Saturday, February 26, 2011

What's In Your Bag?

by Roz Roberts III
We posed the question to Michael Thompson in our Slick Answers section but GolfWRX.com asked it at the Farmer's Insurance Open a few weeks ago. They didn't want to know about bee sting kits - they wanted details on the sticks in the bag. Here's Michael's answer to "What's in your bag?"

Final Hole Leads to Missed Cut

by Roz Roberts III

Sometimes golf can be cruel.  Poised to make his third cut in a row with a single hole to play, Michael Thompson made a triple bogey on the par 4 18th hole to miss the cut by two shots at the Mayakoba Classic in Cancun yesterday.  He ended up finishing the tournament at 2 over par.

The morning players scored well in the second round as the wind was a little more subdued but as the wind picked up throughout the day, so did the scores.  The wind was forecast to die down a bit for Round 3 being held today.

On his return from Mexico, Thompson will be looking to get into the field of the Honda Classic which is held in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida at the PGA National resort and Spa.  He is currently the sixth alternate for the tournament so if six players drop out he would get in.  Rather than waiting around, he's planning to play in the Monday Qualifier where the top four finishers will get into the field.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Thompson's First Round in Cancun Highlighted by Strong Finish

by Roz Roberts III

After playing his first 15 holes at a one over par, Michael Thompson finished strong posting a birdie-eagle-par final three holes to finish the first round of the Mayakoba Classic at two under par (69).  The round was good enough to leave Thompson in a tie for 23rd and just three shots off the lead.

As expected, the wind proved to be a challenge as it was blowing steadily across the golf course all day and keeping the ball in play was key.  Those who got off course were punished with some seriously crooked numbers.  The forecast for tomorrow calls for similar conditions so the scoring should be much like today's.

Thompson will get is his second round underway at 12:15pm CT from the first hole at the El Camaleon Golf Club.

Live Scoring Links
Michael Thompson Scorecard
Leaderboard

Television Coverage
All television coverage will be on the Golf Channel.

Fri, 2/25:6:30p - 8:30p ET

Sat, 2/26:
6:30p - 8:30p ET

Sun, 2/27:
7p - 9:30p ET

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Mayakoba Classic Preview

Steady Winds and Beautiful Vistas Characterize the Mayakoba Classic
by Roz Roberts III

 This week's stop on the PGA Tour for Michael Thompson is the Mayakoba Classic in Cancun Mexico.  While the top 64 players in the world are in Tucson this week at the Accenture Match Play event,  the Mayakoba Classic offers 132 PGA Tour players a trip to the Mayan jungle.

The Maykoba Classic is a relatively new event, this being only its fifth year in existence, but it's getting a reputation as one of the most scenic Tour events.  The "visually stunning" course at El Camaleon Golf Club was designed by Greg Norman and features vistas of jungle, mangroves, sweeping beaches and even a cenote in the middle of the first fairway.  The course favors accuracy over length and scoring well will depend on hitting greens in regulation and putting well.  Last year the course was converted to a par 71 and the average score was 70.765.

The weather is expected to be seasonal with partly cloudy skies and high temperatures in the lower 80s.  There's a chance of rain on Sunday but the main weather challenge will be the steady 10-15 mph winds.

Thompson is paired with fellow Q-School graduate Jim Renner and Mike Small from the tenth hole at 7:40am CT.

Live Scoring Links
Michael Thompson Scorecard
Leaderboard

Television Coverage
All television coverage will be on the Golf Channel.

Thu, 2/24:
6:30p - 8:30p ET

Fri, 2/25:
6:30p - 8:30p ET

Sat, 2/26:
6:30p - 8:30p ET

Sun, 2/27:
7p - 9:30p ET

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Thompson Improving as Season Progresses

The future is looking bright for Michael Thompson
by Roz Roberts III


Much like his entire golf career, the 2011 PGA Tour season for Michael Thompson has been one of slow steady improvement. Thompson finished the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in a tie for 48th place at one under par. The finish marks his second straight tournament "in the money" and improved his best finishing spot by 17 spots.

Thompson shot a 1 over 71 in the fourth and final round on Sunday which was good enough to climb the leaderboard another five spots. The Pebble Beach course was playing well over par for the final round averaging 73.2. Thompson's final round was highlighted by his first eagle as a PGA Tour professional on the par five sixth hole after landing his second shot within 10 feet of the flag stick.

The week also showed improvement in his driving statistics after he hit 69% of the fairways and managed to hit 71% Greens In Regulation. He also drove the ball an impressive 297 yards for the week which is about 15 yards further than the previous two tournaments of the year.

He'll have this week off, but will be returning to action the following week at the Mayacoba Classic which takes place in Cancun, Mexico.

