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Bob Hope Classic
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 At No. 37, Mike Weir boasts the highest world ranking of any player in the Bob Hope Classic field (PHOTO: Eddie Meeks). In the 50-year history of the Coachella Valley PGA Tour stop, only once has the winning score failed to be at least 10 strokes below par (in 1964, American Tommy Jacobs won with an absurd total of 7-under par). Since 2001, the winning score has broken the 30-under-par barrier on five occasions, and the only time the victorious tally dipped below 25-under in that stretch was when Poway native Charley Hoffman posted 17-under par amid difficult weather conditions in 2007. Rain is forecasted for Thursday and Friday in the Coachella Valley, but don’t count on moist conditions hindering a birdie barrage. Golf balls won’t roll as far on soft fairways, but they will stop more quickly on the greens and still enable competitors to hunt down flagsticks with regularity. When trying to figure out a winner, don’t look too hard at international players — only three non-Americans have ever won the Hope (Aussie Bruce Devlin in 1970, Swede Jesper Parnevk in 1999 and Canadian Mike Weir in 2003). The tournament has seen an eclectic mix of victors over the years, with legends (Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Billy Casper), major champions (Fred Couples, David Duval and Tom Kite to name only a few), Southern Californian natives (Phil Mickelson, Craig Stadler, Corey Pavin and Hoffman) and solid, yet less-heralded Tour veterans (Joe Durant and D.J. Trahan). It’s tough to pick a theme, but here are 10 players I think can come out on top. Mike Weir. On paper, Weir might be the odds-on-favorite to win this event since he boasts the highest world ranking of any competitor (37) and has won the event before. Charley Hoffman. The 2007 Hope champion, always one of the longest players in any field, must be considered at tournaments like the Hope since benign course setups (i.e. not much rough) won’t make him think about leaving driver in the bag in order to find the fairway. Pat Perez. Perez would join elite company if he’s able to defend his Hope crown (Johnny Miller, who won in 1975 and 1976, is the only player who’s ever successfully repeated as champion), and although the former San Diego resident has said he’s having some trouble adjusting to the new groove rules on the PGA Tour, the Hope is an ideal venue for him to work out the kinks. John Merrick. The man who Perez outlasted last year will be back looking for redemption. Merrick, a Long Beach native, has the length to attack any layout and is prone to hot streaks with his putter, a tendency he demonstrated last year when he didn’t shoot a round higher than 68. Bubba Watson. Watson’s prodigious length hasn’t netted him any PGA Tour wins yet, but the 31-year-old was a title contender last year before a final-round 75 sent him plummeting down the leaderboard. Justin Leonard. One of the PGA Tour’s steadiest players and best putters has to be looking forward to rolling his rock on the smooth desert greens — at last week’s Sony Open, he sluggishly averaged 31.5 putts per round through 36 holes and missed the cut. Matt Kuchar. Prior to missing the cut at the Sony, Kuchar had notched top-20 finishes in his last six official events, including a win at the 2009 Turning Stone Resort Championship and a third-place showing at this year’s winners-only SBS Championship. Charles Howell III. Howell hasn’t played in the Hope since 2007. He is coming off of a tie for fifth at the Sony, a finish that could have been better if not an opening-round 73 (he closed 66-66-64). Tim Clark. The prohibitive Best Player Without a PGA Tour win will try his luck in the Coachella Valley, where he tied for second in 2005 and tied for fifth last year. Chad Campbell. Perpetually solid and underrated, Campbell hit the green in regulation almost 70 percent of the time last year and won the Hope in 2006. If he putts well, as he did last week when he tied for eighth at the Sony Open, watch out. |
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