SB Nation Tampa Bay: All Posts by Brendan Porath

Crowne Plaza Invitational 2013: Rickie Fowler brand dominates stop at Colonial

2013-05-24T16:14:00Z

A PGA Tour golfer's life is just about as good as it gets for any professional athlete. There's little risk of major physical injury or damage to your body, you travel all over the world, work outside, and play some of the best and most scenic venues on earth. Their workdays could last as little as five hours or run from dawn until darkness, depending on how much practice they want to put in. But one thing in particular that I've always thought can be difficult is the juggle of flipping from the afternoon wave to the morning wave through the first two rounds of a tournament.

Rickie Fowler is the poster boy for this week's tournament at Colonial, and he has an endorsement deal with the tournament's title sponsor, Crowne Plaza Hotels. It's hard to walk five minutes without seeing his likeness. Fowler has one victory in his young career, but he's carved out a niche as the go-to endorser and young face of the Tour.

The Tour, however, put him in the Thursday afternoon-Friday morning tee time swing, where he finished his opening 18 around 5 p.m. local time and had to be back at the course just over 12 hours later for the next loop. A 7:33 a.m. tee time means Fowler is up before the sun and was at the course at dawn on Friday morning. It's a good lifestyle but this has always struck me as one of the undesirable swings of the job. It's unavoidable but Fowler's success at least ensures that he's not the first off in the morning wave.

With the title sponsor in the travel business, Crowne Plaza Hotels did a little bit of digging and surveyed the Tour players about their life on the road and their day-to-day schedules off the course. Fowler, who has the endorsement arrangement with the hotel, said "For me, getting eight hours of sleep is one of my top priorities during a tournament." That priority would make for a tight schedule these first two days at Colonial, based on his assigned tee times. According to the survey, the average among players, caddies, and Tour staffers is seven hours -- a surprising number to me given the early-morning demands (I spoke to rules officials and groundskeepers who were here well before 6 a.m.). The survey data indicates that golfers and caddies, on average, turn off the lights around 10:30 p.m. and get out of bed at 6:06 a.m. on the day of a tournament.

In total, nearly all of those players are on the road for "business" more than 60 nights of the year. The spectrum of those accommodations, however, has to be significant -- with Tiger Woods sequestered away in a private manse and rookie golfers with minimal career earnings traveling and staying in spots more similar to the common business traveler. As a marquee player and endorser, Rickie is likely on the upper-end of the spectrum but he still can't control the tee times assigned to him by the Tour. On Friday, he had made the turn before 9:30 a.m., ahead of many spectators' arrival, and was hovering just over the cut line on his inward nine. The hope for all parties involved -- fans, sponsors, members -- is that he at least holds the line to stick around for two more nights in Fort Worth.

2013 Crowne Plaza Invitational: Colonial member Ryan Palmer goes low, takes 1st round lead

2013-05-24T12:30:05Z

This week's PGA Tour stop for the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial is one of the rare annual events that's held at the same course since the tournament's inception, dating back to 1946. Colonial is a Tour original, a staple in the rota and a layout that many players have mapped with precision before they show up on the grounds. But no one on Tour knows it better than first-round leader Ryan Palmer, a full-time dues paying member at the classic Fort Worth club.

It's not uncommon for PGA Tour pros to get an occasional home game, playing on a course they frequented growing up and in front of hometown friends and family. What's far more rare, however, is the player who's an active member walking with a caddie who is also an active member, and reigning club champion.

Palmer's caddie James Edmondson is a three-time winner of the Colonial club championship, coming down the final hole during his loop's first round, he issued a challenge to his fellow member. With one hole to play, Palmer was almost assured of low-round of the day, but standing in the final fairway, Edmondson told him he still needed one more birdie to tie his low round at the club. After a laugh with his caddie, Palmer took up the challenge and went on to make birdie at Colonial's ninth hole to walk off with a personal best round of 62, matching the lowest ever first round score at this event.

At 8-under, Palmer holds a one-shot lead over John Rollins and will play Friday afternoon with a full Fort Worth crowd behind him. A win would be a career-highlight for the PGA Tour veteran, who worked his way up through the Nationwide Tour to become a regular on the big circuit. He's a three-time winner and has become a familiar name atop leaderboards over the past five years, but this week is different for the Texas native, "This is what I dream about when I play here every year," he said after the low round. "This is the one tournament I gear up for the most... This tournament will be the most meaningful to me to be on that [Champions] wall on the first tee. I dream about it all the time."

