PGA Tour: What a Way to Run a Major: Notes from the Ballwasher

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1).Congratulations to Adam Scott, Living proof that nice guys sometimes finish first.

But, really!
Never has a major sporting event seemed to be nothing more than public intrusion on a private party. We noted a few months ago the passing of the great Frank Keating, and it is worth recalling words from Matthew Engel's Guardian tribute, which included:
"After a last hurrah (well, not much of a hurrah - he hated the whole fiasco) at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics . . . " etc.
Those same Olympics run by President and CEO, Billy Payne (an ugly precursor to Romney at Salt Lake City), now Lord High Executioner of The Masters.

2).But have events of the past tournament served to forfeit Augusta National's "right" to manage a Major? From the capricious invitations, through various rulings, to the uneven (from day to day) condition of the greens this was a "major" Masters too far.
I missed Tiger-gate on Friday evening, attending instead a "Town Meeting" held by our US Senator accompanied by hard-hitting investigative journalist Matt Taibbi who writes for Rolling Stone and follows the banking fiascos of the past six years from "Too Big To Fail" to "Too Big To Jail". Kinda wondered about that when word started to surface about possible malfeasance on the 15th.
One of Taibbi's oft-quoted phrases is his description of Goldman Sachs which I can't help but think applies equally to Billy Payne:
"A great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money."
Step down Billy, before you strangle the Masters.

3).One immediate change that The Masters should announce immediately is a requirement for a Rules Official to walk with each group every round. They currently follow the PGA Tour's policy of stationing eight Rules guys strategically around the course to be called on in the event of a decision being deemed necessary.
Whatever the rights and wrongs of Guan's slow-play penalty and the Woods fiasco, it is likely that a travelling official would have improved the likelihood of avoiding penalties.

4).Nice story on yahoo.sports about Cabrera and Scott at the 2009 Presidents Cup. Scott had been mired in a slump but was controversially named a Captain(Norman)'s Choice for the International Team. Norman wanted to connect him with a partner whom he thought could help steady Scott's nerves.
Masters Champion Cabrera spoke up: "I'll play with him", telling Adam: "You're a great, great player", the start of a strong relationship betwen the two.
Hard lines this time on Angel, but great to see Adam win.

5).And, to be fair, I underestimated his ability to compete this strongly on such a sparse schedule, the same number of events played this season as the semi-retired Stricker. Other surprises to moi:
For better: Jason Day. Still not convinced about Jason Day, still only one minor, struggling, win on Tour. Suspect he'll win his next event from way ahead or way behind.
For worse: Obviously Mickelson had a horrible week as, to a lesser extent, did Hanson, McDowell and Rose.
But I got this one right: Tiger beat himself.

6).With the changes Chief Payne announced last week, only the top 12 qualify for next year. Those not previously exempt are: Day, Leishman, Olesen, Sneeedeker, Garcia, Westwood, Huh, Clark.
Hard luck stories, those who finished in the Top 16 and would normally get a 2014 invite, but not now!:
Toms, Dustin, Watney.

7).Phew! The traditional post-Masters breath of fresh air is blowing in to Hilton Head, the start of the "Pete Dye Swing" (three of the next four weeks are at Dye designs) or the "Banking Swing", RBC, Zurich and Wells Fargo.
Normally I'd fancy Luke Donald big time this week but can't help feeling his game right now has fallen from the elite; but lovely Harbour Town is a course specialist design, shortish, fairways where positioning is key, and tiny greens. Gay, Furyk and Snedeker won in 2009, 2010 and 2011 respectively and you'd fancy Tim Clark around here.

8).A strong field includes Colsaerts, Donaldson, Hanson, Kaymer (also falling from the elite level?), McDowell, Sterne as well as the usual suspects including Lukey. The Tour's "Carolina Boys" are out in force and I look forward to a great week on a beautiful course. "International" players are on a roll now though, and I like Badds (won in 2006) and Clark to contend at least.

9).The Champions Tour rev up their zimmer frames again in Atlanta, at the TPC Sugarloaf where the old Atlanta tournament was held for twelve years. The typically short list of Europeans will be there, including Messrs Langer and Lyle who both performed with credit last week while some of their more overweight contemporaries sank faster than the Belgrano, Woosnam, O'Meara and Stadler among them.

10).It was announced yesterday that Tianlong Guan has received a sponsors' invitation in to the New Orleans tournament next week. Pity the poor sods grouped with him who get to watch his funereal "pace".

