PGA Tour: Open Championship / True South Classic: Notes from the Ballwasher

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1).Well done Zach Johnson, winning the John Deere Classic after you tried hard to throw it away on the first play-off hole. Second win of the season for Zach who is on the Board of the tournament and has done so much to ensure its place on the PGA Tour schedule - reminiscent of Carl Pettersson's win at Greensboro a few years ago in that respect.

2).This win doesn't arithmetically ensure Zach Johnson of a place on Davis Love's Ryder Cup Team, but he and DLIII are near neighbours on the Georgia coast, have worked together to help create "The McGladrey Classic", and it would be a huge surprise if his John Deere success doesn't clinch a spot at Medinah.

3).Troy Matteson came way too close to winning last week's John Deere Classic, leading as he did every day, to throw it all away on his first play-off hole. He would have been the first player to win a Tour event in which he finished last in driving accuracy for 24 years! But he putted for his dough, leading the field in "strokes gained - putting". Sometime College Teammate of Kuchar and Molder, among others.

4).Open Championship week, then, and let's hope Royal Lytham gets the Champion it deserves. Rather like Carnoustie did in 1999, or so Davis Love thought:
"When you have a screwy setup, you're going to get a screwy finish," Love was quoted as saying. "And if Paul Lawrie is the champion that Scotland wanted, I think they got exactly what they wanted."
The R&A get exactly what they want on Thursday, 8.31 a.m. BST, when Lawrie and Love tee it up together with Tim Clark!

5).Let's see who's done well in the past at Lytham:
1996 result:
1st: Lehman
2nd: Els
11th: Darren Clarke, Vijay Singh
14th: Duval
18th: Harrington
22nd: Woods, Stricker
27th: Broadhurst (also 58th and Leading Amateur in 1988 - hope he plays well this week, will never get the credit he deserves for his 1991 Ryder Cup play.)
41st: Calc, Mickelson
Also made the cut: Hamilton, Furyk, Allenby, Ames, Lyle, Daly, Goosen

6).2001 result:
1st: Duval
3rd: Els, Clarke, Jimenez
9th: Garcia
13th: Vijay, Goosen, Jacquelin
21st: DLIII
23rd: Michael Campbell, Greg Owen
25th: Woods
29th: Barry Lane
30th: Cink, Mickelson, Rose
37th: Harrington
42nd: Stricker, Paul Lawrie
Also made the cut: Allenby, Scott, Westwood, Calc, Lyle.

7).The last two Major winners won Majors their namesakes had won, Watson and Simpson. Sadly Jarrod Lyle won't be maintaining the tradition as he battles leukemia in Australia. But Aussie Luke Elvy tweets a promising update on Jarrod's condition:
"Has had his ups and downs over the past 6 weeks but Bone Marrow tests overnight showed no leukemia cells. Great news."
Get well, Jarrod, hope to see you on Tour soon.

8).No idea who'll win this week, fingers crossed though for Westwood and Harrington. Obviously Els, Clarke and Vijay have played well here in the past, but, Woods apart, it's difficult to see where any American challenge might come from. (Interesting take in USA Today on David Toms' non-participation: "He's pulled out of the British on several occasions due to injury and general disinterest."!)
Apart from the golden oldies, Woods, Stricker, Furyk and Phil, the leading Americans in the owgr have little to show for their trips to The Open, Dustin Johnson, Fowler, Mahan and Watney scoring the only 5 top 15's.

9).Hate disclaimers but this week's "opposite field event", the True South Classic in Mississippi, has been abandoned by PGA Tour players in their droves, very few of the owgr top 200 bothering to show up for a $540K first prize. Players are withdrawing by the dozen and it seems futile to speculate too much about the event. If they don't care, why should we?

Except to say that it's a BIG tournament for Gary Christian and Russell Knox, not to mention the ailing Richard S.Johnson and a golfer with an excellent record in Lytham Opens, Alex Cejka - a cut for Cejka this week will earn him PGA Tour "Veteran" status as he reaches 150 career cuts. Good luck Alex, but a poor reward for a first-time sponsor and a Jack Nicklaus course that the players rate more highly than Torrey Pines, Doral, Bay Hill and the Greenbrier.

10).Finally, Majors may be two-a-penny on the Champions Tour, two-in-Michigan even, but Sundridge Park's Roger Chapman won't be complaining as he added the US Senior Open title to the Senior PGA he won a few weeks ago. Two fingers, then, to the USGA who only saw fit to invite five Europeans (Hogberg went through qualifying) to their Senior Open which is even more of a closed shop than the Champions Tour. Pathetic.

Roger Chapman won't mind though as he will be at Kiawah Island for next month's PGA Championship, and joins Lee Westwood in being the first two Englishmen to punch their tickets to next year's US Open at Merion.

to be honest i am abit confussed about what i was talking about an all

Call me confused.....but I'm not sure what was confusing about mystir's posts!

Maybe all this working on a computer and listening to the golf has frazzled my brain a little.

bluestonevedder wrote:Call me confused.....but I'm not sure what was confusing about mystir's posts!

Maybe all this working on a computer and listening to the golf has frazzled my brain a little.

