One of those rare Wed. starts this week. I'm guessing it has something to do with 2 big NFL Playoff games on Sun. Weather was benign today but should get windier in the later rounds. Probably good for the hang gliders.
Doc, your thinking of Admiral Baker...down the road from the old Jack Murphy stadium. Played Torrey enough to know I needed to keep reenlisting....Gip and I shot a round at Camp Pendleton once...I exchanged words with another Marine during the round...Gipper thought a fight was gonna break out. The city course championship plaque at Balboa had a name on it from 1973...Craig Stadler.
Sam Ryder holding steady today. Rahm is quickly shooting his way out of this one. On the par 5 , 5th he went, fairway bunker, yanked shot long left into 5 inch ruff, chunk laying 3, chunk again still in 5 inch rough laying 4 barely off the green still, chip on and past the hole 6 feet laying 5 but makes the putt for a bogey 6. I can relate to that hole except I would have missed the putt and carded a double. OK I wouldn't have been long left in 2, I'd have been short in 2 and then long left in 3 and carded a triple!
Matsuyama is having a great front nine, made the turn in 30, and is 3 strokes back. Can he keep it going?
Sam Ryder feeling the pressure of the lead? Back to back to back bogies, lead is now 1 and he's heading to the 9th hole.
Max Homa with the come from behind win. The 4 shot lead was eventually too much of a burden for Sam Ryder and mistake after mistake did him in and he collapsed starting on the last couple of holes on the front 9 and he couldn't get it back on the back 9. Max Homa on the other hand was on a roll and just kept making shots and closing him out.
Why does Phil care? he made a fortune in Saudi money at a time in his career where making the cut was cause for celebration. Plus he gets all that extra time to spend with his children.
I see that Rory won in Dubai yesterday, beating LIV's Patrick Reed. He and Reed were involved in a bit of a dust up earlier in the week, so it was fitting that they ended up battling it out on the golf course. Glad Rory got the best of him.
This week it's Pebble Beach Pro/Am. There was an article in the Houston Chronicle about the field, it said it's declined because the players didn't like the long rounds, the iffy weather and "bumpy" greens. It's been magnified by the exclusion of LIV golfers and the fact that it's not a "Designated" event on the tour. That means it's purse is significantly less than the Phoenix Open next weeken or the L.A. Open the following week. I'd link it but it's written by Ron Kroichick of the San Francisco Chronicle and you have to be a subscriber to read it, I can read it on the Houston Chronicle page since I'm a subscriber.
Terry, did you ever find out why the field at the Hawaiian open is so weak? Years ago it was the first event of the year but that got supplanted by the Tournament of Champions on Maui. You wonder why as long as they're out their they don't play the following week. -
No I've never seen why, it would seem a natural to just stay another week on a beautiful island. It could be that they don't like the course they play the Sony on, I remember Jordan Speith saying you had to completely change your approach from the Kapalua course maybe that has something to do with it.