PGA Tour: Travelling to The Travelers: Notes from the Ballwasher

1).Well, that was the US Open that was. And certainly not the result expected last Thursday, Friday, Saturday, even most of Sunday. But all credit to Webb Simpson, proof positive that you don't have to be the best golfer all week, just hold your nerve the final eight holes. Furyk has won a US Open from the front, McDowell has done the trick, sort of, and it was a surprise that Furyk would unravel and McDowell would suddenly find his GPS on the blink after driving the ball so well all week and all season (leads the Tour in driving accuracy, Furyk is second but not on Sunday).

2).Simpson for me is one of the top young American golfers (Haas, Stanley, Bradley, etc, etc.) who has proved himself to be streaky good, and streaky average. We'll never know whether he would have won from either of the last two groups, but what he do know is that he's highly questionable for Lytham and The Open Championship. His wife, with the highly questionable name of Dowd, is due to give birth to a baby Spider in a month's time and she's given him the most appropriate yellow card about his July and August plans. (How many other PGA Tour couples are named after Prem Referees? Howard and Phil must be thrilled!)

3).The Top Eight from the Olympic Club qualify for next year's Masters; most are already assured of qualification via other routes, but some are not:
2nd: Michael Thompson, he of the very average ball-striking stat's, but a terrific putter who should probably already have his first Tour win, at last year's McGladreys where he missed out on a playoff by one stroke, presumably not helped by playing with Billy Horschel who was in full meltdown.
4th: David Toms.
4th: Jim Furyk.
4th: John Petersen - who holed in one on the 13th, but was excluded from last year's Walker Cup team following some incendiary remarks about College golfers being as good as PGA Tour pros. Peterson showed just who's boss by flunking ignominiously out of the early stages of 2011 Q-School, but he's a talent and we'll hear from him again. And again.

4).And those in the Top Ten last week qualified for a US Open date at Merion next year, the above mentioned obviously, plus:
9th: Ernie Els.
10th: Casey Wittenberg - like Peterson, Casey has no PGA Tour status having lost his card and never regaining it.
10th: John Senden.
10th: Kevin Chappell, 3rd last year at Congressional.

5).I thought Olympic looked fabulous, almost as good as San Francisco itself. Not sure about some pin and tee placements by the USGA but the pros seemed to love the greens and the overall course conditions.

6).And so the US domination of the PGA Tour season continues, and Greg Norman was the last non-American to win in Hartford so don't hold your breath on anything changing soon. Tjaart van der Walt is the only non-American runner up in that time. I knew you'd want to know.
EDIT: As pointed out below by robo, Sweden's Freddie Jac (the Tour's best tennis-table player according to Bobby Clampett) won last year; suffice to say overseas players still have a rotten record at Hartford but I need to get my facts straight.

7).It only makes sense that stifling heat and humidity will greet the PGA Tour's best as they travel to the north-east for a rare visit. It will be close to 100F in Hartford for Round 1, 90's on Friday and mid-80's at least for the weekend. TPC River Highlands is the 3rd shortest course the pros play all year and it will surely play even shorter than usual this week. 59 watch?? Brand new pro Cantlay shot 60 last year as an amateur so you never know!

8).The PGA Tour loves the three consecutive Major wins by Americans: Featured groupings for Rounds 1 and 2 are headed by, you guessed it, Keegan Bradley, Bubba and Webb Simpson.

9).I'm not a big fan of following those fresh off Major contention for the following week, (tho Michael Thompson was 4th here in 2011) so who should we fancy this week? What about Ryan Moore, second here twice already, or Hunter Mahan who scored his first win here and followed up with two seconds?? Two outsiders worth an each way shout are Brian Davis and Nick O'Hern.

10).Finally, the Champions Tour goes international this week, with a trip to the Montreal area. The most securely locked closed shop in sport doesn't do abroad too well, even just the fifty miles or so north of the border, and the weak field offers chances to fringe players including Wales's Mark Mouland. Chapman and Lyle are also playing. At least Roger Chapman is a timely reminder that the British can still win in North America!

Great notes Kwini... I very much enjoy your take on things...

Here's one correction to your notes and a few more tidbits...

AS PER YOUR NOTE #6:
Sweden’s Fredrik Jacobson became the first international winner of the Travelers Championship last year since Greg Norman in 1995. Jacobson became the seventh native of Sweden to win on the PGA TOUR, joining Jesper Parnevik, Daniel Chopra, Gabriel Hjertstedt, Carl Pettersson, Richard S. Johnson and Henrik Stenson.

More on Fredrik Jacobson and his win last year:

· Jacobson led the field in the new statistical category – Strokes Gained – Putting. He picked up 2.246 strokes per round over the field.
· Jacobson played the first 63 holes without a bogey, with his only one of the week coming on the par-4 10th hole when he missed a putt just under 12 feet for par. He was seeking to become the first winner since Lee Trevino at the 1974 Greater New Orleans Open to go bogey-free over 72 holes.
· Jacobson had missed his last two cuts at the Travelers Championship in 2007 and 2009. His only other start in Hartford was in 2006 (T48).

