PGA Tour: "Houston, We have a problem": Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).Actually two problems:
For most of the participants at this week's "Shell Houston Open", Job One is to win the tournament and thereby take the final qualifying spot for The Masters.
And for all players who DO qualify, the problem will be the NIKE poster child who looked very close to top form in demolishing last week's Bay Hill field.

2).Tiger first:
That was reminiscent of Woods of the last decade: Solid round 1, superb Round 2 with a slice (actually hook) of good fortune as an out-of-bounds-bound ball hit the perimeter fence and stayed in play. Routine par! Otherwise he kept his foot on the gas and cruised to a Friday 65. The field was stretched out and, unless Tiger suddenly lost his form, the weekend would be a formality. And so it proved. Some thoughts about that:

~It sure looked as if at least some of the old intimidation factor kicked in at the weekend. Competitors who have enjoyed his absence these past 30 months need to acquire some testicular fortitude if the same scenario repeats itself in the great tournaments this spring and summer.
~Woods is nowhere near as bulked up in his upper body as he was by 2008/2009, as if part of the new coaching regime depends on a slimmer physique.
~He's getting his "fortitude" back - gorgeous long iron into the par-5 6th hole (followed superbly by McDowell) underlined his superiority on Bay Hill's par-5's. Twelve under par on the par-5's for the week - he's 3rd in par-5 scoring for the year.
~And Tiger's 1st in "Total Driving" now for the year, 1st in "Ball Striking", 10th in Putting and 1st in the Tour's "All Round" stat.
~But does Tiger still need to swing so hard given his body's apparent fragility? His drive on #15 on Sunday which forced him to lay up in advance of a superb up-and-down par, was violent, his followthrough contorted and way off balance. Crisis averted once his par was secured, and the most beautifully smooth, relaxed swing you ever saw off the 16th tee.

3).Congrat's to Graeme McDowell who gave it his best last weekend, commiserations to Ernie Els, and it looks like the rest got out of Bay Hill what they put into it - a finish, high or low, with no sign of aggression (Bubba perhaps excepted) in going after either Tiger or the course on Sunday. Well done to Poulter and Brian Davis with high finishes but they were never really in the hunt.

4).Lots to admire about Arnold Palmer but some of his utterances over the course of last week suggested it's not just his heart that's playing up.
And how nauseating was it to see Annika Sorenstam turning up on the NBC set with babe in arms? It was as if NBC called Annika and said, "We'd like you to come and endorse Arnie's hospital," and she called all her sponsors and asked, "How much will you pay me for five minutes guaranteed on-screen exposure?"
So, there you have Annika decked all out like any other mother, right? Golf shirt emblazoned with every logo under the sun, just what any young mother wears when she takes the nipper out for a stroll.

5).Arnie lamented that Lukey and Rory were absent but Bay Hill always looks a one dimensional course to me, ranked 33rd by the pros, and complete with more than half a mile of par-3's. Designed by an alcoholic who went to University on an American Football scholarship and, boy, does it ever look like it.

6).And so to Houston and the other problem. The final invitation from Billy Payne is at stake and, just as a point of reference, these are the top-five-ranked golfers in the field not yet destined for Augusta:
#58: Els
#67: Allenby
#68: Moore
#72: Levin
#81: Overton (who would presumably rather be playing in Sicily)

7).Phil Mickelson won last year's Shell Houston Open with a win which was as emotional as it was electrifying. This Rees Jones design (yes, Phil won on a Rees Jones course) is in its 7th year hosting the tournament and, so far, it's been a bomber's paradise. Anthony Kim won in 2010 whilst hitting just 23 of 56 fairways, Phil not much better last year hitting just 30 - real never-mind-the-quality, feel-the-width stuff. Appleby, Scott, Wagner and Casey have been the other winners here. Casey beat JB Holmes in a 2009 play-off and it would be no surprise to see Holmes lighting it up again this week.

8).Lee Westwood leads the European contingent, with McDowell, Casey, Hanson and Hansen, Bjorn and Harrington all competing. Russell Knox is first alternate and heartbreak for a couple of Nationwide players, Wales's Ben Briscoe and Sweden's David Lingmerth, who lost in a play-off for one of the four Monday qualifying places.

