Tour News
Preview and Predictions: Humana Challenge
The PGA Tour heads back to the mainland this week for the Humana Challenge in La Quinta, Calif. The event is known under its previous name, the Bob Hope Classic, but has recently gone through a sponsor change and gotten a face lift in the past few years with the help of Former President Bill Clinton.
The Humana Challenge is the first Pro-Am style event on the 2013 Tour schedule, with amateurs and celebrities alike going step for step with Tour stars. Much like the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro Am, the Humana is held at three different venues — The PGA West Palmer and Nicklaus courses and La Quinta Country Club. Sunday’s final round will be held at the host course, the Palmer Course.
Historically, the Humana is a very low scoring event with the winners carrying a 66.29 stroke average over the past 12 years. Mark Wilson is the defending champion, coming off a 2012 victory in which he fended off Johnson Wagner, Robert Garrigus and John Mallinger with a winning score of 24-under. It was the first Humana Challenge in over 50 years with a 72 hole format, which previously had been a 90-hole event.
This event has always been entertaining to watch, not only for the low scoring but also for the impressive celebrity draw it brings. Some of the biggest names in Hollywood, music and business will converge on the desert this week. As of Monday, notable committed names included Anthony Anderson, Michael Bolton, Alice Cooper and Palm Desert native Carson Daly.
Players to Watch
A good portion of the field is making their 2013 debut, including former champion Phil Mickeleson, as well as U.S. Open winner Lucas Glover, Japanese sensation Ryo Ishikawa and PGA Champion David Toms. But with the low scoring nature of the tournament, it should favor the player who has one or two starts under his belt. Unless of course you are former champ Phil Mickelson, who has won this tournament twice and has had four top 10’s straight out of the winter hiatus.
Charles Howell is coming off a strong debut at the Sony Open where he made 16 birdies and two eagles against only three bogeys for a T3 finish. Former champion Pat Perez is also a name to watch this week, coming off a top-10 finish at the Sony. The often combustable Perez is armed with a new, calmer attitude going into 2013 that could put the 36-year-old’s name on more leader boards in 2013.
“I’m just trying to look at things in a positive way,” Perez said in a recent interview with Golf Digest’s Dave Shedloski. “Not a fake positive, but just not getting down, not getting negative.”
Fun Facts
Yardage: Palmer Course at PGA West — 6,950 yards (par 72)
- Lowest score: David Duval blistered the Palmer Course for a 59 in the final round in 1999.
Yardage: Nicklaus Course at PGA West — 6,924 yards (par 72)
- The course was built to host the 1987 Ryder Cup, but the event was moved to the East Coast to better accommodate television
Yardage: La Quinta Country Club — 7,060 yards (par 72)
- La Quinta CC has been part of the tournament’s rotation since 1964.
Keys to Victory
The Humana has always been a shoot out, favoring the player that is white hot with the putter and the wedges. It doesn’t necessarily favor a big hitter, as the longest course maxes out at just under 7100 yards. It’s a 72-hole free for all with the winner usually making in excess of 25 birdies.
Mark Wilson torched the desert last year hitting almost 90 percent of the greens and 76 percent of the fairways. That along with a hot putter resulted in a total score of 24-under and Wilson’s fifth career victory. The key to victory is simple — go as low as you possibly can and hope for the best. The only X Factor is the unpredictable desert wind that has blown the field around in past years. Charley Hoffman’s won in 2007 with a score of 17-under in the old five-round format.
My pick to win?
Winner: Charles Howell III
Score: 23-under
Coming off his T3 at Sony Open, I think it’s time that Charles Howell breaks out and wins for the third time on Tour. His putter has been his Achilles’ heel in past years, but if the Sony was any indication it seems that his confidence has been restored and I look for him to go really deep this week.
TV Times
Golf Channel — Thursday through Sunday, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. EST
Click here for more discussion in the “Tour Talk” forum.
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Equipment
Photos from the 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge
GolfWRX is live this week at Colonial Country Club for the Charles Schwab Challenge.
Custom Camerons and some “super” new grips from SuperStroke are filling our galleries early in the week as well as WITBs — including the always interesting “Cashmere Keith” Mitchell.
Check out links to our photos below, which we’ll continue to update throughout the week.
And while you’re making your way through our photos, be sure to check out last year’s incredible gallery of prototype and personal Ben Hogan golf clubs.
