PGA Tour: The "PGA" - Best Major, or an Afterthought?: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).Strange, isn't it, that the lightly regarded "Fourth Major" invariably has the best field and often the most interesting finish?
The ambition to produce the Top 100 in the owgr has clearly been punctured with Dustin Johnson absent, Tiger Woods a doubt, and others (Crane, Day, DeLaet, Toms) who were sufficiently infirm last week to withdraw from their respective tournaments, but the Top 130 in this week's field won't be matched this year anywhere in the World.

2).You don't need Mark Knopfler to tell you that half the Tour is coming down with Industrial Disease.
No word as to who's got smoker's cough from smoking, brewer's droop from drinking beer, and if Jesus is on hunger strike, dying by degrees, a dozen or two of the field will undoubtedly give up the ghost on the first tees. Not sure about "Rule Brittania, gassy beer, page three"! Have to speak to Poulter about that.

Whatever, we certainly have more than our fair share of casualties, most of whom will play, but whether just going through the motions or not remains to be seen.

3).Another wonderful win from Rory last week - reckon he won it on Saturday with birdies on #17 and #18 rather than on Sunday. Those two threes crept him closer to the lead and deeper inside Sergio's head, and early Sunday birdies clinched the deal.
Just a thought as one reflected upon the summer form of Rory, followed albeit at a distance, of Kaymer, Scott, Rose and Garcia:
Are we entering a brand new post-Tiger era of golfing excellence, or has it always been there, just a level below the Woods of a decade ago? I'm inclined to feel we're seeing some separation with Rory at one level, the next five or six consistently just behind, and some distance to those below the top seven or eight players.

4).As at Tuesday afternoon Valhalla time, all we know is that Woods has not yet been to the course and it's anyone's guess as to whether he'll be teeing it up on Thursday. But he won't be a force just because he's playing, he'll only be a force again, if ever, when he sets his ego aside, gets himself properly fit, and ratchets down his swing and resultant effect on his aging physique. Odds against in my book, but he's surprised before.

5).The PGA will be played, for the third time in 20 years, at Valhalla GC a Jack Nicklaus design outside Louisville, Kentucky. The Par-71 was also the venue for Azinger's Ryder Cup Team victory in 2008.
Several of the Team members from 2008 played well, Mickelson among them to go with Top Ten finishes in the 1996 (T8) and 2000 (T9) PGA Championships. Robert Karlsson was entering the best run of form of his life, Messrs Mahan, Rose and McDowell made promising Ryder Cup debuts, and Poulter excelled in a losing cause.

6).Others in the field with PGA Championship / Ryder Cup form who might be expected to contend (so not you Mark Brooks, nor even Kenny Perry who will doubtless perform well following his Langer-beating effort last week) include:
1996 PGA:
T17: Furyk
T24: Jimenez
T61: Els

2000 PGA:
3rd: Thomas Bjorn
T16: Westwood
T19: Cabrera (Nantz looked at Faldo as if he had two heads when sirnick suggested El Pato as a contender this week)
T34: Els, Garcia (who's on recent record as saying he doesn't like the course, certainly played as if he didn't in the Ryder Cup)
T64: Jimenez
T72: Furyk

2008 Ryder Cup:
0.5 pt: Jimenez, Stricker
1.0 pt: Casey, Garcia, Westwood
1.5 pts: Stenson
2.0 pts: Karlsson, Mickelson (playing mostly with a young hotshot called Kim)
2.5 pts: Furyk, Holmes, McDowell
3.0 pts: Rose
3.5 pts: Mahan
4.0 pts: Poulter

7).European chances:
Got to include McIlroy of course and I like the chances of Bjorn, Karlsson, Rose and Stenson.
Can't see Sergio contending while there's chat about Kaymer having back/neck issues.
Hopefully McDowell will play well but is this course a little too long for him? He'll be off on paternity leave shortly.
Big week for Donald (nah) and Donaldson. And will Lowry bring his links form to the Blue Grass?

8).Americans, also playing to earn a spot on Watson's Ryder Cup Team:
Bradley and Fowler are in great form right now.
Dufner's got his bulging discs and wonder if Valhalla is just too long for Furyk and Zach Johnson (who needs a good result for Ryder Cup ambitions)?
No doubt Kuchar will be there or thereabouts, perhaps Mahan will rediscover his form of 2008, while Snedeker and Holmes are local-ish.
And I wouldn't rule out Mickelson, somewhat (and rightly so) overlooked all year, but he found something last Sunday - can he keep it going?