9).Anders Forsbrand and Ian Woosnam played in last week's Champions Tour event in Mississippi, but neither finished in the top fifty and highlighted the futility Europeans will continue to endure if they want to contend Senior tournaments over here without making a year-long commitment. Barry Lane rather flubbed his lines when in a strong Q-School position last year and who knows what Monty might do if he gives the Champions Tour a whirl? Meanwhile, Langer is the only European to have made a decent showing in the past five years.

10).Back to that "Problem" that next week's Masters field will encounter:
Tiger ticks all the media boxes over here (and there?), his gnashers grinning from every US media outlet these past couple of days, attention for a golfer that we haven't seen since he completed his sex addiction therapy.
Viewership of "Bay Hill" was up almost 40% and Billy Payne and CBS TV must be rubbing their hands in glee as they anticipate another Tiger-driven ratings bonanza. All watching Luke, Rory and Lee battling it out in the final round?

"Come on you 'ull"

That's what they'll be shouting at LPGA events in the future, haha. Or maybe not.

djlovesyou wrote:"Come on you 'ull"

That's what they'll be shouting at LPGA events in the future, haha. Or maybe not.

http://fanchants.co.uk/football-songs/hull_city-chants/come-you-hull/

mystiroakey wrote:

GPB wrote:

Shotrock wrote:Nice tournament for Mahan, but I'm really impressed with Louis after an opening 41.

Davis appears methodic, but certainly not slow.

Two in a row for the yanks. Mini run?

People on this board were bragging about 3 in a row from Great Britain on the PGAT. Of course they conveniently left out George McNeill's win in Puerto Rico.

i dont think thats convenient considering that none of the worlds top 50 were playing at puerto rico due to the other event being a WGC!!

i

I am sure you would have counted it if Brian Davis or Gary Christian had won it!

GPB wrote:

mystiroakey wrote:

GPB wrote:

Shotrock wrote:Nice tournament for Mahan, but I'm really impressed with Louis after an opening 41.

Davis appears methodic, but certainly not slow.

Two in a row for the yanks. Mini run?

People on this board were bragging about 3 in a row from Great Britain on the PGAT. Of course they conveniently left out George McNeill's win in Puerto Rico.

i dont think thats convenient considering that none of the worlds top 50 were playing at puerto rico due to the other event being a WGC!!

i

I am sure you would have counted it if Brian Davis or Gary Christian had won it!

Not sure i get your point GBP. we still had 3 consec winners, if we had a winner on the non wgc event then it would still been 3 on the spin but not as a worthy an acheivement.

Are you mistaken in the fact that you didnt realise that the WGC was held at the same time as peuto rico?

IMO Rory-George-Justin-Luke is 3 out of 4 winners for UK and not 3 out 3.

I don't think McNeill's win should be discounted as if didn't happen.

Don't get me wrong, it is a nice run by UK but there was an American winner in there somewhere.

Ok, so the UK won 3 weeks in a row. Semantics row over.

Nothing semantic about that missed 15-inch putt to win the Nabisco Dinah Shore Tournament.
Shortest important putt I've ever seen missed, where contact was made (so Irwin's Open miss and a couple of Lanny Wadkins Masters waves are excluded!). Second place after losing the resultant play-off no consolation I'm sure.

All to play for at Augusta next week. Bring it on . . . .

I did not see much of the golf over the weekend but after reading the defence put forward on here for oostie, after accusations from the US media that he was another Ben curtis, I was sure he would win from a 54 hole lead. It turns out you guys got just a little bit too excited about his prospects. He has now fluked an open and chocked.


Kwini

What happened with the putt at the nabisco?

And how did the likes of Irwin and Wadkins not make contact?

Mac,
IK Kim had a 15-inch putt (some reports might have it shoter) to win the Ladies first Major and, somehow, pushed it enough that it 180-ed and stayed out. Lost the play-off.

Irwin was in contention for the 1983 Open Championship when he leant over to tap a putt in. And completely missed it. Finished one shot behind Watson.

