PGA Tour 2023 - The American Express

[Splatt]

G’day golfers.

My name’s Sean, or Splatt if you will, and I’ll be taking the reigns of the weekly PGA Tour thread. I’m obsessed with the PGA Tour, and if only my golfing skill matched my enthusiasm for the game, then my life would be much different.

This week the Tour is heading to the West Coast of the U.S. and the State formerly run by The Governator, California.

Look at all of that water. I'd lose a whole sleeve of balls in there, I reckon.

The American Express is an interesting tournament for two reasons; firstly, this is one of two pro-ams on the Tour calendar, along with the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am; secondly, this event takes place over three golf courses, with the cut only being made after 54 holes for a final last round.

The three courses are:

·         PGA West (Stadium Course), Par 72 & 7,187 yards

·         La Quinta Country Club, Par 72 & 7,060 yards

·         PGA West (Nicklaus Tournament Course), Par 72 & 7,147 yards

Each pro will be joined by an amateur and play a round at each of the three courses after which the pros who make the cut will play a final round at PGA West. If I’m ever lucky enough to secure a spot in this event as an amateur, I can promise you one thing: the pro I’m paired with isn’t winning. Even the great Tiger Woods wouldn’t have the concentration required when their amateur partner is duffing chips and swearing loudly.

Hudson Swafford is the defending champ after a thrilling final round last year when he shot the tied-low round of the day at 8 under to beat Tom Hoge by 2 shots. However, he will not be back to defend as he left the PGA Tour for LIV.

Field Highlights 

·         Jon Rahm – Coming in hot from his comeback victory over Collin Morikawa at the Sentry Tournament of Champions a few weeks ago, he seems to be dialled in and ready to make his mark on the season.

·         Scottie Scheffler – At world no 2, he’s the highest-ranked player in the field. He finished T-7 of The Sentry a few weeks ago, and I’m sure he’s already itching for his first win of the season.

·         Xander Schauffle –  Expected to return to action after withdrawing from the Sentry Tournament of Champions due to a back injury. The reports so far say he’ll be teeing it up, but he could be a late dropout if his back starts to act up in the practice rounds.

·         Tom Kim – He already has a win under his belt in the fall season event, The Shriners Children’s Open, and finished T-5 at The Sentry in the 2023 opener. Big things are expected from Tom Kim this year.

·         Tony Finau – With back-to-back wins last season, Tony finally seems to have figured out how to finish a golf tournament. I kid, I’m a big fan of his and hopefully he can earn the nickname ‘The Finau Finish’ this year and get a few more trophies for his cabinet.

·         Rickie Fowler – Rickie has had a dip in form the last few years which has found his world ranking drop from 23rd in 2019 to 106 currently. However, he finished last season by hitting a bit of form and even finished T-2 (1 shot back from the lead) at The Zozo in the fall. If his form continues he should see the top end of the leaderboard more often.

The full field list can be found here.

Golfers, that’s it from me.

If you’re interested in the PGA Tour and could do with an extra incentive to follow along with the season, firstly, get involved with the thread here, tell me your predictions and let's follow along with what pans out. Who's taking home the trophy? Who's missing the cut? Who's flying too close to the sun and crashing after a great round the previous day?

Secondly, there’s still time to join the MyGolfSpy Pick ‘Em competition; simply comment in the thread here. The invites started going out today, but there's still plenty of time before the first event which will be the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-AM in the first week of Feb.

 

Cheers,

Splatt

Edited January 18, 2023 by Splatt

[GolfSpy_APH]

Big thanks to @Splatt for taking this on for us! 

I'll be paying close attention as it is good research for fantasy golf season and draft season. 

Going to be a fun watch and should be able to catch a fair bit Saturday before going on holidays Sunday. 

[Jim Shaw]

5 hours ago, Splatt said:

G’day golfers.

My name’s Sean, or Splatt if you will, and I’ll be taking the reigns of the weekly PGA Tour thread. I’m obsessed with the PGA Tour, and if only my golfing skill matched my enthusiasm for the game, then my life would be much different.

This week the Tour is heading to the West Coast of the U.S. and the State formerly run by The Governator, California.

