Monday, April 1, 2013
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Waiting For the Season
It is four weeks into the 2011 PGA Tour season, and sadly Omar and Jeff are nowhere to be seen on the pro golf circuit. Q-School was not kind to the duo; Omar never threatened at final stage, and Jeff couldn't even make it through second stage. The pair is relegated to the Nationwide circuit this year, nothing new to Jeff of course. Omar had a nice run going on the PGA Tour, but after a nice first week he did absolutely nothing on Tour last year.
The duo will be looking to finish inside the top 25 on the Nationwide money list this season, as a top-25 finish guarantees a spot on the PGA Tour in 2012. The pair's experience and wisdom looks to be offset by the trend toward longer courses with shorter rough, as neither Omar or Jeff is a bomber by any stretch of the imagination, so a top-25 result is no easy task. They clearly have the talent, however, so it should be interesting down the stretch. And of course, winning three Nationwide events in one season sends you straight to the big leagues.
The Nationwide season starts on February 24 in Panama.
The duo will be looking to finish inside the top 25 on the Nationwide money list this season, as a top-25 finish guarantees a spot on the PGA Tour in 2012. The pair's experience and wisdom looks to be offset by the trend toward longer courses with shorter rough, as neither Omar or Jeff is a bomber by any stretch of the imagination, so a top-25 result is no easy task. They clearly have the talent, however, so it should be interesting down the stretch. And of course, winning three Nationwide events in one season sends you straight to the big leagues.
The Nationwide season starts on February 24 in Panama.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Waiting and Waiting in Puerto Rico
Omar opened up his first round at the Puerto Rico Open yesterday..finally. Round 1 was essentially washed out on Thursday, with only a few groups making it off the tee, and the round continued on Friday morning..only to be delayed again shortly thereafter, with Omar making a par on his first hole before play was called. Fortunately, the troops got back out on the course again later in the afternoon, where Omar was able to fashion together three birdies, good enough to give him solo fourth place heading into the evening (with only half the field having teed off, however).
As things go, Omar was not able to build momentum from his fine start, as he played his back nine this morning in one over par, finished up with a disappointing bogey on the par-5 18th. Round 2 has gotten underway, and it is looking like Omar will not be teeing off in Round 2 until tomorrow morning. The cut line is floating between even and 1 under, and at minus 2, Omar has a bit of a cushion.
After missing four cuts in a row, he needs to get something going soon, and a made cut here would steady his ship. A solid even par round in Round 2 would probably do it. Why not go lower, though? Conditions tomorrow morning should be ripe for scoring, and we'll see if he can take advantage of them and get in a confidence-boosting round.
As things go, Omar was not able to build momentum from his fine start, as he played his back nine this morning in one over par, finished up with a disappointing bogey on the par-5 18th. Round 2 has gotten underway, and it is looking like Omar will not be teeing off in Round 2 until tomorrow morning. The cut line is floating between even and 1 under, and at minus 2, Omar has a bit of a cushion.
After missing four cuts in a row, he needs to get something going soon, and a made cut here would steady his ship. A solid even par round in Round 2 would probably do it. Why not go lower, though? Conditions tomorrow morning should be ripe for scoring, and we'll see if he can take advantage of them and get in a confidence-boosting round.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Round 1 Wrap-up..Honda and Columbia
It was a tale of two rounds for our troops today, with Omar making it into the PGA Tour field at the Honda Classic and Jeff teeing it up at the Nationwide Tour's first ever event in South America.
Omar faced a tough challenge today, with respect to the field and the course. Heavy winds made the Jack Nicklaus track in southern Florida even more of a challenge than it already was, and the strength of the field is unmatched at most other non-major or WGC events, with four top-10 world ranked players entered. Omar, unfortunately, was not up to the challenge.
Through fourteen holes, Omar held up admirably enough, hanging in there at 2-over par, which would have put him right on the cut line at the end of the day. However, it was not meant to be. A sloppy bogey on 14 led into a tee shot on 15 that would not clear the water hazard. Omar would walk away from the 15th green with a double-bogey 5, and his round of 76 was nothing to write home about. Omar is going to need a round of 2 or 3 under tomorrow if he hopes to make the cut that he so desperately needs to make, having missed his last three cuts. He will have to do it in tougher, windier conditions than he faced this morning. I don't like his chances, but if there's a good time to prove people wrong, it's now. He can't afford a severe slump this early in the season, and a nice round tomorrow to make the cut would do wonders for his confidence. Especially on this course, against this field.
