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Checking the Morning Mailbag

Tuesday, and I thought I would check the mailbag on a number of various topics. However, I will warn you that much like the metroplex, the mailbag seems relatively baseball-intensive today.

But, with “Bob being Bob”, I just had to start with a football note.

As many of you may or may not know (or care), I follow 2 NFL teams very carefully. The Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers. Everyone in the media has a favorite team, but they generally don’t tell anyone for fear that they will be outed and are concerned that the readers/listeners cannot handle the idea that you did not grow up in Dallas and cheer for the Cowboys as a kid. Well, I did not. I was born in Wisconsin, so while I cover the Cowboys for a living, I also follow the Packers as a life-long fan (who has a Packers tattoo and a son, named Brett).

Hopefully, that will explain why I watched every play of the Green Bay vs Cleveland exhibition game.

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MGM: Y.E. Yang, Tiger, and Jordan

It has happened. The last time it happened was in 1995 when Michael Jordan and the Bulls were taken down by the Orlando Magic. The time before that was probably when  Buster Douglas beat Mike Tyson. The category is “When the Invincible becomes Vincible.”

It certainly happens to everyone eventually, and yesterday, on the final day of the PGA Championship at Hazeltine, it happened to Tiger Woods.  He finally choked on the biggest stage. Woods, who is most certainly the most invincible figure in sports today, has shown that he bleeds like a human. And yes, he occasionaly can have such a bad day that it costs him a major in which he seemed to be in complete control.

It was a Sunday at a major, and it seemed that most competitors of the PGA took themselves out of the mix as the weekend went on. Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, and then Padraig Harrington with his 9 on a Par 3 was further elimination of what appeared to be the “real” threats to Tiger winning his 15th majors.

But, here was Y.E. Yang. A Korean who most of us – at least those of us who are obsessed with the greatest golfers in the world – had no idea who this guy was about 72 hours ago. And not only was he not reminding us of Jan Van De Velde in the 1999 British Open , by blowing up – but he was hitting winners.

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MGM: Watson, Cowboys Stadium, and Paula.

Looking back at the weekend in sports, I am tempted to say that this is one of those weekend’s that golf fans will never forget. Dan and I talked British Open on Friday afternoon on the radio and we were discussing the impact of Tiger Woods missing the cut and how that might affect our viewing habits.

We both love Tiger Woods, and all that he has done to impact golf. But, where we part ways is that my love of the majors is almost unaffected by Tiger’s and Phil’s presence (or absence). I wish they were there, but I will watch the entire weekend of a major regardless of who is there. It isn’t the players – it is the event. I don’t need the Yankees to watch the World Series; I don’t need the Cowboys to watch the Super Bowl; and I don’t need Tiger and Phil to lock in on Sunday for as long as they need me for the British Open on the 3rd weekend of July each year.

If you give your full attention to the back 9 of a major on a Sunday, you are almost guarenteed to witness gold. The tension and excitement of a Sunday at a major is often unmatched. And Sunday was off the charts.

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Tiger’s Quest Continues

If you are like me, you are quite interested in the US Open this weekend. And if you are like me, you are particularly intrigued by the 7:06 am Thursday tee time and the 12:36 pm Friday tee time of the one and only Tiger Woods.

Odds are, he will not win this weekend. After all, he has played in 14 of these US Opens, and only won 3 of them (and 2 2nd places). Heck, the one time in his 47 major tournaments where he actually missed the cut was the 2006 US Open.

But with all of these realities, we know that Tiger delivers. He has delivered 14 majors overall (30% win rate in majors), and is now within striking distance of a guy who most thought would be safe forever: Jack.

Jack Nicklaus, of course, has 18 majors. Comparing the two is really an amazing trip to greatness. I think it is too easy to suggest that either is a clear cut winner of the “Greatest of All-Time” title at this point. But, I also admit that Tiger has a chance to claim that title in the years to come.

