PGA Tour: The Run Up to US Open Begins: Notes from the Ballwasher

1).With the The Players Championship out of the way, the focus of the PGA Tour switches from the Masters/Players part of the schedule to the traditional four tournaments which precede the US Open:
HP Byron Nelson Championship this week (Dallas)
Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial (Fort Worth)
The Memorial Tournament (Columbus)
FedEx St.Jude Classic (Memphis)

2).Most of the top Europeans will have headed home, to Spain or towards Wentworth, some of them returning to play Memorial, the rest waiting until Memphis or going straight to North Carolina and the US Open at Pinehurst.
But the happiest man golfing in Dallas this week will be Martin Kaymer who has chosen to stay on after his majestic 68-hole performance (and four holes of glitches and guts after the obligatory weather delay) last week - judging by tweeted responses from his Tour colleagues, Kaymer's win was a most popular victory. Will he be knackered after a fine performance at Quail Hollow and finer effort at the TPC, or will he improve on last year's 5th place finish at the "Nelson"?

3).There were tournament records set last week, for the lowest cumulative scores respectively on the front nine and back nine:
-13 on the front: Not surprisingly by Kaymer.
-17 on the back, more surprisingly, by McIlroy.

4).And Jim Furyk recorded his 27th runner-up finish on Tour. According to pgatour.com, Furyk is T4 on the list of second-place finishes among active Tour Pros:
30: LoveIII
29: Woods
29: Mickelson
27: Singh
'Course, some of these have more wins than Furyk's 16. It also goes to show that not all runner-up finishes are created equal as he pretty much came thru' on the rails, both at Quail Hollow (the previous week behind JB Holmes) and at The Players. And he was superb in defeat to Dufner at Oak Hill last August.
Unlike his miserable 72nd hole capitulation at Bridgestone a couple of years ago when his hapless, careless double-bogey presented victory to Keegan Bradley.
It may be easy to poke fun at Furyk but he's the sort of stand-up guy that is the heart and soul of the PGA Tour. He'll be back for more at two of his favourite stops, Colonial and Memorial. Wouldn't bet against him at either.

5).And Furyk was the only member of the Medinah US Ryder Cup Team in the Top dozen (Stricker was 13th!).
In contrast, all Europeans qualified made the cut, and SIX finished in the Top Ten.
Furyk is now 5th in Tom Watson's qualifying list and is just a few decent finishes away from a ticket to Gleneagles. With Woods still on injured reserve, and Phil trying to find a cylinder to fire on, perhaps Watson will welcome Furyk's experience, albeit much of it of the losing variety.

6).Talking of Ryder Cup, how's about a shout for those Europeans on the PGA Tour who have either graduated to the PGA Tour direct from University or the US mini-tours, or transferred their allegiances before ascending to Ryder Cup status?
Some of these guys, as Brian Davis reminded us last week, have made themselves a handsome living; career earnings to date:
$20.4M: Pettersson
$15.1M: Jacobson
$12.4M: Davis (now 2nd most money won by a non-winner, behind only Briny Baird)
$11.2M: Laird
$  7.9M: Cejka
$  7.9M: Chopra
$  6.2M: Johnson
$  5.8M: Owen
$  5.5M: Blixt
A mighty fine living I would have thought, but how many of these would have fared better in Europe?

7).The field for this week's Byron Nelson is stronger than we've seen since Lord Byron died, partly perhaps because of one or two "Internationals" teeing it up (e.g. Hanson, Ishikawa, Kaymer, Schwartzel), but perhaps also partly stimulated by high-ranking Americans ambitious to play at Gleneagles but struggling so far this year: Dufner, for instance, Snedeker, Bradley, English etc?

8).It's just about time Dufner woke up for the season, and I'd expect him to play well this week and next. Texas residents Ryan Palmer and JJ Henry are others who punch above their weight in the Dallas Metroplex, Martin Flores is another local guy and I've a hunch that Morgan Hoffmann might be ready to break through.
And we know Brian Davis can go on a streak of spring form; now that he got the taste last week, perhaps he can carry some momentum for a few weeks.