9)."Internationals":
Great to see Ogilvy pick up his win last week and like him and Scott best of the Aussies, especially given Day's fitness issues.
No South African has won in the US for three years and can't see that changing.
But I love Cabrera's recent form and expect him to make some noise, while Matsuyama has already won on one Nicklaus course this year.

10).It won't be the stiflingly hot August week that you'd expect in Louisville, but there'll be enough humidity to make it feel warm and precipitate random thundershowers.
Hopefully the cream will rise to the top as it has for most big events this year.
The PGA won't have the glamour of The Masters, the history of the US Open or the tradition of The Open Championship, but it will host the best field and will surely provide a deserving winner.
Hope ailing stars get healthy and we enjoy a great Championship.

Fowler   

Calm down Monty....... You might actually get into contention at this rate...

Tiger wanting more reps...  

Poulter - safe to say things didn't go to plan at nine, only P Mick is qualified to use a wedge on the green!

Woods - up to him to play on not gonna listen to anyone else, but the tv coverage does become flipping annoying - rubber necking of the highest order by the producer.

Good old Monty - keep playing well keeps him out the com box!

Great par save from lee. Just what he needs to keep things going

Jason Day-ier

Westwood's course management leaves something to be desired - don't try and follow a bad shot with a perfect shot lee, take your medicine.

Hotshot Young Americans Spieth and English are trying hard to get a weekend off; Patrick Reed not much better.

Chappel the next to WD?
Boo Weekley has also ridden his driver towards the sunset.
Monty and Lowry actually appear to be amongst the fitter players.

Westwood throwing away a very fine first round and a half.

Justin Rose on the Tiger side of the cut line.

Westwood is so annoying. It's much better when he plays badly from the start, at least we don't get our hopes up.

Battle with the Baldness 9C misses the cut by a country mile. "Bet he "wasnt fit"

No sign of Woods in the Greensboro field, so presumably ambivalent about the FedEx Play-Offs. Or more "reps".
You can't blame him taking a breather but it just shows to go how asinine his interviews are.

As hoped, Karlsson gets in, plus Padraig, Davis, Casey, Matteo, Cabrera-Bello, Hanson, Olesen, Gallacher and Franny (which is surprising - you'd've expected them to strive for Euro points in Denmark). F'Dez also playing but surely he needs a break?!?!

mickelson, day, fowler again, stenson, westy hanging on. good mix, cracking wknd coming up.

A downright bad day for the English golfers: Lukey, Poulter, Westwood, Wood, Willett, Rose all go over par when there was plenty of red to be had. Boy can Westwood self destruct; looks almost Sergio-like at times. Moving day tomorrow - so we'll see who the contenders are.

What is going to plan, however, is Rory. I think he only loses if he gets bored.

Very poor Sr, thankfully they all played reasonably well on Thursday.

US Ryder Cup wannabes didn't fare much better as it happens.
Only Furyk, Fowler, Mickelson and Moore of the Top 20 in the US qualifying table broke par.
Too late for most of them, Bradley, Kirk, Simpson, English, Na, Every and Compton, plus Woods of course, see their qualifying chances go down the drain.

I love the much earlier post (by pedro?) that it looks like a KLM Open broke out in Kentucky . . . . . . .

Who would you pick for the US Team?
Think I'd assume Phil will make it, probably instead of Dufner.
I'd take Bradley, then I imagine he'll be praying Snedeker plays well the next couple of weeks and may take a flier on Moore.
Anyone's guess, tho I suppose Palmer & Stricker are still qualifying wild-cards.

I wonder if Day will try get inside Rorys head. He's known for his matchplay shenanigans.

incontinentia wrote:I wonder if Day will try get inside Rorys head. He's known for his matchplay shenanigans.

" Do you breathe in or out when you swing Rory?"

super_realist wrote:

incontinentia wrote:I wonder if Day will try get inside Rorys head. He's known for his matchplay shenanigans.

" Do you breathe in or out when you swing Rory?"

"What do you use for your hair? Just 'Head & Shoulders'?"

