Tag Archives: Hunter Mahan

Opening Round Cadillac Championship This and That

by Scott

So much for the Big Blue Monster on Thursday. It played more like the Big Blue Smurf.

The absence of wind led to some remarkable low scoring on Thursday, as was revealed by Golf Boys’ very own Hunter Mahan, who began his week in Doral by birdieing 6 of his opening 9 holes. Mahan finished the round 5-under, tied for 2nd heading into Friday with a handful of other notables that include Phil Mickelson, Peter Hanson, and Steve Stricker.

Alan Diaz / AP

Alan Diaz / AP

Very few players looked sharper than Tiger Woods, who carded 9 birdies on Thursday and shared the overnight lead with Sergio Garcia and Freddy Jacobson, all three players atop the leaderboard and heading into Friday tied at 6-under par. A huge part of Tiger’s momentum in the opening round can be attributed to his solid putting, which interestingly enough was spurred on by a few observations and some timely advice from none other than his old Ryder Cup partner, Steve Stricker, prior to his round. “Well, whatever he says, I’m going to do. He’s one of the best putters that’s ever lived,” said Woods, referring to Stricker. “Basically what it is, he got me into the same posture that I was at Torrey. I had gotten off a little bit. So I felt comfortable, basically just like I did at Torrey, and I started rolling it just like I did then. He can see the things that are off a little bit, because he knows my stroke so well. Just gave me a couple little things to think about, and, lo and behold, I started feeling just like I did at Torrey and the ball started rolling.” This isn’t the first time that Woods has been on the receiving end of putting advice from Stricker, who was quick to point out that the help goes both ways. “He’s open to hearing what I have to say sometimes, which is flattering to me,” Stricker replied. “We try to help each other out, and he’s helped me out a bunch of times, too.” Stricker helped himself as well, thanks to 5 birdies in a clean, bogey-free start to his week on Thursday, posting 5-under 67. He heads into Friday’s round only a shot back of Woods and Garcia. 

One of the familiar-yet-undermentioned stories so far this season appears to be surfacing once again, as Freddy Jacobson continues to produce some great golf early on in his 2013 campaign. The 38 year old Swede teed it up Thursday for the 6th straight week on Tour, opening with a solid round of 6-under that was buoyed by 2 impressive eagles midway through his opening round. “Yeah, I’ve had a pretty good start to the year. You know, it’s been really consistent,” Jacobson said. “This is the sixth week in a row for me, so I’m running on fumes a little bit at the moment and got a bit of a head cold going. So I wasn’t too sure how I was going to play today. I didn’t feel great warming up, so really happy just to get off to a good start and hopefully find some energy and improve a little bit on my iron play.” In his previous 5 starts this season, Jacobson has finished inside the top-1o on 4 occasions, including his 3rd place finish a few weeks back at the Northern Trust Open.

As for the current hot topic of world #1 Rory McIlroy… Although the challenges this week seem considerably lessened from what he dealt with last week, the 23-yr-old had very little to cheer about after Thursday’s opening round. On an unusually calm day where the field scoring average was significantly lower than during the more normal windy conditions in years past, McIlroy’s struggles continued with more squares on his card than circles, although an eagle and three birdies helped to somewhat offset the 6 bogeys on the day. After an opening round 1-over 73, the search for his former confident swing continues. “It was a bit of a struggle, to be honest. I hit some good shots, hit some not-so good shots,” Rory said. “As I’ve been saying, this is a work in progress and I’m working at it and I’m staying patient. I just had to play each hole as it come, just shoot the best score possible.” The best possible score might be several strokes higher in the coming rounds, as the winds are expected to become more of a challenge heading into the weekend. It’s those conditions that expose a player’s true level of confidence the most, something that the young Irishman doesn’t appear to have a lot of at the moment. But compared to last week, this week has started on a better note, if for no other reason than the fact that he’s still playing.

For a complete rundown of the scores on Thursday, click HERE.

(All player’s quotes are courtesy of PGATOUR.COM and ESPN.COM)

Props to Kooch

by Scott
Getty Images

Getty Images

In this day and age, it’s incredibly unfortunate that most of us have become so dependent on a subjective scientific formula to measure both the worthiness and the quality of golf on display each week at the professional level. It seems like anytime someone wins a tournament nowadays, regardless of the perceived level of prestige, we find ourselves measuring the significance of the outcome based on any one of three primary criteria: who was or wasn’t in the field, who did or didn’t make the weekend cut, and who did or didn’t play to their usual standard. While the Official World Golf Rankings have enabled many of us to have lively discussions about both the credibility and accuracy of the formula their system employs, unfortunately the system (with enormous help of the media) has also swayed a lot of perceptions with regard to the overall measure of accomplishment we get to enjoy each Sunday on a weekly basis. But of the three criteria I listed above, only the final point was really in play last week. And sometimes, as was the case this time around, a player goes above and beyond his usual standard.

