PGA Tour: Deutsche Bank: Notes from the Ballwasher

1).The weather clearly made a mess of The Barclays last week. Apart from turning classic Plainfield CC in to a dartboard, the Tour ruined any remaining integrity to the event by declaring that, if the 54 holes couldn't be completed by all, the truncated event would be further abbreviated to the 36 hole result. Good Lord! What ever would they have done if the leaders had finished but some slowcoaches at the back of the field got washed out?!!

2).Next thing you know they'll be selecting Captain's picks for the Presidents Cup before qualification is complete. They wouldn't do that now. Would they?

3).Let's not take anything away from Dustin Johnson however, now 4th in the World and the best of the Young Americans. Coincidentally, that's his second 54-hole win and at least one of his other three wins was weather-disrupted. Now he's got his second Play-Off tournament win and he has to be favourite for the FedEx Cup.

4).While everyone's eyes were on the Hurricane last week, a Viking was slinking off the PGA Tour, exit stage right. Mississippi's Viking Classic, site of Luke Donald's first win, has lost its sponsor and, unless a replacement is found, another long-standing event is history. Perhaps not many casual golf fans will miss this particular stop but, once again, it's a small event that has been a staple on the PGA Tour, most recently in the Fall Series. But some scheduling knucklehead decided to put it up this year against the Open Championship, in the middle of July when temps nudged 100F degrees. Brilliant.

5).The Players and PGA Tour met this week regarding notions that qualifying for the PGA Tour should be almost exclusively via the Nationwide Tour (or whatever it will be called when N'wide bow out). Q-School would offer access to the Nationwide only, and not to the PGA Tour. That'll help shut overseas veterans out of the Q-School route to the Tour - who is going to want to spend a year serving a minor-league apprenticeship on the offchance things go well and a Tour card materialises? The mooted idea includes a series of two or three mega-Nationwide events concluding their season with leading Nationwiders and PGA Tour moneylist finishers 126-200-ish competing from which the leading 50-odd would earn Tour cards for the following year. Some work on the drawing board still necessary I would think.

6).Meanwhile, one golfer who won't be concerned with all this, 15 years removed from his "Hello World" announcement, has delivered a "Hello Fall Series" pronouncement, Tiger Woods entering the Fry's.com tournament in California this October. Presumably any suggestion that the Presidents Cup pick is a quid pro quo for Fry's participation is purely cynical. Good deal for the Fry's though.

7).And so to TPC Boston, not exactly in Boston and almost not in Massachusetts, right by the Rhode Island border. But, wherever it is, it emerged relatively unscathed from last week's storms and, with the blessing of five days sun, should be in great condition for the 99 Deutsche Bankers, JB Holmes the only absentee. pgatour.com reckons the top 55 players are safely destined for the BMW but that leaves some notables vulnerable. Once the cut is made we'll offer estimates of what surviviors have to do on Sunday and Monday but these guys are among those on thin ice:
Allenby
Furyk
Kim
Poulter (17 out of 18 greens in regulation on Saturday, one miss cost him two strokes - great effort by Poulter)
Immelman
Harrington
Overton
McDowell
Ogilvy (I'm hoping good memories - four top tens - of TPC Boston will snap Ogilvy out of his season-long siesta. And in to the BMW at least, and Greg Norman's Pres Cup Team.)
Love
Els

Europeans were 11 for 11 in making the Barclays cut. More of that please.

8).The Champions Tour takes a hiatus from US competition but I enjoyed seeing Calcavecchia winning his first Senior title in Washington State last week. And on another note, those of us who follow sport would scarcely be human if we didn't have favourites and those we like a little less.
Chip Beck has been one of the latter category for me, deathly slow on the course, relentlessly upbeat and positive, nauseatingly so, and of course guilty of the chicken-spit lay up at Langer's second Masters win. Things spiralled downhill for Beck after that, he lost his game and struggled badly for many years, first in losing his PGA Tour card, and then plugging away on the Nationwide circuit, followed by poor play on the Champo Tour. But this year he's turning it round and Sunday's third place finish will get him very close to securing full exemption for 2012. Good for him!

