Best Round Yet on El Camaleon

Michael finished strong at the Mayacoba Classic, finishing the fourth round at three under par for an overall score of -1.  It was his best round yet on El Camaleon.  On Twitter he sounded pretty excited about how he played:

"Solid week in Riviera Maya. I finally broke par on this difficult golf course! Tomorrow off to Palm Beach for the Honda Classic!"

He ended up tied for 46th, which was worth a little bit under $11,000.  He moves to  #49 on both the money list and FedEx Cup points list.

One Round to Go in Mexico

by Randy Roberts

The constant wind at El Cameleon continued to curb competitor's cards at the Mayacoba Classic.  At the termination of round three, Michael tallied a total of two bogeys and one double bogey, but also had a tetrad of birdies for a total of even par for the day, leaving him tied for 55th.

Round 4 will get going at 5:58am PST and Michael will be grouped with Stephen Gangluff.

TV Times

Golf Channel

Sunday 7:00p-9:30p EST

Online Scoring Links
There is no Shottracker at the Mayakoba Classic this week

Leaderboard
Michael Thompson's Scorecard

This episode of the Thompson Tide has been brought to you by the letters C, T, and G.

Third Time's the Charm at Mayacoba

by Randy Roberts and Roz Roberts III


The Mayacoba Classic is the first regular season PGA event that Michael Thompson has played at three times.  Unfortunately, the two previous times he played there he missed the cut. Coming into the 2012 Mayacoba Classic, he arrived with a full season of experience under his belt, and a boost of confidence having finished T-17th at the Northern Trust Open the week before.

Whatever it was, he performed well under pressure today amongst the always tough, always windy conditions at El Camaleon.  Getting behind early with two bogeys, he fought back to even par for the day with two birdies, then fell back again to +3 on the 13th hole.  With the cut line hovering around an overall score of +2 and +3, I knew Michael was going to have to come up big in his last five holes if he wanted to make the cut.  Boy did he ever.  On the 15th hole he drained a huge birdie putt which you can see in the video below.  He then followed that up with another birdie on 17 to secure his spot no matter where the cut line fell.  In the end he made the cut with a stroke to spare, so he gets to play the weekend at the Mayacoba Classic for the first time.

Michael tees off on Saturday at 6:10 PST and will be paired with PGA Tour veteran Fred Funk.

TV Times

Television coverage for the Mayakoba Classic will be exclusively on the Golf Channel.  All times are Eastern Time.

Saturday 6:30p-8:30p
Sunday 7:00p-9:30p

Online Scoring Links
There is no Shottracker at the Mayakoba Classic this week

Leaderboard
Michael Thompson's Scorecard

El Camaleon Shows It's Claws

by Randy Roberts

The Greg Norman designed course, El Camaleon showed it's claws on Thursday at the Mayacoba Classic just south of Cancun, Mexico.  Scores ranged wildly from Will Claxton's -5 to +12. The holes strongly penalize wayward shots and the strong ocean breezes don't help either.  Colorful scorecards were bountiful, and the goal was to keep your Camaleon scorecard blue instead of reddish-orange.


As you can see from Michael's scorecard below, he had a pretty good round, fighting back from several bogeys and getting back to +1 which is on the happy side of the cut line at +2.

He tees it up on Friday along with Vaughn Taylor and Nick Price at 9:10 PST.


TV Times
Television coverage for the Mayakoba Classic will be exclusively on the Golf Channel.  All times are Eastern Time.

	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
	6:30p-8:30p	6:30p-8:30p	7:00p-9:30p

Online Scoring Links
There is no Shottracker at the Mayakoba Classic this week

Leaderboard
Michael Thompson's Scorecard

Lastly, a quick shout out to the other half of ThompsonTide, Roz, who's laid up recovering from surgery as he had a benign mass removed from his shoulder this morning.  Heal fast!

From Riviera to the Mexican Riviera

by Roz Roberts III

Last week, the PGA Tour played at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades.  This week the tour moves south of the border to the Mexican Riviera.  The Mayakoba Classic will be held at El Camaleon in Riviera Maya, Mexico.  The Mayakoba is being held the same week as the Accenture Match Play Championship being held in Michael Thompson's home town of Tucson, Arizona.  While the top 64 golfers in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) list are playing the Accenture, the rest of the PGA Tour will be playing the Mayakoba.  Speaking of OWGR, Michael has moved up to number 104 on that list. Maybe next year we'll be seeing him play in Tucson instead of Mexico!

Michael will be looking to build on the momentum he built at the Northern Trust Open last week and has even garnered some national attention as he was listed as the #9 player in the PGATour.com's Power Rankings for the Mayakoba Classic.

First Round Tee Time
Michael tees off early on Thursday.  His first round gets underway at 6:40am local time and just for reference Maya Riviera is one hour earlier than Eastern Time.  For the first two rounds Michael is paired with Vaughn Taylor and Nick Price.

TV Times
Television coverage for the Mayakoba Classic will be exclusively on the Golf Channel.  All times are Eastern Time.

Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
6:30p-8:830p	6:30p-8:30p	6:30p-8:30p	7:00p-9:30p

Online Scoring Links
There is no Shottracker at the Mayakoba Classic this week so those of us who use it extensively will be feeling some withdrawals.
Leaderboard
Michael Thompson's Scorecard

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.

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

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