And you have to feel bad for Stricker…..The 50th Bob Hope Classic, held last week in the California desert and hosted by the ‘King’; Arnold Palmer, saw a welcome return to the winners circle for Pat Perez.
For those of you who don’t really know much about Perez; here’s a quick synopsis…
Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Perez studied at Arizona State University. In his fourth start on tour, he lost a 4 shot lead with 18 holes to play at Pebble Beach, which lead to a club being broken over his leg… And he is also close friends with John Daly…
Fiery is a word you could certainly use to describe Perez!!!!
Nevertheless, the only factor that was fiery about Perez last week was his golf. After 2 rounds he broke the record score for the first 36 holes with an astonishing 124 (-20).
20 UNDER PAR… How many of you out there get excited when you make 1 birdie, never mind being -20 Under Par through 36 holes…
As the PGA TOUR slogan reads, “THESE GUYS ARE GOOD”…
Over the weekend, Steve Stricker shot a blistering 61-62 for a 2 round combination of 123, to take a 3 shot lead into the final round of the 5 round tournament. But, what lay ahead on the 10th tee for Stricker was something, that no-one could have predicted…
After standing on the tee for what felt like an eternity; Stricker grabbed his towel for the umpteenth time and reached for his driver. One swing later, (or should we say 2) and Stricker was hitting 3 off the tee (after blocking his first tee shot OB well right), and then pulled the second ball left into the water hazard…
After the penalty drop, Stricker was playing 5!!! An unfortunate Snowman was recorded on the card and Sticker was done.
On this Sunday, the guy they call ‘Stricks’, who won the PGA Tour’s comeback player of the year in 2006 and 2007; there was no such comeback…
Moving back to the top of the leaderboard and Perez stood on the 18th fairway trailing John Merrick by 1 shot.
Reminiscent of David Duval 10 years ago, Perez crushed a drive down the middle of the fairway and then a 200 yard 2nd shot to 6 feet, to set up an eagle chance for his maiden win… And like Duval in ’99 Perez sunk the putt to jubilant scenes on the 18th green with his caddie, and other tour players including Tommy Armour III.
For all those who knew of Perez as the ‘Hot Head’, it was a welcome sight to see this talented golfer win his first event after playing exceptional golf for 90 holes.
90 holes in 5 days, and all those birdies… After 198 events, Pat Perez definitely deserved his maiden win.
This week…
Get your ear plugs at the ready… Super Bowl weekend is upon us and that means…
The loudest PGA TOUR event is back… The FBR OPEN, PHEONIX!!!
The tour returns to the TPC of Scottsdale for the FBR Open where last year JB Holmes beat Phil Mickelson in a playoff. This year, 60000 fans will be sitting on the 16th green at the weekend to cheer on the good shots, and boo the bad!
Tune in to find out who gets the loudest cheer on Sunday and captures the fourth title of the year… One thing is for sure, it’s going to be a loud one!!!
DJ - 1/29/09
