PGA Tour: "The Players Championship", Self-Proclaimed Fifth Major: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).This week will see the 41st edition of the PGA Tour's showpiece event, "The Players Championship", a travelling show for its first few years but, since 1982, a fixture at Pete Dye's Stadium Course at TPC at Sawgrass, just a few miles from Jacksonville, Florida.
The Tour brands it the "Fifth Major", but that definition is in the eye of the beholder - sure Adam Scott would rate the Aussie Open at a higher level, while many ET members would say their fifth Major comes in two weeks' time, at Wentworth.

2).There's a terrific field on hand, though the person receiving most publicity this week is, of course, nowhere to be found - but Tiger Woods's "blog" breathlessly updating his medical condition has taken the headlines, as no doubt it was intended to do.
Next as a topic of conversation this week is the condition of the greens at the TPC, with the putting surfaces at #'s 4, 11 & 12 closed during practice rounds on Monday and Tuesday. Needless to say weather is being blamed but apparently a "plant growth regulator" was mis-applied. A year or three ago it was East Lake's greens, last year Quail Hollow's and now the TPC.
Imagine Wentworth's will be pristine by comparison.

3).I enjoy most things about the "Players" and about the TPC course, all except the 17th hole which still seems unnecessarily sh1t or bust, part of the NASCAR-type attraction I know, but hardly golf. One change this year will be in the format of any Play-Off. Instead of going straight to the sudden-death lottery of #17, they'll play three holes, #'s 16, 17 & 18 and use an aggregate score, two fine holes sandwiching a circus.

4).pgatour.com tells us that JB Holmes hit an amazing (to me anyway) 24 drives of 320 yards or more in winning last week's Well Fargo Championship. Fantastic comeback for JB from all his surgeries - he started the season on a Medical Extension and now he's all the way back as a top player.
Quail Hollow looked a picture - I love the changes, especially to the 16th which has gone from a nothing hole to a spectacular 500 yard (but downhill to the green) challenge.
And: If the Par-4 14th hole is not the best short Par-4 in tournament golf it has to be in the top two, with Rivera's 10th. Sacrilege I know, but I'd rate it ahead of the hole that Rivera's 10th has become.

5).Last week at Quail Hollow is a timely reminder that the PGA Champioship will be held there in 2017. Future sites:
2014: Valhalla
2015: Whistling Straits
2016: Baltusrol
2017: Quail Hollow
2018: Bellerive
2019: Bethpage Black
2020, 2021: TBA
2022: Trump National

6).JB Holmes played on the 2005 US Walker Cup Team that squeaked by GB&I at Chicago Golf Club. He was beaten in a singles Match, 5&4, by young Englishman, Matthew Richardson. After an unsuccessful stint on the European Tour, Richardson has been on the fringes of the US Pro Tours for the past few years, including making the cut in the 2010 US Open. He's at it again, advancing from a Local Qualifier yesterday. On to Sectional Qualifying against exempt Tour Players in a few weeks and let's hope he makes it on to Pinehurst.

7).Speaking of which!
It's OK to follow the Tigers and Phils of the golf world, but I'm more interested in the guys who don't make the headlines. How's this for the four-week odyssey of an aspiring young local pro who narrowly missed out on web.com status for 2014:
April 14th - 17th: Won Gateway MatchPlay tournament in Arizona: $25,000 in the bank. Fast forward 750 miles east to Midland, TX:
April 24th - 27th: Sponsors invite got him in to the web.com's WNB Golf Classic. Finished T9, and banked $14K. Which gets him in to:
May 1st - 4th: South Georgia Classic, 1,100 east. He finishes T8 and pockets $19K, but had previously signed up for the US Open Local Qualifier in Tucson, AZ, 1,900 miles back west on May 5th.
May 5th: Tucson, AZ: Qualifies for US Open Sectional Qualifying. He had previously played the US Open at Bethpage and made the cut.
Because of his result in Georgia he gets to come back east again next week for the web.commer in Greer, SC. Phew!
How long before he acquires status on the web.com Tour I'm not sure. But for a young married man, high school ski-racer competing with Keegan Bradley as it happens, it's a hard grind until you reach the "Show". Hope he makes it; you know he'll appreciate it if he does. Meanwhile, his efforts last year on the Canadian Tour secured him exemption there if things don't work out.

8).At the other end of the scale, Messrs Crenshaw and Watson have reportedly announced next year's Masters will be their last. Are you paying attention Woosie? O'Meara??

9).Who will follow in the steps of Sandy Lyle, Stenson and Sergio and become Europe's fourth winner of The Players?
Some reasons for optimism; perhaps Sergio or Stenson can repeat? Luke Donald and Martin Kaymer are in decent form and Justin Rose has been knocking on the door recently (though he's been closing like Liverpool).  I can't see Martin Laird repeating his fine finishes in 2012 & 2013, or Lee Westwood winning the event he should arguably have won a couple of years ago; Franny Molinari has played well here in the past, but he always seems to come up a few crucial putts short whenever in US contention.
Russell Knox was the last player in to the field, lives locally and seems to enjoy Pete Dye courses - it wouldn't surprise me if he was the leading British competitor.

