Tag: PGA

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GAMING Uncategorized

Rory McIlroy PGA Tour: Still the best PS4 Golf Game – The Gamer in me GL-28

As great today as it was at release

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That could be taken many different ways depending on your preferences.  If a feature packed game filled with multiple game modes, lots of unlockables, and a simulation feel is what you want.  Well then Rory McIlroy PGA tour won’t impress you much.  Since it’s initial release back in the summer of 2015 EA sports hasn’t added anything new to the mix either.  Now if an impressive looking golf game, that feels quite like the difficult challenge of the real thing appeals to you.  Well then you are probably very happy with Rory McIlroy PGA tour.  What it lacks in features, it gains in actual gameplay.  What i enjoy in a Sports Sim falls a little between the two so Rory McIlroy PGA tour is a little hit and miss for me.  Of course this being Masters week I couldn’t resist revisiting this game.

Career Mode

This is generally the mode I’m most interested in when playing Sports Sims.   Designing your golfer is a little disappointing.  Character customization is extremely limited so don’t expect to create a digital version of yourself unless you are the most generic looking person ever.  Instead of working your way up through the ranks on the amateur circuit.  You begin the game by playing in the amateur championship.  Finish high enough and voila!  You’ve earned your tour card.  Obviously you won’t become to attached to your avatar early on.  Fortunately every hole of golf you play earns you experience.  After a few Rounds you will be able to begin to shape your Golfer into the type of Player that you would like to be.   As your career advances you will unlock Player boosts that can dramatically alter your characters skills.  I found this to be one of the most interesting aspects of the game.  Would you like to bomb it like Dustin Johnson, putt like Jordan Spieth, or hit your Irons like Rickie Fowler?  Well select the right combination of boosts and you can mimic the play style of your favourite professional Golfer.  Just don’t expect to break into the Top 10 overnight.  It takes a lot of Rounds to develop into a top contender.  Although playing the tour is a blast.  Quite a few of the most famous courses are missing, and EA wasn’t able to secure the rights to the Masters so that’s left off the schedule as well.  Still I didn’t miss it nearly as much as I thought that I might.

The thrill of the game

What Rory McIlroy PGA tour does best is re-create the excitement of making the cut on Friday, and fighting for the win on Sunday.  Realizing that you are in contention gets your heart pumping.  Every shot becomes your path to victory, or reason for defeat.  You pay extra close attention to the leaderboard.  Recognizable names like Scott, Rose, and Kuchar are right there challenging you for the victory.  You suddenly realize that your two stroke lead might not be enough, and then just as quickly you remember that it’s only a game.  It’s at that moment that I realized that despite it’s shortcomings, Rory McIlroy PGA tour is a fantastic game.  It does the one thing that Sports Sims and all games are meant to do.  Allow you for the short time you spend playing it to feel like the character, not the person controlling it.

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GOLF

Cobe Life’s 5 to watch – Waste Management Phoenix Open

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Matsuyama is just too obvious

Everyone and their pet dog is talking about how Matsuyama is the man to beat.  He’s gone back to back at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.  If he can win this year he will be the only other person to three-peat alongside the great Arnold Palmer.  Obviously he is one of the Players to watch.  Do I think he’ll three-peat?  He’ll no!  He’s not playing at an elite level right now.  He’ll compete, but winning is very unlikely.

True favourites

Rickie Fowler

Lets be honest here.  One of Matsuyama’s wins should really have been Rickie’s.  He imploded coming down the stretch, and eventually lost in a playoff.  The stadium feel is an advantage for Rickie.  He’s so popular among the fans that playing in front of any crowd is like having home field advantage.  Anyone playing alongside him is going to feel like the enemy.  Rickie feeds off the crowds energy and has a number of high finishes here to show for it.  It wouldn’t surprise me if the energy at TPC Scottsdale lifts him to a Championship.

Jon Rahm

Rahm has played some amazing golf recently to where he has moved up to second overall in the PGA rankings.  While the crowd will help Rickie feel like he’s playing in front of a home crowd.  Jon Rahm actually will be.  As a former Arizona State Sun Devil, Rahm will feel right at home at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.  You can be damn sure he’ll come out wearing some Sun Devils garb at some point.  Given his recent performance you can bet good money that the crowd at TPC Scottsdale will be pulling for their local boy to win.  Every Championship means something on the PGA tour, but I’m willing to wager that this one means a little bit more to Jon Rahm.

