Doral Diary: Friday

So much for “sunny Miami”! Even with tee times pushed up approximately three hours, weather was still an issue, especially for the later groups. I went off with the same group I followed yesterday (Graeme McDowell, Anthony Kim, Angel Cabrera), which was the last group off the 1st tee. My observations on the day:

* The energy level was higher today than it was yesterday afternoon. The galleries were larger, more like I’d been expecting the day before, and there were more exuberant reactions than during the first round. There seemed to be a lighter atmosphere, by and large, among the players as well.
Cabrera again had the largest following of the three players in the group I followed.

* The perfect photo that no one got (since spectators can’t have cameras during tournament rounds, and there were no media photographers around at the time): Angel Cabrera (a.k.a. “El Pato”, “The Duck”) walking up the 10th fairway, with an actual duck walking along beside him.

* The weather was the real story of the day, and being with the last group, I got to experience the worst of it. Shortly after making the turn, the rain began in earnest. The temperature quickly dropped 10-15 degrees (Fahrenheit), and a bit of wind made it almost chilly at times. Play was halted on the 13th green for several minutes, likely due to lightning. Play was halted again on the 17th tee, when the rain reached a level that severely reduced visibility. After several minutes of the second delay, the few remaining spectators at 17 were told that play was done for the day. Apparently, there was a restart at some later point, as those few players who were still on the course at the second delay did finish their second round by the end of the day. I’m sure they’re all glad not to have a super-early Saturday wake-up call!

* There are still good people out there. It was nice to see people with umbrellas volunteering to share space with those who didn’t have them. I benefitted tremendously from one such kind individual through most of the back nine.

* I will always pack my waterproofs when I travel to a tournament from now on, even if it’s in Abu Dhabi. Yes, this is one week that they didn’t go in the suitcase.

* Anthony Kim lightened up the mood a bit after the first delay, whether intentionally or not. When everyone was back at the 13th green to resume play, there was still a delay while waiting for other groups to get in place. We were all getting a bit impatient, waiting for the “go ahead” horn to sound. At one point, Kim started imitating the horn. A few minutes later, he asked the tour official, “Do I get a penalty if I go ahead and play now?” In case you’re wondering, the answer is “yes”.

* Speaking of impatience, let’s mention the pace-of-play issue. I’m not sure where this started, especially being part of the last group, but the waiting game was definitely in effect. We arrived at the first par-3 on the course to find that the group in front of us hadn’t even teed off yet. There was more waiting throughout the day. It’s likely that our group’s pace was fairly quick, with three players who are pretty aggressive and quicker players, but this is by far not the first tournament where backlogs have occurred.

This weekend’s forecast is for sunshine, and hopefully lots of good golf as well!

The blog is back! 2010 predictions

When I decided to take a six-week sabbatical from blogging to work on 2010 scheduling and some issues in “real life”, little did I realize that “the Tiger Woods story” would explode a week later and pretty much dominate golf media until…well, it hasn’t really stopped yet.

But it’s a new year, and I’m turning the page on 2009 and its scandals and looking forward to watching the action on the links in 2010. Here are my predictions for 2010.

When will Tiger return? Probably the most-asked question leading up to the 2010 season. I’ll assume that there will be no more major developments in this case, and say that he’ll be back for the Masters, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s back at Doral. Of course, if there are further major developments, all bets are off.

The impact of some young guns. Rickie Fowler will win at least once on the PGA Tour in 2010, likely in a weaker-field event. Rory McIlroy will win at least once outside the U.S., and possibly win a major (see major predictions below). If McIlroy does win a major, he will be Rookie of the Year. If he does not, Fowler will be.

On the other side of the success coin… Anthony Kim, Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia, and Camilo Villegas will combine for a total of one win worldwide between the four of them, and it may be a European Tour win.

Kiss the trophy. Kevin Na gets his first PGA Tour win in 2010. Robert Allenby gets his first PGA Tour win in almost ten years in 2010. Jim Furyk gets at least one PGA Tour win in 2010.

Major winners: Phil Mickelson wins the Masters. Nick Watney wins the U.S. Open. Tiger Woods wins the Open Championship, unless he doesn’t play; if he doesn’t, Rory McIlroy wins. Ross Fisher wins the PGA Championship.

Ryder Cup: Europe wins the Ryder Cup in Wales. Each team fields four rookies. The margin will be 3.5 points.

Enjoy the 2010 season!

About that bulletin board...

There’s a lot of talk, especially in the NFL and other “marquee” sports, about “bulletin-board material”: a player or team uses an opponent’s trash talk as motivation to deliver a beatdown on said trash-talker. There isn’t as much talk about it in golf, though Tiger Woods has on several occasions seemingly used comments by his fellow players as motivation to teach said talkers a lesson. Just ask Steven Ames and Rory Sabbatini. It seems that Tiger now has company in the “bulletin board” club, in the person of Anthony Kim. Kim’s controversy with Robert Allenby is well-known, and in their first meeting since the President’s Cup, Kim delivered a sound beatdown to Allenby. Not only did Kim make seemingly every putt, but he refused to concede a single one of Allenby’s putts, even those within commonly-considered “gimme” range. The lesson to be learned here: if you’re going to be playing Anthony Kim, don’t give him any bulletin-board material. You’ll only hurt yourself.

Kim v. Allenby: The Rematch

Break out the bottles of rioja, senores y senoritas, it’s time for a Kim vs. Allenby rematch in Spain. Yes, only a few weeks after the infamous “sideways” comments Robert Allenby made about Anthony Kim following Kim’s win in the President’s Cup singles match, the two are poised to face each other again in the semifinals of the Volvo World Match Play on Saturday.

Here’s an idea: On the tee, let there be a number draw, as in sudden death. Whoever draws number one gets the option of the following: the winner of the hole gets to do a shot of the alcoholic beverage of their choice, or the loser of the hole gets to do a shot of the winner’s alcoholic beverage of choice. At any rate, by the end of it, the issue of who plays better “sideways” will have been resolved, and it could prove for a very entertaining 18 holes.

Since I know one of the players involved, but not both of them, I’ll reserve judgement on who the winner might be!