Mid-Torrey

I've seen exactly none of the festivities from Torrey, which shan't constrain me in the slightest from opining upon it:

• From the "I told you so" files, the first round leaderboard was prototypical in that of the 16 low scores, exactly one came on the South Course, Pat Perez's strong 5-under 67.   As for Stewart Cink's 8-under on the North, I'll just go for the cheap shot and note that he certainly didn't have a bad hair day:

Here at UL, when we find something funny we shamelessly milk it to death.

• Of course, once they finish 36 the course disparity becomes moot, and we'll not see the North Course again until next year.  Pat Perez, losing the script, followed his exceptional 67 on the South with a 3-over effective par 71 on the North.  Go figure.

• Perez is a nice story, given his time picking balls on the Torrey range.  Also a nice story because he once beat Tiger in the Junior Worlds at Torrey, what he calls "the best day of my life."  One hopes the word golf belongs in the prior sentence....

• Seems we can stop worrying about a sophomore slump for Jordan Spieth.  He backed up his strong second place finish at Kapalua with the mid-pole lead this week (paired with Tiger for the first 36), after a 9-under 63 on the North on Friday (including 17 GIR's).  I'm old enough to remember when guys didn't throw 63's in Tiger's face, but these kids today.... no respect for their elders.

• And speaking of elders....er...Eldrick, whither the Striped One.  Nine strokes behind Spieth or, more tellingly, a mere three strokes clear of a trunk slammer on a course he owns without a mortgage.  Hard to know what, if anything, this tells us about 2014, but curious all the same. 

• Most curious fact from Tigerville - not a single birdie on a Par 5 over 36 holes.  And those four Par 5's on the North are little more than longish Par 4's in drag.  

• Has anyone ever heard of Jim Herman?  Put your hand down Mrs. Herman.  I've no clue who he is or what he's done, but it's somehow enough to get him in the field this week and he shot a 6-under 66 on the North Course Thursday.  He did that by posting 15 pars and 3 eagles.... not a scorecard one sees every day.  So he beat Tiger by a mere 6 shots on the Par 5's on the North.