The sea was angry that day my friends. Like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli. When the Farmers Insurance Open kicked off on Thursday morning the weather could not have been more perfect. But the golfing gods had other plans in store for the final round as a marine layer rolled in on Sunday bringing with it blistering winds and sideways rain. Thirty fantasy teams registered full rosters last week while the league's remaining seven must have joined Speith in Asia for the Singapore Open. By Sunday noon there was a blood bath taking place atop the leaderboard as Torrey Pines played 6 strokes over par for the tournament's final round. The South Course was strewn with bogeys and broken umbrellas as casualties and caddies littered the fairways. After Phil, Jason and Rickie all failed to make the cut - along with a Patrick Reed WD - it came down to a 5 man race: Where Eagles Dare, Tiger Would Putt, Jowls, Haney's Got A Gun and Freeside Links. The weather pushed things into Monday finish but after lots of wind and only a few red numbers a champion finally emerged.Where Eagles Dare had never been in this position before - going to bed on a Saturday night with the 54 hole lead. Mind racing; nerves racked; Eagles braced himself for the final round test that was to come. He'd endured a grueling 2015 season - going winless through 36 weeks. He'd come close so many times but was 0-4 when trying to close out his Top 3 finishes. But after a rejuvenating offseason and countless hours spent analyzing stats Eagles was determined to end the drought. He marched out on Sunday with an 8 point lead over Tiger Would Putt but his main advantage was that he was one of only a handful of teams left with a full roster! The cut line had left most of the field battered and bruised as teams limped out there with three, sometimes two, players to a team. Weather delays finally suspended play until Monday and so Eagles would have to endure one more restless night while sleeping with a lead. The final groups hunkered down to wait out the storm while Eagles contemplated his tenuous lead. When they returned to action early the next morning the sun was shining but the wind was still howling. Tiger Would Putt needed just Jimmy Walker to hold on to his one shot lead and they'd both share victory at the Farmers. But it was not to be as Walker faded down the stretch. Where Eagles Dare watched it all from the club house alongside Brandt. One more bogey from Walker on 16 put the final nail in the coffin for Tiger Would Putt and before play had even concluded the fantasy course the result was in: Where Eagles Dare had finally won his long sought after championship. This is a huge weight off of Eagles' back; something he needed to achieve early on in the season. Welcome to the winners circle Where Eagles Dare - it was a daring win indeed.
Winner's Press Conference
Second Place
Haney's Got A Gun could not have asked for more out of his squad last week. The Artist formally
known by many a team name popped back on the radar this week with a solid rise in the ranks to grab his first Top 3 performance in well over a year. Hell, he only had 1 Top 10 in all of 2015! But this Top 3 is life breathing for Haney's Got A Gun as it was just what the doctor ordered. The long time veteran is currently sitting middle of the pack but isn't too far back to send in a strike. He's just 100 points back from the lead and if he put together a full on frontal assault starting in the next couple weeks he could storm right back towards the top. He's been making bold picks as of late and this one paid off for him. There might be an expiration date on the effectiveness of such rogue picks but if anyone can pull it off it's the Artist.
Third Place
This is exactly the solid start that Talkeetna98 was hoping for to start the season as he collects his
second Top 3 of 2016. It was a mammoth effort by the wily veteran as he made significant gains late in the tournament to sneak into a 3rd place finish. This is just the kind of confidence boost that he needs as he heads into Phoenix this week in hopes of successfully defending his 2015 championship. Interestingly enough, the week before the Phoenix Open last year he finished in 4th. Perhaps this year's 3rd place finish the week before the Waste Management Phoenix Open is an omen of things to come in Scottsdale. It's a tall order as no one has yet been able to defend but if there's anyone who can do it its Talkeetna98.
Notables:
This was a landmark week for Da Hoffa as the rookie snagged his first career Top 10. Da Hoffa managed to accumulate enough points for a T4 finish and all without an A player in the final two rounds. After his entire A group missed the cut he marched ahead with Snedeker. Not subbing once he nursed his cut-line wounds and made a valiant stand to make the recap.
