Tag Archives: J.B. Holmes

News, Notes, and Quotes from the Week in Review

by Scott

For starters, how about a round of applause for Sandra Gal, the 25-yr-old LPGA Tour player who became only the second German player ever to win an LPGA Tour event on Sunday at the Kia Classic. Gal and fellow competitor Jiyai Shin were in the final pairing and going head-to-head in the final round, thanks to their sizable lead ahead of everyone else in the field. The tournament came down to the final hole, and essentially their final approach shots to the par5 finishing hole.

Shin elected to lay up well short of the green with her second shot, giving her a full wedge approach to the elevated green. She hit a beautiful shot that hit a few feet in front of the pin before biting and stopping 5 feet beyond. Gal likewise opted to lay up with her second, but played a much longer shot that got her to within 80 yards of the green. Gal played her 3/4 wedge shot brilliantly, hitting her ball only a few inches beyond the hole and almost going in before spinning back a mere 18 inches for a tap-in birdie. Advantage Gal. Shin admitted afterward that she felt the pressure, knowing that her opponent had basically left herself a tap-in. As a result, Shin would miss and Gal would brush in the short tap-in, collecting the first win of her LPGA career. “I had the belief coming out this morning that I could win,” Gal said. “I thought I could do it. I just tried to play the course instead of Jiyai.”

I might also add that she looks just a tad different in a swimsuit versus typical LPGA Tour garb….

And some not-so-good news for another German golfer: Last week it was revealed that Bernhard Langer will be out of action for 2 months because of an injury he sustained to his thumb during a biking accident. Langer needed surgery, and as a result the 2-time Masters Champion will not be in the field at Augusta for the first time since 1983. Langer has already won once this season on the Champions Tour, and his absence will certainly shakeup the season-ending Charles Schwab Points Cup race.

Beam me up, Scotties: It was indeed a banner week for Scotland, as two of their countrymen took top honors in the world of golf. Martin Laird was somehow able to overcome a disastrous start on Sunday to pick up 2 timely birdies coming down the stretch, miraculously eking out a win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, and a name from the Van de Veldean lore of Open Championship history – Paul Lawrie – became the oldest winner ever to win the Andalucian Open in Spain on the European Tour on Sunday as well.

Metal Spike Spat: When the conditions get as firm and difficult as the greens got Sunday at Bay Hill, it doesn’t take a whole lot to initiate some sparks. According to Stephanie Wei over at her blog, there was plenty of bickering going on about the condition of the greens, not necessarily about the firmness or the speed, but rather the overwhelming presence of heavy feet and metal spikes. “What upsets a lot of players isn’t that guys wear metal spikes, it’s that guys don’t pick their feet up and don’t pat their spikes down when they make them,” he (D.J. Trahan) said. “I think guys need to be a little more courteous about fixing their spike marks when they make them. I don’t care if they wear metal spikes, just be courteous to the guys coming behind you.”

Trying to Rebound: Alex Miceli over at GolfWeek.Com points out that Doug Barron (the PGA Tour Player who was suspended from the tour for the 2010 season for testing positive for a banned substance) has just cashed his first Tour check in several years. On Sunday, Barron finished tied for 33rd in the Nationwide Tour’s Chitimacha Louisiana Open, pocketing $2900. “I didn’t play perfect, by any means,” Barron said from his home in Memphis, Tenn., “but did make 20 birdies and an eagle.”

Q-School Restructuring More About Ratings? The revelation that Finchem and Co. are seriously considering revamping Q-School for Nationwide Tour-only access was a big topic last week, and overall the general reception behind the idea was mostly mixed. But Rex Hoggard over at the Golf Channel explains that the focus of such a drastic change might have an even larger ulterior motive: Ratings. Tucked into the second-to-last paragraph in the memo from commissioner Tim Finchem is the “why” behind the proposed restructuring. “The integration of the Qualifying Tournament into the Nationwide Tour when combined with the proposed Finals Series increases the attractiveness of the Nationwide Tour for the umbrella sponsor,” the memo read. Nationwide is out as the secondary circuit’s umbrella sponsor in 2012 and the restructuring is a not-so-veiled attempt to move product. But this is more than a fresh coat of paint on a fixer-upper. A Finals Series “playoff” model would undermine the competitive integrity of the Nationwide Tour’s regular season and the long-held notion that 12 months is better than three weeks.”
No 3-Group Backups at Amen Corner Next Week: J.B. Holmes needed a good finish at Bay Hill last week to get inside of the top 50 in the OWGR to get into next week’s Masters Tournament through the backdoor. But a horrendous back nine of 5-over 41 that led to his final round of 4-over 76 pretty much removed the possibility that he will be spending 2 agonizing hours each round reading the greens at Augusta National next week.
Best Player on Tour Without a Win? If the PGA Tour were to put together their own version of the movie, “Groundhog Day”, you would see Steve Marino waking up every Monday morning to Sonny and Cher blaring on the alarm clock, after having finished 2nd the day before in yet another tour event. Marino had his first PGA Tour victory well in hand on the back nine Sunday at Bay Hill, but stumbled badly on the par3 17th with a double bogey, which ultimately cost him the tournament. It is the 4th runner-up finish for the 31-yr-old Oklahoma native, his 2nd runner-up finish this season. Through 7 events in 2011, he’s already amassed $1.4 million in earnings, and is currently ranked 54th in the OWGR. That’s a lot of money, and a pretty good position in the world rankings to be O-fer.

 

The Godfather of Slow Play: J.B. Holmes

by Scott

I can’t watch this guy play golf anymore. I really can’t.

Back at the Northern Trust Open, it took J.B. Holmes nearly 2 minutes to attempt a single putting stroke in one of the earlier rounds. This past weekend – it took him nearly an hour to play 2 holes. This guy makes Ben Crane look like Seabiscuit.

It is obvious that Bubba Watson has matured the last couple of years as a player. He’s no longer THIS guy, who obviously had a short fuse back in the day. But it would have been warranted had he called Holmes out on his slow play back on Saturday.

J.B. Holmes will continue to play as slowly as the PGA Tour allows, which is basically however quickly or slowly he wants to play. It’s absolutely shameless.

Accenture Matchplay Friday Recap

by Scott

Three rounds are in the books and only 8 guys remain. Friday would offer a mixed bag of results, and for the first time this week – youth would not be served.

For a full recap of Friday’s action at the first WGC event of the season, you’ll find it HERE.

Feel free to offer up your Saturday predictions in the comments section, if you’re brave enough to venture that far out on the limb. I didn’t fill out a bracket, and quite frankly I’m kinda glad I didn’t…. I would’ve shredded it after Thursday, no different than my March Madness bracket in college hoops.

 

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.