PGA Tour: A Tale Of Two Trumps: Notes from the Ballwasher

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1).If you don't much care for self-obsessed blowhards with silly hair-dos who make you want to hurl a club at your TV, this week is not for you. (Shut up Johnny Miller, I'm not talking about you.)
Yup, this is the week where everything good in golf is Trumped, not just the WGC-Cadillac Championship staged at Trump-owned Doral. But also the Puerto Rico Open, being played at Trump International G.C.

2).Trump has plans to "blow up" Doral's famous "Blue Monster", originally designed by Dick Wilson and subsequently tweaked by half a dozen cosmetic face-lifters. Now Trump wants "a brand new, incredible course".
'Course he does, so he's hired Gil Hanse to do the job and, by next year, the course famous for sand and water will have sand and water, water everywhere. But Trump has been trumped and Gil Hanse is preoccupied with trying to design a course for the Rio Olympics so one of his henchmen will be driving the tractor. Great start Trump.

3).Two golf pros who had no plans to play at Doral this week are Michael Thompson, whose college golf career teed off at Tulane University until Hurricane Katrina caused Tulane to cancel its golf programme, and Geoff Ogilvy, a dial-a-quote favourite of journalists whose golf game has been in a shambles these past few years.

I compete in a one-and-done fantasy game and have been in a terrible trot of form just recently. And this week's results help to explain why.
1st: Michael Thompson finished runner up in last year's US Open, then promptly disappeared. 2013 record: cut, T78, cut, cut, WON.

2nd: Geoff Ogilvy, of whom I'm a great admirer. Until recently. No US top tens since finishing 3rd in the 2011 BMW eighteen months ago, and his 2013 record just a shade better than Thompson's: T27, cut, cut, cut, cut, 2nd. Now he's just one decent finish away from a Masters invite on a course (one of many?) which you'd think he's under-performed on.

My pick: Camilo Villegas: From the penthouse with a Round 1 64, to the outhouse, Round 2 77 and a missed cut. He's playing in Puerto Rico and hopefully he'll figure out where it all went wrong.

4).Meanwhile, the US Press has been trumpetting the 11 consecutive wins by US players. I wonder if they've also noticed that an anchored putter hasn't reached the winner's enclosure since Furyk gave Keegan Bradley an early Christmas present seven months ago at Bridgestone, 19 events, plus the Ryder Cup of course?

5).Somewhat more surprising is the rat-a-tat-tat of notes about Matt Kuchar having the Tour high of 32 top tens since the start of the 2010 season, three ahead of Luke Donald's 29. Both with 3 wins, Kuchar having played 19 more Tour events than Donald in this time. (And Donald, of course, up two Ryder Cups to nil ) Interesting though.

6).On a weekend where several American Young Ones made a splash - not just Luke Guthrie at Honda, but winner Cantlay (20) and 4th place Jordan Spieth (19) in Columbia on the web.com Tour - it is worth noting some big names outside the FedEx Top 125 as the season is approx 30% complete.
Examples of those who I imagine have exhausted their exemptions, can't be 100% on that,:
129th: Ben Crane (glacially slow except on those godawful videos).
135th: Fatty Marino, playing out his medical exemption.
136th: Immelman
151st: Brian Davis
162nd: Martin Laird
175th: JB Holmes (not quite so slow since his brain surgery)
181st: Appleby
188th: Ishikawa
Others like Allenby, Chad Campbell, Weir and Sabbatini are also struggling big time, but with one Get-Out-Of-Jail card up their sleeves.

7).Easy to complain about the young golfers in the post-Vijay, Davis, Ernie, Phil, Tiger, even Duval era being under-performers, but they are!
Top tens (like Kooch and Luuuuke) by the bucket load, but wins very thin on the ground. Let's update the Tour win totals of the Under 35's:
8 wins: Scott (34), Garcia (33)
7: Dustin Johnson (28)
6: McIlroy (23)
5: Kuchar (34), Donald (34), Sneds (32), Watney (31), Hunner (30)
4: Bubba (34), Rose (32), Haas (30), O'Hair (30).

8).So, Doral this week, more grainy Bermuda greens and a bomber's paradise. No idea who might win, though perhaps South Africa can redeem itself from a dismal MatchPlay effort. Unwise to count Ogilvy out if he's in the mood; he's won here and the field is just his size!
Of the European invasion there's one contestant who's driven down the coast with excellent, unsung credentials. Led the Honda field last week in greens in regulation and "proximity to the pin", and finished fourth here in 2012. And that man is Peter Hanson, surely worth a couple of bob each way?

9).Tiger was carted off here last year and Rory obviously walked off last week, and they're playing together Thursday, with Luke Donald joining them. Justin Rose defends his title, and we wonder whether his career will kick on, or is he destined to be another one-win-a-year merchant, never quite reaching the heights.
Weather should be fine and the course playing relatively firm and fast. No rain in the forecast and there'll be low scores in Rounds 1 and 2, but beware the possibility of stronger winds by the weekend.

