Posted by Jason Sobel
KAPALUA, Hawaii -- It sounds like one of Johnny Carson's old jokes on The Tonight Show: "It was so windy at Kapalua on Thursday ..." (How windy was it?) "It was so windy that some of the world's best players were hitting 5-irons from 150 yards."
Problem is, that's no punchline; it's a true story. Stephen Ames, he of moderate length, said, "[On] 13, I had 152 to the hole and ripped a 5-iron." I didn't hear any post-round comments from the likes of, say, Corey Pavin, but one can only imagine the pea-shooter was hitting even longer irons -- or even a hybrid or fairway wood -- from similar distances.
With winds gusting to 40 mph throughout the course, it was quite literally "hold-onto-your-hat" weather. I spent about three hours wandering the course, much of it with one hand atop the cap on my head.
"I don't think, if we were on vacation, we would have played today. I would have stayed down there by the pool," said Davis Love III, who fared pretty well in the conditions, shooting a 3-under 70. "This is probably as bad as I've seen it. Maybe it's blown that hard one day or afternoon, but that's about as hard as I've seen it."
And here's the kicker: It was so blustery that the tradewinds weren't just affecting airborne shots; they were blowing 4-foot putts astray, too.
Who's going to win this tournament? I don't know his name, but I can tell you one thing: Whoever best deals with the wind will be atop the leaderboard come Sunday afternoon.
Checking the surf: Spoke with Butch Harmon today and he told me the best shot he'd seen all week was a 235-yard approach by professional surfer Kelly Slater in Wednesday's pro-am that came within inches of falling for double-eagle on 18.
Slater was paired with friend and fellow surfer Adam Scott. I asked Harmon, who serves as Scott's swing instructor, what his pupil's surfing handicap would be, and he said, "He's about a 12. He can go, but he doesn't do many tricks."
Outta sight: The Mercedes-Benz Championship is annually the most spectator-friendly event on the PGA Tour schedule. In addition to some otherwordly landscapes in which you can see -- all at once -- whales, rainbows and the island of Molokai, there are so few fans that those present get a great view of the competitors on the course.
Here's a little inside info: At most tournaments, I'd be a dead man walking without my inside-the-ropes badge which allows journalists to get closer to the action. But I walked the back nine holes with the pairing of Scott and K.J. Choi on Thursday and stayed outside the ropes for most of it. No craning your neck to see past others, no binoculars to figure out which player is which. If you can ever make it Maui during tournament week, I highly recommend taking in this event.
