PGA Tour: New Orleans, $6.8M Purse, but No-one Seems to Care: Notes from the Ballwasher

1).There seems little rhyme or reason to what motivates the best PGA Tourists to play in certain tournaments. The events in San Antonio, Dallas and this week's "Zurich Classic of New Orleans" in particular appear to get short shrift when the stars decide where to play.
Some will say they have lousy dates, and others will complain about the respective golf courses but the fact is that, year in, year out, each of these tournaments is well run, features a larger than average purse, and feeds mightily in to the Tour's overhyped contribution to charities.
You'd think, therefore, that the Tour might have a vested interest in ensuring that their better events are well supported, but apparently not.
 
2).I'll resist the temptation to suggest that the Tour's apparent lack of support for its New Orleans tournament is a metaphor for President Dubya's reaction to Hurricane Katrina; let's just say that, like Dallas and San Antonio, New Orleans is one of the Tour's longest running events and to have even recent winners and contenders like Dufner (dialling for dollars in China), Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson give the City and sponsors the elbow must be more than a little discouraging for the Zurich Company and local supporters.  
 
3).Whatever the real reasons, this week's field is weak and will be one of the lowest-rated on Tour this year. The bright side of the coin is that almost all Tour Pros who want to play this week will get a tee-time, unlike last week at lovely Harbour Town where the Twittersphere was awash with invective at tournament invitees. Respected golf writers who should have known better gave publicity to no-name mini-tour numb-nuts slamming Faldo for taking a tee-time and lamenting the fact that some of last year's web.com graduates are just not getting to play on the Tour for which they thought they'd earned "playing privileges".
Lots of half-truths there. But I would suggest that this season has witnessed a perfect storm of circumstances conspiring to populate fields to a largely unprecedented degree.
 
4).After this season several player exemptions will expire and a dozen or so players will see their Medical Extensions end. Already this year Messrs Baird, Goosen, Na, Byrd and Stefani have satisfied the demands of their Extensions, while guys such as JB Holmes and Levin are hopefully just about to. This wave of injuries is, fingers crossed, not being repeated this year although guys like Blake Adams, Anthony Kim and Jarrod Lyle have still to return to regular action.
The cynic who complains such injuries are manipulated has presumably not had leukaemia, undergone brain surgery or done their Achilles.
Similarly, exemptions for 2009 Major winners expire, guys like Glover, Cabrera and Yang are all likely to lose their five-year ride, while there are almost a dozen old pharts migrating to the Champions Tour.
 
5).Ironically, there's an attractive International contingent playing this week, Els, Goosen, Immelman and Sabbatini, for instance, Senden, DeLaet, Ogilvy and Camilo among them.
Europeans such as Casey, Hanson, Harrington and Olesen are here, and they'll be trying to make up for lost time as their compadres are slowly securing their Cards for next year. Perhaps one of them will follow Seve, Woosie and Westwood in winning - and they'd take home $1.2M.
 
6).The top Europeans in FedEx points are now:
25th: Knox
30th: Donald
35th: McDowell
36th: Garcia
43rd: McIlroy
45th: Blixt
51st: Poulter
59th: Jacobson
All the above have crossed the 400-point Rubicon and should be securely in the FedEx Play-Offs, and on Tour next year.
 
 
7).Others with work to do, at least to reach the Play-Offs by making the Top 125, include:
73rd: Rose (exempt for next year, of course)
85th: Westwood
92nd: Pettersson
98th: Davis
113th: Gonzo
122nd: Kaymer (exempt for 2014/2015
 
And, languishing outside the Top 125 are: Lingmerth, Laird (exempt for 14/15), Casey, Hanson, Colsaerts, Harrington, Olesen, Clarke (exempt) and Owen, Cejka and Chopra.  
 
8).Justin Rose, Keegan Bradley and Top Five Reed are the highest-ranked competitors this week, but I fancy Rickie Fowler to contend and Russell Knox to enjoy yet another super week.
The most local lads are David Toms, Hotshot John Peterson (sure to hit form sometime this year) and Andrew Loupe, slower than the proverbial molasses in January. (Where's John Paramor when you need him?)
 
