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The Grind: Dustin Johnson, Paulina Gretzky & other Hawaiian tales

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 14:46:00 GMT

Welcome to the first edition of "The Grind," where we sift through everything golf (and a little beyond) to get you caught up on the week that was -- and to set you up for what's to come. And what a wild first week it was on the PGA Tour. Between the gale-force winds and Johnny Miller in the TV tower, I'm not sure a tour event has ever featured so much hot air. Speaking of which, why was everyone so surprised by the wind delays? When I played Kapalua's Plantation Course a few years back, the thing I remember most was a a guy in my group popping up a tee shot at one point and our group watching in amazement as the ball blew back over our heads. Was that a quick round in tropical paradise? No, it was not. In any matter, let's move on before the wind picks up again. . .

WE'RE BUYING

Dustin Johnson. The guy is on top of the world right now. I mean, just look at his new gal pal, Paulina Gretzky (Yes, that's her to the left. Need a minute? I'll wait. . . Still looking? OK, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, now move on!). Oh yeah, Johnson is also coming off that win in Kapalua. But back to Paulina, the daughter of hockey legend Wayne Gretzky and Janet Jones. I had the pleasure of meeting her when her dad was playing in the 2010 Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge at Pebble Beach. I didn't even notice her being that attractive*.

*FALSE.

Steve Stricker. Starting to enter the retirement phase of your life when you're 46? Nice. Having golf being the working part of said retirement phase? Even nicer. Starting all this having earned more than $25 million in just the past six years on the PGA Tour? OK, now I'm starting to really dislike this guy. By the way, he finished runner-up in his cameo at Kapalua.

NFL Playoffs. Green Bay at San Francsisco this week? A potential matchup between Peyton Manning's Broncos and Tom Brady's Patriots the following week? And all this before the Super Bowl? We should be in for a treat the next few weeks. Why was I mentioning this again? Oh yeah, a lot of these guys play golf as well.

WE'RE SELLING

Carl Pettersson. The big Swede played well at Kapalua (solo 8th), but called out the USGA for going on a long putter "witch hunt" and then didn't return a call from USGA Executive Director Mike Davis. Watch out, CP, that could mean a U.S. Open pairing with Kevin Na and Ben Crane. And you thought waiting out some wind delays was rough. . .

College football. The PGA Tour faced a fair amount of criticism for scheduling its season opener to end on the same night as the BCS Championship Game. That didn't end up happening, but shouldn't more of the blame fall on the NCAA for having its break between conference championships and the final bowl game last about as long as golf's entire "offseason"? And speaking of that title game between Alabama and Notre Dame, we waited all this time for that?

Kyle Stanley. Conditions at Kapalua were tough, but Stanley was the only player to put up an 80 during the season opener. His 11-over-par total left him five shots behind anyone else in the 30-man field. Nike will have to wait another week for one of their newest investments to start paying dividends.

ON TAP

The PGA Tour goes island hopping in Hawaii for the Sony Open in Honolulu, where Johnson Wagner and his Tom Selleckesque mustache stole the show last year. It's the first full-field event of the season.

Random tournament fact: Tadd Fujikawa made the cut at 16 years and four days in 2007. Yawn. Nowadays, we have 15-year-olds winning LPGA events and 14-year-olds qualifying for the Masters.

WEEKLY YAHOO! FANTASY LINEUP

Starters -- (A-List): Tim Clark. I'm expecting big things from the small South African this year. Plus, this allows me to link to our "13 Sleepers To Watch in 2013" feature.

(B-List): Dustin Johnson. Stop looking at the picture of Paulina Gretzky!

(B-List): Matt Kuchar. Also my knockout pick of the week.

(C-List): Matt Every. He was the 54-hole leader here last year and also provided one of the most awkward interviews of the season.

Bench -- Charles Howell III, Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson and Scott Piercy.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

-- Michelle Wie, who played in this event four times as a teen phenom will be mentioned daily during the TV broadcast: 1-to-10 odds

-- There will be a new FedEx Cup leader come Sunday: Even money

-- That the new FedEx Cup leader will actually win the FedEx Cup at the end of the season: 100-to-1

CELEBRITY/ATHLETE WE'D LIKE TO PLAY GOLF WITH

Robert Griffin III and Russell Wilson. I'm not sure if either of these guys even play golf, but do I ever enjoy watching them play football. After what happened to RG3's knee in last Sunday's playoff tilt, however, I hope he isn't relegated to only playing golf just yet.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Yao Ming was a tremendous basketball player, who had his career cut short by foot and ankle injuries. Since his retirement from the NBA in 2011, it doesn't appear like he's played too much golf. The above clip from a couple months ago shows the 7-foot-6 Ming struggling to make contact on a pitch shot. He also seems to be struggling with his wardrobe. The untucked off-white shirt with white pants? Our Mr. Style might have to make an emergency trip to China. . .