10).And so to Puerto Rico where Shane Lowry will make a very welcome return to action. There's a pretty decent field, all things considered, including Europeans Casey (dreadful finish last week), Christian, Davis, Karlsson, Knox, Norlander and Stenson. Old lags whose brilliant future is well behind them help pad out the field, Allenby, Ames, Campbell, Jerry Kelly, Leonard, Sabbatini and Weekley but the theoretical class of the field among the veterans should be KJ Choi and YE Yang.
Shane will have the really Young Ones to contend with, Cantlay, Guthrie, Kohles, Spieth, Ishikawa and this will be good competition for him as he assesses his game in PGA Tour events. He's told pgatour.com that he plans to try for as many sponsor invites as he can get as he intends to stay here into May in his quest for Special Temporary Membership. He made plenty of friends at the MatchPlay and good luck to him in his efforts to achieve PGA Tour status.

PS: Please, pgatour.com, get your act together for the "live scoring". Or fire those CDW people and hire europeantour.com for the job.

Go 9 's!!,

GMac doning the biz.

Charl creeping up!

Wow Your golf travel are getting big!!

Advertising on TV. I have been using them from when they started up. Good firm

GMACCCCCC!

The Golf has disappeared from my Sky !

Where has it gone????

Gmac hasn't had a bogey this week? Great play!

mystiroakey wrote:The Golf has disappeared from my Sky !

Where has it gone????

Sky revoked your subscription due to you adoration of Baldy Nine Chins and will not reinstate it until you denounce him as a man sausage.

he is a man saugage..

Still dont know where the golf is. It must be on the red button. But i am watching on the PC!!

ahh well cricket instead..

22 birdies from 46 holes for Woods.

oh dear, gmac... shouldn't leave that man with 5 shots lead at this stage...

incontinentia wrote:22 birdies from 46 holes for Woods.

He is a man sausage but that's pretty impressive.

WOOHOO!

Some 2-putt there.

Ok, Tiger 4 ahead and looking like he's back, but its not over yet. What a recovery over the last 3 holes!

(Yes, GMac is my favourite golfer (with Bubba))

Tiger!!

Well, it's no surprise to me that Europe's hopes again lie with the island of Ireland.

C'mon Super -- give the golfer some credit. He's putting on a clinic. But none of it really matters until he finishes the job.

Im sure hes playing very well indeed but I still and always will think hes a complete idiot.

Its a bit like john terry or ashley cole. They can still put in a good performance but there is noreason to like or fawn over them or even pay them any respect or defference because like baldy nine chins they are truly repulsive people.

He will probably win this with hus stupid 'intimidating' red shirt on, but that doesnt make him a good guy.
Its just another small field tournament with no cut and if poulter or donald won it plenty people would be bringing that point up but because its nine chins it is as if he has win the biggest tournament of the year. W@nker.

well it is the biggest this year so far.

I cant be dealing with Golf if tiger is going to win everything though!

It became boring last time

Nor can I. However if he does then I'm thankful I no longer live in Edinburgh as I won't have to risk drowning in Mac's Nine Chins inspired ejaculate.

I respect him as a player. But if the rest of them
don't rise to this sort of challenge then it's going to get annoying.

Rors and the English need to raise there own bars and stop fking about happy to be also rans .

Obviously rors has exceptional ability. But his head game isn't on a league with the tiger.

Everyone else needs to up there games..

Of course chances are I am over reacting,.

Oakey, Please bone up on your "their" and "there"

Golf was at it's best pre Nine Chins and in the intervening times when he was "injured". There isn't a single sport which benefits from being a one horse race.

I'd be delighted if his glass body gives up again soon and we can be rid of one of sports most wretched participants.

Ok so Rory with his PGA championship game versus Tiger with this week's game... who wins?

incontinentia wrote:Ok so Rory with his PGA championship game versus Tiger with this week's game... who wins?

Rory.

McLaren wrote:

incontinentia wrote:Ok so Rory with his PGA championship game versus Tiger with this week's game... who wins?

Rory.

I'd agree, in terms of talent I don't think Nine Chins is in the top 5.

Super

Tiger, Jack, Bobby Jones and Hogan are all equals in terms of talent. Rory is no where near that level yet.

Totally disagree Mac, in terms of natural talent the likes of Rory and Seve are miles ahead, Woods talent, as undeniable as it is, is very contrived, mechanical and the fruit of a lot of coaching and hard work, plus it's horrible to watch, especially with his spazzy shoes.

Accomplishments trump talent all the time. The world is full of "coulda beens".

But, Tiger woods has both.

Weak field? Well, I suppose since Shane Lowry isn't there ... .

And while this tournament is over for Poulter, Donald, Rory, Kuchar and anyone not 10 under, you would be crazy to count McDowell out.

Agreed, accomplishments will always be better remembered, but I'd rather watch the likes of Seve, Mcilroy etc than a charmless, robot whose game isn't in the least entertaining.

