Dialled In: Why the Pebble Beach Pro-Am is golf's finest soap opera

Hello. Welcome to another edition of Dialled In. Did you stay up to watch the drama at Pebble?

How good was that final round? When World No. 1 Dustin Johnson, former World No. 1 Jason Day, and four-time Pebble champion Phil Mickelson – with their seven majors between them – as well as in-form Chez Reavie are hunting you down, you need to be ice cold.

And hats off to Ted Potter Jr, who did just that.

I love that he just showed zero emotion throughout, staring down the best player in the world who crumbled in the California breeze.

That emotion all came tumbling out on the edge of 18…

"It's unbelievable right now."

Ted Potter, Jr. reflects on his second TOUR victory. pic.twitter.com/UAPvLSV8KO

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 11, 2018

DJ outdrove TPJ to the tune of around 40, 50 yards, but hey, we should rein in the golf ball, right?

Potter’s victory was a smack in the face to those whose involvement in golf seems to be limited to persistent whinging about how far the golf ball goes. Sometimes just playing sensible golf gets you places.

✅ Moonlight Tour
✅ Hooters Tour
✅ @WebDotComTour
✅ PGA TOUR

Ted Potter Jr. is a winner at every level. https://t.co/6TmhzbCDz7 pic.twitter.com/z8EZHvOpIA

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 12, 2018

Incidentally, if you want to follow Potter on Twitter, there are two options. One, @TedPotterJr, has one tweet, but it’s totally worth it…

Trying out something new for the new year – Twitter!

— Ted Potter, Jr. (@TedPotterJr) December 29, 2011

The other, @TedPotterJrPGA, has a few more, and was set up on Saturday and consists solely of retweets of Pebble Beach updates.

Mr Potter, we salute you.

Seventh heaven

There were no aces at Everyone’s Favourite Par 3 this week, but Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who won the Pro-Am segment of the tournament alongside Kevin Streelman, was among those who came pretty close…

What a shot!@LarryFitzgerald is used to the big stage on Sundays. ? pic.twitter.com/cQ93jDtvpx

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 12, 2018

But the stand-out moment from the short par-3 actually came from Nick Faldo. Kind of.

The six-time major champion was at a gathering at fellow pundit Jim Nantz’s home when he did this…

A moment unlike any other @GolfonCBS #CasaNantz Yes, this his backyard ! #HoleInOne pic.twitter.com/7C1ghoJ5J3

— Sir Nick Faldo (@NickFaldo006) February 10, 2018

Lovely stuff from Snick. Though the achievement is completely overshadowed by the fact he’s wearing a jacket that Mr T wouldn’t be seen dead in and that Nantz has a replica of of one of golf’s most iconic holes in his back yard. You know, like we all have.

Machine head case

This had me glued all weekend…

Reports starting to trickle into the DMs out of Colombia re: Julio Bell, a 50 year old who allegedly bought a spot in the tourney and is having himself a day.

But how dare they give Steph Curry a spot! pic.twitter.com/zlQJRjY8ql

— Tron Carter (@TronCarterNLU) February 8, 2018

Julio Bell aka “The Machine” really starting to buck his head. Despite carding his second par in as many days he’s now 48 shots off the pace. pic.twitter.com/fXsD4Keoaf

— Tron Carter (@TronCarterNLU) February 9, 2018

Word on the street: front side is easier. Julio going three six mafia to start it off. Now 54 shots off the lead. #59watch is officially on. pic.twitter.com/APbtNkqW3x

— Tron Carter (@TronCarterNLU) February 9, 2018

Just parred 17 (fourth par of the week) – if he can string back to back pars together he shoots 101 today. Currently 59 shots off the lead. #59watch pic.twitter.com/ipJybyzaEj

— Tron Carter (@TronCarterNLU) February 9, 2018

Just received this from a follower – Julio is repping a PXG staff bag with "La Maquina" on the name panel. He is also tagged below. pic.twitter.com/WuKKttilD3

— Tron Carter (@TronCarterNLU) February 9, 2018

And he makes quad on the last to card 105. Incredible!

— Tron Carter (@TronCarterNLU) February 9, 2018

Yo, @LaMaquinaJB – care to comment on why you refused to sign your card?

Total chickenshit move after subjecting your playing partners to that for 2 days. https://t.co/u9qJbQdMWm

— Tron Carter (@TronCarterNLU) February 10, 2018

The two guys who were unlucky enough to draw “La Maquiladora” somehow made the cut. Pretty remarkable. ????

Treat it like a pro-am, I guess? pic.twitter.com/jutC61ICm9

— Tron Carter (@TronCarterNLU) February 10, 2018

Exchanging texts with La Maquina, appreciate him responding.