9).The Nationwiders are in the Pittsburgh area this week, Gary Christian and Matt Richardson the only GB competitors. Decent field again with lots of PGA Tour vets hoping to emulate Kirk Triplett's success last week.

10).And it is often overlooked when a golfer officially announces retirement. Sherri Steinhauer did exactly that last week, in Canada. Steinhauer has been one of the most understated successful golfers on any circuit these past 25 years, with three British Women's Opens among her eight successes, plus another Major-at-the-time, the Du Maurier Classic in Canada. A four-time Solheim Cupper, she will be a Vice Captain on Rosie Jones Team in Ireland in a couple of weeks. Good luck to her!

PS: Thanks to all expressing their concern following last Sunday's weather. Thankfully no damage or serious flooding here, but some communities, especially in the mountains here and in nearby Northern New York were devastated.

An interesting and informative read, as always - thank you.

In connection with the thread about underperformers this year, it did occur to me a week or so ago that a case could be made for DJ, in that I expect a lot of people were expecting him to kick forward after a good and (twice) nearly amazing 2010... and then he goes and wins!

I'm off to see the seniors again at the weekend - the "Travis Perkins plc Senior Masters" is on at Woburn. Not expecting it to be on the same level as the Senior Open (this being a regular European Seniors Tour event, there'll be no Champions Tour players of course - but the venue happens to be more or less en route for my travel pattern anyway and [advance] ticket price seemed v reasonable).

Thanks Sky,
We follow Dustin Johnson quite closely here for personal reasons. He's got such a low-key demeanour, it's not always easy to tell whether he's fully engaged or not. But the proof of the pudding and all that: Five wins, two more than any of the other 20-somethings. Plus plays well in big events. Top ten last year in Boston, won Chicago, got the track record (and caddie) to bring home the $10 Mil.

Hope you have good weather for the Travis Perkins - certainly as good a field as the S.E.T. can produce.

PS: I saw Adam Scott was an interested spectator, trying to look incognito, at Ana Ivanovic's first rounder at Flushing Meadow.

Good to see DJ has masively improved his wedge game, for one that hits it so far this was always a weakness for him, now this is coming on leaps and bounds he can truly become a great player.

Woods, getting his president cup wild card before selection is complete is a farce, purely done for commercialism of the event and to get crowds in from a USA perspective.

Not sure I like the idea of qulaification for tour purely through the Nationwide. I can see why they are doing it, but I like the way it is now and if it's not broke why fix it.

Thoughts to JB holmes once again after his surgery, I take it this also means that Charl is now playing this week after sitting out the opening event.
Of those on the bubble be nice to see TI, Els and Love get through, can't say overly interested in the others, it's good to see TI getting some form back this year after injury curtailed a fair bit of his recent golf since the Masters win, fabulous striker of the ball possibly one of the best i've witnessed really fizzes to ball of the clubface

Kwini,

Dissapointing to see the PGA is introducing protective measures and moving towards a closed shop like the Senior Tour. So much for "democracy" and "freedom", two of the corner stones of the American way I thought. Golf is a competitive sport which needs to be as open as possible. We need a process of promotion and religation, not a Syndicate. Feels like a move towards WWE sports entertainment with US golfers putting on a weekly show for an American audience.

This approach may backfire on them. The European Tour is now a 12 month tour with a worldwide footprint (except the US of course) and sufficient financial resources to give the top guys a great living (complemented by occasional visits to the US and on & off course endorsements of course). In the future an increasing number of top young players will come from the the emerging counties. If the PGA protects the US players too much this will be a catalyst for the rest of the world to finally catch-up and perhaps overtake the US Tour.

