Preview and Prediction for the 2015 Humana Challenge in La Quinta
2015’s Humana Challenge in La Quinta, California, is an unveiling of sorts. What will the 2015 model Phil Mickelson look like?
Will this more aerodynamic hull come equipped with more than one top 10? Maybe even a win? The 2014 Mickelson rolled off the assembly line a lemon. So it is with anticipation that we watch Mickelson look to win his third Humana Challenge—his first since 2004.
Jimmy Walker, who successfully defended his Sony Open title, will sit out, so there will be some FedEx Cup points he’ll gladly cede to the rest of the field.
The PGA Tour heads back to the continental U.S. with a fully loaded field of the game’s best pros.
Read on to get familiar with this year’s Humana Challenge.
Where to Watch and Tournament Info
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Where
Arnold Palmer Private Course at PGA West
6,950 yards, par 72
What
Total Purse: $5,700,000
Winner’s Prize: $1,026,000
FedEx Cup Points: 500 to the winner
When
Thursday to Sunday
3-7 p.m. ET, Golf Channel
Patrick Reed Returns to Defend Title
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Patrick Reed, the defending champion here at PGA West, returns to the tournament where he set a four-day scoring record of 260 in 2014.
Reed joined some elite company when he won this year’s Tournament of Champions. He became just the fourth golfer to win four tournaments before the age of 25. The other three: Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia and some guy named Tiger Woods.
A year ago at the Humana Challenge, Reed nearly lost the massive lead he had built by shooting three straight 63s. He hung on while Ryan Palmer charged up the leaderboard.
"To come out and not have my full game and to have that much of a cushion to be able to just coast in, that's a good feeling," Reed said, per The Associated Press (via Golf.com).
Being a defending champ brings its own set of confidences, and having won the tournament reserved for tournament winners makes him a strong contender to repeat at La Quinta.
"I’m just going out there and just trying to play my game and trying to improve," Reed said to reporters. "Winning here just kind of backs up that we’re moving in the right direction."
Lefty Needs to Make an Impression
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Are we getting Phrumpy Phil or Phil the Phighter?
Last year was Mickelson’s worst in 11 years. That year, 2003, was the last time he had gone without winning a tournament. But in that year, he at least had seven top 10s. By those numbers alone, 2014 may have been Mickelson’s worst year ever.
That’s too bold a proclamation for me to make. Let’s see if Mickelson concurs.
"The worst year of my career," Mickelson said on his website (via PGATour.com).
So we’re in agreement.
He added: "It was a bad year statistically in all areas. I didn't drive the ball as well as I can or expected to. My short irons were worse than they've been in my entire career. My short game wasn't really sharp. My putting was not at the level I expect."
Now, he’s back at a tournament he won two times. He’s reportedly more fit thanks to fitness whiz kid Sean Cochran. The last time he won the Humana Challenge, in 2004, it was the year right after he went winless. Sound familiar?
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Robert Allenby May Play After Being Kidnapped, Assaulted
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In the strangest, most shocking golf story in recent memory, last week, Robert Allenby was reportedly kidnapped, beaten, robbed and left unconscious in a park in Hawaii.
After missing the cut at the Sony Open, Allenby was at the Amuse Wine Bar in Waikiki with a friend. Allenby said in a statement released by the PGA Tour, per Reuters (via ABC.net.au): "I'm just glad to be alive. I was separated from my friend in the bar after we had paid the tab. Next thing you know, I'm being dumped in a park miles away. A homeless woman found me and told me she saw a few guys pull up and throw me out of a car. I'm still in a bit of shock."
He suffered a nasty injury to his forehead, but all told, Allenby may try to make his next start at the Humana Challenge where he’ll undoubtedly be greeted as the fan favorite of the weekend.
“My plan currently is to fly back to the mainland and at that point, evaluate my ability to play next week at the Humana Challenge. Whatever the outcome regarding my ability to play next week, I anticipate a successful rest of the 2014-15 PGA Tour season," Allenby said.
A Big-Time Field
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This is one of the deeper tournament fields beyond a major or WGC event you’ll ever see.
There’s Billy Horschel, the 2014 FedEx Cup winner. There’s former world No. 1 Luke Donald, too. Jason Dufner, Brandt Snedeker, Ian Poulter, Matt Kuchar, Keegan Bradley, Mickelson and more top things off.
No. 42 has quite the impact. No. 42 being President Bill Clinton, whose Clinton Foundation has partnered with Humana since 2012.
Larry Bohannan of The Desert Sun wrote: “So the desert tournament has come a long way since 2008. In seven years, the tournament has gone from an event barely clinging to relevance to being one of the tour’s big success stories.”
With such a competitive and deep field, this tournament will be a great barometer for who will have the most staying power over the course of the year.
If Reed can win his second event on this Pacific swing, he’ll be in major golf tournament and FedEx Cup playoff talks this year. A strong showing by Mickelson will tell us that he threw 2014 into the depths of the Grand Canyon.
Whoever wins—or lands in the top 10—in this event will be a player making a strong impact on the 2015 calendar.
Prediction for 2015 Humana Challenge
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Mickelson Will Equal His 2014 Top-10 Total in this Tournament
Mickelson will play well, but he won’t win this tournament.
It’s a safe play to think that Mickelson can land in the top 10. He may say 2014 is behind him, but until he illustrates that with strong, consistently good play in 2015, 2014 will likely weigh on him.
He’s hungry to put all of that behind him, and it’s fair to think he’ll play big—just not big enough.
Europe Will Have a Strong Showing
Donald, Poulter and Francesco Molinari made the trip to La Quinta from their not-so-lofty European Tour perches.
Molinari had a strong showing, along with two other Italian golfers, at The Open Championship in 2014.
Donald, for his sake, is one of the more underrated golfers around given that he was at one time the No. 1 golfer in the world.
As for Poulter? Last we heard anything from him, he was complaining about his nanny being downgraded to coach. It’s not entirely fair, but people who are among the wealthy can’t be quite this tone-deaf.
One of these three will finish in the top 10.
Patrick Reed Wins the Humana
For all of the talk of Jordan Spieth becoming the next great thing in American golf, look at what Reed has done.
Reed is in company with McIlroy, Woods and Garcia, as alluded to earlier. Now, with Woods and McIlroy, some of those tournament wins were majors, so that puts them in the one percent of the one percent.
Still, Reed can win and can close out tournaments. He’s been largely overlooked, but that will change this year.
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