You never want to go astray with the driver
The keys to playing Riviera Country Club as a PGA Tour pro don’t just involve reading greens and knowing what mid-iron to pull.
Just as important is where you plan to sleep at night.
John Merrick, in the thick of Northern Trust contention at eight under par, grew up in Long Beach and attended UCLA.
In other words, he is no crash-test dummy.
“You don’t want to stay east of the 405.” he said. “Those guys that are staying over there, they have a ton of traffic getting back.”
Merrick, wisely, is staying in Santa Monica.
“I got here in 10 minutes this morning,” he said. “Yeah, I think Santa Monica is the way to go to stay here.”
Keep on dancing
James Hahn was not planning on playing Riviera this week, but his tie for third at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am last week earned him a spot in the Northern Trust.
“Sixth straight golf tournament for me,” Hahn said. “Usually don’t do that.”
There has been nothing ordinary about the rookie year of Hahn, who made the cut at Riviera after rounds of 67 and 74.
He tied for fourth at the Humana Challenge, which included a final-round 62, and has already earned $690,796 in five tournaments. That’s more than he made in 77 career starts on the Web.com Tour.
Hahn became YouTube famous, of course, for his “Gangnam-style” dance on the rowdy par-three 16th at the Phoenix Open.
Jordan rules It might seem odd that
Luke Donald and Michael Jordan ended up as friends. Donald grew up in England and Jordan is from North Carolina.
Donald, however, started his college career at Northwestern, north of Chicago, in 1997. And Jordan, as everyone knows, has always been fanatical about golf.
Donald and Jordan now live close to each other in Florida and Donald’s wife is close with Jordan’s fiancee.
Jordan, who just turned 50, is arguably the greatest basketball player of all time.
Donald once was the No. 1 golfer in the world, but now he has slipped to third behind Rory Mcllroy and Tiger Woods.
How many strokes does Donald give Jordan on the links?
“I usually give him six a side and that’s usually not enough for him,” Donald joked.
Matching up Fredrik Jacobson, ranked 66th in the world, got into next week’s Match Play event in Arizona after
Brandt Snedeker withdrew because of a rib injury.
A top finish at Riviera might help Jacobson next week avoid Mcllroy or Woods.
“I haven’t even thought about it,” Jacobson said.
Maybe he will now?
Pack your bags Notables missing the cut
at two over included Graeme McDowell, Dustin Johnson, Charles Howell III (three over), Corey Pavin, Zach Johnson, Rory Sabbatini (four over) and Padraig Harrington and Bubba Watson (six over).