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Hole 2: Gene says “Let’s go see Ben”

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After my train wreck with Mr. Hogan in locker room at Shady Oaks, I knew I had better get some coaching before I was near him again. A few days after the debacle, I gathered myself enough to tell Gene in detail how I had introduced myself to him. Gene sat and listened to my story. I was embarrassed, but also knew if there was anyone that could coach me up it was Gene.

When I finished telling him what happened, I saw Gene roll his eyes and cover his face with an expression that wordlessly said, “Tom you are our new department dumb a**.” After he was sure his lesson was fully absorbed, Gene could not help but to chuckle as he fully savored his new boss’ colossal failure with the man. I was hoping Gene would offer me up a scrap of comfort and tell me things would get better, but on that day he gave me nothing but grief.

A few weeks later, Gene shared with me his cunning plan.

[quote_box_center]“So here is what we are going to do,” Gene told me. “The next time I go see Ben, I will take you with me.”[/quote_box_center]

Gene is the only man I’ve known who could actually call Mr. Hogan “Ben” without it sounding fake. I’ve heard others try to use only his first name, but something about it just sours the ears. I promise that if you were ever around Mr. Hogan for real, you would understand what I mean with that “Mr.” thing. Even now when I hear someone call him “Ben” without “Hogan” within range of my gun blast-damaged and 70’s rock music-depleted hearing, you might as well say “Ben bla, bla, bla.” I’m not going to hear anything you say.

Back to Gene’s cunning plan. One spring morning, months after the Shady Oaks experience, I was working in my drab, windowless Pafford Street office. Gene stuck his head halfway way through the door. His throat was scarred by smoker’s cancer, and when he spoke it was with the roughest pitched voice on the planet. He blew a “Phisssssh” at me to get my attention, a mouth sound only he could do. It sounded like something between a leaking tire and a full mouth spit.

[quote_box_center]“Let’s go see Ben, but keep your mouth shut while we are in there,” Gene said. [/quote_box_center]

Gene was holding a prototype wedge that Mr. Hogan would take later in the day to Shady Oaks. I was nervous as I followed behind Gene as he walked to the West End offices of the factory, marching past Mr. Hogan’s guard dogs, Pat and Sharon. They were very sweet office administrators, but they could and would become armor-plated pit bulls if you had no business in that part of the building. They eyed me as if to say, “Who are you,” and Gene told them we were were going in to see “Ben.” Did he say we? It was impossible for me at that moment to get my head around the fact I was actually walking into Mr. Hogan’s office.

I heard that he always wore a tie. Yep, there it is, I thought. It was the first time I had seen his Windsor knot in person. I knew his business dress code was enforced on all managers, and we were expected to always wear slacks, a button-up shirt and a tie at the office. I and many of the younger golf geeks wanted our threads to say “golf,” but Hogan insisted on business attire. “Dinosaur,” I thought at the time.

As we walked in, I noticed that he had a map of West Texas oil fields on his desk and he was peering over a huge black magnifying glass. I later learned he had interests in a number of Texas oil wells. Gene greeted Mr. Hogan, but within a microsecond he was firing his intense blue eyes toward me. I’m sure he remembered my stupid ambush at Shady Oaks. There were no words from him though.

Gene went around the edge of his desk with the prototype wedge and into Mr. Hogan’s personal space. That was a space I would never enter lightly again. I stayed two steps behind and in front of the huge desk. Hogan looked at me again. “Why are you here?” was what I inferred from his stare. I was thinking, “How does he do that?” He just changed all the air in the room. My arms just fell limp at my side and digestion ceased (except that I felt like I was crapping bricks).

Mr. Hogan stayed in his seat as Gene showed him the shafted wedge. Hogan then reached out, grabbed it and put it on the floor next to his chair. He golf gripped it and held it out and down to approximate the playing lie angle and club position. Over the next several years I would see him take his first look at every prototype golf club this way. If it was the first time he had seen a specific prototype, he would consider at length the bounce and juncture. I heard him once say the juncture, which is the transition area from the flat face of the club to the cylinder of the hosel, was the hardest part of a club to get right.

“Building a club is like building a house,” Mr. Hogan said on one of my trips into his office. “Get the foundation (the sole of the club) right first, and then the rest of the house can be right.”

