Category: PGA Golf

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast with Barbara Mason: Tiger’s Masters win is confidence-building, could he win another one?; How Walton will fit in in Sacramento; plus more

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That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast with Barbara Mason:

#1 On Sunday, Tiger Woods made a comeback and won the Masters for the first time in 11 years. What made this day so unbelievable?

#2 How do you see Luke Walton fitting in at the Sacramento Kings organization as head coach?

#3 It was a true battle between the Warriors and Clippers on Monday night as the Clips erased a 31 point deficit for a 135-131 win.

#4 After the San Francisco Giants got nearly no hit by the Colorado Rockies pitcher German Marquez, is this alarm that offense has to do something and very soon?

#5 The Oakland A’s got clobbered by the Houston Astros on Tuesday night and the A’s struggled with the Astros on the road trip earlier this month.

Barbara Mason is a freelance sports reporter for Area Grande Spanish Newspapers and is filling in for Amaury Pi-Gonzalez for News and Commentary.

AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: Mickelson finished off comeback win

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By Jeremy Harness

Phil Mickelson wanted more than anything on Sunday night to finish the last two holes of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Fifteen hours later, he was able to claim that crown.

Mickelson and Paul Casey, whom he had tracked down the day before to take a three-shot lead when he simply ran out of daylight, played the final two holes of the tournament Monday morning, with the big left-hander holding off the Englishman to win this event for the fifth time of his career.

“This is a special place here at Pebble Beach,” the 48-year-old Mickelson said. “It’s special to win, and I have so many incredible memories and recollections over the years, and to play some of my best golf on a Sunday and be able to catch a good player in Paul Casey, it means a lot to me.” It was Mickelson’s first win on the PGA Tour in nearly a year, when he beat Justin Thomas in a playoff to take the WGC-Mexico Championship last March, and it was the 44th overall victory of his career.

All was not lost for Casey, however. He and his pro-am partner, Don Colleran (—–), won the team competition, the first time they have won that in their careers.

“It’s been a treat this week,” Casey said. “I got an up-front close look at Phil shooting a great round of golf and winning this golf event.

“I’m happy with the way I played. I’m very happy we won the team competition. It’s been a very good week.”

AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: Champion will have to wait another day

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Photo credit: @GolfCentral

By Jeremy Harness

In a tournament that has featured some delays and a play suspension in the last three days,

The tee times were delayed three hours on Sunday, and when the course finally opened up for the players for the final round, the skies were clear and the course looked as beautiful as ever.

However, that did not change the fact that it was downright cold at Pebble Beach. The morning temperatures hovered around the high 30’s, which is considered to be unusual for this area, even in this time of year.

Paul Casey started the final round with the lead, but Phil Mickelson caught him at the ninth hole at 15-under with a birdie, and then overtook him on the back nine. While Casey could not get anything going and had to settle for pars, Mickelson birdied the 10th, 13th and 14th to take a three-shot lead.

He then parred the 15th and 16th holes, and then at around 5:50pm PST, a discussion was has as to stopping play, as the sun had set five minutes prior.

By all accounts, Mickelson was doing everything in his power to keep going and try to finish the round. However, Casey was much more hesitant and ultimately decided to call it quits until Monday morning. At that point, three horns blasted, signaling the suspension of play.

“Well, I get exactly where Paul’s coming from,” Mickelson said. “It’s dark, and we’re going to have a good chance tomorrow to come out on fresh greens and have them mown. They got pretty rough this afternoon, so I totally get it.

“But I have pretty good vision, I can see fine, and I’m playing well, so I wanted to continue, and that’s all there is to it. In all honesty, it’s probably a good thing because now we’ll play the last couple holes in pure conditions, and it will be helpful for us both.” Mickelson and Casey will resume play at 8:00am PST Monday morning, and admission to the course will be free – with no ticket required – and 17 Mile Drive, which usually requires some sort of a pass, will be open to the public on Monday.

Scott Stallings made a huge charge on Sunday, with a mix of great putting and a brilliant short game, to shoot a six-under round of 66. He was five-under on the front side with no bogeys, including three birdies in a row on holes six through eight.

