2015 Honda Classic - Weekend Update

It's been an interesting few days at the 2015 Honda Classic, but unfortunately the weekday rounds have not concluded yet. The main headline today was the bad weather, which suspended play for a total of four hours, so a good portion of the field hasn't finished their second round.  As it stands now though, Brenden Steele is the leader with a score of 8-under (-8) and a two shot lead over a looming Patrick Reed. Steele shot an impressive 6-under Thursday and only completed four holes today, making birdies on all of them. The cut is also lingering around the +4 mark.

There were a total of three delays today. The first was at 8:23 this morning and was due to heavy rain. After about two hours, play resumed only to be called off 20 minutes later due to nearby lightning. Play resumed for the final time at about 12:30 and was then called off at sundown due to darkness.

Considering Thursday's round, PGA National did play tough. The low round may have been a 65, but the 19 players out of 144 who were under par weren't in a bad place. The field scoring average was a 72.28 but peaked to nearly 74 during the afternoon. Crosswinds were much to blame for this high scores, along with the difficulty of the course.

Aside from the weather, the biggest headline of the week was how everyone's favourite going into the tournament, Rory McIlroy, has been playing. Rory sits at 7-over and is likely to miss the cut this week. This will be the first cut Rory's missed since the 2014 Irish Open and this has some critics already speculating about what his play will be like at the upcoming Masters. Personally, Rory's human after all, so he's entitled to a bad week once and a while. I wouldn't think too much of it. 

Another story going around is that of Patrick Reed, who carded a total of 12 birdies (the most of any player) so far resulting in back to back 67's on days when shooting under par was considered good. His combined score on the first nine of both his rounds is a 6-under.

Finally, here is how our picks are doing,

1) Rory McIlroy: T103 at 7-over (+7)
2) Dustin Johnson: T135 at 12-over (+12)
3) Graeme McDowell: T85 at 5-over (+5)

Not good at all, but it looks like GMac has the best chances of just barely making the cut. The Irishman did make an excellent eagle on Thursday however, holing a 53-foot putt for the -2.

Stay tuned Sunday for our Results post to see who ended up winning,


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Brendan Steele is in a very good spot at 8-under (Mark Randall, Sun Sentinel)

2015 Honda Classic Picks

The PGA Tour is back in Florida again for the start of their "Florida Swing". It's starts off this week on Thursday with the Honda Classic which is being played at the Champion Course at PGA National Golf Club, in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Historically, this tournament has held one of the larger purses on the tour over the years; at one point, holding a larger purse than the Masters at one point in time. Today, the Honda Classic boasts a 6.2 million dollar purse and for a good reason, they're playing a pretty tough course this week.

The Champion Course brings water to play on a majority of their holes, which from the start is enough to intimidate most players, at least the non-pros. But what worries all players is the last few finishing holes, nicknamed "The Bear Trap". It consists of holes 15, 16, and 17, and is considered one of the toughest and most demanding set of holes on Tour. These holes demand accuracy over distance, and confidence and commitment to your game are keys to success in the Trap. On the other hand, the Trap makes for some exciting golf to watch. It's probably going to come down right to the last hole this week.

With that in mind, here are a few of our picks this week.

1) Rory McIlroy
2) Dustin Johnson
3) Graeme McDowell

There's just no counting Rory out of anything these days. That, plus his good finishes here over the last few years, makes him a good pick. Dustin's game has been really well, despite his leave of absence, so he's a good pick too. Lastly, you know we're picking GMac whenever he's playing.

This is one of the more exciting tournaments to watch on tour so be sure to check out Weekend Update post, to see who's leading and who's been cut.

-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

 A summary of "The Bear Trap"

Fire at Eagle's Nest Golf Club in Vaughan

Here's a local news story that's currently happening in the GTA

Early this morning a fire broke out at Eagle's Nest Golf Club in Vaughan, Ontario. The fire is said to have started around 4 A.M. in a large maintenance shed and had engulfed the entire building by the time firefighters arrived.

The fire was put out within a few hours, however the cause of the fire is still unknown. Luckily though, no one was present in the building at the time and firefighters managed to prevent the fire from spreading to a nearby building.

Being a maintenance building, it housed certain fertilizers and other chemicals used to maintain the golf course, but they were deemed to pose no risk after an investigation.

