PGA Tour: All the Presidents (Cup) Men: Notes from the Ballwasher

1).Only exhibitions on this week's schedule so let's look back at an event that has also been charitably described as an exhibition - with the odds heavily weighted towards the organizer.
Ah yes, the Presidents Cup!
The USA comfortably beat the International Team at Muirfield Village in 2013, but the members of each Team have "enjoyed" contrasting fortunes since then.

2).Team USA only have 3 x 2014 PGA Tour wins between them, one (Zach Johnson) in a limited field Tournament of Champions, another (Kuchar) by holing a 72nd hole bunker shot and Hunter Mahan's back-from-oblivion Barclays win. What have you done for me lately Messrs Bradley, Dufner, Haas, Mickelson, Simpson (altho' he did have a nice 2013 win in Las Vegas), Snedeker, Spieth (but what a final round master class he produced last Sunday in Sydney), Stricker, Woods?
Wonder how the Gleneagles US Ryder Cuppers will fare? Good starts by Bubba and Spieth, that's for sure.

3).The Internationals haven't done much better but Day and Scott had good wins on two Tours, Kings Charl & Louis did the business in South Africa, while Matsuyama proved that a second trip to Muirfield Village, for the Memorial, was the charm. For him at least. Whilst the biggest surprise might have been Angel Cabrera's win at The Greenbrier. Steady regression though from the De's Jonge & Laet, Els, Grace and Sterne, while Leishman flattered only to deceive.
Sterne, incidentally, is tied bottom of the PGA Tour's web.com Tour graduate reshuffle and will struggle to get in to many Tour fields, plus has lost his Top 50 status. The early favourite among tourists to lose his PGA Tour card.

4).The leaders for each Team for 2015, in South Korea, are:
*USA:
Watson, Walker, Kirk, Furyk, Moore, Kuchar, ZJohnson, Spieth, Horschel, Simpson + 2 x Capatain's Choices. (Still not quite sure how these points are accumulated . . . . )

*International:
Scott, Day, Matsuyama, Schwartzel, Jaidee, Leishman, Senden, DeLaet, Oda, Oosthuizen + 2.

5).web.com Q-School Finals kick off next week and European Tour members are voting with their passports, American David Lipsky being the most notable exception. Rikard Karlberg will be there, mini-Tour veteran Seamus Power from Ireland and Stefan Jaeger too, but no other Europeans that I can spot. Lots of Aussies but the days of European Tour golfers coming over for Q-School seem to be over for now. Not surprisingly.


PS: Let's hope we never lose a Tour Golfer in the freakish circumstances that Cricket lost Phillip Hughes. But, if we do, I wonder if a colleague will provide quite the quality of eulogy delivered today by Michael Clarke? What a moving tribute. Wish we had a Cricket Bat emoticon.

US Prez Cup standings are based on FEX points.

2013 BMW and TourChampionship count 1x
2014 Events Count 1x 
2015 Events Count 2x

Note: The 5x multiplier for the FE Playoff Events is not in effect. 


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Hmmm...no Woods, No Mickelson and No Els among the top 10


Woods is going to need a ~2500 point 2015 season to make the team on merit

Mickelson is going to need a ~2000 point 2015 season to make the team on merit.

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No Koreans are really in contention to make the 2015 PC team on merit, which is unfortunate because the event will be in Korea next October.  I hope at least one Korean makes the team or else there is going to be a lot of political pressure on the Captain to pick KJ Choi, or SY Noh or Sang Moon Bae.

I am willing to give them Kevin Na!  He was born in Korea and I think has dual citizenship. 

I would like to see non-Japanese, non Koreans Asians make the team for the first time.  Someone like Jaidee or Lahiri.

GPB wrote:
I would like to see non-Japanese, non Koreans Asians make the team for the first time.  Someone like Jaidee or Lahiri.

Tiger is half Thai. They can take him. A few more reps with the new swing and should be shoe in.

Thanks GPB; I'd tried all sorts of exotic formulae but hadn't considered the 2013 events!

Let's hope KJ shows some of last year's form and makes the Team on merit. Thongchai too, so close last time.


Should also have mentioned that LPGA Q-School kicks off today - a very cosmopolitan field, including Charley Hull, Vikki Laing, Stephanie Meadow and Molly Aronsson. Good luck to each of them.

kwinigolfer wrote:Thanks GPB; I'd tried all sorts of exotic formulae but hadn't considered the 2013 events!