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Coming Down to the Wire at the Nelson

UPDATE at 4:30 p.m.
It looks like it’s all over barring a Sabbatini meltdown on the final two holes. Currently, Rory Sabbatini is -4 on the back nine and if he pars out he will have shot a 64 to win the Nelson by two shots over a very game Brian Davis. This afternoon has had it fair share of excitement with several eagles on the par 5, 16th, a few temper tantrums by local media types writing and re-writing stories as the players scores change, and we even got word of a streaker on the course a few minutes ago. Who says there’s no excitement at the Nelson when the “big” names don’t play?

To update something I wrote earlier, Danny Lee’s three putt from four feet on 18 earlier cost him around $70,000. Ouch. Thanks to everyone who has actually read these updates from the course and please shoot me an e-mail if you have any golfy-golf info you want to pass along in the future. Until next year…

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There is now a two way tie at the top after Brian Davis birdied three holes in a row starting with the par 4, 9th. Davis and Sabbatini are both at -15, and there are two others at -13. As I type this, Scott McCarron just birdied 17 to go -7 on his round today and pull within one shot of the lead.

The conditions are hot and humid, but the players don’t seem to mind. Newly local (he bought a house in the Dallas area earlier this week) young gun Danny Lee looked like he was going to post a great number until he three putted from four feet on 18. He still finished at -9 for the tournament, but that three putt cost him a lot of money.

I’ll post one more update as the players finish up. It’s going to be fun…

The Final Day at the Nelson

UPDATE at 1:40 p.m.
The first showers of the day have officially moved through and left in their wake humid and steamy conditions. Scott McCarron is making quite the run right now, having birdied four holes in a row starting at the par 4, 3rd. He started the day six strokes back of the lead and is now just one shot behind going into the back nine. Co-leader Rory Sabbatini has gotten off to a slow start, as he did yesterday. But, I look for him to make a little run in the middle of his round today and then fight to stay ahead the final few holes.

The conditions have gotten quite a bit more difficult in my opinion, as anyone who has played golf after it rains can understand. When you have a tighter lie, you have no idea if the area your ball is in has soaked up the rain and become a bit mushy, or if it has drained well and remains firm and solid. You have to constantly guess how your ball and the grass will respond, even on a clean lie in the fairway. I think we will still see some good rounds come together, but it will be much more impressive when they do.

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Fast Starts and Slow Play at the Nelson?

UPDATE at 12:15 p.m.
Justin Leonard just carded a -4 round of 66 to follow up on his round of 63 yesterday. If he didn’t shoot 5 over par 75 on Thursday, he would be right in the thick of the hunt. As it stands now, he’s still tied for 15th. Not bad.

I watched a Playing Lessons with the Pros that featured him on the Golf Channel a few days ago and I have to say, the guy can really putt. That seems to be playing a major role this week. More on the other local players coming soon.

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Getting An Early Start At The Nelson

It is early, and it is necessary, if you believe the weather reports. With bad weather moving into the Metroplex area this afternoon, tournament officials made the decision to stack the tee times in the morning. While the players aren’t used to playing threesomes and going off both number 1 and 10 tees during the weekend rounds, I don’t think you will hear any complaints from them. As I mentioned in my Thursday recap, I thought the afternoon rounds were going to play more difficult because of the humidity and the golf course substantially firming up. The scoring average for afternoon rounds yesterday was almost a stroke and a half higher than the morning rounds. That might not seem like a big deal, but when you’re talking about one putt or one errant shot costing guys thousands of dollars, you quickly realize that the morning tee times are to be coveted on this course. Fortunately for those making the cut this week, they all have the same conditions today.

As far as players to watch during today’s rounds, I’m not as confident as I was yesterday. Sure, I think Sabbatini will play well today and Parnevik will probably post another 67 or 68, but the weather is the real unknown. If it starts raining or even sprinkling, that could dramatically affect how this course plays. The longer roll that players have been getting in the fairways (which incidentally let a “short knocker” like Justin Leonard shoot 63 yesterday) will go away somewhat and leave them having to hit more drivers off the tee and longer irons into the greens. I would expect the tournament officials to set up the course much like they did yesterday with more pins accessible than not and with the teeboxes allowing some opportunities to take chances. If the rain stays away, and the players have overcast conditions with little to no wind, I would expect to see more low scores posted today than there were yesterday.

