‘Bubba’licious

For the second week in a row on Sunday on the PGA Tour there was a Vegas and a Gary battling in contention for the title. Jhonattan Vegas, last week’s winner at the Hope, played spectacularly once again putting himself in the second to last group in he final round of the 2011 Farmers Insurance Open at famed Torrey Pines in LaJolla, CA. After defeating Gary Woodland in a playoff and capturing his first ever PGA title, Vegas was once again staring a Gerry in the face…Gerry Watson, aka ‘Bubba.’ Oh, and there was this other guy in contention making his first start of the season, some local guy by the name Phil Mickelson.

And while those three gentlemen stole the show on Sunday, the biggest story to start the week was the return of Tiger to competitive action. He performed well early in the tournament posting a bogey free three under par 69 on the North Course in his opening round and matching that 69 on his return to the South Course where he clinched the ’08 US Open. But the weekend took its toll on the ‘Striped One’ as he faded with back to back over par rounds (74 / 75) to finish T44 at one under par.

As round four began Mickelson and last weeks co-runner-up Bill Haas were tied for the lead, one shot up on Hunter Mahan and Bubba Watson with Jhonny Vegas and Anthony Kim in close proximity. Haas, Mahan and Kim all struggled out of the gate and failed to get anything going early and shot themselves out of the tournament as the back nine progressed. It became a virtual three horse race and provided great entertainment for the entire afternoon. It was a birdie festival and as the final two groups made there way to the 18th tee, Watson held a one shot lead on both Vegas and Mickelson (as Mickelson poured in a birdie on the 17th green to a cadagoric eruption).

After smashed drives from the long hitting Vegas and longer hitting Watson on the par 5 18th both players were poised to hit the green in two. After not so solid contact with a five iron Vegas screamed at his ball to ‘go’ as it flew through the air, only to come up well short into the Bruce Devlin pond saturating any chance he had at the tournament. Watson was also errant with his iron shot short siding himself left on the down-slope of the greenside bunker. He hit a very good blast, but still had 15 feet of so to secure the birdie and two shot lead. All the while, in the final grouping, Mickelson was deep in the left rough and had to lay-up to 72 yards short of the pond. As he walked up the fairway he watched on as Watson hit the putt of the tournament by curling in the slippery birdie putt to get this lefty two shots clear of the ‘Lefty.’

From there Phil knew he had to knock it in from the fairway just to force a playoff. He walked all the way to the green to survey the situation, and after a few minutes of deliberation, he made an unconventional move by sending Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay to the green to tend the pin to prevent the ball from hitting the stick and bouncing out of the cup. With supreme concentration he made a perfect swing and posed as the ball propelled through the SoCal air hit some eight feet passed the pin and spun to just inside five feet before coming to a halt and securing Watson’s victory. The birdie placed Mickelson in second alone, not bad for his first start of the 2011 season.

As for Watson, this victory was his second career win and consequently both were insurance company sponsored tournaments (see 2010 Travelers). The win does not fill the void of losing out to Martin Kaymer in a playoff in last years PGA Championship, but it definitely is a start. It was an emotional win for Bubba as he became misty-eyed describing how losing his Dad last year has been a big inspiration in his career. The win gets him into the 2011 Masters field for the third time in his career, and is a great start to the Fedex Cup season as he also eyes a very attainable spot on the Presidents Cup team. Another great win for this long hitting fan-friendly pro…just not the fan’s #1…he finished #2.

What Happens at ‘The Hope’…Stays with Vegas!

Newly carded PGA Tour rookie Jhonattan ‘Jhonny’ (don’t call me Peralta) Vegas has the week of his life at the 2011 Bob Hope Classic from PGA West in La Quinta, CA. The 26 year old Venezuelan began his assault on the five round four course event right from the start with a scorching 64 at Arnold Palmer’s PGA West Course. Vegas followed that up with two 67’s and a 66 one the remainder of the courses to set him on top of the leaderboard with fellow rookie and my pick for ROY former Kansas Jayhawk Gary Woodland.

As these two leaders started to separate themselves from the rest of the field it looked to be a two-horse race. But it was proven to both rookies that things don’t come so easy in ‘the show’ as defending champion Bill Haas put on an epic Sunday charge with a thrilling 62! As Vegas and Woodland pared and blundered their way on the inward nine, they approached the par five 18th with Vegas one shot up on Haas and two up on Woodland following his crippling bogey on the 17th. And with the pressure squarely on Vegas to make a par and wrap up the championship, he did the unthinkable – he three putt bogeyed! And after a miraculous birdie from Woodland, we were staring a three-man playoff directly in the face.

The first playoff hole was the par five 18th and what this hole boasted, was that we were not going to have a repeat champion as Haas’ par five was not good enough to match both Vegas and Woodlands birdies. As darkness crept into the equation they moved to the tough par four 10th where like a magnet to a refrigerator Vegas’ tee ball caught the left rough and bounded into the water hazard. Woodland then played it safe and hit a stinger 2-iron right down the pipe. Woodland then cracked the door for Vegas as he blocked an iron dead right onto the down-slope of the greenside bunker. Vegas not only stuck his foot through the door, but body-blocked the whole thing down staking a 9-iron to inside 15 feet.

Woodland’s bunker shot was less then impressive, and his par putt ran past the hole leaving Vegas from damn near in his pocket, to a 15 footer to win his first ever PGA event in only his fifth career start. He struck the putt and as it smoothly rolled down the hill Vegas took two small baby steps forward and then pumped his fist in celebration as the ball disappeared into the center of the cup. It happened, his dream came true.