And I've seen Wadkins do that a couple of times, once on the 9th green at Augusta in an early 90's year when he finished 3rd.

the Hale irwin thing was legendary. Unbelivable.

golf seemed different back in the day didnt it. It was really exiting- i am feeling nostalgic

Oostie will win over there soon, he hits the ball as well as anyone tee to green. His chipping and putting reminds me of Westwood in a big way. Average chipper and streaky putter. I didn't see any of the final round, but despite being two clear you can definitely say he left some shots out there over the first 3 days. He missed several putts inside 20 feet, as well as holing plenty too. That is just a sign of how well he hit the ball.

How did he make his two doubles? Was the first one a duffed chip? I saw the bogie putt stopped over the lip. That was probably a sign that his luck was out.

Rr,
Oosthuizen hit every fairway on the front in scoring his 41.
First double was from a fairway divot followed by a duffed chip.
Second was a big pull on the par-5 8th which appeared to hit a cart path before scampering OB.

Three tap-in birdies on the back after bogeying #'s 9 & 10.

Could have been much lower but 32 putts. (Mahan had 33 putts.)

kwinigolfer wrote:Rr,


Could have been much lower but 32 putts. (Mahan had 33 putts.)

He didn't have to do much to win after Louis hit those two doubles. I thought -19 or -20 would have been the winning number, but nobody in contention really put round together.

Mahan held on ok. I will be kind and say he did enough, but he didnt look invincible, just invincible amongt the chasing few.

In regards to the masters its been a long time since i have felt that it will be won by a few players. However there is abit of blind faith in that staement.

but i honestly believe its gonna be down to tiger,rors,westy or donald!

I would put Mahan and Rose in there as well-Yet I feel as though they are only 'ok' at closing. Both closed out two good victories recently , however both faltered a little bit. Donald and tigers wins were much more accomplished wfrom my pov!

Donald did what he does best, 3 good scores and then tear through the pack last 9. Tiger was in control the whole way around.

I feel westy has the ability to shoot really low and obvioulsy Mcilroy has the ability to shoot insanely low, both have amazing long games, both are streaky putters, riors has the ability to get himself out of trouble more than westy- however due to westys super long game , he may not need to scramble!!

I would probably take Woods, Donald and Rory, lose Westwood and add Mickleson instead as my four. He can do everything LW can do (better really) and also has 3 green jackets in his locker already. But the big 3 would be Woods and Donald and Rory.

In all fairness i wouldnt be surprised to see pmick up there- He looks to be going along very nicely up to this event, and as we know - he loves augusta!!

Westy is abit of blind faith for me. However i think it would be justified to put him in most peoples top 6 along with mahan and pmick.

Rose/Stricker/scott/day and bradley would be my next to look out for

Looks like a good 10, Id have Schwartzel in there as well if his form wasnt so iffy. I think Bubba could have a good week though.

good shout! bubba is one hell of a glofer- maybe abit flaky mind but that adds to his aura for me!!

Who on v2 bets on golf?

Mullet Watson like Redneck Garrigus, Dustin Johnson and Quiros can be either very good or absolutely horrendous because of the increased margin of error associated with such big hitters.

Really can't see him succeeding at Augusta, I think it suits a medium hitter, who is in good control of his ball flight and with a tasty short game.

I think people are getting a premature semi about Woods too. Not really sure what basis people are putting so much faith, he's had a few good tournaments after a shocking couple of years. A major is a different kettle of fish, and apart from anything else, I think he's too desperate for it.

McLaren wrote:Who on v2 bets on golf?

every week lol

been sticking a few quid here and there on the masters for the last 6 months.

Nice to have donald westy and rory at much better value than we can currently and i got rose at 80pts as well, he is down to 32 .

my outsiders(few quid each) are petterson- took him at 389- down to 200.
but then casey at 180 - he is up to 250!


Won big on rose and donald recently, however i allways lay em when and if they get low enough!

super_realist wrote:Mullet Watson like Redneck Garrigus, Dustin Johnson and Quiros can be either very good or absolutely horrendous because of the increased margin of error associated with such big hitters.

Really can't see him succeeding at Augusta, I think it suits a medium hitter, who is in good control of his ball flight and with a tasty short game.

I think people are getting a premature semi about Woods too. Not really sure what basis people are putting so much faith, he's had a few good tournaments after a shocking couple of years. A major is a different kettle of fish, and apart from anything else, I think he's too desperate for it.

