AT&T Pebble Beach ProAm…who’s who

The AT&T pebble Beach Pro Am always provides an interesting twist to the normal grinds of the tour schedule for both players and fans alike. For some reason it gives the regular weekend golfer an insight into what it might be like to play on the big stage and see who might be sand bagging with their handicap just like the local muni tournaments they play in, haha

I have no idea how the committee comes up with the pairings for the tournament or how they decide if someone is a celebrity or not as we all know many people playing under that category conjure up questions of “who is that” ? Which brings us to the ever important thought of how do you accurately predict a winning team for this event?

Do you pick a high handicapper with a medium ranked pro? do you go with the chalk or maybe just throw a dart and see what happens? I know the network likes to zero in on a handful of celebrities year after year but who the hell decided it was a good idea to label George Lopez a celebrity? Can anyone explain this? It’s truely the myth of the tournament and to all watching at home.

Some notable pairings that will surely grab the attention of viewers are:

Tiger & Romo – maybe Romo will close in this since the grid iron has not been so kind and this is coming from a huge Cowboys fan

Bud Cauley & Nick Saban – This is certainly a power pairing as bud is just coming into his own and has the roll tide by his side. Does anyone remember Saban bailing on a few jobs not that long ago?

D.A. Points & Caddy Shack – The defending champions and crowd fav might have a good shot at it depending on Murray’s game this season….couple putts drop who knows

Furyk & Hootie – This seems to be an interesting pairing….hootie always does the day after the masters charity event and Jim could use a bit of a nudge in the right direction….keep an outside eye on these two

Stadler & Drexler – For some reason the Stadler family always does well in these things…maybe it’s the stage, incredible buffets of just good play but keep your thoughts on this odd couple

Who would be your dream teammate and what course would you rather play during this event?

Down the road People

PS – The Tiger Woods mania is about to go ballistic with the TV coverage, announcers, press, twitter, blogs and Vegas….for all of you who sealed his fate during some down years it seems as though you have jumped back on the band wagon !! He did not lose his arms and as we stated here many times on our blog will return to prominence again…starting with the Masters this year as his first major of the year.

Qatar Masters or Should I Say…Lets Go JD !!

I can’t express enough how great it would be to see JD pull off a win after many years or fighting it….the guy is a fan favorite and deserves t hoist the trophy at least one more time. After all the turmoil with Tiger does his antics look that bad in hind sight? Answer: NO WAY… it was self inflicting. The tournament has been shortened to 54 holes due to weather so lets see what the Loudmouth pant wearing ball striker has in store for his second round…..watch out for camels and those crazy wind storms my man. Go low, knock down & worm burner…whatever it takes to make the masses cheer for Mr. daly !! He’s one of the good guys

The Farmers Insurance Open @ Torrey Pines

The tour stops at the incredible Torrey Pines where Bubba Watson aka The General Lee is defending champion. This will be a relatively short entry as this tournament offers little to the imagination other then the hang gliders and surfers at blacks beach.  With some deciding to split the world in half and play The Abu Dabi HSBC Challenge to pocket some appearance fess…you know who you are. That in conjunction with the PGA Merchandise Show it feels like the golfing world separated for the weekend !!

We like the following guys to make a solid run at the money this weekend :

Rickie Fowler - just because if we pick him enough times he has to win eventually…RIGHT?

Ben Crane – PLaying solid golf with an emphasis on his incredible putting so far this year…..viral video junkie his reputation has seriously take a 180 for the good

Phil - This is his home turf and a previous winner we need Phil to get his game in gear so he can challenge at the Masters where it will be a classic Phil vs. Tiger Duel.

Dustin J. – We are hoping his back, knee, toe, fingers and anything else that is bothering him has healed enough to where he can concentrate on birdies instead of DNF’s

SLEEPERS:

JJ Henry – One of the guys from our home town and we would be remiss to not pick a homer…..get it done JJ and stay away from the fast food please

Bud Cauley – The guy is just pure talent and will be a star…..will win this season for sure

Send us your pick to win and we will send you a super special gift !! Ready? GO

Humana Challenge

There’s nothing like the desert of Palm Springs and one better the Vodka Lemonade drinks at the Parker Hotel that will knock you on your ass after a couple rounds of life size chess or ping pong pool side……wait, the purpose of this entry was to talk golf !!

The Humana Challenge @ PGA West, La Quinta, California kicks off tomorrow worth 500 FedEx points and more importantly 5.6 mill in prize money. What other sport can the guy who never wins or comes in a consistent 30th place be a millionaire at the end of the season….that’s insane !! Anyway, i keep getting off track here…lets get to this lame tournament and be done with it already.