Given his familiarity with the layout, he's likely to stay on the first page of the board throughout the week. Colonial is a tighter, and shorter layout where players often pull hybrids or irons off the tee. But Palmer is so comfortable with every sightline and landing spot, that he took driver on almost every hole. He said there was no doubt this was one of his best driving rounds of the year, and he got off the tee and around the course perfectly.

Texas, specifically the Dallas-Fort Worth area, is the home for many players on Tour and Colonial provides playing privileges for most. But Palmer is a regular at Hogan's Alley, playing your average games on a weekly basis with the amateur members. During the offseason, he is up at the course multiple times a week, playing the course as if being a professional Tour player wasn't his job -- much like any other old chop who makes their way around the local track. "These old men here make me grind because I have to give them so many shots. Maybe that helps." Usually, the best golfers at most clubs tend to run in packs, refusing to play with the mid-to-high handicaps that will muddle up their round.

But Palmer is pretty understated, speaking with a bit of a twang about how he's usually drinking beer when he's out on this course. "When I am out here with the guys, I mean half the time I might grab a few for the back nine and drink it myself. You can tell on No. 9 what I am going to do on the back." I don't believe he grabbed a few while making the turn on the way to his 62 on Thursday. A relatively quiet and down-to-earth guy who's just usually out here drinking beers, he will be an easy player to support.

Palmer will now play in the afternoon wave on Friday, utilizing his course knowledge of every wind implication and green undulation and taking the input of his club champion caddie. He won't need to match his low-opening round, but the hometown favorite should be set up for a deep run into the weekend. "I have made bogeys and birdies from every spot on this golf course you can find. If I just keep the driver, and play like I had been, this could be a special day [Friday] as well."

Crowne Plaza Invitational 2013 odds: Zach Johnson, Jason Dufner among favorites at Colonial

2013-05-22T14:00:06Z

The PGA Tour stays in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex for the historic stop at the home of Ben Hogan, Colonial. The Crowne Plaza Invitational is played annually on one of the Tour pros favorite courses, a true throwback Texas layout that is fair but often yields some low numbers. It's a smaller track, and some of the game's most accurate ball-strikers, much like Hogan, often fare the best here.

Those are some of the players favored this week, with Charl Schwartzel and Zach Johnson currently holding the lowest odds at 14/1. Four of Johnson's nine career PGA Tour wins have come in the state of Texas, including two of the last three Crowne Plaza Invitationals. Johnson had perhaps the steadiest season on Tour last year, consistently climbing inside the top 10. But he's struggled a bit this year, with his best finish (T18) coming in the limited-field season opening tournament at Kapalua. But this is a classic "horses for courses" pick as Johnson is still one of the best players in the world playing at a venue he's owned in recent years.

Schwartzel had a close call last week up the road at the Byron Nelson, but bogeyed the last hole to fall off the pace set by Sang-Moon Bae. Jason Dufner, who nearly beat Johnson and went back-to-back on the DFW swing last year, joins Matt Kuchar at 20/1. Here are this week's pre-tournament odds for some of the favorites (via Bovada):

Player	Odds
Charl Schwartzel	14/1
Zach Johnson	14/1
Jason Dufner	20/1
Matt Kuchar	20/1
Jim Furyk	25/1
Kevin Streelman	25/1
Rickie Fowler	25/1
Bo Van Pelt	28/1
Martin Laird	28/1
Charley Hoffman	33/1
Henrik Stenson	33/1
Hunter Mahan	33/1
Marc Leishman	33/1
Ben Crane	40/1
Chris Kirk	40/1
Fredrik Jacobson	40/1
Harris English	40/1
John Huh	40/1
Ryan Palmer	40/1
Tim Clark	40/1
Sang Moon Bae	50/1
Scott Piercy	50/1
Kyle Stanley	55/1
Ryan Moore	55/1
Angel Cabrera	66/1
Brendon De Jonge	66/1
Graham Delaet	66/1
Jeff Overton	66/1
Jordan Speith	66/1
Robert Karlsson	66/1
Stewart Cink	75/1

Sergio Garcia apologizes for Tiger Woods 'fried chicken' remark

2013-05-22T00:47:01Z

For the second day in a row, Sergio Garcia has made public comments to add to his ongoing feud with Tiger Woods. This time, however, the comments have progressed from criticism to mockery, with racial undertones that have already led the golfer to issue an apology. Ewan Murray of The Guardian has the details of a Garcia "fried chicken" remark that will instantly force comparisons to the remarks made by Fuzzy Zoeller about Tiger and the Masters Champions Dinner in 1997.