I can recall Seve's fights with the US Tour in the 80's. The US Tour needed the most exciting player in the world and eventually changed the rules on the minimum number of tournaments to get him. In 10 years time Tiger's and Phil's carreers will be over and every chance most of the best players at that time will not be US. Opening the doors at that time may be too late. Seve needed the US Tour to make proper money - this is becomming less and less of an issue for the top players.

Kwini - Fantastic reporting, but I've come to expect nothing less from you!

Good to hear Boston course will be ready for the weekend. Storm aftermath still being felt in many areas ... $1 B in damage, too many lost lives.

I suspect you could have guessed it, but I'm delighted that Couples chose Tiger right away as a Captain's pick. Tiger's match play record is top notch, he's still widely respected as a professional golfer (not feared certainly as he once was) and one reason they have Captain's picks is that they don't have to base it on current form.

Dustin Johnson, who at one point appeared to some as a highly athletic, long-hitting hayseed, has certainly come into his own. 5 Tour wins, competitive at recent majors, he could surely be a #1 ranked golfer. Not the flair of Rory, but when it's going well, he's world class. I've said my bit about Plainfield on another thread, but really sad the weather took away the defense of the course. If any ever get the chance to play it, I highly recommend it.

No Q school? Too bad -- I really enjoyed watching that event.

Scottie - Don't confuse some American values (for lack of a better term) with American business. The purpose of the tour is not to promote democracy and access, but to build event popularity; which, in turn, gets advertisers, builds purses and attracts top professionals. Good for the European Tour building as it is. I've been to one ET event in my life and saw some great golf -- and while they don't (as a general rule) seem to have the corporate sponsorship and event planning as finely tuned as the US tour events I've seen (and been involved in) that will surely happen.

ScottieD18 wrote:Kwini,

Dissapointing to see the PGA is introducing protective measures and moving towards a closed shop like the Senior Tour. So much for "democracy" and "freedom", two of the corner stones of the American way I thought. Golf is a competitive sport which needs to be as open as possible. We need a process of promotion and religation, not a Syndicate. Feels like a move towards WWE sports entertainment with US golfers putting on a weekly show for an American audience.

This approach may backfire on them. The European Tour is now a 12 month tour with a worldwide footprint (except the US of course) and sufficient financial resources to give the top guys a great living (complemented by occasional visits to the US and on & off course endorsements of course). In the future an increasing number of top young players will come from the the emerging counties. If the PGA protects the US players too much this will be a catalyst for the rest of the world to finally catch-up and perhaps overtake the US Tour.

I can recall Seve's fights with the US Tour in the 80's. The US Tour needed the most exciting player in the world and eventually changed the rules on the minimum number of tournaments to get him. In 10 years time Tiger's and Phil's carreers will be over and every chance most of the best players at that time will not be US. Opening the doors at that time may be too late. Seve needed the US Tour to make proper money - this is becomming less and less of an issue for the top players.

Absolutely agree Scottie

'Allo, 'Allo,

Mav,
Completely agree about TI, haven't seen anyone hit long irons like he does, not necessarily the result but the impact and trajectory. He should be playing with Poulter and JJ Henry on Friday and Saturday - group worth watching.

Scottie,
As Ned says: Spot on!
Let's make clear that this is not a done deal - it is a top-down initiative that has already garnered a lot of criticism from the rank and file, not because of the impact on non-Americans but to help protect veterans with decreasing standing from the clutches of the Nationwide.
Whatever happens at meetings still to take place, nothing will change for qualification for Tour cards for the 2012 season.

The one thing worth remembering is that such a policy would deny "rookie" Q-School candidates the chance to make an immediate impact on the PGA Tour: recent examples would include Anthony Kim, Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler, Webb Simpson etc etc.

Unfortunately, and I understand Shotrock's comments, the Tour is moving further and further from a rock-solid base of tournaments with a few highlights, Majors, to a Tour for galacticos only. Clearly lots of divergent opinions on this but I watch golf to see top class players, not the most bling-laden field, and the Tour risks becoming top-heavy, serving the interests of the few (the Rich and Famous) and committing the rest to the discard pile. Sooner or later the resultant closed shop will have excluded any new blood, wherever they come from.

