Last week’s winner at the WGC Mexico: Patrick Reed. Didn’t appear to improve any lies in Mexico City, but Peter Kostis, who was let go by CBS before this season started because he wasn’t a “cheerleader” which I totally agree with Kostis on, said he saw Reed improve his lies 4 or 5 times while he was covering him on tour. The 71 year old Kostis would not ask players about the Fed Ex Cup when they won tourneys for the 1st time instead asking them about getting into the Masters or getting a 2 year exemption on the tour. That’s good journalism as opposed to Ian Baker Finch of CBS and Jim “Bones” MacKay, saying a player is still “fantastic!” after he gags and hits it in the drink to lose a tournament. Two of the biggest suck ups in PGA broadcasting history. Give me Kostis keeping it real. Don’t want to hear how perfect these guys are when they’re not. These players have great lives and need criticism when it’s necessary, not Baker Finch and MacKay singing Kumbaya out there every broadcast. When Rickie Fowler or Dustin Johnson, any of’em, gag, that’s what should be reported. I’ll do everything I can to keep it honest on this blog. I don’t care that the PGA Tour gets miffed when reporters aren’t “promoting” the players. This is golf journalism not Kindergarten fun and games.

Winner at the Puerto Rico Open: Viktor Hovland, the 22 year old from Norway by way of Oklahoma State University. Hovland won last week with a 30 foot birdie putt on 18 . He’s quite a player, the 2018 U.S. Amateur champion, the low amateur in the Masters and the U.S. Open last year where he finished 12th at Pebble Beach and had the lowest score for an amateur of all time at a major shooting 280, 8 under par. Gary Woodland was the winner at -13.

There have been 4 players 22 or younger who have won in the last year. Hovland last week at 22 years old, 20 year old Matthew Wolff, a teammate of Hovland’s at OK State, won the 2019 3M Open in Minneapolis in July, 20 year old Joaquinn Neiman won the 2019 Military Tribute at the Greenbriar last September, and 22 year old Collin Morikawa, who won the 2019 Barracuda Championship last July in Truckee, California. Morikawa and Wolff are Americans, Hovland is from Norway, and Neimann is from Chile. So, super group climbing up the ranks. The competition is getting more fierce out there with these guys. Hovland has a shot at winning this week and playing on the European Ryder Cup team September 25th-27th at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin. He’s exceptional.

Tim Rosaforte retired from the Golf Channel last December after spending over 40 years in the golf reporting/writing business. “Rosie” was a pro’s pro. He covered 125 majors and 17 Ryder Cups and won over 40 writing awards for his work. Unbelievable reporter and commentator. I tweeted him a couple of years ago to get information on a major, and he got right back to me. The great ones never forget where they came from. He’ll be missed.

The 2020 Olympics at Tokyo is in jeopardy with the coronovirus epidemic. So golf at the Olympics may not happen. The International Olympic Committee will make a decision in the next 3 months on whether to hold the games in Tokyo. Be careful out there.

The 2020 Honda Classic

PGA National (Champion Course) 7,125 yards, par 70. Palm Beach Gardens, FL.

Start of the Florida Swing with the Arnie next weekend, the Players in 2 weeks and the Valspar Championship in 3 weeks before the tour goes to Austin, TX for the Dell Technologies Match Play Championship.

Defending champion: Keith Mitchell, sank a 15 foot birdie putt on 18 to defeat Brooks Koepka and Rickie Fowler by a shot. The now 28 year old from Chattanooga, TN by way of Georgia, was tough as iron when it mattered the most. Fowler and Koepka put a charge on but Mitchell was able to hold them out and capture the coveted trophy.

Weather: nice in the 60’s and sunny, but winds 10-15 which will make it extra tough on the players on the “Bear Trap” holes 15-17. Last year conditions were mild, wind wise, and total balls in the water were 85 as compared to 145 in 2018, a year with a lot more wind. There were only 62 double bogeys or worse in 2019 while in 2018 there were 128. With these wind conditions, we’ll see more 2018-like numbers.

TV: Thursday-Friday, 1-5 PM CT Golf Channel, Saturday, 12-2 PM CT Golf, 2-5 PM CT NBC, Sunday, 12-2 PM CT Golf, 2-5 PM CT NBC.

