Sportandfashion-news PGA: From a Honda to a Cadillac, It Only Gets Better

It is safe to safe that, three days later, the excitement has finally calmed down at PGA National. The pros put on quite the show this week as we saw a rare event take place late Sunday afternoon; a four man playoff.

Going into the final round, I would have bet all my chips on Rory McIlroy to bring home another Honda Classic win. In fact, I tweeted that I thought he should easily win by at least three strokes. Rory seemed to have all the confidence in the world heading into the final round and I honestly thought he was past his Sunday downfalls. Needless to say, Rory showed extreme regression, especially on the back nine, and hacked his way to a final round 74.

With the door open, the dogs leading the field did not shy away. Ryan Palmer, Russell Knox and Russell Henley all posted scores qualifying them to join Rory in the sudden death showdown. When all the dust settled, the young Henley stood alone, holding his second PGA tour win. I don’t mean to make it sound like Henley did not deserve this victory, as he golfed his brains out all week to fight for this win.

His signature shots included a par save from the water, chip-ins for birdie and hole out from the fairway for eagle, that even he did not think went in. The nickname for Henley is ‘The Human Highlight Reel’ and it could not fit any better. Russ regressed following his first victory last season, but I hope he learned from that and keeps up the solid play. He is fun to watch and plays with the intensity the Tour needs. Also, I would, and may, bet a lot of money that he will be paired with Jordan Spieth come Masters’ Thursday.

For the next stage of the Florida swing, the best in the world will shift their attention to Trump’s newly renovated stage at Doral. Since last season, the course as undergone wholesale changes under the ownership of The Donald, but all signs point to a great test ahead. The course architect, Gil Hanse, stated the changes are similar to when you arrange your living room. The horizon remains the same but the location from which you are forced to look at it from has changed, making everything a bit different.

Historically, this has been Tiger’s tournament to lose but he may be a non-factor this week, with continued back issues. We have always had star studded leaderboards where at the WGC-Cadillac Championship, including a top six last year of Tiger, Steve Sticker, Sergio Garcia, Graeme McDowell, Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott. A majority of pundits will look to Rory to bounce back from last week with a win here, but I don’t see it that way.

Give me Dustin Johnson. DJ has the perfect game to tackle this beast. His length off the tee is no secret but his consistency in this 2014 season is outstanding. He finished in a tie for 12th here last year and grabbed a second place rank in 2011. Johnson leads the tour in par 4 and 5 scoring, along with GIR; all categories that could catapult him to that win he has been so close to for weeks.

Although he only carded 4 birdies last week, I also like Phil Mickelson to have a good showing this week, in preparation for Augusta. Hanse’s new course layout has showcased the bunkers, which have always been a strong point for Phil. Also, he won this event in 2009, so he knows what it takes to beat Doral.

Lastly, keep an eye on Kiradech Aphibarnrat. He looked strong here in the early rounds here last year and played well in a losing effort a few weeks back at WGC-Match Play. Aphibarnrat took Justin Rose to the brink and seems to have no nerves when the pressure is applied. He is of course a deep sleeper but could be fun to follow.

Will we have another four man playoff this week? Probably not. But, that doesn't mean we won't see some fireworks.

Bryan

Sportandfashion-news PGA: Stallings Survives & Craziness Guaranteed in Phoenix.

As the 2014 calendar year seems to just be beginning, the 2014 PGA season is already in full swing. With the new wraparound setup of the scheduling, the Tour’s finest players are warming up to the meat of the Tour schedule. Last week at Torrey Pines, we saw an early season shootout for what most thought was Tiger Woods' tourney to lose and he did. Tiger did not even make it to Sunday but that did not stop the hungry field around him from surging to the finish.

It seemed we had half the remaining players left in contention coming down the stretch at the daunting South course, but it made for a dramatic finish. Both Gary Woodland and Marc Lieshman had opportunities to control their own destiny, but they both dropped the ball, allowing Scott Stallings to steal the stage.

Stallings shot a four under round of 68 to grab his third PGA Tour win. Scott’s round was highlighted by an approach on the par 5 18th that looked all but guaranteed to end in the water but somehow checked up on the front side of the large finishing green. Stallings posted a nine under which proved to be just enough to outlast the pack behind him as five golfers finished at eight under. Per CBS on Sunday, Stallings is only one of six active golfers with three wins under the age 30 along with Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson and Anthony Kim. Stallings is a player to watch in 2014.  

