Category Archives: PGA Players

The Mardi Gras Hole of Golf

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There are 19 days left until Mardi Gras in New Orleans and only one day left until you can watch coverage of the Waste Management Open at TPC Scottsdale.  It is famous for the 16th hole which is the “loudest hole in golf.”  To me, it has the atmosphere of Mardi Gras.

The hole is a “stadium” setup which means it is surrounded by grandstands and the gallery is full of loud, rowdy, beer drinking fans.  It is the only hole in golf where etiquette is out the window.  Fans will actually boo a player if he misses a put.  In this case, words cannot do it justice.  So here are a few videos of what takes place in the stadium.

(1) The 16th Hole has its own PGA video. Watch closely and you’ll see Tiger’s hole-in-one.

(3) Rickie Fowler throwing hats into the crowd (reminds me of tossing Mardi Gras beads.)

If you have been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans you know it is one big party.  I went to college in New Orleans and watching the 16th hole “party” reminds me of Bourbon Street on Fat Tuesday.  And, that is why I think the 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale is the Mardi Gras Hole of Golf.

Fantasy Golf Results – Farmers Insurance and Abu Dhabi HSBC

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I did much better with my fantasy golf picks this week.  In fact the winner for the Farmers Insurance Open was Brandt Snedeker, my pick for group two.  But his win was not the big news.  The big story was the melt down of Kyle Stanley who lost to Snedeker in a playoff.

Kyle Stanley had a three shot lead and on the final hole could shoot a seven (or two over par) and still win. It should have been a “piece of cake” but his shot into the green rolled into the water and that was the beginning of the end.  He shot an eight — unbelievable!  I get eights (or as we call it in golf, a “snowman”) on my scorecard. Pros rarely get eights. The best way to describe it is that it is like watching a kicker missing a field goal that would win the game.  Stanley’s fate was all on him and in the end his miss forced a playoff which Snedeker won.

As much as I am happy that my pick won this week’s tournament, it’s hard not to feel bad for Stanley.  Here are how my picks did overall this week:

Farmers Open: Brandt Snedeker won, D. A. Points T8 (-10), Bud Cauley T13 (-9), and Phil Mickelson missed the cut.

Abu Dhabi HSBC: Rory McIlroy came in second, Darren Clarke, Branden Grace, and Colin Montgomerie all missed the cut.

My final thoughts this week are about Rory McIlroy.  He actually could have been the winner but on Friday he brushed sand off the fringe of the 9th hole (just off the putting green) which resulted in a two-stroke penalty. He lost by one stroke so if he had not had the penalty, he would have won. The rule is that you can move “loose impediments” but “sand and loose soil are loose impediments on the putting green, but not elsewhere.” So McIlroy could brush the sand that was on the green but not on the fringe.   McIlroy said he knew the rule but just wasn’t thinking. That’s a tough penalty for a lapse in concentration; but that’s golf.

Sang-Moon Bae is not a Luxury Resort

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When I say the name Sang-Moon Bae I think of a luxury resort.  In my mind, I picture myself on a beach, lounging in a chair, sipping a drink with an umbrella, and staring at the ocean.  But it is not the name of a resort.  It is the name of a PGA Player.  Sang-Moon Bae is a rookie on the PGA tour.

Given I don’t follow the Asia tour, it doesn’t surprise me that I don’t know about him.  He is from South Korea, has been a pro golfer since 2004 and according the World Golf Rankings he is 34 in the world and ranked 3 in Asia.

Today, I saw him playing in the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open. I tuned into the telecast just as he missed a putt and was very upset.  Turns out it was his third bogey after posting a double bogey on the first hole.  Basically he dropped 5 strokes in the first four holes. It was not looking good.  But he regrouped and shot 5 birdies overall and he ended his round at even par; and for the tournament, stands at twelve under par (tied for fourth.)

I don’t think he will win because the leader is at 18 under par.  But now that I have seen him play, I think I will pay a bit more attention to the rookie with the great name.

Big Names Miss Big this Week in Golf

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The big news this Friday evening is not who the leaders are at the two major golf events going into the weekend but the big names that missed the cut — Martin Kaymer and Phil Mickelson.

Martin Kaymer missed the cut at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Open. This is shocking because he is ranked #4 in the world and has won the Abu Dhabi HSBC three times in the last four years.  Many of the “golf experts” predicted he would win. Boy, am I glad I did not select him as a fantasy golf pick.

The big shock for me was Phil Mickelson.  I knew he was struggling and unfortunately had a sinking feeling when he shot a 77 on Thursday.  In his post round interview, Mickelson called his round on Thursday “pathetic.”  That’s what I like about “Lefty” — not shy about calling it like it is (good or bad).

One thing the pros always talk about is how important it is to be focused on the course. According to a San Diego Union-Tribune one of Mickelson’s daughters had a “health scare” last week.  To his credit, in the interview I watched, he did not say anything about his daughter.  He just said “Yesterday’s round was shocking to me just because my expectations were so high because I knew I was playing well.”

I will always be a big fan of Phil Mickelson and cheer for him. Hopefully he will find his game again because viewing weekend golf coverage just isn’t the same when “Lefty” is not playing.