Cheers Shotrock - Not saying Couples doesn't have the right to pick who-the-hell-he-wants but disrespectful to every other contender to place him on a pedestal when he can't be bothered to play the tournaments necessary to earn qualifying points. Woods' Match Play record has not been much in evidence in the Ryder Cup and Stricker baled him out time and time again at Harding Park as well as CM.
Seems the real reason is that Steinberg negotiated Woods a megadeal to play the preceding Aussie Open and pressured the PGA Tour to make everything public early to generate ticket sales. Quid pro quo is for Woods to play Fry's.com. Money Money Money. Bloody farce.

Unfortunately, and I understand Shotrock's comments, the Tour is moving further and further from a rock-solid base of tournaments with a few highlights, Majors, to a Tour for galacticos only. Clearly lots of divergent opinions on this but I watch golf to see top class players, not the most bling-laden field, and the Tour risks becoming top-heavy, serving the interests of the few (the Rich and Famous) and committing the rest to the discard pile. Sooner or later the resultant closed shop will have excluded any new blood, wherever they come from.

Can the tour not see this, and the fact if they go ahead with it then all they will actually do is help to make the ET stronger, because there will be many more Rookies and other guys that are not the Bling stars of the moment wanting to play on a proper tour with proper OGWR ranking points higher than that of the Nationwide, so more guys will try their hand at ET qualification surely

Mav,
Two voices of reason amongst all this will be Brian Gay and Paul Goydos, two well-respected veterans who have paid their proverbial dues and will be looking out for those less fortunate than themselves.
They may not be looking out for "international" players' interests but will certainly be trying to protect the veteran players and opportunities for new blood.

It would be good to think some guys will go to Europe but wouldn't hold my breath.

Thats the thing Kwini are the Yankees that opposed to travel that they'd rather ply their trade on the for want of a better word lesser tour with fewer ranking points on the nationwide than try their hand in Europe where a large portion of the worlds highest ranked players ply their trade allowing them to accumulate more OGWR points and getinto the big US events anyway

The beauty of the European tour is that (compared to the US tour) it's diverse in so many ways -- participants, cultures, courses. (To be fair, there's plenty of diversity in courses here, too.)

But for an aspiring American professional (as well as an accomplished American professional), the lure of staying put is very logical: you can compete for large purses, remain close to your friends and family, and concentrate your endorsement opportunities by staying in these United States. Chasing a little white ball for a living is not easy -- so the above mentioned benefits go a long way for many.

However, as more "International" golfers compete at the highest level, many (I strongly suspect) will gravitate towards the European Tour for many of same reasons (Westwood and McIlroy good examples). And as those events build, more Americans will follow the purses, etc.

I wonder if the likes of Anthony Kim, Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler and Webb Simpson would now fancy a crack at european Q school over a year on the nationwide. It would be rather funny if scrapping q school had that effect on the PGA tour.

Although I am never quite sure how people qualify for the US tour, how did McIlroy get on it in 2010 for example. If it is not based on OWGR's then what is it based on for more established players?

McLaren wrote:Although I am never quite sure how people qualify for the US tour, how did McIlroy get on it in 2010 for example. If it is not based on OWGR's then what is it based on for more established players?

I have a (possibly unreliable) recollection that an invitation was extended to him following a good showing at The Masters, but couldn't give you chapter and verse.

Mav,
You never know; it might be that an upgraded Nationwide Tour is the new carrot for aspiring young 'uns.

Sr,
I think Casey, Oosthuizen and Schwartzel might make decisions this fall - Casey and Oosthuizen might have to, Schwartzel just doesn't seem to have played very much - perhaps he's gearing himself up for big money, silly-season paydays.

