Can Justin keep up his great momentum he acquired in his RBC Heritage Signature Event victory. (Photo courtesy of BBC).
The 107th playing of the PGA Championship will transpire next week at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, which is thrilling in itself. So, due to that, this week’s tournament usually played at Quail Hollow, the Wells Fargo, will instead take place at The Philadelphia Cricket Club- Wissahickon Course, a 7,119 par 70 track with bent grass fairways and bent grass greens, which will be stimping at 13. The rough will be up to 2 inches high at the Truist Championship..
This is the Sixth Signature event this season of eight on the PGA Tour and features an elite field of 72 players and is missing only Scottie Scheffler, but showcases Rory, coming off his almost epic collapse then epic victory at Augusta National at the 89th Masters, a hot Justin Thomas, fresh off his victory at the 5th Signature Event, The RBC Heritage in Hilton Head, Collin Morikawa, Ludvig Aberg, Patrick Cantlay and Jordan Spieth, who played some really good golf last weekend at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, where he finished 4th shooting 69,67,67,62 for a score of 19 under. The only problem for Jordan and the rest of the field was the great Scheffler shot 61, 63, 66, 63 to finish -31, wow. Quite an exhibition of golf. Scheffler has decided not to compete the week before majors this year. We’ll see how that works out. But Spieth, Rory, Justin and others will, and this is an elevated event that pays $3.6 Million to the winner, $2.16 M to second, $1.36 M to third and great money on down the line. And it’s preparation for the second major of the season, so I like the fact that all these stars are playing. Should be fun.
The Wissahickon Course was designed by iconic architect A.W. Tillinghast in 1922. Tillinghast designed Medinah No.3, where majors are played, the coveted Pine Valley in New Jersey, andThe Country Club of Birmingham in 1936. There have been redesigns on all of these courses. Keith Foster did the restoration of the Wissahickon course in 2013. No. 14 is a 122 yard par 3 that is the most tightly bunkered green on the course, so should be an entertaining. No. 15 is a 553 yard, par 5 with plenty of bunkers and mounds. A three-quarter acre complex of bunkers and mounds, Tillinghast’s “Great Hazard” fills up the fairway 335 yards off the tee. The green is the smallest on the course and is well defended up front and on both sides by sand. Birdie is a good possibility. No. 16 is a 215 yard, par 3. It’s a slightly downhill tee shot with a green that is protected up front by a tiny stream. The putting surface, according to Philadelphia Cricket Club Director of Golf Jim Smith Jr. (per PGA Tour.com write up), “Doesn’t offer a flat putt anywhere, least of all inside 5 feet.” No. 17 is a 498 par 4 with a slightly elevated railway line down the entire right side of the hole. It’s a tough obstacle that leads players to subconsciously favor the left side on their drives and approaches. No. 18 is a 517 yard, par 4, with the narrowest landing area on the course thanks to three fairway bunkers that flank the fairway. The entrance to the green is pinched on both sides by sand. So, awesome final five holes. This tournament is going to be pretty electric and will lead up to the 107th PGA Championship, so there should be a lot of electricity amongst the players competing. Thanks to PGA Tour.com for the intel on the course.
Weather
Thursday: 80, partly cloudy, wind W 8 MPH.
Friday: 64 rain, 78%, wind N 10, Nose to the grindstone that day.
Saturday, 72, partly cloudy, wind NW 15.
Sunday 82, partly cloudy, wind NW 8.
TV
Thursday-Friday 1-5 PM CT, Golf Channel
Saturday, 12-2 PM CT GC; 2-5:30 PM CT, CBS
Sunday, 12-2 PM CT, GC; 2-5 PM CT, CBS
ODDS for Key Guys
Rory, 4/1, Career grand slam, life is good for sure. He seems to want more. Dr. Rotella has been a big boost to his mental game.
CollinMorikawa, 14/1, The two time major winner, (2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park in SF, and the 2021 Open Championship at Royal St, George’s in England) is becoming a factor again. If he putts well he can always win.
Xander Schauffele, 16/1, getting closer to 2024 form in which he won the 106th PGA at Valhalla and the 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon.
Ludvig Aberg, 16/1, Genesis Champion at Torrey- Sig Event.
JT, 18/1, getting in form for the PGA Championship where he won in 2017 at Quail Hollow. He also won the PGA at Southern Hills in 2022.
Patrick Cantlay, 20/1
Viktor Hovland, 28/1
Tommy Fleetwood, 28/1– threatens a lot. Would love to see him get over the top soon as would Excedrin, who had some great camaraderie with him a couple of years ago at Augusta National.
Jordan Spieth, 28/1. Certainly a threat now.
Russell Henley, 30/1. He won the Arnie. He’s awesome.
Hideki Matsuyama, 30/1. Another guy who’s always a threat. Won the first Sig event of the year at The Sentry at Kapalua Maui. Won the 2021 Masters.
Corey Conners, 30/1. The Canadian is definitely ready to break out and win.
Shane Lowry, 35/1. The Irishman gets the 153rd Open at Royal Portrush where he won in 2019.
Daniel Berger, 40/1. Playing well now. Won 4 times on tour with his last at Pebble in 2021, so he’s due and trending well.
Winner
I’m going to take the 44 year old, 65/1, from Johannesburg, South Africa now a resident of London. He played his heart out at Augusta National only to come up short by virtue of an epic approach by Rory to 2 feet on the first playoff hole as Roar claimed his first Green Jacket. I like this guy to be in contention for more majors this year and quite possibly capture one. Give me my man from London. I’m reading a novel by one of my favorite authors David Baldacci titled, Strangers in Time. It takes place in London during WWII and involves a young boy, a young girl and an older man as they try to survive the onslaught of bombings by the heinous German Luftwaffe. Glad we had a lot of heroes and the Grace of God to defeat the Nazis and the Japanese. Great story if you’re interested.
Justin Rose
Like Rosie to capture the Truist. (Photo courtesy of X).
Darkhorse
Give me the 30 year old from Raleigh, North Carolina, by way of Wofford University, home to Bama Golf and Charles Belgrave Perkins. He finished second to JT in a playoff at the RBC Heritage three weeks ago and won with Ben Griffin at the Zurich Classic in N’Awlins two weeks ago. Give me this guy to be right there at the end and to possibly capture this Signature Event trophy and first place check.
Give me Novak to make a serious run at the Truist. (Photo courtesy of Golf Monthly).
Here’s an epic from a classic back in the day band. This could have led to the invention of shirts and skins!
Braden Holcomb had himself a day on Sunday! (Photo courtesy of Yahoo Sports).
The Vanderbilt Commodores Baseball team finished this past weekend off electrically with super freshman Brodie Johnston and stellar sophomore Braden Holcomb putting an exclamation point on a dramatic Commodores victory Sunday at the Hawk, 9-7, over the Alabama Crimson Tide. With the victory which allowed us to take two out of three from Bama, the Dores moved to 34-14 on the season and 14-10 in the SEC, good for tied for 5th with Tennessee in the SEC standings. No.1 Texas is first at 19-5 and is 38-8 overall; No.7 Arkansas, which swept Texas over the weekend in Fayetteville, is second at 17-7, and 40-9 overall; No.3 LSU (38-11) and No.6 Georgia (39-11) are tied for third at 15-9 and and No. 15 Tennessee (37-11) and us are at 14-10, tied for fifth. We have a major week this week starting today with a 6 P. M. Central time game @ Louisville in the annual “Battle for the Barrel.” The game will be broadcast by the ACC Network.
