I could go right into writing about the loaded field at the Genesis Invitational at Riveria Country Club in Pacific Palisades in Southern California this week, and it is a loaded field with by far the most talented lot of golfers the Tour has seen this season.
But before talking about this week, I wanted to go back and look at the Waste Management Open at the TPC Scottsdale that ended in a playoff won by Scottie Scheffler for his first PGA Tour win.
Much has been said about the excessive celebrations at the 16th hole, the par 3 party hole, with seating for over 20,000 in the stadium that surrounds the hole.
The entire tournament is a party and brings in over 500,000 people for the four-day event. Many golf traditionalists abhor the tournament, decrying the celebrations and the rowdy fan behavior as bad for the sport.
Not me – not by a long shot.
Would I like something like the WMO every week? Not chance, but at select times throughout the year, heck yes.
It takes golf from a sporting event into an event, which in turn brings in new fans. I have been to the WMO and partaken in the Mardi Gras-type atmosphere at the 16th and plan on doing so again.
As I wrote last week, not only is a bucket list item for any sports fan, but for anyone that likes a big, festive event.
Some also criticize the rowdiness as being bad for the golfers. First off, the tournament has been this way for years and any golfer that enters the event knows exactly what they are getting into.
No golfer plays every week and if the environment is not to your liking, then don’t play – it’s that simple. That is exactly what I am guessing some players do.
But the tournament attracts a stellar field each year and the players embrace the chaos.
Golf is a sport where the players usually get silence when hitting a shot, but it’s not all noise that is disruptive. The sudden burst of noise in the players backswing can be devastating, but a constant noise is not disruptive.
I’ve been there to see the golfers play just fine with the constant level of noise. It’s like the Ryder Cup.
Now, the excessive celebrations at No. 16.
There were two hole-in-ones by Sam Ryder and Carlos Ortiz. Ryder’s came Saturday, the craziest day of the event, and sparked a beer shower of cups – and cans – of beer on the green and surrounding areas, making one heck of a mess.
Sunday, Carlos Ortiz turned the same trick, and once again beer rained down from the heavens. That seemed to be it until Justin Thomas chipped in from behind the green, then enticed the crowd to celebrate again.
You don’t have to ask this crowd twice and the beer came flying. Too much – perhaps. When the bottles fly there is the worry about hitting someone from players to caddies to volunteers working the hole.
In addition, a full beer can hitting the green may cause some damage to the putting surface.
But at the same time, this is the spirit of the tournament, and I would hate to see it taken away!
That’s it for my rant for now, but if you have not been, you really should plan for a trip down there to experience it firsthand.
Just amazing!
Okay, now on to this week.
The Genesis Invitational is the best field the PGA Tour has seen this year on the iconic Riviera Country Club. There is a lot of history with this event and the list of winners features many of golf’s greatest players.
That is, with two notable exceptions. Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have never won at Riviera. Both have finished second, but neither have crossed the line first.
In the fantasy league I participate in, the task this week is to pick any three golfers, and their combined under par wins it!
I am going with Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, and Matt Fitzpatrick.
Cantlay – at this point it is impossible to leave him off any list. He has played a lot of pressure golf this year already and has been almost unflappable.
Schauffele has played in the tournament four times, made the cut all four times and finished in the top 25 each time.
There are going to be a lot of people picking one, or both of those, so tried to go off the board a bit with Fitzpatrick. He finished in the top five here last year and two top 10 finishes this year.
By Dennis Miller