I know that most of you were glued to the Olympics this weekend - according to the folks I follow on Twitter, only a moron was watching the Waste Management Open (until Sid Crosby slapped in the final goal). Well, if you weren't at least channel surfing to catch SOME of the event, you missed a few interesting things.
Congrats to Hunter Mahan on a great win...
Hunter Mahan is one of my favorite golfers, and really put the pedal to the medal (except on #17 & 18) on the back 9 to secure his 2nd win. One of my very first posts was a recap of the 2008 Ryder Cup, where Hunter really stepped up his game and established himself as a young gun to watch out for. His experience really set him apart on Sunday, and I hope he wins a few more this year. While I was perusing the "Hunter Mahan's winning clubs" post on golf.com, I noticed that Hunter plays a Ping Rapture driver...the same one as Masters champ Angel Cabrera. What's interesting about this you say...not much except that this is Ping's "SUPER game improvement" driver...with MAXIMUM forgiveness. In other words, two guys who do this for a living are playing a "Max Game Improvement" club...I'm just sayin...
Rickie Fowler....hmmmmm....well....
To be fair, I'm just gonna say that his lack of experience was as obvious as Hunter's experience was. His decision to lay up on the par 5 #15 has been roundly derided by everyone with a laptop, so I won't pile on any more. The young man has game, I think we can agree on that...but he did not close like a winner...that's for sure. Rickie is also catching a lot of flak for his clothing choices, and most of it is deserved. I get it that he is being "young and fashionable", and that those clothes are "not intended to appeal to people like me"...however, some "young and fashionable " people also think Lady Gaga looks cool...and they are just wrong. And sadly, in Rickie's case, his defenders are just wrong as well. The clothes are bad enough,but not nausea inducing, until you get to the headwear. I'm not sure who in the world has told him that the "hat over the ears look" is "working", but for the love of humanity, JUST STOP...it is flat out scary. And please, dude, CHANGE THE HAIRSTYLE ! I don't care if you grow some dreads, get it Tiger striped, bleach it white, rock an Arsenio Hall fade, or shave it off...but the "20's Flapper 'do" is frickin' KILLING me (and dozens of other people) - plus it SO makes you look like a WOMAN... As I tweeted yesterday, Katharine Hull called, and she wants her hair back...
The biggest feel good story of the weekend - a GREAT finish by Chris Couch
Most of you probably don't even know who Chris Couch is...just another journeyman PGA player. Others will remember Chris as the guy who won the 2006 Zurich Open in New Orleans by chipping in from 55 feet on the 18th hole...., but only after hitting a really crappy bunker shot and practically throwing away any chance he had to win. Unfortunately, that win did not lead to much more success for him. He was 167th on the money list in 2007, sat out 2008 with a shoulder injury, and played in part of 2009 on a major medical exemption..but made only 3 cuts, winning less than $60k. Chris was in the field this week via the major medical exemption, and by birdieing 5 of his last 10 holes, he finished in a T4, and pocketed a cool $300k. Congrats to a great guy, and someone who I hope continues to play well this year.
