Results

Summary

Jimmy Walker triumphantly strided shakily stumbled to his third win of the 2013-14 season, outlasting Dustin Johnson, and perennial contender here, Jim Renner. A six shot lead when he left the 11th green shrunk minute by minute, but he held off the late charges by a single shot.

What We Learned

  • Jimmy Walker becomes the first human (Tiger doesn’t count) to win 3 events in 8 starts since Vijay Singh won 3 events in 5 starts in the fall of 2008 on his way to the FedEx Cup title. Before he won the Sony, we predicted that Walker would be on the Ryder Cup team. Now that he’s won three events, he’s basically a lock, barring injury. I’ve got no problem with it. He’s this year’s Brandt Snedeker.
  • Three beautiful courses, and still just an awful tournament. At least from a television standpoint, it looks awful. 156 players plus 156 amateurs sprawled out between three courses, and coverage teams that think for some reason we tuned in to the coverage for interviews with the lead of NCIS: LA. If you’ve got big personalities that are entertaining, then by all means, do a few minutes with them (while showing actual golf shots). But there is no Bill Murray, there’s no Bob Hope, there is no must-see-TV comedian. Twitter blew up on Saturday trying to figure out if they were still playing the pro tournament.
  • Exhibit A of what the players think of this event:

https://twitter.com/JohnPetersonLSU/status/432549343346700288

  • The final round went an HOUR over the CBS coverage window. There were no weather delays! Pathetic pace of play is a huge issue on tour. I know this event will never go away from the pro-am format, but can we please have Sunday be pros only? Why can’t they wrap up the amateur portion of the event Saturday?
  • Team NLU was ecstatic to see David Duval on the leaderboard through Saturday. Unfortunately a 6-6-6 to open his back nine on Saturday took him out of contention, but it’s nice to know that he can put it together for a significant part of a weekend.
  • Great showing from our boy Victor Dubuisson, finishing T13. We’re going to pull an “I told you so” with him soon enough.
  • We’re also ecstatic about yet another top 10 for Pat Perez, which is his 3rd of the year (on top of a T11 at the Waste Management). Guy is ballin out hard.
  • D.A. Points got disqualified for using a spongy practice aid. More like D.Q. Points AMIRITE!?!?
  • Neil and Colonel Bare had a blast on our first official day as media members. Peep their recap of the Saturday action here.
  • Tweet of the week goes out to @ClubProGuy:
I love seeing the amateur leaderboard at Pebble Beach, like I give a shit about which billionaire is the biggest sand bagger @PGATOUR



— Club Pro Guy (@ClubProGuy) February 7, 2014

How Our Picks Fared

  • Jimmy Walker – WINNER
  • Dustin Johnson – T2
  • Hunter Mahan – 6th
  • Richard H. Lee – T10 (imploded back 9 Sunday)
  • Patrick Reed – T13
  • Kevin Stadler – T45 (Was leading Friday afternoon!)
  • Aaron Baddeley – T56 (Brutal 78 on Sunday)
  • Jason Day – MC
  • Spencer Levin – MC
  • Charlie Wi – MC

This marks the second time we’ve correctly picked Jimmy as a winner (Sony Open). Great week for us in picks, rebounding from a brutal week last week. We were looking to sweep the top 4 until Jim Renner went nuts, and Dick Lee and Mahan lit themselves on fire coming in. How is this prediction looking? (Made BEFORE he won the Sony)

Harris English and Jimmy Walker are playing together today. Would not be shocked to see them as teammates on the Ryder Cup team in September



— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) January 11, 2014

Oil Spill of the Week (Presented by BP)

DLIII bled all over Pebble Beach on Saturday on his way to an 81. The conditions were brutal, so we want to give him a pass, but we’re dying to know how he went 37 yards long from 63 yards out. Blade city?

NLU Shot Tracker of the Week

You’ll need to read our story from Saturday to really understand this call. But in summary, we gave Svoboda a shout out on the 18th hole, and told him not to lay up. He responded with a “Yeah sure, I guess I’ll go for it.” Even though you came up 40 yards short, we salute you, Andrew.

Looking Ahead:

Next week is the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club in (the best city name the United States) Pacific Palisades. This event marks another turning point in the PGA Tour season. No more pro-ams, and no more course shuffling. All 72 holes held at the Riv, where you’ll actually see more celebrities on the names in the locker room than you saw this week at the AT&T Pro-Am. Here’s how the West Coast Swing has shaped up so far: