Apr. 28, 2009
Welcome to PGATOUR.COM's newest feature. Each Monday, the Backspin will provide insight and analysis on the latest results, happenings and news on the PGA TOUR. We welcome your feedback; click here to let us know what you think!
From Jerry Kelly's first win in seven years to the Champions Tour's team competition, last week's golf tournaments provided plenty of fodder for our Foursome.
KELLY'S COMEBACK: What a bizarre day in New Orleans. Jerry Kelly began the day with a three-shot lead but looked as comfortable as someone with poison ivy when he jabbed a short birdie putt past the cup on the first hole. In the span of a couple hours, he managed to go from three up to three down and looked like the same old Kelly -- he'd only won once before while holding the 54-hole lead.
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Then something happened. Maybe it was the advice Steve Stricker had been giving him (more in a Quick 18), maybe it was a feeling of no longer having the bulls-eye on his back. Whatever it was, we saw something cool on Sunday: A player able to stop a slide mid-round and turn things around with a couple of clutch birdies to win.
"I was happy with the way I struck it on the front, but I struck it even better on the back," Kelly said. "That's a testament to the swing that is getting better all the time."
It's also a testament to Kelly's never-give-up attitude and bulldog mentality. And because of that, we were treated to something pretty rare on Sunday. -- Brian Wacker
HOWELL'S HEAD-SCRATCHING DAY: There's no question that this has been a great season for Charles Howell III with three top-5 finishes and just one missed cut. Two of those top 5s were ties for second -- at the Transitions Championship and Sunday at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
One word -- frustration -- comes to mind when you look at those two runner-up finishes, however.
In Tampa, Howell bogeyed two of his last four holes to finish one behind eventual winner Retief Goosen. In New Orleans, Howell bogeyed two of his last four holes (and parred the birdieable par-5 72 nd hole) to finish one shot behind Jerry Kelly.
Howell, currently No. 13 in the latest FedExCup standings, has definitely been better this year in not being as technical, but he needs to find more consistency when he's in contention down the stretch.
With all the game that Howell possesses, it's shocking that he has just two TOUR wins. That's nothing to roll your eyes at, but when you're making bogeys when the heat is on, it's got to make for a head-scratching trip back home. -- T.J. Auclair
GOOD LUCK CHARMS: Are you in a slump? Maybe dealing with some sort of drought? Then your best bet is to rub a PGA TOUR player for good luck.
Consider: Jerry Kelly just ended a drought of 200 consecutive PGA TOUR starts without a win by claiming the Zurich Classic on Sunday, his first win in seven years. Earlier this season, Michael Bradley won in Puerto Rico, his first TOUR win in 11 years. And Retief Goosen won at Copperhead, his first TOUR win since 2005. Collectively, those three players had made 387 starts on TOUR before finding their way back to the top.
Also, Pat Perez won in La Quinta -- his first TOUR win -- snapping his 0-for-196 streak. Paul Casey won for the first time in 77 TOUR starts. Y.E. Yang won in his 47th TOUR start. And while Brett Quigley (345 TOUR starts) and Briny Baird (286 starts) haven't won yet, they've combined for three second-place finishes. If there's any justice, both of those guys will break through this year. -- Mike McAllister
YOU DON'T SEE THAT EVERY DAY: Why do some of the TOUR's most unique golf highlights come from team formats?
Like Boo Weekley riding his driver like a bull at the Ryder Cup or Woody Austin sporting a snorkel mask at The Presidents Cup, the players embrace the team mentality and enjoy being part of something bigger than themselves. They sing alma maters at team dinners, bond playing ping-pong and pull pranks in the locker room.
The Champions Tour had their annual team tournament -- the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf -- last week and it didn't disappoint when it came to memorable moments.
The most unique highlight (click here to watch) occurred during the playoff between Bernhard Langer/Tom Lehman and Craig Stadler/Jeff Sluman.
When Langer sank a 45-foot putt for birdie on the first extra hole, Lehman ran towards Langer -- one of the most reserved players on tour -- and attempted a celebratory chest bump.
The pair stopped in mid-air and only exchanged high fives, but it provided one of those rare moments in golf -- two Ryder Cup captains from opposing squads, playing for a title and having fun along the way. -- Lauren Deason
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Rory Sabbatini: It feels like only a matter of time before Sabbatini wins. He shot a 67 on Sunday to finish second -- his fifth top-12 of the season. He's never played well at THE PLAYERS Championship, but don't be surprised if he wins somewhere in Texas the way he did in 2007 when he won at Colonial.
FedExCup rank: 23 (43 last week) |
David Toms: The Tiger Woods of New Orleans gave his fellow Louisianians plenty to cheer about last week. Five birdies in a six-hole stretch led to a 68 and a top-five finish Sunday and secured Toms a spot in THE PLAYERS Championship. Slowly but surely he's starting to look like the Toms of old.
FedExCup rank: 21 (27 last week) |
Steve Marino: Forget his bogey on No. 18 Sunday -- Marino had to try for eagle when trailing Jerry Kelly by a shot on the last hole. He tied for sixth in the field with 20 birdies on the week and added an eagle from the fairway in Round 4. Once he learns to manage the bad holes, he's going to win multiple times.
FedExCup rank: 36 (49 last week) |
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Charles Howell III: His game has come a long way since his early days, when he had one type of shot, but for the second time this year his swing and putter let him down. On Sunday, Howell hit it in a fairway bunker off the tee at 15 and missed two par putts from inside 11 feet down the stretch.
FedExCup rank: 13 (21 last week) |
Brendon Todd: From the not-quite-ready-for-prime-time department: A week after making Nationwide Tour history with aces on the same hole on back-to-back days, Todd shot an opening-round 82, the highest score of the week in New Orleans. He followed with a 74 to miss the cut.
FedExCup rank: 177 (173 last week) |
Justin Rose: After shooting a respectable 69 in Round 1, Rose shot a 77 in Round 2 to miss the cut by two strokes. It's only his second missed cut in seven events this year, but he hasn't come close to contending, or realizing the potential he flashed when finishing fourth at the 1998 British Open.
FedExCup rank: 113 (T108 last week) |
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| A Quick 18 |
| Front Nine | Back Nine |
| The happiest person outside of someone with the last name Kelly on Sunday was Steve Stricker. A fellow Wisconsinite and good friend, Stricker helped Jerry Kelly with his putting stroke last week and it clearly paid off. Kelly putted fantastically and couldn't have been more gracious in thanking Stricker, who finished T7. | Danny Lee's professional debut was a bit of a dud. The 18-year-old phenom shot 76-75 to miss the cut. That said, the kid has a world of potential and probably made the right decision in turning pro since he really had no interest in playing anywhere else. And he's already proven he can be successful.
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| Kelly's victory in New Orleans also broke the streak of first-time winners there, which is what we had each of the last four years with Tim Petrovic winning in 2005, Chris Couch in '06, Nick Watney in '07 and Andres Romero last year. Charlie Wi (T2) was closest to continuing that trend this year. | The playoff at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf was spectacular, with back-to-back 40-footers by Bernhard Langer and Craig Stadler to extend the playoff causing all those roars in Savannah. Langer and Tom Lehman may need a little work on their chest bump, though. . |
| While this was Kelly's third top 10 of the season, it was his first in a full-field event (his other two came in alternate events). As a result, he earned 500 FedExCup points, jumping from 97th to 17th in the standings. He also moved to 15th in the standings for the Presidents Cup, an event that's very important to Kelly. | Lanny Wadkins got the call from the World Golf Hall of Fame last week and really it was a no-brainer with 21 TOUR wins -- including the '77 PGA and '79 PLAYERS Championship -- and a stellar Ryder Cup career. Jose Maria Olazabal could be joining him, too, according to some reports. |
| Number of winners on TOUR this year in their 20s: 2 (Nick Watney and Dustin Johnson). Number of winners in their 40s: 4 (Kenny Perry, Michael Bradley, Retief Goosen and Kelly). For all the talk on the latest wave of young guns, experience continues to win out every time out here. | Parker McLachlin found himself in contention after an opening-round 67, but don't be surprised if it takes some time to get his second career TOUR win. He's in the midst of a swing change with coach Sean Foley right now, completely changing his backswing, back position and follow through. |
