PGA Tour: "Las Vegas": Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).The 2013/2014 PGA Tour season travels from Northern California to Las Vegas this week, from one set of beautiful golfing conditions to another with weather expected to be fine all week. And the chat over the past few days has been dominated by three subjects (excluding R.McIlroy for these purposes):

2).Jimmy Walker's breakthrough to the winner's enclosure.
It's been coming: After making a brief splash with one of the rounds of the week at the Southern Hills US Open of 2001, he graduated from Nationwide action in 2004, struggled with injuries and form on the PGA Tour and returned to the Nationwide in 2007 to secure his "Card" once and hopefully for all. But it wasn't until 2009 that he started to enjoy significant success. Earnings then of $662K grew to $930K in 2010 and 2011 saw him reach tournament leaderboards with regularity.
The spring of 2013 was something of a breakthrough for him but he disappeared for the summer except for a T2 at Greenbrier. Now he has his first win despite hitting fewer fairways (22 out of 56, 39%) off the tee than all but two Tour winners since such records began in the eighties.
And he's in the owgr Top 50, on his way to The Masters and up to 4th in the early days of US Ryder Cup Team qualifying.

3)."Challenge Tour" player contends at PGA Tour event!
Great start for Brooks Koepka as he looks to carry momentum from his successful twelve months in Europe forward to a PGA Tour career. Carelessness over his final ten or so holes cost him a chance to win and secure Tour membership. But his top ten finish earns him a place in this week's Las Vegas field and the media splash he created will surely trigger a full quota of sponsor invitations. Which is all the more ironic because:

4).He flunked PGA Tour Q-School in 2012 as several dozen Tour wannabes proceeded to the web.com Tour, and the best of those players "graduated" (theoretically at least) to the PGA Tour for 2013/2014. Now Koepka is getting in to tournaments that those who beat him are not getting the chance to play.
I repost the link that I also posted on last week's thread where Doug Ferguson describes the Tour's dilemma more authoritatively than I could possibly do:

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/golf/players-have-pga-tour-card-now-need-place-to-play/article_ffc9b9eb-3143-5e54-88b2-51e4ed7ce852.html

Ferguson's final paragraph also suggests a perfectly rational solution which I, for one, wrongly thought was the Tour's intent.

5)."robopz" mentioned during the last week that this issue was bubbling up - this was arithmetically inevitable as, just as golfers with "conditional" status struggled to reach the "Fall" fields in recent years, so those players have been replaced by a new wave of web.commers.
The Tour will surely address this inequity post haste but what a bunch of wallies to allow this to occur in the first place. Finchem no better at arithmetic than he is at geography.

6).The bigger question, to me at least, is when will we reach the tipping point of marginal "foreign" pro golfers taking the place of marginal American "Touring Pros"? When will the richly rewarded relative mediocrity of these journeymen who typically flip-flop a la Goggin, Owen and Chopra from Tour to Tour start to earn the resentment of the American rank and file, the guys that the likes of Azinger, Danny Edwards and Larry Rinker first started to advocate a decade or more ago (and earned them lifelong membership of the Tour HQ dog-house)?
These notes take the mickey out of the averageness (new word?) of some Europeans, but there must be almost 20 under-performing Aussies with only Jason Day and Adam Scott from Down Under currently thriving at the highest levels of the game, and just Matt Jones and Leishman joining them in last season's FedEx Top 100. Elkington's joined the pensioners, Baddeley, Appleby, Allenby, Senden, Pampling all seem in terminal decline and the next generation is either content in Europe or just not cutting the Tour mustard.

7).What of Geoff Ogilvy, who has left the owgr Top 100 for the first time in almost a decade, following Padraig Harrington who departs after 14 years? Ogilvy's had about one decent result (2nd at the "Honda") in recent memory, a sad fall from grace for one of the most talented golfers of his generation.
And Harrington's comments following a dismal first round at Bermuda's Grand Salami exhibition suggest it will be a long road back for him too:
"My short game is not as good as it used to be, and most of that is because of intensity." Or presumably the lack of it.
"I played stale golf, tired golf. There's not a shadow of a doubt that I'm completely overgolfed at the moment."
But he'll make $200K just for turning up this week.

8).It sounds as if the course that the PGA Tour used for Monday Qualifying for "Las Vegas" was little more than a dog-track with bare patches on the greens and golfers tweeting up a storm:
Jamie Lovemark and Kyle Thompson with pungent remarks and photos and Joe Ogilvie, as respected a Tour pro as they get and a sure candidate for Commissioner in the future:
"Golf course exemplified everyting wrong w/golf in 18 holes. Tough to do."
Insult to injury for all the web.com grads among the 98 battling for 4 slots in the Las Vegas field.

9).But there's a good field with Zach Johnson and Webb Simpson leading the way. Nick Watney plays well here and Russell Knox messed up a promising position last year and will hopefully do better than his 26th place finish at the Frys.
Martin Laird is back at the scene of his first Tour win (and a play-off loss) and could use a top finish to return to the all-important Top 50. I mentioned Spencer Levin last week and he'll probably be disappointed at flaming out to a T12. But he has form here too and would carry my each way half crown.

