PGA Tour: The "Honda": Driver's Seat or On Yer Bike?: Notes from the Ballwasher

1).Seems early in the season but the best consecutive streak of courses played on Tour ends at three as the Tour waves goodbye to California for a couple of months and goes coast-to-coast, to Florida. This week also signifies the end of the first one third (give or take a decimal point or so) of the PGA Tour season.

2).There are 47 PGA Tour events, played during 43 weeks, but there are only 39 weeks of tournament play before the FedEx Play-Offs begin for the Tour's Top 125 Points getters.
So golfers who have scarcely played this season only have approx 26 weeks left to secure a Play-Off place, and earn a "card" for next year; deduct one week off that for each of three Majors, a TPC and WGC:MatchPlay event you miss; plus limited field "Invitationals" that might not invite you!

3).Got that? Hope some of the Tour's overseas players have figured it out as some will have to play an intensive schedule, or gamble on reaching that Top 125. Points threshold will likely be a dozen either side of 500 FedEx points.
(Strongly suspect that one or two (Scott? Stenson?) won't give a damn, but for most it's crucial.)

4).Overseas golfers who are behind the pace they need to squeeze in the mandated 15 PGA Tour events include, by number played thru last week:
3).Garcia, Westwood, Poulter, Donaldson, Schwartzel, Els.
2).Rose
1).McDowell, Kaymer, Scott, Oosthuizen, Stenson, Dubuisson.

5).Let's imagine how Westwood will reach, say, 14:
Honda, WGC:Cadillac, Bay Hill or Houston, Masters, Quail Hollow and/or Memorial, WGC: MatchPlay, TPC, US Open (he should qualify for Chambers Bay), Open Championship (if he qualifies, EDIT: He IS qualified, Tks SJ), Bridgestone, PGA Championship.
That gets him to 14 or 15 and, with a running start, he should achieve the Top 125.
Hopefully Donaldson knows his way around the PGA Tour to manage his schedule appropriately. Poults and Schwartzel will play where/what they have to, and there are enough tournaments that Sergio and Ernie usually play for them not to be too concerned.

6).Rose should also be OK, but what about the onesies?
Oosthuizen has a 5-year exemptions which will expire this year, so Top 125 is imperative for him, and he and Dubuisson are going to have to play some unfamiliar courses if they are to satisfy 15 tournaments AND Top 125. Early days of course, but they need to get their thinking caps on or they'll be on their bikes.

7).So: Who's in the "driver's seat"?
Top overseas golfers so far are Sang-Moon Bae and Jason Day, and Hideki Matsuyama.
Top Europeans, with FedEx Points-to-date are:
416: Martin Laird
358: Garcia
354: Knox
317: Casey
212: Lingmerth
192: Cejka
165: Westwood
Most of the rest will be OK, but there will be a surprise failure or two, there always is.
(Sterne won't be a surprise failure; he's played 6 events, missed every cut, and doesn't even have a profile page on pgatour.com. The ultimate dis?)

8).Lots of golfers "lost" last week's Northern Trust LA Open before James Hahn won it, Goosen and Garcia of course, but also Casey and Dustin Johnson with late bogeys, while Jordan Spieth can't be too pleased with bogeying his 72nd hole to fall out of a potential play-off. Two thoughts:
~Was Paul Casey's match-play expertise his play-off undoing? He sees DJ and Hahn in highly bogeyable positions on #10 and plays it relatively safe. So they produce worldies to make birdie, and Casey is left with a lonely walk back to the club-house.
~And: The PGA Tour made something of a mockery of the great "short par-4" 10th hole with its set-up for Rounds 1, 2 and 3 when conditions were pretty hard and fast and the green was beyond fiery. Conventional wisdom seems to be that the green will have to be re-done to prevent the carnage (not all of it self-inflicted) that messed up so many rounds.

9).One American golfer doing very nicely thank you on the European Tour is Paul Peterson. He's already played 3 tournaments as an affiliate member and risen to 38th on the R2D. Love to see the recent US contribution to the European Tour, and very interested to see how Koepka fares in his home State this coming month.

