Puttering Around: Genesis Invitational

 Hometown Hero Award: Max Homa

By winning a playoff over Tony Finau, Max Homa handed the media the narrative of the year. 

Few events come straight out of a storybook. Tiger’s magical Masters run was one of them. Homa’s begs to be considered even more special, with a lifelong build-up.

On Hole 18, Homa hit an all-time approach shot to set himself up with a 3 foot putt, with some pegging his chances of draining a birdie there at 99.57%. Yet, he missed and made par to send the Genesis Invitational to a playoff with Tony Finau.

Then, off the tee from the first playoff hole, Homa got into trouble, as his ball neighbored the roots of a tree. Again, he nailed the approach shot to give himself a good look at birdie, but merely 2-putted to send it to another hole.

This is one problem with the results-based outcomes that we crave as sports fans. On the 18th and the 10th (the first playoff hole), Homa whacked an unbelievable shot onto the green, but perhaps missed a relatively easier putt, in comparison to Finau, who slowly and steadily approached the flag. Both results were par, but many fans feel as though Homa “blew it” by missing a putt, even though the only reason he had that look was because of his great second shot. Some pars are more exciting, others are steadier. However, both led to the same outcome.

Then, while Finau hit his drive into a bunker on the 14th, or the site of the second playoff hole, Max Homa nailed his, landing on the green of a Par 3. Max couldn’t drain the first putt, but he still made par. On the other hand, Tony’s visit to the sand pit proved to be his death sentence, finishing the tournament with a bogey.

The Cal grad (don’t think I’m not gonna shove that down your throat) grew up in Los Angeles (Burbank, for specific LA suburb snobs) and attended the tournament as a youngster, loving the course and seeing the pros duke it out. 

Try to write a better storyline. Seriously. Scour the Internet, find someone’s connection to a course, and pretend they won that tournament. Homa’s story is one of the best in the sport. 

Another page in the War And Peace-sized book called Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction. Unless Collin Morikawa (another Cal graduate. Yes, I’m flexing about a school I don’t attend) was born at Harding Park, I can’t believe there’s a more magical story in the past year of golf.

This is what draws us back to sports, time and time again. We come back for Collin Sexton playing 3v5. We come back for LeBron returning to Cleveland and bringing them their first title in several decades. We come back for the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series after LeBron cursed his hometown Cleveland Baseball Team. We come back for Max Homa winning the Genesis Invitational at his childhood field of dreams.

Also, cool shot. 

Also, I’m looking forward to referring to the Cleveland Baseball Team ad nauseum.

Weather Condition of the Week: Wind

You may have heard about the snow storms in Texas, leaving millions of people vulnerable, without power. A tragic occurrence, hopefully our government can provide aid to help Texans in this time of crisis.

However, did you hear about the wind in Los Angeles? Golf tournaments aside, I’m 90% sure that is a real conversation that somebody in Southern California had.

The wind wreaked havoc on the golfers. One guy had his hat blown off, which I’m pretty sure means you get kicked off the PGA Tour. In fact, upon further research, one guy in the 90s got his card stripped when he fanned a fly. True story.

Flags flapped. Putts flew. Play was stopped.

As a result of daytime restrictions (read: the sun went down), many players could not complete Saturday’s 18 holes. 

Ironically, 8 hours north, the NHL had the opposite issue. While the PGA needed daylight to continue dueling, Colorado Avalanche and Las Vegas Golden Knights players did not welcome Mr. Sunshine with such open arms. Since they were playing in an outdoor game in Lake Tahoe, they didn’t want the sun to melt their playing surface, forcing them to postpone the game to 9 PM local time.

This begs the question: why not experiment with golf at night? Sure, I’m not asking the Masters to play at midnight, but I would love to see an event experiment with nighttime tee times and lights on the course. Sampling with it for one PGA Tour tournament a year could be a lot of fun. 

