2019 Tournament of Champions

[Stooch]

Tough to pick a winner coming out of the gate, but Brittany, Lexi and Brooke have played here the past 2 years. Lexi and Brooke both have finished top10 with the PGA Champions tour players and Brooke had the best finish among the LPGA players with Champions players scores. Keep an eye on18 it's a beast, it will probably have an impact on the result.

[third-times-a-charm]

Tough to pick a winner coming out of the gate, but Brittany, Lexi and Brooke have played here the past 2 years. Lexi and Brooke both have finished top10 with the PGA Champions tour players and Brooke had the best finish among the LPGA players with Champions players scores. Keep an eye on18 it's a beast, it will probably have an impact on the result.

 

Last time I played Tranquilo was maybe July 2018 so its been some time, but I definitely hit two balls into the water. Very thin fairway.

[Seamus_McDuff]

Picking Stacy Lewis and John Smoltz

[Argonne69]

Gaby and Sei Young are off to a good start at -3 on the front 9. The course appears to be playing tough. Pernilla at 6 over par. Ouch.

 

[WestTex]

As an avid In Gee fan and native of NE Ohio, her pairing with Francona is awesome. I think this tournament already seems doomed, but I hope over a few years it gets going with bigger names and more player buy-in.

[95124hacker]

Thought I just saw Lexi putting with a Bettinardi BUT with a blacked out Scotty Cameron grip ?

 

I guess if Tiger can have a Ping grip on his SC, it’s ok

[GolfGuitarsCars]

WTF is up with the music on 18?

[ChronicSlicer]

WTF is up with the music on 18?

 

Oh, that was music in the background?

[GolfChannel]

Anyone have a link to the Friday pairings and tee times?

 

The nugget has a doctors appointment in the morning and in the afternoon so we’re going to go in between.

[Argonne69]

Six under is an impressive start for a course played for the first time in competition.

[Argonne69]

No Friday pairings yet. Given that it's a no cut event, I have to assume they'll go out in reverse order based on the first round leaderboard.

 

2nd round just came out. It looks like the leaders will go off last on the 1st tee. The 10th tee will have the bottom half of the leaderboard in reverse order.

 

http://www.lpga.com/tournaments/diamond-resorts-tournament-of-champions/pairings

 

 

[Stooch]

No Friday pairings yet. Given that it's a no cut event, I have to assume they'll go out in reverse order based on the first round leaderboard.

I saw them on twitter I don't know is this link works

[GolfGuitarsCars]

WTF is up with the music on 18?

 

Oh, that was music in the background?

 

I thought it was my TV and the announcer said something about a DJ playing music on 18. How stupid.

[Argonne69]

'Probably no worse than some of the crazy happenings at the Pebble Beach Pro Am.

 

[Stooch]

Anyone get a look at Mark Mulder's putter, somebody in the booth described it perfectly "it looks like a hoe" lol

[ClairefromClare]

Thursday coverage underlined that this is pretty much a putt & giggle event. But I loved Stacy's 80 footer.

[Argonne69]

Looks like the 2nd round scores are similar to the first round. Thidapa was three under on her front nine two move up into a tie for second. Lydia is up there as well.

 

[Bad9]

I'm not able to watch any of the coverage but am wondering if the celebs are playing off the same tees as the pros?

[Stooch]

Nice start by Brooke and it's only 2 rounds in but I like seeing only 1 bogey over 36 holes. If she can cut down on the bogeys per round this year she can make good gains in her ranking. She's usually at least top 3 in birdies on tour during her career but if you compare to the top 25 players in the world she's probably top 3 in bogeys also lol.

 

I like what I'm seeing from Lydia too, she looking really comfortable and putting really aggressively, I think she'll be back to her usual ways this season. Ariya, well she's just being Ariya and will be a threat week in and week out. I think Nelly and Marina Alex can have themselves breakout years. No real opinion on the Korean top players form cause they didn't show up lol.

 

And for my wishlist with this team event tourney, I would love to see a partnership between Brooke/InGee or Brooke/SHP and yes I know I'm delusional lol

[Stooch]

I'm not able to watch any of the coverage but am wondering if the celebs are playing off the same tees as the pros?

Yes

[Stooch]

I always knew the LPGA and Whan don't like Brooke, they threw Ariya in her group to shake her lol (j/k) It's is weird though, not sure if some people withdrew or not, don't feel like going through the field. Actually it seems they have a few 3-balls will all Celebs and Ams playing the back tees

https://twitter.com/TheVacationDR/status/1086382112679313408/photo/1

[cardoustie]

Brooke should have been 4 better today, putting not great

 

She's a tremendous driver of the ball

 

 

[GolfChannel]

 

 

Katherine Kirk gaining a follower today.

 

Overall, an excellent experience. I forgot this course used to be Osprey Ridge before the new owners and name change. The course is very spread out, so none of the trampling issues you experience compared to most tournaments will happen here regardless of it being the PGA or LPGA.