As for Jeff, he held up better against obviously less competition, on the Nationwide Tour. However, a good round of golf is a good round of golf, and many of the Nationwide Tour players could make their fair share of PGA cuts, as Jeff has done in the past. In any case, Brehaut's round of 2-under 69 left him in 16th place, four shots behind the leaders, and comfortably inside the cut line. Coming off a disappointing missed cut last week, his first of the year, Jeff doesn't want to make that a trend. He did that last summer, missing six cuts in a row, and his chances of making the PGA Tour through the Nationwide money list were ended. Jeff played steady golf today, culminating with a satisfying birdie on the par-5 18th, and he will get a morning tee time tomorrow in calmer conditions, most likely.
Things shape up much better for Brehaut than they do for Omar tomorrow, that's for sure.
Omar faced a tough challenge today, with respect to the field and the course. Heavy winds made the Jack Nicklaus track in southern Florida even more of a challenge than it already was, and the strength of the field is unmatched at most other non-major or WGC events, with four top-10 world ranked players entered. Omar, unfortunately, was not up to the challenge.
Through fourteen holes, Omar held up admirably enough, hanging in there at 2-over par, which would have put him right on the cut line at the end of the day. However, it was not meant to be. A sloppy bogey on 14 led into a tee shot on 15 that would not clear the water hazard. Omar would walk away from the 15th green with a double-bogey 5, and his round of 76 was nothing to write home about. Omar is going to need a round of 2 or 3 under tomorrow if he hopes to make the cut that he so desperately needs to make, having missed his last three cuts. He will have to do it in tougher, windier conditions than he faced this morning. I don't like his chances, but if there's a good time to prove people wrong, it's now. He can't afford a severe slump this early in the season, and a nice round tomorrow to make the cut would do wonders for his confidence. Especially on this course, against this field.
As for Jeff, he held up better against obviously less competition, on the Nationwide Tour. However, a good round of golf is a good round of golf, and many of the Nationwide Tour players could make their fair share of PGA cuts, as Jeff has done in the past. In any case, Brehaut's round of 2-under 69 left him in 16th place, four shots behind the leaders, and comfortably inside the cut line. Coming off a disappointing missed cut last week, his first of the year, Jeff doesn't want to make that a trend. He did that last summer, missing six cuts in a row, and his chances of making the PGA Tour through the Nationwide money list were ended. Jeff played steady golf today, culminating with a satisfying birdie on the par-5 18th, and he will get a morning tee time tomorrow in calmer conditions, most likely.
Things shape up much better for Brehaut than they do for Omar tomorrow, that's for sure.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Pebble Wrap-up
Well, Omar never got things going in his quest to make the cut at Pebble Beach, and he walked away from the Monterey Peninsula without a check. This extends his missed-cut streak to two events, and pushing his streak of events without a top-60 finish to three. It is hard to analyze his 2nd-round 66 at Monterey Peninsula or his third-round 75 at Spyglass Hill, as ShotTracker information was not available for either course.
In Omar's 2nd-round 66, he opened admirably, with three birdies in his first 5 holes, and he would ultimately play a solid bogey-free round. This pushed O into the top 50 of the leaderboard, and it appeared that another decent round at Spyglass would ensure a made cut, something along the lines of even par.
However, Spyglass in known for being the toughest course in the Pebble rota, with an abundance of trees and tricky greens, and Omar's third-round 75 exemplified this and sent him packing his bags. Omar ultimately failed to make a birdie in the round until the 9th, his final hole of the day, and by then it was simply too little, too late.
Omar will head to Mexico this week to play in the Mayakoba Classic, an opposite-field event to the Accenture Match Play Championship. With a weaker field, this event should give Omar a chance to make a cut and put his season on the right track. If he can hit fairways and greens, which he can usually do with some form of consistency, a made cut may be in the cards, maybe even a top-25 finish. I predict a finish in the 30th to 40th place range, and if that happens, I think Omar would be satisfied. Check back later this week for updates.
Brehaut is off this week, as the Nationwide Tour is off. Jeff did not receive a sponsor's exemption for Mexico, and this is not a surprise, as he is not exactly a player who would be expected to draw a big crowd. Hopefully he is getting his game ready for whenever he makes his return to the Nationwide Tour, which should be at the tour's next stop later this month.
In Omar's 2nd-round 66, he opened admirably, with three birdies in his first 5 holes, and he would ultimately play a solid bogey-free round. This pushed O into the top 50 of the leaderboard, and it appeared that another decent round at Spyglass would ensure a made cut, something along the lines of even par.
However, Spyglass in known for being the toughest course in the Pebble rota, with an abundance of trees and tricky greens, and Omar's third-round 75 exemplified this and sent him packing his bags. Omar ultimately failed to make a birdie in the round until the 9th, his final hole of the day, and by then it was simply too little, too late.
