Good on you Jason Day, pulling off the win in a real blower in the Lone Star State. Another Aussie win in Texas and 3 for the year on the PGA Tour. Brian Gay put a big charge on for the final round, to scream into a tie for 2nd. His biggest fan must have had things absolutely smoking, with that Gay porn on his computer and Boy George singing in his headphones, but alas it is Jason Day's day.
We've known Jason has had a real game for a while now, and many said a few years ago that this guy would win a lot on the Tour. The guy smashes driver, hits crisp irons and has one of the Tour's best short games. We know that, so why does he miss so many cuts? It must come down to a lot of poor decisions and too much aggression. Whilst Jason seems to have been out here for a while, sometimes we forget that he is only 22 years old. So the aggression should be natural at that age, but why haven't his minders put an older, wiser head on his bag. I'm only analyzing from afar, but I would put money on it to improve his week in, week out results.
Anyway, two weeks and two Aussie wins for players we know should be doing a lot better than they have been. We stay in Texas this week for the next tournament, so can another talented (but yet to break through) Aussie like Michael Sim or Matt Jones, stare down the game's best and bring home the bacon?
No one was on Jason this week, so the skinnie jackpots to $24, the overall to $120 and we all owe $105. Tony is up lots, Rick has $24 for the 1st bottle of wine so let's book that restaurant for a mid season shin dig at Tony's expense.
This week we move down the road for the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. Initially known as the Colonial National Invitational, this tournament is unofficially associated with Ben Hogan, who based himself here and won the event 5 times. There is a bit of history here this week, as this tournament has been played at this course since it's inception in 1946. This is the PGA Tour's longest running event to be held at the same site, except for the Masters of course.
The tournament honors the history of golf by using an official Scottish Plaid Tartan jackets for it's champions. Another tradition feeding Colonial history is the beautiful Wall of Champions on the first tee. Engraved with the name and score of each champion dating back to the 1941 U.S. Open, the marble display casts a reverence over the start of any player's round. In 2003, Annika Sörenstam played in the tournament and became the first woman to play in a PGA Tour event since Babe Zaharias. However, Sörenstam missed the cut after rounds of 71 and 74.
Colonial has a unique PGA Tour tradition known as the Champion's Choice invitation. Each year, former Colonial champions select two deserving young players, who otherwise would be ineligible, to compete in the tournament.
Pros who made their first appearance at Colonial as a Champion's Choice include Tom Weiskopf, Craig Stadler, Curtis Strange, Mark O'Meara, Paul Azinger and Davis Love III. All these guys went on to win at least 1 Major Championship. Five Champion's Choices have eventually won the Colonial but Dave Stockton (the great putting coach of late) is the only Champion's Choice to win the tournament in the year selected (1967).
The last Australian to win here at Colonial was the Dark Shark (Ian Baker Finch) way back in 1989. You have to go back to 1966 when Bruce Devlin was victorious. The year prior, 1965 Bruce Crampton took the title and that completes the roster of Aussies at Fort Worth. Phil Mickelson is a multiple winner here and would have to be the favorite heading into the week. He is sponsored by Crowne Plaza and like the course, so you'll need to give him some consideration.
Recent winners aside from Mickelson include Steve Stricker (defending champion), Kenny Perry and Sergio Garcia. The honour roll includes all the old great names like Nicklaus, Trevino and Tom Watson, and remember that Ben Hogan won this event 5 times. So clearly, Colonial is not a course to be fucked with. As such it tends to pick a player on the top of his game as it's winner.
The event does tend to attract a strong field, I guess thanks to the associated traditions and history, and many top flight pros then disappear until the US Open. So picking this week might be hard work.
Rick, if you keep it lubed up, the downloads happening and the iPod charged, you might get Brian Gay up on the winners podium yet. Go son, go.
In the meantime, good luck all!
The LRFG !
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