More Notes:

Miscellaneous Travelers Championship Notes
· Four of the last six winners of the Travelers Championship have been first-time TOUR champions -- J.J. Henry (2006), Hunter Mahan (2007), Bubba Watson (2010) and Fredrik Jacobson (2011).
· Four of the past eight outcomes at TPC River Highlands have been decided through a playoff (2010- Bubba Watson, 2007-Hunter Mahan, 2005-Brad Faxon, 2004-Woody Austin).
· The history of the Travelers Championship is as deep as the competition is strong. Past champions of the event include Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Charlie Sifford, Lee Trevino, Phil Mickelson and Greg Norman.
· Patrick Cantlay’s 60 in the second round last year set the TPC River Highlands course record and equaled the Travelers Championship low 18-hole score (Tommy Bolt, 1954, Wethersfield CC).
· With his one-stroke lead over Johnson Wagner after the second round, Cantlay became the third amateur to lead the Travelers Championship. In 1961, amateur Robert Allen shared the first-round lead with Bob Goetz and eventually finished 62nd. In 1953, amateur Frank Stranahan shared the third-round lead with Jim Ferrier and Bob Toski before finishing T7.
· Prior to Cantlay’s 60, the previous-best round at TPC River Highlands was 61, set by Kirk Triplett (R3, 2000), Phil Mickelson (R3, 2001), Scott Verplank (R4, 2001), Brad Faxon (R4, 2005) and Kenny Perry (R1, 2009).
· Only two players have won the tournament in wire-to-wire fashion – Gene Littler in 1959 and Tim Morris in 1982. A total of 10 players have won the tournament after holding at least a share of the lead after each round.
· The best opening 36-hole score at the Travelers Championship was set by Justin Rose in 2010 (126, finished T9).
· The best opening 54-hole score at the Travelers Championship is a 193 held by Tim Norris (1982/1st) and Mark Calcavecchia (2000/2nd).
· The best 72-hole score at the Travelers Championship is 258 held by Kenny Perry (2009).

BRITISH OPEN QUALIFYING UPDATE

The top two TOUR members, not previously eligible, from a cumulative money list taken from THE PLAYERS and five TOUR events (THE PLAYERS, FedEx St. Jude Classic, U.S. Open, Travelers Championship, AT&T National and The Greenbrier Classic), will gain entry into the 2012 British Open. Last year, Travelers Championship winner Fredrik Jacobson ($1,260,264) and FedEx St. Jude Classic champion Harrison Frazar ($1,058,436) gained entry into the British Open. Below are the current standings through the U.S. Open:

Rank - Player - Earnings

1 Michael Thompson $718,412
2 John Merrick $604,800
3 Jhonattan Vegas $296,083
4 Blake Adams $285,848
T5 Nick O’Hern $268,800
T5 Ryan Palmer $268,800

Additionally, the leading player not otherwise exempt, among the top five finishers and ties at both The Greenbrier Classic and John Deere Classic will receive exemptions into British Open. Ties will be determined by the highest ranking player in Official World Golf ranking at the commencement of the tournament.

Jason Dufner finished T4 at the U.S. Open to earn his TOUR-leading sixth top-10 finish of 2012. The two-time winner (Zurich Classic of New Orleans and HP Byron Nelson Championship) has led the FedExCup standings for the last five weeks.

The following reiteration of the PGA Tour's Cell Phone policy was distributed to the media this week:

PGA TOUR CELL PHONE POLICY
For the second consecutive year, spectators can carry mobile devices on the golf course with the volume setting on silent. The Travelers Championship has a mobile device task force designed to assist spectators with the policy and ensure the integrity of the competition.
Additional information:
· Phone calls can be made or received in designated areas throughout the golf course.
· Fans can send or receive messages, check data and utilize the PGA TOUR App on the golf course away from play.
· Photography allowed with mobile devices (or cameras) is allowed Monday-Wednesday only.
· No video recording is permitted at any time during the week.
· Typically, fans using mobile devices improperly will get a friendly reminder about the policy. Repeat violators or violations that have the potential to disrupt the competition may receive a claim check in exchange for the mobile device, with the fan receiving his/her mobile device when leaving the tournament grounds that day.

(Robopz Note: It appears as though the Tour is standing strong on keeping the policy status quo... but they are making it quite clear enforcement will be beefed up... while not being overly punitive for first offense(s)

FIELD UPDATES

As mentioned in another thread... The SPONSOR EXEMPTIONS for this week are: Notah Begay, Patrick Cantlay, Brad Faxon (his 28th start in this event), Ryo Ishikawa, Kelly Kraft, Bryden Macpherson, Patrick Rodgers and Daniel Miernicki. K.T. Kim is the single Foreign exemption

OPEN QUALIFYING (4 spotter)
Tim Petrovic, James Hazen, Michael Carbone and Patrick Reed (his 4th successful Monday qualifying of the season)

WD's and ADDITIONS

Prior announced WD'S: Erik Compton, Carl Paulson, Charl Schwartzel, Jimmy Walker. Announced today (Tuesday) Matt Every, Dean Wilson, Andres Romero.

Prior announced ADDITIONS from Friday's field: Roland Thatcher, Steven Bowditch and Matt Jones. Announced today (Tuesday) Steve Flesch, Matt McQuillan and Billy Horshel.

Source: PGA Tour media

robo,
What a terrible memory; actually saw Freddie playing too. The list I looked at, on reflection, was a year old!

Romero's defection is a surprise given that he had a decent finish in Hartford last year. Glad to see Horschel in the field though.

The Golf Channel are now also reporting that Simpson will be an Open Championship no-show.

