Love the Leaderboard

I absolutely love the leaderboard at Bay Hill right now.  After a pretty boring day 1 with only a handful of really good rounds, the course gave it up today and guys took advantage.  I keep looking at the leaderboard and I find myself running through scenarios that I would like to watch over the weekend.  Fowler goes low to get in contention, Bubba makes a move, Tiger finds his game, Laird dominates the field, Duffner plays his way into the Masters, Garcia regains his old form, Marino breaks through, Mahan brings it home, Levin hold off the field, KJ wins.  The headlines are endless and I can’t wait to watch.

It seems as though certain tournaments always deliver and Bay Hill is delivering on all fronts right now.  Maybe it is because the King is the host or the Masters is right around the corner.  Either way I don’t care.  It is downright fun to watch and I am going to enjoy every minute of it.  Even Miller won’t ruin this tourney for me this weekend.  I have a full proof plan against his nonsensical commentary.  Nothing but Mute for Mr. Miller.

Quick side note.  There are rumors that the Johnny Miller on twitter is not really him.  If so, I apologize for my comments about his tweets, but he still bothers me as a commentator.  Won’t apologize for that.

Peaks and Valleys of Round 1

Round 1 at Bay Hill can only be explained as a day of Peaks and Valleys.  High winds and tough playing conditions made it difficult for guys to go really low, except Spencer Levin of course.  I picked Graeme McDowell as my fantasy pick to win Bay Hill earlier this week and he came out and shot an 80!!  The funniest part his 80 is that he wasn’t the only one.  13 other players shot rounds at 80 or above.  Brandt Snedeker, Boo Weekley, Jeff Overton, Jhonatthon Vegas and Ricky Barnes are all notable players who shot 80 or above.

The fact that so many good players failed to shoot good rounds makes Spencer Levin’s round of 66 that much more impressive.  Under the tough playing conditions and the strong field of Bay Hill, I would argue that shooting 66 today would qualify Spencer Levin for possibly shooting the round of the year thus far.  It was beyond impressive and fun to watch.  I hope he keeps the momentum going and slugs it out with guys like Rickie Fowler over the weekend.  Forget all the Tiger swing talk, I want to watch two young guns fight it out just like Webb Simpson and Gary Woodland did last weekend.

The valleys of the round today were the fact that so many players I wanted to see go low and contend failed to make a splash and the fact that Johnny Miller went to twitter to share his thoughts about the round with everyone.  I honestly feel that Miller is the worst golf commentator in golf right now.  He is negative, only talks about Tiger and acts as if he was the best player to ever live.  With Spencer Levin and Rickie Fowler on the top of the leaderboard what did Miller want to tweet about?  Suprise suprise Tiger Woods.  Get over it Miller.  I can’t stand hearing this guy talk about Tiger, Tiger, Tiger all round long.  Golf is not fun when Miller blabs his nonsense about mistakes good players are making and how Tiger needs to go back to Butch.

I’m sure that won’t be my last Miller bash, but that is it for now.

Early Thoughts on Round 1

With Round 1 under way there are a few things that are really exciting.  The first story line has to be Duffner.  The guy pretty much needs a win to get into the Masters and he is doing his part early.  Obviously, there is a ton of golf left, but you have to love the fact that he knows he needs a win and is out there going low.

Am I the only one who wants to see Fowler bag his first win?  The kid is downright fearless on the course and eventually that has to work to his advantage.  He hasn’t been in serious contention since the Memorial last year and I would love to see him in the mix on the weekend.  There is a lot of talk about young American talent in Golf right now and Fowler is always mentioned but still remains winless.  The kid has more swagger than any player out there and a win would only embolden him more.  I for one am ready to see that happen.

Lastly, take a second and look at the names on the leaderboard behind the leaders.  Again, it is super early in the day and it is only round 1, but there are some serious names up there already.  If this is any indication of the way the tourney is going to go I will be glued to the TV all weekend.  It helps that it snowed last night here in Chicago so I doubt I will be missing any tee times this weekend.  Perfect recipe for watching a great golf tournament.

P.S. my pick to win (Graeme McDowell) is not doing too hot.  Looks like a bad start to my season of predictions!

Let’s Pick a Bay Hill Winner

It is impossible to overlook the fact that Tiger has absolutely dominated when he has played at Bay Hill in the past.  The guy has won 6 times there.  6 times!  That is absurd.  Do I think he will win this week?  No, he has made great progress with his swing and he is talking about his swing as a process and finding solice in small victories around his game.  Even when he hits a bad shot he is happy that he knows why he hit that shot and can fix it.  That is great and when I hear that I truly believe he is getting comfortable and will find his way back to the winners circle soon, but not this week.

There are a few guys to keep an eye out this week.  First and foremost is Graeme McDowell.  He had a runner up at Bay Hill in 2005 and can flat out putt.  Even though he is only ranked 62nd this year in total putting I can’t think of a guy who has holed out more clutch putts in the past year than this guy.  My money is on Graeme to make it back into the winner’s circle this week.

Stuart Appleby holds two runner up finishes at Bay Hill and although he had a terrible finish (77, 70) to his weekend this week I expect him to hit the range, figure it out and come out firing.  He is one of those guys that has such a simple game and swing that it is surprising he hasn’t won more on tour.  Edoardo Molinari also owns a runner up at Bay Hill and will be in the field this week.  There are a lot of past winners in the field this week and with the Master’s looming so close by I think we are going to see a past winner come into form instead of a first timer like this past week.  Only time will tell, but I expect a great tourney this weekend.