Season is on, we've had an event in Hawaii at the Sony and Chris Gotterup was the winner. Back on the mainland now and a good field at the Amex. Scottie is off to a good start and is tied for the lead after 2 rounds at -17, with some dude named Blades Brown. Who is Blades Brown, well look him up. He's 18 years old, decided to turn pro after HS rather than go to college. We'll see how he holds up playing in the final group with Scottie. He did have an impressive HS career though.
Well except for a double bogey on #17, the island green hole, Scottie just smoked the course today and won by 4 strokes at -27 to 4 guys who finished at -23. Blades Brown faded today but still had a great tournament with a top 20 finish. I imagine the pressure of the moment finally got to him today. On to San Diego and a much more difficult course in Torrey Pines.
Didn't really play much golf when I was in the USN San Diego. Mostly the Navy courses and Balboa Park. So never played Torrey Pines. Hard to predict 2 Majors for anybody, but I will be surprised if he doesn't win one major.
Justin Rose ran away from the field with a record -23 under tournament to win by 7 strokes. It's hia 2nd win at Torrey Pines, On to Phoenix where the crowd is likely to be drunk and rowdy, but they are green earthers!! Nelly Korda was the beneficiary of the bad weather in Florida when they decided that they would not play the final 18 and she was leading after 54 so she is the winner, a good start for her as she played well last year but couldn't put in 4 rounds to win a tournament.
TP is a tough course. The fact that they play U.S. Opens there is a testament to that. But Old man Rose goes wire to wire with the tourney scoring record to boot, that is some locked in golf right there.
Balboa park, #18 was called cardiac hill. Par 5, uphill, at about a 25 degree slope. I wonder if Craig Stadlers 1972 mens city champ trophy is still in the clubhouse.
Scottie found his groove voer night and show a -6 today and is solidly above the cut line. He's going to have to do that and more if he's to win, but he can certainly make a big move up the board even if he doesn't win.
At one time it seemed kind of cool, but then they seemed to encourage bad behavior and glorified it...now it's a bit out of control and I think they need to do something about it. BTW Scottie gave it a good run after spotting the field more than a few strokes with that opening 73. He shot 64 today and finished at -15. Definitely top 10 and maybe will be a top 5. Not bad.
Hideki blew it on 18 and now we have a playoff. He's been wild off the tee today and it finally cost him. He hit into the sand trap (the church pews) but looked to have plenty of room to get out and hit the green (122yds). But he caught it just a hair thin and it caught the lip in front of him and had a tough shot left to get to the green. Ended up 24 feet and missed it. So now he and Gotterup go at it.
Gotterup wins with a birdie on the 1st playoff hole. He made pretty much the same putt that Hideki missed in regulation. It's his 2nd win this season. Kid is on the rise.
I would have thought he'd go to Stanford like his Dad. Charlie Woods, the son of 15-time major champion Tiger Woods, has verbally committed to play golf at Florida State and will be a member of the 2027 recruiting class. Woods, a junior at The Benjamin School in Palm Beach, Florida, skyrocketed to 21st in the Rolex American Junior Golf Association rankings after winning the Team TaylorMade Invitational with a 54-hole total of 15-under 201 last May. He was ranked 604th before picking up his first AJGA victory. Charlie Woods commits to play golf for Florida State in 2027
Why not Okie State? They've only ruled the roost since 1996...and 2 different coaches. And that's with OU winning some.