TPC Four Seasons Resort at Las Colinas, Irving, Texas, 7,166 yards, par 70
Design: Jay Moorish, 1983
Redesign: D.A. Weibring and Steve Wolfard, 2007
Defending champion: Steven Bowditch, -21, shot 62, 68, 65, 64 to win by four shots over Charley Hoffman, Scott Pickney and Jimmy Walker.
Last week: World No.1 Jason Day won the Players Championship going wire to wire shooting -14, 63, 66, 73, 71 to win by four shots over Kevin Chappell and capture his third title this season. Day also won the Arnie and the Match Play in back to back wins. With the Arnie and Players' victories, Day is the fourth player since 1970 to go wire to wire twice in a season. Johnny Miller did it in 1974, Tom Watson did it in 1980, and Tiger did it in 2000 and 2002. Nice pick by Spike. Spike picked Day to win. Second W for Spike this year as he also correctly predicted Adam Scott to win the WGC Cadillac Classic.
White's World pick last week: Rory, T-12th. Just didn't putt well enough.
TV: Thursday-Friday: Golf Channel, 4-7 PM ET/3-6 PM CT; Saturday-Sunday:Golf: 1-2:30 PM ET/12-1:30 PM CT; CBS 3-6 PM ET/2-5 PM CT
Weather: Highly questionable tomorrow (Thursday) with major chance of T-storms and heavy rain. Could be a postponement, but maybe they'll get it in. Wind ENE 7-10 MPH. High 65. Friday, some showers in the area, 60% chance. Wind 7-10 MPH. Rain shouldn't last that long. Saturday and Sunday look good. Saturday, sunny, 84, wind 6-9 MPH. Sunday, mostly sunny, 84, wind 9-14 MPH.
Featured tee times
7:40 AM CT, 10th Tee: Brandt Snedeker, Matt Kuchar, Louis Oosthuizen. Both Sneds and Kuchar are capable of winning this. Louis, too, for that matter. Good group here going off early, though that's questionable with the weather. Could be 36 Friday or Saturday.
7:50 AM, No.10: Charl Schwartzel, Sergio Garcia, Keegan Bradley. Keegan won here in 2011, Charl has won this year at the Valspar Championship in March in Tampa. Sergio, well, you never know what you're gonna get. Good player, but never sure where his head is at.
12:40 PM: Zach Johnson, Steven Bowditch, Dustin Johnson. Zach a threat every week with his stellar consistency. Bowditch is the defending champion and plays well in Texas. His other victory on tour came at the 2014 Valero Texas Open in San Antonio. Dustin is due, no doubt.
12:50 PM: Jason Dufner, Jordan Spieth, Jimmy Walker. Duf won here in 2012 and has already won this year at the Career Builder in California in January. Walker, like Zach, is a threat every week. Maybe Jordan can get it together this week. Dallas is his hometown and there will be a lot of family and friends there, so we'll see.
Key holes:
No. 3. 528 yards, Par 4
An extremely challenging hole that features a new fairway which has a lake running down the full length of the right side. Luckily, Tiger's not playing because they may never get through with the tournament. Three balls in the drink at Congressional from 102 yards. Are you kiddin me? He thinks he can still overtake Jack's record. He'll be lucky to win a tournament as this rate. The green is new and is guarded by two bunkers on the left and the right side.
No.11, 323, par 4
Driveable hole that offers the temptation to go for eagle. Dustin will challenge it. Keegan and some others will too, especially on Sunday, when a player is behind by three or four shots and needs to have a shot to gain ground on the leader. The green is large, but there are small bunkers guarding the front right, left and back left.
No.16, 546, par 5
Considered one of the most challenging holes on the course, it has an elevated tee box, the bunkers along the left side and the middle of the fairway take some skill to get around and avoid. The green is tough. With the shape of it and the area around it, it's difficult to hold.
No.17, 178, par 3
The signature hole on the course and one of the famous ones in golf. The pin placements tend to be near the lake guarding the front of the green, so players have to be careful to clear the water, and still try to give themselves a makeable birdie putt, particularly on Sunday. For the leader, if he's got a two shot lead or better, par would be the score here. Amphitheater look here.
No.18, 429, par 4
Slight dogleg left, there is water on the left side that extends from the landing area off the tee shot to the green. Players may need a birdie here. Exciting finishing hole. Should lead to high drama on Sunday.
Contenders
Duf
Playing well. Duf has his game back this year. Finished tied for eighth last year. Shot 66 on Sunday. If he's got the putter going, Duf could capture this title for the second time.
Jimmy Walker
Finished tied for second here last year and is a Texas native, so Walker knows this course. He's quite a player, and like I said earlier, a threat every week. Shot 66 in the final round last year.
Tony Finau
A sleeper pick here. Really good young player who finished tied 10th here last year and had a very good PGA Championship showing, as he finished tied for 10th at Whistling Straits and was putting on quite a display of putting. The 26 year old from Salt Lake City is a guy I see doing well this week and possibly winning. His future is bright.
Zach Johnson
I was torn between picking Zach and the player I'm choosing. Zach shot 63 last year in the final round and finished solo fifth. The 12 time winner on tour and two time major winner, is a guy who gets it done all the time. The 40 year old Johnson is the most consistent player on tour outside of Jason Day.
Winner
Going with the 35 year old from Nashvegas. He shot a 64 in the final round here last year to finish in a tie for sixth. Then at Colonial the next week, he finished in a tie for second to winner Chris Kirk. He doesn't play that well in Florida usually, but he plays well in California and in Texas. See the eight time tour winner capturing Lord Byron's tournament. Lord Byron Nelson won 52 times on tour with five majors. In 1945, he won 11 tournaments in a row and 18 of 35 PGA Tournaments he played in. Wow, that's phenomenal. See this guy getting it done at the legend's tourney this week.
Brandt "Sneedeker"
Got Sneds closing the deal at the Nelson