by Get ready for some ocean views and celebrity commentary, it’s Pebble Beach week. The PGA Tour heads back north to the Monterey Peninsula for one of the longest-running events on the schedule. The European Tour also heads to the southern hemisphere for the Vic Open in Australia.
Life’s a Beach
The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am has a long tradition on the PGA Tour. It started as a tournament hosted by Bing Crosby in the 1940s and has seen its fair share of historic moments. Pebble Beach, Monterey Peninsula CC, and Spyglass Hill are all used for the first three rounds, with the final round played at PB. The event also features a bunch of celebrity hacks that sully the broadcast, but what are ya gonna do? Pebble Beach Tee Times
Photo credit: Evan Schiller
A Clay Masterpiece
Last year saw Ted Potter Jr. put on a surprising performance to hold off Dustin Johnson and Jason Day for his first win since 2012. Potter made a run at 59 on Saturday but bogied his final two holes to shoot 62.
Storylines
Preview Time – This tournament is all good and fun, but the real tournament happens in June. The U.S. Open will return to Pebble Beach for the first time since 2010 on the 100th anniversary of the course. Many players are in the field this week to get a peek at the course in tournament condition.
Ho Sung Mania – The day has come. Ho Sung Choi makes his PGA Tour debut this week and will play on U.S. soil for the first time. He is paired with Jerry Kelly and celebrities Chris O’Donnell and Aaron Rodgers for the first three rounds.
Big Names – More recognizable names are present than normal this week because of the U.S. Open. Dustin Johnson, Tommy Fleetwood, Adam Scott, Patrick Reed, Jordan Spieth and Jason Day are all in the field this week. Johnson and Spieth have each won this event before while Day has finished inside the top 6 four times in his last six tries.
Paulie’s Picks
It’s going to be a wet week on the west coast, and the small greens at the three courses are going to require a lot of recovery shots. Paulie likes players who boast good short games in California. Read his full breakdown HERE
Vic Open
The most intriguing event of the week is on the opposite side of the world. Both men and women will play at 13th Beach Golf Links for the Vic Open in Australia. This unique event features a pretty strong field and includes names like Geoff Ogilvy, Beef Johnston, Paula Creamer, Minjee Lee, Jorge Campillo and Charley Hull.
After the debacle the event in Saudi Arabia turned into, it is ironic that the Euro Tour could follow it up with one of the coolest events of the year. The tournament starts late Wednesday night in the United States. Tee Times
Quick Hooks
The Web.com Tour continues its trek through South and Central America with a trip to Panama. Tee Times
Brooks Koepka had some very refreshing comments on the Sergio situation in Saudi Arabia. Read his full thoughts on the matter HERE. In the same interview, Koepka said that Patrick Reed apologized to the U.S. Ryder Cup team in a group text. Those comments can be found HERE
The Latest Podcasts and Articles
What effect does technology have on golf? Maybe the question lies not in golf but elsewhere…
Economist Ian Fillmore joins us to discuss how the change from wooden racquets to composite racquets in tennis parallels the game of golf. Ian is an associate professor at Washington University of St. Louis and earned his PHD from the University of Chicago. You can read he and Jonathan Hall’s paper Technological Change and Obsolete Skills: Evidence from Men’s Professional Tennis (link) and follow his website. Listen to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher or Spotify.
Shotgun Start: The Vic Open experiment, Brooks calls out Sergio, and Pebble Beach picks
We’ve calmed down a bit from Monday’s Sergio rantings and ravings to assess the new week of events across the globe. We begin with the Vic Open, a concurrent European Tour and LPGA Tour event with alternating tee times on the same courses and for the same size purses. Andy highlights the best way this unique event could be broadcast and showcased. Then we move to Pebble Beach, where we celebrate Ted Potter Jr. getting a press conference and lament the mainstreaming of Hosung, while staying happy to see him on the main stage. We also ponder some of he worst celebrities you could get paired with at Pebble. In news, we revel in the big story of the day — Brooks Koepka saying Sergio’s actions were that of a “child” and disrespectful to the rest of the field. We wrap with Paulie’s picks for Pebble Beach and some late breaking news on Fan Vote Friday! Listen on iTunes, Stitcher or Spotify
