Thompson Heating Up in the Desert

by Roz Roberts III

After posting a really good four under par 68 in the first round of the Desert Classic, Michael Thompson improved on that by two shots in a sparkling second round and is now ten under par and tied for 11th going into the weekend.

The Desert Classic, previously known as the Bob Hope Invitational and the Humana Challenge among other incarnations, is a Pro-Am taking place across three separate courses in the Palm Springs area of California.  A cut is made after the third round when each golfer has played each course once.

On Saturday, Michael will play the host Stadium Course at PGA WEST.  After the cut the Stadium Course will host the fourth and final round.  The good news is that the Stadium Course supports ShotLink data so it will be much easier to follow Michael's third round online as the other two courses don't have ShotLink coverage.

Michael tees off on Saturday at 8:50am PT.

Online Links
Leaderboard
Michael's Scorecard  

2 For 2 in 2012

by Randy Roberts

Michael Thompson fought through some tough holes and came away with yet another cut made, and a paycheck gained at the Humana Challenge. Completing the wind-delayed 3rd round this morning on the La Quinta Country Club course, he then moved on to the Palmer Course at PGA West and completed the 4th and final round.  Hampered by a double bogey in each of the final two rounds which offset his numerous birdies, he finished round 3 at 3 under and the 4th round at even par, for an overall score of  9 under (T-54th).  Ever since June of last year, he's been consistently making cuts which bodes well for what's to come in 2012.  Earning $12,488, he moves to 24th on the money list and 25th on the FedEx Cup Points List.

Next up is the Farmers Insurance Open from the ThompsonTide.com hometown of San Diego.  Roz, myself, and assorted other Roberts' are all excited to go watch Michael play in person again.  If any of you are there as well, make sure you stop by and say hi.  You can probably guess which group we'll be following.

Third Round at Humana Blown Away

Picture of the damage at PGA West posted by Jamie Lovemark on Twitter (@jamielovemark)

by Roz Roberts III

The third round of the Humana Challenge was postponed due to high winds that moved through the Palm Springs area on Saturday.  The area experienced sustained winds of 35mph and gusts to 50mph and all three courses experienced some sort of damage due to downed trees, hospitality tents being blown over, and even port-a-potties being upended.  At the time play was suspended, Michael Thompson was on the green of hole #16 on the La Quinta course (his seventh hole of the round) with a birdie putt upcoming.  He is currently 2 under par for the round and 8 under par for the tournament in a tie for 46th.

The third round is scheduled to resume at 7:30am PT and is expected to be wrapped up some time between 10:00am and noon PT.  Once the third round is concluded, the field will be cut to the top 70 golfers plus ties.  In order to speed up play and try and finish the fourth round on Sunday, all amateurs' play has also been concluded.

Online Scoring Links Leaderboard
Amateur Leaderboard
Michael's Scorecard
Shot Tracker Leaderboard
Note: There's no Shottracker on the La Quinta Country Club course.

Picture posted by Paul Stankowski on Twitter (@PaulStankowski)

Photo by David Hearn via Twitter (@HearnDavid).  Compare this to the photo from our post from yesterday below!

Thompson Moving On Up

Michael will be playing the 3rd round at the La Quinta Country Club

by Randy Roberts and Roz Roberts III

Michael Thompson shot a five under par 67 and moved up the leaderboard 34 spaces into a tie for 62nd during the Humana Challenge's second round on Friday.  He'll have one more round to improve his position before the cut is made at the top 70 golfers (and ties) after everyone gets a chance to play each of the three course being used this week.

According to his wife's blog over at Thompson Squared On The PGA Tour (recommended reading for all the Michael Thompson fans out there), Michael had been trying out a new driver during Thursday's first round.  He wasn't completely comfortable with the driver's increased stiffness, so he returned to using the driver he had used the previous week.  Michael improved his first round score by four shots and his round included an eagle and five birdies.  

Michael's third round will tee off at 10:30 PST Saturday at the La Quinta Country Club.  He will again be playing with PGA pro Briny Baird, but will be joined by a new group of amateur players: George McCrimlisk (owner of Accounting firm, George H. McCrimlisk & Company) as well as neurosurgeon Dr. Paul McCombs.
Online Scoring Links

Leaderboard
Amateur Leaderboard
Michael's Scorecard
Shot Tracker Leaderboard
Note: There's no Shottracker on the La Quinta Country Club course.

Round One in the Desert is In the Books

by Roz Roberts III


Michael Thompson finished his first round at the Humana Challenge with a one under par 71 that has him currently tied for 96th.  His round was highlighted by a streak of four birdies in a row on holes #13 through #16 on the Nicklaus Private course at PGA West.  After the birdie streak, Michael was three under par.  However, a bogey at hole #1 and a double bogey at hole #2 slowed the round down a bit.  Michael carded a couple more birdies and one more bogey to finish the round of at -1.

Unlike most PGA Tour events, there are two more round before the eventual cut because this event is played on three courses.  Each player will play each course once before the cut which will reduce the field for the fourth round which will be played at the Palmer Private course at PGA West.

Michael's second round gets under way at 10:00am PST at the Palmer Private course at PGA West.  Once again he'll be paired with Briny Baird.  This time the two professionals will be playing with two executives from the health care industry Ken Melkus and Dave Colby.

Televison coverage can be found on the Golf Channel from 3pm ET to 6pm ET.

Shot link data will be available for this round since it is being played on the host course (Palmer Private).


Online Scoring Links

Leaderboard
Amateur Leaderboard
Michael's Scorecard

Shot Tracker Leaderboard
Michael on Shot Tracker
Michael's Group on Shot Tracker

The Tide Rolls Into Palm Springs

by Randy Roberts

Michael Thompson arrived in the Southern California desert oasis of Palm Springs this week riding a wave of momentum that dates back to the beginning of June.  Since then he has missed only 4 of 17 cuts and has five top 10 finishes including:

Nationwide Tour - Melwood Open , 6th
PGA Tour - Traveler's Championship, 4th
PGA Tour - The McGladrey Classic, 3rd
Asian Tour - The Thailand Golf Championship, 3rd
PGA Tour - The Sony Open, T-6th

This will be Thompson's first time playing in The Humana Challenge (formerly known as "The Bob Hope Classic").  Last year, he was an alternate, but there was not enough last minute withdrawals in order for him to play.  In years past the event was played on four courses over five days.  This year, it's been paired down to three courses over four days: The Palmer and Nicklaus Courses at PGA West as well as the La Quinta Country Club.  Of the three, the Palmer Course has the lowest scoring average and the La Quinta Course has the highest.  Michael did get to practice on these three courses last year, so he has had some experience even though he hasn't played in the tournament.  (not true, my bad)

Besides playing on three courses, a unique aspect is that this is a pro-am event.  Michael will be playing with Wesley Edens who co-founded Fortress Investment Group.  Finishing off the foursome will be PGA pro Briny Baird and Deutsche Bank CEO Seth Waugh.

Michael tees off from the 10th tee on the Nicklaus course at 9:30 PST.  The tournament will be televised on the Golf Channel from 12:00-3:00pm PST.

Leaderboard
Amateur Leaderboard
Michael's Scorecard
Note: Shottracker will only be available on the The Palmer Course