Well hello there… pour yourself three fingers of the good stuff and sit on down. If you have been on a bender since watching Bryson shoot one of the best rounds in golf history I don’t blame you. Now we go to New Jersey where Henrik Stenson of the Majesticks is the defending champion. All eyes are on Bryson this week though as he is coming off 61 and 58 from last weekend. The announcer promptly claims that he credits the new driver saying Bryson said his misses found the middle of the fairway. He promptly hits it wide right off the first tee and has to hit a provisional. They TV just showed Bryson walking to his ball and a car was driving by. This doesn’t bode well.
The camera then shows DJ hitting a wayward iron that hits a woman in the head What is going on in Jersey other than crime on the docks?
Bryson is in a parking lot right now. He is dropping in a parking lot. Can someone move the Big Doge truck that is interfering with Bryson’s third shot? He takes a penalty and his third shot comes up short in the very thick rough. His 4th shot lands a foot from the pin. He will start with a bogey that could have been worse. He was muttering about the rule considering he hit a provisional but someone found his fall in chest high weeds somehow. What a weird way to start. Henrik putts from across the green and it hits the pin and stays out. Craziness.
Charl Schwatrzel kicked his bag and broke his toe last week. That is why he had to quit last week. Haha! Temper temper.
There are goats on the course, but little goats. Range Goats are having fun with the little buggers. Pooping all over, get out of here with that.
So weird day for Phil Mickelson today after the excerpts from the sports gambler Billy Walter’s book came out and it was revealed that he gambled as much as $1 billion dollars last decade. Billy Walter’s is the best sport gambler of all time probably and everyone in gambling in Las Vegas knows who he was. He was also the man that got into trouble for insider trading and Phil because of his friendship was affiliated with that financial crime. The book is going to be crazy, but for a rich guy like Phil it really wasn’t that much money, but the public will love the juicy details. Phil will probably get mocked for it, but in an age of big ballers I find that funny. It’s called make $60 million a year for 20 years and bet what you want.
New Jersey is the garden state and the grass is quite lush. It must be the goat fertilizer.
Jason Kokrak is out to an early lead at 3 under through 8. The surprise is that Bryson is 3 over and lucky to be so. Smash is in the team lead early. The course is paying a bit difficult despite the rain that they have had. There are only 11 players under par at this juncture.
The Majesticks are at 1 under and tied 3rd right now in the team competition. Ian Poulter and Laurie Canter are both at 1 under. Tough course.
We have an Abe Ancer sighting. I has been a tough year for him, but he is tied with Kokrak for the lead and Kevin Na has joined them. Beautiful blu sky day and not a lot of wind and it is playing pretty difficult out there.
Dj and Cam have joined the group at 3 under. Dean Bermeister is solo second at 2 under and then there is a group at 1 under. A lot of players over par today.
Charels Howell III aka Chucky 3 Sticks is at 5 under now with Cam Smith just one shot behind. I figured the Crushers might be ahead today but with Bryson driving the bus instead of Chucky. Golf is so interesting.
The Crushers are at 6 under and Ripper is at 5 under.
Cam Smith took relief because he was next to a house. These boys are hitting it all over the yard today. He took a drop onto a cart path and rather than taking a drop into the rough he hit a fairway wood off the cart path and he picked it clean and advanced it up to just short of the green. Wonderful skill. He chips it to 8 feet and makes birdie from a house and a cart path.
Patrick Reed, DJ, and Carlos Ortiz are at 2 under.
Bryson hits a tee shot and someone yells “Baba-Booey” and David Feherty without missing a beat says “There’s always one idiot.” Precisely.
Old Man Mickelson is at 1 under and has a look at birdie. He is in a tie for 8th.
The Majesticks are in 12th. Well Damn.
Charles Howell makes birdie on the 248 yard par 3 on 16. He is back to 5 under and your leader by one over Cam Smith.
Two shot swing, Howell makes bogey on the par 5 and Cam makes a birdie so they have swapped spots at 5 and 4 under.
Bubba Watson has had a rough year coming back from injury, but today he is getting around nicely and is at 1 under. He has named his team the Range Goats and had a good marketing year, and the team is doing well but that has largely been Talor Gooch and Harold Varner’s doing. Today Bubba is the low man on his team, and good to see.
