Meister der Farbe » frame the Phoenix Open as a tournament

Gary Christian looks back at last week’s Northern Trust Open, picks out his West Coast swing highlights and predicts a big few weeks ahead for Rory McIlroy.It has been a spectacular West Coast swing, certainly living up to the billing with some great comeback stories and impressive rounds on some outstanding courses.Riviera is one of the top five courses on the PGA Tour and is one where you really need to have played it a handful of times to really get a good handle on it. Its just a very, very good golf course and you cant really spray it all over the place. Bubba Watson moved back to world No 4 with victory Bubba Watson had one of those weeks at the Northern Trust Open where his driving was straight, so that 320-yard average is a very dangerous weapon when youre hitting it like that.Its a pretty long course for a normal length hitter with a lot of 460-yard holes and a lot of difficult shots indeed, so to be going in with a nine-iron when the rest of the field is going in with the six gives you a big advantage.With as much golf as he has played at the quality he has performed, Jordan Spieth was always going to have tournament where he was just off. From his driver to his putter, everything just wasnt right and around a course with the quality of Riviera, theres always the potential of shooting something unexpected. McIlroy finished nine strokes adrift of Bubba Watson at Riviera We can say the same for Rory McIlroy in the final round, particularly with the putting which is obviously quite a concern. If theres a weakness in his game then its the consistency in his putting and its a little frustrating for him to get in a position and not close out the deal.As one of the worlds top three players you would have expected him to, but I think a lot it was just down to rustiness. Hes now starting to get ready for Augusta and starting to have a more regular playing schedule, so Im sure well see him do a lot better the next time hes in that position and probably win the tournament.When you start back in a different continent on a different tour it takes a little while to get everything fine-tuned for that last round, so I think thats all part of Rorys poor finish and I think hes going to be just fine. Hes familiar with all of those courses hes playing (on the Florida Swing) and I expect to see something special from McIlroy. Gary Christian Special performanceI sure weve already seen the round of the year in Brandt Snedeker at the Farmers Insurance Open. I cant see anything approaching that. For him to score that low in those conditions on that course was incredible.It was basically an unplayable golf course. When the best players in the world were in action and the average score was almost 80, it just goes to show there was something a little bit special about that 69.On possibly the hardest course on the PGA Tour where the rough was a thick as it was and the green as quick as they were, just keeping it anywhere near 76 or 77 would have been an achievement. Brandt Snedeker was the only player to shoot under par during the final round We know how brutally hard it can be playing links courses in Britain with the wind coming up, so I think Greg Owen described conditions in California quite nicely before the final round as having the potential for carnage.Snedekers achievements were amazing, but it was impressive to watch KJ Choi and Jimmy Walker try to chase him down. It was good to see they still had difficult conditions on the Monday and at least had a chance down the last few holes.Fowlers frustrationYou can frame the Phoenix Open as a tournament Rickie Fowler threw away, but you can also frame it as one where he holed countless putts to stay in contention. It just happens that Hideki Matsuyama was equal to him and hit more good shots, as Rickie hit one poor one to miss out. Fowler is a four-time winner over the past 12 months Fowler was clearly crushed in the press conference afterwards, as hes now in that position in golf where if he gets into a play-off then he expects to win. He expects to be a better player than the guy hes going to be playing against, but it wasnt a shock that Matsuyama was able to hold him off.Weve got to realise that M