Scott McCarron lost the Nissan Open when he fell victim to Riviera's curse of
the kikuyu
Courtesy of CBS
Having played in the 1981 and '82 L.A. Opens, I've seen
enough of the Riv to know the course's cardinal rule: chip over, not through,
the kikuyu grass. Kikuyu is as thick as Brillo, which makes bump-and-run shots
virtually impossible. Scott McCarron should have known that -- Riviera was one
of UCLA's home tracks when he was a Bruin in the mid-'80s -- but on Sunday he
landed his chip at 17 in the kikuyu, and his ball checked up 10 feet short of
the hole. He then missed a crucial birdie putt. On the final hole, tied at
15 under with his playing partner, Len Mattiace, McCarron pulled his
approach 25 feet from the flag into the second cut of rough. Although his ball
was sitting down, he pulled his long putter instead of a wedge, and his putt
bounced left off a tuft of grass and, after rolling through the kikuyu fringe,
stopped seven feet short. After McCarron missed his par putt,
Mattiace tapped in for his first victory in eight seasons on
Tour.
COOL CAT Sure, McCarron gagged, but Mattiace didn't back into this one. He
stayed on McCarron's heels with a run of four birdies in five holes, capped by
the spectacular shot he drained for bird from a deep greenside bunker at the
par-4 12th. He displayed the savvy of a veteran on the last five holes,
avoiding the curse of the kikuyu by firing approaches to the middle of the
greens.
OPEN AND SHUT The 2008 U.S. Open auditions are over, and selecting a winner is a
no-brainer. The retooled Riv was supposed to play longer and harder, but the
winning score (15 under) was three shots lower than the champions'
average score in the 10 previous Nissans. The bluecoats won't care for that, but
I bet they loved Tiger's 77 at Torrey Pines during the second round of the Buick
Invitational. Other bad news for Riviera: Pros were punching eight-irons to the
Riv's outdated 18th last week, while Torrey's closer is a three-shot par-5
that's easily converted into a backbreaking, 500-yard par-4. As much as I love
the Riv, my vote goes to
Torrey.