We are now ranked 11th in the country by D1 Baseball.com and Baseball America. Our RPI is No.3 and our strength of schedule is also third nationally. The great sportswriter Chris Lee of Vandy 247 Sports showed today on the site that we are ranked first in the KPI Rankings, which is a strength of record metric. So, all impressive stuff for a team that is coming together at the right time. D1Baseball,com had us as a 9 seed going into last week, so if we can have a good week this week, which includes @ Louisville today and at Tennessee over the weekend, we can put ourselves in position for that coveted top 8 national seed, which gives a team home field throughout the regionals and Super regionals. So, massive week starting today. But here’s a look at what transpired over the weekend at the Hawk. It was a majestic Friday and a particularly majestic Sunday.
Friday Night, we received a stellar pitching performance from JD Thompson who went 7, gave up only 2 hits, no runs with 2 walks and 11 strikeouts in a 12-2, 8 inning, run rule game. The run rule applies if one team has a 10 run lead through 7 innings. JD was terrific. Miller Green pitched the last inning, and while Miller struggled a little giving up two runs on three hits, I still believe he can help us during the home stretch of the season and in the postseason. The bats came alive in the sixth inning after being silent through the first five frames. Alabama pitcher Tyler Fay had been tough, but in the sixth we struck for three runs, we added three more in the 7th, and we tacked on 6 more in the bottom of the 8th to run rule them, 12-2. Our great centerfielder RJ Austin was 4 for 5 with 4 Ribeyes, including a three run shot in the eighth. Our exceptional junior transfer first baseman Riley Nelson (Western Texas College and Yavapai College), who is hitting .361 with 6 long ones and 35 Ribbies, was 2 for 4, and our superb freshman third baseman Brodie Johnston was 3 for 4 with 2 runs batted in. Senior shortstop Jonathan Vastine, who has been phenomenal in SEC play, was 2 for 4 with an RBI. So, awesome performance Friday Night. Saturday didn’t work out as well as we fell, 5-2. But Sunday was a typical vintage Tim Corbin-coached Vanderbilt University Baseball performance in a game that will be remembered for a good while, particularly if we finish our season off well and go extremely deep in the postseason, which we are highly capable of.
The great Riley Nelson is a hitting machine for us. (Photo courtesy of Instagram).
It was not looking that swift for the guys as we were down 7-2 going into the bottom of the eighth inning. Our superb sophomore Dayton transfer pitcher Connor Fennell, who dominated Ole Miss the week before, had some trouble against the Crimson Tide giving up a couple of long ones with runners on base, so it was looking pretty slim for us going into the bottom of the 8th. But then, our bats woke up in a big way. After Nelson and Johnston popped out , Holcomb hit a solo shot to right central with two outs to cut the lead to 7-3. Mac Rose walked, then catcher Colin Barczi, who has put together some clutch at bats for us this season, cranked one over the right field wall to cut the lead to 7-5 going into the ninth. In the top of the ninth, the Tide’s leadoff hitter doubled off our usual stellar closer, Sawyer Hawks. Sawyer got the Tide’s next hitter to pop out to second baseman Mike Mancini. Bryce Fowler, the Tide’s runner aboard second, could not advance. Sawyer walked Kade Snell, then we made the defensive play that saved the game and possibly transformed our season. Tide centerfielder Richie Bonomolo hit a line drive headed for left field. But Brodie reached out and snatched it. Brodie then fired the ball over to Mancini, who touched second for an inning ending double play. It was gigantic as it turned out. That play might be overlooked when we look back on this dramatic game, but it was critically important and was a possible epiphany for this baseball team’s season and giving us a shot in the bottom of the 9th. That’s when the fireworks ensued.
The Tide put in their stellar closer Carson Ozmer, who was 14 of 14 in save opportunities this year. His ERA was under 2 and his WHIP (walks plus hits per inning) was under 1, which is almost un-hittable. However, Mancini led off with a single to left to get it started. Our great freshman left fielder Ruston Rigdon was hit by pitch. RJ came up next and bunted to move runners to second and third. I was a bit surprised by that because you always want the bat in RJ’s hands in that situation, but I couldn’t tell if he was trying to get a base hit on the bunt, or move the guys over. Nonetheless, it was runners on second and third with one out. Riley came up and grounded out to the pitcher. Mancini might have made it home as the ball bounced to the pitchers left, but he didn’t want to be the second out there, so he stayed put. I don’t blame him for that. It turned out to the the right decision. So there were two outs with runners on second and third with Johnston coming up. Brodie looked so confident when he stepped up to the plate. He looked like one of the top players in the country coming out of Boyd Buchanan High School in Ooltewah, TN., which he was, so I thought to myself, maybe we’ve got a shot here. With the pressure as intense as it gets in SEC Baseball, Brodie hit a line drive no doubt double to the left central field gap to drive in Mancini and Rigdon and we were all tied up at 7. Next up was our superb hoss, Braden, who had tripled and homered in his previous two at bats. With a 1-2 count, and the pressure as intense as it gets, Braden drove one to deep centerfield that kept carrying and cleared the central field wall for a dynamic two run homer to end the game and give our guys a scintillating, incredibly important victory over the Crimson Tide, 9-7. It was majestic with the pressure the guys had on them in the moment, particularly Brodie and Braden, and great stuff from Mike, Ruston and RJ as well. Brodie was named SEC Freshman of the week yesterday on account of his stellar play last week.
So we matriculate into May on a high note facing major rivalry games ahead. Here’s a look at what’s next.
Today at 6 PM CT it’s the Louisville Cardinals, always a tough out, The game is at Louisville. The Cardinals are not presently ranked, but have been in the top 25 all season before losing 2 out of 3 @ Notre Dame this past weekend. The Cardinals are 32-15 overall, 13-11 in the ACC, and 25-4 at their home confines of Jim Patterson Stadium. They took 2 out of 3 from now No.2 Florida State the weekend of April 25-27th (Friday-Sunday) at home. They took 1 of 3 @ No.9 Clemson April 17th-19th, a Thursday through a Saturday with an 8-6, 12 inning victory on Saturday, 4/19. They defeated now No.1 Texas at Arlington, TX. the first game of the season 4-3 on Friday, Feb. 14th. They’ve split games with Kentucky, which is 25-20 overall and 10-14 in the SEC. The Cardinals won at Jim Patterson, 4-3, in 10 innings on Tuesday, 4/8, and lost to the Wildcats at Lexington, 17-5, on Tuesday, 4/22. So, for every good team in the country there are ups and downs throughout the season, but there have been a lot of ups for this team, particularly at home. They’re an excellent hitting team with a .313 team batting average. Centerfielder Lucas Moore leads the team with a .380 average. He has also stolen 39 of 40 bases. The team has stolen 120 out of 132 bags this season. They are 10th in the country in that category. VMI leads with 200. Moore is fifth in the country in stolen bases with his 39, so Collin Barczi will be tested behind the plate and our pitching needs to limit the base stealing if possible. Their power guy is first baseman Davis Tague, who has connected for 15 homers and 43 RBIs on the season. He’s hitting .283. Left fielder Zion Rose is hitting .337 with 9 homers and 50 RBIs. And designated hitter Eddie King Jr. is hitting .336 with 9 homers and 41 runs driven in. Their team ERA is 5.53. They seem to run a bullpen game during the mid-week games, but they may use more of a weekend rotation guy against us. Wish I had that intel for you. Some candidates are Peter Michael (4-3, 5.01), Parker Detmers (1-1, 3.94) and Wyatt Danilowicz (0-1, 2.25), but nothing concrete. Their fielding percentage is .972. Coach Dan McDonnell has taken his Louisville teams to 5 College World Series (2007, ’13, ’14, ’17, ’19). He’s good. Not Tim Corbin good, but he’s good.