IS keegan bradley as mad as he looks. It seems so, as he plays every week and will jetting of to ireland soon as well. I know he is from the north east but surely playing the barclays would have been enough for the "local" fans?

Kwini

I know you love Ian carter but you will never be able to compete with his genius when it comes to inaccurate blogs, so just don’t try.


On Olympic – it was hard to warm to a course with such tight fairways and where balls got stuck in trees. Although I suspect it might be rather a different prospect when not in US open mode. I don’t know why they couldn’t have widened the fairways on the side of the fairway which was less than ideal for approaching the green.

The fairways tended to cambered so if you made the short stuff extend out into the area they left as thick rough; balls could have rolled 20-30 yards off line but still on shorter grass.

The greens and their surrounds seemed tricky so coming into them from an exaggerated poor angle may have been better than hacking out the thick stuff from just off the middle of the fairway. I predict that from hellish angles out wide players would still have missed greens if they just went for it but the thinking players would have had more options to plot a recovery to par.

On the par fives especially the drama was dampened by players just hacking a rescue club 150ish up the hole after ending up in the deep stuff.

I am not sure the fairway would need to have been widened the entire length of the holes, just at key points where balls could roll into very awkward approach angles.

Hello Mac,
Yup, Agree that Keegan Bradley is a bit overheated right now; this week has come at a bad time for him - can't imagine him being competitive this week or next. Or anytime soon, until he has some quality downtime.

The only complaints I heard about Olympic were:
Pin placement on #1 on Friday - ridiculous having a 530 yd par four with the hole cut on a ridge.

Pin placement on #18 on Sunday - what's the point of a short par four if the pin is inaccessible?

Tee on #16 on Sunday - was it McDowell who said that they shorten a hole to (supposedly) make it birdieable but then force you to play for placement off the tee? Think the players are right to feel aggrieved that there had been no inkling of this until they reached the tee box. Though the late groups could have received the message from early starters of course. But certifiable stupid regardless.
What next? A par five turned on a whim into a dogleg par 3?

The fact that, on certain fairways and especially 18, all the golfers were laying up to the same yardage and experiencing the same issue with divots.

But Joe Ogilvie is usually a fountain of commonsense on these things and his Twitter account is full of praise for the conditions and course set-up - though his Sunday gripe about #18 seems to have been deleted!

Interestingly, he felt Torrey Pines in 2010 was the fairest set-up he'd played.

As for getting stuck up a tree, that "stuff" happens everywhere - wasn't it Calcavecchia who got lost in a gorse bush so cooking his goose for good in Round 3 at St.Andrews? And I was standing opposite Faldo when he climbed a tree at Pebble Beach to no avail.

I see that Paul Casey is playing in Germany this week. Did we establish his plan re: PGA Tour (i.e. attempting to regain full membership), or has that been derailed anyway by the ongoing injury problems?

Professional golfers seem to breed like rabbits. There always seems to be a baby due or just born. With all that prize money you would think they could afford some condoms.

Sky,
Who knows what to believe with Casey?
But: He's quoted by the AP:
"It was tough sitting at home watching the US Open on TV when you really want to be playing . . . . but doctors said my shoulder needed another week's rest."
"This week will only be my sixth Tour event of the year, so in many ways this week is really now the start of my season. I'm coming back fully believing that if I can get going I can still qualify and make the European Team."
"It's going to be a case of winning golf tournaments and that's all I will focus on, I refuse to focus on the alternative."


The reality is that he's actually missed the better part of a full year following his "turf toe" problem in 2011, and only Lucas Glover of the owgr Top 150 has won fewer points this season. Casey only has conditional status on the PGA Tour and, unless he comes up with some BIG results in his remaining events (probably just The Open, Bridgestone and the PGA Championship), he will miss the FedEx play-offs and have to depend on the Fall Series and/or Q-School to retrieve his full membership.

It's not clear whether he's sought a medical exemption on either Tour - clearly he should have done, last year and this - but his Ryder Cup assessment is spot-on.

At this stage I fear for his PGA Tour career, but maybe that's furthest from his mind - just don't know.

Good luck this week Padraig.

I know it's been speculated on here for some time now, but I see the R&A have confirmed the 2016 Open Championship will be at Troon.
2013: Muirfield
2014: Hoylake
2015: St.Andrews
2016: Troon

Where after that?
2017: Birkdale?
2018: Carnoustie??
2019: Sandwich???
2020: St.Andrews????
2021: Turnberry?????

Perhaps they'll rethink the five-yearly homage to St.Andrews . . . . . .

kwinigolfer wrote:It's not clear whether he's sought a medical exemption on either Tour

I think Casey may have worked himself between a rock and a hard place on medical exemptions... at least for the PGA Tour.

Here's the applicable portions of the regulations on Major and Minor Medical extensions:

MAJOR MEDICAL
(III)(E)(1)(a)(i) In the discretion of the Commissioner after the review
of such medical reports and examinations as the Commissioner deems
appropriate, a member has experienced an injury or other medical disability
sufficiently serious to prevent such member from competing on a regular
basis in PGA TOUR tournaments for a minimum of four months from the
date of the injury or other medical disability, (NOTE: if a member’s injury is
considered initially as not serious enough to prevent such member from
competing for a minimum of four months but later proves to be, additional
medical reports can be submitted to the Commissioner for purposes of
allowing him to make such a determination)...