9).The Champions Tour is back in action this week, at the "Regions Tradition" at Shoal Creek in Alabama for the first of two weeks' worth of so-called Majors. Montgomerie's been playing much better this year and one would think the four-round format would suit him. Langer is there, of course, plus Messrs Chapman, Forsbrand, Lyle and Woosie.

10).One hometown boy at the "Byron Nelson" is Jordan Spieth.
How well he played last week. Nothing not to like about Spieth, apart from the relentless hype surrounding him. There's plenty of nit-picking in the US Golf Media about him not closing out a tournament, perhaps not being long enough, yada yada yada. They're probably just p1ssed off he was beaten by a European.
HE'S A GREAT PLAYER! GET OVER IT!!
Clearly his putter went cold on Sunday but he did pretty much everything right until the end and he'll go on to win more than his fair share of big events. Great prospect and, so far anyway, doing it his way.
Long may that last.

Top5 has WD, presumably for Daddy Duties.

Dowd and Webb Simpson have a new bundle of joy of the female variety. I would publish the name, but there would be some derision.

Kwini

I agree that Spieth is doing very well for a player so early in his career but if he is to win more often he will have to improve some areas of his game and off the tee is the obvious choice.

His driving stats are

Distance Ranked 106

Accuracy 130

Total Driving 156

Club head speed 154


His GIR rank is 102 but I am never sure what to read into that especially as he is already out of position from the tee more often compared to the field.

Anyway, it is not hard to imagine him winning more often if he could get just improve his driving stats a little bit. Having said that do you know of any studies which have looked a shots gained/lost from driving performance?

As for the 2nd place finishes, is tiger ahead of jack in terms of 2nd placed finishes gained in events with a field strength of x [x reasonably high]?

GPB,
Agree on all the above. But good if he's looking for some Snedeker-like sponsorship if I remember correctly.

Mac,
The comment made most often about Spieth is his ability to score. He's 20!! I'm sure he'll improve his distance off the tee; his ability to hit it straight enough is what gets him out of kilter sometimes.

Sure Jack out-runners up Tiger by a considerable margin. For steength of field, I'll leave the research to you, but he has, what? about 18 in Majors alone.

GPB

He has named it after the sponsor of a tournament he won.  That is pretty odd even for a yank  

GPB wrote:Top5 has WD, presumably for Daddy Duties.

Dowd and Webb Simpson have a new bundle of joy of the female variety.  I would publish the name, but there would be some derision.  

Jesus?

Tweet from Simpson:

"We welcomed Wyndham Rose Simpson to our family last night at 9:53. She is beautiful and wonderful. Momma is doing great. Psalm 127:3"

Does he randomly throw psalms in at the end of sentences?     

In all seriousness, do we think he has named his kid after the Wyhndam championship?

I dont know psalm 9:53?

McLaren wrote:In all seriousness, do we think he has named his kid after the Wyhndam championship?

Well it's rumoured that Brooklyn Beckham was so named because that's where he was conceived, and Wyhndam is a hotel chain....

incontinentia wrote:Tweet from Simpson:

"We welcomed Wyndham Rose Simpson to our family last night at 9:53. She is beautiful and wonderful. Momma is doing great. Psalm 127:3"

What an idiot.

127:3

Loe, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the wombe is his reward.

I wonder if there are any bible quotes that would be fitting to a round of golf or even a shot. I found a few that one might relate to golf.


Jas 1:2: Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

1 Cor 10:13: No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,

Prov 3:6: in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

lorus59 wrote:Jas 1:2: Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

I didn't know JAS was a prophet...

Matthew 22:17 states- "keep thy left arm straight, lest ye do not create a powerful arc"

incontinentia wrote:

lorus59 wrote:Jas 1:2: Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

I didn't know JAS was a prophet...

