First Round Wrap Up From the Nelson

Well, with all of the rounds in the books and play concluded for the day, I didn’t get to see my 64 after all. The closest players were Ken Duke and James Nitties, who birdied the final 4 holes coming in to tie Duke for the first round lead. Nitties played great and he’s got an early morning tee time tomorrow, which I think is going to be extremely important. The fairways and greens are only going to get firmer and faster as the temperatures continue to climb and the wind picks up throughout the day. Almost all of the guys at the top of the leaderboard when play concluded today teed off in the morning when the greens were a bit softer and the wind wasn’t up as much.

Something else to watch for tomorrow is going to be the speed and the firmness of the fairways. I think this will continue to be something the players will have to account for when selecting their clubs off the tee. I can’t tell you how many great tee shots I saw rolling all the way through the fairway and into the primary cut of rough. I think you’ll see more and more players forego extra distance to play for position off the tee in the coming days. Holes that this will be more prominent on are likely to be 1, 8, 12, 14, and 15. Those holes have the most significant doglegs and provide the highest probability of tee shots running through the turn and into the high rough.

Players to watch tomorrow? I would love to say Colt Knost is set up to have a great day, but he has an afternoon tee time when the fairways and greens are going to be at their firmest and fastest, the wind is likely to be blowing at a pretty good clip by the time he tees off, and, let’s face it, he’s a bigger guy and the temps are going to be in the mid 80s tomorrow. He’s made the cut in only 6 of his 12 events this year, but he also hasn’t had an opening round as good as this one yet. I think he’ll make the cut and play fairly well over the weekend, but I don’t think he’s going to have a particularly good day tomorrow. I do think Jesper Parnevik is set up to have a good day, though. Let’s not forget that he won this event back in 2000, so he knows the course well and it plays to his strengths. He played well this afternoon and, like Nitties, has a morning tee time tomorrow.

Other local players who I think will play well tomorrow and contend to make the cut are Rory Sabbatini, who shot 68 today in some very stylish looking tuxedo pants and has a morning tee time tomorrow, Anthony Kim, who shot 69 today in good conditions but will have to fight the elements more in the afternoon flight, and Matt Weibring who shot 67 today and will tee it up early tomorrow. Weibring is an interesting story since he finished 24th on the Natiowide Tour money list last year and thus won his PGA Tour playing card for the 2009 season. He’s made 4 cuts in the 8 events that he’s played in this year and already has 3 top ten finishes. He can really play, and I think he’s got the game and the mental toughness to do well on this golf course over the next few days.

I’ll be out on the course again all day tomorrow, and I’ve hopefully figured out the phone issues I had today that prevented me from posting more frequently on InsideCorner. Hit me up in the comments section if you have specific questions you’d like for me to answer or players you want me to follow for a few holes tomorrow. For those of you that are a little more “tech savvy” you can also follow me on Twitter throughout the Nelson using the screen name JoshuaCPearson. Here’s to more low scores and great weather tomorrow.

Vicente Padilla Has Strain In Right Shoulder; Derek Holland To Start

He returned to Dallas after feeling uncomfortable following a bullpen session. He will not pitch tomorrow at Houston. He will probably be placed on the DL on Friday and be activated on June 1. …. Derek Holland will make his first major league start tomorrow. … The Rangers don’t feel the shoulder strain is very serious, but he can’t make this start and the Rangers are not going to go into interleague games short-handed.

More Insights From the Nelson

I lost an earlier post so I apologize for the lapse in updates. I had lunch with the guys from the PGA Tour that were responsible for setting up the course this week. They said they were striving for firm fairways and tougher pin placements. After only a little bit of play completed today, I think they were successful.

I overheard Craig Rosengarden of Avid Golfer fame discussing the firm, fast fairways this week. It looks like the players are already having to take the added roll and distance into account on their tee shots, especially on the holes with more severe doglegs that require good placement off the tee.

The low round of the tournament thus far goes to Ken Duke from Florida with his 65. He was out early this morning and got his round finished before the wind started to blow too badly. I still think there’s a 64 to be had today, but the PGA guys I had lunch with frowned at the thought.

We’ll see if I’m too aggressive with my prediction later today once the afternoon rounds are complete, but the wind hasn’t picked up too much yet, so I’m still optimistic.

The Depot: Live Game Blog, News, Notes

Pulling out of station a little late today. Had some technical difficulties here at the FSN studios. Didn’t get up and running until after David Murphy gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead.

So you have something to work with. Go.

12:19: One thing particularly disconcerting about the first two losses to Detroit in this series is that the Tigers have done it without Magglio Ordonez, who is on the bereavement list. Ordonez is a career .356 hitter against Texas with a .990 OPS. But in Ordonez’s absence, unlikely No. 3 hitters Clete Thomas (today) and Wilkin Ramirez (yesterday) have each homered.

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Early insights from the Nelson

UPDATE at 11:29 a.m.—
Just overheard two guys with PGA credentials around their necks talking about Tiger changing coaches again. Apparently he’s considering leaving Hank to go back with Butch Harmon. Interesting (even though I have no credible source).

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I’m officially on the course and making very insightful observations. That’s just how I roll. A few points to get us started today:

1. Joe Ogilvie wears the ugliest green glove I have ever seen.
2. Ian Poulter’s caddy smokes like a chimney.
3. The conditions are perfect out here today, but the wind is definitely starting to pick up. That could makes things really tough for the afternoon groups.

I expect to see one or two really low rounds out of the morning groups, maybe even a 63 or 64. The course is set up that well. I am trying to make updates once an hour today so check back often.

It’s Not Too Chilly For A Morning Dip In The Home Run Pool

As the Rangers try to eek out a win in Detroit before the next decade begins here is the lineup – and your chance to enter – the homer pool as the the club faces RHP Edwin Jackson of the Tigers:

2B Ian Kinsler, LF David Murphy, 3B Michael Young, DH Hank Blalock, CF Marlon Byrd, RF Nelson Cruz, 1B Chris Davis, C Jarrod Saltalamacchia, SS Elvis Andrus and pitching for the Rangers … RHP Kevin Millwood.

P.S. No winners yesterday, though two folks had Nelson Cruz properly identified as the first homer hitter, nobody got any further than that.

And Now For Something Completely Different…

Here is an actual email from an actual reader/listener:

Bob,

You know that UFC 98 is coming up….maybe it gets a mention some where in your media empire? Do soccer fans email you about mentions too? I dont know if i like the redirect from BobsBlog to Dmagzine but i am trying….love you

Cody the No 1 p1

I get that email about 3 times a week, from good-strong followers who would like me to take my fandom of MMA fighting to my media outlets.

My hesitation is based on the idea that although I watch it, I am not positive I fully understand what is going on in an MMA fight. On the other hand, some of you have made that same point about my thoughts on our traditional sports so maybe I should just get over that.

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Road To Arlington: Rangers Minor League Report (5/21)

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