Golf Boys – Not Your Father’s Golf Professionals

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Most people think of golf as an “old boys” sport and there is some truth to that view if you only look at the demographics which indicate a lot of middle-aged and older men play golf.  However, if you do follow golf you know times are changing. There is a new breed of golf professional who sometimes wield social media as well as they do a golf club.

Watching various interviews, you can tell the younger golf professionals (or “young guns”) are very respectful of the traditions of golf, are in awe of golf legends, and want to be part of golf history.  But they are also part of the online generation and some of their off-course antics are anything but traditional. The best way to show you that these golfer’s are not your father’s professionals is with the video of the Golf Boys starring Ben Crane along with Bubba Watson, Hunter Mahan, and  Rickie Fowler.  The video is “Oh, oh, oh” by the Golf Boys.

The video came out last year and was sponsored by Farmer’s Insurance (during the Farmers Insurance Open).  Not only did Farmer’s Insurance promote the video but they also tied it to charity by stating that they would donate $1,000 for every 100,000 views. Now, I’m not sure if there was a time frame for the viewing/donation but the number of views to date (January 25, 2012) on YouTube is well over 2.8 million.

So why write about the Golf Boys video today?  Well, this week is the 2012 Farmer’s Insurance Open and a new video was released.  This time it is just Ben Crane in a video titled “The Lost Love.”  What is also interesting is that the YouTube caption states “For every 100,000 views, Farmers will donate $1000 to charity on behalf of Ben Crane up to $5000.”  Interesting to see a limit set. My guess is either Farmers got caught off guard last year with the success of Golf Boys or a corporate attorney reviewed the YouTube caption this year. To be honest, not sure they have much to worry about because the new video is not as good as the Golf Boys.

Bring back the Golf Boys in 2013!

Fantasy Golf Results – Humana

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Week three and I’m going down hill fast. This week my picks did worse than the last two weeks.  But it is a long season and I can still figure this out and rebound.  I have a new strategy — no more only being “sentimental gal” picking my favorites or picking based on personal stories. Of course, I don’t know all the players so I will still have my “what the heck” pick each week.

I knew that two of my picks were wild cards but my expectations for Mickelson and Howell (or Lefty and Chucky Three Sticks) where much higher and they did not deliver. Here are the results:

(1) Phil Mickelson — Tied for 49 at 10 under par.  The first round he shot a 74 (the leaders had a round of 63 or 9 under par.)  He shot under par the next three days but he could not make up the gap between his score and the leaders.  Mark Wilson won with a final score of 24 under par.

(2) Charles Howell III — Tied for 49 at 10 under par. He just did not play as well as he had in the Sony Open.

(3) Kyle Stanley — Missed the Cut. What can I say he was my “what the heck” pick.  However, I did base my pick on a golf commentator’s review.  Clearly I picked the wrong commentator to follow.

(4) Erik Compton — Tied for 42 at 11 under par.  Well, I was cheering for him given his amazing personal story — being a double heart transplant.  He started off well with a 67, 69 in the first two rounds but needed to go low on the weekend to compete and just didn’t have it.

My biggest disappointment was Mickelson because he had won this event twice before and was the all time money leader for this event so I thought he would be (at a minimum) in the top 10.  In an interview he said it was a long season and he likes to “assess his game” in this tournament.  Wow, if I had known that assessing his game was his goal I would not have picked him.   Attitude is everything and I’m glad he is optimistic about the year but I wish he had more of a fire in him to win this tournament.

Results of Fantasy Golf Sony Open Picks

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My picks for the Sony Open did not fair well.  The results are:

(1) Jeff Maggart -Tied for 13 at 8 under par. Maggart was a long shot but he had my hopes up on Sunday because he entered the 4th round tied for first place with a score of 12 under par.  It was only a few holes into the final round, when he bogeyed the 4th and 5th holes, that I knew it was going to be a bad day for Maggart.

(2) Web Simpson – Tied for 38 at 4 under par. Do you believe that if people talk about something too much it can be jinxed?  I do. All the golf commentators kept talking about how Simpson had 13 straight rounds in the 60’s coming into the Sony Open.  What happened — his streak ended with rounds of 72 (round 2)  and 70 (round 3) in the tournament. The final day he shot a 68 but that was too little, too late.

(3) Roy Sabbitini – Tied for 29 at 5 under par.  Sabbitini had a 7 (triple bogey) on the third hole (par 4) of his final round and even with 5 birdies later in the round he could not recover.  He also had drama in his final round when Vijay Singh swore at Sabbitini’s caddy.  Singh believed the caddy moved when Singh was hitting his putt. When Sabbitini defended his caddy, Singh swore at Sabbitini. According to an article in the New York Times there were a number of witnesses to this bad behavior.

(4) Heath Slocum – Missed the cut and did not play the weekend. Slocum was my “what the heck” pick this week so I can’t really be upset that he did the worst of all my picks; but this represents the second lesson learned in two weeks competing in the Golf Fantasy game.  You have to also think about whether or not your pick could actually miss the cut. It never entered my mind that any of my picks would miss the cut.  Go figure.

