API Round 1 Takeaways

In terms of being able to see one of the strongest fields so far during the PGA Tour season, it appears I was about a year late. Nevertheless, I was granted access to seeing Rickie and Rory up close and personal last year at Bay Hill and will remember that experience for quite some time. Now, ahead to 2018, some guy named Tiger is in the field and he absolutely EXPLODED out of the gate. After an opening round 68, he headlines my handful of takeaways so far at the King's course on this St. Patrick's Day weekend (there's also this college basketball tournament going on as well, what a weekend for SPORTS!)

Henrik Stenson follows up a MC last week at Innisbrook with an opening round 64:

I'm going to go ahead and blame last week's missed cut on the full-blown Tiger effect that hit him and Jordan Spieth. I never quite understood what Rory meant when he said week's ago that Tiger gives up at least two shots to the field due to the ridiculous crowds that follow his group whenever he's in the field. Well, in this case, those playing with Tiger were the ones who appeared to lose shots. Nevertheless, Henrik posted on social media early Thursday he was preparing for his round by playing with his kids, appeared very relaxed and went out in -8 and looked like the Terminator he is with those shades. Look forward to seeing what he does throughout the weekend.

Patrick Reed is playing mad:

Remember last week during the Valspar when the guy in the Sunday red shirt and black pants was leading the tournament? Well he appeared to collapse on the 17th hole when a putt went ary and ball rolled right on back to Patrick Reed's feet. He's received plenty of backlash on the Twitter machine for trying to rock the same apparel Tiger has made famous the last twenty years, but the reality is he's always worn red on Sunday and it's just the new wave of fanboys who never watched Tiger back in his glory days coming out to make a point. Captain America is currently at -4 and on the front page of the leader board heading into Friday.

Smylie ain't smiling and hasn't been for a long time:

Only true golf fans who follow PGA Tour pros on social media religiously (like me) may know who Smylie Kaufman is. As the crowned MVP of SB2K16 in the Bahamas, he has shown little to no signs of life in each tournament he's played in. He finished dead last in last week's Valspar, dead last at the Honda Classic and is currently dead last at the API. This makes me sad, especially when he was on such a high during the last two spring break trips.

Rickie and Rory need to be paired together in each tournament they play in:

Rickie and Rory. Think back ten years ago when these two were Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth's age and were defining the next generation of golfing talent. Rickie with the long flow and bright orange Sunday apparel with the flat-brimmed Puma cap, and Rory who looked like an awkward and unfit teenager. The funny thing is they're both still under 30 years old, and I'm describing how they looked TEN years ago. Both have come a long way, Rory and his majors and Rickie with his occasional tournament wins and Olympian girlfriend. Flash forward to the API this weekend, both are looking more stylish and fit than in year's past and there are no greater representatives of this tournament and carrying on Arnold's legacy than Rickie and Rory (currently -5 and -4 respectively).

Tiger is so back it isn't even funny anymore:
Enough said. 

*All images from PGA Tour Live