MINOR MEDICAL
(III)(j)(1) A member who meets the requirements in Section (1)(a) and (1)(b)
of Section A-1e of Article III [except that the injury or other medical
disability experienced by such member does not require a cessation of
competition by such member for a minimum of four (4) months] shall
be eligible to apply to the Commissioner for a Minor Medical/Family
Crisis Extension, provided however, in order to be eligible to apply for a
Minor Medical/Family Crisis Extension pursuant to Section A.1.e(1)(a)
(ii) (i.e., the Family Crisis basis) a member must be prevented from competing
on a regular basis in PGA TOUR tournaments for a minimum
of two (2) months.

Don't pay attention to all the references to other sections... the keys here are Casey needs to be out 4 months to qualify for a MAJOR and 2 months to qualify for a MINOR medical. Since he has NOT been out four months, the MAJOR is off the table, the only possible option he has left would be a minor. So even though Casey did not play the first 10 weeks of the year (over 2 months) it is likely the commissioner would look at his past schedules and determine the time lost on the PGA Tour is probably only one month as Casey usually plays the Middle East swing on the Euro Tour before coming to the PGAT. And comparing his schedule this year to last... at this point, Casey is down only a net 3 events on the PGA Tour from last year.... not enough to qualify for a minor medical.

I have to believe that Casey's injury problems has contributed to, if not entirely caused his horrible stretch of results from the Transitions forward. If that's the case, and with 20-20 hindsight, he would have been far better off taking those weeks off, and not playing unless he was absolutely fit. That would have gotten him the medical's he needs, and probably yielded better results when he did play.

But he didn't take those weeks off... so what now? At this point it appears that Casey might be able to make the tour minimums on one or the other Tour, but not both (15 PGAT, 13 Euro). IMO he would be better off all but forgetting about the Ryder Cup this time around and making sure he gets to at WORST #150 on the PGAT money list, even if he doesn't make the 15 event minimum. Even missing the minimum, all he loses are voting rights for a year, but at out of the 126-150 category he would still get get into about a dozen events, and as a member with some status, he would remain eligible for unlimited sponsor exemptions. I think there's at least a dozen SE's he could get... so that makes for a pretty robust playing opportunity for next year. But if he can't make top-150, and falls to category #31 or below... its gonna be tough sledding to get in enough events on the PGAT to make a competitive run... especially for an injury damaged player.

robo,
Agree with all that but surely, because he's not a Full Member, the 15-event minimum does not apply to him. Don't have any evidence for that except that some in the 126-150 range would struggle to get into 15 events even if they should aspire to.

The big mistake was not to take an extended break when it was obvious that his turf toe last year would not allow him to play his best. Compounded this year of course.

Now he'll likely miss out on the Ryder Cup, WGC's and Majors, and his PGA Tour opportunities! Not good. Peter Kostis must be beside himself!!

PS: Appreciate yr comments last night; the genesis of this series was on the sadly departed BBC 606 service when the goal was to comment on, and hopefully provide insight on, European golfers playing in the U.S. After five+ years it's clearly expanded!

Kwini,

Enjoy the Travelers.................tell Padraig i was asking about his 2nd shot on 18!!

kwinigolfer wrote:robo,
Agree with all that but surely, because he's not a Full Member, the 15-event minimum does not apply to him. Don't have any evidence for that except that some in the 126-150 range would struggle to get into 15 events even if they should aspire to.

Kwini... Actually Paul Casey IS an Associate Regular Member but is still subject to the 15 minimum rule (with some modifications, see below). Casey met all the criteria of membership by fulfilling his 15 last year (needed some Fall Series to do it) even though he did not finish inside the top #125. That dropped him to Associate Regular status. But the regulations state: "Such members shall be subject to all applicable requirements and obligations of these Regulations." (and the 15 minimum is one of those obligations) But you are right about the difficulty of members with that low a status having trouble getting into enough events. A bigger name and recent champion like Casey would have less problems because of all the SE's he can get... but the Petrovic's and Miller's can't get many SE's.

So... as mentioned above the PGAT still expects those who are in lower categories to attempt to obtain the 15 minimum. But if they don't then the commissioner will consider attempts at maintaining the requirement. For instance if a guy is entering, but not getting into a lot of events, is attempting to 4-spot, or is asking for, but being denied SE's, or has medical situations not meeting the standards of full Major/Minor qualification, the commissioner will consider that in a potential waiver of the 15 minimum rule (under section (IX)(D)(2)

If an associate member (or any member for that matter) is deemed to be not making a good faith effort to fulfill the requirements, the commissioner has the power to deny that member status for up to one year.

kwinigolfer wrote:I know it's been speculated on here for some time now, but I see the R&A have confirmed the 2016 Open Championship will be at Troon.
2013: Muirfield
2014: Hoylake
2015: St.Andrews
2016: Troon

Where after that?
2017: Birkdale?
2018: Carnoustie??
2019: Sandwich???
2020: St.Andrews????
2021: Turnberry?????

Perhaps they'll rethink the five-yearly homage to St.Andrews . . . . . .

Depending on how things go in a few weeks (and then in the following Irish Opens) and perhaps whether we have any more Irish/N Irish major winners (past major winners or otherwise - perhaps time for Gareth Maybin or Shane Lowry[!!!]...), Portrush might have a look in?

