PGA Tour: The Cadillac Ranch and Puerto Rico: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).Last week's Ballwasher Notes: "Rory? Tiger? Top Twenty? Maybe."

Yes, well, Rory would be knackered from the MatchPlay, just playing "Honda" as a fill-in to fit in his 15 events.
And Tiger only entered because PGA National was only a two bob return bus ride from his mansion in Jupiter.
Europeans resident in Europe have a tough time on Bermuda.
Woods is less favoured by par-70 courses than par-72's.

They showed in no uncertain fashion why they're there, and I'm here.
Can't imagine I've ever been happier to have been proved wrong.

2).Fabulous week by Rory - he and Tiger attracted bumper crowds and a TV audience 78% up on last year. What looked as if it could have become a walk in the park for Rory became more complicated Roar by Roar. He had told the media why he was a more consistent player, why he was better able to withstand pressure: he'd learned how to eliminate the horror shot and was more consistent on the greens. That was exactly the recipe on Sunday and he certainly put it to the test. And passed with flying colours.

3).And what about Tiger? With his career best final round of 62?? I'd often cited Tiger's 200+ yards iron from a bunker over water to a shallow Glen Abbey green in 2000 as the best shot I'd ever seen him hit under pressure. Interesting that he compared his 72nd hole iron at PGA National to that. Bitter pill perhaps that it didn't reward him with the "w" that he snatched from Grant Waite in Canada. Difficult to believe he won't be back for more though at Doral this week, a course one would imagine would suit him better than PGA National.

4).Lots of other items worth noting:
~Lee Westwood's final round 63. (Totally eclipsed twenty minutes later.)
~The performances of the stars in the field, the owgr cream of McIlroy, Westwood, Schwartzel, McDowell, Bradley, Woods and Rose rising to the top.
~Anthony Kim leading the field in birdies yet finishing 42nd.
~A number of fading stars making the weekend: Overton (18th), Appleby (21st), Els (21st), Stenson (21st), Love (21st), etc, etc. Would be good to see each of them return to their best.
~Coming out party for Harris English. Disappointing Sunday for him, but he'll be back.

5).Tiger had a poor week with the press, unwittingly giving Hank Haney publicity by behaving churlishly towards Miceli when asked innocuous questions at his press conference, and then being somewhat less than effusive about Rory's success, both in anticipation and in the aftermath.
In reflecting on this in the light of the expectations being heaped on McIlroy, that frosty barrier between Woods and his public could quite easily be the firewall that protects him and sustains his playing excellence. How will Rory deal with such the expectations, the voyeurism into his private life?
Maybe Tiger had the answer all along.
But it was refreshing to see him signing autographs while he waited for his bus on Sunday evening.

6).And so down the Florida Turnpike, to Miami and Dick Wilson's Doral Blue Monster design, though Mr.Wilson would likely not recognize his work now. It's gone through tweaks and redesigns every few years since the 80's, and now it's under new ownership as Donald Trump has snapped up the resort for a cool $150M. To quote GolfWorld: A "total, complete renovation" will commence in a year's time, following the 2013 "Cadillac", when highly regarded architect Gil Hanse is due to get his hands on it. The course will be lengthened to 7,600 yds, "remaking all the greens and building six or seven new holes," though the famous 18th is expected to be left unchanged.

7).If that doesn't Trump this week's entertainment, the "opposite field" Puerto Rico Open will be played at Trump International Golf Club. Poor field but $630K to the winner and we'll keep track of the European interest.

8).Sorry to see the news from Augusta National this afternoon that Ishikawa, not playing well enough to qualify so far, will receive his second invitation to April's Masters. "Ishikawa will help increase interest in Japan and throughout Asia," said Billy Payne.
Yes, quite, and such corporate expediency offers fodder for those critics who complain annually that The Masters does not deserve to be labelled a Major.
Don't necessarily agree with that, but there are many golfers from other countries who are far more deserving than Ryo, let alone those who have given far more to the game.

9).Good to see Paul Casey back for this week's WGC "Cadillac Championship" and, at the time of writing, all 74 qualifiers are expected to play, sniffles, pneumonia and new baby permitting. No comment on the chances of McIlroy or Woods.