Although Torrey Pines is one of the more difficult, and popular stops on tour, this week presents a whole different beast. TPC Scottsdale will play host to the Waste Management Phoenix Open, and one hell of a party with it. This tour stop is far and away the largest attended golfing event of the year and one of the most unique you may ever see during the 2014 PGA season.

The par 3 16th is what makes this course famous, but not because of the course attributes; it is because of the stadium built surrounding the hole, giving the players a feeling like they are teeing off in a not so small arena. Oh, I forgot to mention, most players get the crowd yelling and screaming right before they shot so it sounds more like a football game than a tee box. Although we will not have caddy races this year ( :( ), I expect to see some excitement on the scoreboard.

Phil Mickelson ran away with the tournament last year, and he will be the favorite coming into this week. With his college history at Arizona State, many consider this course to be Phil’s bread and butter. He has won this event three times since 1996 and will look to get his first victory on 2014 come Super Bowl Sunday.

I think Phil is due for regression given his bad back which leaves the door open for others to walk through. Webb Simpson is my pick to grab the win this week. Webb already had a win this season, coming at the Shriners, and is yet to shoot a round over 73 in his 2014 events. Along with that, Simpson has fared well here in his last two showings, both tying for eighth place. Webb leads the tour in many performance categories, including scoring averages, overall birdies and driving distance. I think the driving distance is the x-factor, as Webb is not thought to be a power player and usually uses his precision to string together some birdies.

If you are looking for a party to watch before you Super Bowl party starts, flip over to CBS come Sunday. There will be putts dropping, beers flowing and professional golf being played like you have never seen it before.

-Bryan 

Sportandfashion-news PGA: Reed & Larrazebel's big wins & Tiger's Return

It feels like last week around the golf world was a warmup for this weekend's event at Torrey Pines in San
Diego. Many of the highly-touted pros took to Abu Dhabi to play in the HSBC Golf Championships where young Pablo Larrazabel took home the crown beating out Phil Mickelson and Rory McIroy. While other PGA pros took to California in the Humana Challenge to play a course dominated by Patrick Reed all weekend notching his first PGA Tour win of the young 2014 season.

We will start in Abu Dhabi quickly as Larrazebel hit a big final birdie putt plus not many mistakes ensuring the unknown Spaniard a win against the top dogs.  On the other hand, Mickelson had a bizarre double hit leading him to hit right-handed and caused him a tripe bogey on the final back nine. This is what we have come to expect with Mickelson through in the past decade. He wins tournaments, but he costs himself other ones by playing irrationally. But it was good to see both Phil and Rory especially get off to hot starts to their golf season. Always good when everyone is in form early on.

As for the Humana, it is too easy of a course. PGA West needs to consider how to change the course or move the location of the tournament to a nearby course in California. I like seeing players at least be challenged a little bit. Reed had a such a lead after firing off three straight 63's that a Zach Johnson 62 on the final day did not beat him even though Reed was merely one under for the day. Johnson is playing great golf to start the year for those who have not noticed. Even though this course is not the toughest, the fact Reed now has two wins under his belt at 23 is worth noting. I will be interested to see how he handles some of the more difficult courses on tour in the months to come.

Now for the Farmer's Insurance Open where Tiger Woods holds court as the personal owner of this tournament. He has won it a record-setting seven times.  It begs the question... What should our expectations be of Tiger in this tournament?  The answer is probably to be in the top five, and have a chance to win it on Sunday without the pressure of 'He needs to win this tournament.' This is one of the few tournaments in Woods' wheelhouse, and he usually takes advantage of those tournaments. It also asks the question, who will dethrone Tiger on this course?

There are a bevy of good golfers who have won this tournament before, and are playing this weekend along with other names to keep an eye on. I do think golfers play better with Tiger in the first couple rounds versus the last two meaning I could see Jordan Spieth and Jimmy Walker whom finished fourth last year find some success. With Mickelson playing good early golf, it is hard to rule him out and won here three times even if the last win was in 2001. Brandt Snedeker finished second to Tiger last season and won the event in 2012 meaning he should be up there again this year. There is no real wild card here as it is a loaded field, but Bill Haas is a name to watch with three top 10 finishes at Torrey Pines in the past.

