PGA Tour: The Valero Texas Open - Who Cares?: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).The first ever Texas Open was held in San Antonio in 1922 and one doubts they've ever had a worse turn-out in terms of player quality than the 2012 edition. When pgatour.com highlights Weekley/Lickliter/O'Hern among its "notable groups" you know you're in trouble. More on this later . . . .

2).But let's rewind to last week's RBC Heritage, and Carl Pettersson's walkaway win at Harbour Town. Two runner up finishes and a win this season for North Carolina's favourite Swedish American and he's now restored to the top forty position in the world rankings he abandoned when losing weight and changing his swing.
He now is tied for most wins on the PGA Tour by an American under the age of 36, and most wins by a Swede (with Parnevik)!

3).There should never be any doubting the credentials of Pettersson; he's a proven front-runner (has converted four 54-hole leads out of six into wins) and has won on top class courses, Innisbrook, Memorial, Donald Ross's Sedgefield, Ontario's "St.George's" and now Harbour Town. Lots of chat about the Ryder Cup but Pettersson seems happy to leave that to others. The AP quotes him as saying:
"You have to be a member of the European Tour, which I'm not." "But if I'm playing well, maybe they'll take me," he shrugs.

4).Criticism of some course lengthening of Harbour Town - "Why?" seems to be the common refrain - but extra yardage didn't seem to affect the televised holes (not sure about #3) although the Tour's continued use of the back tee on the beautiful par-3 14th hole is absurd.
Here you have a gorgeous short hole, with water protecting front and right, trees left. The green tends to be firm yet they insist on playing it at 190+ yards, instead of the 140 - 150 yards that the green is designed for. Consequently almost every pro played it defensively, to the left, and a hole that should be just a wedge or a 9-iron played as the tournament's most difficult. Ridiculous and it certainly made for boring viewing.
(Despite the above, Sean O'Hair raced around his Round 4 in about 1 hr 50 minutes, shooting 73, a shade better than the average score for the day and much quicker than his Saturday 79.)

5).25% of the field (morning wave starting on #10 on Thursday, #1 on Friday afternoon) had much the worst of the conditions which certainly affected Donald, Els, Harrington, etc. Although Snedeker managed alright, it highlights that, even on Tour, a golfer can just be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
But it shouldn't disguise that fact that this year's Luke Donald is not yet up to the quality of last year's model. He was 69th of 71 in total putts taken at Harbour Town and some other key stats for the year show:
Greens in regulation: 140th in 2012 - 41st in 2011 (despite hitting more fairways)
Par 5 scoring: 122nd - 54th in 2011
Birdie average: 130th - 2nd in 2011

His short game continues to be as good as anyone's (usually!) but he's using it too much!!

6).Approximately halfway through the FedEx "regular season", it's worth noting one or two stars of the recent past who are off to very slow 2012 starts. The leading 125 FedEx points gatherers are eligible for the first play-off tournament, "The Barclays", and these players are currently adrift of qualification:
126th: Leonard
130: Karlsson
132: Goosen
133: Villegas
154: Romero
164: Appleby
193: Kim
196: Clark
209: Casey
223: Glover
Injuries have kept some of these guys off the course, but there are no "entitlement" invitations to the Play-Offs!

7).On to San Antonio and one of the Tour's most venerable events, with a very supportive long-term sponsor (Valero), and one of the most benevolent when it comes to the charitable contributions that the PGA Tour slaps itself on the back about.
In recent history the "Valero Texas Open" has been played in autumn, but 2010 saw a spring-time date and a new course. Adam Scott was the winner and there was a handful of top level players participating. Word about the TPC San Antonio course soon got about, however, and the Tour's best, apart from Choi and Kuchar, have stayed away in droves.

8).TPC San Antonio was designed by Greg Norman, with Sergio Garcia as player consultant and ranks 50th of the 52 Tour courses in GolfWorld's Pro's Ranking. Needless to say, Sergio won't be playing this week but those who are here will be negotiating 7,400 yards with narrow fairways. "There's no place to miss shots. Who thought that would be a good idea?" They'll eventually reach "crazy" undulating putting surfaces, greens which "need to be blown up", so expect very slow rounds.