He dropped a shot at the 12th, but he quickly rebounded with a birdie at the 13th, and then he closed things out with a well-played 18th that resulted in his draining a three-footer for a birdie.

AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: Nicer weather, but still wet conditions

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Photo credit: Jeremy Harness

By Jeremy Harness

PEBBLE BEACH – Spyglass Hill was supposed to be the course where players look to survive until they got to another course where scoring was more allowable.

Paul Casey defied that logic on a drier third round on Saturday.

A day after play was called due to continuous rain turned the greens into lakes and transformed holes into water buckets, Mother Nature pumped the brakes on the rain – with the exception of a 30-minute interval slightly after noon – and Casey accelerated his play.

Casey, fresh off his 64 at Monterey Peninsula Friday, put himself in the lead by shooting two-under on the front nine at Spyglass Hill and then making another birdie at the par-5 11th to get to 13-under overall and give himself a two-shot lead.

He kept rolling in birdies on the back nine, picking up shots at the 14th as well as the 15th to increase his lead to three. He parred out the rest of the way to finish with a five-under 67.

Phil Mickelson appeared to go backwards, and it looked as if he would fall out of contention. He was up and down on his front nine at Pebble, with three birdies and three bogeys, and with his driving accuracy slipping even more than it did Friday after a perfect driving round Thursday, he dropped another shot at the par-4 10th to fall to nine-under and six shots behind.

However, he got things on track immediately following that, and he recovered from a tee shot into the bunker to make birdie at the 13th before a magnificent second shot nearly found the hole at the par-5 14th. He sank the ensuing three-foot eagle putt, and he ended up closing with a two-under round of 70 and only trails Casey by three shots and is currently in second place.

Lucas Glover, one of the guys in a tie for the lead after Friday and whose big win on the PGA Tour was the 2008 U.S. Open, tried to keep pace with Casey, picking up two shots on his first nine at Monterey Peninsula, thanks to four birdies in a row at holes 14 through 17.

However, he fell back a bit after a pair of bogeys against one birdie on his second nine, and he finished with a one-under 70 and four shots behind Casey.

Jordan Spieth held his ground for the first four holes at Pebble Beach and then picked up a shot after rolling in an eight-footer for birdie at the par-3 fifth. He appeared to have run into trouble after hitting his second shot into the ocean at the next hole and then left himself a 20-footer for par.

However, he knocked in the lengthy putt to keep himself in the mix.

He held up just fine through 12 holes, but that’s when the wheels started to wobble, as he lost control off the tee. He double-bogeyed the 13th, and even though he quickly rebounded with a birdie at the 14th, he bogeyed the par-3 17th and then hooked his tee shot at the par-5 18th into the ocean and ended up with another double bogey to finish with a two-over round of 74.

Saturday morning was not only dry, but there was nothing but blue sky to be seen all around the golf course, and spectators took advantage by getting as many pictures as they could of celebrities such as hockey star Wayne Gretzky, country singer Jake Owen and actor Bill Murray.

However, that lasted only a few hours, as the skies turned gray at around 11:30, and by noon, the rain began to pour onto the course. This time, however, the rain stopped at about 12:30 pm and held off while the sky cleared back up, but the wind intensified as the day progressed.

AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: Mickelson survives rain, surges to the lead

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By Jeremy Harness

PEBBLE BEACH – The rainy conditions were all but guaranteed for Friday’s second round, but the morning was relatively dry, and there was even a patch of blue sky to be seen over the grounds of Pebble Beach Golf Links.

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Photo credit: Jeremy Harness

But as expected, that all changed as the afternoon rolled in, and it only got worse in the ensuing hours.

The rain began to fall at about 12:30pm PST, and about half of the players were able to finish their rounds by then. One of them was Phil Mickelson, who not only survived Spyglass Hill but also picked up ground, surging to the top of the leaderboard.

His driving accuracy came back down to earth on Friday, and he didn’t hit as many greens as he did in the opening round, but he putted better than was the case at Monterey Peninsula on Thursday and was also able to withstand a three-hole bogey stretch at holes seven through nine. He finished with a four-under round of 68, as he found himself in a five-way tie for the lead at 10-under overall.

