02-13-17

Remember this guy?

Jordan Spieth.

W.

That’s the ninth time he’s lifted the trophy on Tour.

Not bad for 23!

Jordan Spieth converted his 54-hole lead to win the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on the Monterrey Peninsula. The 23-year old shot a final round 70 and posted 19-under-par 268 to win by four shots over Kelly Kraft for his ninth career victory on the PGA Tour. Two-time champion Dustin Johnson rounded off the podium alone in third.

 

Key Moment(s):

• Not sleeping through his alarm on Sunday morning as his six shot lead was more than comfy.
• Bogey-free 70 never gave the chase pack an opening.
• His lag putting was excellent Sunday as he only left two putts outside of three feet for par. #NoSweat #BoringGolf.
• Saturday’s round of 65 included only one bogey and no others as he laid down the marker that wouldn’t be caught.

 

Scorecard:

• 23 birdies co-led the field.
• Only carded four bogeys on the week and that co-led the field as well.
• No doubles or worse.
• Finished T-14 in fairways (43/55) and third (57/72) GIR.
• T-2 PPGIR and fourth in SGP.

 

 

Past history at AT&T Pebble Beach:

• Nothing worse than T-22 in four starts.
• T-4 in 2014, which included 78, the last time weather was a factor.
• T-7 in 2015 included all four rounds in the 60’s.
• He’s now 58-under par in five events.

 

 

 

Fantasy Forecast:

 

• Only Tiger Woods won nine times faster than Spieth (Since WW II).
• In his last six events worldwide, he’s won twice.
• In his last 10 events worldwide, he has eight top 10’s.
• His iron play on the tiny greens of Pebble suggests he’s dialed in. If he continues to hit this many greens, look out!
• He’ll defend at Colonial in May and has already won at Augusta.
• Gamers will have to grind on starts in games that require such strategy.
• OAD players should have the Masters circled. Other than the AT&T Byron Nelson I don’t think there’s a “bad” place to use him.

 

 

With this win:

 

• Collects $1,296,000.
• 500 FEC points
• Checks in at No. 6 in the OWGR, same as last week.
• Now ranked third in the FedExCup standings.

 

 

Pebble Beach Hindsight:

Trends and stats from the week for next week and next year

 

• Missed Brandt Snedeker’s record total by three shots playing “safely” on Sunday.
• The low rounds of the week were 64. Interestingly enough there was one on each course with Derek Fathauer at Pebble Beach, Jason Day at Spyglass Hill and Pat Perez at MPCC.
• Snedeker title defense was noble as he finished fourth. Dustin Johnson is the last player to defend his crown (2009-2010).
• Spieth becomes the second youngest winner at Pebble Beach (23 years) behind John Cook by two months.
• Spieth and Johnson are the only two winners in their 20’s in the last 10 years.
• After 13 tournaments played, 10 have been captured by players in their 20’s.
• Lift, clean and replace was used all four rounds because of the waterlogged courses.
• Too many bogey-free rounds to count.

 

All three courses play to par 72:

Pebble Beach (71.900)

Spyglass Hill (68.641)

Monterey Peninsula (67.276)

The rain-soaked Monterrey Peninsula finally saw sunshine Saturday and Sunday as the weather went from horrific to terrific. The highly-exposed Pebble Beach destroyed the chances of those who played it Thursday or Friday. The top four finishers played it twice on the weekend when the conditions were excellent. The rotation of MPCC, Spyglass Hill and Pebble was right side of the draw this week.

 

 

Scorecard: 

A look inside the rest of the top 10.

 

Kelly Kraft (2nd): The 2011 U.S. Amateur Champion popped on to gamers’ radar last summer with T-5 at the JDC. This was his only top 10 in 20 starts on Tour so he was forced to keep his card through the Web.com finals. After MC in the first two events, his T-5 at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship was enough for him to keep status. It’s worth noting that he played Pebble in 11-under plus he led the field in SG: TTG and was T-1 GIR. He began the week No. 38 in the reshuffle but his top 10 will see him into the field at Riviera. The reshuffle will happen after this coming week and he’ll jump up for more events.

 

Dustin Johnson (3rd): His 10th start at AT&T Pebble Beach saw the 2009 and 2010 champ pick up his fifth top 10 and fourth podium. With his power and iron play and all three courses playing less than 7,000 with four par fives each, it’s not hard to see why. #AutomaticAnnually.

 

Brandt Snedeker (4th): The 2013 and 2015 champion and tournament record holder picked up his third top four in five years. He backed up his T-9 at Torrey Pines with this week’s solo fourth on two courses he loves and events he’s won twice. Of his 10 rounds this season, gamers will remind me the only one over par is when he was in the final group Sunday at Torrey Pines. The only putter better on Poa is this week’s winner.

 

Gary Woodland (T-5): I mentioned in the preview that I have a fantasy crush on Woodland because he’s top five in SG: Total. Well, this week he was first in that category and first in SGP (measured only at Pebble). He was also T-1 in sand saves plus hit 45 of 55 fairways (T-7).  This was his second top 10 in four events in 2017 and third inside T-20. #Dreamy.

