PGA Tour: Texas Two-Step: Houston and San Antonio: Notes from the Ballwasher

1).Because of the vagaries of the calendar, the Tour loses Houston as the stop immediately before Augusta this year and the boys will be playing Houston this week, and San Antonio next. Then The Masters of course.
But this is the week golf returned to the front pages of a breathless national media and headlined most of the national radio and TV news programmes. No, not because Sergio hit a ball out of a tree.
Tiger, Tiger, Tiger!!!

2).The relentless march of inevitability lasted five days but Tiger finished fourteen under par on the Par-5's alone.
So: Was the week's biggest story Tiger and his brilliant putting plus the ability to ride a big slice of luck at a crucial time?
Or was it Justin Rose who outplayed Tiger for 40 holes, went into so much of a funk that he played sixteen holes in six over par, and then regrouped to outscore Tiger by one shot on Monday as he finished a comfortable runner up?

Not sure myself - perhaps Rose would have been better off playing 72 holes alongside Woods instead of listening to the roars in front of him and ogling Tiger's rise up the numerous on-course leaderboards?
I thought at the time that Justin's careless 3-putt on Friday evening's 18th might come back to haunt him, and he certainly lost form with his putter on Saturday, pushing at least four short left-to-righters below the hole.

3).What is in no doubt is that sport sees strokes of fortune, good and bad, that can make or break a round, a match, even a career.
Matt Prior played the ball on to his stumps early in his innings today, but the bails stayed intact and the headlines were of a brilliant 110 n.o., and not about throwing his wicket away when England needed him most.
Bill Haas was still in contention on Saturday when he hit a ball out of bounds - by three inches. He was toast from then on.
But minutes before, Tiger had hit a tee shot on the 9th hole which (according to NBC TV) struck a tree out of bounds and rebounded back in play. A brilliant par followed and he was off to the races on a course he knows better than anyone.
No-one knows how to take advantage of a good break like Tiger, but equally no-one follows a poor shot with another poor shot so infrequently. He sure looks good for Muirfield Village . . . . .

4).Great play also from Gonzo (he does have a first name, NBC), Olesen and Stenson. A glimpse of form from Martin Laird, Sergio running on fumes, and rubbish from Westwood. Difficult to fancy Europe's chances at Augusta unless Rory returns to his best - my fancy will be the same as last year, left handers and Saffers.

5).NBC TV did a piece during their weekend coverage lamenting slow play with Bubba Watson, Lee Westwood and the Network providing evidence for the prosecution. But they won't name names, despite the clips of Webb Simpson, Kevin Na etc.. The info on time taken by each player to play each shot is recorded so why doesn't the media get the data and start to name names. I would back Bradley, Crane, Harrington, Na and Simpson as being at least as glacial as the slowcoaches of yesteryear, Faldo and Langer, Chip Beck, Bob Estes and Ken Brown. Even Nicklaus and Couples could be pretty bloody slow.
Still puzzled why this is not an issue with the PGA Tour, but when the media's investigative reporting doesn't investigate why should the Tour be bothered?

6).Perhaps slow play has something to do with the fact that, for the seventh year running, the National Golf Foundation reported a net closure of 141 golfcourses in the United States last year - 13 openings, 154 closures. One thing's for sure, it wasn't anchored putters that causes reduction in play (tho not last year) and closure of courses.

7).And so to Texas and the "Shell Houston Open" at Redstone GC. Rees Jones designed the course with an assist from "Player Consultant" David Toms, who thinks so much of the finished product that he's not showing up to play. One of the "hooks" of the design is to create an Augusta National aura, a strong driving course with sloping greens and shaved chipping areas.
It's the last chance for players to qualify for The Masters via the owgr Top 50 and there's a strong field on hand to compete for Hunter Mahan's title. McIlroy (nice to seeing him on the range with Wozza and Djokovich at Miami Muni), Mickelson and Mahan, Bradley, Dustin Johnson and Snedeker, etc, etc..
Steve Stricker will be there - Houston offered him a sponsor's invite when Steve was down on his uppers a few years ago. He played well there and never looked back. And "Strick" doesn't forget those who do him a good turn. (Unlike some others of course.)

