Next time somebody you play with thinks they’re hot sh*t because they can hit a 300 yard drive, show them this video. Jamie Sadlowski can his putter 300 yards.
Kapalua
Jonathan Byrd pulled out the win today in Kapalua at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions with a playoff victory over Robert Garrigus. No, it wasn’t as dramatic as his last victory, but I suspect that Byrd is pretty happy with it none-the-less. Byrd has now won his last 2 starts in a row, both of which were playoff victories.
Robert Garrigus was deadly with his wedges on Friday, shooting a 10-under 63 to take the lead at Kapalua. I guess he gets a lot of practice using his wedges given that he led the PGA Tour in driving distance last year. This eagle on 16 was his 4th wedge shot of the day that ended up inside of 2.5 feet.
Earlier this year, the Golf Channel experimented with “announcer-less” (really announcer-lite) coverage on the Nationwide tour. The experiment worked pretty well, especially having mic’d players in the field.
Trying to build on that success, The Golf Channel approached several players with the idea of wearing a microphone this week at Kapalua. Things were looking pretty grim as everybody said “no”. But now Stephanie Wei is reporting that co-leader Jonathan Byrd has agreed to wear a mic during Friday’s round. Apparently carding a 7-under 66 put him in an agreeable mood.
I like Jonathan Byrd and this just bumped him up another notch in my book. And hopefully it will pay off for him. As Stephanie noted, Hunter Haas agreed to be mic’d during the Nationwide tournament last fall and he went on to win the event. Maybe Byrd is hoping to continue that good fortune and cash another $1 million dollar paycheck.
[Update: Apparently technical problems have postponed this experiment until a future date.]
[Update #2: That future date is Saturday. Supposedly that goes against the PGA Tour's agreement with the Golf Channel (they are only supposed to mic players on Thursday and Friday) but presumably Byrd was willing and everybody agreed to go ahead and give it a shot.]
As most people expected, Jamie Sadlowski handily outdrove Bubba Watson, Robert Garrigus and Dustin Johnson during their competition today on the 18th hole.
The format was interesting. They played a two round elimination event. Each player got 3 shots and the ball had to be in play to count. They moved the players up to to the Women’s tees, bringing the overall length of the hole down to 455 yards from the normal 663 yards.
It’s often a hotly debated topic on internet golf boards: How do the longest driving PGA Tour Pros compare to the long drive competition specialists?
This week we may get an answer (or at least more fodder for the internet forums). At the 2011 season opener in Kapalua, Jamie Sadlowski, the current king of the long drive will square up against the 3-longest drivers on the PGA Tour, Robert Garrigus, Dustin Johnson, and Bubba Watson, on the 18th hole of the Plantation Course.
The view from the tee box at the 5th hole on the Bay Course
Now that I’ve been at Kapalua for a few days, I thought I would share some of my thoughts on the golf. The net of it is that while the Bay Course is a pretty darn good resort course, it pales in comparison to the Plantation Course. But it still might be the better choice for many golfers.
Full review of Kapalua Golf coming tonight (early AM for you east coasters), but this view should hold you over for now.
Today on #18 at the Kapalua Plantation Course, I hit a 432 yard drive. It’s a regular occurrence when you’re a baller like myself, but Stephanie Wei was kind enough to take this picture as proof anyways.
I’m told that Davis Love III set the record for the longest drive ever on tour, 476 yards, on this hole in 2004. Give me a few more tries and I think I might give him a run for his money. Or not…