Key groups teeing off tomorrow

6:35 AM CT, Fowler, Hovland, Neimann

6:45 AM CT: Tommy Fleetwood, Billy Horschel, Justin Rose

11:25 AM CT: Shane Lowry, 2019 Open Champion, Gary Woodland, Louis Oosthuizen

11:35 AM CT: Koepka, Keith Mitchell, Matthew Wolff

The Bear Trap

No.’s 15, 16 and 17 could very well be the toughest 3 hole stretch on tour outside the majors. Quail Hollow’s 16, 17 and 18 are right there too. The Green Mile.

No. 15 179 yards, par 3

Not a long par 3, but winds make it very tricky. The player has to play a shot into a diagonal green running left to right. The front of the green runs left, away from the player, and there’s a big bunker in back, which is difficult to get up and down because the ball runs away from the bunker and towards the water. Over water throughout the tee shot. Buckle up.

No.16 434 yards, par 4

The players will most likely use an iron to get the ball in play in the fairway The second shot is over water to a slightly elevated green. Tough, strong hole.

No. 17 , 190 yards, par 3

190 yards over water with bunkers on the left and a very small green. Will present a lot of problems according to Jack Nicklaus, the course designer and greatest player of all time.

Also, No. 18, 604 yards, par 5

A double dogleg par 5 first left then right. Bunkers off the tee to negotiate. Water on the second shot and water on the third shot. The green sticks out and hangs over the lake guarding it in front and to the left. This will be serious drama on Sunday.

Winner

Give me the 35 year old from Topeka, Kansas by the way of Washburn College and the University of Kansas. Finished tied for 12th last week at the WGC-Mexico and is 7 for 7 at the Honda including T2 in 2017. I’ll take the reigning U.S. Open champ.

Gary Woodland

Sleeper

Viktor Hovland

I was tempted to pick him this week, but it’s tough to go back to back though doable. Obviously he’s playing well. Just want to take a veteran at PGA National, but like Hovland to be there on Sunday.

I’d like to see the fairways more narrow. Then everybody would have to play from the rough, not just me.

Seve Ballesteros, winner of 5 major championships and known as one of the great recovery players of all time, quite possibly the greatest, though Eldrick has been quite good at that too. But Seve was the first. He won the 1980 and ‘83 Masters, and the 1979 Open Championship, the 108th edition at Royal Lytham& St. Annes Golf Club, along with the 1984 Open Championship, the 113th edition, at the Old Course at St. Andrews, and the 1988 Open Championship, the 117th, at Royal Lytham. At the ‘79 Open Championship on the 16th hole, he drove his tee shot into a parking lot just off the course and still made birdie. And for much of the ‘80’s and ‘90’s he teamed up with Jose Maria Olazabal to form the most prolific Ryder Cup duo in the history of the competition. Olazabal won 2 Masters in 1994 and 1999. In 15 team matches, Seve and Olazabal were 11-2-2. Put that in your pipe and smoke it Tiger and Phil. Regrettably, Ballesteros passed away in 2011 from brain cancer at the age of 54. But his legacy is indelibly etched into golf history. I’ve got some comments about today’s players to that point coming up.

There are several topics to discuss today about the PGA Tour.

I was unaware of her lofty success as a player, but Mickey Wright passed away last Friday. She was 85. She won 82 LPGA titles, second only to Kathy Whitworth’s 88. From 1961-64, she won 44 tournaments on tour. Wow. She was also a 13 time Major winner. What a resume. She was quite an ambassador for Women’s Golf. Golf in general. Apparently, her swing was right there with Ernie Els’ and Adam Scott’s. It was considered spectacular.

