PGA Tour: No Longer the "Fifth Major"?: Notes from the Ballwasher

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1).What a week! We learned the importance of being Ernst, the legacy of Linda Watson's driver, and saw a weekend when the Island 17th green at TPC was truly an island.

2).Ernst first, and a salutary reminder that a golfer making his PGA Tour debut, as Derek Ernst did, with a 6-under-par round of 65 at last year's Fry's.com event, is well worth watching. He came straight through the final old-style Q-School which is yet another example that not all golfers who earn their PGA Tour cards via Q-School are ill-equipped to handle the rigours of the Tour.

3).And Fred Couples of course is another who turned pro on a whim, borrowed enough money to enter a mini-Tour event, cashed a cheque for $1,800.00 and hot-footed it to Q-School where he earned his card. The rest is history and a deserved place in the World Golf Hall Of Fame where he told the story of lifting Tom Watson's wife's driver from Watson's garage and using it during his early Tour career.
A characteristic "aw shucks" speech from Freddie on Monday night as he was inducted into the WGHOF; interesting the stories told about how much Lee Trevino meant to his career and very emotional as he left the stage sobbing uncontrollably.

4).Apart from Derek Ernst, Quail Hollow also saw a return to form for Robert Karlsson and Ross Fisher, both of whom earned "higher spots" in the "rookie" money list as the second reshuffle was announced.
Life on Tour is fickle though and both Fish and Karlsson get this week off and will probably be on the shelf for all but a couple of the next six weeks as we enter the season of invitationals, Players and US Open. The top ten free pass for the next full-field event will get them in to the Byron Nelson which they'd get into anyway. Then, unless they receive an invitation, they'll miss Colonial and the Memorial, play Memphis (scene of Karlsson play-off losses in 2010 and 2011) hopefully and only get a trip to Merion if they qualify. No-one said this would be easy.
And kudos to David Lynn, not just for his terrific performance last week but a great "rookie" season. He says he won't be back in the States until the PGA Championship but hopefully common sense will persuade him to take his place at Merion and play the Bridgestone (assuming he stays in the Top 50).

5).After noting last week that Justin Rose led the field in greens in regulation at New Orleans, Rory McIlroy led the stat at Quail Hollow, only to finish close to the bottom of the all-important "strokes gained putting" stat.
But Rory now leads the "All Around" ranking of PGA Tour players and the leaders are quite reflective of the season so far - in order:
McIlroy, Woods, Rose, Sneds, Horschel, Henley, Stads, Hoffman, Walker, Jason Day, Kirk.

6).Ernie Els continued his globe-trotting with a successful-ish trip to Indonesia, hardly the ideal preparation for a Players tournament where he has seldom contended. But perhaps he nails the status of The Players in the minds of most international players when he blogs the Championship "is about as big as it gets (on the PGA Tour) outside of a major or WGC event".

7).The magic sponge has apparently worked wonders on almost a dozen players who opted out of last week's Wells Fargo event, and Dustin Johnson (hope security is up to snuff for him), Crane, Goosen, Jacobson and Poulter, to name a few, will return to action at Pete Dye's most famous course, if not his best. And Vijay returns after bolting from Charlotte at the last minute to consult his lawyers.

8).I like 17/18th's of the course, but consider the 17th to be among the very worst holes in Championship golf. But, of course, it's the one everyone writes about so I will too, with a few stat's from pgatour.com:
~11% of tee shots on #17 find the drink.
~Robert Allenby has played #17 36 times since last taking a bath. Rollins (30) and Singh (29) also have impressive runs since splashdown.
~Of those playing this week, Bob Estes and Baddeley have hit eight balls in to the water over the past ten years, Mickelson has drowned 7. (Boring Bob Tway has nine but thankfully he's on the Champions Tour now.)
~Paul Azinger is the only player in the history of the Players to birdie #17 in all four rounds (in 1987).
~The Most Interesting Man in the World has the last hole-in-one here, in 2002

9).Americans dominate the list of winners at "TPC" but, since Sandy Lyle broke through 26 years ago, "Internationals" have more than held their own with victories from Elkington (2), Price, Norman, Perks, Scott, Ames, Garcia, Stenson, Clark and KJ Choi. Europeans have contended regularly, with runners up finishes from Faldo, Langer (2), newly minted WGHOF'er Montgomerie, Harrington (2), Donald, Poulter and Martin Laird. Brian Davis has played well here, Westwood should arguably have beaten Clark in 2010, and McDowell led until going completely haywire in 2012, while Jacobson, Kaymer and Pettersson have finished well without really contending. Sergio is leading money-winner here and I'd expect he, Stenson, Donald (3 top 6's these past 8 years), Poulter, McDowell and Westwood all to enjoy good weeks.