Eagle's Nest placed 32 out of 100 on Scoregolf's 2014 Top 100 Courses in Canada ranking and has been praised over the years for it's difficulty as well as it's excellent conditions and natural features.

Hopefully the fire won't affect the start of their 2015 season. Stay tuned for more updates also on this story.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

James Hahn Wins the 2015 Northern Trust Open

Well four rounds of play just weren't enough to decide the winner at this week's Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club. But after a three man playoff consisting of Paul Casey and Dustin Johnson, James Hahn emerged victorious, after three holes of play. The trio finished the tournament at 6-under.

This is the South-Korean born's first win on the PGA Tour and only his 4th professional win, his last coming in 2012 on the Nationwide Tour (the year which he graduated from it). He also played on the Canadian Tour for a bit and won twice on it, both in 2009. More recently however, he became known around the world for dancing the "Gangnam Style" dance after holing a putt at the 2013 Waste Management Phoenix Open. His public image is sure to change now.

Like we said before, Riviera played tough this week. It's not too often, aside from majors perhaps, that we see a winning score this high. Still, some good scores were shot over the weekend and a score of a few shots under par or more pretty much guaranteed you a good finish.

For Dustin Johnson, it certainly looks like he's broken off that rust that he mentioned he had a few weeks back. There were a lot of people who speculated that it would take DJ a long time to regain his pre-leave form, but he's disproved them all this week. Rounds of 67 and 69 on the weekend (while others were shooting much higher scores) ensured him a spot in the playoff.

Saskatchewan-native Graham DeLaet also finished well this week at T8. He hasn't won yet on the PGA Tour but I think that might change this year, perhaps sooner than later.

Finally, here is how our picks finished off:

1) Bubba Watson: T14 at 2-under (-2)
2) Brenden de Jonge: CUT
3) Nick Watney: T11 at even par-(E)

Both Watson and Watney shot rounds in the 70's on the weekend, after being in good positions during the week.

That's it for us this week and it's also the end of the West Coast swing on the PGA Tour. Next week marks the start of the Florida Swing, with the Honda Classic at the infamous PGA National. Be sure to check out our picks for that tournament.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

James Hahn Wins the 2015 Northern Trust Open

2015 Northern Trust Open - Weekend Update

It's Friday, which means it's time for our weekend update of this week's tournament, the 2015 Northern Trust Open, which is being played at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, California. As it stands now, the second round has been suspended due to darkness, but pretty much all players (except Alex Prugh) have finished their second round. The leader going into the weekend is South African Retief Goosen who leads at 6-under (-6) with a one shot lead over Ryan Moore, Canadian Graham DeLaet, and Justin Thomas. The projected cut this week is 3-over.


Riviera was playing firm and fast this week, which resulted in some higher than expected scores. It looks like it's going to be this way right through the weekend as well. Our player of note this week, Fred Couples, currently stands at 3-over and will unfortunately be cut. Better luck next year hopefully for Fred.

Goosen shot a 66 70 during his rounds; a 66 just happened to be the low score of the week, but was also shot by several players. Canadian Graham DeLaet shot a 70 67 which was the low score today, in a round that contained 5 birdies and one a single bogey. He's in a good spot for the weekend and anything can happen over the weekend, considering the difficulty of the course.

Finally, here is how our picks are doing:

1) Bubba Watson: T6 at 3-under (-3)
2) Brenden de Jonge: CUT
3) Nick Watney: T11 at 2-under (-2)

Pretty good so far. De Jonge unfortunately shot an 80 during his first round and didn't improve much today. Better luck to him next week.

Stay tuned for our results post come Sunday and see who ended up winning,


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Can Retief Goosen hold onto his lead over the weekend? (Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)

2015 Northern Trust Open Picks

In just a few hours, the first few rounds of the 2015 Northern Trust Open (AKA the Los Angeles Open) are set to begin. This week, the PGA stops at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, California, as part of the tour's west coast swing, where the Northern Trust Open has been played consistently since 1973.

The course itself is set at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains and has been host to several majors on both the mens and senior mens side of play. Riviera plays at about 7,300 yards but this does include a ~320 yard drivable par 4.