10).And it only makes sense that, just as the PGA Tour embarks on its 2013/2014 season, their elder statesmen approach the "climax" of their 2013 season at the "Greater Hickory Kia Classic" in furniture country in North Carolina and a strong field looking to win the Rocking Chair that goes to the winner! Just this week and next to reach the Top 30 money winners and 2014 exemption for players, and also qualification for the season-ending Charles Schwab Championship at San Francisco's Harding Park. Very unlikely that any Europeans, except Bernhard Langer, will qualify for the "Schwab".

Bob Gilder becomes the 16th Pro to reach 1,000 appearances on the PGA Tour plus the Champions Tour. A distinguished career to be sure, tho' always a notch below the Tour's elite. Dave Stockton could be the next 1,000 Clubber as he sits on 999, but Jay Haas, who has 984 appearances will likely get there next.
And Gilder is just one of a number of "Champions" who sit precariously towards the bottom of exempt status as there will be a relative tsunami of exempt players usurping old farts like Gilder, Purtzer and Levi as "youngsters" turn 50 over the coming 12 months.

Several players playing today in Vegas are headed to Malaysia to play the CIMB.

I think I will avoid those players in Fantasy games this coming week.  Considering it is going to be Tuesday in Malaysia when they arrive.

I don't think there is charter flight for the US based pros.

Wouldn't you have thought the players would pony up the readies for a charter?

No-one challenging Simpson so far . . . . . . Knox going backwards under the weight of robo's support.

kwinigolfer wrote: . . . . . . Knox going backwards under the weight of robo's support.

Hey, I said I was sorry....  

. . . . . and my support . . . . . Sorry!

But Webb had God's support!

That's right pedro, Simpson and Chesson (still not sure why you'd call anyone Chesson) Hadley both praised their saviour - probably lead the Tour in sand saviours. Vomit material for sure.
But Simpson looked very good; he's been known to wobble once he gets his nose in front but this was a very convincing win.

Overton replacing Jason Coke Rack in the Kuala Lumpur field.

All the web.com Q-School Stage 1 fields have now been published (the final 3 - of 12 - qualies start this week) and Rhys Davies continues to be the only modestly big name to compete.
Davies qualified very strongly and he'll be at Stage 2 in November.

Others include Wallace Booth who finished plum last in his qualie, while Joel Sjoholm (sponsored by McDonald's?) and Garcia Heredia are among this week's no names. American Walker Cupper Max Homa is also among this week's fields.

Golf Channel reporting Stenson has an injured right wrist or forearm and there's some doubt he'll be fit to play the BMW this week.

Hi Kwini, hows it going?

I've been busy the past few weeks with a new arrival! Don't worry we haven't named him Chesson or Webb. (btw anyone see what Chesson does when he gets a birdie? Instant disliking for the lad.)

Still look on here every now and then to find out what's happening in the world of golf. Disappointed at Laird and Knox. Knox in great position only for his putter to go cold I presume? Impressed by Webb though... he's not that bad to watch if you turn off before the victory speech. As the skysports studio noted he was hardly out of 3rd gear. Although, as no part of his game really stands will he always give that impression?

Henrik forking out for another locker?

Lairdy, I've never heard of Chesson (is that a forename or surname?), nor do I know what he does when he has a birdie. Can you elaborate?

Hi Lairdy,
CONGRATULATIONS! Hope all are well.

Big opportunity lost by Knox on Sunday, becoming a bit of a habit unfortunately. Don't think it was the putting, more getting himself in trouble with misses off the tee and short game just not good enough to compensate.

As for Laird, I'd imagine he's the only golfer with three wins over the past four years and no Pres or Ryder Cup appearances. Which shows how good he can be at his best, and how important it's going to be for him to focus every time he tees it up or his brilliant future will fade fast.

I believe Henrik made generous contributions to Conway Farms!

Thanks Kwini. Everyone doing fine. Really is the best experience ever!

Hmmm not great from Knox then. Pretty much class him as a ball striker so would look for that to stand up rather than put him in trouble. Its hard to tell whats holding him back without looking at his stats, its not as if they show lots of him on the broadcasts.

Super - Chesson believe it or not its a first name. Chesson Hadley. Not sure where I saw it but he does a stupid 'home boy' like snap of his fingers. Worst of it is he his pale white, skinny and about 6 foot 8!! yeuch.

just googled him. What a c**t.

Chesson must be a family name from some long dead relative. Either that or the County Clerk baulked at Toast on the name change request form.

  

GPB wrote:"...Worst of it is he his pale white, skinny and about 6 foot 8!! yeuch...."


Yes, that's horrible.  How can he show his face in public!

He can show his face in public all he likes... just not snapping his fingers pretending he's something from the ghetto!

RASCIST!!!!!!

....against tall skinny American frat brats pretending they are black.

Are you insinuating that only black people live in ghettos? Have you never been to the costa del chav? MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC??!!!???!!!!

I thought because he's a god botherer that he might have been crossing himself every time he makes a birdie.

Either way he sounds a right pap.