“I hate finishing the round off like that and making three bogeys after having a pretty good round going in,” Mickelson said. “It was just a little more difficult conditions. I’m also lucky to get done and get the round over with (before the rain started).” He was one shot behind when he finished his round but vaulted into a tie for the lead when Scott Langley, who had lead for most of the day, bogeyed the 17th hole and then made par at the 18th.

The rain intensified to the point where the actual holes were completely filled with water, and with some players still on the course with more than one hole to play, including Jordan Spieth, Jason Day and Scott Piercy, a decision had to be made.

So the rules officials suspended play at 2:11pm PST. At this point, the players were given the choice of finishing the holes that they are currently on or simply marking their ball and returning the next morning to finish. Cameron Champ and Brice Garnett were on the 18th green, and they decided to finish out, resulting in a cool visual of Garnett’s closing putt splashing into the hole.

In all, there are 44 players yet to finish their second round, and they will go out starting at 7:10am PST Saturday morning. Immediately following the completion of their second rounds, those players will commence third-round action at their scheduled course that day.

“It just started kind of spitting rain on the 14th hole,” Langley said. “I told my partner, Dan Rose, ‘You know, man, we’re pretty lucky it hasn’t done anything yet, so it might as well just come,’ and it did, and in full force.

“I just tried to grind down the stretch and make pars,” he added. “Spyglass always seems to be the course that, I’ll call it the toughest out of the three, so to shoot three-under in these conditions in the end, I feel pretty good about it.” Another guy determined to finish out was Paul Casey, who shot a seven-under round of 64 at Monterey Peninsula and had some obvious momentum going that he did not to be extinguished.

“We were on the last hole, and I heard that horn go (signaling play suspension),” Casey said. “And then there was a second one and then a third one. I had to think for a minute, because (if) you get one long blast, you’re done (for the day). But the three means (that) you can finish the hole, and I’m like, ‘We can finish the hole?’ “I’ve never been so happy. I went from upset to happy in an instant, so it was all good.”

One who was not able to get it all in was Jordan Spieth, who appeared to catch a big break via some friendly assistance on Friday. He had an approach shot go wayward to the right at Spyglass Hill’s par-3 seventh hole, when a fan batted the ball in mid-air and deflected it onto the green.

Spieth went on to make par, and that turned out to be his final hole of the day – he started his round at the 10th – as he had a five-under, bogey-free round going before play was called. He is currently tied for the lead at 10-under.

There is more rain in tomorrow’s forecast, with a 40 percent chance of precipitation throughout the morning, before the heavy stuff arrives in the afternoon, as was the case Friday.

“There’s a chance we may miss some of it,” Mickelson said. “You just don’t know how it’s going to play or what the weather’s going to be, and you end up trying to shoot as low a round as you can because everybody else is facing the same conditions.”

AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: Players get off to a fast start at Monterey Peninsula

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By Jeremy Harness

PEBBLE BEACH – After a week filled with rain and cloudy skies, players and spectators were treated to sunshine and a considerably-warmer weather during Thursday’s opening round.

And the players certainly took advantage of that, especially with Mother Nature set to unleash her wrath as early as tomorrow.

As is the custom for this tournament – which utilizes three courses in Pebble Beach, Monterey Peninsula Country Club and Spyglass Hill – the pros took advantage of Monterey Peninsula, considered to be the easiest course of the three to jump to the top of the leaderboard.

Six out of the eight players who found themselves at the top of the leaderboard on Thursday used Monterey Peninsula on Thursday. That included first-day co-leader Brian Gay, who blistered the course with a seven-under 64, which saw him record five birdies in a row at holes five through nine.

“It’s usually the driest of the three (courses), which is nice this week, because everything’s really wet,” Gay said. “I just like the style of it. It’s beautiful out here on the water, and I just always enjoyed it.” Tied with Gay at the top is Scott Langley, who himself got a 64 out of Monterey Peninsula. He didn’t have the best of starts, as he bogeyed his second hole of the day but quickly bounced back with a bordie on the next hole.

He went on to birdie eight more holes, including three in a row at holes 16 through 18, against only one more bogey.