Omar will head to Mexico this week to play in the Mayakoba Classic, an opposite-field event to the Accenture Match Play Championship. With a weaker field, this event should give Omar a chance to make a cut and put his season on the right track. If he can hit fairways and greens, which he can usually do with some form of consistency, a made cut may be in the cards, maybe even a top-25 finish. I predict a finish in the 30th to 40th place range, and if that happens, I think Omar would be satisfied. Check back later this week for updates.
Brehaut is off this week, as the Nationwide Tour is off. Jeff did not receive a sponsor's exemption for Mexico, and this is not a surprise, as he is not exactly a player who would be expected to draw a big crowd. Hopefully he is getting his game ready for whenever he makes his return to the Nationwide Tour, which should be at the tour's next stop later this month.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Omar Rd 1 Pebble
Omar Uresti came into this week's event at Pebble Beach looking for a turnaround performance of sorts. After a promising T8 at his first event of the year in Hawaii, he struggled to make an impact in his first two mainland events, posting a T62 and a missed cut.
Pebble Beach is a thrill to play for anyone who loves the game of golf, even a tour player. Great moments in the sport have happened at Pebble; Tom Watson's chip on 17, Tiger's 15-shot romp, Miller's final tour win out of nowhere, just to name a few. The blend of seaside beauty and sport history that awaits each member of the 156-man field cannot be matched at most tour stops, as evidenced by the appearance of some Champions Tour players who have moved on with their careers, such as Sandy Lyle and Jerry Pate. For some, Pebble just cannot be passed up.
This week's challenge for Uresti looks to be the need to be handling the pressures of needing to post a solid performance while simultaneously enjoying the surroundings. The event got off to a seemingly solid start for the O-man, with seven straight pars, even though a couple birdie chances were to be had, notably a 9-foot bid on the short par-4 15th. The first mishap of the round would come at the scenic par-3 17th, where Uresti missed the green and then a 12-foot par putt. Par on 18, and O would make the turn at 1-over 37.
An errant drive at the first, through the fairway and into the bunker, led to a bogey, and Omar was not looking to be in great shape, being 2 over par in benign conditions. However, birdies on 2 and 6, offset by a bogey on 5, would keep Omar steady at one over, and a great tee shot on the par-3 seventh would end up less than 2 feet from the hole. The conversion would leave him right where he started the day at even par. Solid pars on 8 and 9, boosted by great iron shots into both greens, would leave Uresti with an even-par 72.
Going into Friday, Omar finds himself two shots outside of the cut line, so he has some work to do. Notable opportunities were missed during the round, especially the aforementioned putt on 15, as well as a 7-foot birdie bid on 3 and a 12-footer on 4. Those putts would have allowed for a sizable gain in momentum going into the last few holes of the round, and although Omar got a few shots back with the birdies on 6 and 7, there was much left on the table. As for round two, Omar will need to be near automatic inside of ten feet, and he must limit his mistakes, if he wishes to sneak back inside the cut line.
Best of luck, Omar.
Pebble Beach is a thrill to play for anyone who loves the game of golf, even a tour player. Great moments in the sport have happened at Pebble; Tom Watson's chip on 17, Tiger's 15-shot romp, Miller's final tour win out of nowhere, just to name a few. The blend of seaside beauty and sport history that awaits each member of the 156-man field cannot be matched at most tour stops, as evidenced by the appearance of some Champions Tour players who have moved on with their careers, such as Sandy Lyle and Jerry Pate. For some, Pebble just cannot be passed up.
This week's challenge for Uresti looks to be the need to be handling the pressures of needing to post a solid performance while simultaneously enjoying the surroundings. The event got off to a seemingly solid start for the O-man, with seven straight pars, even though a couple birdie chances were to be had, notably a 9-foot bid on the short par-4 15th. The first mishap of the round would come at the scenic par-3 17th, where Uresti missed the green and then a 12-foot par putt. Par on 18, and O would make the turn at 1-over 37.
An errant drive at the first, through the fairway and into the bunker, led to a bogey, and Omar was not looking to be in great shape, being 2 over par in benign conditions. However, birdies on 2 and 6, offset by a bogey on 5, would keep Omar steady at one over, and a great tee shot on the par-3 seventh would end up less than 2 feet from the hole. The conversion would leave him right where he started the day at even par. Solid pars on 8 and 9, boosted by great iron shots into both greens, would leave Uresti with an even-par 72.
Going into Friday, Omar finds himself two shots outside of the cut line, so he has some work to do. Notable opportunities were missed during the round, especially the aforementioned putt on 15, as well as a 7-foot birdie bid on 3 and a 12-footer on 4. Those putts would have allowed for a sizable gain in momentum going into the last few holes of the round, and although Omar got a few shots back with the birdies on 6 and 7, there was much left on the table. As for round two, Omar will need to be near automatic inside of ten feet, and he must limit his mistakes, if he wishes to sneak back inside the cut line.
Best of luck, Omar.
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