Garcia made the remarks at a pre-tournament event before this week's BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, a highlight on the European Tour's calendar. The setup and Sergio's remark, via Murray of The Guardian:

The Spaniard was on stage at the European Tour's gala players' awards dinner, where he was questioned by the Golf Channel's Steve Sands. García, who has been embroiled in verbal battles with Woods since the Players Championship at Sawgrass this month, was asked in jest if he would have the American round for dinner one night during the upcoming US Open. "We will have him round every night," García said. "We will serve fried chicken."

(h/t to Geoff Shackelford)

The comments were made at a European Tour gala dinner, but Garcia had already issued a statement through the Euro Tour and apologized before the end of the night in England (via Murray/Guardian):

"I apologise for any offence that may have been caused by my comment on stage during The European Tour Players' Awards dinner. I answered a question that was clearly made towards me as a joke with a silly remark, but in no way was the comment meant in a racist manner."

And here's video of Zoeller's remarks back in 1997, where he referred to Tiger as "little boy" and also went with the "fried chicken" reference:

Monday, Garcia opened the week at a sponsor's event telling the press that they were starting to find out what Tiger was really like and that Woods "didn't make a difference" in Sergio's life. But Garcia seems to be consumed with Woods these days, and what was once an entertaining back-and-forth has been kicked up another ugly level.

Sergio Garcia continues public criticism of Tiger Woods

2013-05-21T11:30:06Z

Over a week has passed since Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia took their relationship from frosty to outwardly hostile in a series of back-and-forth public critiques at The Players Championship. But both Garcia and Woods are still fielding questions about the contretemps, and Sergio once again launched into monologue on Monday and repeated his public critique of Woods.

Sergio continued to come hard at Tiger, indicating that the world's No. 1 player is rarely honest or forthcoming but the press is now really getting a look at what Woods is like. Garcia made his latest round of comments before the assembled press at a sponsor's event just before one of the European Tour's marquee events, the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth (via Paul Mahoney of Golf.com)

"He called me a whiner. He's probably right," Garcia said Monday at Wentworth, England, at the start of the week of the BMW PGA Championship. "But that's also probably the first thing he's told you guys that's true in 15 years. I know what he's like. You guys are finding out."

As Mahoney noted, Woods was also responding to questions about Sergio while doing promo for his event out at Congressional in suburban Washington, DC. But unlike Sergio, Woods gave one of his characteristically terse "No" answers when asked if he'd make an attempt to extend an olive branch to the Spaniard.

Garcia, while a bit more winded, had a similar response to a comparable question (via Mahoney):

"First of all, I don't have his number. And secondly, I did nothing wrong and don't have anything to say to him. And he wouldn't pick up the phone anyway. But that's OK; I don't need him as a friend. I don't need him in my life to be happy and that's fine. It's as simple as that. Like I have always said, I try to be as truthful as possible."

The media will pounce on every little barb or icy response for the rest of their careers, and some will accuse the press of over-dramatizing the hostilities. But this is all wonderfully entertaining and great for golf -- dispose of the "gentleman's game" refrain and increase the public spats between competitors.

Garcia went on to say that he wasn't afraid of Woods and that "Tiger doesn't make a difference to my life." He can say that, but Mr. Tiger has dominated his life for the past 10 days and will continue to do so for the rest of the summer. Here's hoping the USGA, which is known for their creative and entertaining pairings, puts the two together at Merion for the U.S. Open.

Byron Nelson Championship 2013 purse: Sang-Moon Bae cashes $1.2 million

2013-05-19T22:57:37Z

Prior to Sunday, Sang-Moon Bae's largest paycheck this season was a $198,000 eighth-place finish at the Northern Trust Open. His win outside Dallas at the 2013 Byron Nelson Championship, however, boosted his season's earnings by $1.2 million. He's won plenty of cash outside of the American PGA Tour, earning the Order of Merit honors on the Asian Tour, but he was still seeking a debut win stateside. Bae's PGA Tour career earnings prior to Sunday totaled just under $1.8 million, so the victory at TPC Four Seasons is certainly a career highlight and career payday.

The $6.7 million purse is not quite the yearly high of $9.5 million from last week's Players, but it's still enough to hand out six figures to 16 players. Keegan Bradley led for most of the four days, but a 2-over round of 72 on Sunday yielded the lead to his playing partner. The two were even with four holes to play, but Bradley bogeyed two of his final three holes to hand a two-shot win to Bae. His consolation prize is a $723,600 check that pushes him over the $10 million mark in career earnings (he'd earned $9.6 million in 2.5 seasons before Sunday).