Charles Howell makes a lengthy par putt to finish at 4 under with a 67 on the par 71 track.
Mickelson missed that short birdie putt on the par 5 18th and then made a bogey, to fall back to even par, but he is in close again with a birdie look on 2. Phil makes it for a one under 70 and he is in a tie for 9th.
Cam Smith is weird in that it hasn’t felt like he has hit the ball that well, but he scores so damn well. The short game and recovery shots make it seem like there just aren’t any bad rounds. They showed a stat that he is under par on 28 of the last 30 rounds. He just salvages great scores and today is no different with an opening 66. He isn’t the longest hitter, but he can just get the ball in the hole. Cam literally gave his driver away to a kid last week.
In the team event, Ripper are minus 4 and leading. This is quite a difference from last week where Torque touched 50 under on Sunday. Singer is at 3 under on the back of Branden Grace’s two under round.
Patrick Reed is at 3 under and solo third right now at 3 under. He has played the weekend great all year so it will be interesting to see what he can do with a great start.
Well hello there… pour yourself three fingers of the good stuff and sit on down. Welcome to moving day at Bedminster. Everyone is chasing Aussie Cam Smith. The man with the mullet and the hot putter.
So Phil tees off and lands in some rough and a member of the crowd referencing Phil’s gambling story this week yells “I’ll give you a grand if you can get out of that.” Phil turns around and says “I’d take it, but I’m not a gambling man.” The man truly is a man of the people. He is the modern day Arnold Palmer. Brilliant stuff. The crowd is very loud following him.
Cam hits his tee shot into the pond on number 3. His hook is back and that will likely cost him his lead by the end of his hole. He goes rough to rough and has short sided himself as well. He makes double bogey.
Anirban Lahiri is 3 under today, but like yesterday not a lot of guys going really low. Deep rough and big slopes will do that.
Charles Howell, Patrick Reed, and Cam Smith all dropped shots on the 3rd hole.
The man on the move today is Old Man Mickelson. The legend Phil Mickelson is in first place at 3 under with Cam Smith and Chucky 3 Sticks.
Anirban makes another birdie from distance. The man has a hot putter for sure and he is now 1 under. 4 under on the day and I bet he is closing in on 100 feet of putts made already through the first third of the day.
Reed and Chucky 3 Sticks bounce back with birdies and are back at 3 under. Only one of them is a 6 time major champion and over 50. Phil the thrill having one of his best weeks in LIV golf so far.
Phil tweeted out that Bryson stole his jump from his first Masters win when he was giving Bryson congratulations on his 58 last week.
Anirban with another birdie- 5 under through 6 holes. 59 watch again? Surely not….
Branden Grace goes to 3 under par and a tie for first. However, Cam makes birdie on 6 and takes the lead again at 4 under.
Singer leads at 7 under in the team, two shots ahead of Crushers and HyFlyers.
So the commentators had a lengthy conversation about the Ryder Cup and the captain’s picks. They said that it is the best event in our game. I am definitely in the minority here, but I just don’t care for the Ryder cup that much. I don’t think wrapping ourselves in patriotism and yelling and acting like fools is that interesting. I think it is manufactured drama. I will not be writing about the event here at the CTPC but I will probably watch a bit, but it is not must see tv for me. Golf is about sportsmanship and the sportsmanship in that event has been lost. Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin in 1969 were a nice example of sportsmanship, but since the 1991 War at the Shore when the bedlam largely began the event has devolved for me. The Masters is the greatest event in golf and I won’t have any further conversation about it. I have been offered Ryder Cup tickets and turned them down and lost again in the lottery for Augusta a couple weeks ago and it was a sad day. I put my money where my mouth is, but back to LIV.
Bubba Watson has joined Cam Smith in the lead at 4 under par. He has his range goats in a tie for the team lead as well. Bubba leading by example. However, Cam has reached the par 5 in 2 so he is gonna have a chance to make birdie.
Bubba has a kick in for another birdie at 11, he will join Cam at 5 under.
Anirban shot 30 on his first 9 holes. This course is playing hard but Anirban is now 3 under and closing on the leaders as he is in a tie for 3rd.