9).It was great to see Luke Donald contend last week on Hilton Head, though one would suggest that Kuchar was a worthy winner.
Amazing stat:
Over the past six years, Luke Donald is -47 to par, whilst earning almost $2.5M without winning.
Second best is Furyk at -23.
Luke is a horse for the Harbour Town course.
 
10).Last year in New Orleans Billy Horschel finished off a Kuchar-esque streak of form by winning for the first time.
At that time it looked as if he'd finally broken through to the top level of American golfers, a surefire bet to be in Gleneagles this September, but since contending last June at Merion he's pretty much disappeared.
And, if he were to win again this week would he show up next year?
Wouldn't bank on it.
Hopefully Zurich will have a worthy winner who appreciates all that golf has given him.

"The Most Interesting Man In The World" actually lives in Vermont.
I wish Miguel did.
Enjoy this lot. Quite clever I thought:

http://www.pgatour.com/news/2014/04/23/memes-miguel-angel-jimenez-most-interesting-golfer.html

Who is "The Most Interesting Man In The World" as often quoted on these pages?

super,
It's from a series of beer commercials for Dos Equis which I thought had crossed the Atlantic - but presumably not.
 
Here's a small compilation:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U18VkI0uDxE
 
Makes us smile anyway! Stay thirsty my friend . . . .

EDIT: This doesn't seem to be working for me, but a little youtube search will get the point across.

New Orleans used to be one of the better tournaments on Tour. Nicklaus used to play New Orleans a lot. I remember seeing Norman, and Wadkins

I went to the tournament for two years back in the late 1980's and I know Nicklaus played at least one of those years. It was at English Turn (a Nicklaus Design).

I am not much on souvenirs, but I did snatch a broken tee that after Nicklaus used it on one of the par threes.

A Broken Tee. How pathetic is that? But it does have a location in a shadowbox in my home office.

My only other golf collectible is a test tube of sand that I pilfered from Augusta National back in 1987 when I was there for a practice round. Got it from the bunker to the right of hole 15.

The rest of the shadow box is personal mementos of some of MY shining moments. My course records, my Holes in One.

Kwini

You say some people in the media should have known better than to question Faldo's invite to play at harbor town. But I must also be missing something as I see no reason for him to be teeing it up on the PGA tour given he has no qualification status. What have I missed?

I assume you don't follow the shotrock/GBP line that if sponsors want old timers to play then so be it?

You can't help but like and admire MAJ as a golfer. He (and Langer) also provided a relative checkpoint between the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour - contends without really threatening at The Masters, wins quite comfortably the next week on his first Champions Tour event. However, the differential was not actually as big as I thought between the Tours.

Mac,
I believe Faldo was entitled to play Harbour Town as an ex-Champion before 2000, Glen Day also.
I disagreed with him playing, but those who slagged him off were lumping his exemption in with other exemptions, which I don't feel is quite accurate.
So I tried to explain that the problem with limited tee-times for web.com grads, altho' it highlights a dumb-arse decision by the Tour, is not so much due to these exemptions and any remedy which affects exemptions is likely to be for the wrong reason.

I believe at least a dozen players in most fields who are on career, Major, or Medical exemptions that won't happen next year, so any solution could end up being an answer to the wrong problem.

Shotrock and GPB are clearly right to a point, but if you take that to its logical conclusion, you lose your Tour.

Bob,
I watch quite a bit of Champions Tour golf, and the quality is extremely high from guys who are on their game that particular week.
Not surprising when one considers how competitive the Langers and Coupleses, Perrys and Lehmans were late in their Tour careers.
Some shot-making is as exquisite as when they were in their prime, but would say the intensity level and consistency is what goes.
Except apparently for Langer!

Montgomerie seems to have improved his level of play this year - perhaps he might be a threat in Four-Round Majors this year, the three round tournaments a bit too much of a sprint for his putter.