Potential Surprises

Keegan Bradley

Keegan Bradley comes into this event in great form, and has exactly the kind of game that suits TPC Scottsdale.  He’s impressively accurate with his long clubs, and can bomb it.  There’s a lot of risk/reward plays available at TPC Scottsdale.  Keegan Bradley has the accuracy to effectively minimize the risk, while enjoying the reward.  Given his recent play I would expect him to take a few more chances than usual, and capitalize.  Keegan Bradley has the game to flat out win this event, but I’m expecting a Top 15 finish.

Kevin Streelman

Another Player coming into the Waste Management Phoenix Open in excellent form is Kevin Streelman.  If it wasn’t for the quality of this particular field I would consider Streelman to be a favourite.  His Ball striking has been stellar, and he seems to be playing with a lot of confidence.  I don’t expect him to overpower the TPC Scottsdale course, but where others will take risks, and pay the price.  I expect Streelman to play a very smart, safe game that will keep him in contention.  I just don’t see him being able to turn it up a notch on Sunday against this field.  A top 20 finish isn’t out of the question though.

Interesting story

J.B. Holmes

After his four minutes and ten seconds of club deliberation last Sunday before electing to lay up.  In a situation where he needed an Eagle to make a playoff, and potentially win the tournament.   A significant enough pause during the round that some people believe may have broken Alexander Noren’s concentration, and ultimately cost him the Championship.  After a few days of being slammed on Twitter, and forced to answer for his actions by the Golf media.  How will J.B. Holmes bounce back at the Waste Management Phoenix Open?  This tournament is perfect for his long hitter game.  As evidenced by his two previous victories here.  He’s obviously playing well considering he was an Eagle away from making the playoff last week.  Really he should be considered one of the favourites, but how will the TPC Scottsdale crowd welcome him after last week’s shenanigans?  If you are looking for a sneaky good bet to make in DraftKings, J.B. Holmes might be your guy.

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Categories
GOLF

Why the 2018 Farmers Insurance Open has piqued my interest.

The Tiger Woods Factor

I don’t write many blogs about PGA tour events.  In this case I will make an exception though.  Tiger Woods will be playing his first full field event, and it won’t be at some Player friendly course in the Bahamas.  This is the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.  A course that’s held the U.S. Open.  It won’t have the strongest field, but there will be plenty of talent on display.

The field includes:
-PGA tour Champion Xander Schauffele
-The Players Champion Si Woo Kim
-Last year’s winner and currently world       number 2 Jon Rahm
-Other Top 10 World ranking players in   the field including Rickie Fowler, Hideki   Matsuyama, and Justin Rose.

As well as many other notable PGA tour mainstays.

What’s required from Woods

Winning this event will require some great skill off the Tee because it’s a long course.  It will also require some impressive Ball striking because you don’t want to be in the long grass at Torrey Pines.

Of course the first thing everyone wants to know is how well will Tiger do?  Well I actually have two answers for that question.  Sounds like I’m hedging my bets but really I’m not, and here’s why.  I believe that if Tiger Woods treats this event as just a stepping stone towards readying himself for future events then he will make the cut, and play some attractive golf.  Now if he enters this event with the desire to finish in the Top 10.  I don’t think things will go as smoothly for him.  Torrey Pines will punish Players who miss Fairways, or Greens when trying to push the limits in order to stay close to the leaders.  Tiger has shown that his scrambling is particularly weak, and his misses off the Tee are unpredictable.  If he just focuses on playing clean mistake free golf he’ll find himself in the middle of the pack, but if he pushes it he could potentially put up a number of double or even triple bogeys, and miss the cut.

Players to watch

There are a few Players of particular interest to me at this event.  Five of which I have already discussed in my Cobe Life 2018 Farmers Insurance Open Quick picks on YouTube.  Those five Players should be of particular interest to the FanDuel and DraftKings crowd.

https://youtu.be/XKiTWrpua_A

The next group of Players are interesting to me for different reasons.
JASON DAY
Former World #1 Jason Day had a down year last year.  Health and Family issues contributed to an uncommon lack of focus for Jason Day in 2017.  There is no disputing his talent, and Torrey Pines is the perfect course to gauge where his game is at.