On that day, however, he didn’t say much. I was a new person in his office, and his eyes bounced from me to the wedge, and then to Gene and me again. I winced each time he looked my way. After a few cycles of Mr. Hogan’s eyes, I was relieved that he started to ignore me and I became invisible again. Only then did normal lower-track digestion kick back in and I started to breathe.

All the time we were in there, Gene was telling Mr. Hogan with his raspy voice what had been welded, brazed and done back in the model shop to the wedge per Mr. Hogan’s directives. The boys had fixed it and Gene told him why it was now perfect, just like he ordered. Mr. Hogan nodded his head at Gene. “OK” he said. With that, Mr. Hogan leaned the wedge against the side wall of his desk and picked up his magnifying glass again.

We had been in his office a total of two minutes, maybe.

Without a word, Gene looked at me and rolled his index finger in a circle to tell me to turn around and leave. We were done, and were long past Mr. Hogan’s office door before anything was said.

“Is that the way it goes with him,” I asked. “Yes,” Gene said. “Never go see him or approach him without doing your work first. He does not like fools or loafers. Have a purpose, be brief, be all business and be prepared.”

That morning was the second time I was in the same air and room with Mr. Hogan. It was intense, but some better than my first crash-and-burn encounter at Shady Oaks. Gene showed me how it should and could be done. I would (with my mouth shut) go again and watch Gene and Mr. Hogan conduct that ritual a couple of times each month. Sometimes there was a bit more talk, but not much. There were different prototypes and music, but the same dance. It was priceless to observe. Slowly, Gene kept putting me out there with Mr. Hogan. And slowly, Mr. Hogan would tolerate me a bit more each time.

It would, however, be a full year before I would utter a single word in the presence of Mr. Ben Hogan.

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Tom Stites has spent more than 30 years working in the golf industry. In that time, he has been awarded more than 200 golf-related patents, and has designed and engineered more than 300 golf products that have been sold worldwide. As part of his job, he had the opportunity to work with hundreds of touring professionals and developed clubs that have been used to win all four of golf's major championships (several times), as well as 200+ PGA Tour events. Stites got his golf industry start at the Ben Hogan Company in 1986, where Ben Hogan and his personal master club builder Gene Sheeley trained the young engineer in club design. Tom went on to start his own golf club equipment engineering company in 1993 in Fort Worth, Texas, which he sold to Nike Inc. in 2000. The facility grew and became known as "The Oven," and Stites led the design and engineering teams there for 12 years as the Director of Product Development. Stites, 59, is a proud veteran of the United States Air Force. He is now semi-retired, but continues his work as an innovation, business, engineering and design consultant. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Ben Hogan Foundation, a 501C foundation that works to preserve the legacy and memory of the late, great Ben Hogan.

24 Comments

24 Comments

  1. Nolanski

    Jul 8, 2015 at 4:15 pm

    I love Hogan stories. I dont know why some people get offended by his sternness. It was a different generation that had to fight for everything. They didnt have the safety nets my generation(born 1984) has. It was sink or swim everyday back then.

  2. Hogan Fan

    Jul 1, 2015 at 10:23 pm

    please read Tim Scott’s novel Ben Hogan The Myths Everyone Know and The Man No One Knew….it will change your negative perception of one of the greatest icons in American history

  3. cody

    Jun 25, 2015 at 1:16 pm

    You know, i used to be in love with this guy. that was until I started to read about what a total jerk he was. Typical napoleon small man syndrome. All the Mr Hogan BS is starting to wear on me as well. The dude is the paul bunyan of golf. !40 mph swing speed. could tell if a club was an once to heavy, could a hit a wedge onto a tea plate from 160, and that was with traditional lofts. blah blah blah. i am kinda done with it all.

  4. Daniel

    Jun 25, 2015 at 10:50 am

    My hope is that after some time getting to know Mr. Hogan and him getting to know you Mr Stites, that the relationship warmed up. I can’t see how you would continue to hold a man in such high esteem after being continually treated this way. I look forward to seeing all the articles to see if Mr Hogan eventually became a more friendly figure.

  5. Slimeone

    Jun 25, 2015 at 7:38 am

    Sounds like Mr Hogan would have been ripe for a good bit of trolling! Unfortunately it hadn’t been invented yet!

