The Official 'Double P' Blog

After the fun of Wednesday afternoon, it was all business from there on out. PP hit the ball pretty well on Thursday, but his putter didn't cooperate at all. He his 16 greens and ended up only shooting one under par for an opening round 71. Quite disappointing considering how solid the ball striking was.

On Friday, The Kid was in the first group - out at 7:00am. Once again, the ball striking was solid but he didn't get much out of the round - making bogey for six on the final hole, an even par 72 on the day and a bad taste in his mouth going into Saturday's round.

Saturday is known as 'moving day' on the PGA Tour - basically positioning yourself to make that run in the final round. We talked that morning about the importance of getting off to a quick start. PP's birdie/eagle start was just that, however a double bogey on #4 slowed down a lot of the momentum. Still, PP showed great patience dealing with the double and steadied the ship - going out -2 for 34 on the front nine. When he stood on the 17th tee Saturday he was -4 for the tournament with two extremely difficult holes left to play.

His tee shot on #17 was solid, but it left him with a very fast downhill putt which he ran by the hole and three putted - as did many big name players this past weekend. Still, he responded with possibly his best hole of the tournament. He laced a drive up the par four #18, hit a great nine iron which he left six feet from the cup and holed it. PP was the only player to birdie #18 on Saturday and it was a stellar finish compared to Friday's final hole. Jeff Sluman told me on the range afterwards that it was one of the best played holes he's ever seen. Great praise coming from a Tour veteran like Slu.

Double P started Sunday tied for 12th and again, another fast start was in order. -2 after two holes was just what the doctor (in this case, Coach) ordered, followed by pars on #3 and #4. On #5, PP his perhaps his worst drive of the week, resulting in a double bogey. In years passed, this might've been the hole to rattle The Kid and impact the remaining thirteen holes. Not in 2006, though.

He bounced back with a great birdie on #6 and was back on his way again. By the time he got to #17, he was -5 -- again with two difficult holes to play. His nine iron on the 17th hole was five feet left of the pin and 20 feet long, again leaving him a lightning fast putt which sailed six feet past. This was definitely gut check time. PP drained the putt right in the middle, keeping him at -5 and t-3rd going into the final hole of the tournament.

A great drive on #18 and a solid second shot set up an easy two-putt par. His Sunday round of 71 was one of the few under round part of the day... which only exemplifies how solid Stephen Ames' final round 67 was.

All in all it was a great week. PP's ball striking was awesome. He finished the week t-1st for greens in regulation (GIR) and his putter started behaving better on the weekend. Most importantly, he dealt with the pressure of contending in a major championship like a veteran. Not only did The Kid play well, but I got to hang out with my sister AND I predicted PP would 'contend' twice on the Florida swing (Honda and PLAYERS.) Cool.

PP now has two weeks off to savor this one - after playing 10 of the past 11 weeks. Up next, the Hootie and the Blowfish 'Monday After the Masters' tournament and then it's off to Hilton Head for the MCI.

Go Low. Coach MO.