On
Tour with Brian Voss
Pepsi Championship - Fairlawn, OH
(Mar. 1 - 5, 2006 )
This week in Akron featured the "Shark" pattern, originally designed
to favor the deep inside line, but with a high volume of oil. Most
of the guys assumed that was where to play, and almost everyone started
out playing just left of the third arrow. I was crossing with WRW
and next to Machuga and Duke. It's always nice to play close to some
of the best in the world. I started out playing where everyone else
was playing, just left of the third arrow. After three games of being
even, and watching WRW shoot 150 over playing the "1" board, I decided
to play the gutter. It was the kind of gutter shot that you had to
start the ball right on the 1 or 2 board. People that aren't used
to playing this kind of shot have a little fear doing so, fear of
getting zero on the first ball. But WRW was making them look easy,
which he has a tendency of doing occasionally. I ended up 50 or 60
over for block, which put me right at the cut. I was using a strong
Scorpion. The next block I drilled a strong Alien, and was convinced
that playing the gutter was the right thing to do, as did many others.
So the shot broke down earlier, and they got a little tricky. After
a few games, I ran into a little trouble, but continued to battle
it out. Going into the last game, I was in 33rd place, knowing that
I needed to perform. An early chopped spare put some pressure on me,
and virtually strikeless, I put together some strikes in the 7th,
8th, and 9th frames. Our pair was the last one to finish, and I had
watched some guys strike out in the 10th frame, so I know I needed
a double to make the cut. I think it's the first time all year that
I needed a double to make the cut, so the juices were flowing. I pured
the first one in the tenth, and the place got kinda of quiet. I took
my time, and absolutely pured the second one. It felt like I had won
the tournament. My fill ball left the four pin, so the process of
waiting until the scores were tabulated now set in. I ended up making
the cut by 3 pins. It was exciting!!
My first match was against Mika K, and the anticipation of how he
was going to play the lanes was important. It's so important nowadays
how players break down the lane, so the decision on your angle of
attack is crucial. He took out a dull ball and tried to break down
the gutter shot in practice, then he moved inside, where it was real
fresh. I ended up winning the first game with a strike in the 10th
frame, he won the second game, and I won the third game. He didn't
like his reaction from inside, so he moved right of me, right around
the 2nd board, and started throwing the flames, which he is very good
at. Needless to say, he won the next three games to send me home.
I can say folks, that my match play hasn't been up to par. Making
the cut has been happening often, but getting it done in match play
has been substandard. I make no excuses other than to say that it
is a process. A continual process. The mentality it takes to win is
leased. Once the price of that lease decreases, it becomes easier.
But it is a process. Unfortunately, there are only 4 tournaments left
for the year, two of them are big, so it's crunch time. We have a
week off, which is desperately needed. I think I'm going to take 4-5
days off, clear my mind, and hopefully come out fresh, with a better
frame of mind. Wish me luck.
BV
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