  6. Barry Switzer

    Jun 24, 2015 at 11:19 pm

    Ben. And I’m not affraid to say BEN was just a man.! The competitions and courses back than were beyond easy. Heck, many of us on here could’ve beat BEN. I respect his accomplishments, but his era was full of hack golf pro’s. He had it too easy and would be a wash up in today’s tour

    • Me Nunya

      Jun 25, 2015 at 12:50 pm

      Oh, you….

    • Gary

      Jun 26, 2015 at 2:47 am

      You, my friend, have no clue what so ever. Have you ever even seen pictures of Oakmont, Riviera Country Club, Congressional. I doubt that you could break a leg there under tournament conditions, let alone PAR. And for you to think you could even measure up to Ben Hogan with a golf club, I would like to see you hit 6 balls in a row on the same trajectory!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  7. Bob

    Jun 24, 2015 at 10:43 pm

    What a ridiculous work environment and overwrought reverence. No wonder they went bust.

  8. MichaelColo

    Jun 24, 2015 at 7:15 pm

    I think what allot of the posters may be missing is Mr. Hogan was protecting what he had built. It was the Ben Hogan Golf company and it was his name on each and every club that went out the door. Mr. Hogan came from humble beginnings and what he had, he had “dug out of the dirt”. He held his employees to a high standard in an effort to produce golf clubs of the highest quality, golf equipment symbolic with his name and the reputation he had built. Everything I have read and heard was Mr. Hogan’s employees loved him.

    • Christosterone

      Jun 24, 2015 at 10:13 pm

      Byron Nelson and Lee Trevino came from equally, if not more hardscrabble beginnings.
      Yet neither of them treated SO many with profound disdain and an air of hubris laden dismissal.
      This is the hallmark of a narcissist….many greats posses this quality but as Byron Nelson proved in his lifelong dismantling of Mr Hogan on the course at every level, it was not a prerequisite to succeed.
      I do not allow someone’s childhood hardships to excuse boorish behaviors as an adult. It is indicative of a personality flaw at worst, bad self control at best…
      -Christosterone

      • May be typos

        Jun 25, 2015 at 1:00 pm

        Lee was only nice when the cameras were on him.

        • Christosterone

          Jun 26, 2015 at 10:02 am

          As a lifelong Texan I have had the pleasure of meeting Lee…he was and has always been an absolute joy.
          Heck, we even chatted at baggage claim in Palm Springs a few years back.
          I asked him mostly about his charge at the 72 open which IMHO is the greatest display of Links golf ever…take a look at the link below…lee was a god on the links and I promise you was and is nice in person.
          http://youtu.be/urdUwammrEM
          His membership at Royal Oaks through the 80s furthers this as my wife’s family was a member and my father in law had dozens of interactions with Lee. All extremely positive,

        • Christosterone

          Jun 26, 2015 at 10:18 am

          Possibly the coolest story in 60s golf lore…
          http://youtu.be/9sojAI7s160

        • SBoss

          Jun 26, 2015 at 9:47 pm

          I knew the clubhouse guys at an annual tour event and they told me that Lee Trevino was the biggest fraud on the tour. He was completely rude and dismissive of anyone that he deemed “below” him….
          He complained CONSTANTLY about anything that he came across in the clubhouse area. They despised Trevino.
          When I see how animated and “fun” he is when the cameras are on him? I know the truth. BTW, Jack Nicklaus wasn’t as bad as Lee Trevino but he wasn’t the best either.
          Arnold Palmer? Now that’s a guy who treated people fabulously and he treated everyone the same. He’s the genuine article…and then some.

          • Christosterone

            Jun 28, 2015 at 10:04 am

            I can only speak to my experiences and Lee was a consummate gentleman in our interactions.
            This is not second hand, it is how he treated me…
            As for my father in laws interactions, I trust those more than anything.
            But I concede that I am not a friend of Trevinos so do not truly know his heart…all I know is how he treated me and how he treated people when televised…which seemed absolutely congenial…
            But my point remains that with Hogan there seems to be zero stories of positive interactions with him…
            Heck, if I was Nicklaus I would’ve punched him after what he said about Jacks cherry hills final round and his “stupidity”….yet Mr. Hogan gets a pass…

  9. Kevin

    Jun 24, 2015 at 6:58 pm

    Not sure if we are supposed to like Ben Hogan after reading these articles or if we are supposed to come to realize he was kind of a grump with a huge stick up his bum.

