Apparently, the actual amount of playing time in an NFL game is 11 minutes. At the risk of alienating certain readers, I declare that this fact underlines why the biggest and best sporting event taking place in the USA this weekend is the Waste Management Phoenix Open, and not the Super Bowl which will follow its conclusion on Sunday night.
Wherever you stand on that debate, most will agree that this is a highlight on the PGA Tour schedule; a tournament whose identity has been sculpted to serve as an aperitif to the gridiron, played at a golf course made for the role of party host. Scottsdale stripped of stadiums and professionals might not be much more than an average TPC layout, but on this precise weekend it is able to come alive in a way no other place could.
If you're a regular viewer you won't need this repeating, but the closing stretch helps sharpen its edge. First there's a par-five with both fairway and green guarded by water, then the famous par-three 16th and its rowdy amphitheatre, followed by the driveable 17th where water is again in play. Perhaps the next evolution of this tournament would be to make that the 18th hole, with the current one more in keeping with the rest of a fairly unremarkable course.
I'm currently halfway through a pre-Masters piece which discusses whether Thomas might be the ultimate PGA Tour golfer of his generation, and asks whether he can shake that reputation to become one of its ultimate golfers full-stop.
In other words, this 14-time PGA Tour winner is a master at delivering across the network of TPC courses, something he started back in 2015 when winning in Malaysia, and has continued at TPC Boston, TPC Southwind and, last year, at TPC Sawgrass.
This is a slightly snide way of saying when conditions are fair, when courses are soft, there's probably nobody better at winning tournaments – and I very much include tournament favourite Jon Rahm in that. Lately we've a better candidate to stand next to Thomas in Collin Morikawa, and it's their common ground – world-class approach play – which makes them so deadly under conditions like those we'll get in Phoenix.
Thomas's win-rate has slowed over the last couple of years but that's probably as much to do with some putting troubles as anything else, and as he tackles those we might just see him enjoying a massive 2022 with Jim 'Bones' MacKay now on his bag. For the uninitiated, he was Phil Mickelson's long-time caddie, and I'm hopeful might be the difference when it comes to Thomas adding to his lone major championship which is almost five years behind him now.
Scheffler produced his best Farmers performance when 20th a fortnight ago, and he did it without driving well. That's the club he's tended to rely on most and the fact he's finished 25th and 20th in two starts this year without being anywhere near his best off the tee is in some ways encouraging.
Mitchell is best known for his exploits across the other side of the US, but he's playing well almost wherever he tees it up at present and that includes a personal-best at Pebble Beach (12th) last week.
The exception came at the Farmers but his record there now reads 63-MC-MC-MC-MC and it's one he might consider leaving off the schedule. Phoenix, however, looks a far better fit and having been let down by his short-game on debut, he was the best driver in the field en route to a top-20 finish in 2020.
As with Mitchell, Wise's record there (71-MC-MC-MC) is so poor that failing by a single stroke can actually be seen as a positive, particularly as he seemed in excellent touch during a first-round 67 before a couple of late mistakes at the tougher South Course ended his week early.
That was ultimately a nice way to begin the year and this long-time Las Vegas resident, who finished eighth at the Shriners and fifth in the CJ Cup last year, should improve for a return to the desert. He shot a second-round 65 here last year when his putting was truly atrocious, missed the cut despite strong ball-striking a year earlier, and ultimately boasts the strong tee-to-green game which ties winners of this together.
However, in this case we're able to take 50/1 which is rare outside of majors, and while it reflects a couple of missed cuts, there was really nothing to worry about in his performances at the AmEx and in the Farmers Insurance Open.
Before that, Conners produced one of those familiar, charging efforts which petered out to 11th place in the Sony Open, and he can get back in the mix at a course where all eight rounds have been par or better, and where his final-round 67 last year was his best so far.
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