The Tour heads to the desert this week on Super Bowl 56 weekend, which will be held at SoFi Stadium in LA on Sunday with a 5:30 PM CT kickoff on NBC. As for the golf, there is quite a stellar field for this electric and riveting tournament. The crowds are massive and the fans are well inebriated for this event, particularly on the 163 par 3 16th, which is one of the biggest spectacles in golf, probably the biggest with 30,000 fans in a stadium setting cheering or jeering the golfers depending on how their tee shots fare. There is Jon Rahm sporting an Arizona State football jersey, his alma mater, guys wearing jerseys of their favorite teams, this year the Bengals or the Rams, and crowds “lovin’ every minute of it,” as Loverboy says.

Hideki Matsuyama (2016-17) and Brooks Koepka (2015, 2021) are each trying to win for the third time at TPC Scottsdale in Phoenix. World Number 1 Rahm is at the WMPO. Jordan Spieth, fresh off his second place finish at Pebble Beach, and, also, fresh off his death defying shot on No.8 at Pebble on Saturday where he was dangerously close to falling over a 60 foot cliff into the Pacific as he attempted to hit his approach on 8. Rather risky life decision, but he survived and ended up shooting 63 on Saturday and finished second as North Carolinian born Tom Home, who played at TCU and is 32 years old, birdied 3 out of the final 5 holes at Pebble on Sunday, including a 127 yard second shot on 16 that finished up 9 inches from the cup for a near hole in eagle and a 22 foot birdie putt he sank on the tough par 3, 17th, which gave him a 2 shot lead. Spieth said he hit his best shot of the day on the 17th only to go into the front trap and he missed his 4 foot par putt. Hoge took it from there. Hoge shot 68 on Sunday and finished -19, two clear of Spieth.

Last year’s Waste Management champion was Koepka, who was five shots behind Xander Schauffele and Spieth entering Sunday, but shot a 6 under 65 to accelerate him into the winner’s circle. Viktor Hovland, No.3 in the world, No.4 Patrick Cantlay, who had a good showing at Pebble last week finishing tied 4th at -15, are also in the field. Cantlay put on a golfing clinic at the end of last season in the Fed Ex Playoffs winning that and the $15 million check that came with it. Bubba Watson and Louis Oousthuizen and Webb Simpson are also in the field. Harold Varner III, after his electric 91 foot eagle putt that won the Saudi International last Sunday as he was one shot behind Watson coming into 18, is also in the field,. Varner said when he hit the putt he knew it was going to be good and that he knew he’d at least be in a playoff. His reaction was priceless. The fist pump, the emotion, it was as good as any Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods moment you’ve seen. Bubba was the first one to come out and give him a power hug. Watson and Varner III are close friends and Watson was happy for his close friend.

TPC Scottsdale plays 7,261 yards and is a par 71. The 16th is one of the most famous holes in golf, rivaling the 17th at TPC Sawgrass and Amen Corner at Augusta National, and it will be explosive with the revelers in the crowd amped up and the players also amped up. It’s a perfect Super Bowl Sunday golf hole and golf tournament. The players will be asked for their predictions of which team will win the Lombardi Trophy, so that’ll be interesting. The Blog will have its preview and prediction tomorrow, so stay tuned. Weather is awesome at 81-82 every day and sunny with mostly minimal winds at 5-10 MPH.

TV

Today-Friday, 2-6 PM CT Golf Channel

Saturday, 12-2 PM CT, Golf Channel, 2-5:30 PM CBS

Sunday, 12-2 PM CT, Golf Channel, 2-5 PM CT, CBS

Odds

Rahm, 7-1, Justin Thomas, 12-1, Viktor Hovland, 14-1, Hideki, 16-1, Spieth, 16-1, Cantlay, 16-1, Schauffele, 20-1, Koepka, 27-1, Scottie Scheffler, 29-1, Daniel Berger, back from a slight injury that kept him out of Pebble, 31-1, Tony Finau, played extremely well at the end of last season winning the Northern Trust, the First Leg of the Fed Ex Playoffs, 33-1, Sam Burns, 33-1, Webb Simpson, 34-1, Louis, 41-1, Bubba, 41-1, Matt Fitzpatrick, 41-1, Abraham Ancer, 50-1, Adam Scott, 50-1, Harold Varner III, 50-1, Luke List, 55-1, Tom Hoge, 55-1, Maverick McNealy, 55-1, Harris English, 55-1, Rickie Fowler 70-1, Francesco Molinari, 80-1, Pat Perez, 80-1, Kevin Kisner, 80-1, Matt Kuchar, 80-1, Gary Woodland, 90-1. Zach Johnson, 120-1 Russell Knox, 120-1, Kevin Streelman, 120-1, and Stewart Cink, 120-1.