With football taking a week off, it is a good weekend to get familiar with golf again. It should be a great tournament and maybe we will give a Tiger/Phil final pairing for old times sake.

Charlie.

20 Questions about the 2014 PGA Season

Bryan Reynolds begins our PGA season. He came on Sports News on Tap in February or March last season so this will officially be his first full season with Sportandfashion-news. Look for all sorts of PGA coverage in the coming weeks and months. We begin with me asking Bryan all sorts of questions about the upcoming season. 

1.) The question till he does it, does Tiger Woods get a major this year? 

No. There, I said it. I think Tiger is the greatest golfer in the world. It is stupid to question that. But with the resurgence to young talent on tour, I will take the field every time. Tiger will be close but I will be the fool that bests against him.

2.) What should our expectations be with Jordan Spieth this season?

I think we should expect him to be a young gunslinger out there. He has all the talent in the world but on his journey to success, he is going to stumble on some failure. I will give him another win in 2014 but if he misses a cut in a major, I would not be surprised.

3.) Out of the four major winners last year, which one could you see winning another major this season?

What a question. If you want to think about how exciting golf is now, this is the perfect way to get the ball rolling. There is no right or wrong answer, in my opinion, but I am going to say Justin Rose. The English golfer seems to have more discipline than the others and I think that consistency will stay true into 2014.

4.) What are your five favorite non-major tournaments?

WGC-Match Play, John Deere Classic, The Players, At&T National, and WGC- Cadillac. The match play is my favorite, even over some majors. I love the head-to-head action and the pressure it puts on every hole. For those who do not understand match play, get to know it; it does not get much better. John Deere is a favorite for me as I have played Deere Run many times myself. It is pretty awesome to see the pros walking the fairways that you once have. It is like Lebron James playing pick-up basketball at your high school gym. Maybe that’s a stretch, but you hear what I’m saying.

5.) If someone wanted to get into the PGA more, what would be your suggestion to them?

Be patient and enjoy the Sundays. I am a scoreboard watcher so I am constantly in tune with what is going on in each tournament. That is a lot to ask of yourself, especially if watching the tour is new to you. If you check the standings Saturday night, then flip on the coverage early Sunday afternoon, you will have a pretty good idea of what is going on. Unlike some other sports, it does not always come down to the last two minutes. Watching the potential winner play his/her back 9 is pretty darn awesome.

6.) Besides the man in Sunday red, who has the most pressure to win a major this season?

Zach Johnson. Many will forget that he has won the one that matters most, but since his victory at Augusta, he has yet to put another exclamation point on his career. Zach returned with a vengeance last year, but with the exception of The Open Championship, he was a dud in the majors.

7.) Is this year the United States finally wins the Ryder Cup overseas?

Yes! I love the chemistry the United States has developed. When you can run out pairings of Tiger and Stricker, and they are not even your number one weapon, you know the other squad is in trouble. The only weakness is their inexperience/age but I think they could overcome that.

8.) Between Golf Channel, ESPN, CBS and NBC who has the best golf coverage?

I think the collaboration that Golf Channel and NBC has established is outstanding. GC does a great job in the early rounds, getting cameras out there, and letting you have a chance to watch every shot if you want to. ESPN does not seem as dedicated as others for my taste. When it is their turn to televise a tournament, they drop everything but in general, most of the crew there could not care less.

9.) Who is the one golfer you can see having a breakout year?

Justin Rose. I guess I do not know if we could consider it a breakout year since he got the major last year but Rose has everything you need to be a stud on tour and it is falling together at the right time. He constantly hung around last season, and I would expect no different come 2014.

10.) What golfer is poised to win his first major this season?

Dustin Johnson. The dude just got engaged to Paulina Gretzy, daughter of ‘The Great One’. Maybe it’s hopeless optimism, but I would think some of the talent and luck will rub off on the big guy. The clock is defiantly ticking on DJ, who will be celebrating his 30th birthday this season. He has been close and this is finally going to be his year.

11.) Who has more pressure on them to be good this season, Dustin Johnson or Sergio Garcia?

Well with my previous answer, I almost have to put the pressure on Johnson. Sergio has just always kind of disappointing, that is what we have grown to expect from him. Dustin still has time, for now, and I think he can live up the expectations.

