Tour moves to Jack's Tourney this weekend. It's a designated event so the field will be very good. It's a great course and always one of the best non-majors of the summer season.
Florida and Georgia Tech are going for the Nat'l Championship now at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale. NCAA has gone to both the men's and women's finals being played at the same course in back to back weeks. Gators have 4 National Titles, Ga.Tech has none. That is surprising to me, Ga Tech has a good number of former players on the PGA Tour, thought they would have at least 1 Natty. It's been 14 years since nephew Matt and his Texas A&M golf team won the National Championship beating Arkansas in the final.
Florida Gators are the National Champions. They also had one of their players win the individual National Championship, it's something that is very rare for a school to win both titles.
Stu, I've probably asked before but have you ever been able to play Jack's course in Muirfield Village?
I love it when the color guys get it wrong. On 17 Spieth has maybe a 8-10 ft putt for birdie and as he lines it up one of them says it's just off the left edge, then the other guy says wow he's way left of that...Spieth then hits the putt and it rolls perfectly into the center of the cup taking a nice big l-r curl into the cup.
Watching Rory give up 3 shots on 18 had a familiar feel to me. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. He hit his drive above the bunker and had to stand in the bunker and swing at a ball that was shoulder high, no doubt one of the toughest things a golfer has to do and no surprise it didn't go well then he ended up in the rough, deep, and got a flyer that was over green then he flops it off the green and that's how you get a triple bogey.
Never played it. I have walked it several times during the tournament. My son Michael (John Deer in the contests) got to play it once. Nerves got him on the front nine but he played pretty well on the back. I was on the tee sheet once but our member host had eye surgery and couldn't play (you have to play with a member). I always thought he could have gotten another member to host us but it was more of a business thing than friendship and I guess he just didn't give a sh*t.
One of the things I like about Jack's tournament is that Jack himself spends a bit of time with the broadcast crew and he gives you great insight into why certain holes are the way they are and also will criticize his own design and tell you why he made changes. For example today on a par 3 on the back nine, #15 I believe, he noted that it was playing more difficult than he anticipated and that he would be making changes. After a number of groups came through and failed to hit the green and Jason Day went after it with a 5 iron, Jack commented that was a lot of club for the pin position...Day of course missed the green and the mic picked him up saying "dumb" hole. Jack laughed and said yeah it is a dumb hole, he's right about that, but I'm going to fix it. The course though is very tough, but they noted that it's always so well maintained that the players love to come an play it. Rory is -4 and 4 shots off the lead. That triple yesterday really cost him.
Never played it either, but my boss let me caddie for him back in the day in the 1980 Pro-Am and they won the thing. My guy was lighting it up 2 or 3 birdies on the front, not quite so stellar on the back tho as I recall. Like Stu I've walked it many times during the tourney, beautiful course, always immaculate. Jack takes good care of it
Rose Zhang, who won back to back Nat'l Championships at Stanford and was the top Am in the world is one back in her first LPGA toiurnament
Ya right, not a hard decision. Watched Lon Hinkle flat almost whiff a 3 wood, topped maybe 60 yds down the fairway and actually made me feel much better about my game! Got a new golf bag outta the deal too!
I caddied for my closest buddy one year at the Disney. The ams played 3 rounds with a different pro each day. As I recall the 3 pros in the group were Jeff Maggert, Brian Watts and Ray Floyd. Learned some things doing that. During a long wait on a par 3 Floyd told us about his club selection for chipping around the green. And his caddie told me that I shouldn't be wearing my golf shoes to caddy. They didn't need any more spike holes on the greens especially from non-combatants.
So it's Victor Hovland in a 1 hole playoff, Denny McCarthy looked like he was going to win early in the day, had the lead and was really playing well, but in the end not well enough to hold off Hovland.