PGA UPDATE
Golf report: Potter sculpts a win on the ocean and the Tour comes to “The Riv”
Josh Rapp
Feb 14, 2018, 6:42 am
Ted Potter Jr. was on his game. pga.com
A star-studded field was out in full force at Pebble Beach this past week. Golfers and celebrities alike teed it up at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Saturday was full of shenanigans, as most of the coverage was on the celebrities. We saw Larry Fitzgerald play well enough to win the Pro-Am portion, and we also saw Ray Romano almost plunk Jordan Spieth in the head. However, Saturday belonged mostly to Ted Potter, Jr. He came into his final five holes only needing two birdies to shoot a 59. The tension was high for Potter as he made a bit of a mess on the final two holes to finish bogey-bogey and closed with a round of 62. That would be the low round for the week and would also vault him into a tie for the lead going into Sunday. After a final round 69, and a poor effort from Dustin Johnson, Potter walked down the final few holes relatively stress free with a three stroke lead and the win. This was only his second win on Tour and by far his most impressive. Phil Mickelson teased us again by turning in a Sunday round of 67, which would place him in a tie for second; and his highest finish on tour since his runner-up finish to Henrik Stenson at the 2016 Open Championship. Everyone loves to see Phil at the top and contending. His “foot-on-the-gas” mentality is always highly entertaining. He is in great form and heads into next week at Riviera, a place he has won multiple times. Another great showing came from Chez Reavie as he finished T-2 for the second week in a row. He looks to be poised for a breakout season this year.
“The Riv”
This week the PGA Tour makes its final stop on the “west coast swing” and arrives at Riviera Country Club. Better known as “Hogan’s Alley,” this is an old and storied golf course that has seen some great moments. The Genesis Open, the second year under title sponsor Genesis Corporation, is also sponsored and run by the TGR Foundation. If that doesn’t look familiar, don’t hold it against yourself. That’s the new name of the Tiger Woods Foundation. See what he did there with the “TGR.” At any rate, with Tiger’s foundation at the helm of the tournament, that gives him another chance to tee it up with the big boys. What makes this choice interesting, is that this is the only tournament that Tiger has played at least 10 times and never won. Yes, you read that correctly, Tiger Woods has never won this tournament. What makes this even more strange is that this is the very first professional tournament that Tiger ever played. Way back in 1992, as a skinny 16 year old sophomore in high school, Tiger earned a sponsor’s exemption to the Nissan Open (as it was known then) and the rest is history. This will be the first time since 2006 that Tiger will start a tournament at Riviera. It stands to reason that Tiger should struggle here, since the rough is very penal, and the greens are very small. A combination that does not serve Tiger’s wayward tee-ball very well. Honestly, not much will be expected of Tiger this week, since his last outing saw him hit only 17 fairways in four rounds of golf. If we see a repeat of that performance off the tee, you can expect to see him exit early on Friday. One thing that Tiger can feed on this week are his playing partners. He has been paired with Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy. Rory is coming off a disappointing performance last week, but is still in good form on the season; and Justin has already won this season on tour. Needless to say, that is one power-packed group. One other exciting announcement was that Tiger is considering playing in the Honda Classic following this tournament. TIger hasn’t played in back-to-back weeks on tour in quite some time. He was reluctant to affirm the rumor, but said that if he feels good after this weekend, he plans to play. More Tiger is always good for everyone.
DJ defends his title
One player that is sure to be in the mix on Sunday at Riviera is Dustin Johnson. Now I know what you’re thinking, picking the No. 1 player in golf isn’t much of a stretch. Well, you’re right. However, let’s look at his past performance. In his last four tournaments at Riviera he has finished: 2nd, T-2, 4th, and Won (the win coming last year.) He is an insane 49-under par in those years as well. Also, DJ has played in three tournaments this tour season and has finished T-2 twice, and has a win. To say that this week lines up well for him would be an understatement. There is one thing that DJ needs to address: his poor play on Sunday. Those two runner-up finishes so far this year are only due to poor play in the final round. He coughed up a six shot lead to Justin Rose at the HSBC Championship and he was tied for the lead last week at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Granted, you need to play well to put yourself in those positions; but Sunday play is much more important and in his case, more frustrating. We will see if DJ can put it all together this week and defend his title at the Genesis Open.
Other big names in the mix this week include Mickelson, Spieth, and Paul Casey. Phil is playing particularly well coming into this week and he has won multiple times at Riviera. Expect to see him near the top of the leaderboard come Sunday. Jordan had a very good showing at his last tournament. He needed only 27 putts or less in each of his final two rounds at Pebble Beach. That is huge step in the right direction, and we all know that once his putter gets hot, he knows how to win golf tournaments. All in all, this week will prove to be a tough one. A long, penal course combined with a top notch field will see the cream rise to the top. Look for the winner to come out of the big names. As always, keep it in the short grass.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.