I know we have a massive weekend series in Knoxville, but this game takes precedence. I’ll have more on UT tomorrow, but we’ve got to survive and advance through this game as it’s important in the national picture for our RPI and our national seeding if we can get over the top. We are now hitting .270 as a team with Riley leading us at .361 (6 homers, 35 RBIs). Jacob Humphrey is injured and not sure about his return date, but hopeful it’s very soon. Braden has been doing a nice job in his spot in right field while Jacob has been out of the lineup. Jacob is hitting .314 and has stolen 16 of 17 bases. Braden is hitting .287 and has been sizzling lately. He has 7 homers and 27 Ribbies. Brodie is batting .272, and he’s also been cookin’ lately in the SEC, and has 9 deep ones and 46 Ribeyes on the year. RJ had been in a slump until last week and was injured for a minute, but looks to have come out of it. He’s hitting .266 with 11 doubles (Brodie leads the team with 14), and 4 team leading triples, maybe the most exciting play in baseball, though a grand salami or a two run shot like Braden hit on Sunday is pretty terrific also. But love the triples and RJ provides them, which is an incredible asset to have. RJ is 19 of 23 in stolen bases. We have stolen 82 of 98 attempts this season. Jonathan Vastine is hitting .272 on the year with 6 homers and 30 Ribeyes. Jonathan and RJ are such superb leaders for this team with JD Thompson the leader of the pitching staff. Our team pitching ERA is 3.81. That’s great, but would like to still see some more consistency out of our starters and our bullpen. That will hopefully happen going forward, starting tonight. The defense is tremendous. We are fielding at a .983 percentage, which is good for fourth in the country. Wow. Charlotte leads the nation at .984. We’re tied with Arkansas and University of Texas Rio Grande? at .983. For some reason, the NCAA has us behind Arkansas and Rio Grande, though we’ve made fewer errors. I’ll look into that and get back to you on the reason why that is. Regardless, we are a sensational defensive team.
Not sure what Corbs wants to do tonight with his starting pitcher. Austin Nye has been very good as our midweek pitcher going 2-0 with a 1.83 ERA with 16 walks and 46 K’s. Coach Corbin may very well go with the freshman right hander out of Roseville, California or he might take a shot with hard throwing lefty Ethan McElvain, who has a 7.54 ERA, but has talent through the roof if he can control his pitches. It will be an interesting decision. I’m leaning towards Nye.
This team is special for sure. It’s hard to compare Tim Corbin coached teams because they all have their own unique and spectacular personalities, but this one stands out to me alongside the other great Corbin’ coached teams. We have great camaraderie, superb heart and stellar mental toughness. And we’ve got a lot of baseball left ahead of us starting today at 6 P.M on the ACC Network. Will have a report tomorrow along with a preview of our weekend series at the Eastern part of the state. So much can happen in this next week and a half. After the Tennessee series, which is this Friday through Sunday, we’ll host the Kentucky Wildcats the following Thursday-Saturday, May 15th-17th. Then the SEC Tournament commences Tuesday, May 20th-Sunday May 25th at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, AL. It will be a single elimination game tournament with all 16 teams playing. If we can get in the top four of the conference standings at the end of the regular season, we’ll earn a double bye and not have to play until Thursday, 5/22, which would be tremendous. The SEC Network will televise the majority of the Tournament, with ESPN2 taking over Sunday, May 25th at 2 P.M. Central. Will have TV for Tennessee series tomorrow, Wednesday. So, need to bear down right now. Like the guys to do just that.
Just wanted to share a little intel on some of our other terrific teams. Clark has added a terrific 2025 class with a nice freshmen group led by 92 four-star safety Carson Lawrence, who is an early enrollee, along with 14 linemen, incoming freshmen and transfers, 8 on offense and 6 on defense. It’s been a stellar offseason for Clark and the team. Diego will be back, as will Eli Stowers, Junior Sherrill, Sedy Alexander, AJ Newberry, superb corner Martel Hight, a talented linebacker corps and some serious talent and depth upfront, and in the secondary. It’s a historically talented Vanderbilt roster. I know it can be hard to get your hopes up sometimes with football because it’s been tough through the years, but this coaching staff and this team are different. Diego always thinks he’s the best player on the field every Saturday and his confidence and competitiveness permeates throughout the team. There are high hopes for sure. Game one is Charleston Southern, Saturday, August 30th, at FirstBank Stadium, which should be almost entirely redone and ready for our thrilling upcoming 2025 season giving fans a spectacular fan experience. I’ll keep you apprised of developments as we matriculate into the summer with any more transfers coming our way. We’ve got 6, 2026 commits and one of them is massive in 92, 4-star cornerback Caden Harris from Brownsville, Tennessee. We beat out Tennessee, Notre Dame, Georgia and Auburn among others for Caden. It was a tremendous get by Clark and the staff. We’re 34th right now in the 2026 recruiting rankings according to 247 Sports and General Manager Barton Simmons says the momentum is surging for our program after our 2024 season as we defeated Alabama at FirstBank, and Auburn and Kentucky on the road and looked exceptionally impressive in our Birmingham Bowl victory over Georgia Tech.
Men’s Basketball
Coach Mark Byington has done a terrific job rebuilding our men’s basketball team for 2025-26. it’s just the landscape now in college basketball that you’ll lose most of your team after a season. Hopeful that can change with some adjustments by anyone who has some power in college athletics. We retained three outstanding players in Devin McGlockton, Tyler Nickel and Tyler Tanner. Karris Bilal, a freshman point guard, who didn’t play last year due to injury, may be coming back as well. We lost AJ Hoggard, Chris Manon and Grant Huffman to graduation, which I’m proud of those guys for graduating and hope for them to have continued success in their future endeavors; they deserve it. Jason Edwards, MJ Collins and Jaylen Carey all transferred. But I love the guys we have returning. They’re all great young guys, players and leaders. And Mark has reloaded to the max. We have three freshmen in the fold for next season, in 6’10’, 89 three-star center in Jayden Leverett, 88, 3 star, 6’3″, small forward Jaylon Dean-Vines, and unranked 6’6″ small forward in Chandler Bing. Then we added four, 4 stars in the transfer portal among them a 92 point guard, Frankie Collins, from TCU, a 92, 6’10” power forward Jalen Washington from the University of North Carolina, more size to go along with those guys and two more solid players, one of whom, Mason Nicholson, is a 6’10″280, 88 3 star center from Jacksonville State in Jacksonville, Alabama. So Mark is doin’ the work. We’re in it for some other guys as well to add one or two more pieces to the ’25-’26 roster. I like us to have a better team next season and matriculate even further in ’25-’26 through the SEC and deep into March.
