LA QUINTA (Cali). Friday night was the drumbeats began and got louder each day.
After 36 holes, 18 under? For every two holes, one under? This is not professional golf. This is not a challenge for top golfers around the world. This is not the PGA Tour’s intended goal.
These comments are typical of the complaints about the desert’s PGA Tour tournaments over the past 40 years. Because anyone can make a birdie at the desert, the courses are too difficult and players who are the best are not rewarded.
That criticism can be answered best by simply saying, “To each his own.”
The U.S. Open is coming soon if you’re a golf fan who loves to watch the best players fight for bogeys. This week it will be birdies, eagles, perfect greens, great players and great equipment.
Yes, Saturday’s 54-hole tournament scoring record was within reach. Patrick Reed set the record with 27 under in 2014. He opened with three consecutive 63s. He was victorious that year, but he lost with a 71 in round three.
In the desert, scoring has never been easy. Arnold Palmer won the 1960 tournament at 22 under for five rounds. This record stood for 17 more years until Rik Masengale broke 23 under in a wire to wire win in 1977. Slowly, the scoring moved lower until Tom Kite reached 35 under for five rounds of the 1993 tournament.
Golf balls flew further and players were healthier. Players such as Phil Mickelson (twice), John Cook and Pat Perez were winning and reaching 30 under. Players such as Skip Kendell (twice), David Berganio, Mark Calcavecchia and Skip Kendell (twice), were losing and reaching 30 under.
Still low scores despite having fewer rounds
Reed’s score of 28-under in 2014, which was the highest scoring round in the American Express tournament since it moved to 72 holes in 2012 is the standard. This week, however, the record is at serious risk as many golfers have shot poor rounds on all three courses. Are 30 under for four rounds possible? Jon Rahm, a player who talks about going low on the Pete Dye Stadium Course at PGA West, is not the answer.
“At this stage on the PGA Tour, with so many great golfers going on, it’s important to show up on the weekends and shoot low,” Rahm said. His 7-under 65 Saturday at Stadium Course tied him with Davis Thompson, who was 23 under when he entered Sunday’s final round. It’s not hard to see the proof in the fact that I shot 16 under two weeks ago (at the Sentry Tournament of Champions), and won the tournament. You have to keep your foot on the gas and make more birdies.
Rahm is one of the winners at the American Express as well as the pillar of high score, the U.S. Open. It is quite remarkable to see the list of players who have won trophies at both the low-scoring American Express as well as the high-scoring U.S. Open. Not only is there Palmer, but also Jack Nicklaus and Billy Casper, Johnny Millers, Kite, Kite, and Steve Jones.
It is clear that players who are good can win in any situation. They can grind for pars but can also make birdies and other eagles when they are needed. This is what makes them elite players.
It’s almost like baseball. Some fans enjoy a 1-0 pitchers’ duel with strikeouts, weak fly balls, and a preference for pushing forward a run late. Others want grand slams by each team and triples up the opponent, and an 11-10 final score.
It’s still baseball and the American Express is just as good as the U.S. Open. It doesn’t matter if the conditions or the course layout are different. You can still hit the ball and find it again. It’s just a little bit closer to the hole at American Express than at U.S. Open.
This week, the American Express will have around 2,000 birdies and eagles. The tournament’s future slogan should be “Go low, then go lower.”
Larry Bohannan, The Desert Sun’s golf writer, is Larry Bohannan. You can contact him at (760) 778-4633 or at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @larry_bohannan. Support local journalism. Subscribe to The Desert Sun