Matt Kuchar’s impressive performance in the World Matchplay is one without the need of such qualifiers or asterisks, as he plotted his way around Dove Mountain in meticulous fashion. Despite the freezing weather and howling winds Sunday that made par a very good score on every hole, Kuchar played 32 holes of golf on an incredibly long and difficult layout nearing 8000 yards, at a brilliant 3-under par. On a day when an average score in a regular stroke play format would’ve likely been 74 or 75 for 18 holes alone, he executed an overwhelming majority of his shots to perfection. On those rare occasions when he didn’t, he bounced back with flawless execution to recover. The last thing a player wants to do in matchplay format is give holes away to his opponent, and that’s something Matt avoided remarkably well last week.

While Hunter Mahan battled back in heroic fashion coming down the stretch, closing the gap to being only 1-down near the end, he was simply no match for his steady and undeterred opponent. Kuchar’s brilliant approach shot from the fairway bunker to 3 feet on the 17th hole was a befitting end to the quality of golf he played in every match last week, truly second to none.

Congrats to a great player with an even greater attitude and enjoyable personality. Well done, Kooch.

 

World Matchplay Championship: My Sunday Preview

by Scott

“There’s a lot of pressure out there in this matchplay event. Every day feels like Sunday.” ~ Jason Day

 

Sunday Morning Semifinals Matches

 

Matt Sullivan/Reuters

Matt Sullivan/Reuters

Hunter Mahan

Mahan continued riding his huge wave of positive momentum heading into Saturday morning, needing only 14 holes to send Martin Kaymer packing his bags and easily continuing his bid to defend his World Matchplay title this week. And although he never once trailed in his afternoon quarterfinals battle with the ever-fidgety and feisty Webb Simpson, it was far from being the cakewalk Mahan had experienced during the first 3 rounds prior to his match with the reigning US Open champ Saturday afternoon. Simpson’s grinding attitude seemed to wear on Mahan, keeping the match extremely close and refusing to give him more than a 1-hole cushion. The momentum clearly seemed to shift on the par5 13th, where Simpson took the hole with a birdie and finally got the match back to even. But his demise would come three holes later, as a pulled tee shot found the green-side bunker on the monstrously long par3 16th, and he would miss the resulting 7 footer to save par. Mahan was able to maintain his 1-up advantage heading into the par4 18th, and a relatively routine 2-putt par was good enough to get him into the semifinals Sunday morning. But Mahan’s quest to repeat will be none too easy, as he faces a seemingly invincible matchplay opponent in Ian Poulter Sunday morning in the semis. “I have so much respect for the guy and how he plays. There’s not one part of his game that really shines,” Mahan said of Poulter. “He has a great short game and he’s a great putter, but to me, his determination and his will is his greatest strength. He’s never going to think he’s out of a hole.”

Hunter Mahan vs Ian Poulter

Getty Images

Getty Images

Ian Poulter     

Like Mahan, Poulter received very little resistance from his opponents in his prior matches this week, and that wasn’t about to change on Saturday. The Ryder Cup stalwart breezed through his opening match Saturday morning against Tim Clark, easily advancing with a 5 & 3 victory. In his afternoon quarterfinals match against Steve Stricker, Poulter began the round with a rare miscue off the tee that found the desert, ultimately leading to a bogey and finding himself in seemingly uncharted territory in this format – down early in a match. He responded brilliantly with back-to-back birdies on the next two holes, quickly turning the tide and securing a 1-up advantage, and 2 additional birdies on holes 6 and 8 gave him a 3-hole cushion at the turn. Although Stricker would recover a hole with a birdie at the 10th, that’s as close as he would get to Poulter Saturday afternoon, as the ever confident Englishman closed him out on the 16th hole by a 3-up margin. Afterward, he talked briefly about the difference in playing matchplay this week with how he approaches the format in a more energized Ryder Cup atmosphere. “I’m playing for myself this week. I really enjoy the fun of match play. As good as my record is in Ryder Cup, in some way it doesn’t translate into playing just for yourself,” he said. “But my record in match play is very, very good, and I’m just very comfortable going toe to toe with somebody.” Tomorrow morning he’ll go toe to toe with another great matchplay player, an American, who many people felt had more than earned an opportunity to represent his country at Medinah last fall. Should Mahan somehow prevail in his match against Poulter, it won’t erase the frustrations the Americans endured at the most notable hands of one Ian Poulter in the Ryder Cup last fall, but it’ll certainly provide some means of consolation.