Travel expenses will be light this week as most of the field will now stay in town and make the short drive down the road to Colonial for the Crowne Plaza Invitational in Fort Worth. Here are the complete payout amounts for the field who made the weekend at the Byron Nelson:

Place	Player	Payout
1	Sang-Moon Bae	$1,206,000
2	Keegan Bradley	$723,600
3	Charl Schwartzel	$455,600
4	Justin Bolli	$321,600
T5	Morgan Hoffmann	$244,550
T5	Martin Kaymer	$244,550
T5	Scott Piercy	$244,550
T8	Charley Hoffman	$201,000
T8	John Huh	$201,000
T10	Ryo Ishikawa	$174,200
T10	Graham Delaet	$174,200
T12	Ricky Barnes	$131,320
T12	Marc Leishman	$131,320
T12	Angel Cabrera	$131,320
T12	D.A. Points	$131,320
T12	Tom Gillis	$131,320
T17	Brendon Todd	$97,150
T17	Freddie Jacobson	$97,150
T17	Charles Howell III	$97,150
T17	Harris English	$97,150
T21	Colt Knost	$67,000
T21	Jason Bohn	$67,000
T21	John Rollins	$67,000
T21	Chez Reavie	$67,000
T21	Justin Hicks	$67,000
T21	Jerry Kelly	$67,000
T27	Wes Short, Jr.	$46,565
T27	Will Claxton	$46,565
T27	Brian Harman	$46,565
T27	Jason Day	$46,565
T27	Jimmy Walker	$46,565
T27	Ted Potter, Jr.	$46,565
T33	Matt Kuchar	$32,495
T33	Kenny Perry	$32,495
T33	Mike Weir	$32,495
T33	Jeff Overton	$32,495
T33	Jason Dufner	$32,495
T33	Erik Compton	$32,495
T33	Ryan Palmer	$32,495
T33	James Driscoll	$32,495
T33	Marcel Siem	$32,495
T33	Nathan Green	$32,495
T43	Charlie Beljan	$22,110
T43	Justin Leonard	$22,110
T43	Rory Sabbatini	$22,110
T43	Martin Flores	$22,110
T43	D.H. Lee	$22,110
T48	Padraig Harrington	$16,363
T48	Matt Bettencourt	$16,363
T48	Duffy Waldorf	$16,363
T48	Joe Ogilvie	$16,363
T48	Steve Marino	$16,363
T48	Stephen Ames	$16,363
T48	Camilo Villegas	$16,363
T48	William McGirt	$16,363
T48	Gary Woodland	$16,363
T57	Ben Crane	$14,807
T57	Andrew Svoboda	$14,807
T57	Tag Ridings	$14,807
T57	Henrik Norlander	$14,807
T57	Stuart Appleby	$14,807
T57	Cameron Percy	$14,807
T63	Scott Langley	$14,204
T63	David Mathis	$14,204
T63	Gary Christian	$14,204
T66	Alexandre Rocha	$13,869
T66	John Daly	$13,869
T68	Jordan Spieth	$13,601
T68	Zack Fischer	$13,601
70	Seung-yul Noh	$13,400

2013 Byron Nelson Championship results: Keegan Bradley bogeys late, Sang-Moon Bae wins

2013-05-19T22:30:35Z

TPC Four Seasons Las Colinas had some teeth on Sunday, as most scores hovered around even-par and only 16 players dipped into red figures in the final round. The wind was up just outside of Dallas at the Byron Nelson, and the final pairings of the day struggled to make much of a move. Eventual winner Sang-Moon Bae was quick out of the gate, adding four birdies in his first seven holes but he gave multiple shots back coming into the clubhouse with a final round 69. That was still good enough to defeat playing partner Keegan Bradley, who could not approach his opening round form on Thursday, when he shot a course record 60.

Bradley fired a 2-over round of 72, bogeying two of the last three holes to hand the two-shot victory to Bae. The inward five holes at Las Colinas were brutal on Sunday, playing into 30 mph wind. Once Bradley gave away those two shots, he needed Bae to completey choke up on the last -- a conceivable scenario given the water trouble and wind that made it the hardest ranked hole on the course. But Bae avoided the mistake, and Bradley had no shot to make it close and apply pressure.

