Would You Rather

[Golfspy_CG2]

So a recent article got my thinokg about this.  
You’re in a match play match that is on the 18th hole.  It’s all tied.  Now which of these two scenarios would you choose and why. 
 

A) Your opponent makes a 10 foot birdie putt to win. 
 

B) You miss a 3 foot par putt to lose  

 

I’ll give my answer after reading some of yours   

 

[CLenahan]

Opponent makes the Birdie, it just feels better to lose to someone's good shot than my own crappy one.

[GolfSpy_BEN]

Scenario A: I would prefer to feel that I was beaten by a good putt rather than feeling like I beat myself by not making the putt.

[Jwc5149]

Opponent sinks it all day long. Hate missing the short one 

[Golfspy_CG2]

Those were my first thoughts as well. 
But the more I thought about it.   I want the ball. I want to have a chance to win in.  If I miss nobody to blame but me.  
Wirh him making the birdie putt I never get the chance to win or at least continue the match. 
 

But I definitely see the case of being able to say.  I lost to a great putt. 

[Preeway]

Scenario A without a doubt. I can handle losing to someone who beats me. I can’t stand losing it on my own mistake or poor performance under pressure. 

[Preeway]

1 minute ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

Those were my first thoughts as well. 
But the more I thought about it.   I want the ball. I want to have a chance to win in.  If I miss nobody to blame but me.  
Wirh him making the birdie putt I never get the chance to win or at least continue the match. 
 

But I definitely see the case of being able to say.  I lost to a great putt. 

I get that as well. From the way you framed it, I would agree 100%. I would always want the chance to win it versus hoping my opponent fails. But if I had to pick a scenario in which I ultimately lose, scenario A is less heartbreak. 

[GolfSpy_BEN]

3 minutes ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

Those were my first thoughts as well. 
But the more I thought about it.   I want the ball. I want to have a chance to win in.  If I miss nobody to blame but me.  
Wirh him making the birdie putt I never get the chance to win or at least continue the match. 
 

But I definitely see the case of being able to say.  I lost to a great putt. 

It is an interesting look at perspective. I read the question as, you’re going to lose so which way hurts less

[xOldBenKenobiX]

Him making the putt, I rather win, but if I'm to lose it would be better to lose to someone else's skill than my mess up.

[hckymeyer]

Knowing what the outcome will be beforehand it's A.  Hurts less to lose to a good shot and birdie.

No not knowing the outcome beforehand obviously whether I make it or not I want the 3' putt with a chance to win.

[revkev]

This is so easy - I missed a 3 footer to loose in sudden death in a championship flight semi final of the Ithaca City Championship when I was a college student there.  I vowed that I would never do that again.

 

I'd just have my opponent pick the birdie putt up and be done with it! 

 

Actually, knowing the outcome ahead of time is kind of unfair.  I'd rather lose to the opponent's good putt than to a mistake of my own although honestly at my level, at least at my level at my best, low single digit handicap, most matches are won or lost by mistakes.  My most recent swore into match play was like that, there was some good play but generally speaking we won the matches where our opponents made more mistakes than we did.  

[Golfspy_CG2]

28 minutes ago, Ben Joest said:

It is an interesting look at perspective. I read the question as, you’re going to lose so which way hurts less

 

24 minutes ago, hckymeyer said:

Knowing what the outcome will be beforehand it's A.  Hurts less to lose to a good shot and birdie.

No not knowing the outcome beforehand obviously whether I make it or not I want the 3' putt with a chance to win.

Yeah. I probably didn’t phase it best. But yeah, the outcome isn’t decided yet.  So would you rather your opponent win or lose it. Or would you want the chance even if it meant you miss a realistically makeable  putt and lose. 

[funkyjudge]

58 minutes ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

So a recent article got my thinokg about this.  
You’re in a match play match that is on the 18th hole.  It’s all tied.  Now which of these two scenarios would you choose and why. 
 

A) Your opponent makes a 10 foot birdie putt to win. 
 

B) You miss a 3 foot par putt to lose  

 

I’ll give my answer after reading some of yours   

 

Definitely scenario A) -- reasons have already been stated repeatedly; I'd much rather lose to an opponent's good shot for birdie than my missed 3-footer for par.

[Javs]

1 hour ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

So a recent article got my thinokg about this.  
You’re in a match play match that is on the 18th hole.  It’s all tied.  Now which of these two scenarios would you choose and why. 
 

A) Your opponent makes a 10 foot birdie putt to win. 
 

B) You miss a 3 foot par putt to lose  

 

I’ll give my answer after reading some of yours   

 

Easy my opponent makes the putt. Never want to miss to loose. I would rather be beat by good play. Giving it away leaves scar tissue! 

Edited October 14, 2023 by Javs

[ZackS]

I would rather be beat than beat myself so definitely A. No shame in playing good and getting beat by better play. 

[Jim Shaw]

1 hour ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

So a recent article got my thinokg about this.  
You’re in a match play match that is on the 18th hole.  It’s all tied.  Now which of these two scenarios would you choose and why. 
 

