IS FAST PLAY INCOMPATIBLE with the modern tour player and big-money tournament golf? Apparently not.I just read in Brian Wacker’s Monday Backspin column that Anthony Kim and Jeff Overton flew around the Blue Monster last weekend. Maybe they stole carts from the Champions Tour because they really got around in a hurry.
Admittedly, both Kim and Overton weren’t anywhere close to being in contention at the WGC-Cadillac Championship. Kim opened with a ghastly 80, followed by a 74. Overton shot 75 and 77 in the first two rounds.
But here’s where it gets interesting. Playing at warp speed (at least by PGA Tour standards), both players actually shot lower scores on the weekend.
How fast did they go? The pair clocked a brisk 2 hours and 51 minutes in Saturday’s third round. Kim carded a 68, which is pretty impressive. Overton had a semi-respectable 73.
They were just getting started. On Sunday, they left skid marks at Doral.
AK fired an even-par 72 for a 6-over total of 294. Overton posted another 73 for a 10-over total of 298. Unfortunately, Kim and Overton finished 60th and 66th (which was dead last), respectively. But they didn’t agonize over yardages. They didn’t count blades of Bermuda. They didn’t plumb bob. They didn’t ask for a ruling and chat with an official for 15 minutes. I seriously doubt if they even stepped into a porta-potty.
No, they played their final round in a little more than two hours. TWO HOURS. I don’t care who you are, that’s fast. Some people have never played nine holes in two hours.
Now they need to shoot lower scores. Kim, for example, is 14 over in his last three stroke-play tournaments. That’s not good.
−The Armchair Golfer
(Photo credit: Global Voyager, Flickr, Creative Commons license)
