Weekend Wrap

Props are due to the NFL for providing a seam in its coverage of the conference championship games to allow us to catch the wacky denouement of the Bob Hope Chrysler Humana Dinah Shore Career Builder Challenge.

Return of The Duf - Unless and until Lumpy returns to form, my house will be found firmly in the Jason Dufner camp, as Employee No. 2 likes her golfers to be "full-figured".  So it was indeed a happy day at Unplayable Lies World HQ:

A remarkable escape on a hole called Alcatraz allowed Jason Dufner to stay alive in the 

If ever a photo screamed for a caption contest...

CareerBuilder Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation on Sunday. Dufner then watched as the rocks and water he had avoided in regulation claimed David Lingerth as a victim in a playoff. 

Dufner survived a perilous pitch shot from a precarious spot on the island green at the 17th hole of TPC Stadium Course at PGA West, rolled in a tough-as-nails par putt to extend the playoff and then made a routine par on the second playoff hole to defeat Lingmerth for the title. 

It was Dufner’s fourth PGA Tour win, but his first since taking the 2013 PGA Championship. 

And it’s a win he knows was a bit fortunate.

More than a bit for sure...  It's good to have the Duf back among the living, and if any of you missed it here is The Great Escape:

But to be fair, as lucky as this was he should be remembered more for his par on the first playoff hole that kept him alive.

Orange Is The New Black - Oklahoma State Orange, that is....Derek Lawrenson reminds us of how far we've come in a year:

The best thing that happened to Rickie Fowler was being called overrated by his fellow pros. Either that, or the media deciding Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Jason Day were the new Big Three. 

The popular American has quietly used those verdicts as fuel to compile a fine body of work over the past eight months, one that has seen him rise stealthily to become the world No 4 following his impressive one-stroke triumph in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on Sunday. 

Naturally, it only increased the satisfaction that world No 3 McIlroy was trailing behind him in joint third place and No 1 Spieth in fifth spot.

There's little doubt that our Rickie has learned to close, this being his fourth significant win (though likely the least significant of the four) in the last year.  But if you think Duf benefited from good fortune, take a look at Rickie's final round hole-outs.  

Jason Sobel had this on Rickie's closing skills:

Call it the clutch gene or a learned trait, but it's no coincidence. We can safely proclaim that he thrives under pressure. 

None of which is to say that Jordan Spieth or Jason Day or Rory McIlroy -- the only three players in the world who will be ranked ahead of Fowler come Monday morning -- aren't similarly clutch. Each of them has won major championships, a fact which alone speaks volumes of their ability to close under pressure. 

A related fact -- that Fowler hasn't yet won one -- is the usual cry from critics who still, somehow, doubt his talents. 

While Fowler himself is the first to insist that he doesn't belong in a conversation with the so-called modernized "Big Three" because he doesn't have a major, it should be noted that he hasn't exactly flamed out in these tournaments, either. Prior to turning 27 last month, he posted a half-dozen top-10s at majors, including results of fifth or better at each of them two years ago.

We are blessed with quite the abundance of young talent at this moment in time, and it's not clear that it will be limited to a Big Four.  

Hubris or Schadenfreude, You Make the Call -  No disrespect to Rickie's accomplishment, but I'm voting for this as the most significant development from Abu Dhabi, as the Woeld No. One embraces his inner Lillie Von Schtupp:

“It won’t be something I’ll do in the future, to bounce back and forth from Asia as much

as we did, or Australia,” Spieth said here Sunday. “I’m very tired. As a team we’re beat up mentally and physically. I’m not 100 percent right now. It shows in certain places.” 

Spieth tied for fifth at 11-under 277, five shots behind countryman Rickie Fowler. Spieth probably would have put up a better fight if he’d had his A game with him. 

“The first day I was here, I was striping it,” Spieth said. “Since then I have been a little weak, and my decision-making has been off.”

But I was assured the 22-year-olds don't get tired.  Jordan is no doubt a fine young man, though he's not so good at the listening thing...

Fortunately he's headed home for some well-earned rest....Errr.....NOT!  Instead of resting or playing at Torrey Pines in an event that supported him with sponsor's exemptions when he was boot-strapping his way onto the Tour, he'll be chasing a large appearance fee at The Singapore Open, an event so prestigious that they haven't bothered to hold it in several years.

This is foolishness-on-stilts, and it's a bit troubling that he has no one on his team that recognizes it as such.  We have the most insane golf schedule ever this year, and Jordan will no doubt have to incorporate both Rio and Chaska, MN into his hectic schedule.  And he's tired in January!

Folks who are concerned about the schedule have speculated as to who it will affect most, with the conventional wisdom being that the older guys need to take care.  But I've a contrary thought, that it might hit those that think they;re immune to fatigue.... and I've got a candidate.

Yeah, That's the Ticket -  The Shark channels his inner Jon Lovitz with this priceless concern about those left behind:

"I can honestly say that I am shocked and surprised," the two-time major winner said in a statement to GOLF.com. 

Fox executives have not said why they axed Norman after just one year in the booth next to Joe Buck, but when news of his dismissal broke, a Fox source who asked to remain anonymous told GOLF.com that Norman didn't adequately prepare for the broadcasts.

"I think Joe Buck is actually now in a tough position, because we became great friends and I believe we had a great foundation," Norman said. "The whole team really had a good chemistry, so I think it will be a challenge to recreate the formula. I am certain Fox has someone in mind already."

Let the unpacking begin....  I completely get that he's shocked, since he didn't have to watch their broadcasts.  Lucky that...

That second graph is a bit of a red herring....they told us exactly why he was fired, just not on the record.

I agree that Fox has someone in mind, but the pity is that anyone would really be an upgrade.

Braid's Brawest Restored - A friend of mine went to Scotland for the first time last summer with his son, and went to play the Ryder Cup course at Gleneagles.  As I unmercifully told him, that was a double-unforced error... the first going to Gleneagles, which while a wonderful resort is inland and therefore not a links.  The second being that they played the wrong course there.

Now comes this welcome news of a restoration of their King's Course:

They include re-aligning selected fairways to return them to Braid’s design, bringing

several bunkers back into play, and reinstating heather stands around the course. 

The installation of the latest bunker drainage and lining technology, as well as an extensive aeration and sanding programme, will be undertaken. 

Scott Fenwick, Gleneagles golf courses and estate manager, said the aim was to return the King’s Course “closer” to Braid’s original vision. 

He said: “We’ll widen the approaches to some of the green complexes to enable traditional pitch and run shots to be played, reintroduce tighter mown turf on green surrounds and reshape the bunkers and raise the sand lines."

It's a wonderful golf course with some of the most imaginative and dramatic bunkering  to be found on an inland golf course.  I do think if you're headed to the Auld Sod for the first time one should cling to the coast, as we play inland golf every day of our sheltered lives.

But if you're headed to Perthshire, play the historic venue....

By the way, the title comes from the name for the 13th hole on the King's Course, a stout two-shotter worthy of the name.