PGA Tour: Happy New Year: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

What we know going in to 2012 and some things we think we know:

1).A funky first three weeks:
~Hyundai Tournament of Champions starts next FRIDAY, Jan 6th, and concludes Monday, Jan 12th, presumably to facilitate "prime time" TV viewing figures.
~Sony Open at Waialae maintains it's customary Thursday (Jan 12th) to Sunday schedule, but:
~The Humana Challenge, formerly the "Bob Hope", is now a four-day event, Thursday, Jan 19th to Sunday, and not a five-dayer as in years/decades past. Sensible move.

2).As expected, this year's PGA Tour will not include the Million Dollar Kodak Challenge, a million bucks understandably extravagant largesse for a company on the financial precipice. So Streelman, Merritt and Lunde will be consigned to million dollar trivia.

3).The field for the Hyundai Tournament of Champions will be published Friday, Dec 30th, but don't expect a star-studded field. Among those who have not yet committed are injury doubts Dustin Johnson, Snedeker and Stricker. Which brings us to:

4).A number of players will be making comebacks from long-term injury-enforced absences in 2012 including Messrs Tim Clark, Oberholser, Weir, Holmes, Sutherland, Jamie Lovermark and even, it is rumoured, Hank Kuehne.

5).While others such as Johnson, Snedeker and Stricker with short-term aches and pains include Marino, Appleby and Verplank.

6).Seven big names will hope for a return to the winners enclosure after disappointing years in 2011: Casey, Garcia, Kim, Immelman, Cabrera and Villegas. And Stewart Cink. I was hoping to post a link to a half-hour interview with Cink from the yahoo sport website. Hopefully you can find it, very informative insight from one articulate (if not exactly worldly) pro. Not to mention that the interview is conducted by Golf Channel's Win McMurry who, beneath the Barbie face, is the proud possessor of mounding architecture that would even attract a rating on the notorious Doak Scale.

7).The five leading money winners still to score a Tour win will be going at it again: Baird, Quigley (not too sure of his status after he dropped out of Q-School, veteran player only I imagine, which means he'll get very few starts), Brian Davis, Marino and Jeff Overton (if he can stay sober long enough to keep out of Finchem's doghouse).

8).Not many young PGA Tour players win enough tournaments to stamp a lasting legacy on Tour; Jason Day, Fowler, Kuchar (not that young any more) and Mahan just four non-winners from 2011 who treated tournaments more like ATM's.

9).Trivia time: Which fully exempt PGA Tour pro has just two top tens in the past eleven seasons? (That's tough to do, think about it!)

10).Happy 36th birthday to Tiger Woods as he finishes a second consecutive season without a win. What I wish from Tiger in 2012 is that he plays a full PGA Tour schedule. But a fat chance of that.

Kwini

I attracted a bit of flack from an American for suggesting they were getting rid of the fourth amendment. Did I miss something or will you soon be able to be locked up indefinitely after a random stop and search?

Hi Mac, Happy New Year.
Yup, No laughing matter really, especially in some States.
Biggest irony to me is this: Making qualified immigrants legal as soon as possible would help the economy and enable police forces to fight crime rather than pursue arguably racist policies.
And given the high unemployment wouldn't you think the Immigration and Naturalization Service would hire more people to more quickly process green card and citizenship applications?
But not a bit of it.
Makes no sense at all.
And friends wonder why I'll never become a US citizen.

The odd thing was that the American in question seemed more appauled that I has suggested that an amendment could be got rid off, I have no idea about the constitutional process but the patriot act or whatever it is seems to make the fourth obsolete.

Do you follow Bubba Watson on twitter, I do and if you do too you will have seen him get a 58 and tweet about it while doing it. Pretty cool, whether you like the guy or not.

Mac,
I DID see the Bubbalicious 58.

Also saw the sad news that American golf broadcaster Jim Huber died of leukaemia at 67. He'll be much missed on the few golf events that TBS cover.

And if Justin Rose adding to his family isn't enough, now there are reports that Mrs Poulter is due to produce Number Four within the month, so there are two Ryder Cup wannabes who could well get their season off to a stuttering start.

So looks like Romney Vs Obama, please kwini, tell me obama can win that tussle?

Happy New Year to those in the ballwasher! Hope everyone had a good time of it. Plenty of food and drink for me so I know I did.

I agree with Kwini on the Hawaiian swing. Any eligible player on both tours who doesnt take the chance to tick off two events (in Hawaii for godsake!!!) before January is out needs their head checked. By all accounts playing at Kapuala isnt very stressful!

Happy New Year Lairdy,
I'd certainly agree with you, though I did publish a mea culpa about my criticism of Rose.
And I'd forgotten that Scott had twin attractions to admire in Brisbane. Good Lord! More of these guys will be at the Australian Open tennis than the PGA Tour!!

Morning Mac,
I'd ignore "Iowa", only good for weeding out the wheat from the chaff (that's you Rick Perry, Ms Bachmann). They're across the border from here, in New Hampshire, next Tuesday and the Iowa + New Hampshire results in total will be more instructive. Wouldn't be at all surprised to see John Huntsman do reasonably well in NH.
Then the South with the minefield of all the cultural baggage that goes with getting elected down there, in South Carolina and Florida. With the least bit of good economic news, and the right message, would think Obama's sitting pretty.
Still no President has visited VT yet though in this century! The only State that Bush wouldn't come to, and now Barack's avoiding us too!

Kwini

I know you shouldn’t read too much into one result but given the weakness of all the candidates you have to think most of them cannot absorb any bad press or poor results.

Did you hear Santorum, when asked why the NHS was a bad thing his reply was something like “well why didn’t Margaret Thatcher do to the UK what Regan did to the US”. Not sure what he meant but even Thatcher wasn’t as bad as Regan. He also stated that the NHS was evil or something similarly stupid when the reporter pointed out that the NHS was popular.

I guess no president visits Vermont as from what you say it is a forgone conclusion.

I suspect it will be a Romney/Obama shootout come this fall. If the economy (read stock market and oil prices) stays pretty level, Obama should be tough to beat.

(Thank goodness.)

Santorum is disturbing, to put it mildly.

Kwin, it's the Presidents' loss. More Ben and Jerry's and pure Maple Syrup for you guys.

'Morning Shotrock,
Indeed!

Surreal CNY landscape as we drove there and back last weekend; fields that should be snow-covered are exuding an unusual shade of sunlit yellow as they try and figure out if they should be dormant! Cold out there today though. (Hope you went to the Winter Classic. Great theatre.)