PGA Pick Off

Daily dispatches from outside the ropes

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The return of Tiger Woods suffocated any other storyline at Torrey Pines on Thursday, for good reason. Tiger’s saga represents the most compelling sports drama of the Twitter age, even though his transgressions in 2008 suddenly pale in comparison to those littering our daily news feeds. I’m firmly on Team Tiger at this point in my life, after years cautioning people my age that some unforeseen circumstance would curtail his pursuit of 20+ majors, much in the way Nicklaus and Hogan before him experienced droughts. Each perfect shot feels more important now, possessing a weight sorely lacking from his years throttling the Tom Lehmans and Mark O’Mearas at the turn of the 21st century. Tiger will certainly put it all together again some weekend, but when it comes, we should savor it. The moments will dwindle inevitably.

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On the sidelines of the mania, Tony Finau pieced together the day’s best round for a solo lead. At 28, Finau looks poised to factor prominently over the next five years. He hasn’t won yet on the Tour proper, though he captured the 2016 Puerto Rico Open and owns four finishes in the top 27 through seven major starts. Finau’s story began at Fox’s Ultimate Game, a $2 million winner-take-all tournament hosted by the Wynn in Las Vegas during June of 2007. Curiously little has been written about the tournament, won by current pro Scott Piercy. The original domain name has been vacant for some time. Finau was 17 then, and a sponsor staked him and his younger brother Gipper, both dominant on the Utah Junior circuit, the $50,000 entry fee. Tony played well, and turned down college basketball scholarship offers to turn pro shortly after. Finau won the Utah State Amateur earlier that year, knocking off Daniel Summerhays in the final.

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Fridays on Tour bring the merciless cut line, a weekly drama unique to golf. The cut draws no distinction between the popular and the unknown, but it does favor the bold. At dusk tonight, 21-year old John Oda from Honolulu, who bypassed his senior season at UNLV last August, stood on the ninth tee box following 15 pars and two bogeys. Coupled with an opening round 68, Oda sat even-par for the tournament.

Oda had three swings left to make the cut on the number. After uncorking a 335-yard drive, Oda's second from 159 left him with a 5-foot, 8-inch putt for eagle. As fate would have it, the putt happened to be the same length as his listed height. Oda rattled it home, earning his second paycheck in three career events. He earned his way into the event as a Monday qualifier, avoiding a playoff by one stroke. Monday's medalist, Australia's Steve Allan, also made the cut at 2-under.

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Thursday marked the first round of the Sony Open, the first full-field event of the calendar, and start of the season despite the Tour’s insistence on contorting itself into a wraparound schedule. I played a rusty round of golf on Wednesday with knowledge of an approaching winter storm.

On the third hole of my round, the 12th at Legacy GC of Springfield, I carded a triple-bogey six. Less than ideal conditions contributed to the triple; a healthy crosswind and wet conditions. My tee shot drifted right, setting up a bladed chip across the green nearly out-of-bounds into an unplayable lie. After the drop, I chunked a chip, then proceeded to make a miracle up-and-down for six.

I thought of this hole today watching Jordan Spieth’s trainwreck at the eighth. A pulled drive set up the first of two shots barely advanced. The latter found its way into a greenside bunker. During every blow-up, one shot forces the player to momentarily cease caring. For me, it was the chip after the unplayable. Spieth’s seemed like the bunker shot sent careening by the hole some 28 feet past, according to shotlink. He two-putted from there, and went on to shoot 69, which probably feels a lot to him like my 84 does to me.