There are 13 major winners in the field all averaging 41 years of age so lets just toss that group out of the mix. Most of the previous winners of this tournament are not serial winners so lets toss them out as well since a repeat or multiple win at the same event is not likely here.The international players will melt under the heat of the sun or pressure so lets get rid of them also. The 40 plus group just doesn’t have the gusto to manage a win here either which leaves us by process of elimination with the Younger sharp shooters listed below.

The winner will come from the group below as far as we can estimate & by quantitative intelligence applied using rankings, age, nationality and tour stats. We have highlighted who we think will win from this list so take a look and check back post tournament and thank us then.

2012 PGA Tour Predictions

Another year another opportunity for some guys to come out of the shadows and make buckets on money like the rest of us only dream of !! Will it be a season full or parity again or will the familiar names roar back to the winners circle hoisting that Happy Gilmore check?

With Hawaii kicking off the season it seems like some familiar faces are showing up on the leader board but that is only the beginning of paradise.. Just ask Mark Wilson from last year. Is it better to win early or late or maybe  when making strides for the FedEx Cup en route to that 10 mill? Golfmoolah certainly doesn’t have a crystal ball but we do have a loud opinion and feel we can make a run at some off the wall predictions for the next year.

So here it goes….take these to the vegas window and bet the farm just don’t complain if we get everything wrong, haha

Some Stand outs for 2012 we feel will really be in the hunt each week

• Dustin Johnson  The guy is a gamer and coming off knee surgery we feel he will break through with multiple wins not to mention a possible major
• Phil Mick – Does he really need a blurp? The guy is solid and will win a couple
• Rickie Fowler – He will burst onto the podium with his first win and be a star in spots not to mention be a social media king
• Bo Van Pelt – The southern assassin has a trophy in his game this year based on a cool name alone….Cool under pressure will make this a smooth victory
• Tiger Woods – Watch out this year…he will be coming at everyone like a raging bull looking to destroy anyone in his path…killer instinct

Major Winners

• Tiger Woods
• Dustin Johnson
• Steve Stricker
• Jason Day

What will this years controversy be? Will it be on the course or off? Will it involve someone’s equipment or maybe a rule that nobody ever heard of? Email us and let us know what your thoughts are and what you think will go down this year on TOUR !! Bring back the guy that travels in the beat up Winnebago that’s hungry like the wolf and would do anything to get a win s he didn’t have to hit the all you can eat Cracker Barrel in Truth or Consequences New Mexico !! Down the Road people

Going Mobile on the PGA Tour

How long will it take for the PGA Tour to go MOBILE? It’s like a freight train barreling down the tracks at an unstoppable pace…the mobile industry is taking over everything as it will the golf industry/tour. There have been early adopters from apps such as Golfmoolah, tour players personal apps for instruction and tournaments guides such as the Masters & US Open.

I am talking about more of an invasion though, will caddies scorecards be replaced with mobile devices or tablets….will players be able to see where their competition stands during a tournament via that particular device? what about ordering your lunch as you walk the grounds of Bethpage or finding a foursome to play with after being inspired by the tour players? Anything and everything is possible when it comes to the mobile industry… just depends on who is making the calls at the top of the ladder and if they are progressive or still have a bit of the Hootie Johnson left in them.

As it stands now there have been some major breakthroughs: Take for example allowing spectators bring in mobile devices past the ropes..that is huge and was an inconvenience that wasn’t going to work much longer. Why can’t a course be geo-targeted so as soon as you enter the property you are hit with coupons for merchandise such as hats or logo golf shirts? With the penetration rate being at 96% of the public it seems that it would only increase the amount of traffic and boost the bottom line sales to benefit the tournaments proceeds by 20% at least.

So, get ready for the invasion of the Mobile device cause it’s coming quicker then you can even imagine and will be in your hands before you can blink and eye. Down the road people

The “What If” for the FedEx Cup Race

Here are some of our picks for the Cup race and what they need to do in order to get that BIG check in the end….granted some of these scenarios are from PGATOUR.COM so take it with a grain of salt, haha

Our boy Phil….longshot but that’s why they play the game isn’t it? We feel the Mic could surprise us all with his experience and wily short game. How is it that a guy with such a talked about short game can miss so many three footers?

When is this dude going to win something of significance? NOW would be a good time Dustin !! Get rid of all the demons come sunday and just play like you are back on the muni with some buds that skipped work in order to spray a couple…DO IT

Those are our picks for the challenge…lets see what happens people

FedEx Cup…..Do We Care?