What got me was the stuff about being in a better position if your [sic] in a better position but it was also immaterial what you scored in round one but something or other.

Whereas you made a really sensible comment about building a platform to defend.

Ah I see! It was just after lunch, so think I may have been food-comatosed.

Woods just finished- good round, and looking a little ominous.
Westwood needs to sort himself out.
Donald start is shakey.
Casey sounds like he's moving along very nicely indeed.

scrub that- Donald just sunk an excellent putt for birdie!

Yeah it wasnt the best english- so can we just leave it out!! ta lads.


Point was kinda simple. Its just good to shoot a good round- whatever else happens later on, wether you have to defend or attack. But in the open due to varied weather, that weather sometimes only affects a certain amount of the field

Casey!!!!

go on lad

He's storming at the moment! So happy for him. Been a tough year

Mickelson is imploding!

its nice to see doanld doing ok, he needs a good first round score- the course seems to be playing alot harder for the later players

I spoke too soon about Casey....

11 players currently at -3 or better, 4 of them on the course and the other 7 in the clubhouse, Muto the only one not in the OWGR top 50. Quality stuff so far, living up to the Lytham reputation.

mcilroy is doing very well!!!

yeah poor casey

kwini

Cant remember if you are a poulter fan or not but after this tweet you might like him a little more;

"Ian Poulter ‏@IanJamesPoulter
Take longer over a shot Keegan wow. 5 minutes for 1 shot. Too long"

Keegan certainly deserved his double after it.



I see R-mac has just gone OB after bouncing of the top of a fans noggin.

Actually does anyone know what happens if your shot is impeded by a medical emergency? Ie, someone cant be moved for whatever reason and they are between you and the hole.

Is it a free drop?

super

You will be pleased to know that the chap who was hit on the had was wearing a pair of golf shoes.

Stricker just holed out for the second week running . . . . .

Mac,
I like Poulter enough, think he loses sight of the big picture from time to time, but good for him for stating the obvious. Having said that, Pepsi did a really good job of slowing Bradley down when his mind was probably racing at 100 mph.


ESPN having a very tough time recognizing some of the non-USA golfers, Peter Hanson and Colsaerts apparently presenting real problems!


Meanwhile, in the Magnolia State, Jason Giveadoga Bohn has an early lead, but someone seems to have pulled pgatour's leaderboard plug.

mysti

I hope you are watching the coverage right now as you will see what a drivable par 4 is (the 16th).

Mac i drive par 4's like you have hot dinners mate?

There were some comments from David Duval earlier this week about how he thinks more young Americans should consider playing in Europe (in reference to the coming changes in q-school).

One developing story might be American Scott Pinckney who's done just that and finds himself currently in at 2-under 68 and tied for 12th. Pinckney befriended Rory McIlroy as an 9-year old when Rory came over to play in the Doral Publix... 4 years later McIlroy came back and stayed with the Pinckney family for 3 months playing various junior tournaments.

Pinckney attended Arizona State and had a decent amateur career winning the Trans-Miss in 2010 and Pac-10 first team honors his senior year (2011). He also qualified for the 2011 U.S. Open as an amateur. Scott turned pro and signed with Chubby Chandlers ISM (my guess with some McIlroy influence) and went straight to Europe and got into some Challenge Tour events and even a few Euro Tour events.

He came back to the states to try to q-school for the PGA Tour, but missed advancing to the finals by shot. Concurrently he was advancing through Euro Q-school, eventually finishing T24 in the final and made it onto the Euro Tour this year.

He qualified for the Open Championship via sectional qualifying and put up a nice first round as noted.

I'm generally not in favor of Duval's comments that these kids should go over to Europe as a potential first choice over the Web.com Tour, but if they miss final stage q-school here, they have no status and good for them if they can get a Euro or Challenge Tour card.

But that doesn't mean that the Euro Tour route is necessarily an easy road to travel. Scott's found the Euro Tour tough going with relatively poor results in his first 6 Euro events. That got him reshuffled down in priority, and now hes been relegated mostly to Challenge Tour or the lesser Euro Tour events. But at least... he's got a place to play... and he's on the second page of a leader board of a Major... not bad.

mystiroakey wrote:Mac i drive par 4's like you have hot dinners mate?

Like I have hot dinners?

So you drive a par four wearing full coats and tails by candle light, joined by handsome young boys?

2 top ten finishes in 18 starts for Phil, and his misery continues..

What you trying to tell us mac- that your a high society poof?

No, just that I dont see how you could drive par 4's like I eat my dinner?

I didnt expect that every time you had a dinner, you dressed to the nines and had young boys tending to your every needs!

I thought you just walked down the local high street with a big mac in your hand!

You drive par fours like a candlelight dinner for one and an inflatable dummy?.........

nah i drive par fours in a pretty sexy way myself. More akin to a diving of a yaught in the south of france and catching a lobster for tea..

I can only assume that the open has not provided us with much entertainment for this thread to have degenerated to this already.

Anyone got anything interesting to say about the golf?

Whats wrong w/ Martin Kaymer? 77 today and birdie-less. and almost definitely trunk slamming tomorrow.