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Going Low at the Nelson

UPDATE at 5:15 p.m.
Just got word from tournament officials that play tomorrow will be pushed up to avoid the inclement weather they are expecting in the afternoon. Players will now go off in threesomes and tee times will start at 7:30 a.m. and go until around 9:30 a.m., depending on the number of players that make the cut. More information will be posted as it becomes available.

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The conditions that I thought would produce low scores yesterday have finally given way to the inevitable. We’ve seen three 64s today and local favorite Justin Leonard threw up a 63. Granted, Leonard shot 75 (5 over) yesterday, but he’s still got an outside shot if he plays well tomorrow, too. The cut line is hovering at -1 right now, so Leonard will have shot a 7 under and make the cut by one stroke. Pretty crazy.

There’s a phenomenon going on right now that I just don’t have an explanation for. The conditions are perfect out here, most of the pins are accessible and the wind is down. And yet I’ve seen Anthony Kim take a triple, Ian Poulter thin one out of a bunker dead right and take a double and several others players grossly underperforming. I can’t think that the the moderate heat and humidity are taking that much of a toll on their games, but that’s the only thing I can think of that would explain this poor play right now. Of course, Kim and Poulter are both struggling to make the cut today, so perhaps they are feeling the pressure of wanting a paycheck. Who knows.

The highlight of leader Rory Sabbatini’s round today was a par at the long par 4 3rd hole. I mentioned it earlier because they moved the tees well up from yesterday, but tucked the pin away in the back left corner of the green. Why was a par the highlight you ask? Well, he drove it into the water off the tee, then dropped and hit it into a bunker, then holed out his bunker shot for par. Routine. He then went on to birdie the next four holes in a row and had a great up and down out of a greenside bunker at 8 (which I saw firsthand) to preserve his good round. He is the clubhouse leader and unless McCarron, Mallinger or Howell III make a late push, he will take sole possesion of the lead into the weekend.

The conditions are perfect, the crowds are really beginning to swell and the course is in fantastic scoring shape. The only thing that can mess up the weekend at the Nelson is the weather. Pete Delkus, I’m counting on you to keep us dry. Don’t let me down.

Kicking Off the Second Round at the Nelson

UPDATE at 1:45 p.m.
Well, it took an extra day, but I finally got my 64. Two of them, in fact. Rory Sabbatini and Briny Baird both shot crowd-pleasing 64s today in superb scoring conditions. James Driscoll keeps flirting with the lead by himself, but he is currently tied with Sabbatini at -8 after bogeying the par 3 17th.

The course is not set up as tough as I anticipated today. There are several holes that have very accessible pins and the players are clearly taking advantage of that. However, there are other holes out there like the long par 4, 3rd. The tees were moved well up from where they were yesterday, but the pin placement is back left. It’s protected by a deep bunker left and a steep drop-off long, so the smart play is to the middle of the multi-tiered green. I saw three groups go through and not one guy got it within 20 feet with his approach shot. Several of the guys who played safe blew their putt past the hole and ended with the dreaded three-jack.

I walked across the first fairway to get to hole 18 earlier and I can tell you that the fairways are very firm already. The wind hasn’t picked up at all from this morning, but the air is still heavy with the thick humidity. I look for fatigue to play a part in the later holes with these afternoon groups, much more so than it did with the early groups out. I’m heading out to follow Colt Knost, who just went off number one tee, so more updates will come later on.

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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.

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.

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.

Notes on the David Feherty Dust-up

Until about two seconds ago, we didn’t have a “golf” category on InsideCorner. Odd. Anyway, if you’ve been following along at home, you know that CBS golf analyst David Feherty has gotten himself in hot water over something he wrote in D Magazine. I say boooooooo to the humorless people in a much more long-winded fashion over on FrontBurner.