In golf, there's few courses I find that can be associated to a single player. That's the case this week with Riviera and Fred Couples. You can't help of thinking of Fred when thinking of Riviera or vise versa, and for good reason. This year marks the 33rd appearance for Couples at the Northern Trust Open. It's also the 25th anniversary of his first win here, back in 1990. Fred plays really well in this tournament normally, despite his age compared to the other players, so naturally we'll be keeping an eye on him this week.

There's a lot of good players in the field this week, but we've narrowed down the field to three players who we think have the best chance of winning this week:

1) Bubba Watson
2) Brenden de Jonge
3) Nick Watney

Bubba won this tournament last year, de Jonge has been relatively quiet so far, and Watney should have some momentum from his good finish last week.

Be sure to check out our weekend update post so see who's winning and how our picks are doing,


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Riviera Country Club

Brandt Snedeker Wins the 2015 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am

Well it all went right for him this week...

After a final round that included a bout with some fog, Brandt Snedeker shot a 67 at Pebble Beach today to win the 2015 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am by three strokes. His final score was a 22-under (-22) (which is a new tournament record) and he finishes just ahead of Nick Watney. The cut this week was also set at 7-under on the player's side of things.

This is Snedeker's 7th win on tour and last since the 2013 Canadian Open and first this year. This is also his second time winning this tournament in just three years.

Snedeker mentioned earlier this week how big a win for him would be this week, allowing him to get back into the top-50 of the World Golf Rankings and more importantly allowing him entry into the Masters; a tournament which he desperately wanted to play. After the season he had in 2014, this is just the thing he needed this year.

After having a relatively quiet past couple of years, Nick Watney will also be pleased with his finish this week. Who knows, maybe this will be the start for a good season for Watney.

On the pro-am side, Pat Perez and Michael Lund were able to hold onto their lead, with a final combined score of 42-under (-42), finishing two shots ahead of Snedeker and Toby Wilt.

Finally, here is how our picks finished the tournament,

1) D.A. Points: MDF
2) Patrick Reed: T29 at 12-under (-12)
3) Kevin Na: CUT

An okay finish for Reed, but I'm sure he'll be looking to do better next tournament. Our notable Canadian in the field, David Hearn, finished the tournament at 13-under (T21).

Congratulations again to Brandt Snedeker and be sure to join us next week at the Northern Trust Open.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

 Brandt Snedeker Wins the 2015 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am

Snedeker and Jones Lead the 2015 AT&T National Pro-Am

We're halfway through the 2015 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and things are starting to take shape. We've seen some low scores on all three courses but what's surprising us all is how easy Pebble Beach has been playing, compared to Spyglass and Monterey Peninsula. The course has been averaging a shot under par, which is a large contrast to it's traditional scoring averages in past years.

On the players side of things, we have Brandt Snedeker and Austrailian Matt Jones atop the leaderboard, both tied at 12-under (-12) and playing Spyglass today. They hold a one shot lead over Justin Hicks. On the pro-am side, we have Pat Perez and journalist Michael Lund at a score of 24-under (-24). The cut has not been set yet, it comes after the third round.

Snedeker has been having a very good week and an excellent start to 2015, having several top-10 finishes so far. This comes in a big contrast to his 2014 season, which saw him fall in the World Golf Rankings and miss out on events such as the Ryder Cup. In an interview this week, he put it bluntly saying he has to simply play better if he wants to complete in the high profile tournaments he's played before, such as the Masters and WGC events. Snedeker currently sits at 63 on the rankings (incidentally just behind Tiger) and has work to do if he wants to get back into the top-50. Snedeker's last win was in July 2013 at the Canadian Open, but with two rounds at Pebble Beach yet to be played, things are looking good for Snedeker.

Let's also remember that Snedeker won this tournament just two years ago.

We also saw an excellent first round from John Daly, who shot a 65 at Pebble Beach. However, a 72 today currently puts him at T37. The low round of the day was a 62 shot by Jason Day at Spyglass. Another player of note is Canadian David Hearn, who is currently T4 at 10-under.

Now here are how our picks are doing,

1) D.A. Points: T77 at 3-under (-3)

2) Patrick Reed: T37 at 6-under (-6)
3) Kevin Na: T60 at 4-under (-4)


Not too bad, but it looks like Reed has the best chance out of them all.