 

Courtesy of PGATour.Com

Courtesy of PGATour.Com

Matt Kuchar

Robert Garrigus came into the week with nothing to lose, and played like it for the first three days. After beating Louis Oosthuizen Friday afternoon to advance into the weekend, he felt that he was playing the best of anyone in the field. His length off the tee proved to be a huge advantage in his match Saturday morning against Fredrik Jacobson, as he continued his unlikely story for at least one more match, upending the Swede 3 & 2. But unfortunately for Garrigus, Matt Kuchar had no intentions of rewriting his own script, as the ever-smiling and ever-steady 34-yr-old Georgia native came into the quarterfinals match against Garrigus playing a hot hand himself. Kuchar quickly jumped out ahead after Garrigus launched his opening tee shot into the desert cacti, basically spotting Kuchar a 1-up advantage right out of the starting gate. Another bogey for Garrigus came on the par3 3rd, and a birdie on the 9th put Kuchar 3-up heading to the back nine. From there the play became sloppy for both players, but with Garrigus all out of sorts and running out of holes, Kucher was really never at risk of losing his lead coming in. He finished Garrigus off on the 16th, claiming the 3-up victory and easily moving into the semifinals match on Sunday. Afterward, Kuchar was quick to the point when asked why matchplay seemed to suit his style of play so well. “For me I think my game is just a steady game. I’m going to try to never give a guy a hole, and I think that’s a big key in match play, just not giving holes away,” he said. “If there’s any strength to my game, I think that would be it.” Kuchar’s game will need to be just as steady Sunday, as he faces a fearless young Australian in the semifinals who’s played incredibly steady himself this week.

 

Matt Kuchar vs Jason Day

AFP / Stuart Franklin

AFP / Stuart Franklin

Jason Day

There was Zach Johnson on Thursday, 6 & 5. Then the promising young rookie Russell Henley, 1-up in extra holes on Friday in a barn burner of a match. Early Saturday morning he took out the reigning Masters champion quite handily, 4 & 3, and a few hours later – he hung on to beat Graeme McDowell in a total nail-biter, 1-up. Great iron players, great putters, former major championship winners… he faced them all this week and he came out ahead. I’m not sure why Jason Day hasn’t been in the spotlight more often, although last year he did become a new father and dealt with a few injuries. But he’s definitely earned his spot in the semifinals Sunday in the World Matchplay. I said earlier that he’s fearless, and he is. He hits the ball a pretty long way, sneaky long… and when his putting is on, as it has been this week, he’s definitely got more than enough talent everywhere else to hang with the best players in the world. Day has answered every question thrown at him this week on the golf course, and I don’t think anyone is overlooking him tomorrow in his morning match against Kuchar. He will certainly play the aggressor, and I think he’s got the perfect attitude in this format. He is extremely confident, and that carries some serious weight in matchplay. He’ll need to show some patience tomorrow against the slow and steady type that Kuchar is, but he’s out to prove something tomorrow. And I wouldn’t be surprised if he does.

Sweet 16: World Matchplay Recap

by Scott

155194_M08I tell ya… these West Coast tee times and late starts are taking a serious toll on me. The rounds aren’t finishing until 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. in the morning over here in the European time zone and it’s not helping me win my epic battle with insomnia. Be that as it may, the world has had sufficient time to come to grips with numbers 1 & 2 in the world getting dispatched quite expediently from the competition, and the show out in Zona continued today with some very good golf being played.

Snead Bracket

The biggest surprise Friday was Scott Piercy’s total annihilation of world #3 Luke Donald, which quite frankly would’ve happened to anyone playing Piercy today. He was 6-under through 12 holes when the 10-run rule went into effect, ousting the Donald to the tune of 7 & 6. Piercy faces the ever cagey Steve Stricker Saturday morning, as Stricker needed extra innings to take care of Nick Watney in his match earlier today. That should be a very good match, with Piercy apparently coming into the tournament this week with something to prove. On the bottom half of the Snead bracket, Ian Poulter ended Bo Van Pelt’s week with a 3 & 1 victory, and the ever-confident Poulter says that the extended break this winter has served him well, feeling refreshed and on top of his game. He faces a bulldog of a competitor Saturday against Tim Clark, who cruised to victory against Thorbjorn Olesen 3 & 2. Although the Poulter vs Clark match should be fairly even from the tee and the fairway, Clark will have his work cut out for him tomorrow morning against one of the best putters in modern matchplay competition. Clark will need to utilize his exceptional wedge play to keep the pressure on Poulter in this match.

Player Bracket

Hunter Mahan continues his successful bid to defend his matchplay title, making quick work of Richard Sterne with a 4 & 3 win in the bottom half of the Player bracket. Heading into tomorrow morning’s match against Martin Kaymer, who defeated Rafael Cabrera Bello 2 & 1 Friday afternoon, Mahan talked about how the layout at Dove Mountain suits his game. “I feel like I just have a good understanding of this place. Once you get on the greens, the greens are pretty difficult. They have a lot of slopes and a lot of variations,” Mahan said. “I’ve got a good feel for these greens, so I don’t feel like I’m giving too many holes away on three putts or anything like that. Confidence is high. I know I can play this place well, and I know I can beat anybody on any given day.” Beating Kaymer Saturday will be no easy task, however. The Mahan vs Kaymer match should be very entertaining, and don’t be surprised if extra holes are needed. Looking at the top half of the Player bracket, Webb Simpson barely eked by Peter Hanson in their match Friday, with the reigning US Open champ advancing in dramatic fashion with a birdie on the final hole to take a 1-up victory. Simpson faces Gonzalo Fernandez Castano Saturday morning, as the Spaniard made quick work of Charles Howell III with a 6 & 5 margin.

