PGA Tour: WGC Bridgestone / Reno-Tahoe: Notes from the Ballwasher

1).Scott Stallings, Who'd've thunk it? Nine months ago he was a struggling Nationwide Tour pro, 53rd on their moneylist and with nothing more than an exemption to the 2011 Nationwide Tour to look forward to. But an 11th place Q-School finish earned him a 2011 PGA Tour card where he promptly missed his first five cuts and was destined for a bottom placing in the Tour "reshuffle". But his Tour "mentor", Kenny Perry, secured him an invite into the Transitions Championship where he finished third, and the rest is history.

2).And what about Bob Estes, RoboPro of the 1990's, one of the slowest players on Tour and, even in the eyes of an otherwise complimentary pgatour.com article, a Tour "plodder"? A four-time Tour winner but with ZERO FedEx Cup points earned so far this season, Estes was in danger of losing his card. His 2012 remains uncertain, but at least he now has a lifeline.

3).While Bill Haas can look at another opportunity lost as he misses out in his second play-off this year. (Liked the fact that Estes's caddie come up to Haas at the play-off and told Billy he had caddied for his Dad!) Consolation for Haas is that he leap-frogged over Furyk, Toms and Van Pelt into 8th place in the Presidents Cup qualifying rankings, the top ten qualifying and Messrs Fowler and Woods well adrift.

4).Two events this week on the PGA Tour headlined by the "WGC Bridgestone Invitational", not that it's an invitational at all. Ross Fisher has sadly withdrawn due to an untimely family sickness but he'll hopefully be back for the PGA Championship. And Charlie Hoffman has a stomach problem (it's size?) and has yet to travel to Akron and Firestone Country Club.

5).The Firestone South Course has been stretched to 7,400 yards with Bert Way and Robert Trent Jones responsible for one of the Tour's most boring looking venues. Tiger Woods famously has won here seven times and he'll be trying (presumably) for number eight with childhood chum Bryon Bell on his bag. Bell is widely assumed to be one of the Tiger insiders facilitating the supply of waitresses to his mate's door, so suffice it to say he would not be caddying if Elin was still around. Rumours abound that Woods's new full-time caddie may be Brett Waldman, Camilo's caddie of years gone by and now most of his way through a disappointing Nationwide season; he's played 13 events so far, but with only $1,600+ in earnings you know he needs a proper job.

6).On the subject of golfing caddies, kudos here to Damon Green, Zach Johnson's bagman. After qualifying for the British Senior Open and making the 36-hole cut, Green outdid himself by finishing 13th and pocketing $52K at last week's US Senior Open; god knows he'll be working for Zach this week and next however.

7).And on the subject of the US Senior Open, winner Olin Browne became the fifth golfer to win on all three PGA Tour-sponsored Tours: Nationwide, PGA and Champions Tours, following Fergus, Hallberg, Lehman and Streck.

8).Dear George O'Grady,
If you want some good ideas for filling out your European Tour fields during late August and early September during FedEx Play-Off season, here are 15 ideas:
Messrs: Curtis, Cejka, Harrington, Clark, Els, Ames, Woods, Leonard, Cabrera, Oosthuizen, Casey, Weekley, Duval, Stenson and Daly.
Unless these guys have great results the next three tournaments, they'll be unemployed for five weeks as all are in positions lower than 125th in FedEx points, the threshhold necessary to qualify for event number one, The Barclays.

9).While the golfing galacticos are at Firestone, there's a perfectly good "opposite field" event in Nevada, at Jack Nicklaus's Montreux G&CC, as visually gorgeous as Firestone is unappealing. Brian Davis is the only Briton on hand but this has been a happy hunting ground for him, two top tens and $350K in three appearances, as he prepares for PGA Championship. (He's officially been added to the field, Jamie Donaldson too, but no Robert Rock, which is unfortunate.)

10).Lastly, the Nationwide Tour will be in Nebraska and Team GB's gang of four, Christian, Knox, Owen and Richardson will be hoping for a good result with one of the richer purses up for grabs. Especially as they were shut out last week in Utah (Knox and Owen didn't play) where Swedes Blixt and Lingmerth both enjoyed good results and paydays.

11).golfchannel.com is reporting that Woods and Clarke will be paired together at Firestone. Haven't seen that officially confirmed.

12).Interesting that Woods will tee it up at the Australian Open, at The Lakes in Sydney. He's no longer constrained by IMG to play the JBWere Masters and an inference might be that Freddie Couples has told Woods that he'll be a Captain's Pick for the Presidents Cup if he doesn't qualify automatically.

