And while it’s a select field, this is a stalwart of a tournament and of a course. “I played really well last year and although it was a lot softer than it will be this year it is still the same golf course and my form is good so hoping to go a couple better than last year”, the world No. 30 said. Harvey Firestone purportedly built it as a company perk for his tire factory employees back in 1929, but it has risen quite a bit in stature. There are only two par 5’s: #4 which is easily reachable by all pros, and #16 which is not.
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The homestretch of the golf season is finally upon us. This can make for a tricky second shot, particularly with the ball landing firm on the greens rather than pulling up.
I love doing this at other people’s tournaments as I like to gauge how they select their pin positions, especially in terms of degrees of slope and tightness in relation to bunkers etc as this only helps to develop your own thinking when it comes to setting up for tournaments.
“A lot of it is dependent on what I do with the PGA and whether or not I have a chance to make the play-offs”, Woods said. But that was right around the time Ford Exploders were careening into ditches due to supposed Firestone tire defects, so they went with the sister company name of Bridgestone.
Henrik Stenson (9) – Stenson has been ominously quiet since missing time with the flu early in the season. I don’t care who you are, that’s impressive right there.
Finally, Leishman lost out in the play-off at St Andrews after leading deep into the back nine on the final day, and that ability to mix it with the very best should instill a great deal of confidence in him. Bottom line, if Spieth wants to finish with a flourish, he’ll need to rework some parts of his game, something that the true greats like Hogan, Woods and Jack Nicklaus did so well throughout their careers. I’ve mentioned Bubba, but guess who else will be there? Henley has had a cool summer after a pretty warm winter and spring. Yet Garcia is an exceptionally consistent performer in the big ones, with his sixth in the Open last month yet another example of that. But Woods won’t play this year, as he doesn’t meet any of the qualification criteria for the event.
Kevin Kisner (34,15): His top 50 OWGR ranking gets him in. “I’ve said that from the beginning”. After a solo 2nd finish at last week’s Quicken Loans National, it will be interesting to see if Fowler will continue the trend of two good starts followed by 2 missed cuts, or if he will again prove that he too is a young American we should be paying attention to. He ranks T-20 in greens hit, but like Day, he struggles off the tee (107 in driving accuracy) and also with the flat-stick (158 in strokes gained putting.) He’s played four times at Firestone with mixed results: 61st last year, 4th in 2012, T-37 in 2011 and T-9 in 2010. “I wish that it was in my possession and not his”. The most famous hole is probably the par-5 16th which plays at 667 yards and is one of the longest par-5’s played regularly on Tour. He can take advantage of his length though.
And when is Jordan Spieth’s tee time?
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The Masters extends lifetime exemptions to all former winners, although older players rarely compete. The action airs this weekend on the Golf Channel through Saturday and then CBS on Sunday.
