Golf Asia - February 2018

34 GOLF ASIA

GOLFING

SCENE

Jon Rahm tastes victory for the first

time, an eagle on 18 securing the

Farmers Insurance Open. Looking for

omens? The last man to win that

tournament with an eagle was Tiger

Woods in 1999. “I have never felt so

tired ever in my life,” says Rahm.

Bernhard Langer shows no signs of

slowing down, winning the Mitsubishi

Electric Championship for his 30th

seniors title, and right now, nobody’s

asking any questions of ‘that’ putting

stroke.

Rickie Fowler celebrates his

28th birthday by hosting a party.

Judging by the images he posts

on Instagram, his guests were

Cindy Crawford and the Ryder

Cup. Andrew ‘Beef’

Johnston didn’t get an

invite but hatches a plan

for a “Birdie, Beer & Beef”

triathlon, with Beef and

John Daly taking on Steven

Bowditch and Boo Weekley. Details

and specifics are thin on the ground,

but it sounds typically Beef. After 17

months out, Tiger Woods returns to

competition in the Farmers

Insurance... and misses the cut.

It’s his seventh MC in his last 16

official starts, after four in his

first 13 seasons.

Untroubled, he tweets: “Just like

everybody, I’m getting ready for that

first full week in April.”

WINNERS
& LOSERS

J A N

“Erica actually got pissed off with it. He was texting me in the

middle of the night and I was like, ‘Tiger is in the gym’”

Tiger’s 4am texts don’t impress Rory’s fiancée, Erica Stoll

Coming into 2017, Justin Thomas was best known for being Jordan Spieth’s best buddy. And then

Hawaii happened. In the first week of the PGA Tour’s two-week stint in Pacific Islands, the big hitter

from Kentucky cards four rounds in the 60s to secure a three-shot victory at the SBS Tournament

of Champions. And in the second, he makes all sorts of history – opening the Sony Open in Hawaii

with a 59 to become the seventh player in PGA Tour history to break the 60 mark and following it up

with rounds of 64, 65 and 65 to claim a seven-shot win and set a bunch of new PGA Tour scoring records.

“It was a fun week,” he smiles “I played great golf and am excited about where my game is, and how comfortable I

am feeling.” And to answer those who hadn’t expected back-to-back victories? “I have always expected to be in

contention every time I play and now it is happening.”

206

Number of

consecutive

days Mark

Johnson

tweets

Sergio

Garcia to ask

if he can

caddie for

him. Sergio

finally breaks

and says,

“Si” for the

British

Masters.

GOLFING

SCENE

JT STEPS OUT OF THE SHADOWS