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.