Hogan's Heros finally popped his head above water with his first Top 10 of the season. He snagged a T4 finish at Torrey Pines as the former league heavyweight has gotten off to an uncharacteristically slow start. Making moves every round he subbed his way into this one after losing every single bench player. He barely survived the cut with a full roster and got a solid finish in tough weather conditions. Look for more of these types of finishes for Hogans.
The trend for first Top 10 of 2016 continued with TourBall as the veteran made a move late to garner 50 final round points and get into a tie for 6th. He's looking to improve upon a less than stellar performance in 2015 and if he can keep racking up Top 10s he'll be in good position to make a run at a Segment. He also lost all his bench players in the cut line massacre but staid the course. He'll need to prove he can return to the Top 10 though when everyone's at full strength.If you'd been wondering where the hot shot Tomte was lately worry no more. After an opening runner up finish in week one she disappeared from the Top 10 for two whole weeks - a strange occurrence for the Swede(ish). We'd been so used to her running the tables as of late that it seemed strange to see her name conspicuously absent from the north side of the leaderboard. But two Top 10s and 1 Top 3 is still a great start to the season and she's tied for 8th overall.
Night Putting finished with 142 points and just two points behind his arch rival Tomte (a familiar spot to be in for the veteran after 2015's Summer Segment catastrophe). He's started out the Segment with 2 Top 10s in 4 tournaments and that's more than respectable. He'll have to press on the gas though if he's going to be in contention for the Winter as his current 25th spot just won't do. He's proven he's got what it takes before so expect to see more top finishes for the nocturnal flat stick user.
Papa Pilgrim is certainly making a case for a top favorite in the Winter Segment race as he's now accumulated 3 Top 10s in the first 4 tournaments. His standalone 9th place finish at Torrey Pines came on the back of a massive Sunday/Monday charge of 60 points. The veteran has been holding steady within the overall standings so far but his low end Top 10 finishes will need to become higher up the ranks if he wants to make a move. There's plenty of time to make something happen so look for a Top 3 finish from the Pilgrim in the coming weeks.
 |
| 2016 Earnings |
actually snatch victory away from Eagles in the last hour. It was hugely in his favor when they suspended play on Sunday as it gave hope of clearer weather for his man Jimmy Walker to finish in. But this was not to be as the winds remained fierce and Jimmy just couldn't hold it together. He melted away and with him he took
2 Footer's new sponsor Nestli Pure Life supplied him with all the free water he could drink during the Farmers Insurance Open but even that wasn't enough to finish in the Top 10. However, the good news for 2 Footer is that he's taken over the lead from Show & Dough after calling her out in his press conference last week. It'll be up to The Show how she responds this week in Scottsdale.
Thus ends the Top 10 streak for Short Strokes. It was a good run with 3 in a row to start the season but he was absolutely demolished after Friday's cut. He suffered major casualties - losing his entire A and C groups in one fell swoop. Throw in half of his B group who didn't make the cut and he had to soldier on with just two players for the rest of the weekend. He missed the mark by a lot - finishing in 25th place - but he's still sitting pretty in 3rd place overall.
NEXT WEEK the boys head to the desert of Scottsdale, AZ for the Waste Management Phoenix Open. They'll be trying their hand at the Stadium Course and the famed par 3 Coliseum hole where Tiger famously aced his first ever go round on this hole back in 1997. There'll only be once course in play this time so no horses for courses on different days this week. We might expect to see less subbing because of this but sometimes people just get trigger happy and feel the need to sub even without provocation. But whatever Talkeetna98 did here last year he'll try and repeat to become the first defending champ of the First Timers League. There's been a bevvy of dropped scores throughout the first two weeks so it'd be fairly damaging if anyone dropped another. The standings are starting to take shape for the Winter Segment but for those teams near the bottom there's no need to panic as each Segment starts a new race. Time will tell if the missing teams from last week made it back to the US in time to register a roster for the Phoenix Open but either way it's sure to be a brawl. See you in the desert.
No comments:
Post a Comment