but can be placed (no "drop" required) within one club length, in the same first cut.
PS - you might hear it said that with a "scrambles," no one ever has to play out of a bunker. Well, in general, that is often true, but in two tournaments, we had to play out of a bunker, as the other three shots were so bad! Should not happen, but it does.