Tom on Tour: Northern Trust Open

The media fly. Tom drives. The media sleep in hotels. Tom sleeps in his car. The media sit in the media center. Tom walks the course. It’s the PGA Tour, seen and written differently. Following is an excerpt from Tom’s e-book on the 2010 Northern Trust Open.

By Tom Collins
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

WATCHING THE PRO-AM on Wednesday, I learned to duck quickly. I learned that some of the amateur participants had to spend $35,000 just to play. And I learned that there are actually people assigned to this tournament specifically to maintain the ropes around the golf course.

After one amateur took down three stakes just to clear a path through the trees, this young angry man drove up in a cart that read “Ropes Operator.” I can only imagine what was going through his head. “Aw, these gosh darn amateurs! They’re messing up everything!”

Then I found myself in a press conference with Corey Pavin. At first, I just thought that because Corey was playing this week, the media wanted some insights into his plans for the Ryder Cup. I had no idea that this would be the press conference where he would name his assistant captains. Corey carried his daughter up with him while he read from a prepared statement, and whenever his daughter interrupted him with a noise, Corey offered her the microphone, which seemed to silence her instantly.

I had no idea that Corey’s wife, Lisa, was sitting behind me until Corey started to acknowledge her, saying that he’s leaning pretty significantly on her right now. Doing what, I wasn’t really sure. I’m not knocking either of them—but like Corey said, the team won’t really start to materialize until May, so there isn’t a lot he can do right now to prepare, other than carefully watching every player in the field.

Then Pavin started announcing his assistant captain selections, of which he made four, so that each assistant could watch each match in its entirety on Thursday and Friday, to ensure that he knew who to pair up and select for the weekend. He selected Tom Lehman, Jeff Sluman, Davis Love III and Paul Goydos. After the introduction, Love and Goydos walked up from the back of the room to join in the discussion and to answer questions.

I don’t know what it was about that moment that gave me such a rush. The other golf writers asked their obligatory “strategy” questions for the Ryder Cup, and I just sat there, reveling in the idea that this was ground zero. It felt great knowing that in a few minutes word would disseminate from this room to all points on the globe via the Internet, and I was sitting right there on the front lines.

Plus, now I get cupcakes. That’s right: Lisa made red velvet cupcakes with that special cream cheese frosting and the phrase “USA 2010” to pass out to members of the media. As soon as the box was opened, I grabbed the first one. I felt like a piece of crap after doing so, however, because a professional photographer ran over after fighting through the crowd to snap a couple of shots of the spread. Now there was one missing.

Well, you know what? You snooze, you lose, photographer-lady.

I think the most important thing to remember from that press conference—other than how good the cupcakes were—was how well thought out Pavin’s selections were.

Tom Collins is a former caddie who is following the PGA Tour in 2010. Learn more about his original e-books at TheReluctantJamBoy.com.

Jimenez Outduels Westwood in the Desert

2010 Omega Dubai Desert Classic Recap
Winner: Miguel Angel Jimenez
Score: 11 under, 277 (70, 67, 68, 72)
Quote: “Like a good wine, with age, I get better and better.”
Fact: Favorite Cuban cigars are Partagas and Cohiba.
Thought: A good short game cures many ills.

I THOUGHT LEE WESTWOOD had it. I really did. Westwood birdied the final hole to tie Miguel Angel Jimenez and force a playoff at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. He then ripped a drive down the 18th fairway while the shorter-hitting Spaniard poked his tee ball into the rough and had to lay up on the par-5.

Jimenez barely cleared the water fronting the 18th green with his third, a wedge, while Westwood chipped on. Westwood misfired on his birdie and the crafty Spaniard got it up and down. The two men and their caddies hopped onto golf carts and rode back to the 18th tee for another go.

OK, I knew Jimenez would win. The Golf Channel had delayed coverage. I had already seen a tweet from an Aussie friend announcing the results. But I wanted to see how it happened.

It happened because Jimenez is a resourceful player with a clever short game, including a reliable putter. And because Westwood couldn’t birdie the reachable 18th hole on two consecutive tries in the playoff. The Englishman must be kicking himself.

On their second trip down 18, Jimenez again found himself in trouble, bunkered behind the green in three shots. He came out long and had to hole a medium-range putt to stay alive. The unflappable 46-year-old ran it in. On the third playoff hole, the long par-4 9th, both players missed the green. Westwood failed to get up and in for his par. Jimenez rapped home a four-footer for the win. Three playoff holes, three one-putts, one victory cigar.

“I have been coming to Dubai for many years and had a few chances to win and now I have it,” Jimenez said about his 16th European Tour title. He has won nine times since turning 40.

Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee finished alone in third, missing a short birdie putt on the final hole to miss the playoff by a shot.

Tour Notes

· Tom Watson finished in a tie for eighth at Dubai.
· PGA Tour: Steve Stricker won the Northern Trust Open.
· The PGA Tour heads to the Monterey Peninsula for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
· The LPGA Tour season begins in two weeks in Thailand.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Image: Perez/Flickr)

Rookie Chris Wilson Has a Lot to Learn

The short par-3 7th hole at Pebble Beach.

CHRIS WILSON, A NORTHWESTERN GRAD and former Big Ten champion who earned his PGA Tour card at Q-School in December, is writing a weekly diary at GolfWeek.com. His most recent installment addresses the steep learning curve, especially when it comes to the golf courses on the PGA Tour.

It’s something that’s easy to forget or completely overlook as a golf fan. You figure if a guy earned a card, he must be great with the sticks. These guys are good, right? Enter a few tournaments and ka-ching, ka-ching.