 

Jason Day (T-5): He made the expected bounce back from MC at Torrey Pines with a second round 64 that gave him a share of the 36-hole lead. His 75 on Saturday was bonkers but he properly ground out 67 on Sunday to reward his investors. He made nine bogeys and two doubles on the week to wipe out 23 birds and one BIG BIRD (eagle). He led the field in PPGIR which shouldn’t be terribly surprising either. This makes eight in a row at Pebble Beach and six inside T-14.

 

Jon Rahm (T-5): This kid is fantastic, fearless and doesn’t care who is playing or what course is in play. He made ONE BOGEY in his final 54 holes, including zero on the weekend. Yes, he made a double on Sunday on No. 3 but still shot 68. Like Spieth, he only made four bogeys on the week.  To those of you who were late to the party or still don’t believe, get it sorted. He’s now backed up his first Tour win with T-16 and T-5. Como se dice “legit” en Espanol?

 

S.Y. Noh (T-8): His best finish at Pebble in four tries and he’s never missed out on the weekend. Gamers have seen this before from the young Korean where he’ll pop up for a weekend and then disappear into thin air. Here’s the evidence:

Good luck with trying to time this!

 

Rob Oppenheim (T-8): The sponsor’s exemption made the most of his chance this week as his top 10 will get him into the field at Riviera this coming weekend as well. He missed status by just a few bucks last year as Hurricane Hermine wiped out the final event of the Web.com Playoffs. His T-8 this week followed T-7 in the Bahamas (Web.com) two weeks ago. You know my rule, hot golf is hot golf. I’d point out that he needed to make a 10-footer on the final hole to make it. #Guts.

 

Cameron Percy (T-10): This was his best finish at Pebble Beach in six tries and his first top 10 since T-10 at AT&T Byron Nelson in 2015. PHONE HOME SON! #MrTelephoneMan.

 

Kevin Kisner (T-10): Exactly what long-term investors wanted to see to kick off 2017 as Kisner bags his second top 10 in three events. He’s put all 12 rounds at par or better and it starting to resemble the Kisner we saw at this time last year. Weekly gamers didn’t have much to base this on as he never finished better than T-39 in four tries with two MC and he was T-25 at CareerBuilder last time out.

 

Nick Taylor (T-10): This is what FOUR eagles in a week will do for your paycheck! His best finish in 2017 before this week in four events was T-34. Sometimes we see a top 10 and start drooling but Taylor’s week was quiet otherwise. #FalsePositive. Proceed with caution.

 

MacKenzie Hughes (T-10): He also didn’t make a bogey in his weekend on Pebble Beach but his EIGHT on No. 18 Saturday cost him a few bucks. He finished T-4 GIR and didn’t put any of his four rounds above 71. Not bad for his first time to the event! The rookie has now made eight of 10 cuts and is settling in nicely. He’s currently No. 7 in the FEC standings.

 

 

Eyes Open:

Players outside the top 10 who have caught my eyes in a positive way.

 

Trey Mullinax (T-14): His best start in just his 12th start on Tour. He led the field in SG: Off-the-tee. The former Alabama stud hits it a mile and can roll the rock.

 

Nick Watney (T-14): Make it 10 of 13 weekends at Pebble Beach including solo second and T-14 in his last two visits. More importantly for gamers he’s healthy and picked up his first check of 2017.

 

Derek Fathauer (T-23): Along with Watney he was FRL at Riviera in 2015. His 64 at Pebble was legit but he was 10 shots worse on Sunday. Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

 

Jason Kokrak (T-23): Imagine if he wouldn’t have thrown up 77 to start the week at MPCC! He didn’t hit any fairways (T-60) but he found 55 of 72 GIR (T-7). He led after 36 holes and played Sunday just one shot out of the lead last year at Riviera before finishing T-2.

 

 

“Whatever happened to…?”

 

Justin Rose (T-39): His 73 on Sunday took him from T-16 to his final resting place. It wasn’t his best week tee-to-green or on the greens. #TooMuchTimberlake.

 

Phil Mickelson (65th; DFL): I hope you didn’t read my OAD column from last week. If you did, I’m glad, because it’s the LAST F#CKING TIME I WILL EVER HAVE TO SELECT PHIL. He went out in 33 and got it to 10-under. He came home in 44 with a double and a quad to finish last of those who made the cut. I hate fantasy golf and I HATE believing in Phil in more.

 

Patrick Reed (T-23): Roller-coaster week resulted in his fifth consecutive visit T-29 or better.

 

Webb Simpson (MC): His streak went the wrong direction (71-72-73) and he’s never finished better than T-26 in four starts at this event.

 

Jimmy Walker (T-55): Serious alarm bells now. I’m not saying that his PGA Championship was the end of the road but he didn’t contend in three events (Sony, FIO, and Pebble) that he’s RAKED IN CASH the last five years. Disturbing.

 

J.B. Holmes (T-23): Big 68 on Sunday snuck him in the back door for a top 25 and his best finish in three starts this year.

 

Shane Lowry (T-16): Steady as he goes in his second tour of duty along the West Coast.

 

Vaughn Taylor (MC): If there was a week, this was it! He broke a streak of eight weekends in a row on Tour and couldn’t back up his T-10, WIN from the last two seasons. Ouch.

 

 

Stay Tuned:

Keep up @MikeGlasscott and mikeglasscott.com for more details. Tomorrow, I’ll preview the Genesis Open and Wednesday I’ll post my gaming column.