Mickelsen makes birdie on the par 5 and he moves one shot back of our leaders in solo 3rd place. What a week for Phil. He is joined by Abraham Ancer at 4 under. I expected bigger things this year from Ancer. He has just been a middle of the road performer and I thought he could be one of the breakout stars. There is still time to finish strong for Abraham.
The wind is getting quite gusty, but a very unique part of LIV golf is that everybody gets to play the same conditions. There is no early start vs late start luck. It is a nice equalizer.
Anirban makes another birdie. He is 7 under today through 11 holes and making putts from all over. He is tied with Phil, Abraham, and Bubba after Bubba dropped a shot.
Phil birdies 11 and is tied at 5 under with Cam Smith. He is relentless this week. Publish more gambling articles. The man is fired up and going low. His HiFlyers are leading by 2 shots over the Range Goats and Stinger.
Cam Smith makes a winding 20 footer for a birdie and moves one shot ahead of Mickelson. His putter is just magic. Bubba, Anirban, and Patrick Reed are currently at 4 under.
Phil makes another sidewinder for birdie and he is tied for the lead again. What a great round of golf.
Cam can’t get up and down from the bunker on 14 and drops a shot, meanwhile Phil has a putt for the outright lead but it drifts past on the right side. The lead is 6 under and they are tied at the top again.
Phil makes bogey and drops back to 5 under after coming up short on his approach on 14.
Cam makes a birdie on the Par 5 and is now at 7 under and has a two shot lead over Phil who is sitting solo second right now. Cam hits a dart into the par 3 16th and will have another birdie putt. When he hits fairways, he is so tough to catch because his short game is so good.
Bryson is 5 over for the tournament after being unconscious last week. Golf goes in cycles just like life.
Cam Smith buries another birdie putt. A sharp breaker and he pours it right in the middle. He has a 3 shot lead now.
Cam snap hooks his next drive though so he is scrambling again. He hits it into a gated area and he is behind the outhouses. He will get relief from a temporary immovable obstruction.
Dean Burmester is at 5 after making a crazy long birdie putt with about 15 feet of break. He shrugs as if to say I will take it. He is tied second with Phil now.
Anirban makes another birdie and he is at 5 under and tied for 2nd now. He has the 9th yet to play. He landed in the sand and he left the bunker shot short and it rolled back into the sand. Poor end to a fantastic round of golf.
The cheers for Phil are crazy. He just teed off and there were screams and hollers. They love Lefty.
Cam has a 3 shot lead and is playing the 18th which is a par 5. Can he get the lead to 4 with a birdie?
Phil lips out a birdie putt on his last hole. Cam has a look at birdie, and he leads by 4. He just never misses a putt it seems. When he drives it in the fairway, I think he is the best player in the world.
Cam is at 9 under and has a 4 shot lead while Stinger and Ripper are tied for the lead at 11 under….See you tomorrow.
Well hello there… pour yourself three fingers of the good stuff and sit on down.
111 years ago today the finest golfer that ever lived was born in Stephenville Texas. He might not of had the greatest career due to the war, accidents, and transportation challenges, but no one not even Tiger Woods has ever won 8 of 11 majors. Those are sandwiched around a car wreck that damn near killed him. These weren’t self-inflicted issues like infidelity or drug use. At the peak of his powers no one was more unbeatable than Ben Hogan, but he is already being forgotten, but he shouldn’t be. The players that know are getting very old in the tooth, and will soon be gone. Bobby Jones and Byron Nelson retired early, Sam Snead had the longest prime, Jack had the best career, Arnold made the game popular, Tiger had the most potential, but Ben Hogan was more unbeatable than anyone. No one has won every major they played in a year except Ben 70 years ago. Only Craig Wood, Arnie, Jack, Tiger, and Jordan Spieth have even had a chance to win the first three majors. Hogan did it twice, in 1951 and 1953, but he only travelled to Scotland in 1953 for the Open Championship (British Open) which he won. After his accident in 1948 he never played the PGA again until late in his career because of the 36 hole days in late summer in the match play format, but of course before his accident he won two of the last three PGA’s including the last one he had played. Happy Birthday legend, we mortals will not forget you.
