Monday Morning Golf Recap
Tournament Details:
Name: Shell Houston Open
Dates: April 2nd – April 5th
Golf Course: GC of Houston
Location: Humble, Texas
Purse: $6,600,000
2014 Winner: Matt Jones
Tournament Recap:
You get play off holes! And you get play off holes! And you get play off holes! EVERYBODY GETS PLAY OFF HOLES!
That’s just the way it goes on the PGA Tour lately. We’ve gotten #FreeGolf 5 times in the last 8 events. Whether that’s a product of not having a Tiger-like figure in the field or having extreme parity or both doesn’t matter to me. It’s been awesome. The Shell Houston Open was no different. We had a crowded leaderboard with 5 or 6 guys within striking distance at any given time on Sunday. That’s really all you can ask for. It was a nice change from last week’s Valero.
I gotta be honest here. I was all prepared for Jordan Spieth to win that golf tournament. He had the 54 hole lead and has been playing out of his mind lately. I had no reason to believe he wasn’t going to win. And, had he actually won, I was prepared to shower him with so much love and praise to the point where it might’ve been borderline uncomfortable for readers. He’s been consistently awesome these past few weeks and a win right before he jets off to Augusta would’ve been the icing on the cake. It just feels like the 21-year-old is about to blast off into super stardom beginning with a win yesterday. That was the plan in my head at least.
And then this happened:
All of a sudden the conversation switched from, “Is Spieth the favorite to win at Augusta? Is he the American answer to Rory? Just how good is this kid?” to “We’re officially on 59 Watch and J.B. Holmes might just grab control of this tournament and not look back.” It was truly an incredible run of holes. 59 Watch ended when he parred 13, 14, 15 and then bogeyed 16. But he still shot an impressive 64 and posted a -16 as the leader in the clubhouse with Spieth and Johnson Wagner still on the course. That was the number to tie and head to a play off or beat and win the tournament.
35-year-old Johnson Wagner was the feel-good story of the day. He was only in this week’s field because of a sponsor’s exemption. Hard to not root for a guy who would’ve punched his ticket to the Masters with a win. Especially when the other guys he was pitted against (Holmes and Spieth) were already in for Augusta Wagner put himself in a great position down the stretch culminating with this birdie putt on the 72nd hole to force a playoff with Holmes. A+ putt. A+ celebration.
Even Spieth liked it
Spieth birdied 13 and 14 and parred the remainder of the holes (with a monster up and down on 18 that you’ll see later in the running for SOTW) to post a -16 and join Holmes and Wagner in the playoff. ALL THE PLAYOFF HOLES. The way a playoff works at the Shell Houston Open is they just keep playing 18 until a winner is decided. It only took two times. Spieth was knocked out of the playoff after the first time they played 18. His third shot from the bunker was derailed by a camera clicking off in his back swing which left him a lengthy putt for par which he missed. Holmes and Wagner both parred the hole and headed back to the tees on 18. The second time around Holmes got it to the green with a decent chance at birdie that he missed. Leaving Wagner with a 6-foot par to take the playoff to a 3rd hole. It lipped out. A brutal end for Wagner who watched his chance to go to Augusta disappear just like that. Holmes shot a final round 64 and emerged victorious after two play off holes.
Here’s the final round scorecard from J.B. Holmes
PS- Here’s the greatest random (and true) golf fact you’ll ever hear. Feel free to use it to impress your friends while watching the Masters this week.
Shot of the Week:
Does it feel like there’s been a shit ton of hole-in-ones this season already? Seems like almost every week at least one guy is sinking in ace. This week that guy was Patrick Reed on the par-3 16. It wasn’t just the hole-in-one that earned him the SOTW. It was what followed. Which was him sprinting after this caddy towards the hole. Big fella turned on the jets but I’m honestly starting to think his caddy is super human. Dude had some serious speed going despite carrying a full golf bag on his back.
Here are couple other candidates for SOTW:
As mentioned above, this is Wagner’s putt on 18. In terms of importance this meant more than Reed’s hole-in-one obviously. It kept Wagner’s dream alive in the playoff with Spieth and Holmes. He just came up a little short in the end. Still an awesome putt.
This was Spieth’s up and down and 18 that put him in the playoff with Holmes and Wagner. It wasn’t exactly pretty. He ended up on with a downward sloping chip onto the green after a poor second shot. He chipped to within 12 feet that’d he needed to sink for par. And he did and he knew it. The kid has serious stones.
Random shit:
Dufner Divorce- Who gets Louie?
So the big news this week (at least in my life because I don’t have one) was the Dufner Divorce. A goddamn bombshell that I’m still attempting to cope with emotionally. But a bigger question emerged once the dust settled on the divorce. We found out that Amanda was getting $2.5 million and Jason was keeping their two house in Alabama. The question that emerged was who was getting custody of their adorable dog, Louie.
Here’s Louie (who has his own Instagram account because all dogs should):
I even wrote a blog about Louie and who I thought should keep him. I picked Jason because my Spidey senses tell me this whole divorce is Amanda’s fault and I didn’t want Louie living under the roof of a home wrecker. Well today we might’ve gotten an answer thanks to Louie’s Instagram account. Too bad it wasn’t the answer I wanted. It would appear Amanda got custody of Louie. Here is somebody with painted toe nails hanging with Louie at the beach. So that sucks.
And I’m not saying Amanda read my blog and is torturing me with that picture but that’s exactly what happened. That Instagram post is a direct shot at me.
Tiger/Rory Nike commercial “Ripple”
This is an ICYMI. I blogged this Tiger/Rory Nike commercial yesterday but it’s good enough to include again. Quite possibly the greatest commercial ever made. Sit back and enjoy if you haven’t seen it yet. And then continue to watch it over and over again like I did. Nike was lucky enough (read :$$$$$$$$$$$) to have Tiger and Rory at an interesting time in their careers. Tiger on the down slope and Rory on the rise. I appreciate them using that opportunity to show how Tiger had an impact on the next generation. This commercial is seriously awesome.
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Rory is the first golfer ever to grace the cover of Men’s Health
#RorysWorld
Poll shows that almost no Tour players would help Bubba Watson in a fist fight
This basically confirms what we already knew: Nobody likes Bubba Watson. Not even his fellow players on Tour. 103 players were asked who they’d help in a fist fight. Only 23 said they’d help Bubba.
My Masters Pick
Duh. I don’t care if it’s the obvious pick. It’s the obvious pick for a reason. Dude is playing great golf. In his last three tournaments he won the Valspar, finished 2nd at Valero and finished 2nd yesterday. That’s what we like to call momentum. Not to mention he finished second last year in his first-ever Masters and it just feels like his time. We should all keep our fingers crossed for a Sunday final pairing of Spieth and Rory.
JOHN DALY WATCH
*John Daly stops at gas station*
*gasses up his RV*
*buys 20 cartons of cigarettes and 5 12-packs of Diet Coke*
*pulls up to the Hooters nearest to Augusta National*
*sets up merch table*
*waits*
Normally now would be when I put together a gallery of a good looking lady who is somehow connected to golf. I’m gonna switch it up this week. Let’s just go with this. IT’S MASTERS WEEK, BABY!