We've go two rounds left, including a round at Pebble Beach for all of those who make the cut. Stay tuned for our Results post to see who won!



-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

A win this week could be huge for Brandt Snedeker

2015 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Picks

Thursday marks the start of one of my favourite tournaments on the PGA Tour, the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, which is being played in Pebble Beach, CA, at Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill Golf Course, and Monterey Peninsula Country Club.

The tournament is a pro-am event, where players play with amateurs, usually celebrities who also enjoy the game of golf. Each player-celebrity group plays one of the three courses each day and after the third day, the groups that made the cut play the final round at Pebble Beach. There are typically two cuts; the individual cut, which is just for players and leaves the top 60 players, and the pro-am cut, which leaves the top 25 groups to play the final round. This tournament is also the PGA-Tour equivalent of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship played on the European Tour.

Pebble Beach Golf Links is personally one of my favourite golf courses in the US. Set on the scenic cliffs of the Pacific Ocean, Pebble was the first public golf course to be selected at #1 by Golf Digest in 2001 (although green fees are some of the most expensive in the world). It's shear beauty, but contrasting toughness, is what I think makes it a great course. It was also the home of TGR favourite Graeme McDowell's 2010 US Open win.

I really like this tournament for one main reason; it's all about links golf. These are links courses that are being played this weekend and that demands a unique quality from it's players. I've said this countless times here, but links golf brings out the creativity or rather, a demand for creativity and alternate shot-making, in a player that we just don't see to often during regular tournaments. Links golf favours accuracy over distance, which is a nice contrast from today's tournaments. A truly great golfer should be able to succeed on both a normal parkland course as well as a raw links course. I think the player who is successful this week will be the one who's able to utilize their accuracy as well as the natural features of the course the best.

Being links courses, the weather is also a big factor this week. It's been said that if you don't like the weather at a links course, just wait a few holes. Drastic weather changes day to day or even hour to hour may pose yet another challenge for players this week (again, something most players are probably not used to). Now you understand why I love links golf so much. The demand for creativity plus the changing weather always makes for some exciting golf.

But enough of that, here are our picks for the tournament:

1) D.A. Points (2011 winner)
2) Patrick Reed
3) Kevin Na

Some notable celebrities playing this week include Billy Murray, Wayne Gretzky, Don Cheadle, Andy Garcia and more.

It's safe to say that this week will be an exciting one. Be sure check out our coverage posts for all the latest from the tournament. And comment about your thoughts on links golf and your picks this week.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

The 9th, 10th and 11th holes at Pebble Beach Golf Links

Jason Day Wins the 2015 Farmers Insurance Open

It really came down to the wire with this one, but Jason Day has won the 2015 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. Jason won a four man play off between J.B. Holmes, Harris English, and 2014 winner Scott Stallings. The playoff took two holes to decide a winner, the first was a replay of the 18th, where Day and Holmes advance with par. The 16th hole decided the winner, the iconic par 3, that's arguable one of the best par 3's in golf. Holmes stumbled with a bogey and Day won with a par.

This is only Day's third win on the PGA Tour, his last on being the WGC-Accenture Match Play last year. This may come as a shock to some since he's currently ranked 8th on the World Golf Rankings. We've said this before, but Jason Day has a habit of finishing in the top-10 or top-5 quite often, especially in majors. He's flown under the radar so many times that now, I'm not even surprised to see him in a top-10 spot. Nevertheless, it's good to see him win a tournament!

Day also becomes the first non-American winner of the Farmers Insurance since 2002 and only the second in over 50 years.


Even right up until the end, there were at least 15 players within a three shot lead. And with the changing weather conditions that we saw this week, the tournament really could have gone any way.
For J.B. Holmes, this is also a good finish. He's battled injury and surgeries over the past few years but seems to be in good form this year. On another note, the Farmers Insurance in particular holds a special place for him. After undergoing bran surgery in September of 2011, the 2012 Farmers Insurance Open marked the return of him to the PGA Tour post-surgery. His good finish this week just might put him into the top-50 of the World Golf Rankings.

Also, new PGA Tour member and Canadian golfer Adam Hadwin was on track to having a good week, but like to many other players this week, faltered during the last two rounds. Nevertheless, it's good a new Canadian golfer out on the PGA Tour!

