What a day so far. Rory McIlroy dropped a 65 on Augusta National, and didn’t get as much out of that round as he could have. With better putting he could have posted a low 60’s round.
Phil Mickelson started out with 7 pars in a row and birdied #8, sitting at -1 on #9 tee. Despite previous announcements, Phil did NOT go with two drivers.
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Temperatures at the first tee time of the Phoenix Open today were 29 degrees, due to an arctic blast of air. That same blast caused the cancellation of yesterday’s Pro-Am.
The tournament will be delayed a minimum of two hours and is scheduled to start at 11:40am ET.
In wet and muddy conditions, players who play well are called “mudders.” Since Scottsdale is frozen, is there a player who plays well in the cold? An “icer” so to speak?
Mark Wilson wins 2011 Sony Open
HOG congratulations to Mark Wilson for a great 36 hole performance yesterday at the Sony Open. With the rain delayed first round, the Tour had to play 36 on Sunday to finish on time. Wilson fired two bogey free rounds, 65 and 67 (-5, -3) to win the tournament by two shots.
When Wilson pulled his tee shot into the left green side bunker on #17, a 194 yard par-3, I thought perhaps a playoff between him and Tim Clark was looming. But when he made the clutch putt of nearly 11 feet to save par I knew he had the golf balls to finish it off and win.
Notes
Interesting notes for the Sony Open include a hole in one by Shaun Micheel, though he missed the cut. So the guy misses the cut and makes no dough, but has to buy drinks for everyone. Ouch.
Camilo Villegas wasn’t disqualified this week, but didn’t make the cut either. So the Hawaiian swing for Villegas was not a profitable venture as he made zero dollars in prize money. I feel for his caddy.
John Daly looked fairly consistent and solid. He just couldn’t score low enough to make the cut, missing it by one shot.
Chris DiMarco played very well, which is nice to see. He easily made the cut and ended up T30.
Davis Love III didn’t have any issues adjusting to his new equipment after switching from Titleist to Bridgestone. He played very well with some great ball striking. DLIII fires four rounds in the 60’s and records a top ten finish.
Stuart Appleby had the lead for a while but couldn’t put together a strong finishing round. T13.
Surprises
Some surprising performances from players this week were both good and bad.
After such a great performance last week at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, Robert Garrigus missed the cut this week.
Others who surprisingly missed the cut include Jim Furyk and Adam Scott.
Made the cut but didn’t play the final two rounds? HUH?
The Tour’s ever confusing “made the cut but didn’t play the weekend” oddity really throws me for a loop. Despite technically making the cut and making prize money, players like Zach Johnson, Vijay Singh, Rocco Mediate and Heath Slocum did not play the final two rounds. A very strange setup.
2011 Sony Open Final Leaderboard
Click the “read more” link below if you can’t see the leader board.
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Byrd wins at Kapalua
The Byrd is the word
Johnathan Byrd is on a roll. He has won the last two PGA Tour tournament he has started in, both in playoffs. That is quite a turnaround, since he wasn’t even sure he’d keep his tour card at the end of the 2010 season. He punched his ticket to Kapalua and the Hyundai Tournament of Champions with an unbelievable win in Las Vegas by making a hole in one in a playoff to win at the end of 2010.
“I can’t sit here and not think about where I was toward the end of the season last year, fighting for my card. I’m just thankful, I’m overwhelmed, I’m grateful. All of the above.” ~Johnathn Byrd
Byrd entered a playoff with the tour’s longest hitter, Robert Garrigus. Garrigus missed a par putt on the 2nd playoff hole which would have extended the playoff to a 3rd hole.
Robert Garrigus takes 2nd
Garrigus
The fact that Robert Garrigus was even in that position, given the story of his journey to that point in his life, is also amazing. Garrigus had overcome substance abuse problems and gone through rehabilitation. To be that low in one’s life, then bounce back to such a high level on the PGA Tour is an amazing feat.
McDowell
Graeme McDowell was one of those players who I mentioned yesterday would need to shoot a serious lights-out score to contend. He did just that, tying the course record of 62 and bringing himself into the mix. Graeme had a birdie putt on 18 which wasn’t terribly long, which would have put him into the playoff as well, but that one did not fall.
Stricker
Steve Stricker made bogey on the 1st hole, which when combined with the birdie Byrd made on the same hole, put him two shots back right out of the gate. He couldn’t quite shoot a low enough score to win or get into the playoff, a two under 71. Still, I love watching Stricker’s great short game and his simple and beautiful mechanics.
Sony Open
This coming week the Tour stays in Hawaii for the Sony Open. This will be the first “full field” event of the season. Even John Daly is on his way down there to tee it up. At the Sony there always seems to be some interesting story relating to a player who was invited like Tad Fujikawa or Michelle Wie. I wonder what this year’s story will be? It will be fun to watch.
Final Hyundai Tournament of Champions Leaderboard
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Tiger Woods is in jeopardy of losing his number one ranking at this week’s Bridgestone Invitational. Both Lee Westwood and Phil Mickelson had the chance to overtake Tiger coming into this weekend if TW, but Westwood has withdrawn with that same nagging leg injury he’s had for a few weeks. He will not be playing in next week’s PGA Championship either. Speculation is that he’s resting up the leg for the Ryder Cup.
Phil on the other hand, can overtake Tiger with a win or a top four and with Tiger finishing outside the top 37. With rounds of 74 + 72 (failing to break par in either of the first two rounds of the Bridgestone), Tiger currently sits at a tie for 72nd place.
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