Some early morning fog threatening the on-time start in New Orleans - hopefully the boys can dodge that, and conditions should then be perfect all weekend, save the chance of a stray shower or two.

A weaker than usual field, maybe, but looking forward to a great tournament - good chances for some guys to get their first win, DeLaet a popular choice (and Russell Knox of course!), or build on good early season form, e.g. Hoffman, Holmes, etc.

And: Time for Justin Rose to get his game in gear for his US Open defence - only a few weeks away now.

As the sponsors demand more and more exemptions (include big name old timers, perhaps Paulina Gretzky) the watered down product will show in gate and TV audience. They read these numbers daily (hourly even). So, it will likely find a level water mark, satisfying both parties. We'll see.

That said, if you had Tiger, Phil, Rory and Scott fighting it out at Augusta (or any tournament), you will get record gate and TV even if you have 25 Joey Sindelars behind them. That's entertainment as they say!

Now, Why would you pick on Upstate NY'er Joey Sindelar? One of the really good guys who make the Tour go round!
 
 
Not sure whether pgatour.com hasn't woken up yet, or we have a fog delay.
EDIT! golfchannel.com reveals "play suspended due to darkness". What's the point of these handjobs having websites if they don't update them?

A twenty minute delay was announced on Twitter so should be starting about now

Yup, Away they go!
Thanks Davie . . . .
Casey and Olesen in the first groups out and they could both use a strong week, Harrington too and he'll be on his way in a moment..

Plenty of Major Champions who we haven't heard from recently are under par early in Round 1:
Duval, Curtis, Beem, Harrington, Bradley, Goosen, plus one-time Ryder Cuppers JJ Henry, DiMarco, Boom Baby, Campbell, Casey etc.
 
And good to see Peter Hanson off to a promising start - he's too good a golfer to be showing the form he has this spring so far. Would love to see him back to his best.
 
At the other end of the scale is one-time Tour hotshot Kyle Stanley - a fine Collegiate record, played well early in his career, won in Phoenix . . . . . . and has done virtually nothing since despite a good effort here last year. Now 155th in FedEx points and struggling again. web.com for Kyle next year unless he extracts his digit.

Eccentric round from Harrington (-2) with a wayward driver and cold putter, up and down (-1) from Casey and solid also from Martin Laird (-2).
 
Olesen having another torrid time and needs to go low Friday to have any chance of making the cut.
Imagine he's finding the relentless imperative to make the cut, accumulate points and cash, rather forgiving, especially given his commitments in "Europe" as well. Go home, Thorbjorn, mature a bit, find some consistency and come back in two or three years.
Peter Hanson looking good! And he needs to.

Handsome peter Hanson.

Looks like that could have been quite a bit better for Hanson, ben; short birdie putts missed on his final two holes.

Afternoon "wave" on the move.

Agree cf Olesen. Sad to see what has become of him.

Olesen will be fine when he gets his confidence back - just a step too far at the moment.

'Orrible putting from the Big Easy in the Big Easy - just on the TV coverage we've seen him miss three times inside 3 ft, and another couple of 10-footers. -3.5 strokes lost putting and he's one over par. Not hard to see why.


Ben Martin reminding us that we tipped him for a first-time win soon. Not necessarily this week, but he's certainly off to a roaring start.

Ben who?

What really impresses me about Els is that he keeps on playing, week in, week out. After 20+ years on top of the game, travelling the world Jules Verne style I'm surprised he isn't fatigued by now somehow and at least cut a lighter schedule.

Talking of exemptions and seat fillers. Of the 40 odd local players playing this weeks Volvo China Open, only a handful seem to make the cut. You could argue the same for any National Open, but in this case most are simply invited, not qualified. Nobody would complain if Faldo went there and played next year.

There needs to be a Chinese golfer in each group in order to tell the people in the crowd not to use cameras and phones in the middle of a back swing.

Poor efforts in China from Dufner (T51) and Poulter (T40); anything they earn this week looks like it will pale in comparison to their appearance fee.


