Because of all the delays this weekend, it really played havoc with some of our normal features.
IT'S PRETTY INCREDIBLE to think that the guy who is the hottest player on the PGA Tour early in 2011 -- and with two wins in three starts, there really can't be any debate -- had just two top-10s a year ago. But that's exactly the scenario with Mark Wilson, who birdied the second playoff hole against Jason Dufner to win the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
To give the victory some context, During the 2010 PGA Tour season, there were seven players to win at least two tournaments: Jim Furyk, Ernie Els, Bill Haas, Dustin Johnson, Hunter Mahan, Justin Rose, Steve Stricker. Of those players their current world ranking, in order: 10, 11, 46, 14, 21, 31, 8.
Conversely, Mark Wilson ended 2010 ranked 230th in the world; he has now moved up to 51st.
Where it was won: Down to the very end, Wilson had some ticklish moments -- a tough pitch at 17, a tee shot on 18 that looked like it was touch-and-go to clear the water hazard, and solid two-putt par on the first playoff -- but handled them all flawlessly. He then capitalized on the second playoff hole, sticking his approach from 130 yards to under nine feet and then converting the birdie.
Where it was lost: Jason Dufner. It's really hard to rain criticism on a guy who was 18-under through 72 holes after making just two bogeys. But there were still some areas that left something to be desired. Most notably, Dufner had a good chance to win on the first playoff hole -- with a 12-foot putt from the fringe -- but he just didn't put enough pace on it to get it to the hole.
Tommy Gainey: Former Big Break contest Tommy "Two Gloves" Gainey spent much of the weekend in contention and stayed that way into the Monday finish, but he took himself out of contention at 17. He took an aggressive approach to the short par-four, but ended up putting his tee-shot in the water -- though he was teased when it bounced off the hazard marker -- and then compounded the error by leaving his chip short and having it roll back into the hazard. His triple bogey seven took him from one shot back to four back.
Shots of the week
Stat of the week: A couple of interesting ones this week. First, Mark Wilson's iron play was such a factor in his victory. He led the field in greens in regulation at (84.7 per cent) which also helped him play the par-fours at 11-under. Additionally, he needed to post a T6 at Children's Miracle Network Classic in the final tournament of the year just to stay inside the top 125 and keep his exempt status. After that result, his finishes in 2011: 1, T61, 1.
How I did: Geoff Ogilvy, -13. T13
Brian Gay, -12. T18
Rory Sabbatini, -11. T22.
Kevin Na, Cut.
Sean O'Hair, Cut.
Early look at next week:
-Dustin Johnson returns to Pebble Beach.
-A really good field in Dubai
-Who I like at Pebble: D.J. Trahan, Alex Cejka, Pat Perez.
Again, all the delays and change in the schedule really threw this off.
Trunk slammer of the week: Camilo Villegas. How's this for the first month of your season: DQ, Cut, T44, WD. Quite a difference from a year ago when he started the year on the European Tour, but his first four tournaments in 2010: 19, 9, 3, T8. That third place finish was at the Accenture Match Play Championship and then of course in his fifth start, he won the Honda Classic.
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