PS: Lots of heads turning this week to the real world and the atrocities in Boston. Close to home for the one Tour member who lives there, James Driscoll whose drum is a couple of blocks away from the carnage. Thoughts to everyone there, as well as to those who were victims of atrocities in GB&I funded by organizations based in Boston.

Thanks, Robo, I was pretty sure it was not because Greg Owen is a slow player.

No comments about my old golf mate, Vance Randall? I used to go on a Golf Trip every year with him....to of all places Hilton Head (and Destin FL). I think he watched my first hole in one actually go in the hole from the next tee.

Not sure if he is still alive, it has been over 20 years since I have seen him. He used to party pretty hard back in the 80's and I bet his liver is a mess.

Don't know Vance, not even Cyrus.

At San Antonio, Johnny Miller was saying how purely Charlie Hoffman was hitting the ball - that boy must know something after all; good to see Charlie's awful hair take an early lead.
Nevertheless, Come On Luuuuuke!

Vance Randall was on the Putt Putt Tour during the 60's and 70's and was voted Putter of the Decade of the 1960s.

I see that Gene Jones was DQed in the Geezer Tournament outside of Atlanta.

I wonder why Rule 33-7 was not used to save him.

El Pato shoots 76 and and T20 going into final round on the Latino Americas Tour.

It is strange that a player can nearly win the Master and then the next week is a non factor on the Latino Americas Tour.

He's won there seven times apparently, didn't want to upstage E.T.Woods.

Incredible putting from Hoffman today (21 putts) and Thursday (22 putts); would have thought he'll need to hit a few more greens Sunday as he can't repeat those stat's. Can he?

Very disappointing from Luke Donald - an average round even without bogeys on two Par-5's, both very, very clumsy.

This course may suit him down to the ground but not unless he's sharp. And he's not.

Lovely bird at the last by McDowell though, and he's right in the mix.

GPB wrote:El Pato shoots 76 and and T20 going into final round on the Latino Americas Tour.
It is strange that a player can nearly win the Master and then the next week is a non factor on the Latino Americas Tour.

Probably pretty tired... I don't know if Angel would be private jet class or not... but either way, it's probably a good 14-16 hrs to Cordoba, and on top of a stressful week.

Good to see the Romeros there as well, plus Carlos Franco.
Distinguished company.

Looks like Angel Jr was more tired than his Dad.

Who's going to win in Hilton Head then?

Sunny and breezy in the morning, cloudy and windy in the afternoon.

Chance for someone to post a score early? I don't see anyone in with a chance below -4, that's the top 22. What about Furyk at -5 to set a target??

kwinigolfer wrote:Has anyone heard an updated medical bulletin for Mr.X/

I see he's in the four-day declarations for next week's Demaret Division of the Legends, partnering Jim Ferree.

Perhaps X and Kostis need to have a chat. Is it Miller Time, or Miller's time?

Jim Ferree, one of the fathers of anchoring - on the subject of which a nice interview with Charlie Owens in a two-weeks-ago Golf World.

Kwini, do I need Colossus to understand that?

Is Colossus playing?

There was a Peter Kostis tweet about Miller Barber's health, but I see he's down to play this week in the Champions Tour Legends tournament in Savannah.

Doubtless there'll be some news soon.

A windy day beside the sea on Hilton Head Island; bound to be some big numbers with 20+ mph gusts and small greens.
With Dufner, Kuchar, Pettersson, Kaymer and Snedeker off in each of the first five tee-times this morning, will it be possible for one of them to set a target before the blustrousness really gets bad?

Some questions came up on another board about John Daly getting a sponsors exemption for the RBC Heritage. He did not need an SE as he was eligible from the 2nd Exemption category for this invitational as listed below.

Here is the complete criteria for exemptions into the RBC Heritage.

Eligible players are:

*** Winners of RBC Heritage prior to 2000, and winners of RBC Heritage in the last five years (2007-2011).

*** Winners of the U.S. Open or PGA Championship prior to 2005 who played in a minimum of 15 PGA TOUR cosponsored or approved tournaments in 2012, provided however the Commissioner shall have the discretion to waive such 15 event minimum if a player otherwise eligible pursuant to this eligibility criteria did not play 15 events in the prior year as a result of an injury and would have qualified for a medical extension if he had applied for one. Beginning with the 2005 winners of these events, winners are eligible for five years (2008-2012).

