2014 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Betting Preview
Posted on February 5, 2014 Leave a Comment
Brandt Snedeker (Courtesy: Keith Allison)
Brandt Snedeker returns to beautiful Pebble Beach to defend his title against a loaded field at the 2014 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
2014 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Fact Sheet
- Courses: Pebble Beach Golf Links, Monterey Peninsula CC and Spyglass Hill CC
- Location: Pebble Beach, California
- Yardage: Pebble (6,816 yards, par 72) Monterey (6,838 yards, par 70) & Spyglass (6,858 yards, par 72)
- Defending Champion: Brandt Snedeker
- Five Consensus Favourites: Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Hunter Mahan and Jordan Spieth
TV Schedule
- Thursday – 3:00 PM t:00 PM ET (Golf Channel)
- Friday – 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM ET (Golf Channel)
- Saturday – 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM ET (Golf Channel) & 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM ET (CBS)
- Sunday – 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM ET (Golf Channel) & 3:00 PM to 6:30 PM ET (CBS)
Kevin Stadler triumphs in Phoenix for first PGA Tour win
Posted on February 3, 2014 Leave a Comment
Kevin Stadler (Courtesy: Keith Allison)
Some players are superstars, and others aren’t. This is true across all sports, but it becomes especially prevalent in golf due to the dearth of true stars that can seemingly cross over into the mainstream sports consciousness. If golf isn’t the sport with the least amount of true superstars, I’m not sure what is.
Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have reached that point without question. John Daly was there when he was at the very least occasionally winning golf tournaments, and I think Bubba Watson has achieved superstar status, even though you can make the argument that he’s nowhere near the quality player that either Adam Scott or Rory McIlroy is. The pink driver, the Golf Boys videos, the social interaction and the fact that he absolutely mashes the ball and is able to move it around just about anything have made him exceedingly popular with the fans.
Gallacher defends title in Dubai
Posted on February 2, 2014 Leave a Comment
Stephen Gallacher kisses the trophy after winning the 2014 Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
Stephen Gallacher was able to hold off a bevy of challengers in Sunday’s final round to repeat as the Omega Dubai Desert Classic winner.
What Happened
After a stunning 9-under par back nine 28 on Saturday, Gallacher vaulted himself into the lead, two strokes ahead of Rory McIlroy. At the start of the day though, Gallacher looked awful in just about every facet of the game, as he went out in 39 with four bogeys and five pars on the front nine. That obviously opened the door for McIlroy and others, and they took advantage. Several players, including McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, Thorbjorn Olesen and Mikko Ilonen, all had at least a share of the lead at one point on Sunday, thanks in large part to the front nine implosion by Gallacher where he couldn’t seem to find anything remotely resembling a fairway from the tee.
Gallacher got it together on the back nine though, starting with a birdie on the par-3 11th, and while McIlroy made birdie as well, he was about to make a pair of bogeys, including one on the par-5 13th where he was the only one who finished in the top-20 to drop a shot. He got a bit of a bad break by basically having his ball plug in a waste area, but hey, that’s what can happen when you’re as wayward as he was. Even with McIlroy essentially out of the picture, Gallacher still had some bullets to dodge, but most of the players just couldn’t make enough birdies coming home to really put any pressure on the leader. Enter Emiliano Grillo.
Modern players, Scott Stallings and American bias
Posted on January 30, 2014 Leave a Comment
Matteo Manassero (Courtesy: StartAgain)
When I first started watching golf seriously, Johnny Miller was already entrenched as NBC’s lead analyst and as I’ve become more knowledgeable about the game, several things have become clear to me about the man. First, Miller is incredibly blunt while he is on the air, and when it comes to his popularity, it’s usually a love him or hate him situation. Secondly, he’s very high on his own ability from his 63 at Oakmont to his constant mentioning of himself in the same breath as Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and others.
Lastly, not only is Miller very pro-American, which is something he’s admitted to being on Ryder Cup broadcasts, but he also really isn’t all that knowledgeable on golf that happens outside of the PGA Tour, which also leads him to appear like he’s belittling non-PGA Tour golf. On some level, it’s understandable seeing as how his job is to be an analyst for the PGA Tour on NBC, and not for the European Tour, or any other tour that sees the best players in the world tee it up. Of course, the flip side to this is that it often appears like that pro-American bias that we see at the Ryder Cup shows up for regular events too.
Now that I’ve rambled on for two paragraphs, I’m sure you’re wondering what the hell my point is. My point actually isn’t about Miller, but I was reminded of him when I saw two tweets come through on my timeline on Tuesday.
2014 Waste Management Phoenix Open Betting Preview
Posted on January 29, 2014 Leave a Comment
Phil and the crowd think that it’s going in.
Phil Mickelson, wonky back and all, returns to the site of his near 59 this week as he looks to defend his title at the 2014 Waste Management Phoenix Open.