BRANDT SNEDEKER
Another Player coming back from injury with the additional pressure of trying to make a return to the Masters.  Snedeker wouldn’t appear to have the kind of game that Torrey Pines requires, but he has won here twice before.  While everyone else is trying to bomb drives off the Tee.  Sneds will methodically work his way around the course.  If his Putter is on watch out!

CHESSON HADLEY
The 2017 Web.com tour Champion will have the opportunity to showcase his potential in this high quality field.  The Web.com tour has proven to be an excellent preparatory tour for the PGA with past Champions, and qualifiers finding early success when playing on the PGA tour.  I would expect Chesson Hadley to really make a strong showing at Torrey Pines.

ADAM HADWIN
I’m going to be watching Adam Hadwin at every event he enters this year for as long as he remains competitive.  Last year his 59 at the CareerBuilder Challenge kick-started what would become an excellent Season.  Last week his T3 at this year’s CareerBuilder Challenge had that same feeling.  If so, you should expect a number of high finishes to come Hadwin’s way.

ALEXANDER NOREN
Most people are still wondering if there should have been a Presidents Cup tournament last year.  The talent was so lopsided in the Americans favour the outcome was practically predetermined.  There’s already talk of how will the Europeans at this year’s Ryder Cup compete?  Look I think the Americans have the advantage, but don’t think for a second that they will win it easily.  Players that aren’t that well known on this side of the pond like Noren will put up a considerable fight.  If you would like to get a sneak peek of what’s to come.  Watch what Noren is capable of at Torrey Pines.  While you are at it check out Francesco Molinari as well.

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GOLF Uncategorized

Tiger’s return – Starting from Scratch SS-25

What should we expect?

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Tiger Woods is set to Tee off at 12:05pm tomorrow alongside Justin Thomas.  The Hero World Challenge is hosted by Tiger Woods so I wouldn’t expect him to drop out before the event begins.  That’s the only prediction I feel very confident about.  Beyond that, well your guess is as good as mine.  In this post I’ll make a number of bold predictions. Some of them will be positive in nature, but there will be a few negative.  Lets hope the positive predictions come true.  A healthy competitive Tiger Woods can only be good for Golf.

Will he complete all four Rounds?

It appears to me, and from the accounts of others that Tiger Woods is in better shape entering this tournament than he was last year.  He completed all four Rounds last year.  Even though it was obvious at times that he was playing through a fair amount of physical discomfort.  Barring a major physical injury during the event.  I expect Tiger Woods to play all four Rounds of the Hero World Challenge.

Can he finish under par?

Something a lot of people aren’t aware of is that Tiger Woods finished last year’s Hero World Challenge with 24 Birdies.  The most Birdies of anyone in the field.  Despite that he only finished the tournament 4 under par.  I would expect Tiger to improve on last year’s performance.  So yes I expect Tiger Woods to finish under par.

Can he finish in the Top 10 by score?

Here’s where things get far more difficult to predict.  Last year Tiger Woods would have to have shot an 8 under par to have tied Patrick Reed for 10th place.  Four strokes better than he finished.  Now I’ve already predicted that Tiger Woods will finish better than last year.  So do I think that he can finish in tenth position by score?  No I don’t.  It’s not that I don’t think he can shoot 8 under par.  I have a feeling that the scores will be a little better this year. I don’t think 8 under par will be good enough for 10th.  My prediction is that Tiger Woods will finish the tournament at 8 under par.  How about that for a bold prediction.

Will he keep pace with Justin Thomas?

