On-course report: St. Jude Classic, Saturday

I’m in Memphis this weekend, for the last two rounds of the 2010 St. Jude Classic. This is my second trip to Memphis in as many years, and I was pleased to find that the volunteers are as nice as they were in 2009 (some of the nicest I’ve met out there). On the other hand, the heat and humidity are not only as high as they were one year ago, they’re higher: mid-90's Fahrenheit, with high humidity pushing the heat index to around 105. It’s brutal out there.

I only made it 9 holes today; like many of the players this week, I’ve been a bit under the weather and decided not to push it through 18 in the hostile weather conditions. I started on the 10th tee with the group of Padraig Harrington, Charles Howell III, and Phil Tataurangi. At the 13th green, it was time to stop for a while, finish the first 20-ounce bottle of water, and pick up a later group, which ended up being the group of Fredrik Jacobson, Billy Mayfair, and Dicky Pride. I followed that group through the finish. Some thoughts on the round:

* Padraig Harrington has a deserved reputation as a slower player, but he was playing pretty close to normal speed today. Perhaps he was as ready to get through the round and off the course as everyone else.

* I’d never heard of Phil Tataurangi before today, and if today’s round was any indication, I can see why I’d never heard of him. He was consistently far behind his playing partners off the tee. On the par-3 11th hole, that shortness found him in the hazard and led to a double-bogey. On the next hole, he promptly found the hazard again, and another double-bogey. Apparently, the rest of his day wasn’t much better, as he finished with a 12-over par 82 on the day.

* There is nothing pretty about Fredrik Jacobson’s swing. It doesn’t look pretty on TV, and it looks just as bad in person. Even his set-up looks “off”. On the other hand, he usually gets pretty good results, and that’s the important thing.

* Speaking of things that aren’t pretty, Jacobson’s triple at the 15th was a train wreck. His tee shot ended up under a tree, with more trees in front of him. In attempting to go under a branch with the 2nd shot, he clipped the branch and landed well-short of where he’d planned. His 3rd shot came close to the green, but bounced off the bank and into the hazard. For reasons that elude me (and likely everyone else), he elected to try to hit the ball out of the hazard and avoid incurring a penalty stroke. The spectators in the area were practically taking bets on whether he would fall in the water (he stood on the bank on some very soft and not-so-stable ground; a player with more weight might not have had that option). The ball came out of the water by a few inches, before falling back in. After the penalty drop, shot #6 landed on the green, and he one-putted for the 7.

* Billy Mayfair has some very vocal fans in the hospitality tents. Every time he made a putt on a hole with a hospitality area, he was greeted with loud cheers. It didn’t matter if it was for par or birdie.

Until tomorrow...

Predictions: Valero Texas Open

First of all, on a serious note, sympathies go out to the family and friends of LPGA player Erica Blasberg, who died this weekend at age 25.

Now on to this week’s event, the Valero Texas Open. It’s being held on a new course this week, the TPC San Antonio.

My top picks of the week:

* Bo Van Pelt. Three top-10's in a row for Bo. Can he make it four?

* Fredrik Jacobson. While the course was different, Fredrik did finish 5th in last year’s event. He’s coming off a 10th-place finish at The Players last week.

My Yahoo Fantasy Golf lineup for this week is:
“Front 4": Zach Johnson, Bo Van Pelt, Fredrik Jacobson, Paul Goydos
“Bench team”: Justin Leonard, Charley Hoffman, James Driscoll, Chris Stroud

Last week was another somewhat indifferent week for picks. Ben Crane did finish 4th, but Jim Furyk was 47th and Stephen Ames, 58th. My Yahoo Fantasy Golf standings so far: 2651 points, 81st percentile.

Best of luck to all!