Who's there to win, who's there to fine-tune their game? That's the trick! Ogilvy and Charlie Howell, among others, will surely be trying as they look to secure a Billy Payne invite and this course certainly favours their length. I'll recommend a very modest e.w. interest in Chris Kirk, Jimmy Walker and Graham DeLaet, all at good prices, all in good recent form, and DeLaet and Kirk have good track records here.
Along similar lines, I'd imagine Stenson and Westwood might do well among a strong European entry.
Robert Karlsson up to 3rd alternate so hope some golfers' bad luck is his good fortune after he missed out in Monday qualifying. Conditions fine, at least until the weekend.

8).Champions Tour update:
No action for three weeks, but Roger Chapman earned a nice finish last week and is up to 25th in the money-list, while Mouland spoiled a good start but is still 30th for the season. Top thirty crucial for both to retain their cards for 2014 (tho Chapman might have an additional year's exemption).

Web.com update: Top 15's in Louisiana for Gary Christian and Russell Knox, but they're way back (56th and 54th respectively) on the moneylist and need to get some big finishes under their belts.

LPGA update: Spain's Beatriz Recari won last week in California and is up to 2nd in the money-list. Catriona Matthew is 21st and Jodi Ewart 33rd. No other GB&I golfers in the top 50.

9).Back to Mr.Woods: His stat's for the year are looking increasingly Tigeresque, including the all-important "strokes gained putting" where he leads.
Still wayward off the tee though, so he'll need something special to win anywhere that driving straight is a core competency.

10).And: Lots of snarky comments about Tiger's photo album with Lindsey Vonn, one wag suggesting the only thing missing was the Easter bunny.
But they seem to have their wires crossed somewhat.
Tiger: "We want to continue our relationship privately, as an ordinary couple."
Lindsey's Tweet, on the front page of USAToday among other places: "Number 1 !!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Way to keep a low profile.

I see Lion Rafaelov has just scored for Israel vs Wales.
You don't suppose Rafaelov is Yiddish for Woods and they are somehow related?

see tiger told Rory to pull his ginger out his arris and win. he has some pervy old thoughts does sex case tiger. loved Rory at the Miami muni, any idea on what sort of place it is? or is it just a bit of hood publicity for normal Rory, just like you and me down the local range...

Rory hits balls because he needs to.

Who is the last person (like what ranking) can get into the world's top 50 without needing to win?

Besides Rory and PMick, these are the 14 players that have won majors since Tiger won the US Open at Torrey Pines: Harrington, Cabrera, Glover, Cink, Yang, McDowell, Oosthuizen, Kaymer, Schwartzel, Clarke, Bradley, Watson, Simpson, and Els.

These 14 players have approximately 600 PGATour Starts since they won their last major. And Two wins total, Glover at Quail Hollow and Bradley at Firestone (three if you count Kaymer's win in the 2011 HSBC WGC event).

Not sure what this means, but it just seems strange that so many recent major winners are not winning regular tournaments. And Rory and PMick are exceptions to the rule.

And yes I know, Charl, Oosty and Yang have some Int'l wins.

sirbenson wrote:Who is the last person (like what ranking) can get into the world's top 50 without needing to win?

If Sang-Moon Bae (#84) finishes solo 2nd, and the stars align, he could creep into the top 50, barely.

So, Howell, Stenson, Howell-III, Guthrie, Chalmers, Walker, Beljan, Kirk, de Jonge, and Bae have a chance to get a 11th hour invite. into the top 50.

I think RCB can get into the Masters with a win in Morocco.

Hi benson,
I'm guessing here but would think Sang-Moon Bae is the answer to yr question, perhaps followed vby Brendon de Jonge.

PS; Think GPB just beat me to it! Not sure that he's covered the Morocco tournament or the boondoggle that Els got invited to in Thailand.


GPB,
Parity reigns. Except in a few places of course.
Winning is habit-forming, just ask Tiger.

kwinigolfer wrote:
GPB,
Parity reigns. Except in a few places of course.
Winning is habit-forming, just ask Tiger.

Some people think Parity equals Quality. IMO, it is the lack of quality.

Cool, cheers guys....Hoping Lowry can go close to do what is required shame he didn't play in Malaysia or one of the weak Euro Tour events.

Kwini

""Strick" doesn't forget those who do him a good turn. (Unlike some others of course.)"

Any chance you could name names, and what events you think they should still be playing?