John,
Cheers, Hope to see Padraig start on his way at least! I'll be sure to pass on your regards!!


robo,
OK, Full Membership perhaps, but Category 29 nevertheless.
Doubt if Casey has paid much attention to Finchem's fine print, so presumably he's on Commish's sh1t list for not hanging around River Highlands an an alternate?
But he certainly hasn't made a good faith effort to play PGA Tour events except when it suits him so assume it's Past Champion Category 32 for him unless he suddenly hits form (let's hope so) or goes to Q-School (unlikely).

Either way, he missed out badly on the Medical Exemption issue.

As an aside, I'm inclined to believe that most of the top echelon of non-American PGA Tour players are rather blase about the Tour and its rules, observing perhaps most of the letters of the law but dodging the spirit of membership at almost every opportunity. This year, Schwartzel (in light of his injury) is likely to do a Casey, and Adam Scott and, especially, Goosen could be in trouble fitting in 15 events.

All three have suffered injury/health niggles this year keeping them out of tournaments, but they're hardly making efforts to make up for enforced absences, The Goose teeing it up in Cologne this week for instance, Adam presumably soaking up the Wimbledon rain.


Sky,
I thought of that after I'd posted!

kwinigolfer wrote:PS: Appreciate yr comments last night; the genesis of this series was on the sadly departed BBC 606 service when the goal was to comment on, and hopefully provide insight on, European golfers playing in the U.S. After five+ years it's clearly expanded!

Thanks... I enjoy your comments and efforts you and others like PD put into this board. The reason I'm here is because I appreciate the more level headed conversation around here. And I enjoy the European slant to some things. Except for Ryder or President's cup time, I'm pretty "nationless" when it comes to who I root for. Of course I know more guys here... so I'm apt to favor more of them here... but that's natural for everybody IMO. But come Ryder Cup time... that one week... all you Euro's SUCK... there you got it!!! :-)

The other thing I like about this board... I get so sick of the "Tiger-centric" conversation elsewhere. But so far... yeah Tiger has his fans and detractors here, but at least he's mostly discussed rationally. As far as I can tell... Tiger's only "owns" one guy here who can't separate other golf topics from his hate Tiger. That's remarkable that it seems to be only one, considering how many participants you have.

Have a great time Kwini, hopefully you can see Padraig win!!!!

kwinigolfer wrote:But he [Casey] certainly hasn't made a good faith effort to play PGA Tour events except when it suits him...

As an aside, I'm inclined to believe that most of the top echelon of non-American PGA Tour players are rather blase about the Tour and its rules, observing perhaps most of the letters of the law but dodging the spirit of membership at almost every opportunity. This year, Schwartzel (in light of his injury) is likely to do a Casey, and Adam Scott and, especially, Goosen could be in trouble fitting in 15 events.

All three have suffered injury/health niggles this year keeping them out of tournaments, but they're hardly making efforts to make up for enforced absences, The Goose teeing it up in Cologne this week for instance, Adam presumably soaking up the Wimbledon rain.

Kwini... I think there is some misunderstanding about how much the PGAT understands the challenges of the dual Tour player and how much over the last few years they've tried to drive home that point. I think a lot of people got the mis-impression the PGAT was being some "mean old Ogre" in the way it was treating McIlroy last year. Well actually that isn't the case... it's just that Chubby "outplayed" the PGAT in the court of public opinion regarding the 10 minimum thing. But IMO the PGAT does listen to foreign interests... Few realize that starting this year that 10-minimum provision has been completely stricken from the regulations. Now ALL non-members are subject to the same 12 minimum rule, regardless if they resigned their membership in the last 5 years or not. The only remaining regulation is one that allows the commissioner to suspend ANY member for up to one full year, (for all PGAT non-co sanctioned events)... if they make no reasonable effort to fulfill the obligations of membership.

They even have special sections in the regs regarding foreign members. Here's part of just one such section that's relevant to what we've been talking about earlier:

"...the Commissioner, upon application by a foreign
member and for medical reasons or other extraordinary circumstances that the
Commissioner, at his discretion, determines to be a valid reason for not playing in
at least 15 PGA TOUR cosponsored or approved tournaments, may reduce the
15- minimum (or 12-minimum as the case may be) tournament requirement."

Notice the world "foreign" in the above. That's one example of special dispensation to foreign members (like Casey) that Home Tour PGAT players don't get.

Bottom line... The key for Casey is to have good communication with the Commissioners office, keeping them informed on what he's trying to do, and more importantly what his issues really are. That's not to say the PGAT WILL waive the 15 requirement, but they're actually very apt to do so if given half a reasonable chance to do so. Despite what people might think, the PGAT actually WANTS the best players from around the world here... they don't want to make it so onerous that it makes it too difficult. But what the PGAT doesn't want is to have members with no obligation to the tour whatsoever.

robo,
I'm with you on that; my point was meant to be that perhaps the goodwill is not fully reciprocated - no reason at all why anything should be adversarial but sometimes players/managers come across as if it is.

As obtuse as he is on some things, I would put forward Harrington (as well as Donald) as a player who really "gets it" vis-a-vis his relationship with the Tour.