Mac,
McIlroy earned his membership option for 2010 by virtue of 2009 winnings in PGA Tour events. If a non-member earns more than the 125th player on the money list they are offered membership. If that's not precisely accurate, it's pretty close.

Morning kwini,

Looking forward to this weekend's action in Boston but also gives us a chance to focus on Switzerland for a couple of rounds before the FedEx Nascar-style event has a few holes under its belt.

Some nice featured groups at Golf-Club Crans-sur-Sierre. (Wouldn't mind playing a couple of rounds at their Ballesteros and Nicklaus courses one day) Has anyone from this board been there?

Olly, Jacque and Franny
Peter H., Eddie and Pablo L.
Oosty, Kaymer and Bjorn
MAJ, Rors and Noh
Stenson, Foster and Que?
Jeev-M, Monty and Dyson
Lee, Thongchai and Noren
Clarke, Ollie and Matteo

Very good win by NYY over BOS last night. The 2 week affair at Flushing Meadows is going to cost me more sleep. Strange how the ladies' quality fluctuates so much from major to major. The other side of the coin, not a single bum in the men's draw. Maybe a lot of guys nursing injuries, but a solid field for every major. Not necessarily fair to the ladies but similar in respect to the PGA Tour and ET vs. the LPGA.

My relatives in Little Falls and Herkimer report the towns survived the storms relatively unscathed. However, long traffic lines crawling through Main Street due to parts of the NY State Thruway being closed. Called the Little Falls Municipal Golf Course this morning and they are open for business.

Crans has possibly got it's strongest field this year for over a decade. It's possbily the most beautiful stop on the ET schedule, never had the priviledge to play it yet but hoping to add that to the list in the coming years.

Hi Mav,

Enjoyed reading your ET weekly tournament column with its multiple references. It's a nice compliment to kwini's PGA Tour write-ups. Are you going to keep it going?

Venice, have been only dipping in and out recently, now i've sold one of my business's i'm here for good, so will commence again, i'll work on one for Crans and post it up tomorrow

Bonjourno venezia,
Agree regarding Mav's ET insights Spiced with Mavette updates I hope!

Some tasty groupings in Boston as well, love the first four in the FedEx hierarchy:
Johnson, Kuchar, Watney
Simpson, Donald, Sneds
Stricker, Singh, Choi
Woodland, Mickelson, Byrd

Great win last night, more tonight s'il vous plait. Hughes with a point to prove. Nice to see the Skanks hitting the punk Red Sox just as much as they hit us. Perhaps Girardi has woken up at last.

Loving le tennis - a two-week TV treat! But, must admit, can't stand the lady divas. And can't stand Mike Tirico handling the ESPN chores.

Will be in the Adirondacks this weekend, and "the Valley"; hoping the Thruway will be fully open for business by then.

Weather outlook for TPC Boston this week continues to be glorious, warm and mostly sunny, but there's a chance of that being spoiled late on Sunday and also Monday. Hopefully the weather gods will give us a break.

Just a reminder that T.Woods is playing today, at the Notah Begay Foundation Challenge at Turning Stone. He found his way to Central New York (not New Jersey as his website reported) and has Notah's brother caddying for him. So far so good.

Great read, as always, kwini
Travelling for a couple of days so just browsed quickly through the thread tonight, some great posts in there... Looking forward to the golf this weekend. Going with Kouch and Matteo this week...

Ah, and before I go...

Happy 40th Birthday, Padraig!!!

Well, Happy Birthday Padraig!
And, appropriately enough, 40th place could well be a high enough finish for Padraig to receive a free pass to Play-Off Round 3, the BMW Championship in Chicago. That's a no-cut event so it's the gift that keeps on giving.
(Hope he does better than Team Ireland in the US Open, both of whose contestants withdrew - better than Team England it has to be said, whose men didn't even make the main draw.)

hard to disagree with those tips PD. although the bookies seem to have priced in that matteo has gone well here before. He's currently third favourite on betfair @15/1.
others that look like good value to me are Steve Stricker(18/1), Vijay Singh (37/1), and Davis Love (220/1)

kwini, so much for the luck of the Irish talking about Team Tennis Ireland... but at least this and a promissing performance at Wimbledon by Niland have been generating quite a bit of talk around Irish tennis here lately, which is a bit of a novelty in this country, really...