Look at all of that water. I'd lose a whole sleeve of balls in there, I reckon.

The American Express is an interesting tournament for two reasons; firstly, this is one of two pro-ams on the Tour calendar, along with the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am; secondly, this event takes place over three golf courses, with the cut only being made after 54 holes for a final last round.

The three courses are:

·         PGA West (Stadium Course), Par 72 & 7,187 yards

·         La Quinta Country Club, Par 72 & 7,060 yards

·         PGA West (Nicklaus Tournament Course), Par 72 & 7,147 yards

Each pro will be joined by an amateur and play a round at each of the three courses after which the pros who make the cut will play a final round at PGA West. If I’m ever lucky enough to secure a spot in this event as an amateur, I can promise you one thing: the pro I’m paired with isn’t winning. Even the great Tiger Woods wouldn’t have the concentration required when their amateur partner is duffing chips and swearing loudly.

Hudson Swafford is the defending champ after a thrilling final round last year when he shot the tied-low round of the day at 8 under to beat Tom Hoge by 2 shots. However, he will not be back to defend as he left the PGA Tour for LIV.

Field Highlights 

·         Jon Rahm – Coming in hot from his comeback victory over Collin Morikawa at the Sentry Tournament of Champions a few weeks ago, he seems to be dialled in and ready to make his mark on the season.

·         Scottie Scheffler – At world no 2, he’s the highest-ranked player in the field. He finished T-7 of The Sentry a few weeks ago, and I’m sure he’s already itching for his first win of the season.

·         Xander Schauffle –  Expected to return to action after withdrawing from the Sentry Tournament of Champions due to a back injury. The reports so far say he’ll be teeing it up, but he could be a late dropout if his back starts to act up in the practice rounds.

·         Tom Kim – He already has a win under his belt in the fall season event, The Shriners Children’s Open, and finished T-5 at The Sentry in the 2023 opener. Big things are expected from Tom Kim this year.

·         Tony Finau – With back-to-back wins last season, Tony finally seems to have figured out how to finish a golf tournament. I kid, I’m a big fan of his and hopefully he can earn the nickname ‘The Finau Finish’ this year and get a few more trophies for his cabinet.

·         Rickie Fowler – Rickie has had a dip in form the last few years which has found his world ranking drop from 23rd in 2019 to 106 currently. However, he finished last season by hitting a bit of form and even finished T-2 (1 shot back from the lead) at The Zozo in the fall. If his form continues he should see the top end of the leaderboard more often.

The full field list can be found here.

Golfers, that’s it from me.

If you’re interested in the PGA Tour and could do with an extra incentive to follow along with the season, firstly, get involved with the thread here, tell me your predictions and let's follow along with what pans out. Who's taking home the trophy? Who's missing the cut? Who's flying too close to the sun and crashing after a great round the previous day?

Secondly, there’s still time to join the MyGolfSpy Pick ‘Em competition; simply comment in the thread here. The invites started going out today, but there's still plenty of time before the first event which will be the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-AM in the first week of Feb.

 

Cheers,

Splatt

Thanks for taking on this task Splatt..as a side note, I attended the "bob hope desert classic" in 1982. my 1st. professional tournament, lots of good stories and my eyes were "wide open" at all the events that were taking place. 

[tony@CIC]

8 hours ago, Splatt said:

G’day golfers.

My name’s Sean, or Splatt if you will, and I’ll be taking the reigns of the weekly PGA Tour thread. I’m obsessed with the PGA Tour, and if only my golfing skill matched my enthusiasm for the game, then my life would be much different.

This week the Tour is heading to the West Coast of the U.S. and the State formerly run by The Governator, California.

Look at all of that water. I'd lose a whole sleeve of balls in there, I reckon.

The American Express is an interesting tournament for two reasons; firstly, this is one of two pro-ams on the Tour calendar, along with the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am; secondly, this event takes place over three golf courses, with the cut only being made after 54 holes for a final last round.

