Waste Management Phoenix Open 2015: Daily Leaderboard Analysis and Highlights
Tiger Woods' first appearance on the 2015 PGA Tour has finally arrived. Woods is one of a number of the game's best due in Scottsdale this week for the 2015 Waste Management Phoenix Open, which is typically one of the most populated early-season tournaments.
For Woods, it's a deviation from the norm. The former world No. 1 will be appearing in the event for the first time in more than a decade. It's his first tournament of the 2015 calendar year and first since a tie for last place at the Humana Challenge.
Also making the trip to Arizona is local favorite Phil Mickelson, a three-time winner of the event, and Bubba Watson. If there's one thing the American-heavy field lacks, it's participants from across the pond. The highest-ranked non-American in the field is No. 18 Hideki Matsuyama. Keep in mind the world's top three golfers and six of the top 10 reside outside the United States.
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If it weren't for Woods' appearance, perhaps the field would feel a little underwhelming. But instead it's a mark-your-calendar event that will surely carry momentum into the weekend. The following is a day-by-day outlook at the 2015 Phoenix Open.
Leaderboard
Day 4 Recap
At just 24 years of age, Brooks Koepka has won his first-ever PGA Tour event, shooting a 66 on Sunday to finish at 15-under and edge out Bubba Watson, Ryan Palmer and Hideki Matsuyama (all 14-under).
Martin Laird, who opened the day atop the leaderboard, shot a final-round 72 and finished 12-under, a disappointing finale to an otherwise excellent tournament.
But this day was all about Koepka, who looks like one of the young stars to watch in the game of golf, per Jason Sobel of the Golf Channel:
Young, talented players just continue to make their mark on the game, as John Buccigross of ESPN noted:
It's not hard to see the immense potential Koepka possesses when he's knocking in unbelievable eagles like this one on No. 15:
Stats like the one passed along by golf writer Ron Mintz certainly helped:
"Brooks Koepka stats: Scoring avg 67.67 Driving Distance 310 yrds Driving accuracy 58.93 GIR 75 Scrambling 83 Strokes gained putting .90
— Ron Mintz (@PGATOURNEWS) February 1, 2015"
His ability to hit the greens was vital, as PGA Tour on Twitter noted:
"Brooks Koepka hit 14 greens in a row to close out his first win. 9 of those 14 approach shots were inside 20 feet. pic.twitter.com/59Uw7iRQOf
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 1, 2015"
Koepka had more than a few challengers to hold off on the day, however. Watson bookended his tournament with a score of 65 on Thursday and again on Sunday, coming up just short in his effort to start the year off strongly with a win.
He did provide one of the highlights of the day with this shot on No. 12, however:
Day 3 Recap
For the first time, the Waste Management Phoenix Open ended with every player finishing his round before the darkness kicked in.
Just as he did on Friday, Martin Laird ended the day in the lead. He wasn't quite as good as the previous two rounds with 66s, but the 32-year-old played an efficient round with a three-under 68 to maintain his three-stroke advantage heading into Sunday's finale.
Even though all eyes were fixed on Woods during the first two rounds, allowing Laird to slip under the radar, he deserves the spotlight now. After rain wreaked havoc on the TPC Scottsdale course on Thursday and Friday, the Scotland native said after his performance yesterday that it reminded him of home, via The Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com):
"The weather is so good here, when the weather is like this, we don't play," Laird said. "I really don't remember a day where it's just been that kind of drizzle. It was a very Scottish day today. We get rain, but it's not sort of an all-day thing."
Perhaps that's why Laird looked so comfortable early in the tournament, though Saturday was proof that he's just playing really good golf.
Behind Laird is Hideki Matsuyama, who had the round of the day firing a 63 to move up 25 spots and move into contention on Sunday. You could tell everything was working right for the Japanese star with this tee shot on No. 16:
The 22-year-old Matsuyama has a lot of fans in the golf community, like Kieran Clark of EDraft.com who puts a lot of pressure on the young star by bringing up the "m" word:
Matsuyama does have two top-10 finishes in his career at majors, finishing tied for sixth at the 2013 British Open and tied for 10th at the 2013 U.S. Open. He's started the new year with some erratic play, finishing third at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions and 78th at the Sony Open.
However, as good as Matsuyama's shot on No. 16 was, it does net get the title of the best from Saturday. Jason Sobel of The Golf Channel provided the intimate details of what Francesco Molinari did when he stepped up to the tee:
Sobel also tweeted out that this is the ninth hole-in-one on No. 16 at this tournament since 1987:
Instead of continuing to talk about Molinari's shot, let's take a look at the video courtesy of PGA Tour on Twitter:
Molinari isn't out of the tournament at eight-under thanks to his 64 on Saturday, though it will take a Herculean effort on Sunday for him to climb over everyone and walk away with a victory.
If we learned anything from Saturday, it's that Laird is in some kind of groove. He will be feeling the pressure to get his first PGA Tour win since April 2013, as well as the charge put on by Matsuyama, Brooks Koepka and Zach Johnson at 10-under par.
There were plenty of low scores on the course today, so everyone in contention should have ample opportunities to keep the momentum going on Sunday.
Day 2 Recap
For the second consecutive day, the Waste Management Phoenix Open was unable to complete a round because of darkness. Most players were able to finish, but Saturday will be a busy one for those still needing to finish the second round.
One player who would like a mulligan for today is Tiger Woods. Even though he's acknowledged that getting back into the swing of things is a process, his second-round performance was dreadful. The 14-time major winner shot an 82, leaving him in last place at 13-over par.