It should be another day of good scoring in New Orleans; a big week for Peter Hanson who has played himself on to the leaderboard for the first time in an age. Not so good from the guys from the British Isles, with Harrington and Laird, tied at 36th, the only ones in the Top 50.

It looks like the cut will be at least -1 and probably -2, which means Casey, Rose, Knox, Davis and Owen all have their work cut out for them, Dane Olesen as well.

The only two cuts Ben Martin has made on Tour since January have both resulted in 3rd place finishes; after his opening 62, which way will he go? Missed cut, which probably means he needs to shoot in the 80's, or another 3rd?

Impressive run of form for Martin. One of these weeks he should get the "W". Let's make it this week.

And O'Hair on a cut edge once again.

Kwini, to be fair to Poulter he was T7 then went double, triple on 12 & 13. I saw the double; he went a little long on the par 3 and got a horrible lie so chip was 15-20 feet away, then raced his first putt 4 feet past and then lipped out. Didn't see his 13th hole which was a par 5 and looked pretty straight forward but clearly wasn't!

Nice to see Tyrrell Hatton doing well again. I managed to find out the origin of his name. His parents were hugely into Caddie Shack when he was born so they liked the name Ty and Tyrrell is a family name.

Also watched Stenson hitting 3 wood from the tee with no tee peg and being about 50 yards past Duffners driver yesterday. Looking at where others were hitting their driver he must be hitting 300+ yards with that 3 wood.

Please don't tell me Poulter gets an appearance fee?

289,
Thanks for that about Poulter - he's getting a bit Rickie Fowler-like in his propensity for throwing in a big number or two each tournament he plays.

Stenson seems to be finding a little bit of form; he'll have good memories of 3-wooding it around the TPC to win The Players. Perhaps he might fancy a repeat?
Looking forward to seeing how your buddy Joost fares at TPC; I'd imagine the course, and importance of an excellent short game, might appeal to him. Will this be his first time there?

Poulter is in one of those funks when he's playing well but nothing is going right. Some really good play undone by landing in bad lies were a only poor lie would have meant bogey, lip outs etc. He's also really down on his par 5s just now, which was obvious in his post round bbc interviews at Augusta and by his reaction finishing up on par 5 9th yesterday. He's at the point where he has to be careful not to overthink everything and focus on the good instead. Tipping point in his season I reckon... until Gleneagles at least.

Also, what is it with french players and the permer-grin - like they know something you dont? They all have it.

Back in the US - I think Knox is running out of juice. Either that or his ball striking wont really shine this week - easiest course to get up and down on? Don't see that suiting him.

I think Poulter is in a weird position; he bases himself in the States, but doesn't really commit himself to the PGA Tour season. He's attained almost mythical status due to his RC play, but doesn't get the rewards out of his stroke-play events, in America anyway, that his ability warrants.
He seems frustrated around Play-Off time that he's way down the FedEx rankings, but tries to skate by playing almost the minimum number of events.
Form this year on Tour has been close to pathetic; The Players will be a big event for him on a course he knows he can play. Similarly with Hoylake you'd think, but otherwise I can't see where his results are going to come from.
 
Lairdy,
Hope you're wrong on Knox! He DID have a share of the Course Record, until yesterday!!

incontinentia wrote:Please don't tell me Poulter gets an appearance fee?

Quite possible to pay him a disappearance fee.

kwinigolfer wrote:I think Poulter is in a weird position; he bases himself in the States, but doesn't really commit himself to the PGA Tour season. He's attained almost mythical status due to his RC play, but doesn't get the rewards out of his stroke-play events, in America anyway, that his ability warrants.
He seems frustrated around Play-Off time that he's way down the FedEx rankings, but tries to skate by playing almost the minimum number of events.
Form this year on Tour has been close to pathetic; The Players will be a big event for him on a course he knows he can play. Similarly with Hoylake you'd think, but otherwise I can't see where his results are going to come from.
 
Lairdy,
Hope you're wrong on Knox! He DID have a share of the Course Record, until yesterday!!

