After an eventful week in golf both on and off the Tour, we’re back this week for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Sure we might all be waiting for the schedule to pick up again so we’re not forced to watch a bunch of randos compete every week, but PGA Tour golf is PGA Tour golf.

And in honor of Charley Hoffman finally getting another W last week after seeming to always play like trash on Sunday, I’m going with this song from the musical Hamilton. I’m assuming Hoffman had this in his head the entire final round while trying to not throw away both his shot at winning, and whatever shot he was about to hit during the round.

 

The Course

What up Pete Dye! After a week off, the PGA Tour returns to a Pete Dye designed course, TPC Louisiana (pronounced Lou-siana). The course is a 7,425 yard par 72 that’s flat as the surrounding countryside, pretty unremarkable as far as PGA Tour courses go, and also plays as one of the easiest on Tour! That’s about all worth mentioning about the course this week.

Sponsors that have no business sponsoring a golf tournament in this location

Valero sponsoring a tournament in Texas makes sense. Zurich, a company named after that city in Switzerland, sponsoring a tournament in Louisiana, does not make sense. This is actually probably a little worse than the Royal Bank of Canada sponsoring a tournament in South Carolina. I feel like this might require future post listing the most bizarre sponsorships on Tour. Zurich will definitely be up at the top.

Tiger Woods

Haven’t had a Tiger mention in these previews for a while, and considering how much he was in the news last week, I’m sure he’ll be mentioned constantly. So if you haven’t been following all the TDubs news, here’s what you need to know.

1. There was an article on ESPN posted about him about how he’s kind of a weird dude, and that once his dad died, he kind of went off the deep end by participating in a bunch military exercises with Navy Seals. My reaction to it was that first, we’re all weird, and second, who cares what his hobbies are. He can do whatever he wants. Nonetheless, people made a big deal out of it.
2. That very same day the ESPN article came out, Tiger showed up at this junior golf tournament and ran clinic on the range, hitting a bunch of balls and showing the world that he’s not confined to a bed anymore after his back surgery.
3. Monday this week, he signed up to play in the US Open this year at Oakmont. While this means nothing about whether he’ll play (registering merely tells the USGA to save him a spot in the tournament), it’s a good indication.
4. He played a round at his newly opened course he designed, Bluejack National. And his swing kind of looks like crap. But hey, he’s hitting the ball! Which is more than any Tiger fan boy like myself can hope for.

Jason Day

Like these past few weeks, the Zurich is a filler event. Seems a little like the fall series, sure they’re PGA Tour events, but you’re really just waiting for the important ones to come. But the number one player in the world, Jason Day, is in the field this week! How can it be a filler event if the supposed best player in the world is in the field?!?

Well it can, because besides him, Richard Fowler (fresh off of spring break), and Justin Rose, there isn’t too much top talent down on the bayou.

Bayou

I just used the word “bayou” and then realized I don’t actually know what that is. I feel like I need to research and explain it so everyone out there knows what it is, and can sound intelligent. Wikipedia time!

A bayou is a Franco-English term used in the United States for a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area, and can refer either to an extremely slow-moving stream or river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), or to a marshy lake or wetland.

So basically it’s a marsh. That’s a little underwhelming.

Dawie van der Walt and Mike Weir

So a couple weeks ago at the RBC Heritage, Mike Weir, who is terrible now and hasn’t made a cut in a solid 2 years, was playing on sponsor’s exemption because he’s a part of #TeamRBC. He goes as shoots an opening round 78 and withdraws. Meanwhile, Dawie van der Walt, who is in his 30s, playing his first season on the PGA Tour, and didn’t get to play that week because he was an alternate, spouted off on twitter about how Mike Weir shouldn’t be playing because he’s taking the spot of someone like him who can actually play. The hashtag, #hangitupmike was also employed.

I’m on team Mike Weir here. Nobody cares about Dawie van der Walt, and people actually know who Mike Weir is. After the Masters which he gets to play for life, and the RBC Heritage where his sponsorship probably required him to play, I figured he was done for a while / forever. But turns out Mike Weir is still planning on playing PGA Tour events and is in the field this week! As is Dawie van der Walt! I know you all are like me in hoping they get paired together, both shoot 80, and then withdraw after 1 round. That would be a perfect ending.