10).Personal note to end with as the designer of my favourite golf course died last month. Geoffrey Cornish was born in Winnipeg 97 years ago and learnt architecture from Canada's great Stanley Thompson. Cornish not only designed dozens of courses, primarily in Eastern Canada and the North-Eastern States of the US, but co-wrote with Ron Whitten "The Golf Course", one of the seminal works on gca.
As Whitten's remembrance puts it, Cornish "was a great golf course architect because he was more interested in spreading the game than in making a name for himself". Not good for the Doak Scale perhaps, but millions of golfers within 500 miles of this keyboard have reason to be grateful to Geoffrey Cornish.

kwinigolfer wrote:I seriously doubt that Mickelson has ever won on a Nicklaus course! (Except possibly the one they sometimes use in the Bob Hope rotation.)

Mickelson won the International on Castle Pines twice. 1993 and 1997. IIRC, that is Nicklaus course.

Just because someone says "Hanse is the best" does not necessarily mean he thinks the others are 20 handicappers.

GPB,
Wow, Yes, clean forgot about that. Out of sight, etc . . .

No, that's right about Hanse but Phil does go on to say that he builds courses more suited to all levels of play than anyone except for Coore/Crenshaw.


Lee Janzen out front in Puerto Rico - perhaps trying to send a message to the USGA that he'd quite fancy an invite to Olympic Club in June, where he won back in 1998??!!

Birdie, birdie start for Casey as he returns from injured reserve.

Chance of showers in the next couple of hours, looks a touch windy also.

Fantastic start for the Spanish debutant at Doral, RCB starting with an eagle!

so the hoover and westy 2 over through 2 - the other english under par

Many big names having a horror start, Karlsson, Mickelson, Westwood, plus poor starts for last week's invalids Oosthuizen and Poulter.

Only Donald from GB&I under par, Westwood in more misery.
Come on Lee!!!!

Not surprised the fashion-challenged Poulter having trouble, but Chubby's gun Westwood firing blanks. Early though!

Anyone heard of a 21-y-o LPGA Futures player allegedly from Manchester named Rachel Connor??

Multiple press accounts of her being stopped driving a vehicle in Florida with NFL superstar-of-the-past Eddie George sitting cosily in the passenger seat. Connor was breathalysed and scored almost twice the legal drink-driving limit.

Naughty girl.

More interesting than trying to explain the Cadillac leaderboard which looks as if it's upside down.

Laird and Lawrie now both under par, showing England the way.

the english are dropping like flys lol.

adam scott flying!!!

Looks like Sergio is giving Cockface Woods a lesson out there today.

SR you really dont like him do ya lol.

on to serg - surpised! he is playing some nice stuff.


donald and rose back in the pack

Oakey, I remember when the ghastly Woods used to have Sergio in his back pocket and Sergio just couldn't control his dislike for the knob usually leading to some awful scores. It doesn't look like he's remotely intimidated by him these days. Great to see, and Donald back on it too. Excellent stuff.

yeah well i think he is allright, even if it just to play the pantomine villian!

he adds to all tournys he is in for me. I didnt really like the dominant period to much it became abit samey, but i am not bothered about anything he has done in his private life. If he only makes me laugh when he plays bad golf and swears and attacks his putter , or makes me smile with an awesome shot i am happy.

Thats exactly why im happy sergio is kicking tigers ass too super! Sergio was 12/5 third fav to win the three ball. gutted i didnt touch it

Good thing Poulter's not staring down a cut line. Predictably backs up his birdie with another quick bogey.

Sergio is certainly due to win some more big tournaments. Lord knows he's had he chances at the big ones for years, closing very few of those doors.

this first day is shaping up very well for loooookee

classic luke and i predict- 3 69's and a 66 to finish!

woods,westy and mcilroy losing the plot a bit.


rose,garcia and scott the danger men!

Clarke -1 thru 14. First time under par since open?!

the Cadillac conclusion marks about the halfway point for the Euro Ryder Cup qualifying.

It looks like Poulter, Casey, GMac will be officially behind the 8-ball to make the team on merit based on Round 1 Scores.

Hanson, Quiros, Jimenez, Bjorn, Rose all had good first rounds. If they can sneak in a victory this weekend, they can essentially punch their ticket for the Windy City.