Matthew 22:17 states- "keep thy left arm straight, lest ye do not create a powerful arc"

So now we know where Phil Mickelson's problems stem from.

Simpson never takes our advice on his children's names.
It seems Webb and Dowd breed like rabbits, only seems a few months ago she was giving birth and we suggested Clattenburg as a name.
 
 
Regardless, Simpson's golf game has been in disarray recently; he's down to 30th in the world rankings and hasn't made a Top 35 in a stroke-play event for 3 months. Almost two years now since Furyk and McDowell presented him with Olympic Club victory - only six full-field Top Tens since then and free-falling to Lucas Glover-like irrelevance unless he can get his parachute to open.

The name is better than Marge, Lisa or Maggie.

Not sure about that GPB; unless you name your children after the hotel they were conceived in. Ritz Carlton when things are going well, perhaps, Red Roof Inn when cuts are hard to come by.

Regardless, good to know he's getting his Hampton Inn.


Unseasonably cool in the DFW Metroplex so far this week, but things start to brighten up today and weather for the Byron Nelson should be close to perfect. Sunny and pleasantly warm for the first three rounds but typically breezy. There may be "weather" coming through on Sunday.

Dowd, what sort of name is that? Short for dowdy? Perfect for a religious wife.

kwinigolfer wrote:Not sure about that GPB; unless you name your children after the hotel they were conceived in. Ritz Carlton when things are going well, perhaps, Red Roof Inn when cuts are hard to come by.

Regardless, good to know he's getting his Hampton Inn.


Unseasonably cool in the DFW Metroplex so far this week, but things start to brighten up today and weather for the Byron Nelson should be close to perfect. Sunny and pleasantly warm for the first three rounds but typically breezy. There may be "weather" coming through on Sunday.

I wouldn't name my daughter the same as a cartoon character with a blue beehive haircut.

Who knows, Wyndham could be a grandmother's maiden name. That happens a lot in the South, as a way to carry the name.

My Middle name is my Mother's maiden name. She was one of three sisters (and no brothers) and my two oldest male cousins have the same middle name.

I guess Willy Shakespeare's quote from Romeo and Juliet does not resonate very well.

Willy Shakespeare wrote:What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;

Better a name like Wyndham than Maude, Beulah, Bertha, Agnes, Gladys etc.

Some of the people are acting like stereotypical Mean girls in High School for criticizing something that is SUPERFICIAL.

SUPERFICIAL?
Ah! Now you're talking about his bible thumping again.

Hopefully he'll be back on the Golf Course and in some sort of form before it all passes him by.

Simpson could well just be a one hit wonder like many one time major winners have been

kwinigolfer wrote:...Regardless, good to know he's getting his Hampton Inn...

Sad, I know, but my coffee nearly went over my keyboard just then. A bright moment in an otherwise pretty dull day .

GPB wrote:Who knows, Wyndham could be a grandmother's maiden name.  That happens a lot in the South, as a way to carry the name.

My Middle name is my Mother's maiden name.  She was one of three sisters (and no brothers) and my two oldest male cousins have the same middle name.

Better a name like Wyndham than Maude, Beulah, Bertha, Agnes, Gladys  etc.

Hey what's wrong with Agnes? That was my mother's name!

And using a maiden name isn't unheard of over here either - my cousin has his mother's maiden name as his middle name .. but the thing is it's a MIDDLE name, not a first name

Criticizing someone's names (or the names of their kids) might be the most superficial things someone can do.

Oh so wasn't you that made fun of names like Maude, Beulah, Bertha, Agnes, Gladys then? :P

OK, Then let's get back to Peter, Paul and Padraig, all teeing it up in Big D this week with their Tour, if not their golfing, future in some doubt.