Cam Smith pushed a drive right off the first. Well that is new. Cam has a 4 shot lead to start over Burmester and Phil. Reed, Lahiri, and Bubba are one shot back. Cam makes a bogey and the lead is down to 3 shots. Mickelson left his birdie putt two inches short and it was heading in the cup. Lost an opportunity there for sure.
The rough is quite thick, to the point of not being able to see some of the player’s shoes when they are in there. That is such a good and underrated weapon for golf course defense. I wish more courses would make it penal. The fairway is cur because that is where the ball should be hit, and if you can’t do that then you should be punished. I’d like to think that it must be a layup so that it plays like a British Open pot bunker. The player should lay up and have to get up and down to save par. The closer to the green you get, the deeper and thicker the rough. No need to mess with the golf ball. Just make it penal.
Cam goes right again off the tee and into the penalty area. It is not good in there. Something to keep an eye on. Cam makes bogey and Phil and Burmester do as well. The 3rd playing difficult. The lead is still three.
Listening to HV3 call himself a pussy was interesting live tv. It did it loudly and forcefully.
Phil makes birdie on 4 and the lead is down to 2 shots.
On the next hole Phil drove it left and then hit a utility club 144 yards out of the deep rough to reach the green. Feherty made the observation that he can hit the club 240 yards. He gauged the lie perfectly.
Burmester who has been observed smiling all day playing with Phil and Cam was about to hit and someone yells in his backswing “Go Phil.” He manages to stop and back off but they yell for the guy to be quiet. He then hits it over the green and is overheard saying what an asshole. Welcome to New Jersey Dean. They are plentiful in the garden state. Cam had to back off as well. Let’s jump into this. This happened to Mardy Fish at the Tahoe event on the last hole when someone yelled and he had a bad swing. The guy was betting on Curry. Curry makes an eagle or something on the last hole but he was trailing going into the last hole. Some people were saying that it should be an instant retee for Fish. Since it wasn’t the normal players but celebrities it faded away, but this will happen again and perhaps is the day. How many Jersey bettors are betting on Phil the gambler today? When these gamblers start affecting the product, people will have to reevaluate what is going on. No one is talking about this but they should be.
Phil left another drive waaay left. He will not win today if he can’t find the fairway. The rough is too tough.
Boisterous crowd is a polite way of saying morons yelling while every drive is in the air and every putt is tracking towards the hole. I’m about to go mute mode due to assholes….
Cam makes his first 20 footer of the day to get back to 8 under.
Phil then hits his tee shot in the water on 7. He has not played well. He then hits his next one in the water. He is hitting 5 off the tee Tin Cup style. At least this will shut up the Jersey Boys. He almost did it again. I would try a different club…. He’s done. He makes a quintuple bogey 8 on a par 3.
5 shot lead for Cam and there just isn’t a lot to say here today. Noone can seem to make a run. The team title is also 5 strokes and it looks like Cam might get his double today. All Aussie all the time. The drama has been sucked out of this place after Phil’s 8.
Cam makes another birdie and he is up 6 with 9 holes to play.
Cam’s approach on the 10th to a foot. Another birdie. Ho-hum. No! Damn he is great. That is incredible stuff.
Ripper has a 10 shot lead. Cam has a 6 shot lead. Marc Leishman is at 4 under and really supporting Cam in their quest to get their first team title.
My Majesticks are now 30 shots back of Ripper GC. God save the queen.
Ripper ahs a 12 shot lead and the record is 14. Cam is 7 strokes up and the record was Bryson winning by 6 shots last week I believe. History and history possible still.
Anirban Lahiri is in solo second place right now at 5 under.
The drama is for second in the team competition. The Crushers and HyFlyers are tied for second at 9 under. Cameron Tringale bogeyed his last to drop the Hyflyers into a tie with the Range Goats and Stinger at 8 under, but Brandon Steele bogeyed a short putt moments later at they will finish off the podium with those last two short putt misses. Expensive misses.
That’s it. Ripper wins by 11 shots and Cam by 7. We will see you in a few weeks.
Insightfully Yours,
G Spot Johnson