You've just described the incomparable Monty!

Almost two hours of play and scores seem a little higher than Thursday, no-one at -3 yet, and only a smattering of -2's.
Rose off to a poor start - his chipping and pitching bailed him out yesterday, not firing on many cylinders right now.

Patrick Reed may be Top Five, but right now in New Orleans he's barely Top 155 (T153).

Looks like Ben Martin is intent on ruining a perfectly good Golf Tournament. Time he sobered up a little.

Matt Every taking the rest of the week off; no word yet as to whether he's been detained by the Plod, assume not, but you never know with him.

Good job I criticised Justin Rose's form; he's just birdied his last four holes.
Don't you love it when these guys read our stuff while they're playing? We'll see his views on abortion, immigration and same-sex marriage next.

How about David Duval? Can he make the cut? Keep and maintain his position on the board?

Sure, it's not likely, but would be fun to see.

I wonder if David Duval is more popular outside America than in the States?
I was always struck by how well Westwood spoke of Duval when lw1 used to post on 606, and posters on here usually wish him well, hope to see him return to his best.

Two significant (to them anyway) pieces of good news in New Orleans are:
1).JB Holmes up to T6 - if he maintains his Top Ten position he'll satisfy the conditions of his Medical Extension and be eligible for most tournaments for the rest of the season.
2).European Challenge Tour winner Brooks Koepka will earn Special Temporary Membership of the Tour if he maintains his current (T13) position in the Top 60.

Kwini, turned out Poulter's triple was the result of an illegal drop so not so bad. He took an unplayable drop of 2 club lengths and landed on a cart path then took a further 2 club length drop when it should have been 1. So not sure he threw the towel in.

For one of the first weeks in a while I think that the euro tour is more interesting than the PGA. But I am European so biased.

Time difference just makes it difficult to follow Asian "European Tour' events for moi.
Hopefully Poults can restore some dignity to his visit!

His mate Justin certainly turned his tournament around in New Orleans - 6 under par for his final 11 holes.

Signs of life from Casey (-4 after 11), Laird disappearing (+4 for the day after 9). Terrible recent form from Laird.

Wonder what's happened to Laird. Two years ago he was looking really promising but it's been a slide that seems to have found the cliff edge this year.

Laird's lovely lady just had a baby - surely he'd be better off staying home rather than hack it round and probably p1ss the whole family off?

Is this another second round swoon for Padraig Harrington? Two holes left, and he's got to birdie one of them.
I'd bet on a bogey rather than a bird. And hope I'm wrong.

Kwini, no par 5's left. That increases his chances.

!!!
But there are for everyone else, which diminshes his chances . . . .

Right on the brink. Fingers crossed.

Duval in the house at -7, will finish Round 2 inside the Top 15. Good news story.

Go on David Duval!!!!!

Penalties and errant shots everywhere! And it looks as if Harrington will survive for the weekend.
But he'll have to deal with the spectre of MDF'ing.
Hopefully he'll show that he's better than the Tour trash and have himself a strong weekend.

Duval looked like he was enjoying himself yesterday - kinda fun to see. First goal now will be to earn a Top Ten finish and get in to the Quail Hollow field next week.

Another good round for Peter Hanson who hit 17 of 18 greens. Good from Casey and Rose also; Harrington gets to play another 18 holes, hopefully more but there's a secondary cut after Round 3. Anyone not reaching the Top 70 and ties gets an MDF and an early flight to Charlotte.

After questioning Poulter yesterday, today's 66 puts him in good shape for a Top Ten finish at least. Looks like he's giving himself a breather next week and we'll see him next at the TPC.
Very happy to see Quiros contending in China - will be good to see him on top of leaderboards again, back where he belongs.

Oh dear, Seems Ben Martin is another bible-thumper; sure that will please Jim Nantz on today's CBS broadcast.
According to golfchannel.com, Martin is gung ho about a chapter in fiction's best seller that talks about "focussing on onesself, not worrying about others".
Listening to America's religious right, you'd think that that mantra sums up all religion anyway.