I’m not begging Riviera, or any hallowed course, to implement LEDs, but it would be worth a try for a new event.

After all, with many complaints of golf courses harming the environment with their frequent watering of the grass, I’m sure they’d love to silence those people by using vast amounts of energy to power their midnight golf games.

OOSTHUIZEN Award: Unclaimed

Unfortunately, the great Louis Oosthuizen was not in attendance for the Genesis Invitational. I will not be taking questions about the South African’s (we’re just gonna say he went to Cal; go with it) absence. Please respect my privacy at this time, the pain of missing the best name in golf cannot be summarized in words.

Somebody must carry the torch. 

The best name left, coupled with a solid performance, was Talor Gooch. He shot 5 under par for the Genesis Invitational, tying for 12th and winning almost 200 grand. Another Gooch also captured the hearts of America - Dusty Gooch at the NHL Outdoors showcase. 

Hulk X Bird Box Award: Bryson DeChambeau

Bryson DeChambeau can BELT a golf ball. The reigning US Open champ, hailing from the same nation that the University of California Berkeley is located in, leads the PGA in strokes gained off the tee. 

He did not put that on display at Riviera. He finished 2 strokes above par, for a cut. This can be anticipated occasionally for golfers, especially strong ones like DeChambeau, who can sway back and forth between extremes, going from winning majors to getting cut.

The surprising thing was where the loss came. An abysmal showing on the putting green would not raise eyebrows, with Bryson ranking 113th in strokes gained while putting. Instead, it came on the Mad Scientist’s forte, driving.

Bryson was one of the favorites to win at the Riv, with the course being extremely friendly for drivers. He didn’t have that going on Thursday and Friday. On Day 1, he ranked 93rd in strokes gained off the tee. When the lawn clippings settled, his accuracy was no bueno, hitting just 6 of 28 fairways. Hopefully, DeChambeau can remove the blindfold next week and begin to position himself well after his first stroke. 

Supernatural Occurrence Of The Week: The Shadow Object

If this isn’t supernatural, I don’t know what is.

Gotta go, need to get working on my movie script for an intersection of the shadow world and the real world. Yes, of course it will score a 43% on Rotten Tomatoes and cost more than it’ll make.

The Ultimate Good Guy Award: Tony Finau

If there’s a soul on this planet rooting against Tony Finau, I certainly haven’t encountered them. If so, for every one of those blood-sucking leeches, there are thousands of these fans thrilled about his Sunday 64, tied for the best day in the tournament.

When the first thing that pops into an announcer’s head when they hear your name is “Family Man,” you’re doing something right. It’s a nice sentiment, until you hear that statement every weekend. For the rest of eternity.

In the past 4 seasons of golf, Finau has racked up well over a dozen Top 5 finishes, while never getting over the hump and hoisting the trophy. During that stretch, he has lost 3 playoffs. 

When Finau wins, euphoria will ensue. Until then, we’ll have to settle for watching him grasp at the trophies, but lie a few spots out. 

The Web.com Tour Award: Sam Burns

Sam Burns led Day 1. Sam Burns led Day 2. Sam Burns led Day 3.

Sadly, he couldn’t hold his lead once 72 holes had elapsed. This may not add to his trophy case, but it’s as big a moral victory as the mind can dream up.

In football, basketball, and even baseball, top prospects build a reputation in college in front of millions. Plus, with the attention on youth circuits, players like Emoni Bates and Arch Manning are well known by their freshman year on a high school camous. In around 20 years, maternity wards will have Big Boards and scouting reports.

Golf differs a bit from that trend. Because of a lack of attention in lower levels of the sport like college and the Korn Ferry Tour, there are few Zions in the PGA. Instead, golfers must make a name for themselves on the tour. Rookie Will Zalitoris burst onto the scene at Winged Foot last year, draining a hole-in-one and tying with Dustin Johnson in sixth place.