Finally our remaining pick, Rickie Fowler, finished the tournament not too well at T61. He shot a 79 earlier today that included six straight birdies. Better luck to him in the future.

Next week, stay tuned for coverage of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am from Pebble Beach Golf Links in California,


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Jason Day Wins the 2015 Farmers Insurance Open

2015 Farmers Insurance Open - Weekend Update

After a few fog delays and delayed tee times, the first two rounds of the 2015 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course are now finished. The leader going into the weekend is Harris English at 10-under, who fired off a 68 66 and a final round which included six birdies.

He leads ahead of Nick Watney, who shot a 7-under on the day. Watney has had a relatively quiet past few years, his last win coming at the Barclays in 2012. In 2014 he had only two top-ten finishes and 10 missed cuts out of 26 events played. He's currently ranked 134th on the World Golf Rankings, having been ranked 35th just one year ago. A good finish for him this week could put him back on track for the start of this season.

As we said before, Dustin Johnson is back on tour, but apparently was a bit rusty, having shot a 70 74. During his first round though, he did hole out for eagle on the 4th hole at Torrey Pines South Course. Hopefully he'll get back on track soon.

However, the biggest story of the week was Tiger Woods. Tiger withdrew during the 1st round after just 12 holes, due to a lingering back injury. In an interview afterwards, he told the media that all the fog delays tightened up his back, which he had surgery to fix just last year. Woods' injuries have been the source of many of his golfing woes over the past year. At this point, it's uncertain what his golfing future holds.

Finally, here are how our picks are doing so far:

1) Rickie Fowler: T33 at 3-under (-3)
2) Luke Donald: CUT
3) Justin Rose: CUT

Fowler had an up and down second round after going bogey, birdie, double bogey to finish with a 72, but is still in the running. Donald and Rose on the other hand didn't fare as well. Our other notables, Mike Weir and Phil Mickelson, were also cut.

It's also worth pointing out that just over 15 players are within 4 shots of the lead, so it's still anyone's tournament for the winning. So stay tuned for our Results post Sunday evening.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Can Harris English hold onto his two shot lead through the weekend?

2015 Farmers Insurance Open Picks

Well, we're back for 2015!

We return this week to posting here at TGR after taking some time off for holidays and to rethink a few aspects of our site, like our posting. In short, we wanted to make our site more user-friendly and more informative, especially with our weekly Tour news. Hopefully we've done that! Now onto the posting.

We return this week for the Farmers Insurance Open, which I think is one of the more popular tournaments at this early point in the season (AKA the "West Coast Swing"). The tournament is held in San Diego, California and played at Torrey Pines Golf Course. Similar to tournaments such as the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on the European Tour, the Farmers Insurance Open is actually played on two courses at Torrey Pines, the South and North course, over Thursday and Friday, then the weekend rounds are played on the South course only. Torrey Pines is actually a public course and is situated on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, making it one of the most scenic courses that the PGA Tour stops at during the season.

An interesting fact about this tournament is that it's been a US-dominated event ever since it's inception as the San Diego Open in 1952. Since then, only 2 non-Americans have won the event, Gary Player in '63 and Jose Maria Olazabel in '02. If you're counting, that's only 2 in 62 years.

As we return this week, so does Dustin Johnson, coming back on tour as a new person and new father. Johnson infamously took a leave of absence near the end of last July to deal with personal matters and just became a father less than a month ago. Johnson said he might be a bit rusty, but not to worry as he breaks off rust easily. I'm hoping he'll be in contention for a few tournaments in a few months or maybe weeks.

Finally, here are our picks for the tournament. At this point in the season, I chose my picks based on a lucky feel and not really on how good each player has played so far this year:

1) Rickie Fowler
2) Luke Donald
3) Justin Rose

Some notables in the field include Tiger Woods, fresh off shooting one of the worst rounds in his pro career last week, Mike Weir, our favourite Canadian golfer, and Phil Mickelson, because he's Phil...

Like we always have, we'll be posting a Weekend Update post Friday evening after the weekday rounds, as well as a Results post Sunday evening. Be sure to check those.

And if there isn't any snow on the courses near you, happy golfing,


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

The 4th Hole of the South Course at Torrey Pines Golf Club