The three courses are:

·         PGA West (Stadium Course), Par 72 & 7,187 yards

·         La Quinta Country Club, Par 72 & 7,060 yards

·         PGA West (Nicklaus Tournament Course), Par 72 & 7,147 yards

Each pro will be joined by an amateur and play a round at each of the three courses after which the pros who make the cut will play a final round at PGA West. If I’m ever lucky enough to secure a spot in this event as an amateur, I can promise you one thing: the pro I’m paired with isn’t winning. Even the great Tiger Woods wouldn’t have the concentration required when their amateur partner is duffing chips and swearing loudly.

Hudson Swafford is the defending champ after a thrilling final round last year when he shot the tied-low round of the day at 8 under to beat Tom Hoge by 2 shots. However, he will not be back to defend as he left the PGA Tour for LIV.

Field Highlights 

·         Jon Rahm – Coming in hot from his comeback victory over Collin Morikawa at the Sentry Tournament of Champions a few weeks ago, he seems to be dialled in and ready to make his mark on the season.

·         Scottie Scheffler – At world no 2, he’s the highest-ranked player in the field. He finished T-7 of The Sentry a few weeks ago, and I’m sure he’s already itching for his first win of the season.

·         Xander Schauffle –  Expected to return to action after withdrawing from the Sentry Tournament of Champions due to a back injury. The reports so far say he’ll be teeing it up, but he could be a late dropout if his back starts to act up in the practice rounds.

·         Tom Kim – He already has a win under his belt in the fall season event, The Shriners Children’s Open, and finished T-5 at The Sentry in the 2023 opener. Big things are expected from Tom Kim this year.

·         Tony Finau – With back-to-back wins last season, Tony finally seems to have figured out how to finish a golf tournament. I kid, I’m a big fan of his and hopefully he can earn the nickname ‘The Finau Finish’ this year and get a few more trophies for his cabinet.

·         Rickie Fowler – Rickie has had a dip in form the last few years which has found his world ranking drop from 23rd in 2019 to 106 currently. However, he finished last season by hitting a bit of form and even finished T-2 (1 shot back from the lead) at The Zozo in the fall. If his form continues he should see the top end of the leaderboard more often.

The full field list can be found here.

Golfers, that’s it from me.

If you’re interested in the PGA Tour and could do with an extra incentive to follow along with the season, firstly, get involved with the thread here, tell me your predictions and let's follow along with what pans out. Who's taking home the trophy? Who's missing the cut? Who's flying too close to the sun and crashing after a great round the previous day?

Secondly, there’s still time to join the MyGolfSpy Pick ‘Em competition; simply comment in the thread here. The invites started going out today, but there's still plenty of time before the first event which will be the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-AM in the first week of Feb.

 

Cheers,

Splatt

Sean, Thx for taking the lead on the Tour events. The AMEX isn't one of my favorites but  since I've got a tee time for Saturday and Sunday, I'll be checking scores on my phone and  will be rooting for Rickie! 

p.s. The ladies are playing their first event of the year this weekend in Orlando. It'll be interesting to see how Nelly does with that new bag. 

[Splatt]

12 hours ago, tony@CIC said:

Sean, Thx for taking the lead on the Tour events. The AMEX isn't one of my favorites but  since I've got a tee time for Saturday and Sunday, I'll be checking scores on my phone and  will be rooting for Rickie! 

p.s. The ladies are playing their first event of the year this weekend in Orlando. It'll be interesting to see how Nelly does with that new bag. 

Yeah, I'll be keeping a close eye on the LPGA, too. It'll be interesting to see how Nelly goes with her new Taylormade gear and Nike swag 

[GolfSpy_APH]

1 hour ago, Splatt said:

Yeah, I'll be keeping a close eye on the LPGA, too. It'll be interesting to see how Nelly goes with her new Taylormade gear and Nike swag 

Hope it goes better than it did for Rory when he made the same(ish) switch. 

Now I know we don't start the Pick em yet, but if I was I would be going with the following

Finau
Aaron Wise
Davis Riley
Seb Munouz
Cam Young

2 bigger names and 3 darts. With only being able to start each player 10 times meaning 8 of those being majors, players and tour championship can only sprinkle in a few other times where they get used. 