Hogan Bracket

The Hogan bracket has had its share of upsets through the first two rounds as well, as Robert Garrigus is probably the unlikeliest of stories to develop in the top draw of the bracket. Garrigus easily moved into the 2nd round with a 4 & 3 win over Branden Grace on Thursday, and earlier today added Louis Oosthuizen’s scalp to his trophy case with a convincing 3 & 2 win. He’ll face a very tough opponent in Fredrik Jacobson, who continues his good form from last week at the Northern Trust Open. The Swede put away Australian Marcus Frazar 4 & 3 in his second round match on Friday. Turning to the bottom half of the Hogan bracket, Matt Kuchar and Sergio Garcia needed 17 holes to decide their match this afternoon, with Kuchar taking the honors with a birdie on the 17th hole to claim a 2-up victory. He’ll face a tough competitor in Nicolas Colsaerts Saturday morning, as Colsaerts soundly upset #2 seed Justin Rose 4 & 2.

Jones Bracket

The most interesting story thus far this week is Shane Lowry, who topped Rory McIlroy Thursday in the opening round. His story continues, as he put a shellacking on Carl Pettersson with a 6 & 5 rout. The other player to advance in the top half of the draw in the Jones bracket is Graeme McDowell, who eked out a 20-hole, hard-fought 1-up victory against Alex Noran. Lowry will face McDowell Saturday morning in what should be deemed the battle of the Fighting Irish. At the bottom half of the Jones bracket, Bubba Watson needed 20 holes to overcome fellow American Jim Furyk, in what was a nip-and-tuck match all the way to the finish. He’ll face Jason Day, who needed an extra hole to overcome the season’s biggest rookie success story – Russell Henley. Henley maintained a 1-up lead midway through the match, until Day got the upper hand with a birdie on the 14th to take a 2-up lead. Henley bounced back with a birdie on the 15th, and then drained a clutch 14 footer on the 18th to push the contest into overtime. In the end, Day’s clutch iron play sealed the deal, with a timely laser-like approach on the first playoff hole to 4 feet, clinching the 1-up victory with birdie.

Closing Thoughts

For those who didn’t notice, Jason Day conceded absolutely nothing unless Henley’s ball was virtually hanging on the lip of the cup in their match Friday. Some may recall Day’s self-serving bravado a few years ago in which he basically told a reporter that rattling his matchplay opponent with mind-game ploys was a tactic he personally employed, essentially deeming it fair play. He’s obviously not backed off the strategy, which could end up getting under Bubba Watson’s skin Saturday in their match. Bubba struggled with some relatively simple short putts in his match against Furyk, so it’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out Saturday. In fairness to Day, it’s obviously his prerogative whether or not to concede short putts, but on a few occasions Friday Henley could be seen smiling and shaking his head as he walked off the green after having to tap-in the short ones. There could be a few fireworks tomorrow in his match with the high-strung type that Bubba Watson is.

As it relates to my dark horse predictions… I’m sad to report that my underdog picks haven’t panned out, but then again – I think this format was designed to have people burning their brackets after the second day, if not the first. Jason Dufner, Zach Johnson, David Toms, and Rickie Fowler were all early exits after the opening round, and Freddy Jacobson is the only horse I have left running the race.

Saturday’s action should be very entertaining, but then again – matchplay format most always is.

 

(all players quotes courtesy of PGATOUR.COM, the most trusted source for tournament news and player insights)

 

Ryder Thoughts, and Five Reasons Why the US Will Prevail at Medinah

by Scott

Need a little Ryder Cup perspective? Think about this: the United States has lost every single Ryder Cup except one (thank you, Zinger) since the new Millennium. If you look on the board in those 5 meetings since 2000, you see 4 European flags… there is no getting around that, none. And it’s not like we just suddenly started sucking in this event shortly after Y2K, by the way… we were sucking hind tit long before parachute pants and big hair were deemed acceptable. From 1985 to present, the Euros have nearly doubled our winning record, they have owned us to the tune of 9-5. Paul Azinger knows why, he hit the nail on the head a few weeks back when he said, “Ryder Cup isn’t in their (Europeans’) blood, it’s in their  soul.”

 
And it is. The Ryder Cup has always been the Super Bowl in Golf for the Euros, no question about it. Throughout his career, Sergio Garcia’s putting has been so bad that it often appears that he’s putting with a slinky… but when he’s on a Ryder Cup team – he turns into Steve Stricker. Now I’m not suggesting that there haven’t been great Euro players on the roster over the years, not at all. But compared to the US? Anyone ever heard of Paul Way? Or Howard Clark? Ken Brown, maybe? They were part of the European team that won the 1985 Cup…. except they just didn’t win the cup, but put a bloody ass whipping on us, 16 1/2 to 11 1/2. And guess what – we had a solid team top to bottom, with marquee names like Raymond Floyd, Lanny Wadkins, Mark O’Meara, Andy North, Tom Kite, Curtis Strange, Craig Stadler, Hal Sutton, and Fuzzy Zeoller just to name a few. Back in the mid 80′s – these were THE guys in American golf, a team loaded with talent. And they couldn’t get within 5 points of a team that consisted of just as many no-names as top players? Like Azinger said – soul, baby… It’s gotta come from the soul. You gotta want it so badly that it completely ruins an otherwise brilliant season if you don’t make the team. You look at what has been missing over these past 17 years, the one thing that we’ve not really had – it’s not just the desire to be on a team, but to want to be on a team that wins.