10).It seems that golf's navigators increasingly contend at The Players, and Tim Clark, KJ Choi and Kuchar have won recently.
This is usually the start of Zach Johnson-season on Tour and I'm hopeful he'll get in to top gear this week. And no-one is in better form than Kuchar.
The forecast for Tournament week is for warm, mostly dry weather with just enough wind to make things interesting. And not just from Johnny Miller.
Should be a great week.

NOt sure Navy, Have you seen him?

McLaren wrote:Navy

I am glad to see you have moved on from making inane comments after everything I post,  and began plaguing super with your wisdom.

Not the thread for it Mac but you continue making the dumb remarks and I'll carry on shooting holes in them. I often disagree with you. Hardly unique here is it?  Occasionally you even post good stuff!

super_realist wrote:NOt sure Navy, Have you seen him?

Not recently. What's the matter with him (and don't mention God!) that a lightening bolt'll fix?

Just one of these players who annoys me.

Fair enough. Still seems a bit harsh though!

See Gonzo is tearing it up somewhat at -4 thru 10...

Not everything said is literal Navy, more figurative.

Would I prefer it if a dog was to defecate in his face? Yes. Certainly more amusing, but I didn't think of that at the time.

Speaking of Gonzo, anyone see his wife? Bloody hell, talk about punching about your weight Gonzo. Well played.

Westwood having one of his usual rounds - missed from 8 feet on 10 then managed to hit it 5 feet on 11 for his third shot out of the greenside bunker. Two pars where someone with a short game would have made two birdies. 90% fairways, 72% GIR, -0.18 strokes gained   

super_realist wrote:...Speaking of Gonzo, anyone see his wife? Bloody hell, talk about punching about your weight Gonzo. Well played.

I did actually. Looks very attractive in the one photo I saw. Not sure she's out of his league though - he's wealthy for one thing. Know a couple of, what might be called good looking guys, but they're both pretty dense....

SmithersJones wrote:Westwood having one of his usual rounds - missed from 8 feet on 10 then managed to hit it 5 feet on 11 for his third shot out of the greenside bunker. Two pars where someone with a short game would have made two birdies.  90% fairways, 72% GIR, -0.18 strokes gained   

See Lee's lack of a short game just got him another birdie...

navyblueshorts wrote:

SmithersJones wrote:Westwood having one of his usual rounds - missed from 8 feet on 10 then managed to hit it 5 feet on 11 for his third shot out of the greenside bunker. Two pars where someone with a short game would have made two birdies.  90% fairways, 72% GIR, -0.18 strokes gained   

See Lee's lack of a short game just got him another birdie...

Didn't realise how fragile that strokes gained stat was. That birdie from 11 ft has swung his up to +.366.

I backed him at 42 to win and a top 10 at 8

come on Lee

Smithers,
The "strokes gained putting" will get increasingly less "fragile" as the tournament progresses. But an 11-footer brings lw1's sgp to +.8!

Nice going to be five under; even nicer if he finishes there.

I've been watching bits of the highlights of recent years that Sky have been showing this week. He seems to have a pretty good record of getting into contention here but then blowing it - 74 on Saturday last year being a typical example.

The key round here is the Par-5's and keeping your ball dry - i.e. course management, something one would question with Lee.
He's holed a couple of decent putts to be two-under on the "5's" today - if he's 8-under on Sunday evening he should be close.

Nice to see Gonzo looking good - and no surprise to see Mrs Gonzo looking even better.

He has been getting better and better since a few weeks before the masters.

TBH he just has to concentrate on what he is good at and stop applying pressure on to himself with the short game. Accept its not that great- play the percentage chips and lose the odd birdie on the 5's but gain on the 4's as he allways does due to firing short to mid irons down the pin time and time again.

mysti,
Apart from last week's avalanche of double bogeys, you mean?


Some good players struggling, including Phil, Luuuuuke, Billy Ho, Top Five, KJ & JB.

Scoring seems a bit easy? You would think it should be trickier being the 5th Major, and not the Boise Championship.

kwinigolfer wrote:mysti,
Apart from last week's avalanche of double bogeys, you mean?


Some good players struggling, including Phil, Luuuuuke, Billy Ho, Top Five, KJ & JB.

He was just practising for the biggie.. No dramas at all..Bumbing up the odds for me,

!!!!!!!!!!!!

He still reads the posts from us mate- He knew i was going to back him..

McLaren wrote:Apologies navy.  That was completely unnecessary.  Sorry.

I see you take something back when its directed at a Mod!

A bit scared of a ban

I have just had a look on pgatour.com and started having a look at Donald's score. I see that he had a go at two of the par 5s in two. I think both times he hit it about 265 yards. I'm pretty sure that he only went for a couple of par 5s in two during is brilliant year and headed up the par 5 scoring stats.

I then went into the Stats page of his. My head is spinning with everything on there. All I could conclude is what is obvious but the interesting one is that he score relatively very well at the weekend and although he seems to be pretty middle of the road at most things and very poor at driving, his scoring average ranks him 8th. The only stat where he's better than top 50 is putts gained where he is 7th and All Round where he is 49th.