Men’s Golf/Women’s Tennis
Our Men’s Golf Team didn’t reach the regular season standards we normally reach, but as our superb head coach Scott Limbaugh always says, it’s championship season, and anything can happen in that arena. We are ranked 18th in the CLIPPD rankings and 17 in the Bushnell/Golfweek rankings. We will be competing in the Amherst, Virginia Regional with 13 other teams next Monday, May 12th through next Wednesday, May 14th in a 54 hole event with the top five teams from the 54 hole event advancing to the NCAA Championships in Carlsbad, California at the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa North Course Friday, May 23rd though Wednesday, May 28th with one team emerging from that as a national champion. We’ve got our work cut out for us for sure. Senior Jackson Van Paris has had a stellar season, and junior Wells Williams was named SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year, which is an amazing honor. Proud of both of them. We just need our stud senior Gordon Sargent to find his rhythm in the NCAA’s and help lead this team as it tries to reach greatness this postseason. The other teams in the Amherst region are: No. 6/7 LSU, No. 7/6 Oklahoma, No. 19/23 Pepperdine, No.25 Tennessee, No. 20 Arizona, Stanford, Wake, Arkansas, Florida Gulf Coast, Kent State, Princeton and Howard. There are 6 regional sites with the top 5 teams from each site advancing to the NCAA Championships for a total of 30 teams in the NCAA Championship field. Coach Limbaugh has authored many magical seasons for us, so I’m certainly not counting us out with this coach at the helm and the talent we have. Just got to be focused from tee shot number one on. Will keep you posted next week.
Women’s Tennis
The No. 15 Vanderbilt Women’s Tennis team finished off a highly successful season with a heartbreaking home loss to No.17 UCLA, 4-3, in the second round of the NCAA Regional held in Nashville at the Lummis Tennis Center. We still finished the season with a 20-7 record and were 11-4 in the SEC with at least three, maybe four top 5 national victories over top 5 nationally ranked SEC opponents. The team was awesome and coach Aleke Tsoubanos did a phenomenal job guiding this team through the rigors of an SEC season facing stellar opponent after stellar opponent. Our great senior, Celia-Belle Mohr, finished ranked fifth in the country in singles and will most likely compete in the national singles and doubles event after the team national championship has been decided. Celia, from Montargis, France, had a phenomenal senior season and the future is bright for her. We have some good players returning and will keep you posted on Celia and the national finals at the end of this season.
Women’s Basketball
Coach Shea Ralph has our program on the rise, and although we had a first round exit in the NCAA Tournament, I love our future with the great Mikayla Blakes and a superb cast of players around her returning. Will keep you informed as things develop this summer. Love what Coach Ralph has done with the team and what she has in store for us in 2025-26. We may very well be a looking at a much deeper run in March of 2026.
After experiencing some tragedy at his home in California, trainer Michael McCarthy resets at the Derby with his thoroughbred Journalism. (Photo courtesy of Thoroughbred Daily News).
The 151st edition of the Kentucky Derby transpires today with a 5:57 P.M. Central Post time. Nineteen horses will compete in the Run for the Roses and the coveted Derby crown. Here’s a look at the horses that are competing, led off by their post positions, and followed by their odds, their trainers and their jockeys.
1. Citizen Bull, 20/1, Bob Baffert (back after a three year suspension for doping, 6 time Derby champion and giant in horse racing), Martin Garcia.
2. Neoquos, 30/1, Saffie Joseph Jr (always a contender), Flavien Prat.
3. Final Gambit, 30/1, Brad H. Cox (on the verge as well), Luan Machado
4. Rodriguez- scratched
5. American Promise, 30/1, D. Wayne Lucas (living legend at 89, four Derbys), Nik Juarez
6. Admire Daytona, 30/1, Yukihiro Kato, Christopher Lemaire
7.Luxor Cafe, 15/1, Noriyuki Hori, Joao Moreira, Sire, American Pharaoh, triple crown winning horse in 2015
8. Journalism, 3/1, Michael W. McCarthy, Umberto Rispoli
9. Burnham Square, 12/1, Ian R. Wilkes, Brian Hernandez Jr.
10. Grande- scratched.
11. Flying Mohawk, 30/1, D. Whitworth Beckman, Joe Ramos
12. East Avenue (Freeze out?), 20/1, Brendan P. Walsh, Manny Franco
13. Publisher, 20/1, Steven M. Asmussen, Irad Ortiz Jr. (good team)
14. Tiztastic, 20/1, Asmussen, Joel Rosario (another very good team)
17. Sandman, 6/1, Mark E. Casse, Jose Ortiz (experienced, savvy jockey)
18. Sovereignty, 5/1,William I. Mott, Junior Alvarado
19. Chunk of Gold, 30/1, Ethan W. West, Jareth Loveberry
20. Owen Almighty, 30/1, Brian A Lynch, Javier Castellano
21. Baeza, 12/1, John Shirreffs, Flavien Prat, he’ll ride Baeza or Neoquos.
Winner/ Predictions
I’m going to take the favorite. Like the trainer of the favorite, Michael McCarthy. He went through the Eaton Fires in Los Angeles, and while his home was left standing in Altadena, a suburb of LA, his neighbors’ houses were destroyed. He’s stayed focused and his horse has been impressive with three straight victories including the Santa Anita Derby. I’ll take:
Journalism
Place: Luxor Cafe, with a good run till the end.
Show: Sovereignty
Give me Journalism to capture the 151st running. (Photo courtesy of the LA Times).
Can the great DeChambeau win his first Masters and third major after capturing the U.S. Open in 2020 and 2024. (Photo courtesy of Golfweek-USA Today).
The 89th playing of the Masters kicks off Thursday at the famed Augusta National Golf Club that suffered some damage due to Hurricane Helene in September, but looks to be recovered pretty nicely overall, but without several trees. No. 16, the heralded Par 3- particularly on Sunday-looks different without the trees. Definitely a different look. N0. 10 is different too. Nonetheless, this Major Championship is always a gem, and a field of 95 players will compete for the Green Jacket, the undeniable legacy one player will create by winning the Masters, along with the $3.6 million check that goes with winning, And the 750 Fed Ex Cup Points. The winner will be exempt for life to play in the Masters, and will be eligible to play in all majors through 2029. Quite a reward for winning this spectacular and pressure filled event.