9).Last year, the Texas Open was played the week after The Masters, and next year it's likely to be scheduled for the week before Augusta, so the run up to Magnolia Lane will go: Bay Hill, Houston, TPC San Antonio.
Attendance will be interesting and this could have a reverse knock-on effect through the entire Florida Swing, especially for the "International" players.

10).Freddie Jacobson leads the European contingent into Texas and he has finished 2nd and 7th in two trips to this San Antonio delight. The only other European contestants are Blixt, Chopra, Christian and Russell Knox (coming off a 7th place busman's holiday on the Nationwide Tour last week).
Freddie Jac must be among the favourites.
Brendan Steele won here last year but Kevin Chappell and Cameron Tringale were among those who contended; they're both in decent form and, with Freddie, could be decent e.w. value.

Extraordinary performance by Huh; 9 over par after his first eight holes, now in 5th place.
Fortitude by him?
or:
Ineptitude by the rest of 'em??

Not so good today for Russell Knox, but our favourite Willie Mac is powering his way up the leaderboard.

pd,
Curtis didn't do that badly to make a 7. Had to chip out sideways, played adjacent fairway. Flopped a pitch into a bunker. Could have been worse.
But now we could have an exciting tournament.

As for "Who Cares?"
Obviously not CBS who have four of their starters missing and have pulled MacAtee and Oosty off the bench, and are playing two short.
Sponsors must be thrilled.

Thanks kwini. I was just about to say that now Freddie Jac is back in the mix...

He very well could be, especially if he can birdie the 18th!

Looks like Knox has a 16 foot eagle putt.

Can someone pull the shot link play by play for Freddie Jac and cut and paste it here. (I cannot get shottracker to load up on my computer)

From what was shown on TV he nearly drove the green on par 4 17th. Had impossible shot from rough. Played backwards towards the tee and played third shot from a ~100 yds away. Had about 15 ft for par and then 3 putted for a double? Or was there a penalty shot after his tee shot?

GPB,
Shot Link won't help you as the hole diagram conflicts with the description of the scene of the crime. Looks like he had to chip out, then pitch back up the fairway so that he played his fourth from 80-odd yds.

Kuchar trying to show who's boss.

Indeed, the shottracker is pretty confusing...

Spoiler:

Great to see Kooch climbing, finally gives my fantasy team a bit of respectability...

princedracula wrote:Tringale's card today looks like mine when I play a par 3 course (on a very good day)...

...and his card today (after 11 holes) looks like mine when I play on a normal course (also on a good day)...

Leaders teed off 4 hours ago and completed 12 holes. Too slow.

Tringale paying the price for coming off my yahoo bench.

Elsewhere, one of Ireland's best exports in the USA this past decade hads again assisted the ROI exchequer, with Des Smyth partnering Mark James to a repeat victory in the older pharts version of the Liberty Mutual Legends tournament.

So much for the (pseudo) Koreans having a bad tournament. 3 players tied for Third, and those three have Korean heritage.

It would be incredible if John Huh could win this thing after that start.

Hoping Curtis can hold on for the win tomorrow.

Can anyone remember something that's been bugging me, I have a recollection of Curtis playing with Justin Rose in a Sunday final group a couple of years back, and both of them making a complete mess of things and hurtling down the leaderboard. Can't think where or when though.

2010 Travelers where Justin Rose (especially) made a total pig's ear of his final round??
Won eventually by Bubba Watson in a play-off with Pavin and Verplank.

Yeah that's the one. Was browsing Curtis' page on pgatour.com trying to find horror final rounds and managed to miss it. Wasn't comfortable viewing, especially as a fan of both.

