Tag Archives: 2011 Waste Management Phoenix Open

Parting Shot: The Phoenix Open

by Scott

It’s worth nothing that the last time I watched the conclusion of a golf tournament finishing on a Monday was back in the fall with the 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor. Before that it was the 2008 US Open with Woods and Rocco going mano a mano. Before that…. can’t remember. It’s been that long.

But today I tuned in for the final 2 hours of what will forever more be remembered as the Phoenix Frostbite Open, wanting desperately to see a warm, fuzzy, mittens-wearing character with a homemade swing do the unthinkable…. hoping that an unemotional, meticulous tactician of an opponent wouldn’t be quite as predictable. But it wouldn’t work out that way in the end. Yeah – we saw yet another great finish this season, and the tactician would prevail to continue his journey of what has already been a remarkable season for him. Mark Wilson is playing the golf of his life, and it’s refreshing to note that strategy and percentage golf can still reap huge dividends in the bomb-and-gouge era that the game has become. But it also left me wanting to reach through the television to hug the lovable action figure known as Tommy Two Gloves. Almost, Tommy. Almost.

The fact of the matter is that success breeds success. Over the last 36 holes, Mark Wilson showed the same steady patience and focus that enabled him to close the deal back at the Sony Open earlier last month. Not a long hitter of the ball, but sneaky long for a player of his size and stature. And deadly straight, as you would expect of a player that has managed to win on this tour despite giving up nearly 1/3 of a football field in distance to some of the more prodigiously long hitters. But Wilson has shown tenacity where it matters most at this level – iron play and putting. He just doesn’t make mistakes when the heat is on. As impressive as his win was back at the Sony, this one just seemed all the more. And for all the right reasons…. not that his win back at the Sony needed any sort of validation, but if it did – he took care of that on Monday as well.

Well played, Mr. Wilson. Well played.

 

 

 

Phoenix Open Meanderings

by Scott

Tommy Gainey’s steady game started losing traction the last 2 hours of play on Sunday. Of course – the brutal pace-of-play did nothing to help matters. The commentators noted that 5 groups were backed up on one of the tee boxes shortly after the start of the final round, and I have to ask: How in the world did things deteriorate to that point? Was it a reshuffling of pairings issue? Had to be… But FIVE GROUPS? That’s just down right inexcusable, regardless of whatever reason. But enough about that.

So T2G is now trailing by two strokes with only 6 holes to go. Mark Wilson, who specializes in hitting the ball straight, utilizing precision wedge play and putting akin to a player by the name of Jim Furyk – leads this event by 2 shots. But here’s where it gets interesting…. there’s 2 par5′s left on the table for Monday. There’s also the short, reachable par4 17th that can swing the tournament 180 degrees. This thing is far from being over. Far from it. And while Gainey might very well have lost the momentum and his opportunity during the final 11 holes played on Sunday, it could also be argued that he now has the opportunity to go into the final 6 holes tomorrow with nothing to lose and really turn on the pressure.

But he’s not the only player that Wilson has chasing him.

Chris Couch is only 3 shots back with 5 holes to go. He has the par5 15th to make up some ground, as well as the drivable par4 17th. Martin Laird is also 3 shots back, but with only 2 holes remaining. Again – I suspect he’ll be thinking eagle first thing in the morning as he steps on the tee box of the par4 17th, and he’ll most likely need to birdie the 18th as well. Unlikely, but not out of the question. Bill Haas was very much a part of the final picture, before falling on his sword on the par3 13th with a double bogey right before play was suspended. Although he has the par5 15th and the par4 17th to work with, the reality is that he needs some help from Wilson. The only other guy who will be in the thick of things Monday morning is Jason Dufner, who finds himself 2 shots back with 4 holes to play. His first chance to knot things up begins right out of the gates, as he’ll be hoping to cut into the lead with the par5 15th.

So without ruling out any number of unforeseen circumstances – we’ve got a steady player who has already won this season looking to close things out with his two stroke lead over the final 6 holes, hoping to become the year’s first multiple winner. Then we have 3 guys with an outside chance…. Most notably Tommy Two Gloves, who is 2 shots off the pace and playing along side him. Jason Dufner has an outside shot, also 2 shots back with 4 holes to play. But he needs a worse-case birdie on his opening hole tomorrow to improve his odds. And Chris Couch is the last likely competitor who could pull this out, although he’s three shots back and will need to make serious hay over his final 4 holes.

I mean, we could throw a few guys in there just for the sake of conversation…. Geoff Ogilvy, who’s 4 shots back with 4 to play. Or Rickie Fowler, who’s 6 back with 5 to play. Gary Woodland and Y.E. Yang, both who are 4 back with 3 holes to play…. but unless Wilson just steps on his wee-wee big time tomorrow morning, you can pretty much remove these guys from the picture.

Mark Wilson has a great chance to win this thing going away tomorrow, but he still has to hit the shots (and I think) he needs to pick up at least one birdie coming in to get it done.

