Wasted: Big Four Coronation Still On Hold

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With a two-stroke lead and two to go, social mediasphere was celebrating the Big Four's official arrival.

One hole at a time, millennials. It's an old saying.

Rickie Fowler's adrenaline-fueled power added to the legend when he hit a perfect cut right through the par-4 17th green and into the hazard. For a change, Rickie's ability to drive 360 yards under pressure proved less-than-handy, and the Waste Management Open title was up for grabs. The huge crowds got the drama they craved, just not the dream winner, as John Strege notes.

Slow poke Hideki Matsuyama eventually won a three-hole playoff, but it'll be the Big Four deprivation and 17th hole that are this week's big takeaways.

First, the shocking tee shot (shocking in club selection and power):

Fowler was shocked by the distance of the shot, not but the club selection. From Brian Wacker's game story:

“Usually don't expect it to hit on the downslope and then go 360,” he said. “So that was a bit unfortunate. I hit it right on line, hit it exactly where I was looking. That's kind of the unfortunate part, to hit the shots that I did and to pull them off, and then it kind of backfired there.”

Rickie got emotional about losing the lead:

The official highlights:

Poll: Where Are You With Bubba Watson?

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We've gone through the traditional Bubba Watson controversy (again) this week. As with past brouhahas, they play out with amazing consistentcy:

--He speaks honestly in shocking, out-of-the-blue fashion

--He gets ripped by the (social and mainstream) media he hates, but never reads yet knows will only take the negative angle

--He spent a day or two with the much-wiser and grounded wife bending his ear, gets booed at the 16th hole.

--He apologizes just as he has done before (video version), appreciating the accountability of it all

We will go through this many more times with him and unless he starts picking on innocent kids or other less fortunately souls, I really don't see the big deal. He's different, odd, knows he has ADD issues at the very least and maybe is a little bit of a mad genius. We don't want him to be like everyone else, do we?

I'm also sympathetic because when he's on, he's such a joy to watch play golf. The TPC Scottsdale should be a showcase for his talent, but I sense much of his meltdown this week was prompted by disdain for the place, only heightened by Tom Weiskopf's anti-long driving changes to the course. Several players last week were dreading the event for the first time because of the course, not the noise or the party scene or whatever else might be a deterrent. And you can read between the lines of player comments, like Mickelson's remarks, including that TPC Scottsdale shifted from an offensive to a defensive course. Bubba just happened to be more blunt in sharing his views.

I could go on about the aesthetic nightmare it has become, with more overseeded rye grass and blinding bunkers viewable from outer space, but it won't do any good. The old lunar landscape is gone.

But back to Bubba...where does his latest controversy leave you with one of golf's most fascinating stars?

Where do you stand with Bubba?
 
pollcode.com free polls

Waste Management's Attendance Numbers In Perspective

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I always picture a group of Thunderbirds rolling up the sleeves of their blue suede sweaters and throwing darts at new record attendance numbers to announce annually.

Because right on cue, they set new records again at the 2016 Waste Management Open. Mitzvah!

Brian Wacker's tweet of the media center attendance board: 

Though I'm with reader Chris, who noted that extra three just looks a little too perfectly imperfect:

This noted, the Thunderbirds should also be praised for their ticket pricing, which encourages large crowds on a course that is pretty easy for spectators to actually see golf without working too hard.

From their website: 

Monday, Tuesday: FREE
Wednesday – Thursday: $30
Friday – Sunday: $40
Ages 17 & under are free when accompanied by an adult.

At the recently played Farmers Insurance Open, the admission price is $50, with the course closed to the public on Monday and Tuesday. The $50 price might explain the ghost town vibe there this year on Thursday.

Adult – $50 / Seniors – $35
Youth 13-17 – $10 / Kids 12 & under – free
Military FREE with ID

At the upcoming Northern Trust Open, the pricing is both higher and harder to comprehend.

