2013 Hyundai Tournament of Champions

Jan

9

2013

By the Numbers: Hyundai Tournament of Champions edition

By WUP Staff under By the Numbers

Hi, my name is Shoshana. You may know me on Twitter as @Shosheak or from the comments section. I’m a stats geek and researcher. In the spirit of the new season I’m (hopefully) debuting a series that will look back at the previous week’s tournament from a numbers perspective. I’d like to make this a weekly column (if all goes well and Stephanie gives the thumbs-up), so please share any comments, questions, and bitter invectives (well, maybe not so much the last!).

Side-by-side from a stats standpoint

Dustin Johnson has a new nickname: The 54-hole Specialist. With his victory on Tuesday at the 2013 Hyundai Tournament of Champions, he’s now won the last three times a Tour event has been shortened to three rounds due to weather (the 2010 Barclays and the 2009 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am).

He’s also the under-30 master, with seven career PGA Tour victories compared to six for Rory McIlroy, of course, Dustin (28-years-old) also has a few years on Rory (24).

16 Comments

#2013 Hyundai Tournament of Champions, #By the numbers, #Dustin Johnson, #Plantation Course, #Stats, #Steve Stricker, #Tommy Gainey

Jan

9

2013

Dustin Johnson hammers his way to victory

By Stephanie Wei under PGA Tour

DJ: I don’t lay up.

After days wondering when the golf would start–and count officially–the 2013 Hyundai Tournament of Champions ended on a high note under sunny skies with long-hitting Dustin Johnson winning by four shots over the defending champ Steve Stricker, who announced his semi-retirement his pre-tourney press conference last week. Johnson, who has now notched seven victories on the PGA Tour, overpowered The Plantation Course, which, as a beast of a track, holds its own.

1 Comment

#2013 Hyundai Tournament of Champions, #54-hole tournaments, #Dustin Johnson, #Golf's All-Star Game, #Kapalua, #Paulina Gretzky, #Steve Stricker, #The Plantation Course

Jan

7

2013

Third time’s the charm!

By Stephanie Wei under PGA Tour

DJ and Bubba enjoying the breeze at Kapalua during the first round

Rickie Fowler stepped up to the first tee at The Plantation Course and hit the opening drive to kick off the 2013 season for the third time in four days. Difference on Monday morning? It was actually official. Beforehand, Fowler tweeted, “Scene 1…take 3.”

Fowler, who played with Jason Dufner, got the opening event off to a nice pace, completing the first 18 in less than four hours, which is very impressive on this track. As you may have heard, it’s not exactly the easiest course to to walk. In fact, it’s the most strenuous of the year. But after the week that would never end — or should I say, start — the players were ready to get things going.

2 Comments

#2013 Hyundai Tournament of Champions, #Bubba Watson, #Dustin Johnson, #Jason Dufner, #Kapalua, #Rickie Fowler, #The Plantation Course, #wind

Jan

6

2013

Sunday at Hyundai: Round one blown out…again

By Stephanie Wei under PGA Tour

Bubba Watson and his caddie Ted Scott have some fun: Teddy assists Bubba by holding the ball in place.

Bubba Watson & his caddie Ted Scott have some fun: Teddy assists Bubba by holding the ball in place.

The forecast at Kapalua’s Plantation Course continues to plague the 2013 Hyundai Tournament of Champions with strong winds and gusts up to 50mph. Not much has changed from Friday when the PGA Tour’s season-opener was supposed to kick off. For the third day in a row, play was delayed, suspended, and eventually called at 12:12pm on Sunday.

The new (tentative) plan? To return on Monday morning and play 36 holes and 18 on Tuesday. The goal is to complete 54 holes — otherwise it’ll count as an “unofficial” event, meaning it won’t count as an “official” win and the champion won’t get the chance to defend his title in 2014, but it will reward “official FedExCup points/money/75% OWGR points. In other words, it would cause more harm to the already endangered venue for the event. Which would really suck.

2 Comments

#2013 Hyundai Tournament of Champions, #Ben Curtis, #Bubba Watson, #Groundhog Day, #Ian Poulter, #Kapalua, #Matt Kuchar, #Rickie Fowler, #Scott Stallings, #Ted Scott, #The Plantation Course, #Webb Simpson

Jan

4

2013

Unplayable in paradise

By Stephanie Wei under PGA Tour

Scott Stallings weathering the extreme conditions

The 2013 PGA Tour season didn’t exactly start with a bang. Well, depending on how you see it, and actually, it technically hasn’t officially began. Usually–at least in the past two years I’ve covered the Hyundai Tournament of Champions at Kapalua’s Plantation Course–it’s 80 degrees and sunny with beautiful vistas of the Pacific Ocean with the wind blowing around 10-15mph and gusts of maybe 20mph.

Not this year, unfortunately. At least not since January 1st when golf in Maui felt more like Scotland. (It was gorgeous last week. I played last Friday and there was virtually NO wind, which was strange, and the sun was almost too hot.)

24 of the 30-player field had teed off on Friday morning before play was suspended. Due to gusts up to 42 mph, sideways rain and balls blowing off greens, PGA Tour officials decided to not only cancel play but completely wipe out the scores and start anew on Saturday morning. That’s right — bizarre, huh?

5 Comments

#2013 Hyundai Tournament of Champions, #Jonas Blixt, #Kapalua, #Plantation Course, #Rickie Fowler, #Scott Stallings, #Webb Simpson

Jan

4

2013

Steve Stricker starts long goodbye (semi-retirement)

By Stephanie Wei under PGA Tour

Stricker announces plan to downsize schedule

While playing golf for millions around the world may seem like the most incredible job imaginable — and it is in many ways — there actually are downsides. Mostly, it’s a lifestyle, where you live out of a suitcase at a Marriott (and eat more fast food and room service than you’d like to admit) for 20-35 weeks a year.

Life on the road can be extremely lonely, not to mention the game, by nature, is a selfish sport.

For the past few years, Steve Stricker, who turns 46 in February, mulled over the idea of cutting back his schedule. But it’s not easy for golfers to walk away from the game. He is still a competitor, and resurrected his career in 2007, after a drought 5-6- year drought.

6 Comments

#2013 Hyundai Tournament of Champions, #Semi-retirement, #Steve Stricker

Jan

3

2013

Rickie Fowler didn’t let a (secret) injury slow him down

By Stephanie Wei under PGA Tour

Fowler playing tough

During Thursday’s press conference at Kapalua for the PGA Tour’s season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions, Rickie Fowler didn’t waste any time revealing a minor detail about his health last year. Starting around the 2012 U.S. Open, Fowler’s lower back started to bother him. Turned out his SI joints, along with his L-4 and L-5 (low back and hips), were inflamed.

“They were pissed off at me,” said the 24-year-old golfer with a smile.