The coverage is scheduled to resume at 11:00 a.m. Monday morning on The Golf Channel. Should be interesting to see which of these scenarios play out….

Another Reason to Like Billy Mayfair…

by Scott

Courtesy of Golf.Com

Not sure anyone caught it yesterday, but Mr. Q-School turned into Mr. Too-Cool on the famous par3 16th Saturday at the Phoenix Open, as Mayfair donned an ASU football jersey with the late Pat Tillman’s name on the back to play the hole. Mayfair’s thoughts behind the jersey? “It was just a tribute to Pat. I talked to Linda Vollstedt, the former ASU golf coach, and she thought it was a good idea to wear the jersey and honor him today.” ARTICLE

Unfortunately Billy’s round of 4-under 67 wasn’t quite good enough to get him inside the cut, but it’s just another reminder that there are some guys playing on tour who never pass up a chance to acknowledge the sacrifices of our brave servicemen and women. Good on ya, Billy.

 

 

 

 

 

Two Gloves Better than One: Tommy Gainey Leading Phoenix Open

by Scott

Courtesy of Getty Images

A golf swing that only a mother could love…. or a golf swing that looks like any number of across-the-fairway resemblances one could muster in their weekend rounds at their home course. Whatever the case may be, the funky, several-moving-parts golf swing that is employed by the eccentric player better known as Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey is holding its own this week in the desert. Gainey has put together 2 great opening rounds of 63 and 65 to take a 1-stroke lead over Mark Wilson. Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler are only 4 shots back.

For PGATOUR.COM’s official 2nd round recap, click HERE.

Just a side note: a Monday finish will be in order, as the tournament officials opted against cramming three rounds in over the weekend to finish on time Sunday. CBS will air live coverage of the third round/part of the fourth round on Sunday, starting at 3:00 p.m. EST.

PGATOUR.COM – Daily Wrap-up: Round 1, Waste Management Phoenix Open

by Scott

PGATOUR.COM – Daily Wrap-up: Round 1, Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Interesting to see Tom Lehman’s name there at the top of the leaderboard after play was suspended on Thursday. Roughly half the field completed their rounds today, which all things considered was better than expected. Anything below par was going to be a decent score, but Bill Haas, Jason Bohn, and Tom Gillis join Lehman for the lowest scores posted on Thursday, with rounds of 6-under par.

Things are expected to improve over the weekend, but Friday will most likely start with another lengthy frost delay, meaning additional holes will probably be in order to finish the tournament on time Sunday.

For a brief recap of Thursday’s happenings at the Phoenix Open, click the PGATOUR.COM link at the top of the article.

Phoenix Open Underway after Lengthy Frost Delay

by Scott

It appears that at least some golf will be played today out in Scottsdale, albeit with mittens, beanies, and additional layers.

The first pairing for the event teed off around 1:40 this afternoon EST (11:40 a.m. local time) and the temperature outside was a balmy 39*. It’s being reported that Phil Mickelson has made a slight change in equipment due to the cold temps, opting to put Callaway’s softer Tour i(s) model golf ball in play. “When it gets cold the ball doesn’t compress as well and when it hits the face, the face actually moves, and the misses get exaggerated, and this golf ball doesn’t do that,” Mickelson said. “This golf ball compresses very easily so I hit it a lot straighter in cold conditions.” For the latest on PGATOUR.COM’s updated blog for the Waste Management Phoenix Open, click HERE.

So far about 3 dozen or so players are on the course, and at this point it looks as though a significant portion of the field won’t hit a golf shot today.

LIVE LEADERBOARD

Divot Factor Nearing ZERO at Phoenix Open

by Scott

Slugger White came out of the tour rules trailer today, didn’t see his shadow, and ran back inside and said, “F**k it’s cold out there!”

Q&A WITH SLUGGER WHITE

The Problem

It’s never a good sign when you see a senior PGA Tour rules official taking the press tent podium only 24 hours prior to a tournament beginning…. that means something is up. Or in this case – something is waaaay down, like the mercury in the thermostat outside. Typically this time of year in the Scottsdale area is a comfortable 70 or so degrees. But given the massive winter blast that has moved across 2/3 of the country the past two days, the golfing snowbirds in the Phoenix area are most likely as perplexed at the notion of not being able to play golf today as those that were scheduled to play in Wednesday’s pro-am at the Phoenix Open. And I say “scheduled” because the event was canceled due to the extreme cold weather…. Like below freezing, with gusting winds that made real-feels feel like low-20′s.

Slugger had the unfortunate duty to inform the pro-am participants that there would be no golf for the day. “We looked at it early this morning, tried to wait as long as we could to try and get 18 holes in. We knew if it got to 11:00 that it was going to be nine holes, and it just didn’t get any better. Jeff Plotts and his crew have been out there. The greens are still frozen. The approaches are frozen. And it just would do a tremendous amount of damage if we walked on it, just tracking everything up with the greens being frozen.”

Tournament Impact?