Peter Hanson showed signs of life in New Orleans before stinking out the joint at Quail Hollow and eventually withdrawing. He hasn't registered a Top Ten on Tour this year and has slid to #140 in FedEx points.
Terrible stats tell part of the story:
181st in Total Driving
192nd in Scrambling
128th in putting,
. . . . so it's hardly surprising he's struggling. Probably only half fit but, like Casey and Karlsson before him, the Tour is unsympathetic and rightly so.

Paul Casey's done OK (4 x Top 20's in 7 chances) with limited opportunities but needs a big, make that BIG, week - he'll probably only have another 3 or 4 playing opportunities on Tour this year.

Padraig Harrington has been a mystery all year. Only 4 cuts made in 10 tournaments, and just his T27 finish at Pebble better than 65th. Sitting at #199 in FedEx points and his only safety net if this doesn't improve is to use his career-earning one-year exemption for 2014/2015.
All his stat's are horrendous, in the bottom 10% on Tour for most of them and, as usual, his Par-5 scoring is just about bottom of the charts.

Casey and Hanson will be eligible for the web.com Tour Finals (WTF's) if/when they miss out on the FedEx Play-Offs but can't see they'll play in them; Casey avoiding them last year.

Big week for all three, Peter, Paul and Padraig - but what's in a name?

GPB wrote:Criticizing someone's names (or the names of their kids) might be the most superficial things someone can do.

Not really, it isn't very fair to call your kid something completely preposterous. It's not limited to the US, there's a Pocahontas McGinty in Dundee for example (or that might be a myth), but I wouldn't be surprised for there to be a Rumplestiltskin Weekely or a Crocodile Watson coming around soon.

In Denmark, you aren't allowed to register a child with a stupid name. Sensible stuff.

What may be preposterous in Aberdeen might not be preposterous in Charlotte NC.

I would not name my kid Thongchai, but I am sure it is perfectly acceptable in Bangkok.

I have no problem with Wyndham, and she will be called Wendy (or Wyndy)

Denmark? Thorbjorn (ThunderBear) is not stupid?

Thongchai is a traditional, historic name as is Thorbjorn. Wyndham, Boo, Tiger, JJ etc aren't even names.

By the way, Thor doesn't mean thunder in Danish.

Why not call her Wendy then.

But I agree that you're not prejudiced against the same way in the US as in Europe if you have a stupid name.

pedro wrote:Why not call her Wendy then.

But I agree that you're not prejudiced against the same way in the US as in Europe if you have a stupid name.  

Best place to hide a stupid name is in a country full of stupid names.

incontinentia wrote:Tweet from Simpson:

"We welcomed Wyndham Rose Simpson to our family last night at 9:53.....

Umm... please tell me Justin Rose didn't play in Greensboro 9 months ago...

super_realist wrote:

pedro wrote:Why not call her Wendy then.

But I agree that you're not prejudiced against the same way in the US as in Europe if you have a stupid name.  

Best place to hide a stupid name is in a country full of stupid names.

  People in glass houses and all that.

super_realist wrote:Thongchai is a traditional, historic name as is Thorbjorn. Wyndham, Boo, Tiger, JJ etc aren't even names.

By the way, Thor doesn't mean thunder in Danish.

Tradition has to start somewhere. My cousin is called Balthasar, which is humourous, but much better than a boring name like John.

McLaren wrote:Kwini

I agree that Spieth is doing very well for a player so early in his career but if he is to win more often he will have to improve some areas of his game and off the tee is the obvious choice.

His driving stats are

Distance  Ranked 106

Accuracy 130

Total Driving 156

Club head speed 154


His GIR rank is 102 but I am never sure what to read into that especially as he is already out of position from the tee more often compared to the field.

Anyway, it is not hard to imagine him winning more often if he could get just improve his driving stats a little bit.  Having said that do you know of any studies which have looked a shots gained/lost from driving performance?

Mac.... yes there is one. Its from one of the same guys who came up with the shots gained putting stat, and has proposed a revamped ranking system that is somewhere between OWGR and Sagarin rankings...  