 

And one American golfer might be getting that memo, or part of it anyway.

 

Hunter Mahan, who probably put a little too much pressure on himself in the latter half of this season to impress Davis Love III for a captain’s pick, WAS ASKED YESTERDAY if he plans on watching the Ryder Cup in a few weeks, since obviously he wasn’t picked and didn’t make the team. His reply? No – I have no intention of tuning in. Pfft… are you serious, Hunter? Are you really serious?

And that’s just it, right there… Hunter is part of the way there mentally… not making the team has moved beyond disappointment… he’s depressed about not making the team enough to want to avoid it completely. But then – that’s also selfish, taking this “I want no part of it” mentality. It’s all about me. If I’m not on the team, why watch? Why be there in spirit? Hunter, yeah – you probably got shafted, dude. I agree. I wasn’t fond of Furyk being picked over you, but here’s the deal: you needed to play steadier this summer to guarantee yourself a spot – and you didn’t. It sucks, but that’s what happens sometimes. I didn’t agree with DL3 picking Furyk over you, but that’s the way it went down. Furyk has been playing well recently and when it involves relying on a captain’s pick – it is very much a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately concept. Nor does it help your cause in the least when you consider that 1 of the top 3 or 4 American players over the past decade has been Jim Furyk, who also happens to be a friend of the captain. And you’re going to protest by refusing to watch the event? Two years ago, Sergio Garcia was playing so badly mid-season that he informed Captain Colin Montgomery that he was removing himself from the picture. It wasn’t about him, he wanted the best players on the team. It was about the team, Hunter. It was about wanting the best players on the team so they had the best shot at winning. And despite not feeling worthy enough to be on the team, Sergio not only wanted to watch the competition – he wanted to be an assistant captain. Like I said – no selfishness. Say what you want about the Europeans, but one thing is certain – you can’t be selfish and play on a European Ryder Cup team. Not gonna happen.

 
Anyway, all of these things aside… I think we’ll narrow the gap in a few weeks. I think the US comes away with the Cup in a highly contested affair, and below are my 5 points as to why I feel that way.

 

Length

Medinah will definitely favor the longer hitters, no question. We’re talking almost 7700 yards, and we’re not in Colorado playing a mile and a half above sea level. The temps will be cooler, the ball won’t be traveling as far with the cooler weather, and the weather this time of year, especially in this region of the US, lends itself to softer course conditions overall. Mickelson, Bradley, Tiger, Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson… we’re talking some serious firepower off the tee. I think that will be a huge advantage for us. I don’t think distance alone gets it done, but I do believe that it’ll be a significant advantage that the US will enjoy.

Current Form

If there’s one thing that I don’t like about the timing of the Tour Playoffs – it’s that it’s too close to the Ryder Cup. But at the same time – it keeps the players active during a part of the season when in years past they would otherwise be sitting at home eating Cheetos and watching football on the weekends. I look at it like this: I don’t mind our guys playing all the way up to the week of the Ryder Cup when we’re at home every other year… it keeps us on edge a little better. It’s not like we have to reboot our minds to become competitive again after nearly a month off and it keeps us swinging a club. Now when we’re playing away? Different story. We need the break, we need some time to decompress before that degree of travel. It’s not like all of these guys are sitting on the runway at Logan International and a mere 6 hours away from being in Europe. The logistics involved are much, much more complicated and let’s not forget that generally speaking – the wives are coming along as well. So it’s a major issue when we’re on the road. But we’re not on the road in a few weeks, thankfully.. we’re here at home. Our guys are playing well, all of them. I can’t argue DL3′s logic with the pics, I just can’t. He chose experience and current form over popularity and feel good with Furyk over Mahan, and I respect that. People will argue that friendship trumped logic, and I can respect that argument as well. Yeah, maybe there was a little favoritism going on. Or maybe this was a case where one aging veteran threw a bone to another aging veteran. Who knows, really… but it’s not like DL3 chose Johnson Wagner over Hunter Mahan, we are talking one of the top 3 or 4 greatest American players over the past decade that got the nod here. And like I said – all of our guys are playing well.