Even in his bad (for him) years he was competitive at Augusta. Id imagine thats why people think now his game is in much better shape he will be in with a very good shout. Personally I think he will finish top 3.
Im sure Donald and LW are desperate to win, Im sure Rory is as well. Dont really see that as an argument.
If you look at past winners you can say that the course suits long players as well as plotters as long as they have a good short game. Cabrera and Mickleson and Woods being the obvious examples, just because a few guys who dont hit it as long have won doesnt mean thats how its always going to be.

What I mean Digs is that he's been written off for a long time, hasn't won a major for 4 years, and for someone who won as regularly as him is something of a blot on his copybook.
Perhaps he'll try too hard to win here?
You may be right about the longer hitters, but I don't think the likes of Watson especially have the ability to recover as well as Cocknose Woods has done when he was in his pomp.

Bubba is either playing or not.

he did almost dispell that myth at the honda- by crushing that 4iron out of the rough to 8foot on 18 to almost force a playoff with rose!

However i still have the feeling that if bubba is gonna win he is gonna have to go out guns blazing and lead from the halfway point by a good few shots to really keep track of what is going on.

the players that really can go at it final 9 to pull through the field would be woods,pmick,donald or rors!

Woods is an obvious pick. If anyone else was coming in to this off the back of 7 straight Augusta top tens you'd see them as a contender. Even more so if they'd had top 5s the last two years despite being out of form, but were showing good signs of getting back in to form again. Ok he might have a bad week, but he's far less likely to than most in the field.

Not convinced by Watson though, too streaky for a tough set up like this. If you want a less obvious American pick look at Van Pelt, good recent form, sensible preparation and a top 10 last year here.

mysti,
Hope you're guaranteed a run otherwise you've done your money on Pettersson . . . . .

Snedeker also, a Georgia lad I think, or certainly went to Uni there, plus he's played well there and is at odds of a potentially good return.

kwinigolfer wrote:mysti,
Hope you're guaranteed a run otherwise you've done your money on Pettersson . . . . .

3 quid. could offcourse take it back now, but no real point. I will admit to having quite alot on the brit 3

Bill Haas could be another one, played twice and made the cut both times, could be his time to step up as a major player, 12th at the PGA so getting better in the big ones. Four PGA wins so knows how to get the job done.

Yep hass and snedeker are good shouts, so would be bradley

mystiroakey wrote:Yep hass and snedeker are good shouts, so would be bradley

E/W maybe, first timers never win here....

NedB-H wrote:

mystiroakey wrote:Yep hass and snedeker are good shouts, so would be bradley

E/W maybe, first timers never win here....

Id allways lay em anyway- rather than going for e/w bets, personally havent backed em- but there are certainly as you say good e/w bets, or back to potentially lay bets.

What i dont want to see is woods going of like a steam train- i was weighing up taking 30/1 on him last year!!

Not just for my bets but also the enjoyment of the event!

Rory anyone? He will surely be in contention over the weekend and will know how to handle himself this time.

Haven't heard of Webb Simpson for a while, perhaps he's actually going to church these days instead of breaking the Sabbath and working on a Sunday but he's another who might be worth a shout.

NedB-H wrote:

mystiroakey wrote:Yep hass and snedeker are good shouts, so would be bradley

E/W maybe, first timers never win here....

Funnily enough the more famed of the three, Bradley, is the only first timer. Snedeker finished 15th last year. I agree all three probably more each way bets though and the fact it is Bradleys first time would push him from my top 10 of likely winners.

incontinentia wrote:Rory anyone? He will surely be in contention over the weekend and will know how to handle himself this time.

the real favourite in my eyes!

Diggers wrote:

NedB-H wrote:

mystiroakey wrote:Yep hass and snedeker are good shouts, so would be bradley

E/W maybe, first timers never win here....

Funnily enough the more famed of the three, Bradley, is the only first timer. Snedeker finished 15th last year. I agree all three probably more each way bets though and the fact it is Bradleys first time would push him from my top 10 of likely winners.

Sorry, I was referring to Bradley with that comment In fairness to him, no-one ever wins their first major either, but he did. First two majors though??

Snedeker led for about three rounds a few years ago, he's a virtual veteran these days.

Sorry, my bad. Yep that would be some going if he could do that.
I think Rory should also be a reasonably clear favourite, if anyone is likely to walk away with it surely its him.

