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The Buzz:

Amazing how much this event has climbed in popularity on the PGA Tour.  When this tournament ended after 2011 with no sponsor and many players not interested in playing the event, many thought that this event was finished.  But that wasn’t the case, Tim Finchem and the Tour hunkered down and help the tournament work an arrangement with Bill Clinton to get his foundation involved and then got Humana to take over sponsorship.  The format changed from a 90 hole tournament to 72 holes which help coax more players to attend.  Even with Humana leaving as the sponsor, the tour was able to get CareerBuilder to step in and take over for six years, so the event is on very firm foundation

Another thing that happened last year, and that was to bring the Stadium Course out of retirement after it was announced that long time home the Palmer private along with Nicklaus private didn’t want to be a part of the tournament.  So the tournament returned to the Pete Dye PGA West TPC Stadium Course, which held the event 30 years ago.  Back then the course was stunning on television but the players hated it.  In the age of persimmon drivers and balata balls the players thought the course was too hard and “gimmicky” with it’s island green, 20-foot-deep bunkers, a green completely surrounded by a nine foot moat style bunker.  Hitting drives was demanding because if the fairways were missed, the chances were good of the ball being in a bush or behind a tree.  The course was the most penal course in the Palm Springs area and the country.  On top of that the players hated  how long it took to play.  Playing alongside amateurs it took over six hours to get around.

The course was demonized by the players as being too hard and it was.  Over the course of the last 20 years, all the courses that have held the CareerBuilders are always ranked on the bottom of the list and the courses are know as places to make lot’s of eagles and birdies.  But that wasn’t the case with PGA West in 1987, the field played it once in the first 72 holes and then the final round was played on it.  So for the week it played to a 74.157 average, over two shots over par for the field.  It ranked as the 7th hardest course that year, the players were so loud in their displeasure that just a couple of days after Corey Pavin won the TPC Stadium Course was dropped by the PGA Tour.

Of the 18 holes, 16 of them played over par.  The only ones under was the par 5, 8th and the par 4, 12th. Hard to believe that three of the four par 5s were over par and the 11th hole played to a 5.308 average.  In the 30 years since only ten par 5s played harder with the 14th at Pebble Beach playing the hardest 5 times.

So the question was if players found what in 1987 an impossible course more possible 29 years later.  Over the three decades the course was softened.  Bushes and small trees that use to line the fairways had been removed as the fairways are more generious, the moat bunker at 12 is gone and with golf equipment better and the course gaining only 190 yards, it still looked speculator on TV but didn’t kill the pros  Last year the course played to an average of 70.818 making it the 41st hardest of 50 courses.  While in 1987 16 of the 18 holes played over par, in 2016 only seven of the 18 holes played over par.  More importunely the players loved playing the course and many thought it was one of the best courses of the year.  So last year the course was the star of the week and this week it will be as loved as it was last year.

Yes Bob Hope would be proud today that the tournament that looked like it was dead soon after he died is now very popular and players have no reason to avoid it anymore.  Another thing the PGA Tour has really changed over the years.  We saw the last two weeks as how 23 year-old Justin Thomas dominated the world of golf winning both the SBS Tournament of Champions and the Sony Open.  This week has a mix of the new breed of future PGA Tour stars, players like Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Luke List are in the field along with proven stars like Patrick Reed, Zach Johnson and Bill Haas are along for the ride.  This year Phil Mickelson has the official position as tournament ambassador and despite having two off-season hernia operations will try to play.

One last item, for the last five years, former President Bill Clinton has been a part of the CareerBuilders, being at the event shaking hands with players and fans along with handing out the trophy.  But with the end of the event being associated with the Clinton Foundation that means Bill won’t be around.  But it doesn’t mean a president won’t stop by, seems that after Friday’s inauguration the Obama’s are flying out to spend some time in the Palm Springs area.  So you never know if the former president will want to play in Saturday’s pro-am or just watch a little bit of golf as he now has a lot of time on his hands.