Talk about a tall order.  2017 has been Justin Thomas’s year.  FedEx Cup Champion, PGA Tour Player of the year, and the PGA Championship winner is on a roll.   Seems almost cruel to Tiger Woods to pair them up on day one.  The truth is that it could be much worse.  Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Hideki Matsuyama, and Kevin Kisner could all be potentially worse Players to tee off with.  Justin Thomas has a tendency to go for it.  That type of play can lead to poor positions, and relying on your scrambling ability.  Something I expect Tiger will have to do as well.  Tiger Woods also has a total look of Focus while playing.  Something that seems to have the ability to rattle other Players.  It’s happened far too many times to be a total fluke.  Tiger’s playing partners tend to have there worst Rounds.  Don’t be surprised if Justin Thomas isn’t on the first page of the Leaderboard at days end tomorrow.  The question is will Tiger Woods have an off day as well?  I expect Tiger to be within two strokes of Justin Thomas.  It’s even possible that he could be two strokes better.

Looking ahead

So my predictions for the Hero World Challenge are mostly positive.  I’m hoping that this event is just the beginning for Tiger Woods this Season.  Now what I hope, and what I expect are two different things.  I don’t expect Tiger to be around for the entire Season.  I think that he will withdraw, or miss the cut in more tournaments than the number of tournaments he finishes.  I only expect him to play in one Major this Season.  That would be the Masters.  These are my predictions.  I really hope that I am wrong.

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GOLF Uncategorized

PGA Championship Starting from Scratch SS-14

A marked improvement

I’m just going to come right out and say it.  Watching Golf on TV isn’t the most exciting thing that you can do.  Even if you are a fanatic like me.  Most PGA Tour events are about as exciting as The Antique Roadshow.  They have their moments, but most of the time it’s just more of the same.  The commentary doesn’t help either.  Nothing like stating the obvious 90% of the time.  God forbid if it’s overcast.  Even the network camera men have a difficult time locating where balls landed.  Good luck with figuring it out from home.  Now with all that having been said.  I do get a little excited for the Majors.

My four Majors in order from my most favourite to the least is The Masters, The Open, The U.S. Open, and then the PGA Championship.  Although it isn’t a Major I actually like The Players Championship more than the U.S. Open, and the PGA.  Why so little love for the PGA you wonder.  Well traditionally it’s played on the easiest course of the bunch.  I prefer seeing the top Golfers tested.  The other three Majors are filled with tradition, and a substantial amount of reverence.  The PGA Championship just feels a bit plastic to me.  It’s the last Major of the Season, so fans of the sport have witnessed a fair amount of drama in previous events by then.  Great shots begin to feel a bit pedestrian when you’ve already seen them achieved numerous times.

Well I’m watching the final round of the PGA Championship while writing this, and it’s more than grabbed my attention.  First of all, the changes that have been made to Quail Hollow in preparation for this event are stellar.  They took what was once a course that could be dominated by brute force long hitters.  They’ve turned it into a course that rewards precise Tee shots, and calculated risk, over basic long driving.  Any mistake made on this course can punish even the best scramblers.  I’ve complained that the PGA is far too easy at times.  Well it’s Sunday and the final group has just begun the back nine.  Currently five Players are tied for the lead at only 7 under par.  With the most difficult section of the course still to come.  This is anyone’s PGA Championship to win.  Another considerate addition for us watching at home is the addition of shot tracer technology when Players Tee off.  Actually getting to see how each Player shapes their shot.  It adds an element that was sorely missing from most PGA Tour broadcasts.  Not only do you get to see the end result of each Tee shot.  You begin to understand why each Player approaches each shot the way they do.

So only the final group is left on the course.  Justin Thomas out paced the field and has a 2 shot lead.  Only Kisner can catch him, but after missing his Birdie putt on 17 it seems very unlikely.  It was on the tenth Hole when I realized Thomas was going to win it.  Call it fate, luck, or divine intervention.  It began with an errant Tee shot.  It looked like he might have caught it out of the heel.  He hit a massive Draw heading way left of the Fairway.  What was likely to take Birdie, or maybe even Par out of the equation turned into a great Drive when his ball ricocheted off a tree, and landed in the Fairway.  His approach shot to the Green went long.  Still it left him with a relatively easy chip to get up and down for Birdie.  What should have been an easy Chip came out soft from the Bermuda rough, and left a tricky 8 footer.  Thomas’ Putt literally stopped on the left edge of the cup.  How it didn’t go in amazed everyone.  Thomas took the full 10 seconds to give it a chance to drop.  In the tenth second it did!

From that moment on Thomas played like a man destined to win, and win he did.

Your 2017 PGA Champion is Justin Thomas!