He says he will not be in the field in the DR. He also commented on pleading the fifth with his scorecard: pic.twitter.com/sG2TMM1z9A

— Tron Carter (@TronCarterNLU) February 11, 2018

Bell has ‘La Maquina’ plastered across his tour bag, which means ‘The Machine’ in Spanish. Tron has adjusted this to ‘La Maquiladora’, which means ‘The Sweatshop’.

I can think of a better nickname for Bell that uses his actual name…

Rahmpage

I’m excited to see what John Rahm’s career brings, but he desperately needs to sort out his final-round jitters. For a third event in a row, he’s fallen from contention to outside the top 10 on Sunday.

In fact, these are his two latest tweets. Spot the theme…

Not the finish I wanted, but what a fun week at the @attproam with my partner David Abeles! A few weeks off before heading to Mexico. Thanks to all the volunteers and staff for a great event. pic.twitter.com/2IIcmZD47V

— Jon Rahm Rodriguez (@JonRahmpga) February 12, 2018

Not the finish I had hoped for, but thank you Scottsdale and all the Sundevils for the support this week at the @WMPhoenixOpen. #Rahmbo pic.twitter.com/NMKlLRdxFj

— Jon Rahm Rodriguez (@JonRahmpga) February 5, 2018

One large scoop of Tour Sauce

How good does it feel when you slide your clubface under a divot and it actually stays there? Don’t even think about pretending to not know what I’m on about.

Now imagine how good it would be to be this good at it…

Saucy move by Potter's caddie @NoLayingUp pic.twitter.com/8ehy3D0hju

— Brian (@GolfIsGood_) February 11, 2018

Sky’s the limit

And finally on Pebble, Sky Sports Golf’s twoball of Nick Dougherty and David Howell was perfect. No self-serving nonsense and inane cliché, just two guys who clearly get on and who know this sport as well as well as anyone, who only let themselves down with a barrage of Harry Potter jokes.

More of these two please, Sky.

Aphibarnrat up a drainpipe

Over in Perth, Kiradech Aphibarnrat triumphed at the World Super 6.

I have to say, even though I didn’t get to see a lot of it due to the time difference, I am quite a fan of the format, which sees the players take on 54 holes of stroke play before a final day of six-hole match play battles to the death.

Aphibarnrat also won the Paul Lawrie Match Play a couple of years ago, so I went for a spot of fishing on Sunday morning…

Another match play win for Kiradech Aphibarnrat. Surely a Ryder Cup debut beckons. https://t.co/bHXZ662ftb

— Alex Perry (@AlexPerryNCG) February 11, 2018

Sadly only got a couple of nibbles. Anyway, what is even more impressive is that the Thai star only committed to the Australian tournament a week ago and had to cancel a holiday in the Maldives.

The Slam

Did you see the latest episode of The Slam on Friday? There’s an update on the Scottsdale Streaker, Eddie Pepperell has some words of advice for Jason Day, and everyone is upset about another athlete getting a spot in a golf event.

Vote Hurley

I can’t use laughing emojis because, well, I’m 35. But if I could I’d be using a whole bunch of them on this…

For those of you who don’t know, I am running against @JordanSpieth for Chairman of the @PGATOUR Player Advisory Council. One final push for the voting that ends tomorrow pic.twitter.com/dO2uLiTg3B

— Billy Hurley III (@BillyHurley3) February 12, 2018

A new Paige

Paige Spiranac was in the news last week – for something she did on a golf course!

Nah just kidding, she is the newest star of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit edition…

#SISwim has found its newest member, and she's a sure-fire hole-in-one. ⛳️ Welcome to the family, @PaigeSpiranac! https://t.co/KtTQbCvSVH pic.twitter.com/09tK5GqCEJ

— SI Swimsuit (@SI_Swimsuit) February 6, 2018

.@PaigeSpiranac is the first athlete of #SISwim 2018… And she has a message for her haters. https://t.co/B9BOZlS7gt pic.twitter.com/pziqFfTxmI

— SI Swimsuit (@SI_Swimsuit) February 6, 2018

I’m being facetious, of course. Whether you like it or not, it’s pointing eyes in golf’s direction and anything that brings a new audience to the game is fine with me. (And my Lady Golfer colleague Harriet Shephard, as you can see here.)

The year of DJ

And finally, give it up for Mr Johnson…

#OWGR upside story:@DJohnsonPGA just completed a full calendar year at No.1 in the world. He grabbed the #OWGR crown after winning the @genesisopen last year and never lost it since.

Only 5 golfers have ever achieved this feat:
Woods, Norman, Faldo, McIlroy and now DJ.

— Nosferatu (@VC606) February 13, 2018