'Bush and Loins' more like. I think Rory would be resistant to any play-acting, he seems quite resilient these days.

Brilliant leaderboard......so good from Fowler and Day....good golfers around Rory who have the belief to win a major or unlike Garcia

McIlroy and Day will be in trouble if they get in to a match-play mode; too many good players close behind, low scores out there.

Day? Is he undercooked not having really competed for so long?
Rory? Will he hit the wall?

Interesting stat from yesterday's coverage:
In all the testing the pros do, it is determined that Jason Day has the highest ball flight.

Interesting to see how they set the course up. I heard on SKY's coverage last night, that they are going to move the 4th tee up to make it drivable

sirb,
The PGA bloke in charge of setting up the course is Kerry Haigh, a Yorkshireman; from Doncaster I believe.
He seems very highly regarded by the Pros, always receiving compliments - usually in comparison to the USGA!

Hope Valhalla's Sub-Air system has dried out the greens - don't like seeing those incoming bombs that plug.

any weather forecasts for today kwinner?

Yup, It looks like an early shower is passing through, should be dry for most of the morning, "50% chance of rain, possibly thunderstorms" later - 'course, that suggests a 50% chance it will be dry.

Sure they'll get most of the round in, hopefully all of it with no interruptions. Mid 80's by early afternoon.

Has Day put in any performances during his career so far that suggest he is capable of winning? For such great hype he has very rarely visited the winners circle. He has been pro since 2007 and only has 1 nationwide and 2 pga tour wins in that time.

Lots of innuendo in the US golfing press about "Bubba Grump" (Jason Sobel's term) these past few days, almost as if they want to complain about his behaviour thru other players.
Playing partners Rory and Kaiser not taking the bait, and Billy Kratzert who followed him Friday also straddling the fence.

But what are Sky saying, apart from not getting the club info? (Which, to be fair, CBS apparently are.)

Inference here seems to be that he's p!ssed off the media but they don't want to level direct accusations.

Funny how last night Mickelson hit a wayward drive and didn't shout fore and minutes later Woods did the same and didn't shout fore. Of course Ewen Murray only criticises Woods and doesn't bother to criticise to Mickelson. He did the same last night by not criticising Mcilroy and Garcia.


SKY's coverage is so disappointing.

McLaren wrote:Has Day put in any performances during his career so far that suggest he is capable of winning?  For such great hype he has very rarely visited the winners circle.  He has been pro since 2007 and only has 1 nationwide and 2 pga tour wins in that time.

Yep, without a doubt. 7 Top 10's in 16 majors. 4 times in the top 4. This to me suggests it is only a matter of time before he wins a big one.

Agreed Mac, a very nearly man!
His high owgr position has been due to his World Cup win last autumn - a bit of a phoney one if you ask me, but with a shedload of owgr points.

But, if he wins one, I reckon he'll win a lot.

Mark Roe on sky made had a bit of a go at Bubba on thursday about the long drive contest and his general demeanour. Howard Clark said Bubba and his caddy weren't giving them club info. Nothing OTT.

Day is only 26 so a baby in golf terms. 2 PGA wins is one more than Rickie who's a similar age.
Sometimes you'd think it would be worth the top Yanks and Aussies) doing a year in Europe when they are young, or at least play a few more events, winning a few lesser events but on a big tour might help them. I'm sure it hasn't done the likes of Rory and Rose any harm knowing how to win.

Couldn't agree more Digs.
By the same token, it takes most Europeans a year or two in America before they learn how to succeed on the PGA Tour - if they suffer fitness issues, or hose up their schedule as so many do, they lose their card and back to Europe for them.

Even Justin Rose struggled for four or five yrs before finally breaking through.

Diggs

Does anyone think Fowler a more capable winner than day? If anything they are in a similar position in terms of hype and chances of winning.


As to Day trying any psych out antics with McIlroy, that can only backfire for Day as McIlroy will only be focused on continuing his good form.

Well Mac,if reason for hype is doing well in majors but not winning...and not winning much inbetween the majors..Westwoods been hyped for the last few years.
You'd imagine putting yourself into enough positions is what its about. Neither Day or Wicky is as good as Coco so they can't just whip a field to win a major. To an extent they are dependant on what other players around them are doing. That being the case they are both doing pretty well and deserve credit.