As for an assessment of Rose, it is simply that golf tournaments are 72 holes. Does it matter if he had a good stretch in the middle? Not really, if his 72 hole score is not good enough.

I am sure all the great winners like phil. vj and Tiger have one events after an OB or a poor bounce. They have the ability to make it up over 72 holes. I hope none of the players you mention above think they didn't win for a reason other than they didn't score low enough.


To point 6, that is a worrying number. How many of the closures are courses/cubs which opened with a business model based on a growing economy?

In the US it must also be the case that many of the course closures are linked to housing projects which failed in the wake of the sub prime scandal.

But business aside it would be hard to think that some people were not getting sick of 4.5+ hour rounds.

Great article Kwini-need a bigger audience in my opinion.Top job or as they say 'way to go'

Cheers dyna,

Mac,
I couldn't care less about the toe-rags who never remember those who helped them on the way up, 99% of them get their come-uppance on the way down. I DO try to mention some of those who, even in Stricker's case in semi-retirement, return to events who gave them a leg up when they needed it.

Wasn't trying to infer that Woods won on Monday anything other than fair and square. WAS suggesting that Rose mentally hit the wall when he saw Tiger coming back at him and only flourished at the end when he couldn't win. He said his legs "went" but it looked more like his entire focus, just a carry-on really from what I tried to discuss a fortnight ago.

As for the closure in one year of 150-odd courses, many of them will have been built in remote areas where maintenance and staffing costs have outpaced revenue. Haven't seen a breakdown but there must also be quite a few where the owners (one family in all likelihood) will have retired and didn't have anyone to pass the business on to, sold to developers instead.
I think rural golf is dying out somewhat, but doubt the economic factors of the housing scams are especially significant in closures - tho they ARE significant in postponing/cancelling new courses. Shotrock and robo might have other views on this.


Thanks dyna, always appreciate yr posts.

Looks like pretty good weather for the Shell Houston Open, warm rather than hot, and only a small chance so far of weekend storms. Could be a bit breezy.

Wonderful write up Kwin. As always thanks for the effort.

Mac - Agree - 72 holes a professional tournament makes. Astounding feats and horrendous failures are all calculated to one single number. When someone chips in or lips out on the final 9 holes it seems to get all the attention. But that missed 3 footer on Thursday morning had the exact same impact to the scorecard. Thanks for playing Justin -- and all others. No one, IMO, lucks into or out of a tournament with that many holes to decide the tournament.

Don't let us forget that Woods basically sealed the win on "moving day", yet it was Justin who started Saturday like a train, -4 thru the first 4 after a feeble Friday finish. Often get the impression that players who have a fast start like that often fail to keep things going, almost like they feel pressure to birdie anything when closing with 14 straight pars would make for a good day at the office. If Rose had carded a steady 4-3-4-4 start he might well have been leading at the end of the day.

Re course closures, not for me to say whether slow play is a factor or not but in my experience getting stuck behind a tediously deliberate group means you don't go back to that course, rather than packing in the game all together. Would think the cause and effect might be reversed if anything, fewer courses equals the same number of golfers crammed on to fewer tracks, equals more course congestion.

Ned,
Agree on both!
I was just using the gourse closure / slow play thing to illustrate that Golf has more important things to deal with other than anchored putters when that particular horse was OK to ride for the past 30+ years.

Experience tells us that Tiger is far more successful pulling away from a field rather than playing "catch up", whereas most golfers, almost all, stall when in the lead and have a tough time extending it. Don't imagine anyone started out Sunday (let alone Monday) thinking they had an earthly of overhauling Tiger.
Certainly one of the genius aspects of Tiger's success . . . . .

Reports that Els is reverting to a standard-length putter this week.
The more important issue is why he's doing it in Thailand.
Pulled out of the Tampa tournament claiming injury, played like a prune at Bay Hill, back at Augusta after last year's absence, so he warms up in an airline seat and in Thailand? Come on Erns, you can do better than that.

Kwini

Dont be a pooper, I really just want to know what tournaments you think Tiger could add to his schedule so he could show some gratitude to those that helped him?


On another Tiger note, Tiger said on an interview with Fehrety during the Tavistock cup that the key point in his comeback was withdrawing from last years tournament at Doral. He mentioned it meant he did not face another long period of injury, so I guess looking back he was justified in pulling out.

