Fun At The Riviera
By Dan Daly
VegasInsider.com
If every week on the PGA Tour resembled the week they just had at Riviera then the PGA Tour would be just fine post Tiger and Phil. Give me a classic golf course, a leaderboard filled with young and old stars, a winning score in the mid-single digits and a great Sunday finish (the playoff was just an added bonus) and I’ll sign up for that every week.
Riviera has by far the coolest opening tee shot on the PGA Tour, both in person and on TV.
The 10th hole was arguably the best short par 4 in the country, now it’s stupid…there, I said it. The hole was hard enough without putting a clown’s mouth on the front left side of the green.
James Hahn went from selling shoes at a department store to now playing in the Masters in a few weeks. That doesn’t suck. Is it me or did you immediately think of Al Bundy when you found out he was a shoe salesman? (You probably won’t get that if you are under 30 or over 50) His par save on his 7nd hole along with his back to back birdies on the second and third playoff holes were about as anti-Furyk as I’ve seen in a long time. I have to say I was pulling for DJ but that impressive to watch. The good news for Hahn is that he will now be remembered as the guy that gutted out a playoff win at Riviera and not for his stupid Gangnam Style dance. Ok, so maybe both, but at least one of them is respectable.
Is it just me or do more guys on the PGA Tour need to go to rehab? After knocking the rust off in his first week back, DJ has finished T4 and T2 in back to back weeks. PGA Championship here we come. DJ didn’t lose that tournament, Hahn won it. With that said, his bogey on the 71st hole was about as shocked as I’ve been in a long time watching a golf tournament. You can’t make bogey in that situation DJ. Even with the bogey on 17 DJ rebounded with two perfect golf shots on the 72nd hole before barely missing his putt to win it. He also made a sensational birdie on the 10th and hit it close on 14 before ultimately missing the putt to lose.
Paul Casey, you simply didn’t deserve to win, you hit a dead hozzle shank in the middle of the back nine on Sunday while in contention. Granted he made a hell of a recovery to save par, but come on my man, you can’t hit that shot in that situation and expect to win. The golf gods simply won’t allow it.
Broke my heart to see Bubba post a 73 on Sunday and play his way out of contention. Feel free to copy and paste that round on Sunday at Augusta in a few weeks Bubba.
What in the hell happened to Angel Cabrera on Sunday?
I would say the same thing about Goosen, but did anyone really think he was going to hold up for that long? Don’t get me wrong, I loved seeing Goosen in contention again, but the guy made everything he looked at the first three days, it was bound to catch up to him at some point. And that point was Sunday.
Jordan Spieth actually had a very good chance to be in the playoff as well despite his four-putt at the 4th hole. Spieth clearly thought he needed to be at 7 under get into the playoff when ultimately an easy up and down par on 18 would have gotten him in. Instead he tried to hole his chip and ran it 6 feet by before missing the putt to finish one shot out of the playoff. Can you blame the guy though? It’s worked for him once before.
Did you know that Vijay Singh’s birthday was Sunday? Yeah, he turn 52. I only know this because apparently the CBS crew thought it would be a good idea to mention it once for every birthday he has had to date.
Sergio. Poor Sergio. I mean the guy just can’t get out of his own way. That was his tournament to lose with two holes to play as soon as DJ bogeyed 17. "I've always been truthful to myself and I didn't deserve to win this week. It's as simple as that," Garcia said. Well, technically I guess you are right Sergio, you did hit it one more time than the guys in the playoff, but it’s not like you shot 90 Sergio. You did have a one shot lead and a birdie putt ahead of you standing on the 71st green. The guy isn’t quite in Jim Furyk’s league yet but he’s definitely studying his playbook. After his three putt on 17 and then again after he missed his par putt on 18 he literally looked like he expected to miss both and almost even looked relieved in a way. The announcers keep talking about how his attitude has improved lately, but I think that is a bad thing if he wants to win. The guy is like a walking Xanax these days. Seriously, it’s not his golf game that’s keeping him from winning down the stretch lately it’s his boring new attitude. I want the old fiery Sergio back, he was much more fun to watch.
*I didn’t hear Sergio’s post round interview because my little girl decided it was a good time to turn on The Wheels on the Bus. (Did you know they go round and round?) But it certainly looked boring.
As I said, that was a great golf tournament and just what the PGA Tour needed with Tiger on the shelf and Rory not in the field. Unfortunately it won’t last long as we all have to hear about the “Bear Trap” 456,709 times this week. May god have mercy on all our soul’s this week. I’m already annoyed just thinking about it.