Quick look at the Desert Classic

The PGA TOUR is back on the mainland – specifically the Coachella Valley in Southern California. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Desert Classic. Arnold Palmer won the inaugural event in 1960, then won it for a fifth time in 1973, a victory that would be the last TOUR win of his legendary career. We’ll be thinking of Arnie this week. THE FLYOVER The 435-yard par-4 18th at the Stadium Course was ranked in the middle of the pack among all closing holes on TOUR last season (25th of 51 with a stroke average of 4.043). Water down the left side and a bunker complex on the right ratchets up the difficulty level – especially if you’re in the mix late Sunday afternoon. PGA West master instructor Bryan Lebedevich discusses the challenges of the 18th below. LANDING ZONE The 195-yard par-3 13th ranked 26th hardest among the 918 holes played on the PGA TOUR last season, playing to a stroke average of 3.302. Not only did it produce 13 double bogeys, but also eight “others.â€� The other 17 holes combined at the Stadium Course had nine others. Because of the water, you can’t miss left, and there’s not much room right of the green to bail out. So, yeah, pretty tough hole. Here’s where all recorded tee shots landed last year. WEATHER CHECK From PGA TOUR meteorologist Wade Stettner: “Another storm system will impact Southern California on Thursday with mostly cloudy skies and a chance for rain showers. Most of the rain will fall west of the mountains, but there may still be a few light showers and periods of light rain. Total rainfall on Thursday is forecast under 0.10 of an inch. Dry weather is forecast from Friday through Sunday with warm afternoon temperatures. Breezy conditions are forecast on Friday with winds gusting to 25 mph.â€� For the latest weather news from La Quinta, California, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK I get a good vibe in California. I like it. What can I say?   BY THE NUMBERS 5 – Players in the FedExCup era who made the Desert Classic their first career TOUR victory (Charley Hoffman in 2007, Pat Perez in 2009, Bill Haas in 2010, Jhonattan Vegas in 2011 and Hudson Swafford in 2017). 68.83 – Scoring average last season at La Quinta, making it the third easiest course on TOUR behind Aronimink (67.88) and Sedgefield (68.69). That was also the lowest scoring average at La Quinta in the ShotLink era since 1983. 7,503 – Strokes under par on the par 5s at the Desert Classic since 2012. No other tournament on TOUR has had easier par 5s than the three courses used at this event. SCATTERSHOTS 30-Birdie Club: Since the 2013-14 PGA TOUR season, there have been four TOUR winners who made 30 total birdies on their way to victory in four-round events. Two of those have come at the Desert Classic — Jason Dufner in 206 and Patrick Reed in 2014. The other two were Justin Thomas at the 2015 CIMB Classic and Michael Kim at the 2018 John Deere Classic. Charl’s Debut: Among the first-time Desert Classic participants this week is South African Charl Schwartzel, who will be making his 183rd career start on the PGA TOUR. Schwartzel’s best results in any tournament debut were solo thirds at the 2013 AT&T Byron Nelson and third (with teammate Louis Oosthuizen) at the 2018 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Fast Starter: Will 2007 Desert Classic winner Charley Hoffman gets off to another fast start this week? He’s a combined 42 under in the first round in his 11 career starts (five different courses), and his first-round stroke average of 68.18 is his third-best Round 1 scoring average at any tournament . He has 11 opening-round scores of par or better. After starting at La Quinta the last four years, Hoffman will start out at the Stadium Course on Thursday with Schwartzel as his playing partner (along with their amateur teammates). Another Big Hitter: USC freshman Charlie Reiter is considered one of the longest hitters of any 2019 freshman golfer. The Palm Desert High School grad, who is playing on a sponsor exemption this week, isn’t exactly sure how he generates all that power. “I think I was just born with it, maybe,â€� he said.

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