After the Mayacoba Classic, the PGA will re-sort the priority reshuffle list based on the results from the first six weeks of the year. After making the cut in two of his three events so far, Thompson would move up this list by three spots if the reshuffle were to happen today. The higher up the reshuffle list you are , the more events you'll have access to in the future.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Thompson Makes His Second Straight Cut

Overlooking Hole #9 at Pebble Beach

By Randy Roberts

Round 3 Recap
Michael Thompson survived the difficult Pebble Beach Golf Course today and slipped in under the cut line shooting a 75 (+3). He ended up with a 54 hole total of 2 under par which was the minimum needed to play the final round tomorrow. This marks the second straight tournament that Thompson has made the cut.

Things were tense heading down the stretch, as Thompson made a double bogey on hole #4 which put him one shot over the projected cut line with five holes to play. He bounced back on hole #6 with a birdie which left him on the money side of the cut line. Things got interesting again on his last hole of the day (hole #9) as he drove his tee shot into the left rough and his second shot landed in a sand trap fronting the green. A 24' wedge shot from the sand left him within 3' of the hole, and he went on to make par for the sand save and, more importantly, to make the cut.

Due to the unusual format for the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, only the low scoring 60 professionals plus ties get to play the final round in order to leave space for the top 25 amateurs who also get to play tomorrow. This is the only pro-am tournament on the PGA schedule that amateurs actually get to play during the final round. Although only the top 60 players continue on, the top 70 players plus ties earn cut money and Fedex Cup points.

Sunday's fourth and final round will be played at the Pebble Beach Golf Course. Michael Thompson will tee off from the tenth hole at 8:56am PT.

Round 4 Links

Thompson Climbing Up the Leaderboard at Pebble Beach


By Randy Roberts and Roz Roberts III

Michael Thompson posted a scorching five under par 67 today at the Spyglass Hill Golf Course. The 67 was the third best score of the week at Spyglass, which is averaging 72.613, and it resulted with him vaulting up the leaderboard 41 spaces into a tie for 18th.

For the second day in a row, his play was highlighted by making Greens In Regulation (14 of 18 today) for an impressive total of 31 of 36 GIR so far in the tournament. That type of consistent play meant he was rewarded with plenty of birdie and eagle opportunities. Yesterday, the birdie putts weren't falling but he made up for it today with 7 birdies total. He did particularly well on the par fives, birdying all four of them.

Three golf courses are used this week and the cut will come after the third round so that each player has a chance to play every course. The famed Pebble Beach Golf Links is up next for Thompson where he has a 9:06am PT tee time from hole #10. The Pebble Beach course has been averaging 71.933 for the tournament, so he'll have quite a challenge tomorrow. However, if he can stay in the fairways and keep making those GIRs, he'll have a good chance to make some more noise on the leaderboard over the weekend.

For those of you following along on the Internet, tomorrow's round comes with  an extra bonus:  the Pebble Beach course is covered by shot Tracker, so we'll all get a chance to follow the round in more detail.  Also, Pebble is the featured course for the television coverage so you might want to program your DVR now!

The round 3 links of interest are here:

Michael Thompson Shot Tracker
Michael Thompson Scorecard

Friday, February 11, 2011

Keeping It In the Short Grass


by Roz Roberts III


Michael Thompson had his best day driving the ball as a PGA Tour professional yesterday at the AT&T Pebble Beach national Pro-Am.  He hit 12 out of 13 fairways and had a driving distance of 297.5 yards.  He also hit an amazing 17 out of 18 greens in regulation.  He finished the round at the Monterrey Peninsula Country Club at even par which puts him into a tie for 59th after the first 18 holes.

Thompson starts the second round today at 10:01am PT at the Spyglass Hill Golf Course.

If you're going to follow Round 2 online, here are the links:
Michael Thompson Scorecard

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Thompson Tees It Up at Pebble Beach


by Roz Roberts III and Randy Roberts


Michael Thompson has started the first round on the latest stop on the PGA Tour, the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. The Pebble Beach Pro-Am is a unique event on the PGA Tour and was originally known as the Bing Crosby National Pro-Amateur, or just the Crosby Clambake. This event is known as one of the more fun events on tour since the field for the event is comprised of 156 professionals paired with 156 celebrity amateurs in two person teams. The tournament is played on three different courses: Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill Golf Course and the Monterey Peninsula Country Club. Unlike most other tournaments, the cut is made after 72 holes and is applied to both individuals and teams. The low 25 teams plus ties will play Sunday at Pebble Beach as will the low 60 professionals plus ties.

First Round Tee Time
Michael tees off at 8:22am on the tenth hole of the Monterey Peninsula Country Club. He is teamed with Robert MacDonnell (on the board of directors of Vons) and they are in a group with Hunter Haas and Paul Hazen (Chairman of Accel-KKR, Former Chairman/CEO of Wells Fargo). The group will be playing Spyglass on Friday and Pebble Beach on Saturday.