He has fallen out of the top 5 in the Euro RC list and trending to fall out of the top 10 of the OWGR list. all P. Hanson has to do is make the cut to pass Kaymer.

If he falls out of the top 10, I can't imagine that Ollie will pick him with him playing so badly.

yeah i was kind off thinking the same thing to be honest.

Well Mcilroy deserves alot of praise for coming back to bridie two holes after the double. But question is - should he have shouted fore!!

Donald and westy have wound me up.

Gotta be pleased with lawries play though!! surprised at his score, but then he has been showing alot of form i suppose.

I flukely backed scott by mistake- picked him for the us open but backed him for this open by mistake- that investment looks good!!

ermm els did well.

Tiger played some amazing golf- but i dont think he is mentally ready to win- he seemed so agitated out there.

Nioce to see lee slattery doing ok mind

The lad that McIlroy hit was among a group of people so you obviously have to imagine that there were murmerings of the ball coming.........no real excuse for not covering his head.......................maybe that's a bit harsh on him!

Disappointing from Luke Donald & Westwood tells us he's been struggling for a few weeks..................if he shot 67 he'd have said he was playing lovely coming into the event! hope he recovers though......................

McLaren wrote:kwini

Cant remember if you are a poulter fan or not but after this tweet you might like him a little more;

"Ian Poulter ‏@IanJamesPoulter
Take longer over a shot Keegan wow. 5 minutes for 1 shot. Too long"

Keegan certainly deserved his double after it.

FWIW, GMAC took about 5 minutes to play his second shot on 17 after hitting it near the tents.

yeah well good on poults- gotta like a man that says what he thinks.

i swear keegan is abit dodge as well

Weather delay in Mississippi where they're shooting lights when play is possible.

Russell Knox in with a sorely needed 67, five under par and only good for 8th place among the morning wave.


Wonder where everyone thinks the Lytham cut will be? Can't be much more than two over surely, not much wind in the forecast and any rain will just make the course softer.
Anyone sleeping on a 75 or worse will have to improve by at least eight shots in Round 2 just to tee it up on Saturday, but none of them have been playing well enough to believe they can do it.
Justin Rose and his 74 is another matter, probably the worst of the popular choices for this week. Frustratingly inconsistent for his followers - hope he finds some form soon.

Not sure whats gonna happen with the weather kwini- this country has been ubber crazy with the weather recently- its just not normal over here- anything could happen

anyway i am gonna predict the cut line at +4

RE Cut line... Weather forecasts seem "sorta" benign again (some rain but mild winds). With that in mind I'm thinking +2 for the cut. But then again... I expect them to perhaps "tighten up" the pins a little tomorrow... that might move it to +3. If serious weather moves in... all bets are off..

mystiroakey wrote:yeah well good on poults- gotta like a man that says what he thinks.

i swear keegan is abit dodge as well

It "what he thinks" is the problem. He's brimming with self importance which i dislike........Bradley is a good guy, like him a lot..................

What is the cut rule at the open?

Is it 10 shots or xth position and ties?

yes i think thats standard for majors

70 and ties.
I agree +2 should do it unless something goes totally awry with the weather.

Play still suspended in Mississippi.

is it really 70 and ties?

cause if it is 70 and ties and the weather is good tommorow id go with plus 1.

however i think the weather will affect the later starters alot and minus 6 will still be leading this tourny, then after the weekend they will get worse

kwinigolfer wrote:

Russell Knox in with a sorely needed 67, five under par and only good for 8th place among the morning wave.

.

I hope he can put a few rounds together and get some decent finishes under his belt, these good scores are followed up with too many over par rounds so far.

Fairly insignificant difference in scoring from the morning wave to afternoon wave... less than 1/3 stroke.

71.897 = scoring average for 1st 26 groups
71.583 = scoring average for 2nd 26 groups

Broken down into quadrants...

72.231 = scoring average for 1st 13 groups
71.564 = scoring average for 2nd 13 groups
72.128 = scoring average for 3rd 13 groups
70.410 = scoring average for 4th 13 groups

Just glancing.. it appears as though the distribution of talented players was fairly equal between the morning and afternoon waves. However it appears as though many more of the highest ranked players were distributed in the 2nd and 4th quadrants, as opposed to the 1st and 3rd quadrants.

strange to see that it was 2 shots easier in the last to the first- when it really looked tougher out there- 2 shots is a massive difference

mystiroakey wrote:strange to see that it was 2 shots easier in the last to the first- when it really looked tougher out there- 2 shots is a massive difference

mystiroakey... I think the scoring difference between the 1st to last group of 13 threesomes was due to the distribution of better players... Without doing a detailed study... it appears as though the field strength of each quadrant fairly well matched up with the scoring. IMO the strongest group or players was the 4th group of 13 threesomes... The afternoons higher ranked players were in that group. The next best was the 2nd group of 13 threesomes. IMO it was just slightly less strong than the 4th because one threesome of good players was in the 1st group. But CLEARLY the 1st and 3rd groups had by far the fewest good players.

How come so many predicted Paul Lawrie to do well here?

Some people know they stuff on here mate..but he has been showing form. And he is a top links golfer