Scottie Scheffler is the favorite. Rory is right on his heels. Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa and Ludvig Aberg, who finished second to Scheffler in 2024 and just recently won the Genesis Invitational that was played at Torrey Pines this year due to the wildfires in L.A. that kept the tournament away from Riviera. Not a bad consolation prize getting to play at Torrey if you can’t play at Riviera. It was an impressive showing by the 25 year old Aberg from Sweden.
Hideki Matsuyama, a previous winner at Augusta National in 2021, is a threat. Other LIV players who could make statements are five time major winner Brooks Koepka, who won the U.S. Open in 2017 and 2018, and the PGA Championship in ’18, ’19 and ’23. Brooks has also finished tied for 2nd at the Masters in 2019 and 2023. Dustin Johnson, the 2020 Masters champion, and a two time major winner, will still be a factor at age 40. He also won the U.S. Open in 2016 at Oakmont. I like Phil, the 6-time major winner and three time Masters champion in 2004, 2006 and 2010, to make some noise. A sleeper to me and several other people is Joaquin Niemann, the 25 year old from Chile. He’s won twice on the LIV Tour this season, and LIV players have shown they can win Majors. Two other LIV players who will contend are 2022 Open Championship champion Cam Smith, and 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed. There’s another contender who I will list below my winner as my darkhorse to win the 89th playing. Here are key Odds for the 89th Masters
Scottie: 4/1
Rory: 6/1. If he putts well, he can definitely capture the Green Jacket for the first time in his decorated career and capture his first major since 2014 while achieving the Career Grand Slam.
Jon Rahm: 14/1. Another definite contender from the LIV Tour.
Aberg: 16/1
Morikawa: 16/1
Xander Schauffele: 18/1. Been injured, but won two majors last season, the PGA Championship at Valhalla and the Open Championship at Royal Troon in Scotland.
Bryson: 20/1
Justin, JT: 22/1. Possible if he can putt well. Playing better lately.
Niemann: 28/1
Hideki: 28/1
Koepka: 30/1
Jordan Spieth: 33/1. Hard to believe in him right now. He’s a past champion in 2015, but he’s been in a slump for several years now.Can’t get out of his own way on the course. Tommy Fleetwood: 35/1. I like the Englishman’s chances. Shane Lowry: 35/1. The Northern Ireland native has a good shot to be in the hunt. Viktor Hovland: 35/1. Bit of a head case right now, but the talent is there and won the Valspar Championship three weeks ago.
Patrick Cantlay: 35/1. If he putts well, he can contend. I guess you can say that about everybody.
Tyrrell Hatton: 40/1. Lost track of him since he joined the LIV Tour, but talented if he can stay composed mentally.
Bob McIntyre: 55/1. Outside shot. Min Woo Lee: 55/1. Not a lot of experience at Augusta National, but just won the Texas Children Houston Open two weeks ago. Will Zalatoris: 55/1. Been injured a good bit, but seems back to a regular on tour though haven’t seen his name much on leaderboards this season.
Cam Smith: 60/1. If he putts well, he’ll contend. Can putt with the best of ’em when he’s got the flat stick cookin’.
Sepp Straka: 80/1. Always bullish on Georgia Bulldogs at Augusta.
Dustin: 80/1
Sergio Garcia: 80/1. 2017 Masters champion, but was gag city at Doral last Sunday in the LIV event.
Patrick Reed: 90/1
Phil: 120/1. I like Mickelson to make some noise this weekend.
Weather: Prime scoring conditions this week/weekend.
Thursday: 76, Sunny, wind S 9 MPH.
Friday: 72, Partly sunny. W 15 MPH. That’s interesting.
Saturday: 68, Mostly sunny. NNW 7.
Sunday: 72, Sunny. NNW 6.
Couldn’t ask for better weather.
How to Follow: ****All times Central.****
Thursday-Friday, coverage on Masters.com from 6:30 A.M.-6:30 P.M.
ESPN: 2-6:30 P.M. Saturday-Sunday, 9:15 A.M.-6 P.M. all kinds of options on Masters.com from featured groups to featured holes to the honorary starters on Thursday morning at 6:30.
Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson are the honorary starters. That’s worth watching. Greatness personified.
Russell Henley was iron at the Arnie Invitational last weekend. (Photo courtesy of Athlon Sports).
Russell Henley chipped in for eagle from 54 feet on 16 at Bay Hill to overtake Collin Morikawa and capture the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the $4 Million check that went along with it. White’s World correctly predicted that, so pumped about that. Henley’s putting was through the roof great. By the way, congratulations to Bama Golf and Charles B. Perkins on their Wofford Terriers playing stellar bball and capturing the Southern Conference Tournament Championship. Bama and Charles B. have a shot at making some noise. Very strong team.
This is the week of the “5th Major,” The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra at the PGA headquarters site. Scottie Scheffler is gunning for a three-peat. It’s a stellar field. Here are the key odds.
Scheffler, 3/1
Rory, 8/1
Morikawa, 16/1
Xander Schauffele, 16/1; Ludvig Aberg (Walt’s guy), 20/1; Justin Thomas, 20/1; Hideki Matsuyama, 30/1; Patrick Cantlay, 35/1; Tommy Fleetwood, 35/1; Shane Lowry, 40/1; Russell Henley (what a putter), 45/1; Sungjae Im, 55/1; Sepp Straka, 55/1; Keegan Bradley (the Ryder Cup captain is playing stellar golf), 55/1; Sam Burns, 60/1; Wyndham Clark, 60/1; Corey Conners, 65/1; Jason Day (having a resurgence), 65/1; Maverick McNealy, 65/1; Tony Finau, 70/1; Vik Hovland, 70/1; Si Woo Kim, 70/1; Daniel “Whata” Berger, 70/1; Min Woo Lee, 75/1; Bob McIntyre, 75/1; Jordan Spieth, 80/1; Tom Kim, 80/1; Will Zalatoris, 80/1; Brian Harmon (Open Champion from 2023, awesome putter, like Henley, and also a former GeorgiaBulldog) 90/1; Adam Scott, 90/1.
Weather
Thursday, 76, Sunny, wind SSW 9 MPH.
Friday, 74, mainly Sunny, wind ENE 10.
Saturday, Partly cloudy, 77, windy, wind SSW 20-30, could gust even higher. Seventeen will be a beast!
Sunday, 78, T-storms developing in afternoon, 88% chance of T-storms. Wind S 15-25 with higher gusts possible. Will be an interesting Saturday/Sunday.
I’ll take the 35 year old Bulldog from Macon, Georgia once again. I was thinking Hideko also, but I’ll take this young stallion once again. Love his composure on the course and his prolific short game, especially his putting. TPC Sawgrass is a good layout for him because he’s so accurate off the tee, and gets it up and down and up and in. Give me:
Tyler Nickel was terrific from behind the arc against A&M in our team’s massive victory. (Photo courtesy of Instagram).
Our men’s basketball team secured a phenomenal victory at College Station on Wednesday Night as we defeated the 12th ranked Texas A&M Aggies, 86-84, to move to 19-9 overall and 7-8 in the SEC. The No.12 Aggies (AP Poll) fell to 20-8 and 9-6.