General Albums
WITB Albums
- Keith Mitchell – WITB – 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge
- Rafa Campos – WITB – 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge
- R Squared – WITB – 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge
- Martin Laird – WITB – 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge
- Paul Haley – WITB – 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge
Pullout Albums
- Eric Cole’s newest custom Cameron putter – 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge
- New Super Stroke Marvel comic themed grips – 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge
- Ben Taylor’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge
See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 PGA Championship
GolfWRX is on site this week at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, for the PGA Championship.
While we see fewer equipment changes and new gear seeding at major championships, we get a look at custom gear and looks into the bags of players we rarely see, which is just as exciting. In the case of the PGA Championship, this means a look at the gear some of the PGA Professionals who qualified for the tournament will be gaming, and LIV players, such as Jon Rahm and Patrick Reed.
Check out links to all our albums from Valhalla below and check back throughout the week as we continue to update.
General Albums
WITB Albums
- Michael Block – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Patrick Reed – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Cam Smith – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brooks Koepka – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Josh Speight – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Takumi Kanaya – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Kyle Mendoza – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Adrian Meronk – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jordan Smith – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jeremy Wells – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jared Jones – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- John Somers – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Larkin Gross – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Tracy Phillips – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jon Rahm – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Keita Nakajima – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Kazuma Kobori – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- David Puig – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Ryan Van Velzen – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brad Marek – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Chris Gotterup – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Rich Beem WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Phil Mickelson – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Matt Dobyns – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Lucas Herbert – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jason Dufner – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- John Daly – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Taylor Gooch – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Dean Burmester – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Joaquin Niemann – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Dustin Johnson – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
Pullout Albums
- Ping putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Bettinardi covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Cameron putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Max Homa – Titleist 2 wood – 2024 PGA Championship
- Scotty Cameron experimental putter shaft by UST – 2024 PGA Championship
- Joaquin Niemann – new Ping putter – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brooks Koepka’s new Cameron putter – 2024 PGA Championship
- Rickie Fowler’s Cobra bag and Aerojet driver – 2024 PGA Championship
- Super Stroke grip – 2024 PGA Championship
- Tiger Woods – 2024 PGA Championship
- Michael Block’s new TaylorMade “Proto” 7-iron, from address – 2024 PGA Championship
- Odyssey putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
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News
Photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
GolfWRX is live this week at the Wells Fargo Championship as a field of the world’s best golfers descend upon Charlotte, North Carolina, hoping to tame the beast that is Quail Hollow Club in this Signature Event — only Scottie Scheffler, who is home awaiting the birth of his first child, is absent.
From the grounds at Quail Hollow, we have our usual assortment of general galleries and WITBs — including a look at left-hander Akshay Bhatia’s setup. Among the pullout albums, we have a look inside Cobra’s impressive new tour truck for you to check out. Also featured is a special look at Quail Hollow king, Rory McIlroy.
Be sure to check back throughout the week as we add more galleries.
General Albums
- 2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Monday #1
- 2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Tuesday #1
- 2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Tuesday #2
WITB Albums
- Akshay Bhatia – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Matthieu Pavon – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Keegan Bradley – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Webb Simpson – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Emiliano Grillo – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Taylor Pendrith – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Kevin Tway – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
Pullout Albums
- New Cobra equipment truck – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rory McIlroy – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- New Cobra equipment truck – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Eric Cole’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Custom Cameron putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Matt Kuchar’s custom Bettinardi – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Justin Thomas – driver change – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rickie Fowler – putter change – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rickie Fowler’s new custom Odyssey Jailbird 380 putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Tommy Fleetwood testing a TaylorMade Spider Tour X (with custom neck) – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Cobra Darkspeed Volition driver – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
See what GolfWRXers are saying about our Wells Fargo Championship photos in the forums.
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Oct 13, 2020 at 6:26 am
Matt Kuchar is beauty, I’m a big fan of him
Pingback: Humana Challenge Betting Preview | AdamSarson.com
Adam
Jan 16, 2013 at 12:39 am
I love Matt Kuchar this week. Nice start to the season, great short game and past history at PGA West…
Troy Vayanos
Jan 15, 2013 at 5:29 pm
Always tough to pick the winner of a US tour event.
I like the chances of Brendon De Jonge and Harry English. Both these guys made solid starts to the year last week. This follows up from consistent seasons in 2012 and I expect 2013 will be no different for the pair.
Keep an eye on them!