A) Your opponent makes a 10 foot birdie putt to win. 
 

B) You miss a 3 foot par putt to lose  

 

I’ll give my answer after reading some of yours   

 

neither but if I had to lol... I would rather my opponent made a 10 foot birdie putt to win... 

[Tom the Golf Nut]

 I would rather my opponent made a 10-foot birdie putt to win... But if you said he made a 30-foot putt to win then I would prefer the miss. A 10-footer I can accept as skill the 30-footer would have been luck.

[Josh Parker]

I would rather lose to the birdie putt.  I guess in my mind they are both the same really. Either way I missed my putt. But at least in scenario A, it means that I had the birdie putt for a tie and lost to the better putt. 

[GolfSpy_APH]

11 hours ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

So a recent article got my thinokg about this.  
You’re in a match play match that is on the 18th hole.  It’s all tied.  Now which of these two scenarios would you choose and why. 
 

A) Your opponent makes a 10 foot birdie putt to win. 
 

B) You miss a 3 foot par putt to lose  

 

I’ll give my answer after reading some of yours   

 

Option a) means it was out of my control and while I didn't make birdie getting best by the better score means they earned it vs being gifted by a missed tap in.

[berkeleybob]

11 hours ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

Those were my first thoughts as well. 
But the more I thought about it.   I want the ball. I want to have a chance to win in.  If I miss nobody to blame but me.  
Wirh him making the birdie putt I never get the chance to win or at least continue the match. 
 

But I definitely see the case of being able to say.  I lost to a great putt. 

I like this. Knowing the outcome, of course I’d pick good sportsmanship over beating myself down for missing a puttable putt. However, in the moment? Yes, I want that three-foot putt because I’ll be a good sport about winning as much as I’m when losing, but winning really is everything.

[BallsLeon]

Definitely A, seems like the easier way to lose IMO. Can’t blame yourself for them making a long putt lol.

[Placasse61]

14 hours ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

So a recent article got my thinokg about this.  
You’re in a match play match that is on the 18th hole.  It’s all tied.  Now which of these two scenarios would you choose and why. 
 

A) Your opponent makes a 10 foot birdie putt to win. 
 

B) You miss a 3 foot par putt to lose  

 

I’ll give my answer after reading some of yours   

 

opponent makes a birdie. This is my rational. There is a difference between being beaten and losing. The opponent in this case made really good shots to win so he beat you. If you miss the par put to lose you failed at an opportunity and you lose

[Jim Shaw]

16 hours ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

 

Yeah. I probably didn’t phase it best. But yeah, the outcome isn’t decided yet.  So would you rather your opponent win or lose it. Or would you want the chance even if it meant you miss a realistically makeable  putt and lose. 

in that case, I want the 3 footer to tie and carry on, I can make those 8 out of 10 times... 

[PrismFlopper]

20 hours ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

So a recent article got my thinokg about this.  
You’re in a match play match that is on the 18th hole.  It’s all tied.  Now which of these two scenarios would you choose and why. 
 

A) Your opponent makes a 10 foot birdie putt to win. 
 

B) You miss a 3 foot par putt to lose  

 

I’ll give my answer after reading some of yours   

 

Definitely A for sure. Making a 10ft putt especially on slopes and green rating can be an impressive shot and atleast it was a battle to the finish line. I can walk off the course maybe not happy but content that I tried and it was just their day. Missing a 3ft to lose I would obsess about that for weeks.

[Tyler Sc]

A. Agree would rather rlose to someone's birdie, then lose on my knee knocker of a putt

[Golfspy_CG2]

16 hours ago, berkeleybob said:

I like this. Knowing the outcome, of course I’d pick good sportsmanship over beating myself down for missing a puttable putt. However, in the moment? Yes, I want that three-foot putt because I’ll be a good sport about winning as much as I’m when losing, but winning really is everything.

Thansk.  You expressed what I seemingly failed to do 

Given the choice I want a putt with a chance to tie/win or lose. Leave it in my hands and not in hopes that the opponent misses. 

[Woodrow72]

Actually have been in this situation a few times over the years , had both happen where I made putt or didn’t but I prefer to see another person make an extraordinary shot to succeed over seeing my failure to execute cause me a loss and I’ve been the one making an impossible 15 footer slam dunk to win so it’s better for all involved in my humble opinion 

[Shrek74]

Option A for sure.

I'd rather lose to someone who makes the shot when they need to versus me not coming through.

[d0m41n]

Like everyone else, I have to go scenario A. Scenario B just eats you up because it's very makeable. Switch the premises around and it get's alot more interesting. 

Lose to someone making a 3 ft putt or a chance to win with a 10 footer but missing. I think I would go with a chance there than losing to a 3 foot putt. Fun thoughts though!

[Swood1994]

In this scenario I’d take option A 10/10 times. Somehow losing on a birdie softens the blow a little bit. There is nothing worse than missing those 3ft putts to save par knowing full well you could hit it 5 times in a row and make it after that miss.