Per SportsCenter on Twitter, Woods' score on Friday was the single-worst round of his career:
Jason Sobel of The Golf Channel also offered a stat on Woods' performance that helps put things in perspective:
Fortunately, Woods didn't seem too down on himself with this note on Twitter:
Woods said a lot more than that at his post-round press conference, even pulling a Marshawn Lynch by saying that he was "just doing this so I don't get fined."
Bob Harig of ESPN.com posted some of what Woods said after the round, including the previous quote, but this one better encapsulates things:
"We all have days like this," Woods said. "Unfortunately, mine was in a public forum, a public setting. We all have days like this. We take the good with the bad, and the thing is even on bad days like this, just keep fighting, because on the good days you've got to keep fighting, as well."
One silver lining is Woods doesn't have to worry about playing this weekend, leaving plenty of time to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday.
Joining Woods as observers this weekend will be Phil Mickelson, who wasn't as bad as his rival but couldn't get anything going en route to firing a 76 that left him at three-over par for the tournament with a projected cut line of plus-one.
This video of Mickelson on the 13th hole pretty much sums up his day, via PGA Tour on Twitter:
As for players who will be around for the next two days, Martin Laird had one of the best performances on Friday. The Scotland native took the lead thanks to a 66.
According to Kevin Zimmerman of Fox Sports Arizona, as Laird started the 17th hole he had a blemish-free scorecard:
Zimmerman's tweet would be a jinx, as Laird finished the round with a bogey on the par-4 18th hole, but he still holds a two-stroke lead at 10-under par. His performance is even more impressive when you consider the rainy conditions at the course all day.
Right behind Laird on the leaderboard is 21-year-old Daniel Berger, who is in his first full season on the PGA Tour after playing in the U.S. Open last year. He followed a 65 on Thursday with a 69 today that left him at eight-under par.
Just to rub salt in the wound left by Woods' round, Sobel posted this note on Twitter about Berger and third-place player Justin Thomas:
For the record, Woods' opening nine score was 44 and the combined ages of Berger and Thomas is 42.
Thomas is starting to come into his own, as the PGA Tour noted he could be looking at a fifth straight top-10 finish if things break right this weekend:
This is good news for fans of golf. Even though Woods is the biggest star in the sport and will garner most of the attention for how he played, being able to see two young players near the top of the leaderboard only helps the sport.
Of course, all the pressure is on Berger and Thomas as they are still looking up at Laird. It's not an impossible mountain to climb, but young players tend to go through hot and cold spells more than veterans. Laird's consistency through two rounds also makes him a formidable foe to try and take down.
Day 1 Recap
If we were wondering why Woods hadn't appeared in this event since 2001, he didn't take long to remind us. A miserable front nine left him battling outside the top 100 early, scrambling to save face on the back and nowhere near the leaderboard heading into Friday.
Ryan Palmer sits atop the field after turning in a seven-under score of 64 Thursday, putting him nine strokes ahead of Woods and clear of the other competitors by two strokes. One of the last players to hit the opening tee box, Palmer started his day with a sterling back nine and didn't look back.
The longtime Tour veteran carded his first of five birdies on the par-three No. 12 and then followed it up with an impressive eagle on the par-five 13th. He carded a surprising second birdie on a par-three on No. 16 and added another a hole later to make the turn at five under. Ascending up a leaderboard that also includes Bubba Watson, Zach Johnson and Keegan Bradley, Palmer settled down on the more difficult front nine but stayed steady.
After moving to seven-under after back-to-back birdies on No. 2 and 3, Palmer closed out with six straight pars to hold his lead. He hit an excellent 315.5 yards per drive off the tee and hit the fairway on better than 70 percent of his trips. Nearly every statistic had him far above the tour average. The 38-year-old will be looking for his fourth PGA Tour win and first in a half-decade.
Palmer also made sure fans were having as much fun as he was, tossing autographs and cash into the crowd at No. 16.
"I'm putting a few of these in my bag Thursday and Saturday," Palmer said, per Michael Collins of ESPN.com. "Tweet it out in the morning to get everyone going. Then you can come watch me do it.
Sitting directly behind Palmer on the leaderboard is the trio of Watson, Bradley and Daniel Berger, the latter's day suspended by darkness. Bradley overcame a bogey on No. 1 to go seven-under on the other 17 holes. Watson, who also had an excellent afternoon after a strong back nine, turned in five birdies and an eagle against one bogey (No. 2).
As for the two most notable faces in the field, well, their day could have gone better. Mickelson sits in a tie for 29th after shooting a two-under 69 that featured as many highs as lows. Lefty started his day in a hole, bogeying No. 10 and then turning in a double that sent him spiraling to three over. Then back-to-back birdies on Nos. 17 and 18 turned things around, as Mickelson played nearly flawless the rest of the way.
"I'm in a position now if I get hot tomorrow I can get right back in it," Mickelson told reporters. "If I end up shooting one over, two over, I end up having to get a hot round just to get in the middle of the pack, so this was a big round to get it to under par."
Woods, meanwhile, doesn't have much to celebrate. He played the first four holes at four over, turning in back-to-back birdies to start and then doubling No. 4. While he went two under the rest of the way—including an eagle on No. 13—it was largely a miserable afternoon that all but takes him out of contention after one round. Resting firmly outside the Top 100, Woods will need a big day Friday to even make the cut.
Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.
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