McLaren wrote:Kwini

Dont be a pooper, I really just want to know what tournaments you think Tiger could add to his schedule so he could show some gratitude to those that helped him?


On another Tiger note, Tiger said on an interview with Fehrety during the Tavistock cup that the key point in his comeback was withdrawing from last years tournament at Doral. He mentioned it meant he did not face another long period of injury, so I guess looking back he was justified in pulling out.

I won't touch the "Pulling Out" comment. Too easy.

Several of the tournaments that gave Tiger exemptions no longer exist. He never went back to Milwaukee after they gave him his start. He had several opportunities.

The BC Open too. Probably not as many opportunities as that was an opposite field event before it end.

He never did honor a commitment to the Southern Open after requesting and receiving a Sponsor's invite. He was to be given some sort of honor at a sponsor's banquet. And he WDed at the 11th hour after it was guaranteed that he was going to get conditional status on Tour. And that tournament was later sponsored by Buick.

Those three tournaments are (permanently?) kaput. Heard rumors that Milwaukee may eventually return. None lately, however.

IMO, he should go back to Quad Cities and San Antonio. And even though he played the Canadian Open after getting an invite, that tournament needs a lot of help as it been collateral damage in the FedEx Cup series.

YMMV.

I would just like to say thank you very much for this update every week Kwini. I rarely (if ever!) comment, but I find this blog to be the best way to stay up to date with golf in the US than any other source on the internet.

Thank you Sheldo,
Much appreciated. Your comments would be extremely welcome though


Mac,
Riviera is the obvious one, and those that GPB mentioned could have used a helping hand. He plays pretty much the bare minimum and seldom plays a regular season event outside Florida and California with the exception of Quail Hollow and Memorial.
Plus, he's been conspicuous by his absence in Dallas since Lord Byron died.

Look he can't play everywhere, but respecting those who offered a helping hand (and, yes, some may have been a tad self-serving) would be a handsome gesture - or, if you prefer, just good manners.


Some welcome returns to the Tour this week include 2009 Houston Champion Paul Casey, Arron Oberholser - and let's hope he can return to some sort of good health - and Jonathan Byrd making his first start following wrist surgery last year. Playing with Martin Laird, which is a nice touch!

More on Paul Casey from John Huggan:

http://www.golfworldmonday.com/golfworldmonday/20130328?sub_id=m6YFz2X7vbcH#pg7

Casey reckons he can "nudge" the world's top ten before year's end.
Just arresting his slide would be progress, but hopefully we'll see him back in the Top 100 sometime soon. Top 10? I'd think that will have to wait a while, but a good finish this week would be a positive step in the right direction. Good luck Paul.

Optimistic, but I suppose a player of his past quality should be optimistic. He just has to look at the likes of Stricker and Westwood to realise he can arrest the slide and return to the elite of the game on the other hand he better not look at the case of Duval. Never been a fan of Casey but there is something sad when someone who was once great, declines.

Thanks, kwini

Yeah, I read also somewhere else these days about Casey, suddenly realising these last couple of weeks that his main problem was not returning to his previous shafts after he recovered completely from his shoulder injury. He sounded there as if it was all like a magic switch, as soon as he returned to the old setup everything fell back into place. A bit too good to be true, and I agree, making the cut this week will be good progress, while a top 20 finish will be pretty incredible...

Without trying to antagonise again Tiger's fans out there, even if we forget about the idea of him going back to some of those places that helped him in the past, I think he should be 'forced' (I'm kidding!) to play some of those great courses out there (Riviera, Heritage, Innisbrook, etc.). It's a pitty and a bit of a waste having someone with his ability, talent and 'greatness' playing/winning repeatedly some of the most uninspiring courses on the PGA Tour (Doral, Bay Hill, Firestone, etc.)...

Good to see Shane Lowry getting another invite in San Antonio, hope he can pull off at least one good result these next couple of weeks...

Could be my computer I suppose but no "Live Scoring" yet from pgatour.com.

No sign of fog in the area, too warm for snow or frost so assume CDW is not feeding the meter, as usual.

Was hoping Karlsson might have sneaked in to the field on the back of a withdrawal, but no sign of that either.

Come on pgatour.com, pull your finger out.