The FedEx Cup was an exciting and glories addition to the tour when it first arrived on the scene…but what does it hold for the viewers now? Once a battle between the top guns on tour that rewarded guys for winning and winning in dominating fashion has been reduced to guys who do relatively well all season with little to no fire power…granted it’s purpose is to reward consistency, but do we care about a guy who does relatively well? The answer….NO NO NO !! We want a beat down like the thunder dome – tw men enter one man leaves…we want to see a guy get that big cardboard check because he has reduced his opponents to rubble on a weekly basis.

Since there is no clear cut favorite from week to week it seems disturbing that we will have someone hoisting the cardboard check that we could care less about…..similar to having a number one in the world that can’t win…hello Luke Donald does this ring a bell? Granted it’s a life changer to win and i would certain not give it back for any reason but as a golf fan and a watcher of golf i could care less about the race as the contenders have little charisma to show for it. Lets give JD or Fuzzy that check and sit back and watch the show..haha just saying

In conclusion and to wrap up a complete run-on article it just seems lack luster and BORING to even follow the FedEx Cup this year….so, what are your thoughts and picks to win? Down the road people

We like Kuchar or Dustin to win it….but who cares !!

2011 PGA TOUR PLAYOFFS POINTS FOR THE FEDEXCUP

Battle At Congressional

Will we see the ghost of Ken Venturi work its voodoo on the field this year at the 2011 US Open Championship or will the third time around for the Open at this historic course bring us a relatively unknown player who goes on to do great things a la Graeme McDowell?

Any way you slice it some how some way there is always a weird twist to this major…..it brings out all the demons in players and opens up a pathway big enough for a truck to drive through for those that have never sniffed a major championship. Will one of the young guns dominate this gig or will we see crafty Phil bring it home with some savy short game play and experience that can never be underestimated?

So…without any further delay the Golfmoolah precidtions:

We see some guys really taking over this tournament with clear vision and great iron play…but ultimately it comes down to putting. We like the folloing:

Dustin Johnson, Phil, Kuchar and our sleeper is Rickie Fowler

Vegas Odds for Congressional:

Lee Westwood 10 to 1
Luke Donald 12 to 1
Phil Mickelson 12 to 1
Rory McIlroy 16 to 1
Martin Kaymer 20 to 1
Dustin Johnson 22 to 1
Steve Stricker 22 to 1
Hunter Mahan 25 to 1
Matt Kuchar 25 to 1
Graeme McDowell 28 to 1
Nick Watney 28 to 1
Bubba Watson 33 to 1
Charl Schwartzel 33 to 1
Geoff Ogilvy 33 to 1
Jim Furyk 33 to 1

Don’t Hate The Player, Hate The Course !!

The Players Championship always provides us with a lot of drama or to be more specific the 17th !! Lets just go to Sunday and the 17th to decide this thing !! It seems the unknown walk up to the tee box shakin while the big guys are hoping to get there as fast as possible in order to gain those much needed strokes they gave away in previous holes.

There have been so many great shots take place on the hole that some claim to have lost its luster and yet so many still make a HUGE number…so which is it in your mind? Still the 800lbs gorilla or just another gimmicky hole for TV ratings?

In true Golfmoolah fashion we present you with our predictions for this weekend !!

Winner - Ricky Fowler breaks through for his first victory and celebrates with Bubba by blowing up some large mouth bass at Bubba’s lake house 4th of July style !!

Melt Down – Paul Goydos has had trouble on 17 before and this year will be no different as it’s all mental…splash splash

Some memorable moments that these players wish they could forget:

Bob Tway hits five balls into the water at the par-3 17th and makes a 12 in the 2005 tournament. It’s the highest score ever recorded at the hole in competition.

John Daly shoots an opening-round 79 in 1997, then embarks on a now-legendary pub crawl through the Jacksonville beaches, ending at the Sawgrass Marriott where he trashes his room and is taken away by emergency responders.

Fred Couples hits a tee shot into the water at No. 17 during the first round in 1999. He re-teed and then knocked his shot into the hole on the fly for his “hole-in-three.” Still disgusted, Couples sends caddie Joe LaCava to the green to retrieve the ball.

Battling a shoulder injury, Michael Campbell birdies the 18th hole to shoot 89 — thereby avoiding what might have been the first 90 in the history of The Players at the Stadium Course. Campbell withdraws after the round.

Phil Hancock takes a 12 on the fourth hole in 1985, the highest score in a Players on a par-4 hole.