|
10:37: Just arrived at the media tent and while it's somewhat brisk out on the course, it's an oustanding morning for golf. There is some wind but less gustier than Tuesday. The wind is always the story at Harbour Town and it will be interesting to see how it affects the tournament this week. The scenery is spectacular at Harbour Town with the old, moss-draped oaks lining the course. The only downside to all of the plant life is the pollen it produces. Yesterday some of the cart paths were the same color as Brandt Snedker's mustard yellow slacks. Speaking of Snedeker, his team is off to a good start in the Pro-Am. They have the early lead at 11-under.
11:22: Shortly after remarking that his drive on No. 10 landed
in the 15th fairway and that'd certainly be a great spot to be now, an
amateur in Justin Rose's group smacked his tee shot on 15 into a crowd
of spectators standing near the 10th fairway. To his credit it went
pretty far and didn't hit anyone. Ah, the beauty of the Pro-Am 
11:45: D.J. Gregory has arrived on the grounds at Harbour
Town. Gregory, who is afflicted with cerebral palsy, is writing a blog
for PGATOUR.com this year about his experiences during his quest to
walk every hole on the TOUR this year. He picks one player each week
and follows them for 72 holes. Last week in Augusta it was first time
Masters participant Bubba Watson. This afternoon, Gregory plans to
follow defending Heritage Champion Boo Weekley for nine holes. To check
out Gregory's blog click here.
12:25: Defending champion Boo Weekley and fan favorite and
five-time Heritage champion Davis Love III have both teed off in the
Wednesday Pro-Am and are now out on the course. Brandt Snedeker's group
posted a 56 for a score of 15-under par and are leading that
competition. Dustin Johnson, a 2008 PGA TOUR Rookie, is among a group
of local South Carolinians playing this week. Johnson was a two-time
All American at Coastal Carolina University (Conway, SC) in 2006 and
2007. He got off to a great start, finishing tied for 7th at the
AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and tied for 10th at the Sony Open in
Hawaii.
Johnson said he has good memories of playing Harbour Town even if he
can't remember it all that well. He was 11 or 12 when he won a junior
tournament here but hasn't played the course since. He said it ranks as
one of his two favorite courses in the state of South Carolina. He is
expecting up to 100 members of his family and friends to be on hand
this week to cheer him on.
1:10: Most hideous golfing attire of the day, possibly ever
displayed by two entrants into the Pro-Am event. The pair were sporting
matching University of Miami golf shirts, black pants and Cincinnati
Bengal socks. Let's just say the ensembles weren't much of a hit around
the putting green and definitely weren't pleasing to Chris Dimarco who
happened to be nearby and is a University of Florida graduate.
1:35: Watching J.B. Holmes drive the golf ball is a thing of
beauty. If you've never been to the range at Harbour Town the practice
area runs parallel to the 1st fairway and ends with a two-story
retaining net supported by steel beams. Holmes' drives happened to
smack the top of those beams a few times, sounding the bell. I don't
think I would've wanted to trade places with any of the amateur players
flanking Holmes when he pulled out his driver.
After his practice session J.B. said he really loves this golf course
because it rewards good shots and punishes bad shots. He said you
probably won't see him hit drive much if at all this week.
Holmes is coming off his first appearance at the Masters where he
finished at 4-over-par and tied for 25th. "It could've been a lot
better showing if I had made any putts," Holmes said. "The greens are
the teeth of that course and you've got to putt well." As for the big
injury news on the Tiger front Holmes said there wasn't any buzz about
it among the players in the locker room.
2:25: What a fantastic day and it doesn't get any better than
the view from the 18th tee box. The wind, which is probably the biggest
factor every year at the Heritage, isn't too bad. However, a number of
the amateurs had their tee shots pushed toward the trees on the right
hand side of the fairway. Robert Allenby stroked a nice drive that
found the middle of the most generous part of the fairway. Any
tournament would be happy with a photo finish if the championship hung
in the balance when the leaders arrived at the 18th on Sunday but the
Heritage would be even sweeter. I'd like to think of this closing hole
as the South's equivalent of 18 at Pebble Beach.
In unrelated news, word is that head South Carolina head football
coach Steve Spurrier is taking in the Pro-Am; I guess becoming bowl
elligible isn't a requirement for admission to the grounds. I think I
also saw highly-touted USC quarterback Stephen Garcia who was dismissed
from the team after his latest underage drinking ticket having a few
beers at the Wild Wing Party tent behind No. 15.
5:00: After spending the better part of two days debating who I think will come out on top this week, I'm ready to utter a prediction. Logic and history tells you that plenty of the big names will contend this week at Harbour Town. So expect to see Ernie Els, Jim Furyk and Stewart Cink all in contention. Brandt Snedeker is a hot pick right now coming off his impressive Masters performance and I like what I've seen from him early in the week but I'll only pencil him in for a Top 10. I'm going with 2007 Masters Champion Zach Johnson to win his first Heritage this week. He gained even more confidence by backing up his green jacket with a solid performance last week and he still managed to finish sixth in this event last year. I also like J.B. Holmes and Jonathan Byrd to make some noise.
|