Anyway... Brodie's conclusion was maybe not that putting was overrated... but maybe more that ball striking (total ball striking, not just driving AND properly measured) is way more important than putting.   The main conclusion of his study was " The long game explains about two-thirds of the scoring differences [between players] and the short-game and putting about one-third. This is true for amateurs as well as pros."

Anyway... the results are published in a book.  

http://www.pgatour.com/news/2014/03/03/foley--broadie-present-at-mit-stats-conference.html

super_realist wrote:Thongchai is a traditional, historic name as is Thorbjorn. Wyndham, Boo, Tiger, JJ etc aren't even names.

Boo's not a traditional name? Why here in the states... the name "Boo" is infamous...

http://iowntheworld.com/blog/?p=136426

It's a cool early morning in Dallas but play started promptly in what should soon be perfect conditions for low scoring.

Interesting participant this week is Surrey's Gary Christian who has three tournaments on a Medical Extension in which to earn something like $500K after knee surgery last year. Good luck.

Perhaps he'll try to resurrect his "career" on the web.com circuit but more likely we'll see him one day soon in the broadcast booth. Very articulate and quite amusing I reckon he'd be a good fit as an on-course reporter - he's currently dabbling in radio apparently but hope he reaches our TV screens soon.

Reports that McDowell will avoid Wentworth next week to offer his bedside manner to his wife as she is just about to give birth.
A big miss for him and the likeliest of the Top Europeans to need a Captain's Pick for Ryder Cup duty.
Is he playing well enough to deserve it, on the basis of his form so far this year?

Apropos Northern Ireland's Ryder Cuppers, How time flies! I see Ronan Rafferty is lined up to play next week's Senior PGA Championship in Michigan. I thought he was a young up-and-comer . . . .

Peter: Leading after 9 holes, just 63 more to go.
Paul: Level par early
Padraig: -2 after 5 holes.

Is David duval getting it back?? Seems an uninspiring golf course.

Big smile on Peter Hanson's face as he holed out for birdie and a one-shot lead.

Let's hope he's on his way back even if Duval might not be. Great run from DD though, and hopefully he can build on it tomorrow. He's improving his "status" all the time and perhaps a good week in Dallas might further motivate him.
Casey going in the opposite direction unfortunately.

Confirmed that next Monday's #1 player, according to the owgr, will be playing Colonial; Dustin Johnson has also been added to the field.

I wonder when was the last time two German Golfers (no, not you Marcel) slept in the Top Ten of a PGA tournament?

Good finishes from Casey and, especially, Harrington. Are better days coming?

It seems to have taken all season, but some European cream rising to the top, what with Kaymer last week (and this so far), Sergio, Peter Hanson yesterday, and now Joost Luiten and Molinari contending in Espana.

Hope we see more of that at Wentworth next week, but very curious as to why Paul Casey is not in the line-up. His schedule seems to have been baffling for years now, and can't see why he would miss the PGA. Any ideas?

What the hell happened to Gonzo and Colsaerts though??

Agreed Davie,
Colsaerts has never got to grips with the PGA Tour and now seems to have lost his way completely.
Gonzo has just been up and down all season; can't honestly see him (or Colsaerts) "retaining their card" this year. The tournaments Gonzo should have made hay in have largely passed him by and now he's leaving the Top 50 his chances of getting in to the Top tournaments (and double-dipping) for next year diminish as bogey follows bogey.
Hanson's in the same boat of course, which is why the next few days could be crucial in his career.

As I posted in the OWGR thread, all the Top 60 Bubble boys playing Open de Espana are looking like they want to play in the US Open Sectional Qualifier a week from Monday.

Coetzee, Manassero, Ilonen, Larrazabal, and Weisberger are not close to improving their OWGR standing this week.

Duval had a shot in his elbow Wednesday, and it could be bothering today, as he is struggling to make the cut.

Cut is +1 right now...could go up to +2 because of the breezy conditions in Dallas

And no one is going deep, could be a 7-8 shot spread between the leader and the cutline.