Adam Scott won the Genesis Invitational last week, his first victory since he went back to back at the 2016 Honda Classic and WGC-Cadillac Championship (Why did Trump have to ruin that tournament at Doral with stupid comments on the Wall? Go figure). So it was almost 4 years since Scott has tasted victory. He was majorly disappointed that his World team could not defeat the U.S. team in the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne in December after holding a secure lead going into the singles matches but falling 16-14. Scott, Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman commiserated about it in a bar that night and were determined to do better in the 2021 Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow. Smith was the only one of the three to win his singles match. Smith won at the Sony Open in Hawaii in January and Leishman won the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in late January. Scott was happy his fellow countrymen were winners, but not that happy because it wasn’t him hoisting a trophy. He finally earned that privilege last Sunday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, CA. Now the 39 year old has new found confidence and belief that he can be a factor in the Majors in 2020. He won the Masters in 2013 in a playoff over Angel Cabrera, who may have been cupping his smokes during the playoff. Cabrera did quit smoking. I hear ya, Angel, it takes a lot of effort to quit. Scott’s Masters victory is his only major, but he looks primed to be a factor starting at Augusta National in April. The PGA Championship is at Harding Park in San Francisco in May, the U.S. Open is at Winged Foot in June, Father’s Day weekend, and the Open Championship is at Royal Birkdale in July. The 5th major, the Players Championship, is the second week in March. Tiger is defending at Augusta, Brooks Koepka is defending at the PGA, he won at Bethpage Black, Gary Woodland is defending at the U.S., he won at Pebble Beach, and Shane Lowry is defending at the Open Championship, he won at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, his home turf. Rory is the defending champion at the Players.

Speaking of Rory, he came out publicly and said he would not be a part of the newly formed Premier Golf League. It’s a league that’s sparking interest from players like Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Mickelson, Patrick Reed, DeChambeau and Justin Rose who, with their representatives, attended a Premier Golf League presentation last week while playing in the Genesis Invitational in California.

The Premier League was the idea of Colin Neville, a guy who played in a pro-am with Mickelson 3 weeks ago at the Saudi International. It’s being led by the World Golf Club, based in the United Kingdom and the Raine Group, a global merchant bank. Neville is a partner at Raine.

The idea is for an 18 tournament schedule and it is mandatory for the player to play in every event, with $10 million dollar purses, guaranteed money for all who complete the entire schedule, and a team component of four 12 man teams for 48 players with a season ending championship.

There is an interest amongst the players. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan sent out an email to all players saying that joining the Premier League would prohibit them from having PGA Membership.

Seems like an idea worth deep sixing. How much money is enough for these guys? They act like Latrell Sprewell, who, before the 2004 season, a season in which he was going to make $14.6 million, when offered by the Minnesota Timberwolves a 3 year contract worth between $27 and $30 million at age 34, called the offer, “insulting.” And then asked if he would play out the season and test the free agency market, he said, “They’re not doing anything for me. I have a lot at risk here. I got my family to feed.” “Spree” made $100 million dollars in his NBA career. As of 2016, he was worth $50,000. So golfers, make sure you save your $30-70 million dollars with more to come, so you can put food on the table. Seems like a selfish idea and one that, quite honestly, sounds soft on the golfers part. What happened to wanting a legacy in the game? Aren’t winning majors what it’s about? Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Lee Trevino, Gary Player, Sam Snead, Nick Faldo, Severino Ballesteros, those guys played for the love of the game and to leave a legacy. It’s different now with the amount of money these guys can make, but how much is enough and what about winning majors and making history? That’s got to matter somewhat to these guys. If they do this, they should be not allowed to get in the Hall of Fame in my opinion due to their lack of integrity and dedication to the Tour that made them who they are.

Rory’s decision to not play in it will help the PGA Tour. He said he wants to control his own schedule, that’s his reason. Maybe not the exact answer we’re looking for, but it’ll work. Eldrick has shown some interest even though he’ll be 46 when the League cranks up in 2021 which it very well may not. Hope this thing fizzles.

WGC- Mexico Championship

Defending champion, Dustin Johnson, also won at Club de Golf Chapultepec in 2017 the first year it was held at the club just outside Mexico City.

7,345 yards, par 71. It plays 10% shorter because the club is at 7,500 feet. The average drive last year was 303, the longest of any of the 35 courses measured.

DJ won this event in 2017 and last year, and Mickelson won it in 2018. Tiger Woods has won the most World Golf Championships at 18, which is amazing. DJ is next at 6. He’s the only player to have won all 4 present WGC events having won the 2013 WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, the 2016 WGC Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone CC in Akron, now the WGC-Fed Ex St. Jude’s Classic. He won the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in 2017 and this event twice and won it in 2015 when it was at Doral as the WGC-Cadillac Championship. Then Trump had to forcefully say, as only he does, that he wanted to build a wall as a presidential candidate, and the Tour moved the tournament away from his course to Mexico. Nice job, Trump.

