WOO BABY do we have a treat on our hands this week.
Now what does “invitational” mean and how is it different than other tournaments?
Most tournaments on Tour have around an $8 Million purse and 500 FedEx cup points.
This bad boy has been upped from $9.3M last year to $12M (!)
last year, to the $20 MILLION this year that I mentioned before.
Plus 550 FEC points to boot.
And better yet, the Big Cat is teeing it up.
What a fucking treat.
Tiger also displayed unreal drip here as an amateur in ‘93.
That featured a 6-shot lead after 20 holes and a -13 start in his first 27 holes.
By early Friday morning, it felt a lot like the tournament was already over.
Guy was playing out of his mind.
It certainly felt Niemann had arrived.
He’s since joined LIV Golf, so he won’t be defending his title here this week.
Last year’s leaderboard and recent winners.
2022 Leaderboard
Recent Winners
The Course
Riviera CC is a par 71 playing at just over 7,300 yards.
The 1st hole is the easiest par 5 on the entire Tour every single year.
The rest of the course is challenging.
Miss left and you’ve got a nasty sidehill lie in the rough to contend with.
Miss right and you’ve got tree limbs to contend with hanging over the right side of the fairway.
With that said, overall length off the tee holds a bit more weight here than accuracy.
2019 Champion JB Holmes (who has fallen off the MAP btw) is a great example of that.
3-footers on Sunday can get real testy in a hurry on poa annua.
Just ask Max Homa after he lipped out that putt on the 72nd hole two years ago.
This course is notorious for having a ton of leaderboard overlap with some place called Augusta National.
Adam Scott’s win in 2020 is a prime example of that.
All 3 of those guys have won MULTIPLE TIMES at this tournament.
Pretty tough to ignore that pop in of pattern.
But by no means does going for it and missing narrowly take a big number out of play.
Poor Scott Piercy will be our volunteer for the class.
The further back right that pin is, the more cautious they’ll be.
Regardless, it’s going to be a lot of fun for all of us to watch.
The Weather
Liiittle bit chilly out there in the mornings.
Hope we can avoid a frost delay like last week too.
TV Coverage
Appointment television at 3:04 PM ET on Thursday and 10:24 AM ET on Friday.
I’m so excited I might expire.
He’s also on the grounds giving updates as Tiger plays through a chilly pro-am this Wednesday.
My thoughts on this week in particular?
Goddang am I just over the moon that he’s playing.
This tournament has never served him well - it’s the one he’s played most without a victory.
But I think it would be healthy to temper our expectations for this week.
He said himself that he still hasn’t walked 72 holes in 4 days this year.
He’s 150/1 to win this week and +160 to make the cut.
That feels about right.
It’s gonna be great and I can’t wait.
The Trophy
This is a little too modern for my taste.
It’s got that College Football Playoff meets F1 racing trophy vibe.
Give me the 2005 edition of the trophy instead, compliments of a young Adam Scott.
Is it safe to say now that these 3 are golf’s Big 3?
It’sCollin Morikawa +1800andViktor Hovland +2500.
Big time courses against some very solid fields there.
The Hov has played here twice, finishing T-4 and T-5.
Otherwise he’s been striking it well.
It has in the past.
Other Plays
Morikawa Top 10 +210/Hovland Top 10 +250- At least one of these two will shake out.
His length plays here, which we all saw last year in his coming out party.
This is more about his talent level not warranting that price than it is course fit.
Keegan Bradley To Win +6600/Top 20 +225- The new, lean Keegan keeps showing up on weekends.
Kind of an insulting grouping to Will Z tbh.
Tiger Woods Round 1 Score - U70.5 +138- How could I not.
Tiger Woods To Make The Cut +160- How could I not.
That’s what I got.
Gonna be an awesome tournament.