Talent us such a stupid word really , and in truth utterly irrelevant.
What matters is getting the ball in the hole, whoever does that the best is the most talented.
Being able to work stupidly hard is as much a talent as anything else , people say well anyone can do that but it's utter rubbish, you are either born like that or you aren't.
And ultimately having a pretty swing counts for jack, putting is nearly half the game anyway. How many sweet mid irons does a pro actialy hit these days in a round.

Very true Diggers, but as we watch sport for the purpose of entertainment I get more enjoyment watching someone play the game with style, touch and a bit of character than watching a soul-less wooden robot run away witha tournament (whoever it might be)

Probably why people like non world beaters like George Best etc, might not have achieved as much as others, but ultimately more entertaining.

But as you constantly point out Woods isn't a robot, his driving never has been robotic. He hits shots from all over the course to win.
It's all subjective , I find Woods game way more exciting that say Scott's which is a very pretty swing.

I don't mean robotic as in metronomically and relentlessly accurate as he certainly isn't that, just that he's got a mechanical, and ugly swing. I can't stand watching him because apart from his repulsive and joyless on course "personality" he just doesn't do it for me on the course. Effective, but just goes through the motions.

Subjective. Its like the legend of Seve, I mean spare me the self taught on a beach routine, the guy game from a golf obsessed family, you reckon he didn't get a lot of tips and playing time with fantastic golfers. Ditto Rory.
All we know about Woods and Rory's innate talent is that they were both good enough to get on TV at about 4 as they were so gifted.

Fair enough Diggs, I simply don't enjoy watching Woods do anything, other than drive into fire hydrants or off a cliff.

Which is fine, you might have some fun anyway as I fancy GPrat to grind him down. And there's a bloke who looks like a club pro to watch but has othe qualities that get the job done.

Is it true if Woods wins today and Rory fails to get a top 10....Woods can become number one with a win at Bay Hill!?

Super I just can't believe you don't find Woods' play entertaining, the guy has created more incredible moments than 10 of his peers combined. You hate him for some other reason, is it because he's black?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2AvRfxgpL4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiYuQkG_rZA

I can't recall one single shot that any other pro couldn't do. Every pro produces excellent shots. Nine Chins isn't unique in that respect.

And which Major did he last do that in?
Even Harrington has won majors sin that time.
Busted flush?

Dining out on past achievements?

Also look at a clip of Woods paying in his early twenties. A fluid , elegant swing and the fact he is stick thin helps.
People's physiques change, Rory's will, Seves did. You look less elegant swinging a club the older you get. The bodies not as flexible, you pick up injurys and you adapt.

I enjoy watching Woods pitch. Always thought he hits more shots stone dead from 100yds than any other player I've seen. And those for me are the money shots.

Diggers wrote:Also look at a clip of Woods paying in his early twenties. A fluid , elegant swing and the fact he is stick thin helps.
People's physiques change, Rory's will, Seves did. You look less elegant swinging a club the older you get. The bodies not as flexible, you pick up injurys and you adapt.

I actually didn't mind Nine Chins in the early days pre 2000,
He's only 37 now, plenty older players have very elegant swings so he can't use his age as a reason for his ugly swing.
Nine Chins obsession with being some sort of gym poof in my opinion has done his game a dis-service and possibly led to his hilarious injury saga.
Being overdeveloped could well be as harmful as being a big fat Shane Lowry.

Those same older players are slipping down the rankings while Woods is heading back to the top of the game.
And take a look at Els swing now and 20 years ago, its not as flowing, same with Mickleson. Westwoods swing is god ugly IMO but it works. Ditto Stricker.
It's just a repetitive motion, the aesthetic is really utterly irrelevant.

Well it works some of the time Diggers, but in consideration of what he achieved with it pre 2007 compared to today, you'd have to say it's also letting him down regardless of how it looks, just like diminishing returns of Westwood, Mickelson, Furyk, Els etc.

It's working a lot better now than it was 3 years ago. If he wins today what's that, 5 wins in the past year or so including a WGC. That's getting back to his best. I actually think his swing looks really grooved this week anyway, he isn't forcing it. Just whether his head stays together today.

Does anyone really think Rory is the #1 player in the world at the moment?

This whole ranking stuff is certainly necessary, but much less so for the top guys than those at critical numbers to get them into events (top 30, 50 etc.).

Off to the races soon ... C'mon Tiger!

You can't really have the rankings reset every week though.

Mamma Mia Mattttteooooo!!!
What a start from the 19-year old!!

Mamma Mia Rorrrrrrrrry!!!
What a start from the 23-year old!!!

super_realist wrote:Oakey, Please bone up on your "their" and "there"

Golf was at it's best pre Nine Chins and in the intervening times when he was "injured". There isn't a single sport which benefits from being a one horse race.

I'd be delighted if his glass body gives up again soon and we can be rid of one of sports most wretched participants.

Super, please bone up on your "it's" and "its"

Very true Smithers, "it's" one that annoys me too.

Come on 9 chins, bring it home!!