While watching the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, I decided to eat a hoagie sandwich, and when it ended five or six hours later Tom Hoge (Titleist Pro V1) made me sick to my stomach by winning the tournament.
I gave Hoge a good, long look when making my picks for the PG Golf pool and another one in which I’m involved. In the PG pool, you take two players and you can’t pick the same players more than two times all season long. Because I had chosen Patrick Cantlay (Titleist Pro V1x) once already this season, I wanted to save him for another tournament in which I felt he might hit a weaker field. Patrick Davis, who won the PG Golf pool last year, told me before this year’s tournament began that he strategically saved his best players for later in the season. My strategy last year was to use the best players each week because they might not be around at the end of the season or their form might have gone downhill. It worked for awhile last year when I was in first place, then I went south – deep south.
Even with many top players electing last week to take appearance-fee money and play in Saudi Arabia, I could have picked Cantlay and Jordan Spieth (Titleist Pro V1x), which was the strategy of several players in both pools. I stuck with Patrick Davis’ theory. Cantlay clearly didn’t have it in the final round, so at least I have him for later in the year and hopefully he gets back on his A game. I’m a huge fan of Jordan’s and I figured after he had the flu or something the week before, he’d bounce back and might win or be very competitive. He’d won the tournament before, but I opted to save him for something later in the season. Finishing second was a good payday for anyone who picked him. Hey, he almost fell off of a cliff. What a shot! That took guts.
Many people in both pools were all over Cantlay and Spieth.
I ditched Maverick McNealy (Callaway Chrome Soft X) because he was the wise-guy pick based on his good outing the week before and nearly winning the tournament the previous year. If the cut had been after two rounds, he’d have gone home. Because of the Pro-Am – did Bill Murray really back hand a putt into the hole? – everyone had to play each of three courses and McNealy made it to the final round. By the way, is boxer Canero Alvarez a stud or what? He’s only been playing golf for three years and has a low handicap. He practices four hours a day in between hitting the heavy bag to prepare for his next fight. His only career loss has been against Floyd Mayweather.
I chose Seamus Power (Titleist Pro V1x) and Jason Day (Bridgestone Tour B X). After 36 holes, I wanted to say “stop the race.” Myself and Killin Me Schauffele, who has the greatest name in this year’s PG Pool, both had the same players and we were on top. Well, Power basically suffered a power outage and Jason didn’t have a great day on Saturday or Sunday.
Hoge really intrigued me. I looked at his performances in the previous four tournaments this season. He’d had a good outing, then failed to make the cut, a good outing and then failed to make the cut. His form cycle looked to be moving upward, but I chose Day off of his performance in his last tournament. I keep waiting for him to flash the form when he was the best in the world.
Shame – or should it be Seamus? – on me.
It was in my other pool in which you could choose six players – and you can only pick the same ones six times all year – I dropped Hoge in favor of Kevin Streelman (Titleist Pro V1x), who failed to make the cut. Had I picked Hoge in each, I would be laughing now instead of crying in my beer.
But someone may have felt worse. Last year there was a player in the PG Pool who went by the name of College Friend of Tom Hoge or something like that. Like Tiger Woods (Bridgestone Tour B XS) said back in 2015 in Pebble Beach tournament, he had no idea who Tom Hoge was even though he playing and doing decently. The college friend of Tom Hoge is the brother-in-law of Matt Campbell, who runs the PG Pool. His brother-on-law opted to go this year with the name Swinging For Long Bombs Away. He chose Day and Mito Pereira, who didn’t make the cut. A few people had Pereira, and I’m tabbing him for later in the season.
I’m sitting in 21st of 33 teams, the same as the week before, in the PG Pool after making the jump to second halfway into the Pebble Beach tourney. If only Power hadn’t lost all his power.
Swinging For Long Bombs Away is in 26th place, falling from 16th.
Killing Me Schauffele, who has the greatest name of any player in any pool I’m in, moved up to 30th from 32.
Maybe this week we’ll all feel better. But I won’t be eating a hoagie sandwich anymore.
