Bob Hope Chrysler Classic round five: A hairy victory for Charley Hoffman

I think the PGA Tour should invest in wind machines. When it’s one of those boringly flat days with the also-rans trailing home dutifully behind Tiger Woods, they should switch them on and give us all some fun. What a whacky day Sunday was - the Twilight Zone as one commentator dubbed it - and, if you knew what you were about, lucrative. You could just tell it was going to be one of those swings and roundabouts affairs market layers love.

You know something’s amiss when a competition starts the day with the leader on 20 under and the winner comes in at 17 under. Only seven players managed to beat par. Survival was the word on most players lips, including Charley Hoffman, propelled into history by an eagle on the final hole of regular play and some luck on the first playoff hole.

So victory to a winless “youngster” playing the Hope for the first time, who only got into the game the previous Monday and who just planned to use it as a season warmup. Sunday was a lottery, but it also took guile and grit to stay around the top and hope others made more mistakes than you did. And Hoffman’s no slouch - he made a mark in his rookie season last year. Maybe with his winnings, Goldilocks can now afford a hair cut.

Close, but no cigar with John Rollins, despite him getting into the playoff after falling four behind. I don’t think anyone will be too disappointed with Sunday’s outcome though, because of the conditions (memo to the US weather services: aren’t you supposed to warn us of things like this?).

That of course includes Justin Rose. I thought he might sneak it Sunday because, no matter how many shots he drained, he always seemed to cling to the lead as his rivals fell off the cliff.

But Justin had really thrown it away the day before. He can go on trying to convince us winning in the US is just the same as in Europe or Australia (not that he actually has hard evidence), but we have Colin Montgomerie to remind us it’s not. Indeed, one of the American commentators mentioned the Scotsman when discussing Rose the other day.

It’s not fair in the end to count this one against him, because of Sunday’s chaos. But the world still awaits - and the layers still rejoice.