73 (Curtis) and 75 is not too swift on a par 70 course . . . . .

so then wii is on a charge- nice, my 70/1 pick is looking better(currently 20/1)

Struggled watching this last night seemed to be pretty dull in its coverage I thought but then anything with Mark Roe and Sarah Stirk (is that her name) I tend to find sleep inducing. Thank god for Simon Holmes talking sense.

Looks like a really tough set up course if there's anything other than perfect conditions. Does anyone know if this was one of those Norman designs that was purely for the pro. Having read Normans book he does say his early designs were aimed at pro tours and it wasn't until he gained experience in design that he figured out how to make a course playable for all.

Don't know much about pretty much all of the field at the top end other that but a few like Huh (only because he won earlier in the season) Curtis I know won the open but that's my only knowledge of him. Though I do find myself strangely drawn to willing on Charlie Wi, having seen him fall away at BayHill and how he seems to always keep smiling.

Fader,
This is one of Norman's more recent designs, think it opened about three years ago.
Somehow it seems less severe than it did the past two years, but still at the mercy of the wind.
I'm thinking that if they could eliminate the really penal nature of some holes this course could improve significantly year after year as the set-up becomes more attuned to the weather. Pure speculation though through the prism of TV.

The greens are so "undulating" (would be a nice word for them according to the Pros) that none of the tournament hole positions have been hidden - reportedly none less than five yards from the edge.

Action starts at 9.25 a.m. CDT, 3.25 BST, as they go off in threesomes from both tees - recipe for more 5+ hour rounds. Just stupid.

Thanks for clearing that up kwini, maybe it is then like you say justa case of requiring a bit of time to mature in the climate.

Is there any practical point to having that 2nd cut/MDF this week? Does it really make a difference if there are 76 left instead of 81? At least 81 could've been split properly into 3-somes...

Er, No!

Their problems are two-fold, neither insurmountable!

1).The supposed imperative to schedule a 72-hole finish by 6.00 p.m. EDT.

2).The time it takes to play this course, at least one hour per round longer than last week. Sean O'Hair would be hard-pressed to skate round here in 1 hr 50 minutes. Equally, the Tour has no balls and won't impose penalties on slow play even when the shot link technology clearly identifies the players with the slow times.
They could easily get 38 two-somes round if they teed off at 7.15-ish.

Today should be a real scorcher, and less wind than the first three days.
Pity CBS's coverage has been so poor and the golf will be so slow.

The MDF is a rule of the PGAT has implemented because it wants to complete the tournament on Sundays if at all possible. And they have determined that having a maximum of 78 players gives them their best chance to do that because, in case of possible inclement weather on Sunday afternoon, they can go off in split tees in the morning and complete the round by 1 pm.

They do not have an exception like good weather, but there is a exception where the third round is not completed on Saturday and they do not have to time to re-pair.

I can understand why the PGAT went to three-somes today, because of finish time of 5 pm local time (6 pm EDT). but I can't understand why they did split tees. They could have started three-somes at 7:25 am local times and 10 minute increments and got everyone teed off by 11:25 am.

If Curtis wins today, does he fulfill his EuroT obligation to play 13 events.

He will have full exemption for the next 2.5 yrs on the PGAT.

IMO, A journeyman player cannot afford to burn many bridges

GPB,
It's mitigated somewhat as he'll be in some double-dippers should he win today.
Bridgestone and HSBC, PGA Championship and Open. He'll have some options!

Already in the Open of course! Wasn't sure if he got in to the WGCs or not given the feeble field this week, certainly gets in to the PGA and next years Masters though. A former PGA runner-up, of course....

Frustrating lack of TV coverage, leaders already going up the 4th and still over an hour away from seeing anything. Shot-tracker suggesting a two shot swing may be on the way though...

Ryan Moore shifting up the leaderboard. What a frustrating golfer he is to follow! Often plays his best in big events, but just as likely to disappear for three months.
Not sure what his stance is like these days but when I've followed him he has his feet pointed somewhere between mid-wicket and mid-on, and hits it straight down the wicket. Don't know how he does that!

Lots of money out there to be earned by golfers who need it most.