10).I really can't find good value among the Americans and would think a half-crown each way investment on long shots would give far better value than the media favourites. My ten bob will go on Chris Stroud and David Toms.
This is a compelling tournament to watch on a course that rewards precision and penalises mistakes more than most. The weather should mostly be fine (chance of Sunday showers, and moderate breezes the only flies in the ointment) after last weekend's deluge which saw much of the course submerged.
Power is a virtue only if you hit the ball straight, but decent ball-striking and a magical short game will be rewarded. Think an in-form Snedeker. But Snedeker is not in great form and perhaps another International streak will begin!

Five birdies in a row for Ryan Palmer.
Which makes perfect sense as his best finish here is T75 - remaining six visits resulted in missed cuts.
Maybe he's just getting prepped for the Byron Nelson where he often seems to play well.

incont: Tiger in the sand off the first tee . . . .

according to a news story i read today, david lynn wasn't joking about skipping the us open to go on holiday, it's actually happening! what a putz!

incon ... maybe he just doesn't fancy playing this course. I seem to recall there being some criticism of the venue (Merion) regarding its condition or summat? Kwini ... oh kwini ...

Still, i don't get the too tired bit. I would have thought playing in a major ... any major ... would be sufficient to get the blood flowing.

Shotrock wrote:Super - Royal Dornoch, Golspie, Brora.

Can't wait.

Golspie got hit with a freak high tide last autumn and it caused a hell of a lot of damage. I dunno how the repairs have worked out but I played it in the summer and the rough was frightening! Brora is only just up the road but it wasn't damaged as badly as Golspie.

gael,
I haven't heard a whisper of any criticism of Merion; single-file fairways and lightning fast greens, but I'm sure it will be in terrific nick.
I'm sure sense will prevail . . . . wouldnchathink?

Fair enough kwini. Perhaps what I glanced over was reference to course set-up rather than conditioning.

USGA routinely comes in for a lot of criticism for not setting up its venue in birdie fest mode. Have to admit, I quite enjoy watching 'em struggle ... like wot the rest of us have to do on a regular basis!

Horrendous putting display from Mr.Westwood - maybe those inside-five-feet'ers are too close for him to make a proper putter swing. Hit and hope so far today, yet he's driving the ball beautifully.


gael,
The course will play short so they'll probably take the driver out of the players' hands. Poulter tweeted at the weekend that he loved it and it has a fantastic reputation so fingers crossed: Shotrock ,"marshalling", will be our on the spot reporter.

Merion took something like 8 acres of fairway away, and it's in amazing shape at the moment. Professionals have been coming in and out, Mickelson and others last week for instance. If it's wet, scores should be low, but if dry and firm even par could win there. I hope they don't dial the greens up too much.

kwini ... I absolutely hate Westy's putting routine and I just don't understand why someone who golfs for a living cannot chip.

The antithesis of a feel player, that's for sure.

Meanwhile, the leading money winner in this event, El Sergio, is starting to move through the gears.

And even St.Padraig moving up the leaderboard. He used to play well here in eons gone by - perhaps his contrarian nature will see him recapture that?

Surely Westwood couldn't putt any worse if he took a more natural approach? He looks so uncomfortable and seems more focused on the mechanics than getting the ball in the hole.

Bloody Hell Harrington - but par 5 coming up. Hold your breath or hold your nose.

SmithersJones wrote:Surely Westwood couldn't putt any worse if he took a more natural approach? He looks so uncomfortable and seems more focused on the mechanics than getting the ball in the hole.

As the guys mentioned in commentary he brings the putter way off the ground, you will never strike it consistently with such an action.

Garcia putting amazingly well

Tiger flawless

yes, 9 chins is playing really well, astonishing chip as i type.

I thought it was 8 chins after Bayhill?

ha ha! poulter in the drink at 17!

...and eastwood hits a superb putt at 17.

He was in the drink at 16 too, incredible consistency..

No love for Lee ... yet Lukey and Rose in stall and Poulter in reverse?


Tiger!!!

Plenty of love for Lee, just not for those tiddlers he misses - at least three under five feet, probably more.
Good two-putt just now though, better than most . . . . .

dare we dream of a Rory/Tiger sunday duel at this point?

kwinigolfer wrote:
Good two-putt just now though, better than most . . . . .

It's easy to forget you're not watching the same coverage we are Kwini. Ewan Murray said exactly that on Sky, and they then replayed Tigers 2001 putt. Ever thought of a career as a golf commentator?

Super start Padraig!!! Keep it going!!

incontinentia wrote:according to a news story i read today, david lynn wasn't joking about skipping the us open to go on holiday, it's actually happening! what a putz!

PUTZ.... Yeah... Like I said...