Course information:

A unique event as three courses are used.

PGA West TPC Stadium Course is the home and hold one round during the first three days and host Sundays action:

7,300 yards     Par 36-36–72

• Course has a 76.1 rating and slope rating of 150 from the championship tees making it one of the hardest courses in the country.
• The course was designed by Pete Dye and opened in 1986.  Dye was hired by the Landmark developing company, which were big in the 80s with over a dozen courses around the country.  Landmark owners Ernie Vossler and Joe Walser gave Dye the task to build them the toughest damn course in the World.
• Along with the 1987 CareerBuilder Challenge, the Skins Game was held on the course between 1986 and 1991.  PGA Tour qualifying school was held six times, the last being 2008 but the hint that the course was becoming more playable was when the Champions Tour held the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf on the course in 1995 and ’96.  The seniors took a liking to the course, which had been softened for that event.
• The average green size is 6,500 square feet and the course has close to hundred bunkers around it.  Water comes into play on nine of the holes and the CareerBuilder course record is 67 which Corey Pavin shot in the final round in 1987.
• Last year the course played to a 70.818 average and was the 41st hardest course on tour.

Other courses used in the Rota:

La Quinta C.C.

La Quinta, Calif.

7,060 yards     Par 36-36–72

• Course has a 74.2 rating and slope rating of 136 from the championship tees
• Course is private and not open to the public
• Course was designed by Billy Bell and Lawrence Hughes and was opened in 1959.  In 1999, Robert Muir Graves and Damian Pascuzzo came in, rebuilt all the greens, bunkers, and tees.  He has also taken all the water hazards on the course and made them all come into play. The flagpole at the first tee is the official flagpole from the 1960 Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley. It was given to La Quinta Country Club by the Novotny family in memory of Frank Capra.
• The average green size at La Quinta is 5,500 square feet, and the course has 101 bunkers.  There are five water hazards on the course with eight holes being effected.  The course was first used as a Humana course in 1964 and has been a part of 40 of the 52 Humana’s and historically been the hardest of the courses used.  It was the host course in 1970, 1977,1980, and 1983.
• Scoring average of the La Quinta course compared to other courses that hold events on the PGA Tour:
• 2016 – 69.148 average, 3rd easiest of 50 courses used for the year
• 2015 – 70.083 average, 6th easiest of 52 courses used for year
• 2014 – 69.768 average, 4th easiest of 48 courses used for year
• 2013 – 69.487 average, 3rd easiest of 43 courses used for year
• 2012 – 70.678 average, 41st hardest of 49 courses used for year
• 2011 – 70.024 average, 43rd hardest of 51 courses used for year
• 2010 – 69.969 average, 47th hardest of 52 courses used for year

PGA West Nicklaus Tournament Course

La Quinta, Calif.

7,204 yards     Par 36-36–72

• Course has a 75.3 rating and slope rating of 143 from the championship tees
• Course is open to the public
• The course is a tamer version of it’s neighbor the Stadium course.  Look for lot’s of birdies to be made as the fairways are generous and the greens should be easy to hit.  Course held final PGA Tour qualifying tournament on the course in 1988, ’90. ’93, 2000, ’02, ’04, ’06, ’08, ’12 and ’13 so many of the players in the field will have played it.
• Last year the course was used and blended very well into the tournament.  The course had the most birdies and eagles of the three courses and played to a 68.936 average making it the second easiest course on tour.

COURSE KEYS

We won’t have course keys since the event is played on three different courses.

Here are some of the secrets of what it takes to play well at the CareerBuilder Challenge:

Key stat for the winner:

• With the addition of PGA West TPC Stadium Course it now gives the tournament a bit more of a challenge.  You won’t find any 59s shot on this course, last year 65 was the lowest round shot at the Stadium Course.  But two of the four rounds are played on courses that need a player to make a lot of birdies so those that do when in stats related to shooting under par will do well this week.
• Most important stat is how many birdies are allowed on the three courses.  Last year players teed it up on two of the four rounds at PGA West Stadium Course and made 22 eagles and 909 birdies.  Remember that this course had each player go around twice on the course, while the other two course held one round for each player.  La Quinta had 32 eagles and 733 birdies while PGA West Tournament had 24 eagles and 765 birdies. So a key stat, to look at for this week, is Par Breakers on tour.  Of the top-ten on that list, Anirban Lahiri, Jon Rahm and Francesco Molinari are in the CareerBuilder Challenge field.

