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'Dawgs on Tour: "The UGA Tour, that is" Edition (aka AT&T Byron Nelson)

We're staying in Texas this week, and that is fine by me. The Dawgs are renaming the PGA Tour to UGA Tour, and have every blessed right to do so. Fresh off Chris Kirk's come-from-behind victory Sunday in soggy DFW, we mosey just down the road a poke to the TPC Four Seasons Resort at Las Colinas. (Once again, I apologize for the naming convention of courses and tournaments). It's a par 70 layout, same as last week, and is a tad shorter at around 7,150 yards. Huge greens with shaved areas and runoffs and lots of undulation are the protection du jour, but PGA pros go a bit lower on this course. Several have shot 60 here, and the winning score is in the mid to high teens under par. UGA's own Brendon Todd got his first Tour win here in 2014, going bogey-free over his last 31 holes (including having to hit a shot left-handed) en route to a 2 stroke win.

While AT&T is the sponsor, this tournament honors the legacy of Byron Nelson. I alluded to "Lord Nelson" last week, but he deserves to stand on his own. Why? Though he played in the 1930's and 40's, he still played against Sarazen, Snead, Hogan and other legends. And during that time, he once finished in the top 10 of 65 consecutive tournaments, winning 34 of them and placing 2nd another 16 times. Near the end of this run, he won 11 straight tournaments outright and won a total of 18 tournaments in 1945. Always a gentleman, he set the stage for the modern golfer. And his swing was considered so pure that the mechanical testing robot was named after him - "Iron Byron".

Dustin Johnson, Masters champ Jordan Spieth and 10 of the world's top 30 golfers are here this week and it's a pretty decent field. But you only care about a few golfers this week, and here they are (world golf ranking and FedEx Cup ranking in parentheses):

Erik Compton (115,104): The Miami native finally broke the jinx I laid on him, and finished T33 last week. But I haven't seen that much life out of his game this year. He had a breakthrough at the US Open in June last year, so I'm hoping he's getting some of that summer vibe back.

Harris English (67,37): The 2011 Bulldog has two missed cuts recently including at The Players, but had been very strong in the spring, going so far as to losing in a playoff. He's been sporadic in his entries, but I think he's been working on his game and is ready to compete this week.

Brian Harman (80,89): The 5'7" lefty has had an up and down season, making 9 cuts while missing 8. But he's trending in the right direction, and has two top 10's including last week. He won't overpower a course, so this layout might be good for him.

Russell Henley (53,44): Henley has started to slip down the rankings of late, but mostly because he hasn't won, not because he's played poorly. He had a top 25 at The Masters and The Players. I'm not sure what he's doing with his hair (facial and otherwise), but he is a fiery competitor and I think he comes back after a layoff ready to go.

Hudson Swafford (245,84): He missed the cut last week after taking a month off, so maybe that was rust. He's inside the top 100 in FedEx Cup, but will slide if he doesn't start playing more on the weekends. He's the by far lowest world ranked UGA product (other than Imada), but a top 10 will vault him back to the more respectable rankings. He is running out of time to qualify for the US and British Opens (I'm not tracking his status), so a good showing the next couple of weeks will help.

Brendon Todd (49,55): This week's defending champ, and a 2007 graduate of UGA, Todd has three top 10's this year and is coming off a T43 last week at Colonial. Coming to the site of your first Tour win can only be good, so maybe we'll see Todd on the leaderboard this weekend.

Chris Kirk took the week off after his win, and is closing on a new house in Athens. Bubba is doing Bubba, and paying attention to his various business interests.

TV coverage is pretty typical: Golf Channel 4-7pm ET Thurs/Fri, then again 1-2:30 pm ET Sat/Sun before CBS picks up the main weekend coverage from 3-6:00 pm ET.

Go 'Dawgs!!!

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