UNSUNG TOUR PLAYER OF THE WEEK George McNeill. The two-time tour winner wound up giving a fan a ride to the course when he mistakenly got into his courtesy car. Apparently, the fan didn't recognize McNeill (would most of his fellow tour pros even recognize him?) In any matter, you deserve praise for the fact that you drove this guy to the course and didn't kick him to the curb. I'll let you know the next time I fly to a tour event you're playing in so you can pick me up from the airport.

THIS AND THAT

Norm Macdonald is now writing golf columns for Grantland.com. That is not a misprint. . . . Rory McIlroy is set to become a Nike man, but just as importantly, his deal with Jumeirah Estates is done. That means no more of those ugly hats. . . . David Duval took to Twitter to complain about not getting a sponsor's exemption to the Humana Challenge, where he famously shot a final-round 59 in 1999. He also happened to miss the cut by 18 shots there on a sponsor's exemption last year. . . . Why is there a picture of a chocolate cake coated in M&Ms and encrusted by Kit Kat bars? Because it's AWESOME.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Imagine if there was a "Black Monday" for swing instructors like there is for NFL coaches following the Tour Championship?

The proposed anchor ban isn't set to start until 2016, but when will the nightmares begin to creep in for all of the players who use belly putters?

Does Paulina Gretzky have any sisters?

-- Alex Myers is a contributing editor for GolfDigest.com. Feel free to email him and please follow him on Twitter since he has self-esteem issues.

Johnson and the circuitous route to stardom

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 00:30:00 GMT

(Getty Images photo)

By John Strege

KAPALUA, Hawaii -- Dustin Johnson seems to prefer circuitous routes, but the destination is unchanged and he is closing on it. The last remaining obstacle? Himself.

He circumvented it in the final round of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions on Tuesday and emerged (escaped?) with a four-stroke victory that was, by his own description, "nowhere near ho-hum."

He once led by five, then led by one, the result of his proclivity for not fully assessing the situation and avoiding unnavigable precincts. One of them on Tuesday was a group of shrubs and trees left of the 13th fairway on the Plantation Course.

Then talent took over and he won for the seventh time. He also extended his streak of years with at least one victory to six, second only to Phil Mickelson's nine. More impressively, perhaps, is that he became the first player since Tiger Woods to win six straight years upon leaving college.

The destination can be found among those credentials. It's called superstardom.

Golf is too fickle to reliably prognosticate, but Johnson's chest is not missing any tools and he's only 28.

"He's got that athletic build, that athletic body," Steve Stricker said. "He's got a tremendous amount of flexibility. He gets the club in positions that people can't get it into, and he can use that height to his advantage, the big arc to get that powerful hit on the ball.

"He's just going to get better. That's going to be the fun part, watching what he's going to do from here on out, because he looks unflappable out there."

The 13th and 14th holes on Tuesday were a microcosm of Johnson's game. At 13 and holding a three-stroke lead, the situation called for a 3-iron from the tee and 8-iron from the fairway. Instead he took driver and hit wayward.

The search party included Stricker. "We found a shoe, some sunglasses, about five or six other balls," Stricker said. "There might have been a guy living up in in the tree. I don't know."

A double-bogey there threatened his hold in the lead, yet he opted for driver on the next tee, too, "piped it," Stricker said, then pitched in for eagle.

"Dude, what are you doing?" Stricker asked him as they walked down the 15th fairway. "Why don't you take iron out, make me have to make birdies instead of you hitting in the trees and opening it up for me?"

"Yeah, I know," Johnson replied.

He knows, but can't seem to help himself. "I don't know what was going through my head," he said.

The fearlessness or recklessness -- take your pick -- in concert with his athleticism and skill is what makes him so entertaining. "You never know what he's going to do," Stricker said.

Related: 13 Sleepers To Watch In 2013

But it also is the obstacle standing between him and a sustained run in the World Ranking top 10. He has ranked as high as fourth, in 2011, but was 23rd entering the Hyundai.

"I still don't think I've lived up to my potential," he said. "Obviously, this week I did, but I still made some mistakes. Limiting those will help, just making some better decisions. If I keep playing golf like I'm playing right now, then obviously there is no limit."

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Golf World Monday: No pact yet for Tour officials

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 17:42:00 GMT

By John Strege

From the Jan. 8 issue of Golf World Monday:

No one was happy with the way the PGA Tour season began, including tour rules officials for reasons unrelated to the weather calamity that plagued the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. Their union, the Professional Association of Golf Officials, is working without a contract, its previous agreement having expired at the end of the 2012 season.

"As of this second there are no meetings scheduled," the officials' attorney, Christian Dennie, said. "I anticipate we'll continue to talk and meet."