Monday Collegiate Pro-Am: $19
Course closed Tuesday (oy vey)
Wednesday Pro-Am: $19
Thursday Regular Price: $39
Friday Regular Price: $49
Saturday Regular Price: $59 (includes English Beat concert)
Sunday: Regular Price: $49
Any Day Flex Ticket Regular Price: $64
Season Badge Regular Price: $139
Ages 17 & under are free when accompanied by an adult
Military Free with ID

Bubba Only Playing TPC Scottsdale (T2, T2) For His Sponsors

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There are a few ways to look at Bubba Watson's pre-tournament comments about the TPC Scottsdale and Waste Management Open.

First, the comments. From Ryan Reiterman's GolfChannel.com report:

"I don't like it. I'm not going to PC it. I don't like it at all. I just mentioned why I'm here. I've got three beautiful sponsors that love it here."

Ping, Stance Socks and Oakley are all sponsors of Watson.

Watson said he was unhappy with the changes made to toughen up the course last year by Tom Weiskopf. Several fairway bunkers were moved to challenge even the longest hitters, like Watson, and as Phil Mickelson noted, a hole like the par-4 14th went from "a driver and a wedge birdie hole to driver, 4-, 5-iron and a very difficult par."

Sure, it's kind of unusual for someone to finish T2 the last two years and lament having to be there. But it's Bubba. This is a man who hated going to Paris. France.

But I welcome the brutal honesty and scratch my head at his disdain for a course he's played well at. But chatting with a few players last week at Torrey Pines, Watson is not alone in lamenting the direction TPC Scottsdale has taken in trying to limit long driving. Watson's "goofier and tougher" line was similar to what a few players said.

The stats back up the idea that Weiskopf's hope for limiting longer driving, even though the 2015 leaderboard was full of long drivers.

From Rob Bolton's always excellent PGA Tour Power Rankings:

• Weiskopf surmised that the thinking off the tee would evolve as a result of new, strategic bunkering. Indeed, the field of 132 was a quick study as its 61.38-percent clip for fairways hit was in line with history. However, it came at a cost since the average distance of all drives of 285.4 yards was down 10-15 yards from each of the previous four years, and this despite a layout stretched 114 yards to its highest-ever measurement of 7,266 yards. Still, it mattered little in determining the final leaderboard. Koepka ranked T47 for the week in fairways hit and still played his last 47 holes in bogey-free 14-under.

All of Bubba's comments from Golf Central:

Today In Millennialism: PGA Tour "To GoPro The Game Of Golf"

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I'm really looking forward to the onslaught of SkratchTV's GoPro's inside the PGA Tour ropes to capture the game for the only people who matter.

Judging by the efforts from the Waste Management pro-am, there will be moments but mostly reminders that golf is not snowboarding. Well, unless you include getting to watch a caddie rake a bunker from the rake's perspective (1:43 point if you are looking for what excites the only people who matter).

Daniel Roberts reports for Yahoo on the GoPro-SkratchTV-PGA Tour partnership that'll have hipsters taking their wide angle cameras inside the ropes during competition. Just not too close, hopefully.

Translation: Golf is going extreme. The sport sees potential to woo millennials with GoPro's dizzying, high-octane P.O.V. shots that the camera maker has traditionally brought to more extreme sports like skateboarding, snowboarding, BMX, and mountain biking. "We're intrigued," said Rick Anderson, the PGA Tour's executive vice president of media, in a press release, "to GoPro the game of golf."


What does that mean? For starters, expect to see the GoPro HERO cameras show up on the course—in as unobtrusive a way as possible. "We're not up to using drones yet, although there is a lot of discussion of that," says the Tour's senior vice president, Norb Gambuzza, in an interview with Yahoo Finance. "But there will be guys shooting with GoPros and doing things with camera placement and positioning that we have not done before. I think fans will look at it and say, 'Hmmm, what's going on over there?' We are always looking to push the envelope in how we shoot and distribute our content."

Here's that envelope-pushing moment from Wednesday:

The Golf Gods Stick Up For Brandt Snedeker's Epic 69

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As the 2016 season progresses, Brandt Snedeker's final round 69 at Torrey Pines may be the barometer for great rounds going forward, particularly given how well he scored in brutal conditions.