12.) What golfer could you see taking a step back this year from his 2013 success?

Phil Mickelson. Like many others on tour, he is getting up there in age. I am not saying he is old by any means, but at some point, this is going to take a toll on him. Also, it would not take much to regress from the year he had in 2013. Phil was outstanding and I do not see him living up to that.

13.) Who would be your ideal foursome to play with, current or past golfers?

Fred Couples, Payne Stewart, Tiger Woods, and myself. Freddie has always been around and he has always been great. When Freddie hangs ‘em up in the future, we are going to look back and admire one of the greatest golfers and personalities the game ever saw. When Payne passed away, I was too young to understand the impact he made on the game. The man was a legend; it would be an honor to play with him or against him. I am not always a fan of Tiger but you have to respect him from what he has done. He has brought golf to the forefront and is one of the finest athletes we have in sports. If you get the chance to play with the best, you take it.

14.) Who is the best golf WAG? (Wife or Girlfriend)

I think I got to go Jason Dufner here and his wife Amanda. Duf had himself a handful on the 18th green after winning his first major. Is that not the dream?

15.) Last time the U.S. Open was at Pinehurst, the winner was three over par, much of the same this year?

It is so hard to say. When the U.S. Open at Merion was approaching, much of the talk was how the players would tear it up. That turned out to be far from the truth. Predicting the scoring at this time of year is too tough, especially considering the role weather plays in scoring. I would say No, the players will find the birdies out there, but I could be wrong.

16.) This works with 16.), do you like when PGA golfers look like the rest of us golfing the course or would you prefer higher scoring?
I like when they look like the rest of us because I like to see them recover. That is the difference between them and us. If they double a hole, they should not lose focus; they could birdie the next two. We do not have that luxury. When a course is beating them up, it is a true test of what kind of player they are.

17.) Who is the one golfer nobody is talking about that needs more attention?

Steve Stricker. I do not know if he counts or if this is what we are after with the question but I am ready to see something out of Steve. We all know how good he can be but I am ready for him to win. Recently, he seems he has been a coach like figure to both Tiger and Spieth. I want to see Steve put the pedal to the medal and get himself a major.

18.) To you, what's the most crazy storyline that could realistically happen?

Adam Scott repeats at Augusta. I mean this storyline kind of speaks for itself but he has to be one of the favorites. He has been continuing to play well as of late, and he has everything you need to win the jacket. It helps to have Stevie on the bag, whom has a little experience winning there.

19.) Besides Augusta (That's everyone's number one), what's your top five courses that you would want to play on.

Whistling Straits, TPC Sawgrass, St. Andrew’s, Pebble Beach, and Doral. Kind of a hodgepodge list as I would be satisfied playing any course on tour but these are the big ones for me. Sawgrass is an obvious one; I would like to think I could better Sergio’s effort but who knows how many I would plunk in the water. It would not have to be St. Andrew’s but playing a links style, tour level course is defiantly on the list.

20.) What should we watch for in the first couple months of the season? 

Watch for consistency. Guys like Phil, Justin Rose, and Matt Kuchar, all got out to consistent starts last year and that lead them to big seasons. Being consistent does not mean they have to win, just expect them to remain close and have control of their games. Golf is different than almost all other professional sports in that winning does not define success at all times. Winning makes you great but being consistent is enough for people to remember that you deserve to be there.

Bryan 

The Tap Ten: 2013 PGA Stories

This is the beginning of our 2013 end of the year lists for sports.  I know we will do one for MLB, CFB, CBB, NBA, PGA and NFL. I probably will do a top 20 list of overall moments and if we get real frisky, maybe top 20 figures in sports giving away our first annual Tapper of the Year or something dumb like that. Also as always, these are my lists and I can imagine you have a different one, cool story.  

As the calendar year comes to a close, it is time to reminisce about the year we just lived through. Now, I am not referencing your family memories or your career accomplishments; it is time to take a look at the outstanding season we witnessed courtesy of the PGA Tour.

I do not want to pound you with stats during this holiday season; I would rather paint a picture of an image to go back to from months ago. We all have our favorites but let’s take a look at my top 10 memories from this year:

10) Phil Dominates Overseas
This storyline is pretty self-explanatory but Phil flew across the pond a week before The Open to get a little time in at The Scottish Open. Phil being a guy who does not waste his own time, won that leading up to his outstanding performance at the British. Muirfield was playing like a sheet of concrete but Phil used his flair for the dramatic to coast to a huge major victory.