To say it was a mild surprise might sound like an understatement unless you understand the makeup of this group, which we all do. They’re warriors and were not going to be denied at Reed Arena. Our terrific marksman guard/forwardTyler Nickel sank 7 of 10 trifectas and finished with 21 points. Guard MJ Collins had a big night with 16 points and four boards. Our super combo point guard/shooting guard, Jason Edwards, we’re kind of a position-less group, finished with 15 and was iron from the charity stripe sinking 8-for-8 at the stripe. We were 28-for-36 as a team from the line, 78%, and that was massive down the stretch.
The game took 2 hours 40 minutes with excessive foul calling and reviews. It was out of control. But our guys responded to those adverse conditions (the road and the refs) and emerged with a major resume building victory. Our terrific freshman point guard, Tyler Tanner, finished with 9 points and four assists, and was 4-for-4 from the line. These were all highly clutch free throw conversions in the last two minutes of the game. Big man Jaylen Carey sank a couple of key free throws late as well. Jaylen and our awesome other big man, Devin McGlockton, were saddled with foul trouble throughout the game. It was a very questionably officiated game. Devin fouled out, but pulled down 10 boards before he did. He always gives us superb minutes, even if he doesn’t score a ton of points. He usually gives us good offense though, and he’ll give us great effort every time out. One of the key moments in the game was when JaQualon “JQ” Roberts, our 6’8″, 230 inside guy, came in late with Devin and Jaylen in foul trouble. JQ gave us 8 valuable minutes. He pulled down four boards, had a massive dunk off a beautiful dish from MJ, and played awesome defense. JQ, one of the two holdovers from Stack’s program, along with Jordan Williams, which you gotta admire and appreciate, will be a valuable piece for us down the stretch if Jaylen and Devin get into some fouling issues or they just need a break. I love what JQ did for us Wednesday and what he can do for us going forward. Last season, towards the end of the 2024 year, JQ was coming on for sure as a freshman. So I really believe that he can be a factor for us. He’s tough, physical, is a very good rebounder, and give us some offense.
A.J. Hoggard, Chris Manon and Grant Huffman weren’t major factors in the outcome, but did some good things, and we always need those guys to play well in order for us to be successful. They are all three highly valuable pieces to this team’s success. Definitely need them to give us their usual quality minutes going forward. Manon put together an awesome performance against No. 24 Ole Miss last Saturday in our 77-72 victory at Memorial. He finished with 16, 7 boards, 4 steals and 3 blocks against the Rebels. He’s such a superb athlete, and brings so much energy to the court. A.J. is always an important player for us distributing and leading our offense along with some scoring and solid D. Grant brings hustle and talent. We’ll need everybody.
So where do we stand? We are now 19-9, and 7-8 in the SEC, tied for 9th in the conference. Auburn has been excellent this year at 14-1 and 26-2 and are the clear No.1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi and Heat Check’s Lukas Harkins, another accurate brackelogist. Auburn is projected No.1 in the South by both Lunardi and Harkins. Auburn’s only two losses are @ Duke, much earlier in the season and at home versus Florida a couple of Saturdays ago. We are seeded 9th by Joe in the South playing in Lexington versus 8th-seeded Illinois. Lukas has us 9th in the West playing No.8 BYU in Wichita. So riveting stuff going on with our team, and if we keep playing like this, we’ll get a higher seed going forward by both Joe and Lukas. I’ll keep you apprised on those developments as they transpire. Both Bracketologists release their projections each Tuesday and Friday, and these brackets are completely up to date as they both released their respective ones this morning.
We’ve got No.14 Missouri Saturday @ home @Memorial at 5 PM CT on the SEC Network. Need an electric crowd to help us knock off a very good team and enhance our resume even further. Missouri is 21-7 and 10-5 in the conference and is coming off a 101-71 home victory over South Carolina. They are presently tied for fourth with Tennessee in the conference standings and are a 5 seed by Joe in the East, and a 5 seed by Lukas in the Midwest. They are talented and can do damage in the NCAA Tournament, so we need to bring everything we’ve got. They defeated us in Columbia on Saturday, January 11th, 75-66. We can get this done, but it will take another stellar performance. We’ve got it in us though. Love the way we’re competing. Will give you a recap on Monday.
Vanderbilt Baseball
RJ Austin is knocking the cover off the ball. (Photo courtesy of The Tennessean).
Our 13th/14th ranked Vanderbilt Baseball team is on a roll right now after sweeping Saint Mary’s last weekend at the Hawk and defeating Tennessee Tech handily this past Tuesday. We won 11-4 last Friday, 2/21, we won 13-7 on Saturday, 2/22, and 10-0 Sunday, 2/23, in 7 innings with the 10 run rule in effect after 7– top of the 7th at home, bottom of the 7th on the road. Then, for good measure, we defeated Tennessee Tech 16-3 at the Hawk in 7 on Tuesday.
RJ Austin is the heart and soul of this baseball team. Our junior from Atlanta is hitting .455 with 2 doubles, 3 triples, a homer and 9 Ribeyes. RJ is also 6-for-6 in stolen bases. Jacob Humphrey, who has found a home in the corners of our outfield, is hitting .440, and is 3-for-3 in stolen bases. Love what we’re getting from transfer Riley Nelson (Western Texas College/Yavapai College, Texas). Riley is hitting .406 with a double, a homer and 12 Ribbies. Freshman Rustan Rigdon is hitting .360, and I’m liking what I’m seeing out of freshman Brodie Johnston. He’s a slick fielding third baseman and was a highly ranked recruit in the class of 2024. Brodie hits and fields at a high level. He was 2-for-4 Sunday against Saint Mary’s with a pair of runs driven in. Like what we have there. Mike Macini, a transfer from James Madison, is going to be stellar at second base. With steady, reliable junior Jonathan Vastine leading the charges at short, we’ve got a good makeup in the infield with Nelson a nice fielding first baseman as well. The SEC is tough, but our 13th/14th-ranked team (Baseball America, D1 Baseball rankings, respectively) is shaping up well. We are now 8-1. Pitching has been pretty solid. Still some room for improvement. Really like what I’m seeing out of our present Sunday starter Cody Bowker. Cody is 1-0 with an 0.00 ERA. Can’t get any better than that. Cody, a Georgetown transfer, is a strike thrower. He’s walked four and struck out 12. JD Thompson and Ethan McElvain are still rounding into form on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Corbs will see how the guys develop before settling into an SEC weekend rotation. The bullpen has been very solid. Miller Green looks like a shutdown closer and we’ve got great arms in middle relief and for midweek starts.
We have UCLA tonight in L.A. in the Southern California College Baseball Classic. First pitch is a 7 PM CT and it’ll be streamed on BIG Ten Network+.
Saturday, we play USC in Irvine, CA. at 4 PM CT on the BIG Ten+ Network.
And Sunday, we face UConn at 12 PM in L.A., again. Today’s game is at Jackie Robinson Stadium, Saturday’s game is at Great Park, and Sunday’s game is again at Jackie Robinson Stadium, all in Southern California. So, two true road games today and Saturday. UCLA is 7-2, USC is 7-1, and UConn is 1-5. So, some challenges this weekend that will be good for getting us mentally tough for the SEC, which starts in two weeks @ Auburn. We’ll open @ Auburn Friday, 3/14, and play there through Sunday, 3/16. Will have much more on that after we get through this non-conference schedule. Major challenges this weekend starting today versus the Bruins.