Putting

I think this is the area where Captain DL3 really wanted an edge with regard to three of his four captain’s picks. He got it with Furyk, Snedeker and Stricker. He obviously chose length with Dustin Johnson, but Johnson would’ve likely made the team anyway had he not had to miss part of the season because of injury. I like our players on the greens… Zach Johnson – very good putter, borderline great putter. Steve Stricker – great putter. Mickelson – maybe has found something with the modified claw grip and has putted a lot better the past few weeks. Dustin Johnson – good putter. Tiger Woods – good and getting better. I like the confidence Woody has developed with the putter this season, he’s rolling the ball with a lot more confidence… then again, three wins tend to do that. Bubba Watson – good putter, they don’t award Green Jackets to bad putters. Matt Kuchar, Webb Simpson, Keegan Bradley, Jason Dufner – all solid putters. I look at the European side, nobody scares me on the greens, except McIlroy. An argument could be made for Luke Donald, sure. But when you look beyond those two players, who scares you? Ian Poulter? G-Mac? These guys are streaky putters, not great putters.

This is what it comes down to: on Sunday, with a 5-footer on the line to win the point that wins the competition – I see more holes on the European team than the American team. This is what it all comes down to, the ability to grind out the 4 and 5 footers that aren’t going to be conceded. I think the US has the edge there.

Distractions 

I’m not just talking about the Euros having to deal with rowdy US fans in the galleries, but with the entire package of traveling abroad. The American players who travel to Europe for the British Open – they understand the complexities of the logistics and the distractions that come with it. Do I bring the family or do they stay home and I go another 10 days without seeing them? Then you have the jet-lag with the body and mind being in different time zones, and the adjustment that requires. Are all of these major issues for every player? No. But I do think the adjustment, the planning, and the travel itself is understandably significant. It’s particularly significant when you step foot on the first tee box and know that 90% of the people in the galleries surrounding you are rooting for your opponent to beat you in humiliating fashion. But that’s part of my final point, below…

There’s No Place Like Home

Although the historical stats from either side don’t exactly support the underlying successes of the premise in theory – these players obviously prefer to play at home rather than away. This is the one event where the fans really can become like the 13th player for their team, the additional inspiration for their team to dig deep. No one likes losing, but to lose at home is twice as painful as losing on the road (the 1999 Ryder Cup notwithstanding if you’re a Euro). But here’s another little orb of information about the home aspect: the host captain can tailor the course setup however he wants. If he wants the rough lower and less penal than normal – it’s done. If he wants the greens a little quicker and firmer – not a problem. If he wants pimento cheese sandwiches and sweet iced tea in the concession stands – book it, Danno. I’m not saying that Captain DL3 will do a lot of course customizing, but have previous Ryder Cup host captains done this? You bet they have. It’s just one of the benefits of being the home team captain – although the practice isn’t acknowledged, that doesn’t mean it’s not accepted.

So there you have it. I think it’ll be a great event, like always, and there could be a few surprises in the form of upsets maybe on both sides… I think Woody and Rory will (and deservedly so) command a lot of the attention – both are playing very well and they’re both considered the anchors for their respective teams. But when you get to the bottom half of both rosters, which is generally the dividing line between winning and losing – I think the US really starts to pull away from the Euros. I’m of the opinion that while Europe enjoys the best player in the game currently in McIlroy, the US team is just simply too deep for them to go back home with the Cup.

Mahan Earns Second Win of the Season at Shell Houston Open

by Scott

Matt Sullivan / Getty Images

Louis Oosthuizen came into the final round with a 2-shot lead, but after shooting a 5-over 41 in his opening 9 holes on Sunday – the only question remaining  was whether Hunter Mahan or Carl Pettersson would stumble coming in.

Both Pettersson and Mahan were tied for the lead heading into the back-nine, but the Swede would take bogey after failing to save his par from the green-side bunker on the par4 10th. Mahan, playing in the final group directly behind Pettersson, dialed in his wedge approach on the 10th to within 5 feet, making birdie and taking a 2-shot lead. Pettersson could manage no better than par the rest of the way in, finishing the day at 1-under 71 and 15-under for the event. Mahan would make things interesting, however. After finding the green-side bunker on the par3 14th, he would miss his 8 feet remaining for par, and his lead was trimmed to one. He would once again miss the green on the par3 16th, but would pitch his ball from 75 feet to within 15 inches to secure his par and maintain his 1-shot advantage. Mahan then went on to safely par the final two holes, finishing the day at 1-under 71 and 16-under for the tournament, earning his 2nd win of the 2012 season.

Mahan’s win on Sunday will officially make him the top-ranked American player when the Official World Golf Rankings reset Monday morning, moving him into the #4 spot. He made no attempt to downplay that fact afterward Sunday afternoon. “I don’t know. Not too much, I guess because — you know, it feels great. Shoot, I’d be lying to you if I said it doesn’t feel awesome to be ranked No. 4 in the world,” he said. “That’s a pretty surreal thing to think about. You know, I felt like I could be a good player in this game, but to win twice this year and be 4th, it feels great, really does. It shows me what I can do, you know, shows me what I’m capable of.” 