Cheers pd,
I pretty much called Woods to win last week with Rose as best European and still got grief . . . .
Just think Woods has got far more to offer than ringing everyone's commercial cash-tills and most unfortunate that we don't see more of him. (But then, maybe he doesn't have any more to offer.)

Now! I always thought Casey was as likely a lad as there was among the (current) English 30-something generation, always played well in the Ryder Cup and has some decent Major showings, plus he used to win more than the rest of 'em, Westwood excepted.
Hope Lowry starts taking advantage of the largesse that he's rightly earned.

Hoping Lowry can pull off a spectacular result this week and qualify for the Masters.

Seeing his 30th would be a spectacular result for Lowry in fact seeing his manhood without a mirror would be.

kwinigolfer wrote:Hope Lowry starts taking advantage of the largesse that he's rightly earned.

...thought for a moment you've referred to the 'largesse' he earned by eating lots of pie...

But yeah, I agree, he's very lucky to get these invites and I'm sure he realises that. Glad to see he got his clubs back in the end, as they got lost (not for the first time apparently) when transiting in London...

Where does he need to finish at least to stand a chance??


Good to see live scoring working....finally.

sb, you can see the projections on the OWGR thread, for all those who have a chance to make it.

For Shane, basically he needs a 3-way tie for 3rd or better to have a chance to get inside the top 50. It'll be tough...

Cheers Prince, great work as always.

LW is my pick for the week

yep I am like a

It's weird, I think I've posted this before but I can't for the life of me work out why it is I want him to do well. I've never met him, don't particularly believe he's better than any other of the current top ranking English players and isn't even from near me. I've never really followed a football team properly, I have a favourite but couldn't really care less. But I suppose I am a Lee Westwood supporter.

Much like my preferred football team, though, I anticipate being disappointed on a weekly basis, especially if early signs are promising, and I'm right far more often than I'm wrong! I certainly wouldn't bet on him winning, this week or any time soon.

Scoring in Houston seemingly the polar opposite of Morocco, at least at this early stage. Even Westwood's -2 after 3!

31/1 smithers!

thats why i backed him!!

And then makes bogey on - yes, you've guessed it, a par 5! Overhit pitch and 3 to get down.

Its early days. The guy is quality... You cant keep him down. The field is kinda weak tbh

Hmmm, not sure about that. Bradley, Watney, DJ, PMick, Stricker, Louis and some kid from Norn Iron.

Just looking at the field rather quickly it seems like it has less than a third of the top 50 mate

Yeah, tbf those are the only names of note, plus LW.

Anything worth over 50 owgr points to the winner is pretty solid; perhaps this field has more depth than superstars, but pretty good nonetheless. Would definitely be a feather in the cap of whoever wins it.

Lee Westwood has got to tidy up his par-5 performance.
Last week, for instance, Tiger was -14 on the 16 x Par-5's (with a bogey), Lee was -3. With his length and ball-striking efficiency he's got to do better if he wants to win.

i think He has been clearly practising his short game a lot. But it may well have affected his long game..

Maybe the best route for lee is just to concentrate on what he is good at!!

As if to prove Kwini's point, he's gone in the water twice on the par 5 8th. If Billy was still on the bag you'd like to think he'd have sussed this out by now and would get Lee through them a bit better.

He was poor on the long holes with Billy Foster but has been even worse since Billy was injured.
Decent bogey all things considered. Perhaps splashing out of the drink is one of the things he's been working on . . . .

Two penalty shots according to shotlink, so presumably not. Where he was comfortably leading his group, they're now all tied as both Louis and Charlie Beljan made 4. Why does he do this to us?!!

Great 6 obviously out of that... can only see the scores atm

Beljan's now leading the group, having been 3 behind Lee after 4. Two 40 footers for birdie have helped!

mystiroakey wrote:Great 6 obviously out of that... can only see the scores atm

No such thing as a good 6 is what he needs to tell himself!

Don't want to demean Beljan (obnoxious redneck though I suspect he is), but it should be a kick up the backside to Westwood just being paired with him. A minor win last year and a runner-up this aren't to be sniffed at, but we're talking about a guy who was bouncing up and down the OWGR top 3 until recently.

two in the water and you get a 6!!

you feel great. Yes its a great 6!!