Come tomorrow, both guys will play Spyglass Hill, which is considered to be the toughest of the three, particularly because of the slickness of the greens and the prevalent wind.

Phil Mickelson is another guy who has always enjoyed coming to Pebble, and it certainly showed again on Thursday.

Now he has never been known to be the most accurate driver out there, but you wouldn’t know that by watching him play the opening round of this event, as he hit each of the 14 fairways en route to a six-under 65, as he birdied seven holes against only one bogey.

“So history was made today,” Mickelson said. “To the best of my knowledge, it’s taken me 27 years and a few months to hit all fairways in a single round in a competition. I may have done it before, but I don’t even recall doing it.

“It was a really good solid round, good solid start, and we had beautiful weather, and the golf course here is in spectacular shape.”

The recovery of the day had to go to Brandt Snedeker, who pulled his drive left of the retaining wall at the par-5 18th hole at Pebble Beach, in a pebble-collection area just before reaching the water.

He then got back into the fairway on his second shot before knocking his approach onto the green. He then sank a seven-footer to make an improbable birdie on his way to a three-under 69.

Things weren’t going nearly as well for defending champion Ted Potter, Jr., however, who wasn’t doing much recovering at all. He started Thursday’s round with a triple bogey, and it did not get much better from that point. He went on to suffer two more double bogeys to go along with another bogey on the first nine, with two more doubles and a bogey on the back side for a 10-over score of 82.

NOTES: Due to the inclement weather set to arrive tomorrow, tee times have been moved up an hour early. As a result, the first tee time is scheduled for 7:00 am PST.

Safeway Open: Snedeker’s collapse opens door for Tway’s first Tour win

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By Jeremy Harness

NAPA, Calif. – Brandt Snedeker was nine holes away from becoming the first player in the FedEx Cup era – which started in 2007 – to win the last event of the previous season and follow it up by winning the opening tournament of the next season.

One playoff hole later, one of the bigger golf collapses in recent years was complete.

Snedeker blew a four-stroke lead and was forced to watch as Kevin Tway outlasted Ryan Moore for his first PGA Tour win at the Safeway Open at Silverado Resort & Spa’s North Course. He made birdie on each of the last five holes – including the three playoff holes – to close the deal in grand fashion.

“It was nice to get hot at the end,” said Tway, the son of multiple PGA Tour winner Bob Tway, whose 1986 PGA Championship win came two years before he was born. “I knew the last few holes were easier, so I was just trying to make pars before I got to those holes.

“I’ve always wanted to play in the Masters, and now it’s happening. It’s going to be pretty awesome.”

With the win, the 30-year-old Tway not only gets 500 FedEx Cup points, but he also is fully exempt through the 2020-21 season while earning spots in this season’s Tournament of Champions, the Players Championship, the Masters as well as the PGA Championship.

He started the day three strokes behind Snedeker, and early on, it looked as if he would slip back to the pack, as he bogeyed two of the first four holes to fall five shots back at one point. He got things back together, however, as he got those two shots back at the sixth and eighth.

He bogeyed the 11th, but he held firm and then birdied the final two holes to get into a three-way playoff with Snedeker and Ryan Moore, who came from seven shots back get into the mix.

Starting the final round at nine-under, Moore played bogey-free golf and steadily climbed his way up the leaderboard, and his birdie at the par-5 18th tied Snedeker at 14-under, while Snedeker still had three holes to play.

“On a day like today, it’s not necessarily about how you’re swinging, how you’re hitting (the ball), it’s how you can just put the ball in the hole,” Moore said. “Somehow, I managed to do that today. I was able to just put together a really scrappy round of golf.” For the first nine holes, Snedeker was in complete control of the tournament. He did bogey the fourth hole, but he quickly got that shot back with a birdie at the very next hole and then picked up another shot at the par-3 seventh. At that point, he had a five-shot lead.

The wheels started to wobble for Snedeker when he hit the back nine, bogeying holes 10 through 12 and had his lead completely disintegrate. Several guys were right on his tail, and Moore caught all the way up to him.

Snedeker birdied each of the last three holes on Saturday, and he kept that trend going with a birdie at the par-5 16th to re-take the lead.

