I’ve written this before and I’m repeating it because it never ceases to amaze me how televised sports is the ultimate reality show, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, as the now-defunct ABC Wild Word of Sports used as its intro.

On the final hole of the Pebble Beach Open, Jacob Bridgeman (TaylorMade TP5x) was hitting a shot off of pebbles on the beach on the 18^th hole. His ball ended up in the ocean and resulted in a bogey, tying him for eighth place when he was close enough starting the hole for a much better finish. I thought his spirits were crushed and dismissed him for the Genesis Invitational.

So what does he do? Goes on a tear and headed into the final day, chasing a tournament record score. But he nearly frittered away the win, coming undone on the back half of the back nine and eking out a single stroke victory, and only because he parred a four-foot putt that must have seemed much longer because of the pressure.

That’s drama, real drama, not manufactured reality. He won the event for the first time in his 66^th tournament on the PGA Tour and only 65 days after marrying.

Amazing.

But that’s not all. Adam Scott (Titleist Pro V1) the 45-year-old fossil and former tournament winner, fires an eight-under final round to finish fourth after basically blowing any shot of winning with a subpar third round.

Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy (TaylorMade TP5) finished only a stroke behind and tied for second, after beginning the day in the final pairing with Bridgeman and practically needing a miracle to tie or beat him. He recorded a birdie with a chip shot out of the sand on the 12^th hole that kind of reminded me of an incredible birdie he made on the 18^th hole in the Masters a few years ago. The guy never ceases to amaze and it’s clear the fans love him. He almost made a birdie on the 18^th hole win a lag putt.

And Scottie Scheffler (Titleist Pro V1) continued his habit this season of starting off sluggishly and only made the cut on the number in the Genesis. He fired a final round six-under par to tie for 11^th. Imagine what he could have done had he started off strongly? We’ll see whether or not the trend continues. If he starts off strongly and continues, he’ll be hard to beat.

And what of Max Greyserman (Callaway Chrome Tour) shooting two-over par in the final round but nailing an ice and winning a Genesis car? The perfect tournament to record an ace.

Collectively, this was sports at its finest, moments quilted together that had viewers in suspense right up until the end.

The obvious favorites aren’t winning; instead we are given unexpected theatre. The same-old, same-old tends to become too repetitive. Given what we don’t expect is far much more compelling.

THE GREAT THITIKUL: Jeeno Thitikul (Callaway Chrome Tour X) is the world’s number one ranked woman and has won many tournaments, but winning the Honda LPGA Thailand in her country of birth and with her mother in attendance sure must have felt like a career moment.

Again, that is the reality of sports.

THIS AND THAT:

• Scott sure looks like his putter is touching his belly. I know it’s causing some debate online

• Bridgeman and his best buddy Chris Gotterup (Bridgestone Tour B X) are having a season to remember

• How about Scott and Justin Rose (Titleist Pro V1x), who is also 45, turning back the clock

• CBS got a lot of mileage out of Tiger Woods (Bridgestone Tour B XS) sitting with the broadcast crew for an hour during coverage of the Genesis. But let’s be honest, he was host of the tournament. Trevor Immelman acted as though CBS had a scoop when Woods suggested he would be aiming to play in the Masters this year. Woods said that early in the week

• Interesting to hear Collin Morikawa (TaylorMade TP5x) used Kurt Kitiyama’s (Bridgestone Tour B X) putter in the Pebble Beach tournament. More interesting was how Kitiyama finished strongly in the Genesis

• Michelle Wie West (Callaway Chrome Soft Tour Gravis the last time she played on the LPGA Tour) has announced she is ending her retirement of almost three years to play in the women’s Team Golf League. Look, she’s still a name player and that means something when establishing and hyping this event. “As an investor in Los Angeles Golf Club and a fan of TGL, I’m excited for the chance to compete again through WTGL, which will be a powerful platform for women’s golf,” Wie West said in a statement. On an episode of Portfolio Players, she added: “The technology aspect that TGL is bringing to the sport is really fun. It’s never going to take over green-grass golf. That’s always going to be the main thing. But I think there’s different versions of golf now.” It will be interesting to see what brand of ball she uses. Wie made history 22 years ago as the youngest player in an LPGA event at age 14. She missed the cut by one stroke…I still think the women’s and men’s TGL events are too gimmicky, but at least it provides golf content

• Weren’t those TV clips of Woods debuting in the Genesis Invitational, then known at the Los Angeles Open, funny with his cap. My, how times have changed in terms of marketing, something Woods helped to change with his Nike branding

• Did anyone think about the one-year anniversary of the fire that devastated Los Angeles and forced the Genesis to be moved? I don’t know whether The Golf Channel or CBS felt it was worthy of going into full detail.