Just like Monty, Ollie is not going to have enough picks for the players that don't make the top 10.

Question: who would be the Plan B partner for Rory if GMac is not on the team? I am thinking it would be Sergio and definitely not Westy.

if westy wins a major - then i imagine they could be a great pairing!

Garcia may not be intimidated by Tiger, but the back 9 sure has a spell on him!

GPB wrote:the Cadillac conclusion marks about the halfway point for the Euro Ryder Cup qualifying.

It looks like Poulter, Casey, GMac will be officially behind the 8-ball to make the team on merit based on Round 1 Scores.

Hanson, Quiros, Jimenez, Bjorn, Rose all had good first rounds. If they can sneak in a victory this weekend, they can essentially punch their ticket for the Windy City.

Just like Monty, Ollie is not going to have enough picks for the players that don't make the top 10.

Question: who would be the Plan B partner for Rory if GMac is not on the team? I am thinking it would be Sergio and definitely not Westy.

I think a Westwood McIlroy pairing would be super................................personally i found the GMac McIlroy constant high 5 antics nausiating at Celtic Manor.........

Sand wrote:Clarke -1 thru 14. First time under par since open?!

Don't worry he's had a double water 7 at 18, which is all to familiar for DC im afraid..................................

Perhaps they might try pairing up the four #1's since 2010 for a bit of added intimidation factor at the next RC. Lee played with both Martin and Luke last time with some success (recall in particular that Westwood + Donald absolutely murdered the previously unbeaten pair of Woods/Stricker). Suspect any combination of them would make for an impressive two-man team.

Anyway, let's see if the Euros can hold onto the #1 spot in the meantime...

Sergio is having a mare!! 4 bogies in a row and 5 in 6. Quite glad didnt touch the 12/5 odds now!

Must be miserable for Nick Watney playing with Tiger and Sergio, both looking like they've swallowed a skunk.

With all due respect to the likes of DC, Luuuuuuuuuke, etc, etc: I'm loving the 18th!

poor old sergio- this will be character building or mini slump threatening!

if he can come back tommorow and shoot something decent i will be impressed.

tigers low draw from the rough- come up short -however looked pretty special all the same!. will pull himself through this field without doing to much, same as luuuke an all! its what they do- sneak up quietly and then before you know it right up there top 5

kwinigolfer wrote:Must be miserable for Nick Watney playing with Tiger and Sergio, both looking like they've swallowed a skunk.

With all due respect to the likes of DC, Luuuuuuuuuke, etc, etc: I'm loving the 18th!

Afternoon kwini,

Why so many shots in the drink on 18? Plenty of room to the right.

Even then venice both watney and woods show that brings bogey into play. god sergio horrendous run. he looked so good front nine. Lost his swing totally on bk 9. 31 out 44 back ouch.

Hi venice,
Guys risking double/triple instead of going for bogey hoping to make par.

Just got my tickets for the Montreal Impact's first game - hope they're successful, at le box office even more so than sur le pitch.

I think the average best first rounds from National Teams has been provided by the Phillipines, probably followed by Denamark then Scotland.

Sergio's back 9 score looks like a Minnesota zip code. No one's out of this event if wind stays up.

Very bad news from Australia where Aussie Jarrod Lyle has been diagnosed with a recurrence of leukemia, coincidentally just as his wife is due to give birth.

Robert Allenby has been a huge supporter/mentor for Jarrod Lyle since his earlier bout with the disease, and reports that Lyle will start chemo immediately.

Lyle has had an up and down career but his story (and Allenby's role in it) is inspiring. He's without doubt the funniest golfer on the PGA Tour and had got his 2012 season off to a promising start, including a T4 at Rivera, after retrieving his playing card via Q-School.

If there's a god out there, hope she/he keeps an eye on the jolly Aussie and we see him back in good health and laughing on the fairway of life before too long.

Good luck to Mr and Mrs Lyle, in more ways than one.

Kwini,

Truly sad news about Jarrod Lyle. Loved his joyous celebration when he made a hole-n-one in Phoenix, in 2011.

Praying for a good prognosis for Jarrod.