I like Mickelson's chances after yesterday.

Day certainly seems a more "imposing" golfer and talent than Fowler, but give Rickie his due: hanging around in all majors this year. I can only imagine that any games someone will try to play on McIlroy will backfire. He keeps his focus and this tournament should be over.

But, if he loses his mojo ... will we finally see a first time major winner this year?

Rory is really into golf at the moment

Is response to practice time/wozzy question;

"I just immersed myself in my game. I've practiced hard and I'm reaping the rewards,"

"It's hard to really say. I guess, what else do I have to do?"

"I get up in the morning, I go to the golf course, I go to the gym.
"It obviously works pretty well, so I'm going to keep doing it. It's my life at the minute.
"I always feel like I've practiced pretty hard. Over the past couple of months, I've really buried myself in my golf game."

I liked Stenson's comments on the early starters yesterday, playing in dreadful conditions with standing water everywhere, and no lift, clean and place:
"They potentially made one or two bogeys out there, and I'm not talking about the players."

McLaren wrote:Rory is really into golf at the moment

Is response to practice time/wozzy question;

"I just immersed myself in my game. I've practiced hard and I'm reaping the rewards,"

"It's hard to really say. I guess, what else do I have to do?"

"I get up in the morning, I go to the golf course, I go to the gym.
"It obviously works pretty well, so I'm going to keep doing it. It's my life at the minute.
"I always feel like I've practiced pretty hard. Over the past couple of months, I've really buried myself in my golf game."

A complete gym bunny, working out with weights, 3 kilo of muscle gained apparently. Completely different physique to a few years ago. Sound familiar?

kwinigolfer wrote:I liked Stenson's comments on the early starters yesterday, playing in dreadful conditions with standing water everywhere, and no lift, clean and place:
"They potentially made one or two bogeys out there, and I'm not talking about the players."

Interesting to hear that sort of public comment from players. Wonder how they'd feel if they were publicly trashed by the organisers of a comp when they transgress? Maybe the USPGA should publicly call out Blubba? Or 9C? Or any other of the many who walk out citing an injury or some other nonsense when they're stinking the place out? Perhaps Henrik would have enjoyed the R&A reprimanding him on snapping his wedge over his knee, in public, in a fit of pique recently at Hoylake? Didn't think so.

About time a major had shot tracker and play by play.....now the other majors need to follow suit. It's appalling that they don't, at this stage.

The fourth seems to have been moved up to be drivable today

Diggers wrote:

McLaren wrote:Rory is really into golf at the moment

Is response to practice time/wozzy question;

"I just immersed myself in my game. I've practiced hard and I'm reaping the rewards,"

"It's hard to really say. I guess, what else do I have to do?"

"I get up in the morning, I go to the golf course, I go to the gym.
"It obviously works pretty well, so I'm going to keep doing it. It's my life at the minute.
"I always feel like I've practiced pretty hard. Over the past couple of months, I've really buried myself in my golf game."

A complete gym bunny, working out with weights, 3 kilo of muscle gained apparently. Completely different physique to a few years ago. Sound familiar?

Does a bit doesn't it? He'll be talking about 'reps' and 'making more putts' next. Hope he has enough brain cells to see a sensible balance. On subject of Rory, those Nike baseball caps he's currently wearing don't half look daft.

Just goes to show what can be achieved when you combine Rory's talent with a strong work ethic. I thought he was just going through a hot streak but maybe he has taken his game to a new level.

navy,
I'm sure Stenson would have been fined.
Definitely a sense yesterday morning that the golfers felt the officials were out of touch with conditions out on the course.
It's good that the players express their opinions, surely?
Equally, it would be much better if officials expressed their's a bit more, not least by disclosing disciplinary actions taken against he players.

Is pga.com still asleep or are McDowell and Todd playing very slowly? McDool definitely not the man you want opening the batting.

Justin Rose on fire . . . .

Sign with NIKE, hit the gym, practice plenty ... this isn't a new formula.

(Now just stay away from fire hydrants!)

Looks like Valhalla is playing like a Par-69 the way the scores look. Hardly anyone over par, only Leishman, Todd and Blubba more than one over.
Imagine Rors will have lost his lead by the time he tees off this afternoon.