Glad you enjoy the forum, think most on here are rather jaded with the Tiger, good or bad; some very knowledgeable posters from all parts of the British Isles (and increasingly the US), most of whose observations I find fascinating.
My "Notes" are meant to get behind the headlines a bit and started because of terminal frustration at the Beeb's superficial and sycophantic coverage, full of inaccurate stereotypes about US players and the PGA Tour.


benson,
Thanks! Two years ago we watched Padraig partnered by Goosen, interesting pairing, and this week he's with Oosthuizen so more of the same.
Sweltering heat though, 96F in Hartford right now, warmer Thursday but hopefully a tad cooler by Friday.

kwinigolfer wrote:... my point was meant to be that perhaps the goodwill is not fully reciprocated - no reason at all why anything should be adversarial but sometimes players/managers come across as if it is.

As obtuse as he is on some things, I would put forward Harrington (as well as Donald) as a player who really "gets it" vis-a-vis his relationship with the Tour.

Yeah... I get your point. I should have addressed it more directly. Actually I think most the Euro players do "get it" as it pertains to the PGA Tour, but one of the big problems is that the FedEX Playoffs has changed everything for them. The way it stands now... the Internationals have little trouble making the PGAT minimum if they can make the common events (WGC's, majors) and the Playoffs. But if they get only one or two playoff events or miss a big common event, and they can be in trouble. In that case now they're being forced to play some Fall Series in the middle of a "meaty" portion of the Euro Schedule... OUCH. But they usually do it. That's why we've seen several notable cases of guys like Oosty and Casey having to play fall events to get to their 15.

For all intents and purposes... it's getting almost impossible for a player to dual tour EURO/PGAT unless they can get in the bigs and deep into the playoffs - OR - unless they're willing to put together a 30 event schedule.

Bottom line: The Euro Tour made a play over the last few years to be the dominant tour... but it just didn't work out. Now the big Euro players are seeing the handwriting on the wall and most of them are taking residence in the U.S. many of them moving their PRIMARY domicile here. The majority of them are, and will continue to put together more dominant PGAT schedules over Euro schedules and not the other way around. Otherwise they get into the catch-22 as discussed above. The "big" hold out has been Kaymer... but now it appears even he's taking up PGAT membership in '13.

There's the third element too, which cuts into these guys' off season: The silly season events in Asia, Nedbank and Chevron.

Kaymer's had a place in Arizona apparently for quite some time so 2013 would be an optimum year for him to sign up for the PGA Tour.

I have described the FedEx Play-Offs before as Finchem's handcuffs for overseas players; unless they win early, they pretty much have to budget for a 16-event schedule minimum but that's not too bad.
I still think they can play mid-January thru (this year) Nov 4th and have a decent break, shorter if they take in Dubai; but any health issue, Adam Scott's tonsils for instance, has a magnifying effect.

He screwed it up last year by cramming in events before his daughter was born and then chasing the money title and money-in-the-bank in Australia, but Lukey has shown it can be done. Sure he's helped by living in Chicago so much of the year and "getting away from it".

Chubby screwed up Oosthuizen's schedule big time last year, just as he's overloaded Rory's Fall schedule in 2009 and last year. It will be interesting to see if Rory takes a proper break this winter or carries on chasing filthy lucre.

The problem with these debates is that it's always too easy to get sucked in and miss the bigger picture. As Kwini says, his threads tend to be a perspective on the PGA Tour, so we tend to discuss players' US requirements on them... from time to time though, threads will crop up where we talk about players' commitments - or lack of - to the Euro Tour.
But we don't always do the two together.
As an example, two of the guys who most often get pulled up for their lack of Euro "reps", as Tiger would say, are the two mentioned by Kwini as having good US schedules, Padraig and Luke. It seems pretty clear that they've set their stalls up to be US-based players, who keep just enough of a Euro shedule to maintain cards, but they arguably treat the Euro Tour with as little respect as Casey, Oosthuizen et al do the PGA. Goosen might be shirking duties by not being in Hartford this week, but he also has responsibilities to the Tour which got him to the big time, and on which he's bagged a few money list titles. Credit to him for showing up at a tournament that could do with his presence, Germany has lost events at as fast a rate as England in recent years.
The question is of course, whether it's actually possible for players to fulfil what the fans, and the suits, on each side of the Atlantic consider "reasonable". I'm not sure anyone has actually managed it yet, I suspect every double-dipper has taken criticism from one side or the other at some point. Maybe our expectations are too high... when you have 4 majors, 4 WGCs and the Players, that's 9 weeks where the expectation is for all the big names to turn up or face the music (and devalue the events), you're then asking a lot if two different run-of-the-mill events in all the other weeks need big names of their own to survive.

Very good point Ned. Though my point really about Donald and Harrington was meant to be more that they seemed to do a better job than most of being ready to play and have an organised schedule which, like it or not, more than adequately fulfilled their requirements.
I don't feel as if others have achieved that, though McDowell seems to be a bit more settled.

Seems that Goosen has traditionally been loyal to the BMW tournament and good for him.

I DID criticise the English guys at Wentworth for harping on about what a shame it was that there aren't more tournaments in England, then high-tailing it without going 15 miles across the border to support Celtic Manor!

Perhaps it would help if another WGC event was staged in Europe, but it seems O'Grady hasn't thought of that.

NedB-H wrote:
The question is of course, whether it's actually possible for players to fulfil what the fans, and the suits, on each side of the Atlantic consider "reasonable". I'm not sure anyone has actually managed it yet, I suspect every double-dipper has taken criticism from one side or the other at some point. Maybe our expectations are too high... when you have 4 majors, 4 WGCs and the Players, that's 9 weeks where the expectation is for all the big names to turn up or face the music (and devalue the events), you're then asking a lot if two different run-of-the-mill events in all the other weeks need big names of their own to survive.