Diggers wrote:Sorry, my bad. Yep that would be some going if he could do that.
I think Rory should also be a reasonably clear favourite, if anyone is likely to walk away with it surely its him.

I think there's three big favourites... McIlroy and Donald are the two best golfers in the world over the past year, both have excellent recent records at Augusta, and both are in hot form coming in to the week with recent big wins. The third is Woods, who hasn't been as good as the other two for the past year, but also has good recent form with a win, and has a ridiculously good record round Augusta. I'd be reasonably surprised if the winner wasn't one of those three, and very surprised if at least two of them weren't contending on Sunday.

NedB-H wrote:

Diggers wrote:Sorry, my bad. Yep that would be some going if he could do that.
I think Rory should also be a reasonably clear favourite, if anyone is likely to walk away with it surely its him.

I think there's three big favourites... McIlroy and Donald are the two best golfers in the world over the past year, both have excellent recent records at Augusta, and both are in hot form coming in to the week with recent big wins. The third is Woods, who hasn't been as good as the other two for the past year, but also has good recent form with a win, and has a ridiculously good record round Augusta. I'd be reasonably surprised if the winner wasn't one of those three, and very surprised if at least two of them weren't contending on Sunday.

yep i think many are in agreement with that- As i said earlier i wouldnt normally discount others, but i am feeling more inclined to this time around. I am perosnally also adding westy to the mix as well but thats more of a hunch over true feelings and form

I think the problem with Westwood is that his recent form isn't as good, and he hasn't shown a great ability to get tournaments won in the last few years. I'd have Rose as fourth favourite.

well i am backing(betting on) rose,westy,mcilroy and donald. and a couple of outside bets

The only person i can see spoiling the fun is woods.

i think rose has gone up a notch since last years fed ex round 2 win, and he prooved that the other week!

Donald i think has come out of the 'can he win a major' catergory into 'he really should win one' and is starting to show that he has a closing ability, shown at disney to take the money list(not just the win but the manor- being 6 back final 9) and the recent win which he did in the most classy way imaginable- didnt up the gas untill the end, just cantered through the field- said at the start it was all about playing slow and steady and it worked perfectly.

Westy has had 4 of his best ever rounds over the last 5 months. He played insanely well in asia in december(i think a 60/62 and 64 in a week and abit) and had a brilliant round the other week(final day of the one mcilroy won)- So if he can do that he is in with a shot!

Might sound obvious but I think LW needs a good start. He seems to get really down on himself these days quite quickly. Not sure we would have seen him hurl his putter to the ground like he did yesterday a few years ago, wasnt even a gimme miss either and its not like he was in contention at that stage.
If he gets going early and the confidence goes up he has a shout but even an average first round and Im not sure he will do much.
The other point is that if you had say Phil, Rory, Tiger and Lee all within a shot of each other with say 6 holes to go who is the one you'd be least likely to back to win ? Though to be fair I could probably swap Luke for Lee and the answer would be the same.

Lets be honest, there is no "likely" outcome. Anyone from 50 or so players could win, similarly anyone in the entire field could run up a cricket score and miss the cut just as easily.

Normally would allways feel that way SR, just dont this time round! I feel like(or perhaps hoping!!!) that golfs goen full circle and we may have a year or two of the big guns fighting out the majors, like in the faldo,seve,norman,payne,watson days!

my peterson money just hot refunded- i take it he is out then??

mysti,
Pettersson was never in!

got ya- know i understand your previous comment- betfair were taking bets on him

kwinigolfer wrote:Mac,
IK Kim had a 15-inch putt (some reports might have it shoter) to win the Ladies first Major and, somehow, pushed it enough that it 180-ed and stayed out. Lost the play-off.

I saw it last night. 15-inches would be the maximum it would have been, probably closer to a foot.

It was one of those 'choke on your beverage moments' and the look she gave her caddy was priceless, actually quite refreshing after a whole week of countless emotionless Korean players to be honest.

I wanted Sjodin to win because she spent the whole weekend laughing and smiling after every shot, even when she hit a bad one. She was pretty funny. It has to be said, if Lexi Thompson could putt, she would have won that thing by a distance. She's got the potential to be a different class, even to Tseng I get the impression.