[Splatt]

12 minutes ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Hope it goes better than it did for Rory when he made the same(ish) switch. 

Now I know we don't start the Pick em yet, but if I was I would be going with the following

Finau
Aaron Wise
Davis Riley
Seb Munouz
Cam Young

2 bigger names and 3 darts. With only being able to start each player 10 times meaning 8 of those being majors, players and tour championship can only sprinkle in a few other times where they get used. 

Great picks. I love the thought exercise to get the Pick 'Em juices flowing.

I'd probably go:

Cam Young
Tom Kim
Seb Munoz
Lee Hodges
Adam Hadwin

Same theory. Couple of biggies, couple of roughies.

Edited January 19, 2023 by Splatt

[GolfSpy_APH]

3 minutes ago, Splatt said:

Great picks. I love the thought exercise to get the Pick 'Em juices flowing.

I'd probably go:

Cam Young
Tom Kim
Seb Munoz
Lee Hodges
Adam Hadwin

Same theory. Couple of biggies, couple of roughies.

Hadwin stood out to me. He had a pretty good year last year and I like that pick a lot. I really wanted to pick Tom Kim... but I also have other events I would want to pick him for. It is going to be tough!

[Splatt]

33 minutes ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Hadwin stood out to me. He had a pretty good year last year and I like that pick a lot. I really wanted to pick Tom Kim... but I also have other events I would want to pick him for. It is going to be tough!

It's definitely going to be tough. It'll be easy to get caught out picking the same bunch of golfers, thinking that 8 picks is a lot, but It'll run out quickly

[Splatt]

A bit of a birdie fest on day one.
Here's the a snapshot of the leaderboard. The full leaderboard can be found here.

 

Rahm played like his usual self, just a cruisy 8 under to start the tournament. Safe to say he's on a bit of a heater.

Taylor Montgomery continued his recent great form.
Sam Burns' putter was on fire, he didn't look like missing anything.

And, the overnight leader Davis Thompson, what else is there to say except back to back eagles!

 

 

 

 

[GolfSpy_APH]

16 minutes ago, Splatt said:

A bit of a birdie fest on day one.
Here's the a snapshot of the leaderboard. The full leaderboard can be found here.

 

Rahm played like his usual self, just a cruisy 8 under to start the tournament. Safe to say he's on a bit of a heater.

Taylor Montgomery continued his recent great form.
Sam Burns' putter was on fire, he didn't look like missing anything.

And, the overnight leader Davis Thompson, what else is there to say except back to back eagles!

 

 

 

 

Man Taylor Montgomery has been tearing it up this season. 

Watched the highlights this morning and hopefully will catch some Saturday action as well! 

Nice to see a leaderboard with some big names, some young guys and a bunch more. Good to see!

Thanks for the recap too. Great to see and with scores this low should be a fun round 2.

[Jim Shaw]

unreal to see these numbers being shot by the best in the world. I have played all these courses, not from the tips mind you, and never had a sniff at 68,69. Guess what, these guys are good lol...

[Splatt]

6 hours ago, Jim Shaw said:

unreal to see these numbers being shot by the best in the world. I have played all these courses, not from the tips mind you, and never had a sniff at 68,69. Guess what, these guys are good lol...

Who would have thought? haha.

I'd love to see a pro take on one of my local courses and absolutely tear it apart

[GolfSpy_APH]

Love seeing Tom Kim continue his good play. Just such a likeable person and so much talent. Been fun watching him ascend over the last year!

[Splatt]

29 minutes ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Love seeing Tom Kim continue his good play. Just such a likeable person and so much talent. Been fun watching him ascend over the last year!

Hard to think Tom won't notch up a couple of wins this season. I think he'll be the first player I'll exhaust my 8 picks on

[Splatt]

Davis Thompson yesterday: 2 Eagles, pretty good round.

Davis Thompson today: Hold my beer

Edited January 21, 2023 by Splatt

[GolfSpy_APH]

I dream of a day where i could go 3 birdies and 2 eagles in 5 days... Wow

[RollingGreens]

Tight leader board at the top to start off today! A few mistakes and you can fall out of the top 20 quickly 

[GolfSpy_APH]

Hopefully we see this as a trend for the season!