However, he quickly lost that lead when he found himself in the trees at the 17th and dropped a shot. Needing at least a birdie to avoid a playoff, he found the fairway bunker on the right side at the 18th. He then found the deep rough with his second shot. He made it on the green with his approach shot and then two-putted for his par to force a playoff with Moore and Tway.

On the first playoff hole, Snedeker’s drive found the fairway, but his second shot trickled off the green. Moore’s second shot did the same while Tway’s was about 20 yards short. The other two were able to get it up and down, and when Snedeker’s attempt missed to the right, his tournament was done.

“Really disappointing,” Snedeker said. “I’m going to look at that one in a few years and know I gave that one away. It sucks right now, but (I’m) playing next week, so (let’s) build on it and take the positives from this week.

“I played probably 63 holes of pretty damn good golf and nine holes I wish I had back.”

Luke List, the only guy in the field who did not wear a hat this week, also made a run on the back nine, and his eagle at the 18th left him at 13-under and only one shot back.

J.B. Holmes was one of the guys to make an early charge on Sunday. The former Ryder Cupper started at seven-under and gained significant ground. In fact, he picked up (four) shots and found himself tied for fourth after birdieing three hole in a row at holes 11 through 13. He finished the tournament at 11-under and in ninth place.

Another was Danny Lee, who started the day at seven-under, but then a stretch of three birdies in five holes on the front nine had him tied for fifth at one point. However, he stalled out on the back nine and could not get any closer, finishing at 10-under and tied for 10th.

One guy who was not in the mix at the end was Phil Mickelson. He was in it for the first 36 holes of this event, but fatigue from playing in France for the Ryder Cup last weekend set in over the weekend, and he finished at eight-under.

“I’ve made a bit of a mistake that I’m going to learn from, as far as playing too many events in a row and not being able to recover and be as sharp as I want to be,” Mickelson said. “And then, I just need to be focused when I’m playing.

“I think next year, when it has a bit of a break between the FedEx Cup and the start of the season, I think the field here’s going to get really strong.”

Safeway Open: Snedeker maintains lead while Mickelson comes apart

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By Jeremy Harness

NAPA–In a tournament that has seen a lot of birdies and a lot of movement among the leaders, Brandt Snedeker has been the constant at Silverado this weekend.

After Saturday’s proceedings, Snedeker has the same three-stroke lead that he had a day prior, and he is now 18 holes away from winning for the first time in nearly two months, and it would be his first time winning the Safeway Open, the first PGA Tour event of the 2018-19 season.

Snedeker got things going early with what usually get him there: the putter. He had a long birdie putt at the third hole, and he shook off a bogey at the seventh with a birdie at the par-5 ninth.

He couldn’t get it up and down at the 13th and dropped a shot there, but he responded beautifully with three birdies in a row at holes 16 through 18 to get to 16-under par.

“It was a tough day,” Snedeker said. “The wind kicked up on the last 12, 13 holes and made it hard to hit it close and make birdies.

“I did a great job of staying patient knowing I had 16, 17, 18 for birdie holes left, and I was really proud of the way I stepped up there and hit some quality shots when I needed to. Tomorrow’s supposed to be tougher than today, so every shot is really important coming down the stretch.” One guy who has hung in there is Kevin Tway, who shot a 68 on Saturday, and he will play with Snedeker in the final pairing Sunday afternoon after finishing the third round at 13-under. He played a bogey-free round with back-to-back birdies on the front side – including a hole-out from a greenside bunker 41 feet away at the eighth – as well as two more birdies on the back nine.

“I kept the ball in play nicely, made a nice save on 14 when that was my only real bad shot,” Tway said. “I hung in there and played well.

“I got in contention a few times last year and didn’t do very good, so I’ll use tomorrow to learn from the bad and try to do better tomorrow.”

Phil Mickelson, however, didn’t hang in there as well as the other two. After being in the thick of things the first two days, he came unglued a bit on Saturday, starting with a double bogey at the par-5 eighth. He had two birdies on the back nine, but those were undone by two bogeys on the back side.

Safeway Open: Snedeker takes the lead

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Photo credit: @SwingMasterGolf

By Jeremy Harness

NAPA–A familiar face is on top of the leaderboard now.