*** Winners of the Masters Tournament in the last five years (2009-2013).

*** Winners of THE PLAYERS Championship in the last five years (2008-2012).

*** Winners of the British Open in the last five years (2008-2012).

*** Winners of the TOUR Championship in the last three years (2010-2012).

*** Winners of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and WGC-Cadillac Championship in the last three years (2011-2013).

*** Winners of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in the last three years (2010-2012).

*** Starting with the 2010 winner, if he was a PGA TOUR member at the time of his victory, winners of the WGC-HSBC Champions in the last 3 years (2010-2012).

*** Winner of the 2012 U.S. Amateur Championship, if still an amateur player.

*** The leader from the final FedExCup Points List in each of the last five calendar years (2008-2012).

*** The leader from the final Official PGA TOUR Money List in each of the last five calendar years (2008-2012).

*** Playing members of the last-named U.S. Ryder Cup team (2012).

*** Current PGA TOUR members who were playing members from the last-named European Ryder Cup team (2012) and the U.S. and International Presidents Cup teams (2011).

*** The 20 players who are leading on the 2013 FedExCup Points List through the Shell Houston Open.

*** Five players not otherwise eligible who are leading on the 2013 FedExCup Points List through the Shell Houston Open.

*** The top 50 players from the Official World Golf Ranking through completion of the WGC-Cadillac Championship/Puerto Rico Open.

*** Eight sponsor exemptions, restricted as follows:
- - - Two from among the current year’s PGA TOUR membership.
- - - Four from among the 2012 PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament’s top 25 finishers and ties and the first through 25th finishers from the 2012 Official Web.com Tour Money List.

*** Up to two foreign players designated by the Commissioner.

*** Either the current winner of the PGA Section Championship or the current PGA Section Player of the Year where the tournament is played, as determined by the Section.

*** PGA TOUR members who use an exemption for 2013 as one of the leaders (either top 25 or top 50) on the Official PGA TOUR Career Money List.

*** Life members of the PGA TOUR.

*** The top 30 players from the 2012 FedExCup Points List.

*** Those PGA TOUR members among the top 125 finishers on the 2012 Official PGA TOUR Money List.

*** Members in the Top 125-Nonmembers category whose official money for the previous year equals or exceeds the amount of official money earned by the player finishing in 125th position on the 2012 Official PGA TOUR Money List.

*** PGA TOUR members from the current Tournament Winners category.

*** If necessary to complete a field of 144 players, PGA TOUR members from the 2013 priority ranking of eligible players, after the top 125, in order of their positions on such list.

Sponsor exemptions for this week were: Trevor Immelman, D.H. Lee, Luke List, Daniel Nisbet, Henrik Norlander, Jin Park, Jordan Spieth, Camilo Villegas. Section Champion is: Matt Bova.

kwinigolfer wrote:
Incredible putting from Hoffman today (21 putts) and Thursday (22 putts); would have thought he'll need to hit a few more greens Sunday as he can't repeat those stat's. Can he?

Sheesh... you're right about Hoff's putting... I looked in at his R3 stats... Strokes gained putting = 7.269 (compared to next best Webb Simpson at 4.213. Plus he made 166'10" of putts yesterday. I don't usually follow day by day Strokes Gained Putting, but I do look in from time to time with the highest I've ever noticed being in the mid 6 range. 7+ is just sick... :-)

And NO, I'm betting he can't putt like that again today (even though I've kept him in my Yahoo lineup). Another Hoff stat... He's T74 (out of the 91 that made the 2nd round cut) in FW's hit at 57.1%. So much for the notion it's all about hitting Fairways... but I guess if you're gonna putt like that, it don't much matter where you hit it otherwise.

All my yahoo line up in the top 19, but none likely to win. Story of my season!

No-one setting Harbour Town alight among the early starters; winds will increasingly become a factor as the afternoon blows on.

*** Winners of the U.S. Open or PGA Championship prior to 2005 who played in a minimum of 15 PGA TOUR cosponsored or approved tournaments in 2012, provided however the Commissioner shall have the discretion to waive such 15 event minimum if a player otherwise eligible pursuant to this eligibility criteria did not play 15 events in the prior year as a result of an injury and would have qualified for a medical extension if he had applied for one. Beginning with the 2005 winners of these events, winners are eligible for five years (2008-2012).

Robo: Is this criteria consistent in all Invitationals? In other words, are we likely to see Daly at Colonial, Memorial and ATT?

Snedeker/Bohn finished their 4th rounds in about 3.5 hours.

Kaymer/Jobe are right behind them on the 18th green.