Is Johnson Wagner’s mustache more important than winning the Sony Open?

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The only thing I knew about Johnson Wagner prior to the Sony Open was that golf commentators were talking about his mustache; and the comments were not exactly flattering.  Some compared his mustache to that of the sleazy private detective, Pat Healy (played by Matt Dillion) in the movie “There’s Something About Mary.”  By the way, a movie that I cannot stand.

Wagner was just one of many golfers who grew Mustache’s in November. Many grew them because of a campaign called Movember which was created to raise awareness of Men’s Health issues.  Wagner said he just didn’t shave over the holidays and decided to try a mustache. Regardless of the reason, folks teased Wagner about the “new look.”  Given it provided additional banter and color commentary for the golf media, I suppose it should not be a surprise that the commentary continued the Monday morning after he won the Sony Open.  But it seems to be “the story” about Wagner.  Now folks are comparing him to Magnum PI (Tom Selleck).

When asked about it, Wagner said his friends think he looks like a “Latin Lover” and, oh yeah,  his wife hates it.  Wagner won the Sony Open and in an interview, Wagner says he is keeping his mustache at least until he plays the Masters. He even said it adds to his confidence.

It got me thinking about personal brand.  Personal brand is certainly important for professional athletes. And I wonder if Wagner’s mustache is going to become part of his personal brand? If personal brand is about making yourself stand out from the crowd, or in this case on the golf course during a tournament, then I think the mustache might actually be more important than winning the Sony Open.

I can honestly say that prior to this week if Wagner was on the TV screen I would not recognize him. But last night during the telecast, I could recognize him in an instance because of his Mustache.  In the future will I remember who won the Sony Open in 2011, maybe.  But if Wagner still has his mustache will I recognize him on TV, definitely.

“I’m not running for President; I’m a Golfer” — Matt Every

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Professional Golfer, Matt Every, is leading the Sony open after the third round but unfortunately that is not the big story hovering over Every.  The big story is how he handled himself and what he said in an interview with Kelly Tilghman of the Golf Channel. 

To make a long story short, back in 2010 Every was at the John Deere Classic and was suspended for 3 months. He was suspended because he was arrested for possession of marijuana (he pleaded no contest and charges were later dropped). So as part of her interview, Tilghman, asked about that time.  Instead of just saying something like it was a learning experience and I’ve moved on, Every just went on and on saying some really stupid (for lack of a better term) things.  For example, “Honestly, man, I know more people who smoke marijuana than who don’t smoke marijuana. I know that’s probably not the politically correct thing to say, but it’s the truth.”

When I saw this interview, I felt sorry for Every because I assumed his “management” had done him a dis-service by not giving him any PR training on how to answer questions.  Some online chatter blamed Tilghman for asking a personal question but what many may not have realized is that Matt Every was on a Golf Channel “reality” show called The Big Break and they ask lots of personal questions to get the back story on the contestants. Tilghman did her job and Every should have known how to answer quickly and move on.

He lost my sympathy vote the next day during the press conference. When asked about the interview with Tilghman, Every went on and on again and at one point he said ” I’m not running for president; I’m a golfer. So I’m really not trying to, you know, piss anyone off.”  The word that he excluded in his statement was “just” (I’m just a golfer) but it was implied (in my opinion).

When someone says (with all seriousness/not joking) “I’m just a [fill in the blank]” it is a cop-out. They are basically removing any ownership or responsibility for their own words and actions.  That just doesn’t cut it for me; especially with professional athletes because they are role models and so at a minimum should think before they speak.

Hopefully Every will learn from this experience but I will not be cheering for him to win the Sony open. I’m cheering for Jeff Maggert, the co-leader after the third round, not just because I am not a fan of Every’s but because I am a fan of Maggert’s. After all, he is one of my golf fantasy picks.

Golf pundits all a “Twitter” about Jason Gore

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Golf is often given the bad rap of being a traditional “old boys” sport so I am not surprised by that the fact the big story today is that Jason Gore was given a sponsors exemption because of Twitter — Golf fans are not so old school after all. No surprise to a fan like me!

If you don’t know the score…back on January 6, Jason Gore sent out a tweet that he was signing up for the Northern Trust Open (Feb 14 to 19) qualifying event and tweeted he’d be “stoked” to get a sponsor’s invitation.  His fans delivered with a twitter campaign that filled the Northern Trust Twitter page with support for Gore.  Just 6 days later, Northern Trust sent out a tweet that Jason Gore is awarded an exemption.

Why I am writing about it? Because my profession is online marketing and it was fun to see how all this played out.  By the way, it didn’t hurt to have media outlets like the Golf Channel commentators talking about the twitter campaign on TV over the last few days (before Northern Golf make a decision) and giving it even more exposure.  Northern Trust got it right — They listened to the golf fans and gave them what they wanted — an exemption for Gore.  Now, Northern Trust also got what every company loves — lots of free press! And, it’s good press.

But the most important outcome is that a guy who is ranked 643 in the world and did not qualify for the PGA Tour this year got his wish thanks to his fans and twitter.