All eyes won’t be on Hunter this week as we move into the Masters, but his 2 wins already this season certainly enter him into the conversation. Mahan has 5 starts at Augusta National and his best finish was T8 back in 2010, but he’s never felt this confident heading into the first major of the season. “The game feels good. I feel very capable of playing great golf, and I feel like I showed myself I don’t have to be perfect to win. You know, I felt — like I said, I felt like this week my mind was probably the strongest part of my game. That’s a great thing to feel for sure,” Mahan said. “When you play a major, you’re going to have to have all facets of the game, especially your mind has to be a strength. That’s what I’m going to take from this week is that my mind was so strong, I was able to kind of persevere through some, you know, having the lead and doing something I haven’t done before.”

For a full recap of Sunday’s action at the 2012 Shell Houston Open, click HERE.

 

Oosthuizen Takes 2-Shot Lead at Shell Houston Open

by Scott

Getty Images

Courtesy of Golf.Com

“Louis Oosthuizen shot his second straight 6-under 66 on Saturday to reach 17 under and take a two-shot lead over Hunter Mahan after the third round of the Houston Open. The 29-year-old South African shook off two early bogeys on a sunny, windy afternoon at Redstone. He reeled off four birdies in a row on the back nine to surge ahead. “It’s a great leaderboard behind me,” Oosthuizen said. “It’s going to be tough, but I feel like I’m ready for it.”

Quick Look at the First Page of the Leaderboard

Leading: Louis Oosthuizen @ 17-under par. He fired 5-under 67 in his opening round, and shot back-to-back 66′s on Saturday to take a 2-shot lead heading into Sunday.

2nd place: Hunter Mahan @ 15-under par. Hunter opened with a 3-under 69, then shot 5-under 67 in his 2nd round, and 7-under 65 in his 3rd round Saturday.

T3: Carl Pettersson and Brain Davis @ 14-under par. Pettersson fired rounds of 65, 70 and 67, while Davis shot 68, 65 and 69. They’re both 3 back of Oosthuizen.

5th: James Driscoll @ 12-under par, 67, 66, 71.

T6 @ 11-under par: Keegan Bradley (67, 69, 69) Phil Mickelson (65, 70, 70) Ryan Palmer (71, 68, 66)

For a full recap of Saturday’s action at the 2012 Shell Houston Open, click HERE.

Arnie’s Tournament at Bay Hill

by Scott

For an official recap of Thursday’s action at Bay Hill, click HERE.

At the top of the leaderboard after Day 1 at Arnie’s Invitational is Spencer Levin, as the 26-yr-old continues his solid playing this season. Levin managed 6 birdies and nary a bogey on the day with a stellar round of 6-under 66, despite the difficult conditions Thursday. Rickie Fowler leaked some oil by carding bogeys on his final two holes of the day, but still managed 3-under 69. He shares the #2 spot with Hunter Mahan, who also posted 3-under 69 on Thursday.

Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson are the two notables in the 11-player logjam at 2-under, as you can check out the rest of the leaderboard HERE.

Did Arnie Tiger-Proof Bay Hill???

Tiger Woods was under par today, at one point anyway. Woods hit his approach on the opening hole from the right intermediate rough from 166 yards to 13 feet, and drained the putt for an opening birdie. But by the time he stood on the 4th tee box, he was back to level par thanks to a 3-putt from 47 feet on the 3rd green. Woods would go on to struggle miserably off the tee, both left and right, finding only 4 fairways total on the day. He somehow managed to find 12 greens despite that, but his putting wasn’t anything to write home about – needing 32 attempts with what has become a seriously balky flatstick. The end result after his opening round at Bay Hill, the venue that has delivered 6 of his 71 victories throughout his career, was a lackluster 1-over 73.

Other News and Notes

While Tiger’s struggles continue, it’s worth pointing out that he didn’t fare as badly as about 75 other guys. The wind and firm conditions skyrocketed the scoring on Thursday, as only 21 players in the field managed under-par rounds. Only 9 players managed rounds of level-par. Very few players were prepared for the tough conditions heading into this event, and those that managed respectable rounds were getting it done on the greens. The weather forecast for the remainder of the tournament is excellent, and we should see the scoring a tad better on Friday and Saturday with less wind being a factor. But Sunday could provide another challenge like the players faced in round 1, with winds expected to pick up considerably for the final round.

Notable Struggles:

Stewart Cink, Zach Johnson, Aaron Baddeley, +4.

Gary Woodland, Dustin Johnson, Camilo Villegas, +5

Webb Simpson, Robert Allenby, +7

Brandt Snedeker, Graeme McDowell, Jhonattan Vegas, Jeff Overton, +8

 

Post WGC Cadillac Championship News and Notes

by Scott

For an official recap from PGATOUR.COM, click HERE.

Quotes of the Day

“This means so much. It’s the biggest day of my golfing career. You know, with the way yesterday ended and two years ago, it means a whole lot, and I’m very, very excited.” – Nick Watney, after birdieing the 72nd hole to win the WGC Cadillac Championship Sunday afternoon

My take: This guy has been knocking on the door for quite a while, and his win Sunday just underscores his potential. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him win again this season, and soon.

