Is it really January? On Sunday morning on the Golf Channel, Tiger Woods was on a crowded leader board fit for a major. Meanwhile on ESPN, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal were slugging it out in a real major, the Australian Open. In the afternoon on CBS, the PGA Tour stop at Torrey Pines featured a train wreck of Jean van de Velde proportions.
The words “Hello friends, Jim Nantz here” never sounded so good.
On the first Sunday since July without NFL football (the Pro Bowl doesn’t count), the stars of golf and tennis aligned to make it a memorable day for summer sports. In January.
Football? We don’t need no stinking football. And here’s what else we didn’t need on this Sunday: the NHL All-Star Game, the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and a stampede of inconsequential basketball games.
Instead it was a day to watch a Rock (Englishman Robert Rock), who won in Abu Dhabi; a Jock (Djokovic), who won in Melbourne; and a Gamecock (Clemson grad Kyle Stanley) who blew a seven-stroke lead on the final 10 holes to lose the Farmers Insurance Open in a playoff to Brandt Snedeker.
Rock, known for never having a bad hair day, withstood tricky winds, a potentially unnerving pairing with Woods and a leader board full of major champions, including Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell and Paul Lawrie.
Rock beat McIlroy by one shot and Woods by two. While he was hitting fairways and greens, Woods was playing from the rough and the sand. Tiger hit two fairways and six greens in regulation. His even-par 72 was testament to his chipping and putting brilliance. Woods saved par nine of the 12 times he missed the green. It was a poor round but overall a positive start to his 2012 season.
In Australia, Djokovich and Nadal played a 5-hour, 53-minute marathon that didn’t end until 1:37 a.m. local time. Tennis fans already are proclaiming it among the greatest matches in history. Yeah, why not?
In California, Stanley’s implosion made for fascinating viewing. On the 72nd hole needing a double-bogey to win, Stanley hit a wedge to the green, but the ball spun back into a water hazard. He then three-putted for a triple-bogey 8 to fall into a playoff with Snedeker.
Two holes later, Snedeker was the winner when Stanley three-putted again.
– Kevin Dunleavy