Today was that coming out party for Sam Burns, letting golf fans remember the name for months. The $641,000 doesn’t hurt either.

Also, what kind of name is Web.com? It sounds like on Parks and Rec, when Gerry goes to AltaVista and types “Please go to yahoo.com.” Very repetitive, but perhaps clever for a company that creates websites.

Full Garage Award: Tae Hoon Kim

On the 2020 Korean Tour, Tae Hoon Kim won nearly $500,000. I would hope that’s enough to afford a large garage for his Genesis cars. 

In Korea, he won a Genesis GV70 for being the tour leader, and was given a Genesis GV80 for his Genesis Championship victory. When he hit a hole-in-one  on Thursday, he was given, sadly not a Genesis GV90 to keep the linear car model growth going, but a G80. 

What makes this so crazy is not that he won 3 cars. Throughout his career, Steve Strickler probably won several minivans. What boggles my mind about the Kim situation is the fact that he won a trifecta of Genesis vehicles, all in the span of less than a year. 

This begs the question: what does one do with multiple almost-identical cars? Kim drove the typical route of giving the first two cars to his parents, but fortunately, I bring some more… innovative ideas.

Finding a track in Seoul, bringing two buddies, and racing sounds like a blast. 

Or, spray paint “PATRICK REED IS A CHEATER” on the windows of one, and drive it everywhere you go. 

Or, he could fly the three cars to Atlanta, stack them on top of each other, get Aaron Gordon to jump over all 3 and dunk. He’d still place second in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. 

Speaking of wild things with Kim, it’s crazy that he shot 2 eagles on Thursday, and wound up missing the cut!

The Validation For Lazy Sports Fans Award: Sung Kang on Day 3

One of the most comforting things in all of sports is when athletes remind us that they’re human. This comes not by virtue of a 23AndMe (do genetics companies offer species analysis?) test, but via moments of failure.

From Nick Anderson’s fateful misses at the free throw line in the 1995 NBA Finals, attempts any hoops junkie can visualize themselves draining, to Chris Webber’s timeout gaffe, a perfect mental error that any person can proclaim they would’ve been aware of the team’s timeout situation, to the Double Doink, it is evident that fans love a mistake that makes them feel equal to the players.

Sadly, on the final example, football aficionados can no longer say they would’ve drained the kick that Cody Parkey botched - ESPN’s Katie Nolan debunked this, getting Twitter users who bashed missed field goals to bash the ball through the uprights. Spoiler: they failed.

Sung Kang made the cut. A strong first two days, he brought in a Thursday/Friday score of 3 under par. Saturday was not as much fun. 

Kang shot an 83, or 12 over par at Riviera. No, that tends to not be an ideal outcome. He struggled off the tee, hitting only 50% of his greens 2 strokes prior to par. That many bogeys likely frustrated him, but he put together a solid Sunday 72.

By PGA standards, Kang’s score was an abomination. By rec league standards, you’re Jack Nicklaus. If I shot an 83, I would celebrate like it was the climax of Rudy. 

Sung Kang had the worst day of anyone on tour. However, his actions were extremely noble. As George Bailey said in It’s A Wonderful Life, every time a PGA Tour golfer shoots for over 80, thousands of fans say “Hey, I could do that for a living.”

Moment of the Tournament: Post-Match Ceremonies

Max Homa’s postgame interview would’ve been enough. A beautiful moment to end the round. He looked emotional, for good reason, sinking in that he just won his hometown tournament. It was such a feel-good moment, I will even pretend I didn’t hear him mention the title victories for the dreaded Los Angeles Lakers and Dodgers!

Even that wasn’t the topper. Homa grew up idolizing Tiger Woods. On Sunday, it was Woods handing the trophy to Homa. 

An incredible moment to cap off an unbelievable 4 days of golf for Max Homa, where he won his second tournament, took victory on a course he practically grew up on, and received a trophy from his idol. Those are the moments we watch golf for.