I know this is a golf website, but congratulations are in order for Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. They finally got past the New England Patriots in the postseason and are on their way to The Super Bowl. My wife wanted me to congratulate Peyton Manning, so I figured I better sneak that in first. Now it’s time to talk a little golf.
Charley Hoffman won The Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in a playoff this past Sunday to pick up his first PGA Tour victory. The playing conditions in the final round were brutal, and the leaders heading into the final round (Justin Rose and Lucas Glover) crumbled big time down the stretch. Hoffman has contended a few times over the past year, and he deserved his win last week. Maybe he can afford a haircut now.
For something so seemingly simple as rolling a ball with a flat-faced stick, it’s a sad fact that sooner or later putting bedevils every player. Were you aimed wrong? Did you pull it? Push it? Was it your tempo? Your transition? Do you even have a clue?
The PGA Tour season returns to the mainland and is in full swing with the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic (hey, a Phil Michelson sighting!) where you not only get to watch Tour players but you also get to watch the celebrities show off their golf games as well.
The media’s neurotic obsession with golf’s new bionic woman got shelved last weekend and a little amateur stole the show. Tadd Fujikawa was the youngest player in fifty years to make the cut at a PGA Tour event. My new favorite amateur golfer showed us what is sorely needed on the PGA Tour. Just as Wie, with her injured wrist, was thrashing around the Sony Open to another disappointing missed cut (+14) this five-foot-one firecracker steals the show. It was the best golf story since Tiger won the British Open.
It’s been said that Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods differ in schedule in one critical way: Tiger plays (and excels) at events with stronger fields while Phil Mickelson excels at weaker-field events.
The Golf Channel settles in and an oldie (but goodie?) wins the Sony Open in the form of Paul Goydos, knocking off the forever-bridesmaid Charles Howell III and young gun Luke Donald. Tadd Fujikawa makes a compelling start, makes the cut, and makes a lot of friends, while Michelle Wie’s play on the men’s tours of the world continue to stir up opposition. Her 78-76 next-to-last-place finish didn’t help much, either. All that and more in this episode of Golf Talk.
Lucky to play so many wonderful courses over the years, I’ve devised my own simple Goldilocks rating scheme. Some are too hard. Some are too soft. Some are just right.