2014 Waste Management Phoenix Open Fact Sheet
- Course: TPC Scottsdale – Stadium Course
- Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
- Yardage: 7,216 yards, par 72
- Defending Champion: Phil Mickelson
- Five Consensus Favourites: Phil Mickelson, Webb Simpson, Keegan Bradley, Ryan Moore and Bubba Watson
TV Schedule
- Thursday – 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM ET (Golf Channel)
- Friday – 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM ET (Golf Channel)
- Saturday – 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM ET (Golf Channel) & 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM ET (CBS)
- Sunday – 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM ET (Golf Channel) & 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM ET (CBS)
2014 Omega Dubai Desert Classic Betting Preview
Posted on January 28, 2014 Leave a Comment
Tiger Woods in Dubai (Courtesy: Zimbio.com)
Tiger Woods looks to rebound after a rough week at Torrey Pines, as he heads to the Emirates Golf Club and the European Tour for the 2014 Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
2014 Omega Dubai Desert Classic Fact Sheet
- Course: The Emirates Golf Club
- Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Yardage: 7,316 yards, par 72
- Defending Champion: Stephen Gallacher
- Five Consensus Favourites: Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Henrik Stenson, Rafael Cabrera-Bello and Thorbjorn Olesen
TV Schedule
- Wednesday into Thursday – 10:30 PM (Wed.) to 8:30 AM ET (Golf Channel)
- Thursday into Friday – 1:00 AM to 8:30 AM ET (Golf Channel)
- Friday into Saturday – 4:00 AM to 8:00 AM ET (Golf Channel)
- Saturday into Sunday – 4:00 AM to 8:00 AM ET (Golf Channel)
Jordan Spieth and major contention
Posted on January 27, 2014 3 Comments
Spieth’s bunker holeout at the John Deere that allowed him to force a playoff.
Before firing back-to-back 75’s on the weekend at Torrey Pines, Jordan Spieth was once again the talk of professional golf. Being a 20-year old leader at the midway point of a tournament that included the likes of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and a host of major winners will do that to a player, especially when he uses a second round 63 in the presence of Woods to vault himself into that leading position.
Then, we saw what happened on Saturday and Sunday, as the course toughened up and Spieth’s ankle gave out on him, leading to a bunch of players passing him. That 63 was wiped out and consecutive 75’s had given Spieth a tie for 19th place, five shots back of Scott Stallings’ winning total. He would later tell Ryan Lavner of Golf Channel that “So, all in all, I just really wasn’t mentally ready to win this week.”
Golf GIFs of the Week: January 27th
Posted on January 27, 2014 2 Comments
How did Tiger play at Torrey Pines? Well…
When I posted last week’s best GIFs, I talked about how interesting the week was and I figured that it was going to be nearly impossible to surpass in terms of newsworthy events.
Man, was I wrong.
We can debate how newsworthy the week was, but it was every bit as interesting as the previous one, with Sergio Garcia picking up his second win in three starts in a playoff against Mikko Ilonen, Scott Stallings outlasting a massive amount of contenders at the Farmers, and the shocking implosion of Tiger Woods at arguably his favourite course, Torrey Pines.
Here’s the best from the previous week in GIF form.
Scott Stallings wins at Torrey Pines
Posted on January 26, 2014 1 Comment
Scott Stallings (Courtesy: Keith Allison)
Scott Stallings was able to outlast a dozen of contenders on a jam-packed leaderboard in Sunday’s final round at Torrey Pines to pick up his third PGA Tour win at the 2014 Farmers Insurance Open.
What Happened
With Tiger and Phil out of the picture for Sunday, CBS needed to hope that something exciting would happen with the leaderboard and that’s exactly what they got. At one point, there were 19 players within two shots of the lead, which was stuck at 8-under par for most of the day with the final group of Gary Woodland, Jordan Spieth and Marc Leishman constantly hovering around the number.
Sergio Garcia outlasts Mikko Ilonen in Qatar playoff
Posted on January 25, 2014 1 Comment
Sergio Garcia lifts the winner’s trophy in Qatar.
Sergio Garcia came back from three shots behind with a final round 65 and also outlasted Mikko Ilonen in a playoff to win the 2014 Commercialbank Qatar Masters.
What Happened
The leaders entering Saturday’s final round were Steve Webster and Rafael Cabrera-Bello, tied at 12-under par and both players looked good early on with birdies in their first couple of holes. As the day went on though, other players were making birdies while the final group went along playing steady golf, with mostly pars being made and the occasional birdie or bogey. That wasn’t going to be good enough today with the amount of players making a charge, and they were quickly passed by those who were 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 under par. That group of players included Sergio Garcia, Mikko Ilonen and Thorbjorn Olesen, with Garcia firing a final round 65 and sitting with the clubhouse lead at 16-under par, awaiting the final few groups to come in.
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