An incredibly interesting week in golf on all front, with some stories coming out of the woodwork in tournaments you may not have been watching. Of course, there are still plenty of stories out of the one you likely were.
- A lot of people are going to be upset with Patrick Reed's assertion that he is one of the top 5 players in the world, but let's review some facts. This victory at Doral was his third in six months. Only Jimmy Walker has that many in the same time frame (on Tour. Adam Scott and Zach Johnson have as many, but those are global titles.) Reed's third victory prior to playing in a major championship for the first time is the most in recorded history. At 23, he is the youngest three time winner currently on Tour. I don't know if I'm ready to declare him better than Adam Scott or Zach Johnson or Phil Mickelson, but he is certainly making a good case for it, and besides, it's good to see a man with a lot of confidence. Only he can believe in himself - no one can do it for him. That is exactly what he's doing.
- Jamie Donaldson looked as if he could possibly steal the tournament away from Reed late in the final round, but a bogey on the last sealed his fate. Still, it is good to see Donaldson on this stage perform so well. Donaldson has always had a tremendous pile of talent, but injuries had taken its toll on him and his consistency suffered because of it. If Donaldson continues this high level of play, he may steal a Ryder Cup spot from one of the veterans who is on the outside looking in (I.E. Ian Poulter)
- Heard a lot yesterday that Bubba Watson was "rounding into form" just in time for the Masters. I don't know if I'm ready to declare him a favorite for his second green jacket, but following up a win with a top finish in an incredibly deep field certainly shows that whatever issues were following Bubba last year appear to be behind him.
- Tough final rounds in big time events can lead to somebody a bit off the radar posting a good round and backdooring their way into a great finish, which is exactly what Thongchai Jaidee did with a final round 68. The veteran from Thailand has been in a lot of these events, and could have been a household name in the US had he ever decided to take his game to the PGA Tour, but Jaidee decided a long time ago that he was going to focus on the Asian Tour, and it has paid off for him.
- I think a top 10 here was good enough to put Scotland's Stephen Gallacher on the Ryder Cup team, but he will have to continue to be consistent and may need a good performance in at least one major. Right now, though, it is looking great for him.
- The big story on all the news sites is going to be Tiger Woods' final round 78, which was so awful that there isn't any silver lining to be taken from it. When Tiger shot up the leaderboard on Saturday, I would have put all my money on him closing the deal at a tournament he won seven times previous. Instead, his back flared up again and his game was complete out of sync, leading to his worst finish at Doral ever. Not only do I not think Tiger can be considered a favorite for the Masters, but I would worry about his ability to make the cut at this point in time.
- I said in my mini-preview for the Puerto Rico Open that alternate field events are good to rookies, and that came true again as Chesson Hadley played four incredibly solid rounds and walked away with his first PGA Tour win. A lot of people have praised Hadley's skills entering his rookie year, so we will see now if this is the springboard into a big year.
- Two of my favorite players were in a duel at the Web.com Tour's Chile Classic as Adam Hadwin held off Alistair Presnell for his first victory. Hadwin came close to winning the Canadian Open a few years ago, and qualified for the US Open a couple of times, and Presnell won a few tournaments in Australia and got himself into some WGC events a few years ago. They both have tremendous talent, and hopefully this event is enough to give these two some confidence. I would love to see them play on Tour next season.
- The downside of women's golf is also the beauty of it in some ways. There are not a lot of opportunities for these ladies to play, so when a big event pops up anywhere on the schedule, the top players are sure to flock to the tournament. The World Ladies Championship on the LET Tour in China was the benefactor this week, as several of the top names showed up to the event, and the top two players ended up in a duel on the weekend. In the end, it was Inbee Park who soared past Suzann Pettersen for the victory, which helped Park increase her lead over Pettersen in the Rolex Rankings. I have noticed something about Inbee - she is better when she is being pressured. When Inbee is at the top of the world, and no one is her equal is when she tends to struggle. She loves the competition. Pettersen's chase to get to number one is part of the reason Inbee is now performing back at the level we are used to seeing.
- Another tournament, another missed opportunity for So Yeon Ryu. Granted, she probably didn't have much of a chance against the top 2 players in the world, who were playing at the highest level, but at some point Ryu is going to have to start cashing in on these top 5 finishes that she is racking up. If she doesn't win soon, I'm afraid her confidence will start to slip away.
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