Yes, 2015 Prez Cup points started right after the cutoff of the 2013 Point Accumulation.

IMO, the 2013 and 2014 events count too much (approximately 33%) towards the team.  It makes it too tough for rookies and players with bad 1st year to make the team.  Walker and Bubba have almost a clinched a spot on the team and the event is 10 months away.  I will be surprised if anyone outside the top 25 as of right now makes the team on merit.

And Adam, Jason, and Hideki have practically clinched a spot on the PC Team.  I wonder if Jason will have a mysterious injury so he doesn't have to travel to Korea.

Jason Day will be lobbying for a guaranteed fee, that's for sure . . . . that's something he can discuss with Mr.Woods as they play 18 holes together Thursday.

Kwini:  Just looked at the tee times for the LPGA Q-school.  I figured that you mentioned Molly Aronsson because she was from England, but she is from your current stomping grounds of Shelburne VT.

Molly's Dad is a local surgeon; met him when my lad had a breakage. Plus my daughter used to swim against Molly. Won a Futures event last year completely out of the blue!

kwinigolfer wrote:Molly's Dad is a local surgeon; met him when my lad had a breakage.

Not a bad payday for the golfwallah . . . . . . .

http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/11974866/tiger-woods-hero-motocorp-deal-expected-pay-6-million-8-million-annually

Expect to see him pedalling in a town near you . . . . . . .

Do you think the hole-in-one prize will be a moped? Would be funny.

Shane Lowry watch in Sun City. (Unimaginative name for a town.)
Perhaps not the best candidate to ride off into his sunset on a moped, but important that he finishes respectably to secure his owgr Top 50 and invite to the Billy Payne Show.

He's going to be sponsored by them but won't have their logo on his shirt, or bag, and doesn't have to play their tournament in India. Seems a little strange and a bit like hard work; not sure they'll get as much exposure as a sponsor typically would expect.

I wonder if Tiger thought he was getting involved with something rather more sporty, more classic, more American? But got a moped instead.

http://www.indianmotorcycle.com/en-us/motorcycles?tid=Nv71XkMv_dc&cid=771hzc23548&pcrid=50766582264&WT.term=harley%20motorbike&WT.campaign=Harley+Davidson&WT.content=Nv71XkMv&WT.source=google&WT.medium=cpc&WT.mc_id=0D3207C5-1251-E211-89A5-0050569A00BC&WT.mc_ev=PaidSearch&WT.srch=1

I'm sure he jumped at the chance to get five million quid a year to not overtly advertise a company, not play in their country, not use their products or even have to learn how to. One sponsors invite for the pro am plus I guess some VIP tickets for the main event, at his own tourney seems to be the only public face of the deal thus far.

Wonder if he has to wander round the galleries singing Bonnie Tyler's "Holdin' out for a Hero" to earn his crust?

Seems like a good deal for tiger. Given the amount of time Rory spends at Nike events and other sponsors (like GSK) I am sure he would also be looking to get more deals that don't cause such distractions.

Every scooter after the famed Lambretta looks pedestrian to me.

Rory's proving once again the Nike power game conquers all. Tiger may be chasing his tail for some time trying to keep up. Should be an interesting exhibition this weekend.

Two "interesting" exhibitions . . . . . .

Keegs planning to wield a short putter . . . . .he got distracted by that last year. Hasn't won for two years and one wonders what his future holds. Simpson too.

Does anyone else find the constant bashing on here of events like the nedbank and tigers tournament a little draining?  We have two decent fields this week and probably some good golf to watch but on here all we will read is negativity about some perceived injustice in the pampered world of pro golf.


PS If i am the boards SJW, is kwini the boards PGJW? (pro golfer justice warrior) ;)

pgjw?
What does that mean I wonder?

But news from the very antithesis of "exhibition", the war that is the Ryder Cup.
And it seems as if the much vaunted PGA Ryder Cup Task Force may meet for the first time next week.


Hey, I was going to do a Dan Jenkins spoof on this but I see that someone called Dan Jenkins has beaten me to it - too bad he ran out of inspiration so early in his piece:

http://www.golfdigest.com/magazine/2015-01/dan-jenkins-ryder-cup-task-force

Kwini, as I said "pro golfer justice warrior". You are the champion of the pro golfers rights.