But going back to Team Golf Ireland, I'm thinking that Caroline may have told Rory that she will only date no. 1's in the world, as he seems to be taking things pretty seriously so far in Switzerland... Good to see Kaymer also back near the top of the LB, it's about time he gets back to his best. Something funny going on with Perry on that LB, suddenly shooting to the top out of nowhere... for a moment was credited with an albatross at hole#1 ?!?

Jinxed Rory again...

There's another one... I wonder, is Lefty following Stockton's advice here or he's just going with the trend...

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golftalkcentral/mickelson-uses-belly-putter-in-deutsche-bank-pro-am-round/

pd,
Have actually tried to follow Niland's progress a bit; desperately unlucky with Tuesday's sickness. At least he tried which is more than can be said for Wenus Villiams - Arc of the Diva as Stevie Winwood might have sung.

Hadn't seen that about Phil, but can't say I'm surprised - Furyk also names Keegan Bradley as a putting influence, and Keegan and Phil play practice rounds together sometimes.

It would be interesting to listen to guys like Cink and Singh who have had great success with long and short putters.

All this talk of the Pro-Am - is the Deutsche Bank a Fri-Mon contest this week? Hadn't seen that mentioned anywhere

Yes, they finish on "Labour Day" Monday and then survivors take ten days off before the BMW begins. Have tried to mention it from time to time, somewhat veiled alusion in Note 7!
(Thought this would be a post to acknowledge my musical reference Davie!)

Thanks Kwini - I missed the reference in point 7 and I'd forgotten it was Labor Day (you'll be putting your white shoes away for another year I take it?)

Also had to re-read your article to spot the music reference this week! The Bowie one or did I miss another?

Davie !!!!!!!
Not Bowie, Winwood comment a few comments back which likely coincided with your music thread!
(Saw SW in concert a few years ago, absolutely fantastic - did a thirty minute Gimme Some Loving jam with Trey Anastasio. Place was rocking!)

Ah gotcha now - I missed that one also! I was looking at the capitalised "Young Americans" in the lead post and thought that was the obligatory musical reference for this week!

What does everyone think about the R&A's venue changes, (with their geographical diversity) for qualifying for the Lytham Open?
Glasgow Gailes
Woburn (Yes, Woburn)
RCPorts
Hillside

Just spotted on the twittersphere - someone saying

Last time Mickelson used a controversial piece of equipment he did it to make a point - to raise the issue & force the authoritys' hands ...

Any idea what this refers to?

Davie,
I think it's making reference to the grooves shenanigans at the start of the 2010 season when some pros used outdated (usually PING) wedges with pre-ruling square grooves.

there was an exemption for an older model of PING to the new grooves rules that dated back to a legal case in the early 90s (i think).
scott mcarron got involved in slatting Phil as far as i remember. the exemption was taken away by Finchem with the agreement of Ping within a few weeks though.

Thanks hend0, That's pretty much it.

Yup, McCarron called Phil, and others, a cheat! Which is surprising and ott coming from the very popular, and usually mild-mannered, McCarron, ironically one of the first, perhaps THE first, exponent of the (cheating?) long putter on the PGA Tour!!

Meanwhile, the Nationwide Tour is keeping normal hours this week, though Round 1 has been interrupted by uncooperative weather.
Gary Christian and Matthew Richardson are the only GB&I'ers, but there's the usual supply of Swedes, including Daniel Chopra who's busy snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in his quest for "graduation" to the PGA Tour. Not many players win early in the season and then fail to make enough loot to finish the year in the Top 25. But he's playing poorly again today and is slipping down the moneylist at a rate of knots.

