Had a tough time keeping golf in my mind as I was watching my Seattle Seahawks advance to their second ever Superbowl, but I caught enough to make a few observations.
- Pablo Larrazabal was the man that ruined a good story. Golf news sites would have exploded had Phil Mickelson completed his massive weekend comeback or had Rory McIlroy walked away with his first European Tour win in two years. Still, take nothing away from Pablo, who is a really good, quiet player that has now won three times on the European Tour, all against high quality opponents. With it being a Ryder Cup year, Pablo has picked the right time to get hot.
- People are going to talk about McIlroy and Mickelson together in terms of their performances in Abu Dhabi, but I think what Mickelson did was far more impressive. He struggled mightily the first two days, failing to record a single birdie on Thursday and barely making the cut on Friday. He then turned on the jets, shooting a spectacular 63 on Saturday and almost got himself into a playoff with a 69 on Sunday. Either way, I think it's safe to say that McIlroy is back, and Mickelson isn't going anywhere, though they will both need to win in order to silence some critics.
- Thomas Bjorn has to impress European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley with his performance this week. Bjorn has experience a career revival over the past year and a half, and now looks to be in great shape to make the Ryder Cup team after serving as an assistant captain in 2012. It would be a great story if Bjorn is able to make the team on his own merit.
- No joke, I originally had Patrick Reed on my fantasy team, but I removed him after I remembered he didn't have his wife, Justine, on the bag. I figured Justine served as a calming influence that helped Reed win his first PGA Tour event last year, and by not having her serve as his caddie during her pregnancy was going to cause a bit of a downturn in his game. Clearly, this was not the case, as Reed seized control of the Humana Challenge from the beginning and never let go. Reed is now one of only three players under the age of 25 to have two or more victories, an incredible stat the more I think about it.
- The term "hottest golfer on the planet" is the most commonly used expression in golf these days, but Zach Johnson is making it hard not to consider him for that (prestigious?) distinction. A win at the World Challenge, a win at the Tournament of Champions, a Top 10 at the Sony, and now a third place finish at Humana. Zach fired a -10 round of 62 (or, as they call it at PGA West, "a relatively decent day") to surge himself up the leader board. For a few holes, when it looked like Reed was beginning to fall apart a bit, it seemed like Zach might actually have found a way to get into a playoff. Still, another incredible performance by an incredible golfer, who can now take a bit of a breather.
- I can't help but me turned off by these birdie-fest tournaments that we see at some of these stops. I don't think it's a true test of a golfers strengths when every hole is easily a birdie hole. Seriously, -9 as the cut line? -28 as the winning score? Patrick Reed has the opportunity to break every scoring record on the PGA Tour, which would have been impressive, were there not other players giving chase. If you shoot -20 in a golf tournament, you should be in great position to win, if not walking home with the trophy. At Humana, it didn't even get you into the top 10.
Next week, the PGA Tour travels to Torrey Pines at the Farmers Insurance Open, or as I like to call it, the "Catch-a-Tiger Challenge." Phil Mickelson is in the field, despite some talk earlier last week that he may drop the event from his schedule. It's also the 2014 debut of Tiger Woods.
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