[RollingGreens]

It’s definitely a positive. Not sure I like seeing it this weekend playing out with 3 different courses…  I do like this mix of players with top and lower tier filling out the top half of the leader board. 

[Jim Shaw]

so, I feel the need to tell this story about attending the "bob hope desert classic" in 1982.

My friend lived on one of the courses they were playing that week and it was the "host" course, he also sponsored a page in the official program so was able to get special privelages to the social events after the round of golf.

Every night after golf there was a social, most of the pros and the celebrities would show up, have a few cocktails, tell stories etc. etc. This one particular night I remember, some of the celebrities (and I am showing my age here, Johnny Bench, Jack Lemmon, Charlie Pride, Joey Bishop etc etc) the energy in the room was palpable, it was so much fun especially for a golf geek like me, anyway the room was rocking and all of a sudden it was like someone had taken a pin and popped the balloon, like the whole room came to a stop, no one was talking whatever. so I looked around to see what the heck was happening and low an behold "the king" Arnold Palmer had just walked into the room... 

He let out one of his famous smiles and thumbs up and the room exploded again... It is a moment I will never forget..

It has happened to me once since, a hockey story, a different story a different thread. 

[RollingGreens]

Rahm is really distancing himself today, trying to recapture the #1 OWGR points! He seemed a bit peeved on the no laying up podcast about how the new points are effecting him and his rating

[GolfSpy_APH]

11 minutes ago, RollingGreens said:

Rahm is really distancing himself today, trying to recapture the #1 OWGR points! He seemed a bit peeved on the no laying up podcast about how the new points are effecting him and his rating

That was a stellar pod. And as he said if he just keeps winning it won't matter haha

[RollingGreens]

2 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

That was a stellar pod. And as he said if he just keeps winning it won't matter haha

couldn’t agree more. They are pushing on some solid golf content. Kudos to Rahm for being accessible and answering everything pretty honestly. Didn’t sound like he beat around too many bushes with his answers.  

[Splatt]

2 hours ago, Jim Shaw said:

so, I feel the need to tell this story about attending the "bob hope desert classic" in 1982.

My friend lived on one of the courses they were playing that week and it was the "host" course, he also sponsored a page in the official program so was able to get special privelages to the social events after the round of golf.

Every night after golf there was a social, most of the pros and the celebrities would show up, have a few cocktails, tell stories etc. etc. This one particular night I remember, some of the celebrities (and I am showing my age here, Johnny Bench, Jack Lemmon, Charlie Pride, Joey Bishop etc etc) the energy in the room was palpable, it was so much fun especially for a golf geek like me, anyway the room was rocking and all of a sudden it was like someone had taken a pin and popped the balloon, like the whole room came to a stop, no one was talking whatever. so I looked around to see what the heck was happening and low an behold "the king" Arnold Palmer had just walked into the room... 

He let out one of his famous smiles and thumbs up and the room exploded again... It is a moment I will never forget..

It has happened to me once since, a hockey story, a different story a different thread. 

That's incredible

[RollingGreens]

Harry Higgs with a great showing today, hopefully a good step to regaining his tour card. Fresh off the shorties classic!

[Splatt]

4 minutes ago, RollingGreens said:

couldn’t agree more. They are pushing on some solid golf content. Kudos to Rahm for being accessible and answering everything pretty honestly. Didn’t sound like he beat around too many bushes with his answers.  

NLU just seem to be getting better and better. I'm excited to see what other guests they get on this year. Rahm sounded like he was a regular listener and I think some of the other pros are as well.

Rahm will be world number 1 very soon if he keep playing like this

[Splatt]

Solid back 9 from Shelton

[Dweed]

On 1/18/2023 at 6:14 AM, GolfSpy_APH said:

Big thanks to @Splatt for taking this on for us! 

I

Good luck with this endeavor and hope you get as much out of it that I'm sure we will, following your inputs.

[Splatt]

Going to be an interesting final round.

The way Davis Thompson has been playing this week, I think he'll give Rahm a run for his money