Here are some more key stats to look to for this week:

• This week the pros will play over three courses in four days, quite a learning scale with very little time to prepare and learn two new courses.  Making it even harder for those coming from Hawaii unless they took red-eyes on Sunday Night or missed the cut; they won’t get to start practicing until Tuesday.  Still it’s better than the days when this event was played over five days.
• Another problem for the pros, the first three days they play with amateurs.  So patient is needed to tolerate those five plus hour rounds.  So look for experience players to do well, those with a long track record at the CareerBuilder should be your favorites. Since 1984, the champion has averaged winning in his 7th start. Last year Bill Haas won on his 11 try while the year before Patrick Reed won in only his second start.  In 2013, Brian Gay won on his 12th CareerBuilder start while 2012 winner Mark Wilson was making his fourth start when he won.  Experience is a must in this event.  Yes Jhonathan Vegas won the first time around in 2011 and Charley Hoffman in 2007 was the first player to make his Hope debut a victory since Donnie Hammond did it in 1986.  Still consider Hoffman, Vegas, and Reed are exceptions to the rule.
• As we said before, the winner will have to make lots of birdies and eagles to win. When it was played over 90 holes, Phil Mickelson made 37 birdies in 2004 while Justin Leonard made 33 in 2005.   D.J. Trahan made 35 in 2008 along with Pat Perez in 2009,  Bill Haas made 34 in 2010 and Jhonathan Vegas made 34 in 2011.  When the event changed to 72 holes in 2012, Mark Wilson made 24 birdies while Brian Gay made 27 in 2013  In 2014 Patrick Reed went crazy with 30 birdies, along with two eagles while in 2015 Bill Haas made one eagle and 22 birdies.  Last year on new courses Jason Dufner went low and had 30 birdies. So to win they will have to birdie at least 3 out of every ten holes played.
• Look at someone who destroys the par 5s.  The last 16 winners have averaged 15 under on them with Phil Mickelson playing them in 14 under in 2002.  Mike Weir played them in 15 under in 2003 and Phil Mickelson played them in 12 under in 2004.   Jason Dufner went low last year playing the par 5s in 13 under, keeping up the tradition. Justin Leonard played them in 10 under in 2005, Chad Campbell played them in 18 under in 2006, Charley Hoffman played them in 15 under in 2007 while D.J. Trahan was 13 under on them with Pat Perez setting the record for playing them in 19 under in 2009.  Bill Haas played them in 16 under in 2010 while Jhonathan Vegas was 11 under the last year it was held at 90 holes.  In 2012, Mark Wilson was 15 under while Brian Gay was 10 under in 2013.  In 2015 Patrick Reed was 14 under on them.
• Now over the course of the last month the Southern California area has been hit with a lot of storms and rain.  The bad news is the Palm Springs area is suppose to have rain on Thursday, Friday and Sunday.  Now the good news, since the courses are tucked in the mountains it sometimes is raining hard in Palm Springs but just 20 miles away in La Quinta it could be dry.  Still there won’t be perfect, sunny weather for four days, kind of what people think happens in Palm Springs.
• One last thing, look for players that have won on tough courses, makes sense since last year’s winner Jason Dufner is a PGA Champion.  So don’t be surprised if major winners Keegan Bradley and Angel Cabrera, who haven’t played well in years does well.  But maybe it’s time to look at Zach Johnson, Geoff Ogilvy, Webb Simpson or even a Stewart Cink to do well.  As of Phil Mickelson, we have to give him a pass since he may not be 100% ready to go this week.