As the rookie points out, it’s far from that simple. There are many adjustments to playing on the PGA Tour: the level of competition, the travel and more. But let’s get back to the courses, which is what Wilson mentioned. At the Bob Hope Classic, Farmers Insurance Open (where he missed the cut) and next week’s AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Wilson had (and will have) a total of nine courses to learn.

Nine courses. For three events!

Granted, most weeks on Tour there’s only one course to face. For Wilson, whether it’s one, two, three, or four, they’re all new to him. Maybe it’s not such an easy way to earn your supper after all. You can see why many pros have to play the circuit for years before they get comfortable.

“There is a lot of cramming into a short amount of time,” Wilson wrote. He’s not complaining, though. “It is a great problem to have because nothing beats being on the PGA Tour!”

−The Armchair Golfer

(Image: ghz/Flickr)

Mickelson-Waffle House Deal Off the Table

PHIL MICKELSON WILL NOT buy 105 bankrupt Nashville-area Waffle Houses. A chain of Southeast eateries, Waffle House is the world’s leading server of waffles (nearly 500 million and counting) and dishes up a darn respectable quantity of T-bone steaks (10,000 per day) and grits (3.2 million pounds a year, enough to fill 86 semi trucks).

As far as I know, the failed bid had absolutely nothing to do with a disagreement over waffle pattern or grooves. That’s the extent of my statement. I will make no further comments on the matter. Unless I need to apologize.

−The Armchair Golfer

2010 Northern Trust Open TV Schedule and Tournament Notes

THE 2010 NORTHERN TRUST OPEN is underway at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California. Dustin Johnson is the first-round leader.

Purse: $6.4 million
Winner’s share: $1.152 million
Defending champion: Phil Mickelson

Inside the field
Inside the course
Tee times
Full tournament news
The live report

2010 Northern Trust Open Leaderboard

TV SCHEDULE

More than 12 hours of TV coverage are on tap for the 2010 Northern Trust Open.

Thu, 2/4:
GOLF 5p - 8p ET

Fri, 2/5:
GOLF 5p - 8p ET

Sat, 2/6:
NBC 3p - 6p ET

Sun, 2/7:
NBC 2:30p - 6p ET

PGA Tour radio coverage

−The Armchair Golfer

(Image: Dan Perry/Flickr)

The Los Angeles Open and ‘Little Hogan’

THE NORTHERN TRUST OPEN was formerly the Los Angeles Open, and has been played on a variety of golf courses in the L.A. area during its 84-year history. Back in the Hogan-Snead-Nelson era, Los Angeles was the first stop on the winter tour. The pros arrived in early January to play for one of the better purses on the circuit, around $15,000 to $20,000.

(Photo: Do you know this Purdue star?)

Riviera Country Club, of course, is the tournament’s current home, as it was from 1945 to 1953. Riviera was where Ben Hogan won three times in 17 months: the 1947 and 1948 Los Angeles Opens and 1948 U.S. Open. That’s when Riviera became known as Hogan’s Alley. Hogan also won in 1942 at Hillcrest Country Club.

Some players held Hogan in such high esteem that they copied him. Gardner Dickinson was one such player. He patterned his swing after Hogan, dressed like him, and even dangled a cigarette from his lips in the same manner as his idol. He also named one of his sons Ben.

Another Hogan imitator was a player named Fred Wampler, a Purdue University grad and NCAA champion who turned pro in 1950. At 5’8” and 150 lbs., Wampler was the same size as Bantam Ben and became known as “Little Hogan” because he modeled his game after the Texas legend.

I was reminded of Wampler recently while listening to an interview I conducted with Larry Tomasino, a Michigan club pro who played the winter circuit in the 1950s.

“Have you heard of Freddie Wampler?” Tomasino asked. “He copied his [Hogan’s] swing. Everybody did really, to tell you the truth.”

In 1954, “Little Hogan” won the Los Angeles Open at Fox Hills Country Club in what is now Culver City, California. It was his only win in seven years on the PGA Tour. I also learned that Wampler and yours truly have some personal history in common. We were both born in Bedford, Indiana.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Brought to you by YourGolfTravel.com and ARMCHAIR GOLF STORE.)

The Return of Rocco

ROCCO MEDIATE RETURNED to Torrey Pines last week for the first time since his epic duel with Tiger Woods at the 2008 U.S. Open. Rocco made the cut in the Farmers Insurance Open and finished at 1-under with rounds of 69-71-74-73.

Mediate also made noise, among the handful of Tour pros who openly criticized Phil Mickelson’s choice of wedges in light of the new groove rules. The Roc Man’s words were not as inflammatory as those of Scott McCarron, who essentially called Lefty a cheater, but they still stung.

“I don’t like it at all, not one bit,” Rocco said. “It’s against the spirit of the rule. We have to get rid of those clubs, because they’re square grooves. What else can you say?”

Phil isn’t cheating. Despite their square grooves, the ancient Ping Eye2s he slipped into his bag are legal because the company won a lawsuit against the PGA Tour 20 years ago. No rule broken. Just many restless spirits.

So, maybe Phil is trying to make a point. As World No. 2 and such a widely popular player, he has the clout and fan “capital” to pull it off. But I can’t criticize the players (except McCarron’s poor choice of words) who are hot about it. They’re entitled to question Phil on his choice to play the only club exempted from the new groove edict. He’d be naive not to expect some heat.

Coincidentally, Rocco is now working with Phil’s new putting coach, Dave Stockton.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Image: The Gordons/Flickr)