This win will not get Curtis into Bridgestone and technically HSBC is not a double dip this year, but it counts towards Euro events.

He has three events played this year. Open and PGA will make 5. That means 8 more events.

He might try to pick one or two events before/after Lytham. European Vacation for his family! and perhaps a couple after the playoffs.

1 shot lead over Every right now. looks like a two horse race.

Wildly divergent scores again today, Jerry Kelly -5 after 12 holes, Ryan Palmer +7 after 9.
But Ben Curtis off to a very steady start and just rolled in another nice birdie. Every back to his first round form.

Still feel there are banana skins for everyone though, plus obvious birdie chances. Snakes and ladders continues.

That's a bit mean regarding Bridgestone . . . . But consolation early January with a letter from Augusta.

Yep, sure he'd rather Augusta than Bridgestone. I'd say HSBC is doubtful too, they do things based on OWGR field strengths too, he might need a few PGA winners to not bother making the trip. There again, he's leading the field in fairways and greens this week, if he wins he'll get into all the regular events he likes and with that sort of form could easily play his way in to things regardless.

As I recall he played a few Euro events in the year or two after he won his Open, with decent results; wouldn't be too surprised to see him for perhaps Wentworth and Castle Stuart.

The HSBC is World Wide Tournament of Champions and as such a win in the Valero Texas Open should get the winner into the HSBC, if he wants to travel to China.

2011 HSBC qualifications: (I doubt if they have changed too much)

http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/tournaments/r489/qualify/index.html

Although it brands itself as a tournament of champions, there's a lot of additional categories clogging things up! That's why the Texas Open category on that link (13) is "if required to complete the field". According to Wikipedia Brendan Steele only made second alternate for winning here last year. Unfair in some ways, but presumably necessary to get some spots for non-PGA Tour players.

Dunno who's doing the CBS stats, but they're making a mess of it, Curtis has made a hell of a lot more than 24 cuts since his last win!

I would have thought he was much closer to just missing 24 cuts. Actually looks like he's made about 80 cuts.

They're making hard work of this. Curtis's putting stroke has collapsed.

NINE on the last hole for Scott Piercy. Terrible shame! Can't stand him.

Been watching online on the Skyplayer but the connections started struggling. Probably just as well, it's turning in to a bit of a car crash.

If Huh can pull it off it'd be one of the unlikeliest tour wins ever, surely.

For Matt Every, will this be his largest pay cheque ever, even if he finishes second?

Curtis, Estes and Every seem to be missing so many putts inside ten feet.
Leaving Huh as the improbable last man standing.
He was one of the hapless American Koreans we (well, OK, me) were lamenting early on Thursday!

Huh!

I'm not sure I understand how a pro hits a shot like that catastrophe by Ben Curtis.

Good Lord! What a par!!

That's some putt... chances of escaping with the lead intact!?

Clutch pitch on 18 after the funked one on 17... and Huh puts his one long. Two putts for the win?

Looks like Curtis has this now.

Well done to him.

Terrific to see another European Tour win on the PGA Tour.

Heavens, why is Curtis so emotional? It's Valero, after all, not The Open.

He probably feels he's been staring into the career abyss, Leff.
After all, he's already won The Open, probably way before he was ready for it. Very pleased for him.

Yeah I'm very pleased too, imagine he could see his career going the way of Hamilton, Campbell, Baker-Finch etc, this is a big rebound from that. Always felt he's been a bit underrated given what he's done outside that Open win, hoping he can kick on and get back up there again after this. A Ryder Cupper and top 30 in the world less than 4 years ago...

By the way, I've not seen a huge amount of the Sky coverage since Curtis moved into contention, but I haven't seen anyone mention Mark Roe's own contribution to that Open yet. Surely they haven't let it pass them by completely...?

Just seen the stats for the week on pgatour.com. Curtis 42 of 56 fairways (2nd), 49 of 72 greens (1st), 1st in strokes gained putting, 0 three putts, and 0 putts missed inside five feet. Not sure how he made it as close as he did with that....