This article is part of our Weekly PGA Recap series.
On one hand, there wasn't much standing in the way of the golfers at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba. The course was a pitch-and-putt-like 7,000 yards, the weather was benign and the greens were slow. On the other hand, teeing it up in a tropical jungle does present some unique challenges.
Sharing the course with spider monkeys and raccoon-like coati roaming the fairways and even a snake in a bunker, oh my, homo sapien Pat Perez rolled to a two-stroke win over collapsed-yet-again Gary Woodland in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, on Sunday.
It was perhaps the last thing expected from Perez, who won only his second career tournament and it came in just his third start since returning from major surgery on his left shoulder. He turned 40 during his eight-month hiatus from golf.
However, it was completely expected from Woodland, who has made career of blowing 54-holes leads while playing about as well on Sundays as the Cleveland Browns.
My goodness, it's as if someone was blocking the fairway for Woodland:
Or a lot of someones (but they sure are cute):
They're... everywhere. 🙀 https://t.co/JyMGskOc2c
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 11, 2016
This guy, however, is not so cute:
They take the term "hazard" pretty seriously @MayakobaGolf.🐍🐍🐍 pic.twitter.com/x5T5I3J5Jl
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 11, 2016
MONDAY BACKSPIN
Pat Perez
It's hard to
On one hand, there wasn't much standing in the way of the golfers at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba. The course was a pitch-and-putt-like 7,000 yards, the weather was benign and the greens were slow. On the other hand, teeing it up in a tropical jungle does present some unique challenges.
Sharing the course with spider monkeys and raccoon-like coati roaming the fairways and even a snake in a bunker, oh my, homo sapien Pat Perez rolled to a two-stroke win over collapsed-yet-again Gary Woodland in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, on Sunday.
It was perhaps the last thing expected from Perez, who won only his second career tournament and it came in just his third start since returning from major surgery on his left shoulder. He turned 40 during his eight-month hiatus from golf.
However, it was completely expected from Woodland, who has made career of blowing 54-holes leads while playing about as well on Sundays as the Cleveland Browns.
My goodness, it's as if someone was blocking the fairway for Woodland:
Or a lot of someones (but they sure are cute):
They're... everywhere. 🙀 https://t.co/JyMGskOc2c
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 11, 2016
This guy, however, is not so cute:
They take the term "hazard" pretty seriously @MayakobaGolf.🐍🐍🐍 pic.twitter.com/x5T5I3J5Jl
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 11, 2016
MONDAY BACKSPIN
Pat Perez
It's hard to believe Perez is 40 years old. (It's hard to believe someone who has made nearly $20 million in his career isn't considered a top pro golfer.) He came back from surgery with a T33 at the CIMB classic, then followed it up with a T7 in Vegas before this milestone win. His only other victory came at Bay Hill in 2009. Perez has thus fulfilled the conditions of his major medical extension, so there's no concern about him getting enough starts. As gamers know, the Arizona native has traditionally played well on the West Coast swing, and there's no reason to think that won't continue (don't look at last year's results – he was hurt). Perez is not in the field for this week's RSM Classic, the final event before the winter break, so we'll next see him in the Tournament of Champions at Kapalua in January.
Gary Woodland
We won't be seeing Woodland at Kapalua in January. The big hitter was seeking his third career win but crumbed on Sunday yet again. Don't be fooled by the 1-under 70 for a second-place cash. Woodland needed garbage-time birdies on 17 and 18 for his backdoor runner-up. It was his fourth blown 54-hole lead in five tries. We have long chronicled Woodland's poor Sunday play, but as a reminder, these are his tour ranks in final-round scoring average the last six years: 149th in 2017 entering Sunday, 115th in 2016, 94th in 2015, 116th in 2014, 159th in 2013 and 166th in 2012. Woodland is in the mix a lot and has a bunch of top-10s the past three seasons – 13 total. If that's good enough for you, he's certainly a good option. But it's maddening to watch, and count on, someone who consistently underperforms in crunch time.
Russell Knox
Knox finished solo third to give him three top-10s in three starts this season. He's a precision golfer who usually is in the conversation on shorter tracks, and that's what we've seen so far from the Scotsman. Knox isn't playing the RSM, so we'll next see him in January at Kapalua, where he tied for 27th last year. Knox didn't do well on the West Coast swing in 2016, but he had done so in previous years, so here's an early suggestion to keep an open mind on him at the beginning of 2017.
Scott Piercy
Piercy double-bogeyed 18 on Sunday to fall from solo second to T4. He's among the few golfers to have played all five tour events, and he'll be at the RSM to close 2016. Piercy already has three top-10s (tied with Knox and Chris Kirk for most on tour) and four top-25s. It's a stark change in his scheduling from his last year, but it's clearly paying off. We'll see how that plays out later in the season.
Adam Hadwin
It's sometimes hard to gauge results during the fall season. Hadwin tied for 10th at Mayakoba, after a T27 at the Sanderson and a T21 before that at the CIMB. Three good finishes. It could be a case of taking advantage of weaker fields than he'll see in much of 2017. Or it could be a second-year cardholder learning how to get better. Hadwin's approach-the-green numbers aren't great, and as we are learning, those can be the best indicator of a golfer's performance. But the Canadian is a very good putter and that can mask other problems.
Stewart Cink
Cink stepped aside for a good portion of last season after his wife was diagnosed with the breast cancer. But he recently announced on Twitter that he was returning to the tour. Cink tied for 15th last week, and he did the same the week before at Las Vegas. Even before his wife's illness, Cink's game had been in decline. But sometimes athletes – all of us, really – can overcome life's challenges by returning to work. Cink will be at the RSM, where he tied for 63rd last year.
Ian Poulter
While Perez met the conditions of his major medical, there are some real doubts now whether Poulter will. Coming back from a foot injury, the Englishman impressively tied for 17th at the CIMB, but he has missed his last two cuts, including the OHL. Poulter still has seven events remaining to accrue just shy of $250,000 – one good week – but the fields will start to get tougher come January. Maybe that's why he'll be in the RSM, a tournament he's never before played.
Harold Varner III
Varner flamed out with a missed cut at Mayakoba, and that surprised us. He was 3-for-3 on the young season and had tied for fifth there last year. He entered the week first on tour in ball striking heading to a ball striker's course. In other words, that's golf. We are bullish on Varner in 2017. He seems to be a young guy learning how to play, and play better, on the PGA Tour.
Alexander Noren
Noren ended 2014 at No. 653 in the OWGR and last year at No. 96. He should end 2016 in the top-10 in the world. The Swede shot a final-round 63 to blitz the field and win the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa – a European Tour playoff event – for his fourth win since July, moving him to No. 9. All the wins have come abroad, although the first of those victories in the Scottish Open was a world-class field. Outside of a T9 at the 2012 Open Championship, Noren has never had so much as a sniff in the majors – when he even qualified to play. He will be one of the interesting stories in 2017. We've seen Euros thrive in Europe only to crash and burn in PGA Tour events, and we've obviously seen them star in the big tourneys. The jury is still out on Noren, but we should learn a little more this week in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. Noren, Henrik Stenson, Danny Willett and Rory McIlroy are the top contenders for the season-long Race to Dubai title.