  10. Double Mocha Man

    Jun 24, 2015 at 6:13 pm

    An aside: I was once involved in a Kohler/urinal encounter that breaks your Dad’s men’s room advice. But the other gentleman, at the Eaglemont Golf Course, dressed in blue suit and red tie made the first move. He was there after giving a speech to the local Chamber of Commerce. He was running for the office of Governor of Washington state. We exchanged pleasantries and I wished him luck in the upcoming election. Then, as planned, I voted for the other guy.

  11. Double Mocha Man

    Jun 24, 2015 at 6:05 pm

    Tom, I love a good story. Well-written. Keep ’em coming.

  12. talljohn777

    Jun 24, 2015 at 4:47 pm

    When you are at the top it takes very little effort to be kind and magnanimous and it costs nothing.

  13. Seth

    Jun 24, 2015 at 4:35 pm

    Mr. Hogan… Deserves respect for his accomplishments and dedication the the game but your article is just sad dude. He wasn’t God. He was just a man. Have respect, learn from him, appreciate his legacy. I’m sure he was more uncomfortable with you around because of how you put him on a pedestal for worship.

  14. Christosterone

    Jun 24, 2015 at 3:42 pm

    Tom,
    First off, great articles.
    I am not a fan of Ben Hogan, the man…but want to be!!!
    My main issue with him is his almost sociopathic behavior towards fellow pros he deemed to be “below” him…Arnold Palmer, Johnny Miller, and Lee Trevino to name a few…
    It was not necessary to be so rude to be great.
    As I recall, one of the kindest men in the history of golf routinely curb stomped Ben Hogan until his 60s….Byron Nelson….
    Please continue to write these as I love them and hope to slowly change my disdain for Mr. Hogan though it’s not looking good so far 🙂

  15. May be typos

    Jun 24, 2015 at 1:48 pm

    Thanks to these articles I have found someone I like less than moe…I imagine hitler was a more approachable person

  16. Sprcoop

    Jun 24, 2015 at 1:04 pm

    Holy sphincter cramp Batman! That sounds like a lot of fun. Not!

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19th Hole

5 examples of how Lexi Thompson has been treated harsher than any of her peers

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Following Lexi Thompson’s Solheim Cup post-round presser on Friday evening, the 28-year-old has been the topic of much discussion.

Golf pundits and fans alike have been weighing in with their takes after this exchange with a reporter surrounding an untimely shank on Friday afternoon went viral:

After the incident, LPGA Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez said that Lexi has “been picked on and drug through negative comments. She is tired of it”

So has the criticism of Lexi Thompson been justified, or is this yet another example of her being unfairly treated?

Well, here are five times, in my opinion, that Lexi has been scrutinized far differently over the years than her peers.

2022 KPMG PGA Championship

At the 2022 KPMG PGA Championship, Lexi Thompson held a two-stroke lead with three holes to play. She couldn’t close the deal and lost the tournament.

Afterwards, she was fined $2k (as were the rest of the group) for slow play.

Lexi declined to speak to the media and got hammered on social media for doing so…

Almost every golfer at some point has skipped a media session following disappointment on the course, and nobody has really batted an eyelid.

Tiger skipped back-to-back post-round media briefings at the 2019 WGC Mexico after being frustrated with his putting. Remember the backlash over that? Nah, me neither.

Donald Trump

@TheWhiteHouse

Every (or nearly every) big-name golfer under the sun has played golf with Donald Trump. Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy etc. Nobody really cared.

For whatever reason, when Lexi Thompson did, it was a story, and she took herself off social media soon after the photo was posted.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Lexi Thompson (@lexi)

2021 U.S. Women’s Open

In the final round of the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open, Lexi Thompson had a 6-foot eagle on her opening hole. She missed and made birdie to lead by five.

She then lost the tournament.

Following the round, Brandel Chamblee said on ‘Live From’:

“She’s got 6 feet away. Now professional golfers don’t miss the center of the face by a pinhead. Look where she hits this putt on the very 1st hole. Look where this putt comes off the face. She would have missed the center of the putter there by a half an inch. I have never — I have never — seen a professional golfer miss the center of the putter by a wider margin than that. That was at the 1st hole. “

Honest? Absolutely. Correct? Brandel usually is. Has any other LPGA golfer been handed the full-on Chamblee treatment? Not to my knowledge.

