Southern California's No. 1 Golf Source
SITE
SEARCH
GOLF RESOURCE GUIDE:
Inside the Ropes
|
||||
|
This list of 10 prospective West Coast Swing stars includes major champions, young hotshots and local products thirsting for PGA Tour victory No. 1. It would be more intriguing if Tiger Woods was in the mix, but this figures to be the first time he’ll miss the swing through our part of the country. Oh well. He’ll be back soon enough, and we should savor his amazing accomplishments that much more when he returns. But for now, there are still tournaments to be won, and lots of capable golfers to win them. The Horses Phil Mickelson. The San Diego resident has won a West Coast Swing event in all but two years this decade. Mickelson, whose three Buick titles trail only Woods, returns to Torrey Pines as the favorite. Driving accuracy was an issue — he hit roughly 55 percent of the fairways last year — but so was putting, as Mickelson was 118th in converting putts between 10 and 15 feet. Prior to competing in the Skins Game at Indian Wells, he said: “If I can get this putter fixed, I think ’09’s going to be a great year.” I think he’ll fix it enough to win at least once on the West Coast Swing. Anthony Kim. In less than a year, Kim has gone from being considered the Next Tiger to a player with a shot to dethrone Woods from his No. 1 ranking. Chill a bit on that, but in the meantime, Kim, 23, could win for the first time in his native Southern California following a pair of victories on the East Coast last season. He had a bumpy end of ’08 that included a sprained ankle, a broken jaw from horseback riding and a DQ from the HSBC Champions in China, but a return to his old stomping grounds at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, where he tied for third last year, should restore some normalcy. Camilo Villegas. In the past two years, Villegas has played in 10 PGA Tour events in August and September — a pair of PGA Championships and eight FedEx Cup events — and notched two victories and five top-10 finishes. But he has been less successful in January and February. His hot finish to ’08 signals the best is yet to come, and he has the all-around game to contend in all conditions. Vijay Singh. The winner of last month’s Chevron World Challenge is the most underrated golfer of the Woods era. Only six players have won at least nine times in the same season, and Singh, a World Golf Hall of Fame member, is one of them. The Big Fijian has five career victories in West Coast Swing events, and his title at Sherwood last month suggests he could add to that total early in 2009. As long as Singh’s putter is working, the rest of his game will take care of itself. Sergio Garcia. The Spaniard won’t be able to get the major monkey off his back during the West Coast Swing, but he can generate momentum on American soil — if he wants to. Excluding the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, Garcia usually doesn’t load up his schedule with early PGA Tour events, opting instead for European Tour events in the Middle East. But as the highest-ranked player in the world who’s able to swing a club, he might be looking to add victories at Torrey Pines and Riviera to his résumé. The Hopefuls John Mallinger and John Merrick. The two Long Beach residents have the talent to record multiple PGA Tour victories. While Mallinger was one of the circuit’s best putters in 2008, he struggled to find consistency tee to green. The opposite can be said of Merrick, who finished sixth in ballstriking but was streaky on the greens. Both students of Virginia Country Club PGA professional Jamie Mulligan, they have shown the ability to compete in their two full years on Tour — the next step could easily come at an event near home. Jeff Quinney. The 2000 U.S. Amateur champion had four consecutive top 10s on the West Coast Swing in 2007. Last year, he played his way into the final group at the Northern Trust Open off the strength of a hole-in-one on the famous par-3 sixth during the third round. The Oregon native has said he feels more comfortable at tracks close to home, so don’t be surprised to see him pick up victory No. 1 early in ’09. Charlie Wi. Say what you want about stack-and-tilt, but it’s helped the North Hills resident become a consistent contender on the PGA Tour. In 2008, Wi finished 34th in ballstriking and had 11 top-25 finishes, including a tie for ninth at the PGA Championship and a tie for second at the Valero Texas Open. He’s flown under the radar on his way to million-dollar seasons in ’07 and ’08, but he has what it takes to win. Pat Perez. Talk about knocking on the door. The former San Diego resident has just about worn the door out during his seven years on Tour. Last year was his most consistent, as he missed only six cuts in 27 events and registered 12 top-25 finishes. For what it’s worth, he reigned supreme in the all-around ranking. That’s not as sweet as a victory, but it could give him momentum for the new season. Eli Miller also writes a weekly blog at southlandgolfmagazine.com. Reach him at emiller@churmmedia.com. |
||||
RSS SubscribeReaders Feedback:
Hey, I thought I read that Vijay was going to have knew surgery and wouldn't be playing the West Coast Swing. Is that correct?
Thanks,
Tom O
| Comment at 1/9/2009 |
That's way more clever than I was exeptcing. Thanks!
| Comment at 5/24/2011 |
KKodlK , [url=http://pkwvslyscrzx.com/]pkwvslyscrzx[/url], [link=http://ctedwasozhzx.com/]ctedwasozhzx[/link], http://dvawvrfbseiu.com/
| Comment at 5/26/2011 |
dBku9u , [url=http://qzdmlzdcubzi.com/]qzdmlzdcubzi[/url], [link=http://qgzmxdashwnz.com/]qgzmxdashwnz[/link], http://eywskmpgfmxa.com/
| Comment at 5/31/2011 |