B R E A K I N G

Vijay fires a 74... Files suit in Florida Superior Court to have it amended to a 69... Claims intentional placement of hazards inflicted emotional distress and loss of reputation.

(Gotta love our legal system here in the U.S.... Veeg would probably be 50/50 to win such a case with the jurys we got... sigh... )

lee westwood is 8th in the scrambling stats so far this season.

http://www.pgatour.com/content/pgatour/stats/stat.130.html


On VJ, are you not normally advised to avoid contact with those you are suing? Maybe he should stay away from the tour until the case is over. Also he is only claiming the interest on frozen prize money during his doping investigation.

Could he be any more out of touch?

Is Roberto Castro the fourth Cleveland brother?

McLaren wrote:lee westwood is 8th in the scrambling stats so far this season.

http://www.pgatour.com/content/pgatour/stats/stat.130.html


On VJ, are you not normally advised to avoid contact with those you are suing? Maybe he should stay away from the tour until the case is over. Also he is only claiming the interest on frozen prize money during his doping investigation.

Could he be any more out of touch?

he was dead last of 191 competitors in 2012

paddy harrington +4.5 in strokes gained putting, with his belly putter.
G'wan the paddy!

he turned up out of the blue at the final event of a society for low handicappers (<5) in Dublin a couple of weeks ago, had time for everyone there- must have posed for about 200 photos and gave a real in depth Q&A session.

he explained his "inconsistency" comment and frankly it made alot of sense, pretty much adding to the debate of Saragin vs. OWGR.
which awards you more over 3 events?
MC, 1, MC or T15 T20 T12?

I'd guess (and it is a pure guess) MC 1 MC?

Not a fan of Paddy golf wise but interested to hear of anything of note he had to say? Certainly sounds like a good guy as it must be a bit of a ball ache at times to have the same happy face on for photos!

Ah,
Lee starts his first round as he kicked off Round 1 - with a missed putt from inside 5 feet.


Kevin Chappell starting off (-4 after 4) at Stallings pace. But Stallings stalled. What will Chappell do? He's a surefire future winner, another cocky young American but shows flashes of brilliance.

Did someone mention "inconsistency" in a Harrington context? Bogey, birdie start for Padraig.

Likely cut at -1 or even.

whether you agree or disagree with his views is somewhat irrelevant i think.

to hear what he has to say about the psychology of the game is fascinating IMO.
here's a video from a talk i was at a few months ago when he spoke to the University Philosophical society. i reccomend it for all those that consider themselves "obsessed"


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXxZsx5O8zU

Listening to Padraig

So I wished good things for Westwood and, hey presto, EAGLE!

All because I was confident and smiling!

Great link! Harrington is a legend!!!

More positive thoughts for Lee!!!!

This is working great, hend0, Padraig is fascinating!

I hope it isn't prayer Kwini

Not at all; that's what Webb Simpson's twitter account is for - avoid at all costs.
Difficult to do when golfchannel publishes every trite biblical reference.

Padraig is brilliant.
A tap-in birdie for Westwood should really be -5 after 4.

hend0: Inspiring from Padraig - Lee on course for 54 and if I keep this on I've no doubt he'll do it!!!!

hend0,
That's one of the best 49 minutes 21 seconds I've listened to - GREAT!

Begs the question as to how many other pro sports figures could be so articulate, no ums or ers, great stuff.

Learned more about Harrington in 49 minutes than I have about Woods in 20 years - which I suppose is the idea as far as Tiger is concerned, but lovely stuff. Thanks.

Harrington going backwards and missing putts again. He really does believe consistency isn't needed then.

Rose treading water also, another poor putting week for him so far.

But 1st, 6th and 2 x T9 is not bad for Westwood, Rory, Sergio and Laird.

Poulter was bemoaning is living arrangements last night - apparently had to move out of his rental house ("unhygienic") and hotel evidently no better.
Perhaps he's under pressure from his family to get back to their mansion before he zooms off to Bulgaria, because he certainly isn't making anything happen on the course.

Nine chins on the charge. I'm still a bit concerned by dislike for the man hasn't really returned.

Starting to lose some Europeans:
Owen, Thorbjorn, Poults and Gonzo are all gonzo. Justin Rose too if he doesn't get going.

3 birdies in a row from Sergio!!!

C'mon...

Tiger!!

A fine start ...

4 in a row from Sergio!

Laird -6 for the day, along with Westwood.

Soap Dodger Laird -6 through 13. Not bad going.

Is that a Scottish characteristic super? Never heard that one.


Seven birds in 9 holes for Sergio - unbelievable putting in that group with Donald manufacturing a score with smoke and mirrors.

Glaswegians are commonly known as soap dodgers Kwini on account of not washing and living in wheely bins.