Useful Links
Here are the usual helpful links to follow Michael this week.
Tee Times

Television Coverage
Television coverage will be carried on the Golf Channel and CBS. The coverage schedule is listed below, check your local listings.

Day
Date
Network
Time
THU
2/10
GOLF
3 - 6 PM ET
FRI
2/11
GOLF
3 - 6 PM ET
SAT
2/12
GOLF
1 - 2:30 PM ET
SAT
2/12
CBS
3 - 6 PM ET
SUN
2/13
GOLF
1 - 2:30 PM ET
SUN
2/13
CBS
3 - 6:30 PM ET

Michael Thompson's First Magazine Cover


by Randy Roberts


Tucson native Michael Thompson is the feature story in the Feb-March issue of Southern Arizona Tee Times Magazine. The article has some nice photos, some quotes from Thompson and his swing coach Susie Meyers, and celebrates the completion of his boyhood dream to make it onto the PGA tour. You can read it online at sattmag.com or pick up a free copy if you live in Southern Arizona.

I guess we can file this as #6 on the "Signs you made it onto the PGA Tour".

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Hangin' With the Caddies

Michael Thompson and his caddie Victor Velasquez
by Roz Roberts III

A couple of weeks ago the Thompson Tide crew were lucky enough to get to hang out at the Farmer's Insurance Open at Torrey Pines to watch and cheer on Michael Thompson. While we were there, we learned one very important thing: if you need something at a PGA tournament, go ask a caddie.

I managed to get my tickets for the week stolen on Tuesday - a near catastrophic event but with the help of Michael and his caddie Victor Velasquez we were able to salvage the situation. Victor told Randy "They call me 'Peoples' because I always take care of my peoples!" Good thing he adopted us so that we became some of his peoples too. He was able to tap his network of friends and scrounge us some tickets. Victor has been a caddie for 23 years and has caddied for the likes of Stewart Cink and Seve Ballasteros. He knows everybody out on tour and he is so nice and likable that there's no wonder his network of contacts is so vast.

In addition to scrounging tickets for us, Victor performed another really important role for Michael for the week: he basically kept us out of Michael's hair. While Michael was busy with the business of golf, which included finalizing clothing deals and getting some practice in, Victor was more than willing to entertain us with food, drink and stories.

While out at Torrey Pines I also met Danny Neil. He caddied for Michael at the Sony Open in Hawaii. Danny is a professional PGA Tour "Looper" and provides caddie service to players whose regular caddies can't make it to certain events. Like Victor, Danny is a really likable outgoing guy who's more than willing to share stories and entertain you for as long as you have the time. If he's not caddying for a touring professional, he caddies during pro-ams and helps out with TV coverage as an on-course spotter. Have you ever wondered how the television announcers know what club a player is using on a hole that they can't see? The spotter is either radioing in the details to the television truck or they are using hand signals to let the on-course color commentator know yardages and club selection for each player in a group.

After a round is over, the PGA Tour players are typically grabbing food at the Player's Club House while the caddies head out to the traveling "Caddie Trailer" which is an RV modified into a diner. The prices are low and the food is good. Your typical diner food can be had: tuna melts, chicken sandwiches, hamburgers, turkey sandwiches etc. {Thompson Tide Note: Try the banana pudding. Yummy!} The caddie trailer offers the guys a place to put the bag down, surf the web, hang out and eat at one of the plastic tables outside, or grab a booth inside and watch ESPN or The Golf Channel on one of the two small flat screen TVs.

The caddies usually have to pay for their own food but at Torrey Pines, PGA Tour pro Robert Garrigus paid for all of the working caddies' food for the week. Randy and I ate lunch in the traveling "caddie shack" with Victor who was nice enough to buy lunch for us.

Once a tournament starts winding down on Sunday, the Caddie Trailer, along with all of the equipment trucks, start packing up and heading to the next tournament. In a lot of ways, the PGA Tour is like a traveling circus with huge amounts of equipment and facilities to move every week to a new location, with lots of hard working men and women working behind the scenes to make it all happen.

If the PGA Tour swings by an area near you I highly encourage a visit. Unlike a lot of professional sports, you can get very close to the players and most of them are willing to sign autographs and say 'Hi' during practice days or on tournament days at the end of their rounds. I personally witnessed Bobby Gates and Michael Thompson sign things for every single person who wanted an autograph after their rounds on Saturday. You don't see that sort of thing going on in a lot of other professional sports. And if you go out to a PGA Tour event, don't forget to say "Hi" to the caddies - you're sure to get a friendly response and maybe even a "behind-the-scenes" tour story or two.