2023 Solheim Cup

Lexi Thompson spoke the words, “I don’t need to comment on that” when a reporter asked her about a failed shot, and the golf community collectively lost their minds.

Lost on many people is the fact that she literally answered the question instantly after.

Jessica Korda described the reporting of the awkward exchange with the media member as yet another example of the golf media shredding Lexi, but in reality, it was really just golf media covering the furore created by golf fans reacting to the viral clip.

Lexi then won her next two matches, collecting 3 points from 4 for the U.S. team. But nobody seems to care about that.

Instagram

‘yOu ShoUlD PrAcTIce puTTinG’

There’s very few golfers that have been plagued with such inane posts on their Instagram page as Lexi Thompson has.

I’ve tracked golfer’s social media accounts over the past few years (job requirement, sort of?). I can categorically say that Lexi gets some of the angriest and most aggressive responses to her posts of any golfer. Male or female. (She also gets some very nice ones too).

Despite countless posts of Thompson relentlessly practising her putting, the number of comments from dummies accusing her of neglecting that area of her game is both bizarre and alarming. Notice how the comments have been disabled on the post below? Probably not a coincidence.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Lexi Thompson (@lexi)

Go on any other golfer’s social account, and it will be hard to find the same dynamic.

Throw in the scandalous rules decision at the 2017 ANA Inspiration that cost her a second major title and spawned the “Lexi rule,” and it’s hard not to think Lexi has had a bit of a raw deal at times.

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Instruction

The Wedge Guy: My top 5 practice tips

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While there are many golfers who barely know where the practice (I don’t like calling it a “driving”) range is located, there are many who find it a place of adventure, discovery and fun. I’m in the latter group, which could be accented by the fact that I make my living in this industry. But then, I’ve always been a “ball beater,” since I was a kid, but now I approach my practice sessions with more purpose and excitement. There’s no question that practice is the key to improvement in anything, so today’s topic is on making practice as much fun as playing.

As long as I can remember, I’ve loved the range, and always embrace the challenge of learning new ways to make a golf ball do what I would like it to do. So, today I’m sharing my “top 5” tips for making practice fun and productive.

  1. Have a mission/goal/objective. Whether it is a practice range session or practice time on the course, make sure you have a clearly defined objective…how else will you know how you’re doing? It might be to work on iron trajectory, or finding out why you’ve developed a push with your driver. Could be to learn how to hit a little softer lob shot or a knockdown pitch. But practice with a purpose …always.
  2. Don’t just “do”…observe.  There are two elements of learning something new.  The first is to figure out what it is you need to change. Then you work toward that solution. If your practice session is to address that push with the driver, hit a few shots to start out, and rather than try to fix it, make those first few your “lab rats”. Focus on what your swing is doing. Do you feel anything different? Check your alignment carefully, and your ball position. After each shot, step away and process what you think you felt during the swing.
  3. Make it real. To just rake ball after ball in front of you and pound away is marginally valuable at best. To make practice productive, step away from your hitting station after each shot, rake another ball to the hitting area, then approach the shot as if it was a real one on the course. Pick a target line from behind the ball, meticulously step into your set-up position, take your grip, process your one swing thought and hit it. Then evaluate how you did, based on the shot result and how it felt.
  4. Challenge yourself. One of my favorite on-course practice games is to spend a few minutes around each green after I’ve played the hole, tossing three balls into various positions in an area off the green. I don’t let myself go to the next tee until I put all three within three feet of the hole. If I don’t, I toss them to another area and do it again. You can do the same thing on the range. Define a challenge and a limited number of shots to achieve it.
  5. Don’t get in a groove. I was privileged enough to watch Harvey Penick give Tom Kite a golf lesson one day, and was struck by the fact that he would not let Tom hit more than five to six shots in a row with the same club. Tom would hit a few 5-irons, and Mr. Penick would say, “hit the 8”, then “hit the driver.” He changed it up so that Tom would not just find a groove. That paved the way for real learning, Mr. Penick told me.

