And You Think There's No Reason To Watch The Farmers Insurance Open!

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On Wednesday at Torrey Pines I was on the range and impressed with a player's swing, so I turned to a colleague who cares about such non-major winner types and he informed me it was Kyle Stanley. It's a shame I didn't make the third round Farmers Insurance Open leader my fantasy pool pick this week since he's got a five-shot lead over Huh, Rollins, Haas, Bai, Tringale and Blixt to name a few golfers you've probably not heard of.

Now, I know some will say this is the worst leaderboard they've seen in ages, particularly in light of the Tiger Woods-show in Abu Dhabi. But there are actually a couple of reasons to tune into the final round from Torrey Pines.

First there's Stanley's charming honesty about his prodigious driving distance, as Helen Ross notes in her story about the leader's plans to play boring golf Sunday. Check out what he says about his ridiculous length (311 off the tee this week):

Q.  Brandt was really impressed with your length off the tee today.  It's the first time he's said he's played with you.  Have you always been that way as a golfer and how much of an advantage do you see it giving you out there?

Yeah, I mean, for some reason I've always been long. 

Pssst...you're supposed to say it's all the core work you're doing, Kyle! Go on...

I don't know why, because I'm not the biggest guy in the world.  But you take a golf course like this where you're hitting 7‑irons into par‑5s and short irons into long par‑4s, it definitely helps.  I mean, it's helped me a lot this week.

Q.  How do you account for your length?  You must have a theory or people have examined it.

KYLE STANLEY:  I don't know.  I've done some stuff up at TPR where they put the 3‑D on you and stuff like that.  But I think it's about moving the right part of the body at the right time. But that's about all I know.

Can't be the ball or clubs!

Later on...

Q.  Is there any competition on TOUR among the long drivers?  Is that ever a thing?  Have you had to work on dialing back the distance to get more accuracy?

KYLE STANLEY:  Yeah, as far as distance goes, I think it's probably the least important stat if you're not hitting fairways.  I don't really pay much attention to it.  I think it's fun for the fans to see guys hitting the ball long.  But as far as we're concerned if you're hitting it 340 crooked, I'd rather hit it 300 or 295 on the fairway.

Just think, in five years there'll be a guy who says he'd rather hit it 340 in the fairway instead of 385 crooked, and the USGA ball study will be almost wrapping up!

Anyway, the other reason to watch Sunday: Huh!

Jeff Rude notes the incredible performance of Q-School graduate Johnny Huh, who hasn't played the Nationwide Tour, isn't a product of the college golf system and yet somehow is contending. And if he wins well, then we must revisit this Q-School debate!

You may also recall that Jill Painter was the first to profile Huh and it's a great story.

So there you have it, excited now about the Farmers Insurance Open?

The third round highlights...

The Choking Freaking Dogs' Wounds May Have Finally Healed

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Randall Mell believes Meg Mallon's appointment as 2013 Solheim Cup captain was newsworthy because of her openness to a Dottie Pepper assistant captaincy, healing the lingering wounds from Pepper's honest (and accurate) assessment from the 2007 (get over it!) Cup telecast.

“I don’t know who my assistant captains will be yet,” Mallon said. “But I do believe Dottie Pepper should be a captain someday. I also strongly believe that anyone who is captain should be an assistant captain first. Whether it’s me who names her, or another captain after me, Dottie was the face of the U.S. Solheim Cup team in the ‘90s. She deserves to be captain.”

Mallon believes it’s time to welcome Pepper back into the Solheim Cup fold.

“I’m all about forgiveness, and I think both sides need to step forward to kind of have that healing happen, and it couldn’t happen soon enough for me,” Mallon said. “I’ve spent my whole career with Dottie, and I know her whole heart bleeds red, white and blue. She is so passionate about the Solheim Cup that sometimes that passion comes out in ways that have obviously hurt other people. But I still believe you can get over those hurts, and that she will be a captain someday.”

Pepper, 46, was visibly moved when told about Mallon’s comment.

“I don’t know what to make of it, but it’s terribly complimentary, and that means a lot to me,” Pepper told GolfChannel.com.