None of them played particularly well, in fact no one is taking it deep today so far. -2 is the best round going.

Come on Luuuuuuuke . . . . .

Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuke . . . . .

You can't keep a good man down: Cabrera in with a 64, tied for the Cordoba lead.

No rounds in the 60's at the "RBC Heritage"; scores reportedly averaging 74 so far.

Come on Luuuuuuuke!

Luuuuuuuuke!

kwinigolfer wrote:You can't keep a good man down: Cabrera in with a 64, tied for the Cordoba lead.

That only tells half the story, have a look how he finished at the last hole... Amazing!
To have such incredible finishes two weeks in a row... the man's a genius!

How'd'e do that?! Looking forward to that story.

I reckon they've got to get to at least -9 - that's including you Luke and McDo.

Two sixes on #15 for Lukey, Saturday and Sunday, will probably be the difference between a trophy and a fat cheque.

But McDowell is playing superbly - he'll be close to the lead by the time Webby's finished messing around.

the rules guy is called Slugger White! what a name

ps- c'mon GMac!!!

And Angel wins the playoff this time!

C'mon Gmaaaaaac!

Will this be his consolation prize from Olympic Club??

Let the record reflect that Webb/Charlie group is waiting on the 18th tee.

A slow pre-shot routine does not necessarily mean that you are a slow player.

And a fast shot-routine does not mean you are a fast player (Sneds).
Simpson is very slow given half the chance.

One bogey from Simpson to extend the International streak . . . . to three!

Anybody have any stats on playoff coincidence on the 2 main tours?

3 main tours if you include Cabrera's win on the Latino America . . . .

And last night's LPGA win by Suzann

Well done Gphat! Congratulations.

That should take you into the worlds top 10.

McDowell likely up to 9th, Lukey past Snedeker in to 5th?
Simpson up perhaps to 18th.

Gprat wins on short and tight course, where might he want to repeat that in the coming months?

well done G-brilliant

robopz wrote:EDIT: and by the way.... if Luke goes on to win this week and in the process shoves about half of my earlier comments right up my *-hole.... good for him. I'd be pleased to see him win this week (or any week for that matter). But even a win at a Harbor Town doesn't change my long view, not without a lot more. IMO Luke's has his moment in the sun... he might provide a few more lightning bolts... but I just don't see him as an solid OWGR top-10 kind of guy for much longer.... I just don't think he's gonna be able to finish high enough, often enough.

Robo

I disagree with the above, accepting that Lukey's form has dropped over the last year, but I think his short game is too good and his temperament/desire too strong for him not to come back. But your point did get me thinking about what is a "solid OWGR top-10 kind of guy"?

Tiger/Rory are in a league of their own at the moment, but the rest from #3 down to #20 are pretty much of muchness to me. Charl and Louis would be 2 I'd expect to fit your category, but Louis had a dreadful Masters, and Charl has slipped out of the top 10 glamour positions already. Gmac and Rose I would say are streaky players, can Adam build on his new-found major champion status? I hope so, but recent history suggests that first-time major winners suffer a rankings slide post-victory (presumably due to the extra media attention this draws, and partly perhaps the fact that they've acheived the lifetime goal so need to re-focus). Sneds is the current best "non-TW American", but is he better than Webb, or Hunter, or Dustin, all of whom have held that position recently (I think) and slipped out of the current top-10? Westy and Phil would be another 2 who could have previously fit your description, but both currently outside the top-10.

Ultimately you may be right about Luke, but he is someone who has churned out the top-10's over the years, which as we know, gets you high up the current rankings system. Is there anyone else in the current top 20 (excluding Tiger/Rory) MORE likely to consistently stay in the world's top 10? Personally, I don't think so. I guess my question to you is, if Luke isn't, who would you class as a "solid OWGR top-10 kind of guy"? Or maybe there aren't any, and the top 20-30 positions in the rankings are just very fluid...

Luke might not be solid, but he's a solid top 10 player primarily due to lack of more solid contenders.

McLaren wrote:Gprat wins on short and tight course, where might he want to repeat that in the coming months?

I'm not sure about "prat"ernising GMac. What exactly has he done to encourage that title??

I know for a fact the staff at Pebble consider him a generous, genuine, well grounded, nice guy.
He doesn't spend as much time in the gym as a lot of the other top 10 guys but he's mentally tougher than most when he gets into Sunday afternoon contention.

