GolfMonger Looks Back at Phoenix and Forward to Pebble Beach

GolfMonger Looks Back at Phoenix and Forward to Pebble Beach and as usual had an opinionated editorial queued up. He unleashed…yup it was full of criticism.

I don’t know why Jeff thinks that I am full of criticism today.  I am just giving my opinion….

Last Sunday saw Rickie Fowler give a two-shot lead away on the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass.  He drove his tee shot over the green and was not able to get up and down for par and his playing partner, Hideki Matsuyama made birdie.  After both players birdied the 18th hole, they went on to a four hole playoff that nobody saw.

Super Bowl 50 was kickoff as Fowler and Matsuyama were putting on the 2nd playoff hole.  So I am sure that the rest of the sporting world followed the last two playoff holes via social media as attention turned to the Broncos and Panthers playing in the golden game.

The par 4 17th hole was Fowler’s downfall again.  He pulled his tee shot into the water short and left of the green.  Once again he was not able to get up and down.  This time Matsuyama made par to win his 2nd PGA Tour title.

This week the Tour moves to one of the most fun events of the season.  The AT&T National Pro-AM at Monterey Peninsula.  Pebble Beach is the home to this star-studded event.  Celebrities like Bill Murray, Clint Eastwood, Andy Garcia, Wayne Gretzky and many more partner with PGA Tour players for this week long Pro-AM.  Watch out for guys like Brandt Snedeker (2-time champ), Dustin Johnson(2-time champ) and World No.1,  Jordan Spieth to be in contention on Sunday.

We also discuss the fact that Davis Love III will be meeting with potential Ryder Cup team members at the Honda Classic.  That is several weeks earlier than the normal time at the Memorial in Ohio.  Is this too early?  Are the Americans putting too much focus too early in the season to have an impact?  Jeff and I agree on one thing…we don’t care what they do as long as they put a competitive team on the course in September.

It was the 50th edition of the Super Bowl last week.  We might as well talk about that too.  Jeff was happy that his boy, Peyton Manning, and the Denver Broncos won the game.  As a Tennessee Volunteer man he enjoyed it tremendously.  I was happy that the Carolina Panthers lost.   I’ll just leave it at that.