“Well, Nick’s been playing a lot of good golf this year. He’s been playing well every week. So I knew he was going to come out and play well today. I knew I was going to have to. But I did; I played really well. Just couldn’t, like I said, I couldn’t get in the hole with the putter. Hit a lot of great putts. They just were not going in.” – Dustin Johnson, after shooting 1-under 71 on Sunday at the WGC Cadillac Championship and finishing runner-up to Nick Watney

My take: I sensed that DJ wasn’t going to win…. call it a premonition if you want, but I just didn’t think he would bring it today. But I was wrong – he did bring it. He hit a lot of great shots and followed them up with some good putts that could have just as easily gone in as lipped out. But I still think that he’s got some more work to do with his wedge game and putting before he wins a major. Great players make big putts on Sunday – and that’s really his only weakness. But overall – a great week for Dustin.

“Well, I had not — obviously, as you know, I had not played a round like this. I’ve played stretches like this in a round but not for an entire round. As I was saying to Peter, I just had not got up-and-down. Today, most of the week, my short game has been pretty good. Spent a lot of time chipping and putting and made the adjustment with the putter, went to a hotter putter to combat some of these slower, grainier greens, and it worked out pretty good.” – Tiger Woods, after posting a round of 6-under 66 on Sunday to earn a top-1o finish

My take: Undoubtedly his best round of the season, and certainly a step in the right direction. His loose shots weren’t horrible, and he was taking advantage of some good short-iron play by finally showing the ability to make some putts. While one round doesn’t signal an authentic return-to-form, it was significant enough to finally warrant me giving him some positive ink for a change.

Sunday’s Best

Rickie Fowler had 5 birdies and an eagle in his final round of 6-under 66. Nice finish for the youngster, who moved up 13 spots and squeezed inside the top-10.

Tiger Woods’ 6-under 66 tied him with Fowler for the low round of the day on Sunday, getting him a much-needed T10 finish. All things considered – solid showing by Woods this week.

Anders Hansen’s round of 5-under 67 on Sunday moved him up 8 spots and a T3 finish.

Charl Schwartzel fired a 5-under 67 on Sunday, bumping him up 22 spots and a T24 finish.

Sunday’s Worst

Martin Kaymer might be the top player in the world currently, but he didn’t play like it over the weekend. A pair of 74′s dropped him to T24.

D.A. Points spent a lot of money on Sunday with a 7-over par round of 79. He dropped 25 spots and finished T45

Phil Mickelson struggled mightily on Sunday, as his 4-over 76 dropped him to a T55. Not a good week for Lefty, who finished +4 for the tournament.

Jim Furyk’s round of 3-over 75 on Sunday leads to yet another disappointing week in the 2011 season. Furyk finished +3 for the tournament, T49. Maybe the equipment change wasn’t a good idea???

Rory McIlroy found himself only 3 shots back going into Sunday, but a disappointing final round of 2-over 74 continues to suggest that the young lad hasn’t figured out a way to produce on Sunday.

Hunter Mahan – Sometimes when you read the post-round quotes, you get a sense of just where certain players are mentally. I found Mahan’s post-round comments on Friday (about his ability to hold on to the lead heading into the weekend) very interesting: “I don’t know what the stats are on someone who is maybe top three or Top-5 after the first day, and then what they finish on Sunday. There’s so much golf in between there; to think that you are just going to all of a sudden keep playing that good the whole time, I don’t even know if that’s possible because you are just going to have your little dips and valleys. It’s extremely hard to do that when you are up there the whole time. I don’t know how many guys who lead on Thursday and then win the tournament; I wouldn’t think there be maybe one a year, some guy does that. It just doesn’t happen very often. It’s not easy to be in the lead every single day.”

However honest his comment might have been, I just don’t hear too many players who seem mentally prepared to win that week making a comment like that. Hunter’s words came to fruition on Sunday, as he struggled to a 4-over 40 on his final 9 holes to shoot 1-over 73. Aside from his brilliant 8-under 64 on Thursday, Mahan could only manage 1-under through the next 3 rounds.

What Others Are Saying

Bob Harig over at ESPN TALKS ABOUT the so-called Big Three in golf instruction (Harmon, Haney, and Foley) while summarizing Nick Watney’s big win at the WGC.

Randall Mell over at the Golf Channel EXPLAINS why Phil Mickelson can’t seem to overtake Woods in the OWGR, and why Lefty has decided to tee it up at Bay Hill in a few weeks.

Steve Elling at CBS Sports POINTS OUT that Nick Watney’s caddie played a crucial role in his clutch performance on the final hole on Sunday.


 

 

 

 

Comedian Bill Murray Turns Pro, Shoots 59, Wins AT&T

by Scott

Not really, but he’s been the center of attention for 4 days, so why not shoot for 5 in a row….

Congrats to D.A. Points on his ability to somehow overcome the overwhelming distractions of his pro-am playing partner (Bill Murray) to win his first PGA Tour event.

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