Rocco Mediate leads the list of PGA Tour exempt players in the field, in his case generously supporting a hometown event.

kwini,
Managed to get my bets on earlier, Each way on both Garcia at 40/1 and Byrd at 100/1 (pays 1/4 odds for top 5). Realistically how do you rate their respective chances based on:-

1. Your knowledge of the course as to whether suits their game etc.
2. Current form
3. Previous form at this course
4. Anything else you want to throw in to the mix

Sorry seems a bit of an exam question but do value your opinion. Only problem is maybe should have asked you before placing bets.Doh!

If you feel too much detail required I won't be offended by you saying so.

Noel,
Read this and you'll be reassured that JByrd gets up crack o'sparrows every morning to get a jump on his bible reading. Praise the lord.

http://www.pgatour.com/2011/r/08/30/pga-tour-wives-18-things-about-jonathan-byrd/index.html

He's played at TPC Boston about 8 times and never missed a cut - or registered a top twelve. So that suggests you'll get a run for your money. Winning score tends to be low, regarded as a par 5 bonanza.

As for Sergio, he's only played here three times, finished 5th once and never worse than 26th. I think every course suits Sergio except short jobs that turn into a putting contest. He's one guy I reckon is motivated by the FedEx, wouldn't be surprised to see him top ten at least.

They're off!
The opening six golfers are on their way in Round 1 at the Deutsche Bank Championship.
A cool morning in the Boston hinterland, temps not getting very far into the seventies all day, but winds are light, the sun should shine, and scoring should be good.

Saturday will warm up a touch and the breeze will become stronger in anticipation of "disturbances" coming through on Sunday and Monday.

Eleven Europeans are in the field; they all made last week's cut and for Harrington, McDowell and Poulter it will be crucial that they repeat the trick this week.

And everyone will be watching breathlessly to see if Phil Mickelson unsheaths a long putter; we'll know at 12.28 p.m., but knowing him he'll go with a long and a short.

Gary Christian will finish Round 1 of the Nationwide in about 10th place as interrupted Round 1 concludes in Western Pennsylvania, but Matt Richardson let a decent start slip away and will need something special in Round 2 to make the cut.

Any updates on Phil and his putter?

Due off at 12.28 p.m., haven't heard an update!

Lairdy,
We were all OK after last weekend, Thanks mate.

Fabulous comeback by Pettersson: Five over par after three holes, even after eleven.

Scoring perhaps not quite so hot as I expected, but usual suspects gravitating towards the head of affairs.

Kwini,

Glad to hear the hurricane did you no damage. Im expecting a weekeng of watching Harri float around that Top 70 bubble!!

Kwin - Seems VJ went the opposite way of Pettersson: 3 under after 9, 4 over after 18.

Hi Sr,
Yup, I've been following Veej as I have him in a fantasy team. Not happy about his demise! Not happy at all.

Off to Piseco tomorrow morning, hope the closed roads are now opening or it'll be a long trip, sense of humour at a premium!

Sounds like late Sunday and Monday are going to dump unwanted heavy rain hereabouts. Just what we need. Hope it doesn't get as far south as the Boston area or Deutsche Bank could be in trouble.

Great series win by the Skanks . . . . .

John C,
Harrington with an early bogey, the mobile torture begins.
Not to concern anyone unduly, but there are some weather models that would suggest a very heavy rain (perhaps stormy) in New England on Sunday night and into Monday. It will behove golfers to be in position after Round 3 as Round 4 could conceivably in jeopardy - nothing in the official forecast, yet.

I see Scott Verplank has thrown in the FedEx towel.

Is this a top 70 cut despite the limited field??
It's the torture that we irish love!!!
McDowell seems to be treading water. Just don't think the PGA Tour suits him...........................

John,
Definitely a top 70 and ties cut.
As for McDowell, well I predicted this wouldn't work out well when he assumed Tour membership last year. No surprise so far at the way things are going, though not quite in the way I expected.