Ned I think you hit the nail on the head. It's a HECK of a lot tougher to dual tour than a lot of people think. But it's even worse since the advent of the FedEx Cup and to a lesser extent the Race to Dubai. Now when the high ranked Euro player comes to the U.S. he has 12 events all but dictated to him. 3 WGC, Players, 4 Majors, and 4 playoff events. For a lot of guys... that's half or more of their entire year's schedule right there. The problem these days for the Euro guy playing the PGAT is NOT the 15 minimum, it's that all but three are dicatated to him, so the player has no chance to make his own schedule. Assuming that top Euro player qualifies for all those events... then he only needs 3 more to make his minimum, so naturally he's gonna add in maybe another event around the WGC's another around the Masters or Players, and another around the U.S. Open... and he's done in the states. ALL the PGA Tour is gaining from Rory and Westy joining, is effectively their participation in the Playoffs. But those guys just CAN'T be available for a significant number more "regular" events.

Now for that same top ranked Euro Player, add in the WGC-HSBC, BMW PGA and Dubai World Championship. Now he's up to 15 events dictated to him... So to make his minimums on both tours (3 more on each)... the dual tour guy only gets to make about 6 choices on his own. And heaven help him if he misses some majors or WGC's... to make up for those he has to add one to EACH tour.

Bottom line... there's just no way the Dual Tour PGAT/EURO guys can satisfy everybody on both sides of the pond. And due to the fact that player is required to play 14 of his 15 PGAT minimum in North America... and may only have to play 6 of his 13 Euro minimum outside the states... its more likely the Euro Tour and it's venues get the short end of the stick.

Can I ask a possibly daft question?

How does lifetime membership (of European Tour in particular) affect minimum tournament requirements per annum, and could this also be a factor in some of the marquee players' decisions to base themselves Stateside?

Skydriver

I too have wondered about that and asked the very same question on here before. I am not sure anyone knew the answer.



Kwini/robo

Do you have any measure of how sensitive events ratings are to the top players pulling out. Ie the percentage of the EVR from top 10 players or something. It is just when you talk about the desert swing on the European tour I get the feeling should European players drop from the top 5 positions the top events in Europe would become very weak. Whereas the PGAT has been doing well with decent event values even when the top players are missing.

Enjoy the tournament, kwini! Are you going to be there all four days?

One group I would probably follow for a few holes if I were there would be Moore, Cauley and Bae, but Padraig & Oosty should also be worth a look in ..

I've a question for you (or robo who's from Texas)... What do you know about this young South African, Dylan Frittelli, who's making his pro debut this week in Germany? Read some good things about him these days, but don't know otherwise too many other details (played for UofTexas) ...

McLaren wrote:Kwini/robo

Do you have any measure of how sensitive events ratings are to the top players pulling out. Ie the percentage of the EVR from top 10 players or something. It is just when you talk about the desert swing on the European tour I get the feeling should European players drop from the top 5 positions the top events in Europe would become very weak. Whereas the PGAT has been doing well with decent event values even when the top players are missing.

Let's use this example... The #1, 2 and 3 top rate OWGR rated players add 114 EVR values to a field. Players 4,5 & 6 add 72 EVR... a difference of 42 ERV's. For a 50 point event... that could devalue the rating by at least 2 points to 48, but maybe as much as 4 points to 46.

pd,
Just Friday unfortunately, 250 miles away and hotel prices are exhorbitant. Go down tonight, take in 36 holes, back after play, or thunderstorms whichever come first.

Going with my son and he's had enough of watching Ryan Moore - think I described him once as lining up as if to hit the ball thru mid-wicket and whacking it over the bowler's head!

TPC River Highlands is terrific for watching if you're prepared to do the walking, plus has great vantage points for watching groups tee off. There's a cluster we'll watch starting on #10, but will probably try to follow at least nine holes' worth of Peterson and Cantlay, then maybe Gainey and Tringale or Danny Lee and Lovemark later on.


Frittelli is from Pretoria, four years at the U of Texas culminating in him holing the winning putt as they won the NCAA competition and Frittelli finishing 3rd on the individual collegiate rankings. But who knows how that translates to the pro game?

princedracula wrote:
I've a question for you (or robo who's from Texas)... What do you know about this young South African, Dylan Frittelli, who's making his pro debut this week in Germany? Read some good things about him these days, but don't know otherwise too many other details (played for UofTexas) ...

PD... Got to admit that most of my attention on UT players for the last couple of years has been on Spieth and Julio Vegas... Spieth for obvious reasons, Vegas because his brother Jhonattan Vegas is a neighbor of mine. That is until just this past spring. Got to see a lot more of Dylan in the William Morris over in Austin. I shot the event and just hanging around I learned that it was really Dylan who had been the rock of the team for a few years. So I did get a good look at him, but I thought Spieth and Vegas "looked" as good... but when it was all said and done all three of them tied for medalist honors. But honesly, I'm no swing guru and they ALL looked good, but Wake Forest coach Jerry Haas was really impressed with Fritelli ... saying he's got the type of game, consistency and head to be a solid future pro... so that's good enough for me.

I had another chance to see Dylan when the U.S. Open Sectional was played here, but missed it... but I was whipped after a lot of travel... and didn't make it down to Lakeside to watch as I planned.

