PGA Results: 2013 Humana Challenge

PGA Tour Humana Challenge Nicklaus Private Course, Palmer Course, La Quinta Country Club - Palm Springs This past week proves that distance is more important than accuracy off the tee on the PGA Tour.  Coming into this season Brian Gay was dead last on Tour in driving distance at 269 yards average.  In the offseason he knew he needed to work on his distance to have a better chance against the modern bombers.  Gay picked up 10-15 extra yards in the offseason.  Though the extra yardage wasn't enough to put him in the league of the big hitters, the 10-15 yards have meant some very different 2nd clubs on par-4's and par-5's. Coming into the final round at the Humana Challenge, Gay found himself six shots off the lead.  That's nothing a final round 63 can't fix.  The final round 63 put Gay into a playoff with Charles Howell III and David Ligmerth.  Lingmerth was eliminated on the first hole.  Howell made bogey on the 2nd playoff hole to Gay's birdie.  Done deal.  Gay collects $1.08 million and 500 FedEx Cup points. European Tour Abu Dhabi Championship Jamie Donaldson took home the Abu Dhabi Championship trophy with a one shot win over Justin Rose.  Rose, who always plays well in Abu Dhabi, barely missed a birdie on the 18th hole which would have forced a playoff.  With the win Donaldson moves from 47th in the world rankings to 30th.  Donaldson's win is not the big story of the tournament however. Tiger Woods and Rory McIlory were in the field this week in Abu Dhabi.  There was much fanfare and PR hype as McIlory had just switched from Titleist to Nike in a big announcement.  McIlory was either shaking off rust or not used to his new equipment as he carded 75-75 to miss the cut. Woods also missed the cut, but at the end of his 2nd round he thought he'd made it.  A rules infraction cost Woods two strokes, which knocked him above the cut line.  The infraction?  An improper drop from a plugged lie.  The lie was in a "sandy area" instead of a grassy area, which meant he was not allowed a free drop from the plugged lie. Champions Tour Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai The Champions Tour kicked off in great fashion this weekend in Hawaii at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.  The top 5 was an all star cast including Couples, Perry, Langer, Cook and Frost.  At the end of regulation two players sat at -17, John Cook and David Frost. In the playoff both players carded birdies on the par-4 18th hole.  They moved back to the par-3 17th where Cook carded a 2 and took home the first win of the season and $307K.