Underdog Golf Blog

This weekend I got to attend my first ever live PGA Tournament. Living in San Diego, CA, I am lucky enough to have an annual event hosted at Torrey Pines 10 minutes away from my house. I didn’t really know what to expect when I got there as I had heard mixed reviews about attending these tournaments live.
People had told me that I wouldn’t be able to see anything and it’s better to watch from home, yet others told me there was nothing like it. I have to say I agree with the positive reviews as I had a blast and loved every second of it. It also didn’t hurt that it came down to a 2 hole playoff between Brandt Snedeker and Kyle Stanley.

I attended the Farmer’s Insurance Open on Sunday, the final day of play. Kyle Stanley had a commanding lead over the field and through the entire round it looked like he had a victory all but locked up. On the par 5 18th hole still maintaining a 3 shot lead over Brandt Snedeker, Stanley put his 3rd shot into the water after hitting the green and the spin on the ball causing it to roll back into the hazard. No worries, he still had three shots to put it in the hole for the win. This wasn’t the case as he eventually three putt and sent it into a play off.

I was able to make my national TV debut at this point when they were choosing to see who would tee off first to start the playoff. That’s me below with the white hat next to my buddy Jason in the blue and his girlfriend Alex in the black. I took this pic while watching the DVR’d replay of the tournament on Golf Channel. I’ve made it public I’m not currently looking for an agent, but I’m still open to accepting calls for other national tv spots and feature films.
 

 

On the second playoff hole, after both golfers birdied the first, Snedeker had an amazing up and down for par from behind the green and Stanley missed a 5-6’ putt for par ending his hopes for his first PGA tour victory.

My hat goes off to Kyle Stanley as I’m pretty sure at least 90% of the crowd was rooting him on. I don’t know much about him but from what I saw he’s a pretty stand up guy. While walking from the 10th green to 11th tee box there was a young boy standing there waving to him. Kyle had the good nature to toss him a golf ball and the kid’s face lit up with a grin stretched ear to ear. I thought that was very cool of him as he could have easily just walked by without even acknowledging the little guy.

It was great seeing these pros play the game. Some of the shots they hit were absolutely amazing. Each time one of them would pull one off it wouldn’t even phase them, just another day in the life of a pro golfer. I was amazed at some of the shots they missed too. You think these guys are untouchable but every so often you’d see someone miss an easy three foot putt, causing you to realize these guys are just like everyone else. They just happen to be really good at an amazing game and make a ton of loot playing it.

All in all my first PGA event experience was a great one and I can’t wait to attend my next tournament. I’m thinking next year the Waste Management Open in AZ might need to happen. That 16th hole looks awesome to watch and I hear it’s a wild time.