What on earth happened to sergio, did he pick up an injury? A quite horrendous back nine.

no physical injury SR, he just lost the plot mentaly i would guess, but it was tough out there, one bad break(or bad shot) seemed to lead to another

Yup seemed that way. Couple of good shots lead to bad breaks and bogies and then just lost all confidence in his swing and couldnt turn it around. Glad he didnt go nuts tho, and seems he gave interviews for ten minutes too.

Hopefully manage to post a good score today but will be tough.

Was loving the Sergio comment Super, you are a true soothsayer.

Commentators curse Diggers. Seems like conditions took a turn.

i think its a little bit more than the conditions out there. he melted abit. hope he can turn it around mind- in all seriousness any player can win this event if the weather keeps up

“If there's a god out there”

There isn’t.

Yeah it was raining and windy but I still say that claw grip looks awful for Garcia. Woods was playing great in the bad conditions but also putted poorly.

McLaren wrote:“If there's a god out there”

There isn’t.

Prove it!................. I'm no bible thumper and I cannot stand seeing the US Players bang on about how it was gods will etc, but I can't say there isn't god just like they can't say categorically there is one. It's taken on faith and that alone. However I was brought upto have faith and faith I have, but i'm no church goer I don't read the books of the bible, I live a life filled with late nights hangovers and even the odd one night stand (if she's drunk enough or am I depending on how bad she is)but i'd like to think once I'm done in this life thats not the end of it.

Woods could have a big say on the outcome, didn't play great, putted as diggers says poorly but he hung in there and if the wind gets up i'd fancy him to be in or around the winners enclosure so to speak. Nice rounds from Donald, Braddely and Scott, can't see Scott winning this week unless Steve Williams being the front runner he is carries him!

Of course God doesn't exist. Who "created" God?

Diggers wrote:Yeah it was raining and windy but I still say that claw grip looks awful for Garcia. Woods was playing great in the bad conditions but also putted poorly.

Wasnt his putting that caused his back nine tho. Was the fact he was missing fairways and his long irons were totally off. He has been putting like that for well over year and certainly improved. Showed that in the front nine yesterday. Its not for me but hes definately holing out a lot better.

Here's more on the Jarrod Lyle situation:

http://www.pgatour.com/2012/r/03/08/Lyle.leukemia/index.html

As I said to the bible puncher on our doorstep, I believe in god, just believe god can be very good and can be very bad. (I mean, how can Dick Cheney still be alive?)

Regardless, best wishes to the Lyle family.

Sorry to be a little late on this but I can see mileage in giving Ryo an invite to the Masters. I know that they are doing it purely for marketing purposes but I find the focus on all the big tournaments being in the US pretty sad. "World" Golf Championships is a little bit of a joke.

The only way you are going to expand the game is to play tournaments elsewhere and have local players for people to look up to. We're not going to get many big world events in Japan so have to look at the players. So if there is a leg up to help this then its not all bad.

super_realist wrote:Of course God doesn't exist. Who "created" God?

Not to get into a debate but to play devils advocate, those of faith would retort who created man! Though if they truly believe we all evolved from Adam and Eve the simple answer to that would be then why is insest a sin because they and their kids would have had to populate the land somehow!

I prefer the theory of evolution myself, but I have my own beliefs and they are mine alone, I don't pray, I don't attend a church, I don't need to say if I think there is a god or not, or even one god or many. If man wants to put faith in a higher power and someone or thing that is omnipotent then good for them it's there choice as it's others to claim its pure drivel. But as long as neither side openly rams there beliefs down my throat I'm not concerned either way with anyones beliefs other than my own.

Faith is just that taken on faith and one's own belief just because there are those that do believe, and those that don't doesn't make either right or wrong it's merely their on opinion on what goes on in the world and beyond it once they die.

As I said to the bible puncher on our doorstep, I believe in god, just believe god can be very good and can be very bad. (I mean, how can Dick Cheney still be alive?)

That sums it up perfectly.

Thoughts with Lyle and his family it's a tough thing for anyone to go through once let alone twice and now knowing he has this fight and the worry of a wife to give birth, it helps put it all into perspective

No but his putting didn't save his pars either , I dont think we have seen the end of Garcia's putting problems but time will tell.

Fader

Pick any one of the following;

http://web.mit.edu/birge/Public/formulas/quantum.pdf