It was safe to assume that in a tournament where Jimmy Walker was the defending champion, and the week prior had come within a playoff hole of the win, the vast majority of teams would have Jimmy Walker on their roster. What would be the difference maker in Hawaii was who was on their supporting cast. As Walker proceeded to blow away the field there were a slew of bonus points scattered amongst 5 players that would determine the winner. Enter English, Woodland and Kuchar. All would tie for 3rd and provide the bonus points that would be the difference maker in our top 3 finishers.
It was anybody’s game following Friday’s cut at -2. But then on Saturday night it was clear that 3 front runners had emerged - all ending the day tied at 122. Papa Pilgrim staged a come from behind charge to catch up with TourBall and That’s Wet! and all three would duel it out during Sunday’s final round. All three had Walker and were already tallying up his 20 extra bonus points. It would come down to 3rd place bonus points to determine the winner and exactly how many 3rd place finishers the team had. With a threeway tie for third between Kuchar, Woodland and English there were 15 bonus points up for grabs for third. Kuchar belonged to Papa Pilgrim and despite stellar opening rounds he failed to birdie a single hole on Sunday which would drop him back to 3rd and Papa would end up with third due to Kuchar’s missed opportunities. TourBall was firing on all cylinders and would claim 3rd place bonus points from both Woodland and English as the tie doubled up his 3rd place bonus total. Despite picking 3 top three finishers he would fall short of the victory because he waited until the last round to get Walker some playing time, missing out on his earlier rounds. TourBall took 2nd and is one of the few teams to beat their previos week’s score. The day belonged to newcomer That’s Wet! as all 5 players that he used finished in the top 20. He got bonus points from Walker and English and edged out his closest competition by just 5 points. His last minute substitution of English would prove to be the difference maker and made him the Sony Open Champion. That’s Wet! captures an early season victory, earns $10 in the bank and is sitting in good position for the Winter Segment.
Notables:
Night Putting looked like he was going to be a force to be reckoned with after great opening rounds. Then he started subbing players and everything fell apart. He would fall back to an ignominious 2nd to last place finish.
It looks like some folks are still having trouble remembering to get their picks in on Wednesday night as Chubbs Peterson, Big Easy, Darth Fader, Danny Noonan, Brookline Ballers and Carl Spackler failed to send a full roster into the field. Look for them to bounce back at this week’s Humana Challenge.
Three teams in particular are off to fantastically hot starts after back-to-back top ten finishes. T-Off Killah, BevGin&Tonic, The Gophers and That’s Wet! all looked very sharp with their second top ten finish in a season where top 10s will be crucial to winning a segment. And interestingly enough T-Off Killah did it without an A player in the final two rounds!
Missed opportunities would cost Dr. Vijay’s Antler Spray and Rebels as both would fail to garner bonus points from their third place finisher. English and Woodland would be channeling John Fogerty as they sang Centerfield all week but neither Rebels or Dr. Vijay heard their cries of “put me in, coach.”
Show and Dough gets her first top 10 finish by barely squeaking in with a tie for 10th. She has already shown improvement from last year looks to continue her early success.
Eat My Grind and 2 Footer showed real tenacity out there and came up with stellar T4th and 6th place finishes, respectively. Despite the good finish, Grind would shoot himself in the foot by subbing in Na for Henley in the last round and missed out on 12 points which would have given him sole possession of 3rd. 2 Footer handcuffed himself by not getting Woodland in there sooner and was forced to put him in on Sunday to get his bonus points. However the substitution cost him as Kirk, who was sent to the bench, would have given him a better round and sole possession of 4th.
We’re still looking to have a family showdown as not all teams have had full rosters for a tournament yet. This means that the competition could get fiercer once everyone gets control of their team. A tournament win at that point would be valued just a bit more at that point. So who will be the year’s first winner when everyone sends a full army into the field? The Human Challenge is up next in Palm Springs, California.
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