Windy Hyundai Tournament of Champions

A SEMI-retired professional golfer decided to work for a big multi-national company as a trainee. On his first day, his personal caddie calls and tells him, “Hey, you were invited to join the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, so I suggest you leave that office, pack your bags because we are flying to Hawaii.” So the pro golfer dialed the personnel department and shouted, “Find me a replacement quick because I am leaving the office for a few days!” The voice from the other side responded, “You fool; you’ve dialed the wrong extension! Do you know who you’re talking to?” “No” replied the pro golfer/trainee.

“It’s the Managing Director of the company, you idiot!” The pro golfer/trainee shouted back, “And do you know who YOU are talking to, you IDIOT?” “No!” replied the Managing Director angrily. “Good! Whew! Hihihi! What a relief!” replied the golfer and then he slammed the phone down…

Speaking of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions which held last week, here are the results:

1st place – Dustin Johnson; 2nd place – Steve Stricker; 3rd place – Brandt Snedeker; tied for 4th place – Bubba Watson and Keegan Bradley; tied for 6th place – Rickie Fowler and Tommy Gainey; 8th place – Carl Petterson; and tied for 9th place – Ian Poulter and Matt Kuchar.

They were only able to finish 54 holes instead of the usual 72 holes. It was a freaky week because the wind was very strong. There were funny moments during the tournament. One was about Matt Kuchar, that while he was about to tee off, as he was standing there, his ball blew 5 yards behind him two times. That was how strong the wind was.

One player had to chip with a 6-iron instead of a pitching wedge to keep it under the wind. Brandt Snedeker hit an 8-iron hard and it only landed just 50 yards away. He even joked about it saying something like, if he had ran towards the ball after hitting it, he might have caught that ball on its way down.

One player was about to putt and his ball blew back and landed about 10 feet outside the green. His mistake was that he should have marked his ball. So, I guess he had to pitch back to the green again, and he had to putt again.

Oh well, even if they had poor playing conditions, the show must go on. It was an official PGA Tour event. Tickets have been sold. The sponsors expect the tournament to go on. And the players were excited and hungry to compete again after a long break. That was money in the pocket for them and fame for those who will win. It was just unfortunate that they were only able to play 3 days instead of the usual 4 days. No chance for the others to catch up with the one who was leading. But according to the commentators, it was a good decision to cut the tournament short.

I remember joining the Hong Kong Ladies Open years ago. It was raining all throughout the tournament. I was in 4th place in the class B division going to the final round. On the night before the final round, all I could think about was to beat the girl from Singapore who was in 3rd place. And the next day, I was prepared mentally for battle. But then, it rained harder. So we waited. And then, after a few hours, we were told that the organizing committee decided to cancel the final day. Ouch. Poor me. No trophy. Prize trophies were only up to 3rd place. Never mind. We were in Hong Kong. Naka-shopping pa rin kami.

This week, it will be the Sony Open, also in Hawaii. Let us hope it won’t be as windy.

In the local scene, I have no tournaments to report this week. The next monthly tournament of Rancho Palos Verdes is scheduled on January 18-20. FYI, the Phoenix Open is scheduled on March 9.

I will end my article with this: Girl, talking to her golfer manliligaw (suitor): When I asked you for a flower, you gave me a garden... When I asked you for a crystal, you gave me a diamond. When I asked you for a bicycle, you gave me a car. When I asked for grass for my lawn, you gave me a whole golf course. What are you...deaf?!? Bingi ka ba?!?
Happy Golfing!