9) Tiger dominates everything, except the Majors
Tiger Woods started off the year but stumbling in Arizona, at the WGC-Match Play but that was certainly not a preview of things to come. Tiger won at ease it seemed, but struggled to finish the job in majors. Tiger’s biggest victory came at The Players Championship, where he went head to head with Sergio Garcia, which turned out to be easier than he could have thought.

8) Stenson Close All Year, Crowned Season-Long Champ
Henrik Stenson was a name that we constantly saw hanging around the leaderboard all season long. Because of this, Stenson found himself in prime position come playoff time. He won the last two tourneys of the year to put an exclamation point on one hell of a season.

7) Furyk Shoots Elusive 59
Earlier in the year, Tiger flirted with the idea of shooting the 6th sub-60 round in Tour history, but was not able to finish the job. You could say that Jim finished what Tiger started. At the BMW Championship, Furyk carded a 59, punctuated by birding 2 of the last 3 holes. Furyk has the weirdest swing you will ever see, besides my father’s, but he is a mighty fine ball striker.

6) Tiger Misplaces His Ball at Augusta
Friday afternoon at Augusta National and Tiger Woods is in the 15th fairway, right in the thick of it. His approach smokes the flagstick and ricochets back into the creek. From here it seemed simple: drop in the drop area or drop from the previous shot location, no closer to the hole. We thought at the time that Tiger obeyed this rule. Nope. Tiger dropped his ball incorrectly and was penalized come Saturday morning, a deficient he proved unable to fight back from.

5) Duf Daddy Wins his 1st Major, finally!

It would not be a Sportandfashion-news Top 10 if we did not talk about Jason Dufner, right? We have grown to love thebig guy but now he finally came through on the big stage and gave us something to cheer for. Dufner was close a few years back but was unable to close out Keegan for the PGA Championship. This year was different at the PGA Championship. Duf was throwing darts all afternoon Sunday at Oak Hill, and edged out Furyk for his first Major victory.

4) Sergio Finds the Water, Twice.
After a few days of heated remarks and misplaced anger, Sergio and Tiger were neck and neck down the stretch at Sawgrass. Was Sergio really back? Could he fight those Tiger demons to emerge as The Players Champ? We quickly found out that the answer to both of these was a No. Sergio launched his first tee shot on the famous 17th island hole, right in the water. As if this was not degrading enough, he teed up again, and plunked another one in the drink. Oh Sergio, this is why so many love to hate you.

3) Rose defeats Merion at U.S. Open
Justin Rose was/is one of those guys that is always hanging around. We have just been waiting for him to break through. No one was quite sure what to expect from the players where they arrived at Merion but we quickly learned what the course had to offer. Merion was an absolute beast. Rose remained calm, settled in with the fact that there was not going to be a lot of birdies, and beat out Phil and Jason Day to win his first major title. And he did it all for his father, it does not get much better than that.

2) Spieth Wins Playoff at Deere Run
Jordan Spieth wins. I wanted to keep it simple because that is a line that we will have to get used to reading in the upcoming years. Spieth is a stud, and he has all the skills to compete on the Tour now and long time to come. He edged out the defending champ, Zach Johnson, to win his first PGA Tour Event and get his all-important Tour card. I may be biased to this storyline as Spieth is a young guy like me and his victory came on one of my favorite courses to tee it up, but I do not care. J. Spieth is the man.

1) Scott 1st Aussie to Win the Green Jacket
Not only is Adam Scott easy on the eyes for the lady fans, he is an amazing golfer. Scott seemed to have lost his swagger there for a couple years but he was back with a vengeance at Augusta. He stuck his approach on 18 to put himself in control of his first major. If it were not for the effort of the ageless Angel Cabrera, the roars of “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie” would have echoed through GA, but things did not come that easy. El Pato took Scott to the playoff but Adam sunk his putt, in the pouring rain, to get the monkey off his back, and win the jacket for Australia. 

Sure I might have missed some moments but if these tidbits did not bring back some memories, something is wrong with you. Stay tuned for more golf on the way, as the 2014 season kicks off in a few weeks, and we will be back in full force.

Cheers.

Bryan