The disconnect is that despite having such a good scoring average (surely the most important one) it doesn't seem to have been a great season and the FedEx ranking of 37th would seem to bear this out.

What does all this mean? All I can figure out is that knowing/reading too much about the statistics in golf is not good for your head!

Luke is 4th in scrambling, tho', and you'd usually expect him to be at the top of the sand-saves - 52nd so far this year but you'd bet that will improve in a hurry.

Nice comeback from Ogilvy: +4 after 8 holes, then seven birds in his next ten. Playing much better recently.

Rors blew up a bit at the end..

This is all a bit flat this afternoon. Sounded like there were fireworks this morning but most of the guys they're showing making birdies I couldn't care less about.

Kaymer and Kuchar going OK tho' and Tim Clark three under. Where'd'e come from?

Kaymer putting a flawless round together....missed to makeable birdies as well.

Kaymer really seems to have sorted something ot. A plethora of water balls on #18 last week skewered him from a very high finish. Good to see.

Bill Haas having another good Round 1 - it's the other three that have been giving him fits this year. He's led about three times (incl Augusta) after 18 holes already!

Much tougher out there later on so Kaymer has crushed it

I like Kaymer, he's so modest and understated.
Looks like DC enjoyed his great round.

Joost Luiten with a good round going late this evening. The boy can putt!

Sgp +2.82 for Joost. Not bad. Let's see if he can get into the top 10 over the next days and move right back into a ryder quali spot

The early starters are on their way, and should enjoy the day's best conditions.
Martin Kaymer will be one of the early birds and has a chance to make a (hopefully positive) statement.
Could get windy later on.

Looks like the cut-line might be -1; regardless, the likes of Donald, Donaldson and Poulter need decent rounds, with DC and Martin Laird requiring at least 68's, probably 67's.

I didn't realise he ended up on 9 under par. One of the rounds of the year for sure.

Seems that people hitting course records very rarely win. Hope Kaymer can change that.

He's -10 now.

mysti,
Looked like Kaymer's swing was at its most majestic yesterday, thing of beauty, plus a couple of nice putts to keep it going.
Pity the TV coverage took so long to realise he was on the move.
 
Surprised Finchem doesn't insist on wall-to-wall TV rather than just the six hours (more like four when you consider the ads and fluff - not Mike Cowan).

PS: Stenson going well.

It must have been. He even missed the odd putt.

Remarkable round really.

He will probably get a bit nervy today- but anything under par will keep him on track.

Good to see Bae doing well. He was an amazing player in asia. A player that was completely above anyone else within that tour and the Japanese tour. He got to something like 30th in the world only playing in asia which was certainly some going at the time(2011)

It looks as if Brian Davis has only missed the fairway twice in his first 20 driving holes.
But he's dumped his tee-shot in the drink on two Par-3's.
Why doesn't he somehow bunt a fairway wood next time on #13 and #17??!!
Just kidding Brian.

He could try a deliberate Barnes Wallace as they seem water-bound anyway...

See Cabrera is continuing some of last week's decent form...

Cabrera had five birds in six holes (counting yesterday's finish) at one stage. Always great to see him play well.

Jamie Donaldson tied (with Hoffman & Scott) for the round of the day-so-far, four under after 12 holes.

Does the Players finally get elevated to MAJOR status if El Pato wins?  

no -only if an english player wins

Jamie Donaldson 6 under for Round 2 with just the 18th to play - keep your ball dry Jamie! Terrific round so far. Quite the revelation so far this year.
(Hope he kicks on and doesn't turn in to the golfer once known as David Lynn who did so well for 15 months and then disappeared.)

Davis in with a 67 and Donaldson is too - looks like he spudsed a 3-footer for a 66.

Scores are out there, Chappell going like a train at -7 after 11 holes.

Looks like Cabrera has let it slip - back to -1 now....silly boy!

Rory to miss the cut? I have a feeling he may struggle.

Louis Os - he must be one of the most inconsistent very good players around.

Kaymer in with a 69.

thats decent- and should still lead

Kwini: Trevor Murphy did make it through Local Qualifying to get to US Open Sectionals.

Some other notable golfers to make it through local qualifying.

Long Baller Tony Finau made it
Nicholas and Lexi Thompson's brother also made it.
Sam Saunders (but not THE Sam Saunders, as this is from New Mexico)
Zach Johnson (but not THE Zach Johnson)
Blayne Barber

LW 1 hole = -1


come on Lee

Was thinking that Kaymer has the opportunity to lap the field. Given that only him and Bae (I think) were strong scorers in the tougher afternoon so should have the best of the conditions on a forecast tougher day all the players around them on the leaderboard would be struggling to really push on in the afternoon while they get the best of the day.

69 isn't bad for Kaymer but Bae will be disappointed. I know its easier said than done but if Kaymer could have got another one or two more he could have been out of sight.

I know the commentators made a lot of the patchwork on the greens and I assume that the pins are positioned to avoid those areas but have they made a lot of difference beyond making them soften up the greens? Are they still rolling pretty well?