| The "oops" moment of the week went to 2008 Zurich Classic champion Andres Romero, who mistakenly signed for a 5 on the par-5 18th hole on Friday, somehow forgetting that he made 6 on the hole after finding the water. Not that it mattered much since he would have missed the cut anyway. | From the quote of the week department, Australia's Nathan Green said Thursday that he feels like he's "killing a snake with my golf swing." That's not exactly the swing thought one wants to have when they're trying to climb back up the mountain, but give Green credit for being brutally honest. |
| While we're on the topic of defending champions, only two have successfully defended titles so far this season: Phil Mickelson at the Northern Trust Open and Tiger Woods at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. No one else has even finished in the top 10. Amazing. | Roland Thatcher had a nice finish on Sunday, making four birdies over his last six holes to finish T9 in New Orleans. That was big for Thatcher, who is playing this season a Major Medical Extension. He needed to make just over $407,000 in 13 events and cut that nearly in half Sunday by earning $176,400. |
| Several viewers called in during Friday's broadcast thinking Nathan Green whiffed on a short putt on the 17th hole. Because of the camera angle, however, viewers couldn't see how far above the ball the stroke actually was. Because it was well above the ball with clearly no intent to hit it, there was no penalty. | Adam Scott has re-upped his equipment deal with the Acushnet Company, parent company of Titleist. Scott has been with the company ever since turning pro in 2000. He'll continue playing Titleist balls and clubs, carry their name on his bag and wear Titleist headwear, gloves and shoes. |
| New Orleans was about as close as one city could become to being the center of the universe on Saturday with the hometown Hornets beating the Denver Nuggets in a matinee playoff game, the Saints picking in the NFL Draft, the third round of the Zurich Classic going on and, of course, Jazz Fest that night. | Took a tour of TPC Sawgrass with former TOUR player and Sirius-XM analyst Mark Carnevale last week for a story that will hit the site next week and we were both surprised at how short the rough is. If they let it grow, the course will have some teeth. If not, there could be some low numbers. |
| Playing for the first time since his heartbreaking playoff loss at the Masters, Kenny Perry was once again bitten by some late-round bogeys. He bogeyed two of his last four holes in the first round, then finished bogey-double bogey on Friday. Sunday was even worse with a 78 that included a back-nine 42. | Kobe Bryant has apparently taken up golf, according to ESPN's Rick Reilly, who recently spent a day hobnobbing with the Lakers star. More interesting: Bryant played at Pelican Hill with Maris Valainis, who played Jimmy Chitwood in Hoosiers. Wonder who would win that one -- Bryant or the sharp-shooting Chitwood?
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| The Forward Spin |
Now Anthony Kim gets to see if he can win with boyhood idol Tiger Woods in the field. When A.K. won the Wachovia Championship last year, Woods wasn't there due to an injury. This year, he is. So is Phil Mickelson in what will be like a mini-major the week before the year's unofficial fifth major, THE PLAYERS Championship.
The list of past champions at Quail Hollow is major quality-esque and the players have simply loved this event since it was added to the schedule in 2003. In its six short years of existence, the list of winners reads like a veritable who's-who of golf with Woods, Jim Furyk, Vijay Singh and David Toms all past champions of the event.
Kim is the defending champion, but all the focus will be on Woods and Mickelson, both playing for the first time since they put on that Sunday charge at Augusta. There will also be a lot of scrutiny on Woods specifically, but don't read too much into it. There's nothing wrong with the swing or the knee. He's always been a semi-wild driver of the golf ball and, more often than not, when he wins it's because of his putting, something that he struggled with at the Masters. |
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PGATOUR.COM'S Brian Wacker wrote the Quick 18, Stock up/Stock Down and Forward Spin.
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