Women’s Basketball
Khamil Pierre filled it up last night in our victory over A&M. (Photo courtesy of ESPN).
Sophomore Khamil Pierre poured in 31 points on 13-of-21 shooting from the field and added 6 boards, and freshman standout Mikayla Blakes finished with 18 points and 5 assists as our women defeated Texas A&M, 91-58, at Memorial Thursday Night. Khamil is from Phoenix, and Mikayla is from Somerset, New Jersey, 40 miles from the Big Apple. Justine Pissott added 14, going 5-for-5 from the field and 4-of-4 from the stripe. Justine is a junior from Toms River, New Jersey. It’s 75 miles from Toms River to Manhattan. We moved to 20-9 and 7-8 in the SEC. We’re now 9th in the conference and are an 8 seed in the Spokane Bracket in the NCAA Tournament according to ESPN Bracketologist Charlie Creme. Charlie is the expert in projecting the tournament bracket for the women’s game, and he’s pretty darn accurate as are Joe and Lukas in the men’s game. Mikayla is now averaging 23 points per game, and Khamil is at 20.9. Khamil also averages 9.5 boards per game. Iyana Moore is at 11.9 points per game. Coach Shea Ralph knows we have a lot of work left if we want to reach our goals of playing much deeper into March. We finish out the season this Sunday @ Missouri for a 2 PM CT tip on SEC Network+. The Tigers are 14-16 overall and 3-12 in the SEC. The SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament starts Wednesday, March 5th at Greenville, S.C. So, exciting stuff for the women’s team as well. Will have more on the SECT on Monday after we play Missouri, and, hopefully, get the job done.
Coach Mark Byington and Coach Ralph are doing absolutely tremendous jobs with the men’s and the women’s teams, respectively. Love our coaches. Of course, Corbs is doing his usual phenomenal job. He just keeps getting it done. Love what all three teams can do going forward with both the Men’s and Women’s bball teams heading into March and our baseball team setting its sights on the rest of the non-conference, and then homing in on the SEC in mid-March. Extremely exciting stuff going on for our programs.
Men’s and Women’s Golf; Women’s and Men’s Tennis
Will have a lot more for you on our three respective teams on Monday along with our Men’s and Women’s golf teams and our Men’s and Women’s tennis teams. All four teams are matriculating well.
The Men’s Golf team, which is ranked 14th in the Clippd rankings, the premier rankings in men’s and women’s golf, opens play at the Cabo Collegiate in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico this coming Monday with a loaded field competing. Should be a great measure on Coach Scott Limbaugh’s team Monday through Wednesday on the Twin Dolphin Course. Will have more as the team competes next week.
Coach Greg Allen and his 12th ranked Women’s Golf team (Clippd rankings as well) play in the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate Monday through Wednesday versus a talented field as well. More on the Women as well next week.
Our 19th ranked women’s tennis team (ITA Rankings), 8-1 on the season after opening SEC play with a 7-0 victory @ Missouri last Sunday, plays Mississippi State today @ the Currey Tennis Center in Nashville at 2 PM, and hosts No.17 Alabama Sunday at 1 PM. So huge weekend for the women’s tennis team.
The Men’s team is ranked 32nd by the ITA Rankings, and is 8-3 overall. After defeating LSU on the road this past Monday, 4-3, we play @Auburn today at 2 PM CT, and we are @ No.25 Alabama Sunday at 1 PM.
I love what Women’s Tennis Coach Aleke Tsoubanos is doing for our team, and what Coach Scott Brown is doing for our men. We have another Scott Brown, who is our pitching coach. So we two have Coach Browns on our respective staffs.
I’ll check back in Monday with a lot more on where all of our teams stand heading into the week. God Bless, have an awesome weekend, and Anchor Down!
Mikayla did some serious work on Sunday @ Auburn. (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia).
Our terrific McDonald’s All American freshman Mikayla Blakes made history again on the basketball court as
she set a freshman record this time for any freshman, true or redshirt, as she poured in 55 points and led her
Vanderbilt Commodores teammates to an amazing 15 point comeback in the fourth quarter at Neville Arena in Auburn as the Commodores defeated Auburn 98-88 in overtime to move to 19-7 overall and 6-6 in the SEC. Coach Shea Ralph was not only happy for Mikayla, she was ecstatic for her team as we had lost three in a row. But what a performance by our young freshman out of Somerset, New Jersey and Rutgers Prep. Mikayla was 15-of-28 from the field, 2-of-7 from trifecta and 23-of-24 from the stripe. She is now averaging 23 points per game and is second in the SEC and sixth in the country in scoring. She was voted SEC Player of the week and SEC Freshman of the week. There was no doubt that was going to happen. The team is now tied for 8th in the conference, and Charlie Creme, the Bracketologist for ESPN, has us as a No. 7 seed and playing 10th seeded Richmond in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Los Angeles. Our next game is Thursday at 6 PM @ No.16 Oklahoma. OU is 19-6 and 7-5 in the SEC, so they’ll be a tough out. Mikayla and the women will have to step up once again. I like them to do just that.
Men take on the Cats in Rupp
Jalen Carey leads the Dores into Rupp Arena today at 6 PM (Photo courtesy of the Nashville Post).
Our men’s team is in a huge contest today at 6 PM today on the SEC Network at Rupp Arena versus Kentucky. We fought so hard against Tennessee and almost pulled off the upset, but are looking ahead to today in a massive game at Rupp. We are 17-8 overall and 5-7 in the conference, and Joey Brackets has us as an 11 seed and in the West Regional playing in Cleveland in the first round and facing No.6 seeded Clemson. Gotta excel here in our last six games. We’re getting very good play from Jalen Carey, Devin McGlockton and Jason Edwards, among others. Need everybody to step up tonight, Tyler Nickel, AJ Hoggard, Chris Manon, MJ Collins (so athletic) and Grant Huffman will HAVE to do their part as well for us to emerge with the victory. Coach Byington knows it’ll take a total team effort to come away victorious. I don’t gamble, but I do predict against the spread, and we were a 6 1/2 point underdog yesterday, and now we’re 5 1/2. So trending in the right direction. It was 4 1/2 earlier today. Just gotta lock in.
Baseball
JD Thompson gave us an awesome start on Friday versus Grand Canyon, a true road game in Phoenix, at the 2025 MLB Desert Invitational. (Photo courtesy of Baseball America).