 

I felt like there was a decent crowd for a Friday, far more than I was expecting.

 

The event was super low-key and you can get a ton of one on one interactions which was awesome with a kid. DK came over to console my daughter because she thought she was crying (she wasn’t, she was laughing at the prospect of a bear coming out of the forest). They both got a chuckle out of that.

[GolfChannel]

Funniest interaction was Greg Maddux asking DK how she is so good at golf, and DK responding, “Dude, it’s my job.”

[Argonne69]

Glad you had a good time. Watching the women stripe the ball is humbling. Getting to interact with them is an added bonus. You really don't get to do that at a PGA event. Were you able to hang out near autograph alley and get a few pics?

 

[Awsi Dooger]

I am attending this event. I don't have time to post daily summaries right now but perhaps tomorrow night or Sunday.

 

A few impressions:

 

* Great move to change the Stapleford scoring system. The celebrities are so much more relaxed and aggressive than they are in Lake Tahoe, since there is no such thing as losing points for double bogey or worse. Once you have banked points, they are yours. I have seen countless examples of celebrities going for the green or taking the bold shot in this format, like over the water on the second shot on 17. The overall attitude is incredibly relaxed. Nobody has to worry about a placard carried around with your -58 leading to laughter and chuckles on every hole

 

* Very strange course layout. #1 is isolated and not much of a hole. Then it is a hike to an area where #2 and #18 are isolated, side by side but not viewable together. Nobody even watches the green on #2 because a cart ride is required to reach the main congestion of holes #3 through #17. So everyone abandons the players after the approach into #2 so they can get in line for those little carts and the escorted ride across the wooden pathway for several hundred yards. Each cart only holds 6 people apiece and one is the driver. You can imagine what that is like at the end of the day when the final group finishes on #17 and now all the spectators have to be loaded 5 at a time to reach the 18th tee box area. Let's just say this course is not a threat to host a Tiger Woods event

 

* Stacy Lewis was -5 early today but the swing and game didn't look anything close to that level. Rust everywhere. I departed the group and told others in the gallery that I'd be surprised if she maintained -5. I wasn't surprised at the drop down the leaderboard as others advanced. I suspect Stacy will have many wild fluctuations, given what I've seen the first two days

 

* I spent Thursday following Cristie Kerr's group, primarily because of the two solid amateurs in Jack Wagner and Jeremy Roenick. They played great, out striking Cristie for the majority. Roenick really should have been leading by several points at the end of the first round, other than some abysmal short putting including a missed eagle on #13 from 4 feet

 

* On Friday I followed the final group of Brooke Henderson, Mardy Fish and Blair O'Neal. Fish hits some towering shots that the other celebrities simply can't match. I saw enough of that on Thursday to want to see him in action for a full round. His mannerisms and preparation look more like a pro golfer than anyone else. But he does hit the occasional wild drive, with big misses both ways. He doesn't have full confidence in the driver and typically chooses something else.

 

* If I could have wagered on anything for Friday it would have been Blair O'Neal to struggle. They stuck her in the final group on the back nine on Thursday and she outplayed that assignment to such degree that she wound up in the final feature group on Friday. Simply above her talent level or comfort level. I was impressed that she maintained her smiles and positive attitude throughout the round, despite countless tentative short missed putts. Every time she finished 2-5 feet from the hole it was difficult to watch. Ball striking was okay...about what I would have expected from a Big Break type. Maybe 30 yards behind Brooke on average. At least Blair did manage a late birdie on #16.

 

* Not as many crazy shots as I anticipated but Alfonso Ribiero shanked the ball 120 yards wide right of the 7th fairway, to the point he was looking for it in the trees left of parallel #4. Blair had to wait on the tee on #4 as a result and once she saw what happened she said, "We'll have to give him crap for that later." Mardy Fish interrupted and said, "I'm going to give him crap for that right now."

[Hooters62]

Watching with the wife on DVR every morning before we go to work. Finish at night when we get home and I think we are going to try to attend the tournament next year.

[GolfChannel]

Glad you had a good time. Watching the women stripe the ball is humbling. Getting to interact with them is an added bonus. You really don't get to do that at a PGA event. Were you able to hang out near autograph alley and get a few pics?

 

I’m not an autograph person, though I thought it was funny my daughter was telling me, “if you want to meet her we can wait.”

[GolfChannel]

According to Lowe, on Thursday he was behind Ribiero and Carlton spent 25 minutes on 17 it went that “well”. Said he felt like he was on the golf version of suicide watch playing behind him.

[Argonne69]

This is going to be a fun finish. Seven players within 5 shots of the lead. Lydia could really make a statement with a win. Her game is looking really good.

 

Brooke slipped a bit, but is well within striking distance. Now, which Brooke will we see this season? The one who makes big Sunday charges, or the one lately who fades with too many mediocre chip shots?

 

Nelly is in a great position. She'd love to grab a 2nd win early in the season.

 

'Nice to see Stacy playing great after a long layoff.