Good result for him last night I thought.

pedro wrote:Luke might not be solid, but he's a solid top 10 player primarily due to lack of more solid contenders.

Kind of my point, in a few less words.....

Great win for McDowell, the best player on the day and proof that, on certain courses, his golf is up with the best of them.
Any criticism of him is ridiculous in my book, seems to have life pretty well sussed out and would expect him to be a consistent (rather than prolific) winner on the PGA Tour now he's broken through again.

JAS wrote:

McLaren wrote:Gprat wins on short and tight course, where might he want to repeat that in the coming months?

I'm not sure about "prat"ernising GMac. What exactly has he done to encourage that title??

I know for a fact the staff at Pebble consider him a generous, genuine, well grounded, nice guy.
He doesn't spend as much time in the gym as a lot of the other top 10 guys but he's mentally tougher than most when he gets into Sunday afternoon contention.

Good result for him last night I thought.

Jas, forget the gprat monicker, I just wanted to emphasise two past US open champions (gmac in particular) just played very well on a tight and short course. Merion anyone?

Aye indeed Mac although I also agree with the other assertion further up the thread that Gmac is one of those that can be streaky form wise so be could be completely off by then. Also think the wind undoubtedly helped him yesterday as he seemed much more is control of the ball than the others in contention.

Ireland strikes yet again! Watch our for them the the World Team event.

Well done GMac!

are srixon and clevleand the same thing? strange that he has srixon plastered all over him yet this is his bag:



Graeme McDowell's bag

Driver: Cleveland Classic 290 (46-inch Miyazaki Kusala Indigo 56 X-Flex shaft), 9 degrees

3-wood: Cleveland Launcher FL (Miyazaki Kusala Indigo 72 X-Flex shaft), 14 degrees

Hybrid: Adams Idea a7 PNT (Miyazaki Kusala Indigo 83 X-Flex shaft), 22 degrees

Irons (3-9): Cleveland 588 MT (3-4; Royal Precision Project X 6.5 shafts), Srixon Z-TX II (5-9; Royal Precision Project X 6.5 shafts)

Wedges: Cleveland Reg 588 Raw (48, 52 degrees; Royal Precision Project X 6.5 shafts), Cleveland 588 RTX (58 degrees; Royal Precision Project X 6.5 shaft)

Putter: Odyssey White Hot #7 prototype mallet

Ball: Srixon Z-Star XV

Mac - VERY good point. GMac on the short list of potential winners in my book.

I believe so hend0.

I'll be interested to learn more about the Merion greens before considering McDowell a favourite there - his scrambling this week was fantastic (tournament-leading 79%, or up-and-down four times out of every five), but his weakness all year has been in irons from the middle of the fairway.
Harbour Town's greens, like Pebble Beach's, are mostly pretty flat - if Merion's are especially tricky, he'll be penalised more for poor iron play.


GPB, robo, Not sure if you caught it, but Peter Kostis sent out a "Get Well Miller" wish during CBS's broadcast - no doubt there'll be an update from Savannah later today.

Hend - Yep, same company/parent company. Not sure how he's sneaked an Adams in there though.

Does he carry a 22 hybrid and a 3 iron? Would have thought the 3 wood to hybrid to 3 iron loft spacing was a bit skew (fwy at 14 - Hybrid at 22 and per the website 3i is 19).

But then I'm very very far away from his level!

Some particularly inane tweets on golfchannel.com from Webb Simpson's seemingly inexhaustable supply of biblical nonsense.
Does the fact that golfchannel.com persists in carrying such twitterage mean they are complicit in this propaganda?
Probably the same morons who advise J&J against leaving their gated communities for Korea.
More dangerous in most US cities, methinks.

kwinigolfer wrote:Some particularly inane tweets on golfchannel.com from Webb Simpson's seemingly inexhaustable supply of biblical nonsense.
Does the fact that golfchannel.com persists in carrying such twitterage mean they are complicit in this propaganda?

I think the FBI should keep an eye on Simpson. He seems much more of a religious extremist than most proven terrorists.

Kwin - Merion's greens ARE especially tricky. Although they have "flattened" both #12 and #15, the defense of the course lies primarily on the putting surface. If they speed it up (well beyond what designer Hugh Wilson envisioned), it could be really penal (or goofy depending upon your POV).

The other thing is that the professionals are essentially going blind into this. There hasn't been a professional tournament there since 1981.

Kwini, do you think iron play will be on of the keys at Merion? (together with driving accuracy I guess) Wasn't there once a stat saying "distance to pin"?