Kwini, how'd you rate Peter Hanson's chances this week? I fancy an e/w punt on him as he seems to do well when he plays over the pond.

When are McIlroy and Woods going to be paired?? I think im right in saying it hasn't happened yet....................

Where are the nationwide playing in nebraska?

Would be very cool if it was Wild Horse or Sand Hills?

McLaren wrote:Where are the nationwide playing in nebraska?

Would be very cool if it was Wild Horse or Sand Hills?

Champions Run, Omaha

Hanson was 8th here last year EmmDee, has a decent record over here especially in the US Open; 18th, 16th and 7th the past three years.
What do you get for e.w. for a limited field event? Top 5??
Just not sure that Hanson's game under fire is as solid as one would expect - lots of good finishes around the World, but too few wins.

John,
Good point, can't think of any offhand; 'course, they haven't played in that many tournaments together recently! I wonder if there'll be a Chubby threesome at Atlanta AC: Schwartzel, McIlroy, Clarke?

What do you make of the Torrance / Harrington rift?

Mac,
Would think they'd be too far out in the boonies to warrant a commercially viable event. Can you say, "Champions Run", Omaha? Can't even tell at first glance who the designer is.

Thanks kwini

kwinigolfer wrote:...one of the Tour's most boring looking venues

Totally agree!

Anyway, the tee times are out, so Tiger/DC pair is confirmed. Obviously these are allmost all top guys, so there are many interesting pairs in there... GMac/Lee, Luke/Charl, DJ/Scott, Rickie/Matteo, Rory/Mahan, etc....

http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/r476/tee-times.html

Would be interesting if Ishikawa&Kuchar got stuck/delayed somehow and they'd let Adam&DJ to go through ahead of them... Then Stevie would be right behind his former boss's (pardon me!) ass ...

I see Charlie Hoffman is in...

Some other notable groups: Podge/Rose, Phil/Jason, Kaymer/Bubba, Watney/Stricker...

Hate these contrived tee-times, Fowler and Matteo, Martin Kaymer and Bubba Watson etc. Seems the PGA Tour is on very thin ice.
Meanwhile Sabbatini returns, opening the batting on Thursday, presumably PGA Tour penance.

PS: I don't see Thomas Levet among the tee-times so presumably he's still counting the cost of jumping into the drink. Hoffman is there however, so watch this space for news of his health.

Confirmation now on pgatour.com that Level is left on the sidelines for another week.

kwini, have there been any news recently about Tim Clark's condition and prospects? I wonder also if Goose is completely recovered, last week wasn't very conclusive in that respect... He's done well here last year but I'm still in two minds if I should stick with him on my fantasy team or not...

On the Harrington-Torrance split, there's two articles:

- one written more around Padraig's views...

http://www.irishgolfdesk.com/news-files/2011/7/31/harrington-and-bob-torrance-part-company.html

- and this one showing more of Bob's views...

http://www.examiner.ie/sport/golf/torrance-warns-padraig-after-split-162838.html

You can make up your own mind. I'd say let's wait and see what's gonna happen with Podge over the next two weeks at least...

No fresh news on Tim Clark that I've heard, other than he's not in the field for next week's PGA Championship. Would be surprised if we see him again this year on the PGA Tour.

No word either on Goosen; he still has to squeeze in four more tournaments and one would think he'll be keen to play Presidents Cup in Australia. Would think he's in the caveat emptor category until he shows some form.

Thanks for the Torrance pieces, pd, have read a lot of the rhetoric, but maybe Padraig's just fed up with Largs.

It seems the PGA Championship field has been finalised with Donaldson, Noh, Edfors etc included.
JJ Henry, Jobe, Imada, Jerry Kelly and Lunde are all in beyond the top seventy in the PGA points list, Gillis and Trahan the first two alternates.

I believe Bob T was well out of order to come out and say what he said.............especially so soon after the split. It showed a lack of loyalty from someone who made a lot of money from Harri over the years..........

Can Harri do well over the next 2 weeks?? He needs to start by managing his way round the course better.......he takes on too many low percentage shots and that's why hi ends up in the water so often..........................

I see Lee Westwood has joined the stable of Stockton disciples - can't hurt. I read Lee took 5 x 3-putts at Royal St.George's and that can't be good for his health.