Brandt Snedeker grabbed the lead on Friday, as she shot a seven-under round of 65, using a high-powered front nine that featured five birdies to go ahead by three shots at the Safeway Open at Silverado Golf Resort.

He kept the momentum going on the back side, recording three birdies without a single bogey, including back-to-back birdies at the 17th and 18th to close the second round out in grand fashion.

Snedeker, the man with the never-changing, simple putting stroke, has nine wins in his PGA Tour career, the most recent one coming in the Wyndham Championship in August to close out the 2017-18 regular season.

“I’ve played pretty solid golf all the way around,” said Snedeker, who played with Champions Tour regular Fred Couples on Friday. “I only played, really, two poor shots all day today, was able to get up and down on one hole and didn’t get up and down on the other hole.

“We had a great group, we had a fun time out there. Freddie kind of keeps everybody relaxed, and part of the reason why I played so well the first two days is playing with him.” Meanwhile, Phil Mickelson stayed within striking distance in the second round, although his Friday round of 69 was four shots worse than the 65 he shot in Thursday’s opening round.

He got off to a fantastic start to the front nine, recording four birdies without a bogey, but things started to go sideways for him on the back side. He birdied the 10th and was in the lead at that point, he bogeyed the 13th and 14th holes before dropping another shot at the 17th before getting things together with a birdie at the par-5 18th.

Mickelson is tied with Ryan Moore, who is perhaps best known for clinching the Ryder Cup for the United States two years ago at Hazeltine, at 10-under par and three strokes behind Snedeker.

“I’m casually optimistic,” Mickelson said. “It’s certainly turning from pessimistic because I didn’t think I was going to be here on the weekend, and the next things you know, I’m on top of the leaderboard.

“I’ve hit a lot of good shots, I’m really surprised.”

Safeway Open: Straka snatches first-round lead; Mickelson in the hunt

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Photo credit: @golfweek

By Jeremy Harness

NAPA–Exactly a year after a terrible firestorm ripped through this area and damaged a part of Silverado Golf Resort, the PGA Tour has returned to Northern California and is in very good shape.

The players have responded in kind, and it shows in the low scores that were carded on Thursday.

Sepp Straka took the first-round lead by shooting a nine-under 63, carrying a one-shot advantage into Friday’s action. He birdied four holes on the front nine, and then he added five more on the back side, including birdieing the last three holes in a row en route to a bogey-free round.

“I really wasn’t expecting that right out of the gates,” said Straka, who is playing in his first PGA Tour event after graduating from the Web.com Tour after last season. “But I had a good game plan, and I just tried to do it shot by shot.

“My putter was really hot, putted the ball very well. Other than that, I just took advantage of my chances.”

Chase Wright, another Web.Com Tour graduate, is one stroke behind Straka after firing a bogey-free round of 64. He didn’t get off to as good a start as Straka, recording a pair of birdies on the front side. However, he absolutely caught fire on the back nine, as he put four birdies on the board to go along with an eagle at the par-5 16th hole.

“(It was) patience at its finest,” Wright said. “Just tried to stay positive, committed to what I was doing and didn’t really put myself in any crazy spots.”

Less than a week after capping off a disappointing showing by himself as well as the United States team in this year’s Ryder Cup, Phil Mickelson had a nice bounce-back performance at Silverado, and he finds himself only two shots back after the first round.

He fired a seven-under round of 65 on Thursday, which included an eye-popping six birdies in a row on holes nine through 14. Although he hit only half of his fairways (seven of 14), he hit 14 of the 18 greens and was able to get up and down when he missed the other four greens.

However, he certainly didn’t feel like he was going to have a round like he did before he teed off.

“I hit it terrible (on the range),” Mickelson said. “I had one of the worst warmups of the year. I was hitting the fence on the range right, I was hitting the fence left.

“But you throw on one of these shirts and you can dance and you can hit fairways, it’s awesome. So this week, I’m not hitting any balls, I’m not practicing, I’m not hitting chips, I’m not hitting putts. I’ll have a nice 45-minute warmup, and that’s it. I’m trying to just save every ounce of energy and shotmaking and visualization for the course.”