Winner

It’s hard to go against a lot of these guys, wow, what a field. Rahm and JT are very enticing picks. So are Viktor Hovland, Patrick Cantlay, Brooks Koepka and Jordan Spieth. But I’m going to take the 29 year old, soon to be 30 year old on February 25th, from Matsuyama Ehime Japan. He’s already won twice on tour this year at the Zozo Championship on October 21-24, 2021 in Vegas, and also at the Sony Open in Honolulu January 13th-16th, 2022. He loves this track with the 17th a short par 4 that has water on the left that Rickie Fowler is all too familiar with having lost in a playoff on 17 by hitting it into the water off the tee on 17 to lose to Hideki in 2016 before winning it in 2019. No. 18 has water running up the entire left side of the par 4. The right side has traps and some rough. The greens are stimping at 12 and the primary rough is 2 inches at its deepest point. Give me this Asian sensation and the 2021 Masters Champion, with more majors in the hopper. He’ll solidify his No.1 position in the Fed Ex Cup Standings.

HIdeki Matsuyama

Sleeper

I’m going to take the 36 year old from Osage, Iowa. He finished tied for 4th last week at Pebble Beach shooting a final round 67 and tying Cantlay at -15. He won the Quicken Loans National in August of 2015 in the Washington D.C, area and the 2018 Barbasol Championship in Nicholasville, Kentucky, south of Lexington, just edging out Bama Golf’s stellar nephew, T Love, Tom Lovelady, and Billy Horschel. T Love is still fighting hard on the Korn Ferry Tour. A lot of talent, so hopeful the B’ham native, the 28 year old, can make it on tour. Pulling for Bama’s nephew. So, I’ll take this guy as my darkhorse/sleeper pick.

Troy Merritt

Tomorrow

Super Bowl LVI Preview and Prediction, Rams vs Bengals

Rams a 4 point favorite at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA. 15 miles away from L.A. Can Matthew Stafford win an elusive Lombardi Trophy, a trophy that is elusive for a lot of quarterbacks with the exception of Tom Brady, Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw. Brady earned 7, and Montana and Bradshaw earned 4. They all 3 had very good players around them, too, particularly Bradshaw. I’d call the Steelers of the 1970’s the greatest teams of all time, with the 1975 team that won the 1976 Super Bowl, Super Bowl X at the Orange Bowl in Miami possibly the best, but that’s hard to quantify. I just remember Swannie making that acrobatic catch against the Cowboys in that Super Bowl where he dove for a bomb Bradshaw threw from deep in their own territory, tipped it up in the air with the Cowboys’ defensive back dropped on him and pulled it in just before hitting the ground on his back. Was one of, if not, the greatest reception I’ve ever seen and in the moment, the best ever, maybe David Tyree’s helmet catch for the New York Giants against the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, 42 in the 2007 season, rivals Swannie’s, but that’s one of the only ones. The 1974 Steelers, the Super Bowl IX winners, the ‘78 and ‘79 teams, Super Bowls XIII and XIV winners, were pretty terrific as well. Those teams with Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Rocky Bleier, Lynn, Swann, the great John Stallworth, from Alabama A&M, who caught a bomb from Bradshaw in Super Bowl 14 and outran the Rams defense making the cover of Sports Illustrated the following week, the awesome Steel Curtain led by Mean Joe Greene, Dwight White, Ernie Holmes, L.C. Greenwood, the ferocious and revered middle linebacker, Jack Lambert, safety Donnie Shell, and the superb cornerback, Mel Blount. Wow, the talent was off the charts great. Greatest teams of all time in my book. Greatest collection of players and Chuck Noll has as good an argument for one of the greatest coaches of all time as Bill Belichick. I’ll still take Vince Lombardi, but Noll is equal with Belichick. Belichick hasn’t done much without Tom Brady.