Not only is this a win on the biggest stage of the golf world, but with it comes a two-year exemption card along with an invitation to the 2011 Masters Tournament. This is quite a leap for a guy who grew up in Venezuela dreaming of playing big time golf, and laying it all on the line by moving to the US to play as an ammeter and earning the opportunity to play big time college golf at the University of Texas. After turning pro he bounced on some mini-tours and found good success on the Nationwide Tour before earning his PGA card this past off-season. It didn’t take Johnny Vegas too long to solidify himself as a full-fledged PGA Tour member, and will be for the foreseeable future. And now in April he will make his first ever appearance in a major at the ‘Tradition Unlike Any Others.’

***A quick and small pat on the back to me who predicted a good season for Gary Woodland. He’s off to a great start!***

Marathon Mark

***I apologize I have been sick all week and have not been able to update until now***

It was a long Sunday for the players that made Saturday’s cut in the 2011 Sony Open from Waialea Country Club in Maui. After heavy rains battered the islands on Thursday soaking any chance for the field to play its opening round, the skies cleared and made it beautiful Friday through Sunday. The first two rounds were played on Friday and Saturday, where the cut was made, and most of the field was relegated to wait until Sunday for a 36 hole final day.

Japanese throwback Shigeki Maruyama fired back to back 65’s and was tied for the lead with fan-fav Aussie Stuart Applby who shot 64 – 66. But close on their heels were Englishman Justin Rose, lesser known Americans Jimmy Walker, Roland Thatcher, and Matt Bettencourt; along with heavy-hitting Steve Marino and the consistent Matt Kutchar.

When push came to shove the final 36 holes belonged to Mark Wilson who matched his 65 –67 opening two rounds, with the same on Sunday. He was able to hold off the hard charging reigning Player’s Champion Tim Clark by two strokes, who fired a blistering 66 – 64 on Sunday to tie for 2nd with Marino. Wilson was able to close out his 3rd career tour victory (’07 Honda Classic and ’09 Mayacoba Classic) and wrap up his first ever trip to Augusta National in April.

With this victory Wilson will only tee it up for the fourth time in a major championship. He has only made three prior appearances in the ’98 US Open, the ’07 PGA Championship and the ’09 PGA Championship. In those prior three events he failed to make the cut! But he will get a shot at redemption and glory at the most famous course in the world and a tradition unlike any other.

Byrd-ie Ball!

Sunday was a day that Robert Garrigus will never forget. Although late in the 2010 season he was able to exercise his winless demons with a victory, Sunday brought those demons from TPC Southwind right back to the forefront. Just less than six months ago at the 2010 St. Jude Classic from Memphis, Garrigus held a 3 shot lead on the 18th tee looking for his first win when disaster struck. After a couple of waterlogged shots and a heck of a scramble he managed a triple-bogey 7 to force a playoff, which he lost. Although it would seem that his Memphis demons were all but erased by his late season win in Disney, he was haunted again in the 2011 Hyundai Tournament of Champions at the Plantation Course in Kapalua Hawaii.

After rolling in a miracle 50+ footer for eagle on the 18th on Saturday afternoon, Garrigus grabbed a share of the lead with Jonathan Byrd and Steve Stricker. On Sunday it was evident that Sticker (who shared the final pairing with Byrd) was not going to be able to keep in contention as the scores were going extremely low. But Byrd and Garrigus remained neck and neck in the lead starring at the leaderboard and watching one of the hottest players in the world charging closer from a few groups ahead. Graeme McDowell got it to –23 (and 11 under for the day) when he got to the 18th green, but was not able to capitalize on the par five and got to the house with a final round 62 and a tie for the lead.

But as the birdies continued to fall for the field, both Byrd and Garrigus were able to drop birdies on the finishing holes relegating the reigning US Open Champion McDowell to third alone and setting up a playoff between the two. After a pair of par five’s on the first playoff hole, they moved to Kapalua’s 1st hole for a second playoff hole. Garrigus who was a top five in driving distance a year ago, blew it by Byrd by nearly 80 yards on the par four. Byrd hit his second shot to within 35ft and Garrigus followed that up with nearly the same shot just putting it 5ft closer. Byrd nearly drained his putt and tapped in for par while Garrigus paced it some 3ft passed the cup. Garrigus then unbelievable missed the comebacker to seal the deal for Byrd.

It was obviously tough for Byrd to celebrate with the way that he won, but it was good to see the 32-year-old tour vet cash in his 5th Tour victory and his biggest pay day to date. The former standout at Clemson as been a consistent staple on the Tour and has earned over $1 million every year but one since 2002. In his first start of the season he has already achieved that number. He has also grabbed early control of the Fedex Cup race and earned only his 4th ever appearance in the Masters. All of that for a guy who earned his way into the Hyundai TOC by hitting a hole in one on the fourth playoff hole at the 2010 Justin Timberlake Tournament in Las Vegas. And that’s the way he plays…an eagle there a par here, but always a Byrd-ie.

Hyundai T.O.C. Preview - Let’s Get It On!

Today is a banner day in the life of Jimothy. The 2011 PGA Tour kicks off in Kapalua Hawaii at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. This is a great opportunity for the small field of 34 players to piggyback off of their 2010 wins and capitalize with a 2011 win. Although the majority of these players are already in the 2011 Masters, a few of the pre-Masters winners from last year are not exempt into the Tradition Unlike any other.

The Golf Channel will have wall to wall night coverage of this tournament from the islands starting today through Sunday’s final round. Join Kelly Tilghman my brother’s partner Nick Faldo and rest of the GC bunch and take in some much-anticipated PGA Tour golf.

Prediction: After an injury riddled 2010 the bounce back of fan favorite and leader of the US youth movement Anthony Kim will find his game and cash in at Kapalua