Flocks of early birdies and I'm not kidding about a 59 watch. Par 70, remember, and short. Weather hot so the ball will fly.
More of the same Friday, at least for the early starters, storms possible in the afternoon.

Skydriver wrote:Can I ask a possibly daft question?

How does lifetime membership (of European Tour in particular) affect minimum tournament requirements per annum, and could this also be a factor in some of the marquee players' decisions to base themselves Stateside?

Sky... I've never seen a list of "benefits" for a Life Member of the Euro Tour. I would like to know what they are, and any restrictions on them, if anyone has the info??

But I can say that the PGAT regs for Life Members aren't quite as liberal as a lot of people think. For instance, to get a free pass into an event a life member must maintain a scoring average within 3 strokes of Tour average. If he doesn't then he falls to his next category (usually Cat. 33 - Past Champions, which gets him in very few) Also if a Life Member doesn't play at all the prior year... he loses his past member status (for entry purposes only) and falls to his next category. He can get life member status back by playing and getting his scoring average within three strokes.

Lets take Greg Norman for example. He didn't play a PGAT event last year so he had no Life Member status for "free" starts coming into this year. He has played in two events this year and has a scoring average of 74.38. Tour average is 71.09. Greg is not within three strokes... so he must rely on his lower Past Champion status or Sponsors Exemptions to play in a "regular" events... with some exceptions. Greg played in the Humana this year without needing a SE, but it is an invitational and Life Members is a category to get in that particular event (regardless of scoring average). Norman got into Mayakoba this year on his past champion status.

Remember we're talking playing status and exemptions here... of course in reality Norman would almost CERTAINLY get a Sponsors Exemption for any regular Tour event he wanted to play, save Major's, WGC's and Playoffs.

NOTE: There really are NOT that many Life members who are likely to want to play an event on the PGAT anyway... Excluding Tiger, Phil, Singh and Love who have current other status, those who "might" want to play a PGA Tour event would be Tom Watson and Greg Norman... possibly Arnie or Jack. The other living Life Members are Billy Casper, Gene Littler, Lee Trevino, Johnny Miller, Gary Player, Raymond Floyd, Lanny Watkins and Hale Irwin.

Thanks, robo, kwini. Good to hear that there is some consistancy with what I read about him. We'll see today how all that translates in the 'real world' of pro golf. Steady start from him so far, with three pars...

kwini, sounds like a great place to watch some golf, should be fun watching 2Gloves and that crazy swing of his...
First birdie for Padraig at the 12th (his 3rd hole)...

Looks now very unlikely for me that I will make it to Portrush next week, but hopefully there will be somebody who'll be there and send us some reports...

[quote="Skydriver"]

kwinigolfer wrote:I know it's been speculated on here for some time now, but I see the R&A have confirmed the 2016 Open Championship will be at Troon.
2013:mo Muirfield
2014: Hoylake
2015: St.Andrews
2016: Troon

Where after that?
2017: Birkdale?
2018: Carnoustie??
2019: Sandwich???
2020: St.Andrews????
2021: Turnberry?????

Perhaps they'll rethink the five-yearly homage to St.Andrews . . . . . .

Depending on how things go in a few weeks (and then in the following Irish Opens) and perhaps whether we have any more Irish/N Irish major winners (past major winners or otherwise - perhaps time for Gareth Maybin or Shane Lowry[!!!]...), Portrush might have a look in?

Shane Lowry is absolutely gash.

Patrick Cantlay not off to a great start to his pro career. +4 through 4.

C'mon Padraig! Birdie #2... Karlsson and Gary Christian are two of my picks this week over there, also doing well so far...

Another birdie for Padraig.....maybe the consistency is now arriving and the good results are going to be now more often than not from now on!

Disaster strikes for Podge at the 4th/13th.... This is not turning into a birdie fest as anticipated at the begining... Was there a change in weather or something...?

And another one set to go. Poor.

Padarig!!!!!!!! Needs to rescue his round on the par 5.

pd,
It might be gusting a bit more than forecast, but otherwise hot and humid. Still loads of birdies but some self-destruction as well by the looks of things.

Nathan Green in with a 65 and I wouldn't have thought that would be in the top ten. Some decent form from some Aussies!

That's better!

David Mathis starts

3 1 3

-4 through 3 holes!!

Makes perfect sense that Mathis should then par the par-5 before reboarding the birdie train. -5 after 5.

Unlike Michael Thompson, he of the final round 62 here last year and the runner-up finish last week. In the doghouse with a 78 he calls himself a "great putter" but not today, with 34 taps with the flat stick. Go home Michael, even a 62 probably won't save you now.

And another birdie, -6 after 6 for Mathis! Maybe that's the 59 you were talking about, kwini...
Freddy having a good start, quite fancy him to defend here...

-6 through 6 now Kwini, dare I say it? Is he on the 59 watch??

Not an inspired round, but even for Mr. O'Hair gives him promise for weekend play!

One reason why scores are higher than usual is that golfers are making a Horlicks of the very short par-4 15th hole. Average score about one stroke higher than usual, plenty of bogeys and doubles.

Freddie Jac still looking like he's right at home here, and Brian Davis picking up his pace too. Terrible start for Ryan Moore, who the Hell knows when he's up for it, and when he's not.

Yeah Zacharius Johnson made a right pig's ear of that hole after being just off the green for his second shot, walked away with a double!