Most certainly Padraig needed to change something, and I'm struggling to see what Torrance could really do for him differently after 15 years and even how much of an impact he really had on him in recent times (apart from slightly annoying him as it appears now). But there are other elements that may well be more pivotal in what's been going wrong with Paddy. There's a list here of his current backroom team:

http://www.independent.ie/sport/golf/harringtons-backroom-team-2836904.html

I would add also Padraig's head to that list (probably at the top of it)...

As for Tiger's press conference, the most 'newsworthy' thing I've herad was that he doesn't think much of Bryon Bell's legs...

Great to see Tiger back....

Something had to give with Padraig and it wouldn't surprize me now if Ronan was to follow Bob.

Harrington paired this week with fellow lost soul Justin Rose.
Only four cuts and less than $200K in St.Justin's exchequer since the Masters.

Agree benson, but it could create a family upheaval!

Yep but it is work so surely.....Ronan would understand...Padraig really has struggled on the greens this season....Not looking at stats at all but it is a feeling I get from watching him play.

Having a quick look at his PGA Tour putting stats they're not at all bad. He 3-putts more than he should and he's ranked poorly in putts 5 - 15 feet, but overall his short game stats are pretty good.

But he ranks in the bottom 10%-ile in accuracy off the tee and we've all seen some of those places he's put his drives in.

kwinigolfer wrote:Hanson was 8th here last year EmmDee, has a decent record over here especially in the US Open; 18th, 16th and 7th the past three years.
What do you get for e.w. for a limited field event? Top 5??
Just not sure that Hanson's game under fire is as solid as one would expect - lots of good finishes around the World, but too few wins.

Thanks Kwini, he's 50/1 and Top 5 are paid out so in effect 10/1 for the place. I might give it a go just to make it interesting. I'm looking forward to this event, even more now that Tiger is back. Hopefully the cameras won't focus in on his every breath and let us see the rest of the action taking place.

as far as i can tell its Harringtons obsessions with length off the tee that is his biggest downfall. he is now possibly the worst driver on tour. he lashes at the ball with his driver in a way with no sense of balance or tempo from what i can tell.

Ithink it was Butch Harmon who said in the PGA last year or may have been Ryder Cup, that Harrington needs to stop trying to hit the ball as far as the new guys on tour and concetrate on what won him the majors.

I read somewhere that Bob said Harirngton disagreed with what he was trying to achieve with his swing and that was the reason for his split.

Question is where will he turn to now for coaching, Haney clearly states he is not taking on anymore pro clients. Foley sureley doesn't have time to give to Pod what with spending so much time with Tiger, then there;s his other clients Mahan, Rose etc. Harmon is spending more and more time with DJ and Watney. Can't see Harrington turning to Bennett and Plummer who does that really leave... There's a lot of good guys out there teaching but IMO Pod needs a lot of time with a coach that will put him literally on the straight and narrow

Pete Cowen?

Cheers Kwini forgot about Cowen... Can't see that one happening though for some reason. I'm not a Harrington fan but would still like to see him return to some form as it's beginning to get painful seeing him on the course

Harrington turns 40 at the end of this month, surely time to commit himself once and for all.
There are plenty of quality swing gurus around, he justs needs to articulate his objectives, listen to his chosen coach, and let him mould a new (and imporoved?) swing. The model that won the PGA in 20008 certainly had adequate length and I sense more and more that the experienced (Stricker, Phil, Kenny Perry etc) guys are content to be the best that they can be with what "brung" them.

Meanwhile one would expect things to get worse for Padraig before they get better.

Think you've hit the nail on the head there Kwini. He needs to commit to what his coach is getting him to do. I think thats been the issue over recent years he wants to add length which isn't required. I think like you Kwini he needs to ensure that when sitting down with a potential new guru he needs to be clear about what he wants from his swing and where he wants to be. Maybe after so long with BT this got clouded.

On a side not I hear TW has been stating that the changes with Foley are now more ingrained and he gets wha Foley was trying to get him to achieve with his swing.

I dont see how someone like Tiger can take so long to see or understand what his coach is trying to teach him. Or why Harrington wants to be longer off the tee when he's quoted as saying he doesnt want to beat balls anymore but work on his mental and short game instead?

Is golf really this confusing for the professionals as well??

I think with Tiger everything got clouded on and off course so whilst he may have comitted to the Foley changes he maybe didn;t see the the long term benefits straight away but i'd agree a strange way to enter any coaching set up.