Photo by Getty Images

Neither Dennie nor Ty Votaw, vice president communications and international affairs for the PGA Tour, would comment on what the issues are, though salary and benefits are believed to be the crux of the union's complaints.

The union has filed a legal malpractice suit against its previous representatives, claiming that in collective bargaining it was responsible for "lost salary and benefits, automobile and automobile insurance, first class travel and a number of other items."

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Is Paulina Gretzky Dustin Johnson's secret weapon?

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 16:25:00 GMT

By Alex Myers

Dustin Johnson had a good day on Monday. The PGA Tour star finally got to start his regular season and he looked in mid-season form, firing rounds of 69 and 66 to grab a three-shot lead heading into the final round of the weather-shortened Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

Oh yeah, he had a special guest in his gallery.

Paulina Gretzky, the daughter of hockey legend Wayne Gretzky (and 2010 Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge contestant) and Janet Jones, followed DJ as he took apart Kapalua's Plantation Course (He would go on to win the event by four shots). Not familiar with the Instagram star? Have a look below at these photos taken on Monday:

We hate to speculate on tour players' relationship statuses, but Johnson and Gretzky have been seen together all week in Kapalua, including out at night. This also isn't the first time DJ has had company in Hawaii. Two years ago, LPGA star Natalie Gulbis followed Johnson around at the season-opening event and confirmed the two had started dating. Unfortunately, that relationship wound up lasting about as long as a Kapalua wind delay.

UPDATE: Gretzky posted of her and Johnson on Instagram Thursday night:

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Finally, golf that counts; Fowler an early leader

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 21:27:00 GMT

By John Strege

KAPALUA, Hawaii -- The PGA Tour season finally began on Monday, three days late and on a day more represtative of the weather on this side of Maui.

"It was nice," said Rickie Fowler, an early clubhouse leader in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. Fowler shot a three-under par 70 on the Plantation Course here. "It felt pretty calm out there actually, from the winds we've seen. The greens are a little slow, just to make it playable and keep the ball on teh green. I had a few come up short, but it was fun."

Play had begun twice in the previous three days, only to be stopped when wind gusts made the course unplayable. The intention today is to complete 36 holes on Monday, then finish the tournament as a 54-hole event wilth the final round played on Tuesday.

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Gusting winds blow tournament into Tuesday

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 00:09:00 GMT

By John Strege

KAPALUA, Hawaii -- On two occasions, Matt Kuchar's ball was blown off the tee. Ben Curtis hit greens in regulation on his first two holes and played them in five-over par. Ian Poulter expressed remorse that he hadn't invested in Maui wind farms.

So it is that the Hyundai Tournament of Champions that was supposed to end on Monday is now set to start on Monday as a result of winds, this time gusting to 48 miles per hour.

For the second time in three days, play was suspended in mid-round on the Plantation Course at Kapalua and scores were scrapped on Sunday. The tournament will start over again at 7:10 a.m. Hawaiian time on Monday, with the goal to play 36 holes, followed by an additional 18 on Tuesday.

"We tried, and what happened was expected," Poulter said. "But what can the tournament do? It's all really unfortunate. I understand why they had to try. They had no options. To the outside world everyone sees it's blue skies, we're in Hawaii, why aren't we playing golf? Well, I think we just showcased for the last hour why we shouldn't be on the golf course. It's unplayable. What should we have done? What could we have done? I don't know. This is a complete freak of nature. There's no other way to explain it, and it's just unfortunate for everybody involved."

Andy Pazder, chief of operations for the PGA Tour, said that the players can play if the wind gusts are in the 25 to 30 mile-per-hour range. "We registered gusts up to 48 miles per hour right before we suspended play," he said.

Slugger White, vice president rules and competition for the tour, said, "You just can't play in this. You could hardly walk in it, much less play golf."

White said the forecast for Monday is modestly better. "We've got about a five-mile-an-our decrease in velocity [projected]," he said.

Keegan Bradley, meanwhile, considered the possibility that these were the strongest winds he's ever experienced.

"Maybe at the top of a ski hill a couple times," he said. "This is the worst I've ever seen on a golf course."

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Photos: Magic Markers

GolfDigest.com — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 04:00:00 GMT

A global search for the game's most creative tee markers. Have you seen a unique tee marker? Share it on Twitter with the #teemarkers hashtag and we'll add it to our slideshow.

Away Game: Maui Wowie!

Matt Ginella — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Put Kapalua back on your short list of golf destinations.

America's 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses/2011-12

Golf Digest Staff — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 04:00:00 GMT

First established in 1966, the biennial 2011 ranking of America's 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses is ready for its close-up.

Players' Picks: The 10 Worst Courses On The PGA Tour

Geoff Shackelford — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Our survey of more than 80 tour pros reveals the 10 courses they least like playing each year.