Mark

Wilson

Wilson spends most of his days in the broadcast booth these days but he was set to peg it at PGA WEST this week. It would have been his first PGA TOUR start since last year’s American Express where he missed the cut. The 2012 AmEx winner tries to make his way back here every year but he’ll have to skip a year on his resume.

Wilson opened the week with rounds of +6, +7, and +3 in the Modified Stableford format. That put him right around the top 50 ahead of the finale. That’s when he realized his greens book did not comply with the new USGA rules put in place for 2019. “Sad to report but had to disqualify myself this morning for using a non conforming greens book during @CudaChamp (USGA rule 4.3).” Wilson was using his 2014 greens book which had larger scaling than is currently allowed. Sort of a silly rule when it’s unintentional like this case, but the impact is very small. Wilson is enjoying his transition to the broadcast side of golf and has made just three starts this season. He is now 0-for-3.

If this result sounds familiar, there’s a good reason. Wilson outlasted DJ in 19 holes in the opening round of last year’s WGC-Match Play. Today’s experience wasn’t as taxing on the little guy primarily because Johnson didn’t find his first birdie until halving the par-5 eighth hole. But by then, Wilson had already circled wins at holes 3-6 for a 4-up lead. That margin would only close to 3 up twice before Wilson polished off the long hitter on the 15th hole. Wilson advances to Saturday’s quarterfinals to face Peter Hanson.

Wilson’s tidy third round took only 2:40 and found him circling four birdies to a lone bogey. He split 11 (of 14) of the tree-lined fairways and landed 12 GIR, while navigating the putting surfaces in 27 putts. He is assured of having a playing companion in the final round, as he’s moved up to even-par 213.

This match started to cook at the par-3 sixth hole where Wilson began a run of four wins and six in an eight-hole stretch. He got to 4 up through the 13th and sat on that lead as the duo traded pars at 14. BVP won the 15th to take a bite out of Wilson’s advantage, but both parred the par-3 16th where the matched ended. Wilson advances to the second round for the second time in as many appearances. He’ll tangle with Robert Rock on Thursday.

That’s the same score that Wilson recorded over Bo Van Pelt on Wednesday. He wasn’t as efficient today but his even-par golf was good enough to beat the Brit. Wilson won the par-5 second with an eagle but was later handed two concessions and three wins with pars. Wilson will gladly accept and advance to set up a rematch with Dustin Johnson in Friday’s third round. Wilson eliminated DJ in the opening round a year ago.

Wilson took the lead at the first and eighth holes, but each time Hanson was able to square the match. On the back nine, Hanson started to have troubles with the driver, which resulted in two holes dropped by the end of the 11th hole. A birdie by Wilson at the par-5 13th added to his lead. Another bogey by Hanson at the par-4 14th resulted in the final margin of the match. Wilson advances to the semifinals on Sunday morning. He’ll play fellow American, Hunter Mahan.

Wilson quickly opened up a 2-up lead after winning the second and third holes. Westwood responded with a birdie at the fourth to cut the lead, but he couldn’t cut the lead further, and after trading birdies at the sixth and seventh holes, the Wilson still held a 1-up lead at the turn. On the back nine, Wilson expanded his lead to a comanding 3-up after birdies at the par-5 11th and 13th holes, however Westwood then roared back with birdies at the 14th and 15th holes to once again cut the lead to 1-up. Both players then matched each other stroke by stroke over the last three holes and Wilson was able to seal the third place prize with a par at the final hole.

Wilson won this tournament in 2007, and has amassed a tidy 70-70-68=208 in the 2012 edition. He enters the final round tied for 18th. In the third round, he hit 12 GIR and 79 percent of his fairways. For the week, he ranks T67 in GIR with only 53.7 percent of his approaches hitting the putting surface. That’s the likely culprit for why he isn’t a little closer to the top of the leaderboard.

Wilson split 11 (of 13) fairways and hit 17 greens in regulation en route to his new career low on the PGA TOUR. And he did so with some style thanks to an eagle and eight birdies. He also played the par 5s in 5-under. The eagle disappeared from 15'3" at the par-5 11th holes, but he also converted birdies of 28'9", 45'11" and 18'1" at the first, third and 10th holes, respectively. Overall, he’s hit 29 GIR and taken a seriously efficient 50 putts. Wilson’s previous best was a 63, which he’s carded three times, most recently at the 2008 Texas Open. He’ll attempt to tackle La Quinta Country Club in the third round. Mother Nature is likely going to play a significant role on Saturday. There is a reasonable chance for rain but a High Wind Watch is also in effect throughout the daylight hours. Winds could gust up to 40 mph.