I did put a smiley in there. It seems the humor has gone out of the board of late!

kwinigolfer wrote:
And it seems as if the much vaunted PGA Ryder Cup Task Force may meet for the first time next week.

I have a mental image of them rapelling out of a black hawk helicopter to the rendezvous point, but it probably isn't as exciting as all that.

I have an image of Jack Nicklaus getting himself involved in some way.

Yea, it's the lack of a "task force" that has caused the Europeans to dominate the Americans in recent Ryder Cups ...

Probably nothing to do with better play and better players.

Still, can't blame the boys for trying!

No one has mentioned Padraig's 64 on the Asian Tour?

Guess the board is getting jaded with Harrington's good rounds followed by really bad rounds.


Go Padraig...stay in the top 400!

Does anyone know if padraig intends to pursue a role in the media?

Lowry Watch

In the spirit of today's (unfortunately postponed) rocket launch, when would be an acceptable T0 for counting down tigers first shot since August?

kwinigolfer wrote:Not a bad payday for the golfwallah . . . . . . .

http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/11974866/tiger-woods-hero-motocorp-deal-expected-pay-6-million-8-million-annually

Expect to see him pedalling in a town near you . . . . . . .

Naaah... this is all they need...
[img:a924]https://servimg.com/view/18259553/9]

Shotrock wrote:
Rory's proving once again the Nike power game conquers all. Tiger may be chasing his tail for some time trying to keep up. Should be an interesting exhibition this weekend.

His tail? So Tiger's chasing Nadia now as well?

McLaren wrote:Does anyone know if padraig intends to pursue a role in the media?

I think he would be more successful as the new voice of Bugs Bunny.

Spoiler:

Seems tiger isn't the bad guy some of you think he is.

http://www.golfdigest.com/blogs/the-loop/2014/12/tiger-woods-video-good-guy-disabled-child-one-arm.html

FFS OB off number 1.  :(

Does this nonsense (Hero world challenge) count as an official PGA tour event??

If tiger wins it counts. Not sure I would count it if anyone else won.

inco,

Not an official PGA Tour event, except to Mac, and then only if Woods wins; presumably just round the block from his favourite fire hydrant.
Imagine he might get hurt quite badly if he reversed his moped into a fire hydrant at the same speed . . . . . Hope he wears a helmet.

Kwini:  Are there Helmets with Swooooshes on them?

Nine chins not doing very well so far, danger of slipping out of the top-15.

Interesting start from J-Ro: birdie, triple- bogey, eagle, par, double-bogey

Robo -

Nine Chins dead last in his own handpicked invitational.

McLaren wrote:Seems tiger isn't the bad guy some of you think he is.

http://www.golfdigest.com/blogs/the-loop/2014/12/tiger-woods-video-good-guy-disabled-child-one-arm.html

Sweet. He does have a heart then it seems? Why is he such a boor in public all the time? Ah well...

Just seen the Hero () event....Woods burning it up. Got a long way to go to compete it seems. Spieth's hit a hot streak though by the look of it - 2015 could be a big year maybe for him.

Wonder why they are playing threesomes in the Nedbank.  

There should be a lot of daylight in Sun City in December and there are only 30 players in the field.

Daylight or not. Defending champ Bjorn is in the dark. Wonder if he got a new swing coach as well.

Tiger is reminding me of players like Nicklaus and Palmer who played their own tournaments as figureheads and not really contenders

Steady on Davie! Not quite as bad as that!!

Still, he's getting tailed (excuse the pun) off; if he was a racehorse he'd be pulled up.

Should we expect to see 9C as an honorary starter at Augusta next year?

super_realist wrote:Should we expect to see 9C as an honorary starter at Augusta next year?

If he's not injured.

kwinigolfer wrote:Steady on Davie! Not quite as bad as that!!

Still, he's getting tailed (excuse the pun) off; if he was a racehorse he'd be pulled up.

If he was a racehorse...he would be out to stud.

Ooops...Been there done that.

Yes.
Not really a particularly good stud record considering the number of mares he serviced and the small reported number of foals resulting.

Playing with Top Five tomorrow. Another interesting conversation, no doubt.