Coming in solo third behind Bae and Bradley was Charl Schwartzel, who was in it and even with the leaders until he made a mess at the 18th to finish with bogey. The low round of the day was fired by Justin Bolli, who carded a 5-under 65 to jump 15 spots up the leaderboard for a solo fourth-place finish. Here are the complete four-round results from the 2013 Byron Nelson Championship:

Place	Player	Score
1	Sang-Moon Bae	-13
2	Keegan Bradley	-11
3	Charl Schwartzel	-10
4	Justin Bolli	-9
T5	Morgan Hoffmann	-8
T5	Martin Kaymer	-8
T5	Scott Piercy	-8
T8	Charley Hoffman	-7
T8	John Huh	-7
T10	Ryo Ishikawa	-6
T10	Graham DeLaet	-6
T12	Ricky Barnes	-5
T12	Marc Leishman	-5
T12	Angel Cabrera	-5
T12	D.A. Points	-5
T12	Tom Gillis	-5
T17	Brendon Todd	-4
T17	Freddie Jacobson	-4
T17	Charles Howell III	-4
T17	Harris English	-4
T21	Colt Knost	-3
T21	Jason Bohn	-3
T21	John Rollins	-3
T21	Chez Reavie	-3
T21	Justin Hicks	-3
T21	Jerry Kelly	-3
T27	Wes Short, Jr.	-2
T27	Will Claxton	-2
T27	Brian Harman	-2
T27	Jason Day	-2
T27	Jimmy Walker	-2
T27	Ted Potter, Jr.	-2
T33	Matt Kuchar	-1
T33	Mike Weir	-1
T33	Kenny Perry	-1
T33	Jeff Overton	-1
T33	Jason Dufner	-1
T33	Erik Compton	-1
T33	Ryan Palmer	-1
T33	James Driscoll	-1
T33	Marcel Siem	-1
T33	Nathan Green	-1
T43	Charlie Beljan	E
T43	Justin Leonard	E
T43	Rory Sabbatini	E
T43	Martin Flores	E
T43	D.H. Lee	E
T48	Padraig Harrington	1
T48	Matt Bettencourt	1
T48	Duffy Waldorf	1
T48	Joe Ogilvie	1
T48	Steve Marino	1
T48	Stephen Ames	1
T48	Camilo Villegas	1
T48	William McGirt	1
T48	Gary Woodland	1
T57	Andrew Svoboda	2
T57	Ben Crane	2
T57	Tag Ridings	2
T57	Henrik Norlander	2
T57	Stuart Appleby	2
T57	Cameron Percy	2
T63	Scott Langley	3
T63	David Mathis	3
T63	Gary Christian	3
T66	Alexandre Rocha	4
T66	John Daly	4
T68	Jordan Spieth	5
T68	Zack Fischer	5
70	Seung-Yul Noh	9

Sang-Moon Bae wins the 2013 HP Byron Nelson Championship

2013-05-19T21:57:14Z

Sang-Moon Bae, a former Order of Merit winner on the Asian Tour, picked up his first American PGA Tour win on Sunday in Dallas, edging out Keegan Bradley for the Byron Nelson Championship. Bae is one of several rising Korean players, a country that dominates women's golf and which many project to produce the next great superstar on the men's side. The Byron Nelson has launched the careers of many first-time winners on Tour, and Bae has the talent to roll the momentum from this win into multiple others before he turns 30.

It was Bae and Bradley who went off in the final group of the day, with Keegan, the 2011 winner here, holding a one-shot lead. But those two quickly flipped positions, and Bradley struggled to find the form that paced him to the early lead with a course-record opening round of 60 on Thursday. Bradley bogeyed his third hole of the day, while Bae opened on fire and picked up birdies on four of his first seven holes. At one point, the one-shot deficit became a four-shot lead for Bae before the final pairing had even made the turn.

But Bae would cool off and bring Bradley, along with Charl Schwartzel, back into it on the back side. He found the water on No. 9, and could not scramble to recover after dropping up near the green. He carded a double bogey and followed that with another bogey on No. 10 to fall back. It appeared the two would go neck-and-neck down the back nine, which features a brutal final five closing holes -- almost all of which rank among the hardest on the course. A Bae bogey on No. 15 pulled things even momentarily, setting up a three-hole impromptu match play battle.

Bradley, however, would give it away on back-to-back holes to set up a comfortable 18th hole and two-shot win for Bae. It started at No. 16, when Bradley's belly putter went awry from inside four feet. The missed short putt would be enough for Bae to separate, but on the next hole, a par-3, Bradley sent his tee shot over the green, making an up-and-down par save almost impossible. Bae needed to implode on the last -- the hardest ranked hole on this layout -- in order to give it away, but he steadily stayed in the middle from tee-to-green and avoided any water trouble to make par.

The 2-over round for Bradley was certainly disappointing in the tough windy conditions, but Bae's quick start on the front nine applied the pressure early and could be the beginning of much future Sunday success for one of Korea's most promising players.