Posts tagged Farmers Insurance Open
Kyle Stanley Perseveres, Wins WaMo
03 months ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
There is some saying that goes “you have to learn how to lose before you can learn how to win.” As cliché as it sounds, that’s exactly what happened to Kyle Stanley over the past two weeks.
By now, everyone knows about Stanley’s triple-bogey eight on the 72nd hole at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines that erased Stanley’s three-shot lead and put him in a playoff with Brandt Snedeker that he would eventually lose.
That is called learning how to lose.
Fast forward a week and Stanley found himself back in contention at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, but by the time the CBS coverage came on, Spencer Levin was sitting on a six- or seven-shot lead and the day looked to be over before it started.
Maybe you would have thought that last week as well as Stanley opened up the final round with a five-stroke lead over his nearest competitors. Maybe you thought that there was no way two professionals would blow those kinds of leads on back-to-back weekends.
Of course, you would be wrong.
Levin, who has been made the poster child for antisocial media, struggled with his game and in turn saw his bad temper creep up as well.
Getting to 18-under par through his first three holes, Levin looked to have the tournament in his back pocket. However, the Sacramento-native went on to play the next nine holes in four-over par, allowing just about anyone who was making a move back into the tournament.
Among those contenders were Ben Crane, Bubba Watson, Jason Dufner, and yes, Kyle Stanley.
By the time Levin made his fourth bogey in nine holes, Stanley had a share of the lead on the 13th hole.
Levin gave a little resistance on the 14th as he snuck a birdie putt in the side door to match Stanley’s birdie. Unfortunately for Levin, a wayward drive on the par-5 15th hole forced a punch out and long third shot that found the water short of the green. Levin would card a double-bogey seven and kiss his chances at winning goodbye.
Stanley held steady, parring out the final four holes as the others in contention faltered down the stretch.
Stanley’s caddie, Brett Waldman, said after the round that the nerves he had seen his player display the week before were overcome by a sense of calm that helped Stanley seal the deal.
“He played impressive golf. Last week he was a little bit nervous. This week there was more of a calm,” Walman said. “Like he said earlier in the week it was therapeutic for him to be out there. I just kept really building his confidence up. As of Tuesday, we didn’t really talk about last week at all, it was just move forward.”
Stanley did what no one expected him to do – pick himself up off the mat and go out and win the next tournament.
“I’m not sure what I’m thinking right now,” Stanley said after the round in the flash interview area. “I just needed to focus on playing golf. I needed to put last week behind me.
“I just want to thank my mom and dad. They’ve done a lot for me. I’m speechless.”
After he was able to get his trophy and compose himself, Stanley tried to put into perspective what the week had meant to him in his press conference.
“I’m never going to forget (what happened last week at Torrey Pines),” said Stanley. “But I think it makes this one a lot sweeter, just being able to bounce back. I’m kind of at a loss for words right now. I’m very grateful for the support I’ve gotten. It’s unbelievable. Unbelievable turnaround.”
The First Must-See Weekend of 2012 Raises Appearance Fee Questions
03 months ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
Getty Images
We’ve had the Hawaii Swing and a nice little pro-am in California so far in 2012, but all these tournaments have lacked the star power that drives people to their television sets to watch golf in the middle of winter.
All that changes this weekend as there are two tournaments taking place on opposites sides of the globe that are sure to catch the attention of the hibernating golf fan, the HSBC Champions in Abu Dhabi and the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. Both tournaments are boasting pretty strong fields with players that are capable of stealing away some viewers from the misery of watching the NFL Pro Bowl.
The question that arises from the split fields of the two tournaments stems from a purely financial point of view and involves Tiger Woods.
Imagine that.
During his press conference earlier in the week, Woods was asked a number of questions about his health, his swing and the state of his game, but an interesting line of questioning came up when the former world No. 1 was asked if appearance fees have an impact on the scheduling of high-profile players.
Woods was pretty forthcoming when asked if it affects how he schedules tournaments, saying, “You know, I’d have to say yes, it certainly does. That’s one of the reasons why a lot of the guys who play in Europe. I think the only tour that doesn’t pay [appearance fees] is the U.S. Tour.
“But, you know, a lot of the guys play all around the world and they do get appearance fees. Only place we don’t get it is the U.S.”
As I’ve said many times before, the upper echelon of professional golfers are independent contractors, setting their own schedule, rarely taking into consideration what their respective tours would like from them.
This week is the perfect example, especially in Woods’ case.
Growing up in southern California and playing on Torrey Pines all of his life, including some of his most iconic victories, you would think that Eldrick would like to take every opportunity to tee it up at Torrey.
However, as Tiger said in his presser, the PGA Tour will not pay their members or members of any other tour to simply show up, something PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem is adamant about.
“From the standpoint of professional athletic competition, it raises the specter in the fans’ mind that the player is only there because he was paid to be there and not there to really compete,” he said. “If the player doesn’t play well, in light of that perception, then there is a secondary perception that he didn’t even come to compete, he just showed up to get his appearance money. That is not a good thing for your image.
“This is something that’s been part of the PGA Tour since its inception in 1968. We think our image is the most important thing we have, and we’re not going to take the risk.”
First of all, the image of the PGA Tour is certainly not the most important thing they have, it’s the players, but the commish does make a good point.
People are cynical and if someone like a Tiger Woods shows up at an off-brand tournament and collects and appearance fee only to shit the bed, excuse the expression, people are going to go into full cynicism mode.
It will become a common thread around the golf world that Woods only showed up because he was paid to be there, not to try and win a tournament, regardless if that were true or not.
The European Tour combats that with paying enough high-profile players to make it worth their while to not only show up for the money, but to compete because of the world ranking points on the line.
This is all just a long way of saying that both systems work when implemented properly. As they say, there is more than one way to skin a cat.
As it stands now, if players are going to get paid good money to show up and play against good fields, they will continue to pass up the Torrey Pines’ of the world to play in Abu Dhabi for a nice pay day before the tournament even starts.
Tiger’s Back at Torrey Pines… Hooah??
01 year ago
by Chris Chaney
in Golf
Getty Images
Like many of the golf writers/bloggers of a certain age or generation, I have learned that Twitter is a great way to share insight, opinions and news. So, while checking my feed this morning, I came across what tends to be a rare tweet from Tiger Woods that read: “I’ve been working hard on my game, it’s game time hooah!!”
Now, what could that mean, I wondered to myself. As with everything Tiger, it had to be a calculated tweet, with everything already set into motion.
And what to my wandering eyes should appear, but Tiger’s website and a new confirmation on his schedule.
Woods will be starting his year at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines next week.
It makes sense for Tiger to start his season at Torrey, a course that he has dominated, including winning the last five times he has teed it up there.
And again, twitter comes through with an awesome tidbit of information from ESPN golf writer Jason Sobel:
Those are some pretty gaudy numbers and they’re not including his win there in 2008 over Rocco Mediate.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved the Aloha Swing and the Bob Hope is a cool tournament, blending pros and amateurs, but with Tiger and Phil both committing to the Farmers, it feels like the golf season is really starting to pick up some steam and I can’t wait.