My “bonus” tip addresses the difference between practicing on the course and keeping a real score. Don’t do both. A practice session is just that. On-course practice is hugely beneficial, and it’s best done by yourself, and at a casual pace. Playing three or four holes in an hour or so, taking time to hit real shots into and around the greens, will do more for your scoring skills than the same amount of range time.

So there you have my five practice tips. I’m sure I could come up with more, but then we always have more time, right?

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19th Hole

Vincenzi: Fortinet Championship First Round Leader picks

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The PGA Tour begins its fall season with a trip to Wine Country as the world of golf patiently awaits the 2023 Ryder Cup which is just a few weeks away. Silverado is a course where plenty of players with varying skill sets can compete, but strong West Coast history tends to be a major factor.

In the past four editions of the Fortinet Championship, there have been six first-round leaders or co-leaders. Of the six, three have started their rounds in the morning wave, and three started in the afternoon. The leading scores have all been between 63 and 65.

As of now, the winds look to be very docile, with speeds of 4-7 MPH throughout the day. I don’t see either the AM or PM wave as having a major advantage.

2023 Fortinet Championship First-Round Leader Picks

Zac Blair +9000 (FanDuel)

First-Round Tee Time: 1.22 p.m PT

A big theme for me this week is targeting players who have had success at both Silverado and the West Coast in general. Blair finished 22nd here last year, and also finished 4th back in 2019. That year, he shot 66 in rounds two and three, showing his ability to go low on this track.

In 2022, Blair gained 3.8 strokes putting and in 2019, he gained 8.6. The 33-year-old seemingly has these greens figured out.

C.T. Pan +9000 (FanDuel)

First-Round Tee Time: 8.23 a.m PT

At the end of the 2023 season, C.T. Pan showed flashes of what made him a good player prior to his injury struggles early in the year. He finished 4th at the AT&T Byron Nelson in May, and 3rd at the RBC Canadian Open in June. He also finished 6th at Silverado back in 2021, gaining 4.5 strokes on approach and 6.6 strokes putting.

A few weeks off may have given Pan a chance to reset and focus on the upcoming fall swing, where I believe he’ll play some good golf.

Joel Dahmen +110000 (FanDuel)

First-Round Tee Time: 7:28 a.m PT

After becoming a well-known name in golf due to his affable presence in Netflix’ “Full Swing” documentary, Dahmen had what can only be considered a disappointment of a 2023 season. I believe he’s a better player than he showed last year and is a good candidate for a bounce back fall and 2024.

Dahmen finished in a tie for 10th at the Barracuda Championship in late July, and the course is similar in agronomy and location to what he’ll see this week in Napa. He has some strong history on the West Coast including top-ten finishes at Riviera (5th, 2020), Pebble Beach (6th, 2022), Sherwood (8th, 2020), TPC Summerlin (9th, 2019) and Torrey Pines (9th, 2019).

James Hahn +125000 (Caesars)

First-Round Tee Time: 1:55 p.m PT

James Hahn absolutely loves golf on the West Coast. He’s won at Riviera and has also shown some course form with a 9th place finish at Silverado back in 2020. That week, Hahn gained 4.7 strokes putting, demonstrating his comfort level on these POA putting surfaces.

He finished T6 at the Barracuda back in July, and there’s no doubt that a return to California will be welcome for the 41-year-old.

Peter Malnati +125000 (BetRivers)

First-Round Tee Time: 12.27 p.m PT 

Peter Malnati excels at putting on the West Coast. He ranks 3rd in the field in Strokes Gained: Putting on POA and has shown in the past he’s capable of going extremely low on any given round due to his ability to catch a hot putter.

His course history isn’t spectacular, but he’s played well enough at Silverado. In his past seven trips to the course, he’s finished in the top-35 four times.

Harry Higgs +150000 (BetRivers)

First-Round Tee Time: 1.55 p.m PT

In what is seemingly becoming a theme in this week’s First-Round Leader column, Harry Higgs is a player that really fell out of form in 2023, but a reset and a trip to a course he’s had success at in the past may spark a resurgence.

Higgs finished 2nd at Silverado in 2020 and wasn’t in particularly great form then either. Success hasn’t come in abundance for the 31-year-old, but three of his top-10 finishes on Tour have come in this area of the country.

Higgs shot an impressive 62 here in round two in 2020, which would certainly be enough to capture the first-round lead this year.

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