Tying for 11th in the Tournament of Champions not only earned Chris Stroud a check for $148,000, it advanced him from No. 189 to 161 in the Official World Golf Ratings, elevated him from 155 to 91 in FedEx Cup points and moved him to 85 on the 2017-18 money list with $200,360 in earnings.

There was also a residual benefit in the form of image enhancement. At least once a day, Golf Channel announcers talked about his efforts in helping raise $1 million through the Hurricane Harvey Pro-Am. It is a story line that figures to oft repeated during the season.

Stroud’s 11th-place tie, against what will be one of the strongest fields he goes up against this year, can be directly traced to short-game play. He was No. 2 in putts per greens hit in regulation, No. 2 in strokes gained putting and No. 9 in scrambling.

His most eye-opening stat of the week, though, was tying for third in birdies with 21. Only runaway winner Dustin Johnson and Pat Perez, with 23 each, made more. The downside for Stroud was making 11 bogeys, a number that was higher that all but 11 players in the 34-man field.

While the former Lamar All-American should look back at the results from his first ever appearance in the TOC with great satisfaction, he probably can’t help but rue how the opportunity for a much bigger splash slipped away the final two days.

After a birdie on the fifth hole on Saturday, he was 10 under par and tied for the lead. He would, however, play the next 31 holes in even par and drop to T11. Nobody knows better than Chris that 72-72 on the weekend leads to leaving a lot of money on the table.

CHIP SHOTS

Andrew Landry joins Stroud in Hawaii this week as the PGA Tour moves to the island of Oahu for the Sony Open. It will be the first tournament action for the PNG ex since tying for fourth in the RSM Classic at Sea Island, Georgia in mid November.

Landry’s strong showing on the fall portion of the 2017-18 season has him 35th in FedEx points, 173rd in the OWGR and 40th on the money list at $453,403. His tentative plans are to play at least five of the sixth stops on the West Coast swing before the tour moves to Florida.

Wailaie Country Club, site of the Sony, should be a good fit for Landry’s game. At just over 7,000 yards, it is one of the shorter, tighter courses on the PGA Tour. If Landry is driving the ball as well as he was in November, and making putts, it would not be surprising to see him in contention.

TV coverage, as was the case last week, will all be on the Golf Channel and mostly in prime time. The Sony airs from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday.

One blessing for everyone in the field at the Sony will be the absence of Dustin Johnson.

Johnson, in winning by eight shots, looked like Tiger Woods in his prime in how dominant he was. He launched 15 drives over 375 yards and had one that traveled 419, while making 23 birdies and three eagles.

Stroud provided the backdrop for one of DJ’s most amazing drives. As he was lining up a birdie putt on the 398-yard, sixth hole, with his caddie attending the pin, Johnson’s tee shot came bouncing over a steep slope to the left of the green, nearly hit the caddie and stopped 50 feet away.
If the guy stays healthy, he is going to be very difficult to beat …

While the PGA Tour continues to bask in Hawaii’s warmth and sunshine, not much golf is taking place in Southeast Texas. The first shots of 2018 were not hit at Babe Zaharias until Mark Griffin and Carl Ray of Port Neches teed off on Jan. 4.

Things warmed up enough for a moderate amount of play last weekend — 119 rounds on Saturday and 107 on Sunday — but then heavy rain again made conditions miserable. Through Monday, only 324 rounds had been played this year …

In the Saturday Super Senior two-ball game at Zaharias, the team of Randy Monk, Don MacNeil, Larry Foster and Dan Flood won the front with plus 2. Even par won the back for Mark Lawson, Harry Green, Pete Reobroi and Dillard Darbonne.

Ron Mistrot of Bridge City authored the final reported hole in one of 2017 at Zaharias. Mistrot, playing into a strong wind, sank a 5 hybrid on the 140-yard, 12th hole. What was his fifth ace was witnessed by Cap Hollier and James Shipley.

Tournament play is just around the corner for junior golfers in Southeast Texas, with the Texas-Louisiana Junior Winter Tour launching Saturday, Jan. 20 at Frasch Park in Sulphur.

Remaining events are set for Henry Homberg Golf Club on Jan. 27, Louisiana National in Westlake on Feb. 3 and Babe Zaharias on Feb. 10.

The tour, which is dependent on sponsorships to keep costs low, is open to boys and girls ages 7 to 18. Anyone who would like to participate as a sponsor should contact Jerry Honza at jhonz@pga.com.

Additional information on the tour can be found by going to bluegolf.com and typing in Texas Louisiana Junior Tour.

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Golf news should be emailed to rdwest@usa.net