Tiger slipped a bit today, shot 73, but over all not a bad tournament. He was asked if he would play more before the Masters and he was non-commital. Said his body just doesn't allow him to play more tournament golf. But he does hope to play all four majors. But the man today was Jon Rahm, a great tourney for the Spainard. He's now won 3 times on this west coast swing. Hawaii, Palm Springs, and now Riveria. Looking poised to have a great year. Max Homa had his chances but just too many mistakes on the back 9. Now on to Florida and Bermuda grass, which will be a big change from Poa Auna and Kikuya.
When asked about his future plans, Woods was noncommittal to playing again before the Masters. "Here's the deal: Like I told you guys last year, I'm not going to play any more than probably the majors and maybe a couple more," Woods said. "That's it, that's all my body will allow me to do. My back the way it is, all the surgeries I had on my back, my leg the way it is, I just can't. That's just going to be my future. "So, my intent last year was to play in all four majors. I got three of the four. Hopefully this year I can get all four and maybe sprinkle in a few here and there. But that's it for the rest of my career. I know that and I understand that. That's just my reality."
Interesting that Tiger is not taking the Casey Martin route and using a cart to overcome his physical problems. Rahm has a great game. Early in his career he had concentration issues but as the commentators mentioned this weekend he seems to have his emotions under control. He has great length on his driver with what looks to me a rather short backswing. He's going to be the cornerstone of a rebuilt European Ryder Cup team. Looking forward to Bay Hill and The Players. That means Augusta is right around the corner.
Speaking of the Masters, my daughter is attending a business gathering this week sponsored by her employer. It includes a tour of Augusta. She's excited.
Berhard Langer shot his age {65} yesterday and got his 45th Champions Tour win tying Hale Irwin's record of 45. Pretty Amazing post PGA Tour record. I wonder if Tiger will ever play on this tour when he qualifies? Jack played it and won all the Senior Majors.
I've always thought that the Senior Tour is not about the best golfer, it's the best ager. Langer is just amazing. Considering all the demons he fought with his putting over the years, his swing has always been wonderful. He's beating guys who just came off the regular tour. Amazing.
This is the last Honda Championship. Jack Nicklaus was on quite a bit this afternoon and said there will be a toiurnament at PGA National but not sure who the sponsor will be. One thing that was commented on earlier in the week on PGA Tour Radio was that the Fla swing is much tougher, they commented that the courses had more hazzards and the result is more double bogeys. (I think they said something like 4x more double bogeys) Water especially is a factor in Florida where it's not so much in the West Coast Swing. The field this week is pretty week, hard know who the leaders are, but Eric Cole(one of the leaders) they said has both parent's former players. Laura Baugh is his mom and his dad did win a PGA Tour event. I know who Laura Baugh is but never heard of his dad.
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Jack Nicklaus thinks the Honda Classic should have a chance at a stronger field because of looming changes to the PGA Tour, which he said Sunday would mean Pebble Beach getting elevated status and the tour going to Mexico before the Florida swing. Nicklaus, appearing at the final round Sunday at PGA National, said a reworked schedule in 2024 will give South Florida's lone tour event -- by whatever name it will be known -- a chance at attracting higher-ranked players. None of the top 17 players in the world ranking played Honda this week.
Let's not forget that there was another south Fl. event, Doral. The woke aholes at the PGA took it away because the course was owned by Trump and moved an event to Mexico.
Good Field this week at Bay Hill. It's a challenge for the players. The winning players at Arnie's place can putt. In the last decade, they have gained an average of 6.3 shots against the field on the greens. That’s a full stroke more than they gain on approach. Scottie Scheffler grabbed the red cardigan last year with great lag putting. Bay Hill is one of the toughest courses to putt from over 10 feet. The winner this week will be a great approach putter. Competitors favor accuracy off the tee over distance. You love having both, but historically driving accuracy is above the Tour average this week and driving distance is below the weekly average. Does this mean power or length aren’t important? No. Power just comes into play with your long irons and playing from the rough instead. Bay Hill has 84 bunkers and 55 of them decorate the green complexes all over the course. Sand play cost Viktor Hovland the championship last year and will separate the field again. Don’t just consider bunker skill a necessity for saving par. Those four par 5s average a 38% birdie rate. Scoring can happen from the sand as well and attacking those par 5s in two is a must this week. Whether the wind shows up or not, the guys will miss greens this week. The average green size is 7,500 square feet and they will play even smaller due to the firmness. Factors such as bogey avoidance and around-the-green play will be the next most important winning differentiators behind putting. The mix of bermudagrass and rye overseed is thick and challenging surrounding the green surfaces. https://www.si.com/golf/news/2023-a...aign=morning-read-newsletter-&date=2023-03-01
More changes to the PGA Tour, no cut events and fields limited to 70-78 players. The PGA Tour board on Tuesday night ratified a radical new approach for the 2024 schedule that will see reduced fields in the new designated events and the removal of the 36-hole cut. Fields in designated events will be reduced to between 70 and 78 players with no halfway cut. The changes will not apply to all of the elevated events— the majors, the Players Championship and the FedEx Cup playoff tournaments will be unaffected. PGA Tour: Major schedule changes approved, no cuts in elevated events
Should be good weather here for the Palmer. That's good for the Malloys who are flocking to The Villages to celebrate my mother's 100th birthday on Sun.
If longevity counts Mike, you can play for another 30 years. My best wishes to your mother on her one hundredth birthday!
She's still pretty sharp. This past year she wrote a kids book and had it published. She lives alone in a story colonial. Quit driving 4 yrs. ago when she moved from Brooklyn. Couldn't hear well enough to get a license in Fla. (eyes aren't very good either.) Owns a number of rental properties and takes care of her business. My younger brother passed about 6 yrs. ago and she was devastated. I'm trying to outlive her but she ain't making it easy.