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.
Monday, February 15, 2010
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.
Introduction
This blog is dedicated to the travels of two professional golfers, Omar Uresti and Jeff Brehaut. Uresti and Brehaut symbolize the epitome of what it means to be a "journeyman" in the athletic sense of the word. Neither player has seen much success in terms of victory on the PGA Tour, the grandest stage of them all. Each player has won on the Nationwide Tour, the triple-A of golf; however, for a career to be considered fully complete for someone who has made a lifetime out of the game of golf, a PGA Tour victory is essential. This blog takes the position of a FAN of Brehaut and Uresti, rooting for each of them to break through and make their career complete. This 2010 season, Uresti has a leg up on Brehaut. Omar is exempt on the PGA Tour this season, while Brehaut will be doing time on the Nationwide Tour, looking for three victories that would send him to the big leagues.
We hope to communicate in the form of interview with Jeff and Omar throughout the season to acquire some of their perspectives on the journey, as after all, that's what it is: a journey. Both players have had some success already this year, seeing a top-10 finish on their respective tour. However, there is a long way to go if the goal is to be accomplished.
Best of luck, guys. We will be watching. Go play some golf.
We hope to communicate in the form of interview with Jeff and Omar throughout the season to acquire some of their perspectives on the journey, as after all, that's what it is: a journey. Both players have had some success already this year, seeing a top-10 finish on their respective tour. However, there is a long way to go if the goal is to be accomplished.
Best of luck, guys. We will be watching. Go play some golf.
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