TV: Thursday-Friday, 1-6 PM CT, Golf Channel, Saturday, 11 AM-1:30 PM CT Golf, 1:30-5 PM CT NBC, Sunday, 12-1:30 PM CT Golf, 1:30-6 PM CT NBC.

Weather looks warm and perfect for annihilating the ball.

Prediction

Excellent field with Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Rory, Adam Scott, Gary Woodland, Hideki Matsuyama and the little Brit Tommy Fleetwood playing. Fleetwood finished 2nd to DJ in 2017. Spieth is also playing, but not expecting much.

Sometimes the obvious choice is the right choice even with the unpredictability of golf on the PGA Tour. Give me the 35 year old from Columbia, South Carolina, to emerge with the victory Sunday, his 7th World Championship, and his 21st PGA Tour victory. He’s got 1 major in 2016 at the U.S. Open at Oakmont. He’s looking to add to that this year. He needs to have a sense of urgency about that. He’s not getting any younger.

Dustin Johnson

Sleeper

Tyrrell Hatton

The 28 year old Englishman is a bit of a hot head, but he finished tied 14th at the WGC-HSBC back in late October-early November, an event Rory won. He’s also won 4 times on the European Tour including the Turkish Airlines Open back in November of 2019.

The 71st AT&T Pebble Beach hosts a number of top flight players. Here are mine and my commenters predictions for this weekend’s tournament at the iconic course.

White’s World-Paul Casey

Walter Pittman- Dustin Johnson

Bama Golf-Dustin Johnson as well

Spike me Up- Pony goes with Phil

Brownie- Brownie takes Jason Day.

We picked this on a group text yesterday as Command Central was down due to the storm.

On another note, Brownie picked Super Bowl LIV correctly. Mike said the best player would win the game and that player was Patrick Mahomes. That is exactly what happened. White’s World and Bama Golf went with the NIners. And while a couple of coaching mistakes at the end of the first half and on the Niners last drive and a missed call on a late hit out of bounds on a key third down and some missed PI calls by the controversial Bill Vinovich crew were costly, it can’t be denied the greatness of Ma-home-es. Quite a game. The halftime show was a disaster, but the pregame, the game and some of the commercials were excellent.

Will have college basketball coverage coming up in the next couple of weeks with March just around the corner. Golf coverage is in full focus now, and NBA , NHL playoffs getting closer along with MLB cranking up soon with pitchers and catchers about to report to Florida and Arizona respectively. Will have all that coming up in the near future.

College Football recruiting culminated Wednesday, though there will be more transfers/graduate transfers picking schools and a couple of later signees. Georgia finished No.1 in Rivals and 247 Sports rankings. Alabama was 2 in 247 and 3 in rivals, Clemson was 3 247 and 2 in rivals and LSU was a consensus 4. Per Rivals, No.5 Ohio State, No.6 A&M, No7, Tennessee, great class for Jeremy Pruitt, No.8 Florida, Dan Mullen too, No.9 Oregon and No.10 was the Auburn Tigers.

247 Sports had No.5 Ohio State, No.6 A&M, No.7 Auburn, Gus and company got a better ranking here, 8. Florida, 9. Texas,, which was interesting as Rivals had them at 13, and 10. Tennessee.

Spring games will crank up in March and be a full go in April. A lot of interesting stuff to be reconciled. What will happen with the Bama quarterback situation with the now veteran Mac Jones battling it out with incoming 5 star freshman Bryce Young, the No. 2 player in the country in 2020, and 4 star redshirt freshman Taulia Tagovailoa. Auburn lost some players on their defensive front and offensive front but there is talent in the hopper, so we’ll see how that shakes out in the spring. Also, Bo Nix with a year under his belt how good can he become in his sophomore year. Dylan Moses, Alex Leatherwood, both exceptional players and the real surprise, the great Najee Harris, are returning for their senior seasons. So that should really give the Crimson Tide a boost.

So a lot coming up. Will keep you apprised on it all.

TV for Pebble Beach this weekend is

today (Friday) 2-5 PM CT, Golf Channel,

Saturday 12-1:45 PM CT, GC, 2-5 PM CT, CBS,

Sunday: 12-1:45 PM CT, GC, 2-5:30 PM CT CBS.

Have a great weekend.