Before I get into this week’s tournament, I want to drift back to The Players, or more specifically, the 72nd hole.
The tee shot Cameron Young hit when tied for the lead, was one of the greatest tee shots ever hit – by anyone.
I have written many times that the 18th at TPC Sawgrass may visually be the most daunting tee shot in golf. The only hole I find close is the 18th at Pebble Beach.
But throw in that the golfer is coming off the potential disasters of the 17th island green, there is not enough time on the walk from 17 to 18 to catch your breath at the TPC.
All Young faced when he got to the 18th tee was that he was tied for the lead at the prestigious Players Championship, facing a hole with water down the left the entire way. The bail out area is right, but then you face trees and a lie in the dreaded pine straw for your second shot to a green that is also guarded by water.
Over the years we have seen many seasoned professionals unable to handle the pressure.
But not Young this time.
He crushed the ball with the perfect amount of draw. The shot carried 330 yards in the air and rolled out to 375 yards on the right side of the fairway.
It was in 2004 when the PGA Tour started using ShotLink to track every single shot in every event. In that span there have been 9,500 tee shots on the 18th and Young’s drive on Sunday was the longest ever. And with everything on the line.
His playing partner Matt Fitzpatrick pushed his tee shot into the pine straw, forcing a lay up out of the rough.
In the meantime, Young was safely reaching the green and setting up a two-putt for par. Fitzgerald needed to get up and down for par and the tie, and when he didn’t, Young had his first Players Championship.
And the shot will be a popular replay for years to come.
Okay, this week we’ve got the Texas Children’s Houston Open this week and the tournament got some bad news before it even started as world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler withdrew from the tournament citing “family reasons.”
Scheffler, who with his wife are expecting their second child, is next expected to start in the Masters.
Back to Texas and the Houston Open.
The good news is that Brooks Koepka appears to be rounding into shape with a successful Florida swing and now plays on a course he helped to build as he was the player consultant for the project.
It’s not a stacked field although defending champion Min Woo Lee is back and looking to be the first back-to-back winner in 20 years.
Also in the field are top 20 FedEx Cup players Chris Gotterup, Jake Knapp, Nico Echavarria, and Ryan Gerard are in the field.
The television schedule is Thursday-Friday from 12 noon to 4 p.m. on the Golf Channel. Saturday and Sunday the coverage will be from 10 a.m.-12 noon on the Golf Channel, then 12 noon-3 p.m. on NBC.
By Dennis Miller