By Jim O'Shea
“Wow!” This was the expression that was
swirling in my mind last Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday, but for completely
different reasons.
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| (Photo/Ross Kinnaird) |
On Wednesday, I was contemplating
finally being able to see Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, and Phil Mickelson tee it
up in 2013. These are arguably golf’s biggest stars and they shared the same
weekend together, although only one played on the weekend. These three have
combined for 20 majors and 159 wins around the world. This is exactly why I
couldn’t wait to see all three begin their 2013 journey.
But, it didn’t go according to plan as
both Rory and Tiger missed the cut at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
Rory couldn’t find his groove from the very beginning as he shot back-to-back
75’s. Tiger, on the other hand, was still in contention after the first round
when he was even-par but only five strokes behind the leader. He continued to
play pretty average golf in the second round as he finished with a one-over 73.
The cut line was two-over so Tiger made the cut, right? Well, he did before a
rules referee informed him of a two-stroke penalty incurred on him because of
wrongly taking a free drop. At least Rory and Tiger could enjoy the beautiful
Abu Dhabi.
So it didn’t work out for Rory and
Tiger, but how about Phil?
Well, he couldn’t enjoy Abu Dhabi
because he played in California at the Humana Challenge. But on the course, his
play wasn’t much better than Rory’s or Tiger’s. Like Tiger, Phil shot a first-round
72, which was one of only two even or over-par first rounds in the final top
55. From the first round on, Phil played much better, with no round over 67.
But a T37 finish isn’t what Phil wanted coming in, especially when that means
you finished eight strokes behind the champion.
Rory, Tiger, Phil. MC, MC, T37. Anyone
see that coming because I surely didn’t. Hopefully Tiger and Phil can make me
say “Wow!” this Sunday for a different reason as both compete in the Farmers
Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, CA.