With Pod, I think the whole game has got confusing because for a while he said one thing and did another, then theres the Wilson set up he's a staff player that wanted to part with them as he didn't like the product anymore but 6months later nothing has changed

Hmmm... Lee seen with a new caddy at Firestone...?!

http://twitpic.com/5zxm4f

I wonder what's Billy Foster been up to in his day out at Firestone?
I saw a couple of weeks ago that Lee criticised Tiger's decision to sack his caddy...

There's probably nothing in this, but I was just wondering...

I though Billy had the day off and Lee had one of the crowd carrying for him, so i'd assume nothing in it

So what do you think the prices should be for Woods's new caddie appointment?

Something like this?

7/4; Waldman
7/4: Navarro
4/1: Foster
5/1: La Cava
10/1: Cowan
50/1: Williams
100/1: Rachel Uchitel
1,000/1: Jay Townsend

.....
1,000,000/1 Elin Nordegren
.....

I think i'd have Waldman even shorter odds based on how his Nationwide stint is going, but Navarro is a good shout.

What odds on Tiger getting a piece of Fanny?

10/1 Rory McIlroy, although I am not sure he is even fit to lace Tigers shoes.

With Fanny being so close to Steve Williams (I know! Who knew?!) that would be doubtful anyway. Unfortunately!

Yeah, Villegas old caddie seems to be the most likely from looking around the net.

Mav, I think half the time the pros tell us fibs so not to unsettle their camp.

Every Shot Imaginable... Round 3

https://www.youtube.com/user/Everyshotimaginable

Not quite over yet, but looks like good news for the Fish... maybe he'll be ok for Atlanta.

http://www.examiner.ie/sport/golf/fisher-withdraws-to-be-with-his-ill-son-163006.html

pd,
I love the every shot imaginable! When did we ever get something like these from the PGA Tour?

Agreed, kwini. I think it was a genius idea on behalf of the ET, or whoever came up with it! Still like the 1st one the most (but I may be a bit biased ).

I don't know, but would think they may do one somewhere in the far east next as the tour moves over there later in the autumn...

Weatherwise it's such a lovely day. Here anyway, even better in Reno.

Not bad in Akron and weather should be dry Thursday and Friday, chance of storms at the weekend. No forecast yet of any high winds.

The outlook for Reno is hot (daily nineties) and sunny times five. Might be some tricky winds but golfers: Wear your sunscreen.

No further medical bulletins on Charlie Hoffman so assume he's good to go; working allegedly with Tony Navarro this week.

Here we go again!

Not a Hollies (not Holly's) golden oldie but Rory spouting on about rejoining the PGA Tour.

"I'm leaning toward taking my card up again. I feel as if I play my best golf over here. I'm definitely looking towards coming back and playing a full schedule again."

Plus there's no Jay Townsend, only Feherty and Miller.

Not sure what's going on with Rory, he seems in a bit of a whirl.
Europe and the States. Holly and Caroline. JP and Jay.

Good luck to him but he needs to settle himself down.

I know, it's getting a bit to a point when you're almost inclined to say... typical Rory!

Maybe is just that "swinging" is running deep in his veins!!

But as you've said, good luck to him! It's hard to argue at this point that there isn't an element of truth in the fact that US style courses/conditions may suit him better (if the mind is in the right place as well)...

It may well be true that Rory's favourite tournaments are played over there, but didn't he have quite a few distinctly average events too?

Exactly Smithers,
~MatchPlay: 17th
~Honda: 70th
~Doral: 10th
~Masters: 15th
~Quail Hollow: Cut
~Memorial: 5th
~US Open: 1st

Apart from the US Open it's not the worst record you've ever seen but doesn't quite equate with: "I feel as if my game really suits playing courses over here."

It was only last year when he spent the FedEx Play-offs pining for Switzerland.

Some of the players sit down at the end of each season with their "team" and review what went right and what went wrong. Seems that Rory needs to counsel with his parents, Chubster, JP etc and figure out a plan.
His haphazard utterances at press conferences are very inconsistent; but of course that could be a smokescreen, giving the Press a bone and letting them chew on that and forget about caddiegate.

Just watched Luke Donald's meet-the-media and one would think Rory could do well to watch Lukey navigate his way through the media minefield.

This might sound pathetic and overreactive but I'm genuinely starting to get worried about this boy. How in 6 months can you burn bridges with the PGA Tour say you're missing home etc blah blah and then change your mind completely back again. Something deeper going on?