Sunday, March 3, 2013

Michael Thompson Wins!

Michael and wife Rachel celebrate the win

The PGA Tour's latest champion


by Randy Roberts and Roz Roberts III

Michael Thompson battled tough conditions and an incredibly strong field to become the 2013 Honda Classic Champion! He had the second best round of the day, finishing at -1, -9 overall and won by two shots over Geoff Ogilvy.

"This is everything.  This is a childhood dream come true. I've dreamed of playing out here since I was 7 years old and to win, it's just unbelievable. I just can't put it into words. The whole day was awesome."

Awesome indeed!

Michael managed to improve his position at the end of each round this week.  After round 1 he was tied for 16th.  After round 2 he was in second.  After round three he was in a tie for first and at the end of the tournament he sat alone at the top of the leaderboard.  As the wind picked up over the weekend, scores rose as the conditions became very difficult.  In fact, during Sunday's final round the scoring average was nearly 4 shots over par at 73.707 .

How tough was the field that Michael was able to outpace? Check out these stats:
Total players: 144
PGA TOUR winners: 71 (for a total of 304 wins)
THE PLAYERS winners: 5
World Golf Championship winners: 10
Current FedExCup Rankings: Top 10 (6), Top 30 (14), Top 50 (27)
Official World Golf Ranking: Top 10 (5), Top 30 (14), Top 50 (20)
Foreign tour winners: 47 (for a total of 259 wins)
2012 Ryder Cup members: 10
WINNERS
2013 PGA TOUR winners: Dustin Johnson, Russell Henley, Brian Gay, Tiger Woods, John Merrick
Past Honda Classic winners: Rory McIlroy (2012), Rory Sabbatini (2011), Camilo Villegas (2010), Y.E. Yang (2009), Ernie Els (2008), Mark Wilson (2007), Justin Leonard (2003), Jesper Parnevik (2001), Stuart Appleby (1997), Tim Herron (1996)
With this win comes many new perks other than just the new label of "Honda Classic Champion":
  • A huge climb up the FedEx Cup Points and money lists to no. 11.
  • A two year exemption on the PGA Tour
  • Another invite to the Masters (already had one as a result of his T-2nd finish at the US Open)
  • Invites to all of the 2013 WGC events including this week's Cadillac Championship
  • A spot in next year's Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Maui

Videos





Monday Backspin - Amanda Balionis recaps Michael Thompson's victory and all the news from The Honda Classic.
Eagle on 3
Birdie on 5
Par Save on 10 - with commentary by Jack Nicklaus
Birdie on 18 for the win
Sports Center - ESPN's recap of the tournament
Post Round Interview - 19 minute post round press conference
Shorter Post Round Interview - interview with Carl Paulson from SiriusXM
Stephanie Wei Vid Cast where she discusses the tournament with Australian PGA broadcaster Luke Elvy
Golf Central - Golf Channel Sunday recap.  Michael's win is the lead story
Monday Backspin

ESPN's Michael Collins congratulates Michael Thompson with some interesting insight from a caddie's perspective:




Articles
Tour Report - Sunday Observations - PGA Tour report
Michael Thompson Takes Honda - ESPN Golf article, includes ESPN video coverage
Winner's Bag - A look at what clubs are in Michael's bag
The Honda Classic Round 4 Wrap Up - PGA Tour recap article, includes video highlights and stats
How it Happened - Thompson's 1st Tour Win - A running blog of the final round
Star Studded Field Gives Way to Thompson - A great article from Jason Sobel of the GolfChannel.com (another one of our favorites)
The Mental Game:  Thompson's Attitude - Another article from the Tour Report on PGATour.com
Thompson plays for all the right reasons and wins - A good article from GolfRumors.com
5 Things: Thompson conquers PGA National for win- Sean Martin's 5 Things Recap (Sean is one of our favorites)
With Michael Thompson eclipsing Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, unpredictability is golf’s only constant

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/03/3265255/greg-cote-with-michael-thompson.html#storylink=cpy
Thompson applies major lessons in breakthrough victory at PGA National - A nice opinion piece from Greg Cote of the Miami Herald plus a good picture of Micahel with Mattie Lou!
From worst to first: Michael Thompson bounces back to win Honda Classic - Recap from another one of our favorites Stephanie Wei, including quotes from Rachel and some good insight
Thompson applies major lessons in breakthrough victory at PGA National - Article from Brian Wacker on PGATOUR.COM
Thompson's win eclipses Tour card concerns - Great article from Sean Martin with quotes from Rachel Thompson and Susie Meyers
Post Round News Conference Transcript
#getreadycouch 2.0 ends in a feel good story!
Lost and Found - Great article from Tim Rosaforte of Golf Digest with quotes from Susie Meyers and mentions about his family.
Former Tulane golf coach Tom Shaw savors Michael Thompson's Tour victory - Another great article with a Tulane spin.
Michael Thompson: Learning to Be True to Himself
I Guess We Need a New Goal - Michael's wife Rachel blogs about what it was like to come to grips with the struggles leading up to the Honda Classic and what Michael's mindset was to be able move past it and become a champion.




1 comment:

  1. Good on u michael had a few quid on u well done mate awesome golf under pressure first of many wins matt england

    ReplyDelete