In contrast to the Dubai Desert Classic, the top twenty at the FBR Open in the ‘other’ desert, looked drab and unexciting. Only the winner Kenny Perry, David Toms, Zach Johnson and Geoff Ogilvy had star power.
As big a story as the winning effort by Perry was that Mickelson, Kim, Villegas, Leonard, Holmes , Weir and Cink – were all missing from the weekend. The big guns shot blanks. For Mickelson, being his first outing since the HSBC Champions in November, could be forgiven and is likely to be somewhere in the mix at Torrey Pines.
It says a lot that a 48 year-old can out-play, out-putt and often out-drive the young guns on the PGA Tour. We know that Vijay out-works his opponents but Perry is no fitness guru who wears out driving ranges. Bernhard Langer has two years to make another fortune out on the Champions Tour because as soon as Perry joins the ‘round bellies’ Langer will be playing for second.
The up-and-comers provided quite a lot of interest. Piercy’s lack of experience showed while Nitties cracked under the pressure. Both will benefit from their brush with victory. Ryan Moore had a look and sooner or later he must break through.
Hoffman is a previous tour winner and won’t have to improve much to win again. Kevin Na’s performance suggests that he too is likely to succeed when the big guns are vacationing or simply not performing.
In closing: CBS called Kenny Perry’s second to the par 5 fifteenth the Shot of the Day. It was a good shot but not as close as David Toms who knocked it stiff with his second and made eagle whereas Perry two-putted for birdie.
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