It seemed like the overnight delay might allow Monday's finishers to have better conditions to hold off Snedeker's clubhouse score, but as John Strege notes, that didn't happen:

“At 10 o'clock, I think [the wind] almost hit on the nose and started blowing about 15 to 20 miles an hour,” Snedeker said. “And it blew a complete different direction than yesterday and made those last five holes play absolutely brutal.”

Walker bogeyed four of his final eight holes to drop out and K.J. Choi missed a long birdie effort at 18 to tie. The final-round scoring average was 77.9, nearly eight strokes worse than Snedeker’s score. Twenty-three of 71 players failed to break 80.

“I feel bad for them,” he said. “They got the raw end of the stick this morning. But that’s just the way golf goes.”

Some fun stats from the crack ShotLink gang putting Snedeker's comeback into perspective:

The highlights lack shots from the winner or of a crowd. Strange day indeed.

Forward Press: The Wasted, Dubai And Coates

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I'm not sure what which event will give traditionalists a bigger headache: the annual party that is the Waste Management Open or the Omega Dubai Desert Classic celebrating the 2-year anniversary of...you know...the commercial.

In this week's Forward Press I talked to Tommy Roy about NBC's plan for the TPC Scottsdale and Feherty's debut. Oh, and while elements of the old Phoenix Open give us all reason to cringe, I ask whether it's time for golf to just let it go?

Also, just in case the dreaded Omega ad does not resurface during the Dubai telecast, a handy link sits below in case you missed hearing will.I.am or want to sort out this week's complicated but fun TV golf viewing schedule.

Here it is.

Snedeker And The (Historic?) Winds Of Torrey Pines

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Brandt Snedeker's final round 69 at Torrey Pines South should have won him the 2016 Farmers Insurance Open, and it still may depending on the winds for Monday's delayed finish (11 am ET Golf Channel) where Jimmy Walker leads by one, while veterans K.J. Choi, Kevin Streelman and Freddie Jacobsen lurk.

Snedeker earns a prize for best line to describe a wacky day that include no shortage of entertaining (and not so entertaining) descriptions. From John Strege's account of a strange Sunday at Torrey:

Snedeker, who said it was “like playing a British Open on a U.S. Open setup,” completed play at six-under par 282, one behind leader Jimmy Walker, who still has eight holes to play. Play was halted for the third time on Sunday at 1:57 p.m. (PST), and 90 minutes later it was suspended until Monday morning.

A Sunday finish probably represented Snedeker’s best chance at winning, given the strength of the wind and the intermittently heavy rain. “I want them out there playing, since I had to play through this all day,” he said after his round.

Monday's final round will be played without spectators due to more forecasted winds that could render tents flying objects. Though as Eamon Lynch noted, the players will be used to it after last year's U.S. Open at Chambers Bay where they could go holes without seeing another human.

Donald Miralle Instagrammed this clip showing the media never having been seen to be moving so quickly upon learning it was time to evacuate:

 

 

Twitter Tantrum! DeLaet Calls Out Reed After WD

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Just this week I heard Bill Simmons lamenting the lack of NBA Twitter spats, so maybe he'll take note of this nice one from Saturday at Torrey Pines.

With an ominous weather forecast for Sunday's Farmers Insurance Open final round, 82-shooter and Grizzly Adams impersonator Graham DeLaet was set to go out last off the 10th tee with 81-shooter Patrick Reed and 79-shooter Scott Piercy.

Reed withdrew after his round with an ankle injury, which means he was likely checked out by the tour's physio staff. Nonetheless, DeLaet called out Reed, suggesting he quit due to the ominous forecast. Who said all Canadians are nice?

 

 

 

Albatross Day! Jang In Bahamas, Gore In San Diego

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Here's something you may never see again...

Ha Na Jang with the first albatross in LPGA Tour history, 8th hole, Pure Silk Bahamas Classic:

 


And her priceless reaction:



And on the PGA Tour, Jason Gore at the Farmers Insurance Open, sporting his Pepperdine gear, with a 2 on the par-5 18th from 250 yards out. According to Bob Harig at ESPN.com, Gore was talked into hitting three-wood by his caddy.