PACIFIC PALISADES – There was something funny about Saturday’s most spectacular shot, a soaring 7-wood from the tournament leader, a 259-yard rocket that landed softly, trickled to the hole, took a look and settled just eight inches away for a tap-in eagle:
Hardly anyone stopped to see it.
Maybe that’s overstating things. There was still a handful of LA faithful who had stayed to watch Jacob Bridgeman work his magic on Riviera’s par-5 11th – and showed their appreciation. From what I understand, Tiger Woods was impressed in the booth. But on the court, most of the crowd had run ahead for a few holes, following fan favorite Rory McIlroy rather than the relative unknown behind him.
In some ways, golf fans should have seen this coming. Bridgeman is among the most popular players in the world; he has four consecutive top-20s to start the season, including a T8 at Pebble Beach last week.
In other ways, the timing is hilarious. After all, that T8 was highlighted by a bizarre sequence of events at Pebble Beach’s par-5 18th, where Bridgeman took interminable time to make bogey while leader Collin Morikawa stood in the fairway and teed away. The moment earned Bridgeman unprecedented attention. He prefers the circumstances of being in the spotlight this week.
“I look at him and see him strolling around, knowing they’re just frustrated,” Bridgeman said earlier this week, recalling the moment at Pebble. “The last thing I want to do is freeze Collin and make him mess up. So I’m glad it turned out the way it did.”
After about 20 minutes, Morikawa played his second lead around the green, made his birdie and walked away with a huge victory.
Now Bridgeman wants one for himself.
Bridgeman, who is 26, grew up in South Carolina. He’s small but secretly strong, secretly hits it long and putsts it better than anyone. He fought with his driver, he said, but this week it went fine. Considering he leads in Strokes Gained: Approach And Strokes won: Putting, fine is more than good enough.
He was close to victory; a low final round at last year’s Cognizant earned him T2, he fought at Valspar on his way to third place, he finished T4 at the Truist, T5 at the John Deere and T4 at last month’s Sony Open.
He has a feeling this time will be different. And if he was surprised by Saturday’s birdie blitz, he certainly didn’t say so.
“I played great all week, so I don’t think it was a surprise to me that my game was the way it is,” he said. “I’ve been saying all week that I feel comfortable, and today I felt great.”
The Clemson grad seemed to be one of the few players in the field with a good plan for Riviera’s Poa annua greens, which get scary quickly and get bumpier as the afternoon progresses.
“In the middle of my round I hit a couple way too hard and told my caddy, I have to hit that one a little softer, they’re not taking the break. After that I feel like I hit a lot of good putts,” he said.
However, he did most of his damage with his irons, hitting an unprecedented six shots from the field. How? He credited his work with his coach Scott Hamilton, his newfound ability to hit the ball higher, his ball change to a TaylorMade TP5x and soft greens with giving him the confidence to hit cruisy shots that he feels he can control.
Bridgeman gave the impression of a man unfazed by a situation – six with Rory McIlroy next to you – that would produce the average hack of horror. The two played together at the BMW Championship last summer and Bridgeman was pleasantly surprised by how normal it felt.
“I was a little unsure what it would be like last year when I played with him in the playoffs. And I had a big day in Baltimore, I had to play well to get to the Tour Championship and I got paired with Rory and it was kind of a big deal, I thought.”
“Then I went out and he was super nice to me and super welcoming, and the fans were great too.”
McIlroy remembered the combination, if not the details — “we played sometime late last year, maybe in the playoffs,” he said — but recognizes his position.
“I’m six back, I need to get a fast start, try to apply some pressure and hopefully I can do that,” he said. “It’s nice to be able to keep an eye on Jacob and see what’s happening. If he opens the door a little, hopefully I’ll be there right away to take advantage of that.”
As for Bridgeman? He plans to keep the door closed. He plans to remain aggressive. And he plans to keep an eye on McIlroy — and anyone who files charges. He always likes to look at rankings. Especially when his name is at the top.
“I always wanted to know what to do,” he said.
Bridgeman also knows that this weekend will be the first time some sports fans will see him in full flight. So what does he want people to know about him?
“I’m a competitor,” he said. “I haven’t had many chances to win in my career, but I hope I get a chance tomorrow, a good chance, all the way to the end. If I can pull it off, I’d love to get going and get a lot of it.”
Good news for Bridgeman: There is no beach at Riviera. No ocean either. Only 18 beautiful golf holes. So far they have hardly posed a challenge.
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