The Scottsdale area forecast doesn’t look overly promising as far as thawing anytime soon. In fact – the warmest part of the day for Thursday is expected to be near the early evening hours, and even then the temps will barely eke into the 50′s. At approximately 10:00 a.m. tomorrow, normally the time frame when half of the field is officially on the course, the temperature outside is expected to be somewhere in the neighborhood of mid-30′s. Throw in the probability that the course will still be partially frozen – it’s not looking very good for any golf being played tomorrow either. The weather is expected to improve for Friday, but once again the early-morning temps will struggle to break the freezing mark, just short of an all-out certainty that play will be postponed until mid-morning at the earliest on Friday.

While everything is obviously speculation as of Wednesday evening, the bottom line is that there’s a good chance that a majority of this tournament (if finished by Sunday) will be the result of additional holes played on both days of the weekend.

Just let me clarify something in closing…. I haven’t seen the ground here in Northeast PA since January 7th. My last round of golf was on Wednesday, Jan 5th and it was 22* outside, with 5-10 mph winds. My point is this: I don’t want to hear any whining about how cold it is in Scottsdale. Throw on the thermals, a beanie, and experience a side of the game that you’re not familiar with, boys. You’ll get no sympathy from this pay-to-play winter golfer who won’t see his next round until April….



Scouting the Waste Management Phoenix Open

by Scott

The tour is headed to the desert this week, as Hunter Mahan hopes to defend his title at the Waste Management Phoenix Open on Thursday.

Eight Notables to Watch For

It’s unusual to be contemplating a multiple-win season this early in the year, but that’s precisely what last week’s winner Bubba Watson has on his mind this week as he tees it up in Phoenix. Watson’s game is already in tip-top form, and he has more than enough length to go low at TPC Scottsdale. If he can continue the clutch putting, he will be one that the field will have to contend with over the weekend.   

Phil Mickelson is hoping to pick up where he left off last week at Torrey Pines, as he’ll be the main attraction at TPC Scottsdale this week. Lefty has won this event twice, going back to 1996 and then again in 2005.

Hunter Mahan shot 12-under on the weekend here last season in route to his first Phoenix Open title, so obviously he’s comfortable with the layout. Hunter had a good showing in the Farmers Insurance Open last week, so I expect him to play well once again this week.

The youth movement has officially been served on tour, but it could be argued that Rickie Fowler ushered it in last season at this very event. The (then) rookie’s 3-under performance on Sunday just wasn’t quite enough to catch eventual champion Hunter Mahan, as Fowler would have to settle for 2nd place. No longer a rookie, Fowler is hoping to use his experience from last season to help him earn his first professional win this week. Rickie began his first official round of 2011 on a great note, firing a 7-under round of 66 on Thursday at Torrey Pines last week, but would struggle over the remaining three rounds to finish T20.

Long driving J.B. Holmes didn’t quite get the start to his 2011 season that he was expecting last week at Torrey Pines, struggling over the weekend with rounds of 75 and 76 to finish T63. But his unbridled power has served him well at TPC Scottsdale over the years, winning this event back in 2006 and again in 2008.

As if two of the tour’s longest hitters in the field this week aren’t enough…. Dustin Johnson will be launching a few missiles of his own this week in Phoenix. DJ had a solid showing last week at Torrey Pines, firing a last-minute 6-under 66 on Sunday to finish T3 at the Farmers Insurance Open. He’s only played this event once, back in 2009 where he failed to make the cut. But unless it turns out that desert golf just isn’t his cup of tea – I suspect he’ll fair a little better this time around.

2011 hasn’t been overly kind to Camilo Villegas thus far. Obviously there was the DQ in the season opener at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions last month, followed by a missed cut a week later in the Sony Open. Camilo was around for the weekend at Torrey last week, but his 1-under finish that left him T44 didn’t exactly warrant an abundance of TV time. That could change this week, as Villegas will be looking to rekindle the desert fire that sparked his season last year, where he won the first WGC event of 2010 at the Accenture Matchplay Championship and then finished T8 in this event a week later.

The big story on tour early this season is hoping to make an even bigger story for himself again this week in Phoenix. Jhonattan Vegas may be a rookie, but he’s certainly not playing like one…. through the first 10 rounds of his PGA Tour career, “Jhonny” Vegas has carded only one round in the 70′s – which was a nerve-wracking 71 in his tour debut at the Sony Open. He nearly sealed Rookie of the Year honors last week at Torrey Pines, before finding the hazard with his approach on the final hole that effectively ended his hopes of winning back-to-back events. Nevertheless, his T3 finish last week continues to impress upon the belief that he’s not just another “Jhonny come lately”, as he continues to be front-and-center of the discussion of most current tour talk.

Maybe it’s a serious bout of Cabin Fever kicking my ass, but the “weak” events suddenly don’t seem as weak as they used to….

TV Times: (Thurs and Fri) The Golf Channel – 4-7 pm EST (Sat and Sun) CBS – 3-6 pm EST.