We’ve gotten some pretty solid pitching so far in our first five games as our No.15 Commodores (D1 Baseball Rankings) are 4-1 with victories over Grand Canyon, UC Irvine and two over Air Force. Our only loss is to No.23 Nebraska on Saturday Night, and that seemed like a road game in the MLB Desert Invitational. Really like what we got from JD, who pitched 4.2 against Grand Canyon, and allowed just 3 hits, 0 runs, with a walk and 6 K’s. JD is our Friday Night guy for now, but that’s still being determined. Sure like our chances with him on the mound. Cody Bowker, a transfer from Georgetown, was super Sunday against Cal-Irvine. Cody went 4, gave up 0 runs, 2 hits, with a walk and, also like JD, six K’s. Nice efforts from a lot of our pitchers. Like the way our pitching is rounding into shape. We play Saint Mary’s in a weekend set this Friday-Sunday. Hitting is coming along. New addition Rusty Rigdon, kind of a utility player for us in the infield and outfield, is leading us at .467. Jacob Humphrey, whom I’ve always been bullish on since he arrived on the West End from Duke in 2024, is hitting .455. And our electric center fielder RJ Austin, who can do everything, kind of an Enrique Bradfield with a little more power, is hitting .391. We’re fielding at a .989 clip with just a couple of errors, so pretty solid. I’m sure Corbs is pretty pleased with the start. Gotta keep improving every practice, every game as Corbs always preaches. Our goal is Omaha and getting it done there. That never changes.
Jackson Van Paris with a nice showing at the Watersound Invitational at Panama City (Photo courtesy of The Vanderbilt Hustler).
Nice showing by Men’s Golf
Our 11th-ranked Men’s Golf team (CLIPPD Rankings, premier college men’s golf ranking service) finished in 5th place at the Watersound Invitational in Panama City Beach, FL. on the Shark’s Tooth Golf Course. We had a rough day in day one shooting 9 over as a team. Then we came back and shot 6 under, and, in round 3, we finished 14 under to post an 11 under score for the tournament. Florida State won it at 26 under par. We did get a terrific effort from senior Jackson Van Paris who finished tied fourth individually shooting 6 under par. Luke Clanton of FSU won it at -10. Nice comeback by the squad. Need some more guys to step up if we want to reach our goals this year in the SEC and NCAA Tournaments. Next is the Cabo Collegiate Sunday, March 2nd through Tuesday, March 4th. It’ll be 3 rounds with a loaded field. I will let you know more about it when it’s time to get to work in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico at the Twin Dolphin Club.
I’ll have more coming up next week. I will be out of pocket the rest of this week working on another project here in town, so will check back in the middle of next week or so with intel on Men’s basketball, baseball, Men’s golf and women’s basketball and anything else that transpires in the VU sporting arena. Thanks a lot.
Rory aims to capture his second Signature Event of this young season as he already won the AT&T Pebble Beach two weeks ago. (Photo courtesy of The Guardian).
The 98th edition of the Genesis Invitational will transpire at Torrey Pines South Course Thursday and continue into Sunday as players will compete for the $4 million first place prize money that is offered in this player sponsored event that is hosted by Tiger Woods, who will not be playing due to the passing of his mother Tida, who passed away last Tuesday, Feb. 4th, at 78.
The tournament is traditionally held at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, CA., but out of respect for the victims of the L.A. wildfires, the Tour chose to move the tournament to San Diego and famed Torrey Pines South Course. Riviera is historic as well, but the situation was not conducive to hosting a tournament there.
Seventy two players will compete at Torrey South Course (7,765 yards, Par 72), with a 36 hole cut with the top 50 and ties qualifying for the weekend.
Hideki Matsuyama is the defending champion. The total purse is $20 million with the winner taking home 20% ($4M) as will be customary for the player-sponsored signature events. The same will be true for the Arnie Invitational (March 6th-9th), and the Memorial, Jack’s tournament (May 29th-June 1st). The other five pay out 18% to first place, or $3.6 Million. They are the Sentry, played in early January with Hideki winning, the AT&T Pebble Beach, two weeks ago, won by Rory, the RBC Heritage (April 17th-20th, a week after the Masters), the Truist Championship (in Philly, May 8th-11th the week before the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow), and the Travelers Championship (June 19th-22nd, the week after the U.S. Open at Oakmont CC).
Last week at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Belgian Thomas Detry put on a golfing clinic as he shot 65 on Sunday and birdied his last 4 holes to finish at 24 under par, seven shots clear of second place finishers Michael Kim and Daniel Berger. He birdied 18 from 10 feet to close out his prolific performance. It was a terrific display of golf from the 32 year old out of Brussels.
Odds
Scottie Scheffler, 3/1
Rory, 7/1
Collin Morikawa, 14/1
Hideki, 22/1
Ludvig Aberg, 25/1
Justin Thomas, 25/1
Sungjae Im, 30/1
Patrick Cantlay, 33/1
Tom Kim, 33/1
Jordan Spieth, 40/1
Jason Day, 40/1
Shane Lowry, 40/1
Tommy Fleetwood, 40/1
Taylor Pendrith, 45/1
Will Zalatoris, 50/1
Rasmus Hojgaard, 50/1
Robert McIntyre, 50/1
Tony Finau, 50/1
Sepp Straka, 50/1
Sam Burns, 55/1
Viktor Hovland, 55/1
Maverick McNealy, 60/1
Thomas Detry, 60/1
Russell Henley, 60/1
Harris English, 60/1
Keegan Bradley, 65/1
Adam Scott, 90/1
Daniel Berger, 100/1 (may be a good value)
Wyndham Clark, 100/1
It’s worth noting that Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth are regaining some of their former prolific form.
Thomas shot a closing 65 last Sunday at Phoenix and eagled number 18 to finish tied for 6th at 15 under. \
Spieth went 68, 65, 67, 68 to finish tied for 4th at -16.
Weather
Thursday, 61, 58% chance of rain, wind S 13 MPH.
Friday, 62, 24% chance, wind WNW 13. Both days gusting up to 24.
Saturday, 63, partly sunny, wind NW 9.
Sunday, 66, Partly cloudy, Wind NW 8.
TV
Thursday/Friday : 3-7 PM CT, Golf Channel
Saturday: 12-2 PM CT GC; 2-6 PM CT, CBS
Sunday: 12-2 PM CT, 2-5:30 PM CT, CBS
Winner
I’m going to take the 28 year old from L.A by way of Cal. He’s leading the tour in birdie average, strokes
gained:Total, Greens in Reg, and is 13th in scrambling. His numbers are excellent and he finished solo third
at the Farmers in 2023, and tied for fourth at the 2021 U.S. Open at Torrey South. Give me:
Collin Morikawa
Liking Morikawa at Torrey. (Photo courtesy of Sky Sports).
A lot of power names in this classic with Spieth, Johnson, McIlroy, Day, Matsuyama and Justin Thomas headlining amongst a star studded field. I’m going to take someone else though. I’ll go with the 39 year old from Winter Park, Florida by way of the Ramblin Wreck. He played superbly at the 146th Open Championship 2 weeks ago going toe to toe with Spieth, but just got beaten by a masterful performance by the now 23 year old Texas phenom, who’s looking pretty interesting heading into the 99th PGA Championship next week at Quail Hollow, N.C., a classic course. I’ll take the man with the smooth swing, easy smile, and an All American personality. He finished T-3 here in 2016 shooting 66 on Sunday. DJ was the winner. Going with the Kuch to capture the championship at the Firestone South Course in Akron, Ohio.
