THERE are many things I enjoy about golf. The furious upper-cut fist-pump of a rampant Tiger Woods. The brisk bouncing stride of Rory McIlroy when he’s feeling chipper. Open galleries stretched out across dusty linksland in high summer. The mournful sigh of distant freight trains that echo around Amen Corner at the Masters. The way a professional golfer acknowledges the polite applause of one or two spectators around a green with a little flap of the hand and that it reminds me of folk thanking a driver for stopping at a zebra crossing.
Among my absolute favourite, however, might be the sports capacity, like life, to defy the best efforts of meddling perfectionists, those bossy boots who seek to limit the unexpected and force the issue like the planners of new towns.
Take LIV Golf, for example, a venture that is desperate to generate excitement and volatility with its crazy 54-hole shotgun-start format. There have been eight individual LIV events now and guess what? All eight have been won by golfers in the top three and within two shots of the lead with 18 holes to play. Thrilling stuff.
And what about the PGA Tour in 2023? There has, admittedly been some very fine golf on offer and the newly boosted “designated” events (the Phoenix Open and Genesis Invitational) were among them, but the best finish and the finest tales? They came in last week’s Honda Classic – an event belittled ahead of the action for having a sub-standard field.
Sunday witnessed a superb head-to-head between Eric Cole, a thirtysomething journeyman with very little top level experience but 50 mini tour victories, and Chris Kirk, a fellow who battled alcohol dependency and depression in 2019 before returning to the PGA Tour. The latter’s victory, and the former’s vibrancy in defeat, will live long in the memory and ought to (but won’t) be a reminder that the best yarns are spun by magic dust rather than investment trusts.
Anyhow, time for more designated action and this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at the Bay Hill Club.
Each Way – Will Zalatoris at 18/1
In a short space of time Will Zalatoris has impressed in many ways and most of them suggest he has a good profile for this week. Let’s start with the course which is often referred to as “major-like” – Zalatoris has finished second three times in the majors over the last two seasons. Course form? He was 10th in the tournament in 2021. Florida form? Two top sixes on the second tier and he’s never missed a cut on the main tour. Form? Fourth last time out at Riviera after his coach noticed his alignment was a little awry.
And then there is the truth that the short holes at Bay Hill are tough, largely because they are the longest on the PGA Tour. It explains why winners here score well on them – or least don’t fritter shots away on them like most of the field. In fact, the last winner to shoot over-par for the week on the par-3s was Tiger Woods in 2013 and between him and Scottie Scheffler last year all eight winners ended the week under-par for them. Zalatoris ranks eighth on tour this year for the short holes having been fourth last year.
He also has good vibes this week as a former Arnold Palmer Scholar at Wake Forest University. “Unfortunately, I never met him,” he said. “But I got a letter from him when I signed with Wake Forest. The personal connection still means a lot to me.”
Each Way – Billy Horschel at 90/1
At first glance the record of Billy Horschel at Bay Hill ahead of last year was nothing to write home about. In fact, he had a best of 13th in nine visits. But that effort had followed another top 20 and he followed it with two efforts in which he spent the first 36 holes in the top 10. Last year he was tied for the 54-hole lead and it was not the first time he has thrived in Florida in recent times – he was also second at the Concession Club in the 2021 Workday Championship. He also ranks 11th for Par-3 scoring this season and carded a fine 65 to share the first round lead last week in the Honda Classic.
Each Way – Keegan Bradley at 60/1
It’s been a fine 2022/23 season for Keegan Bradley, one that has taken in victory in the ZOZO Championship, second in the Farmers Insurance Open, a top five at the Sanderson Farms Championship and another two top 25s. Now he returns to Florida, a state he enjoyed playing in during the early days of his career and he has now started to reproduce that quality in his revival. In the period 2012-14 he was second and third at Bay Hill, landed two top 10s at Doral and three top 12s at PGA National. Now, since the start of 2021, he’s been 11th and 10th back at Bay Hill, second at Innisbrook and fifth at Sawgrass. He’s another playing the par-3s well at the moment and as a former winner of the PGA Championship knows how to dig deep for a score.