10).Back to "Bermuda" greens this week so the recent form book may be turned upside down. Terrific European contingent on hand and it could have been larger still if European Tour Cadillac contestants had succeeded in Monday qualifying, Marcel Siem, Alex Levy and Mikko Ilonen all coming up short; good for them for giving it a whirl though, hope they do well next week and show that they deserved a chance in the Honda field.
It's going to be warm this week, but characteristically breezy and, perhaps stormy.
Let's hope there's another European (Freddie Jac e.w.?) or two who puts himself in the Tour's driver's seat at an event that's favoured non-Americans in recent years. No European wins this season so far. Overdue!

I decided to check out the alternate field events to see how 47 goes into 43.

Sanderson farms vs HSBC
Puerto Rico vs Cadillac
Barbosal Championship vs The Open
(This is a new event to be held in Alabama, do you know anymore about it?)
Barracuda (ex reno) vs Bridgestone

At least when Donald and Westwood slump a little further down the rankings they will have something to do while the top dogs play the majors and WGC's.  And I guess Stricker if he can't be bothered to play in the real event of the week.

Hello Mac,
I see you've adopted Shotrock's angst against Donald and Westwood. Donald may be on thin ice, but Westwood is almost certain to be in all this season's Majors and WGC's. Disappointing for you obviously.

But sticking his first shot on Tour of 2015 in the drink was not the way to start.

Quite windy at PGA National, gusts up to 30 mph. Not nice, but a mere zephyr for links golf . . . . .

kwini

Were points 3 and 4 not about the struggles of overseas players like Donald and Westie? I was merely building a bit of humour of that point.


You must be a glutton for punishment if you are already watching the coverage, I can't stand the constant mentioning of the bear trap and the supposed architectural skill of Jack.

Only as far as playing sufficient events is concerned. Donald is ahead of his pace, though only quantity and not quality so far.
And, as suggested, Westwood should be good.

McLaren wrote:kwini

Were points 3 and 4 not about the struggles of overseas players like Donald and Westie?  I was merely building a bit of humour of that point.


You must be a glutton for punishment if you are already watching the coverage, I can't stand the constant mentioning of the bear trap and the supposed architectural skill of Jack.

New Nicklaus course planned at Ury, Aberdeenshire Mac.

Super

You still owe me a round at the last course built in Aberdeenshire. If you like we can do trumpton before the summer prices start if you need to save a few pennies?

Ha ha, Not sure they do a bus to Trump mac.

Westwood is already qualified for the Open, Kwini, under 2 categories - First 30 in the Race to Dubai for 2014 and Playing members of the 2014 Ryder Cup Teams.

Mac,
I also can't stand the sanctimonious Nicklaus crap we'll have foisted on us this week.
PGA National is one of the few Tour courses I've played, but before Nicklaus did his re-do. It's the most unforgiving course I've ever played, penal just for the sake of it, too many forced carries, loads of sand, not enjoyable in any way. Can't see that aspects like the Bear Trap make the course any more playable for the mid-handicapper, #15 and #17 might just as well have been designed by a NASCAR track architect.

More of the same next week, probably two of the least attractive (in my eye) courses on Tour back-to-back. Three out of four when Bay Hill is added.


I see Westwood only had to wait 'til his third hole for his first 3-putt.

Smithers, I know that! Just the US Open that he's not in and it's almost arithmetically impossible he'll slump far enough to lose his qualification.
EDIT: Ah yes, I see what I've done. Bonehead move, sorry about that

Angst against Donald and Westwood? Nah ... just a couple of fly-by world number ones who don't win majors. In fact, they don't win much now anymore.

But, hey, it could all change this year.

Five golfers under par, seven at +3 or worse. Just the way Nicklaus drew it up, the Tour must love it.
Ridiculous.

Do you get any form of medal or trophy for getting to world number one?

Eagle for Westwood!
From 200+ yards!!

Since the rankings began in 1986, I think only 14 majors (12%) have been won by the player who was ranked #1 at the start of the tournament.

And the only players to achieve the feat are Woosnam (once), Couples (once), Tiger (11) and Rory (once).

So all of the following players have failed to win a major while ranked number 1;

Langer
Seve
Norman
Faldo
Price
Lehman
Els
Duval
VJ
Westwood
Kaymer
Donald
Scott.


Of course all but Westwood and Donald won a major while ranked other than #1, but a #1 failing to win a major while ranked there is not all that uncommon.


From wiki here is the wider breakdown of which ranking has won the majors.

Event	Total    /	1-10    /	11-50   /	51-100   /	101-200   /	201+   /
Masters	29	17	10	2	-	-
US Open	29	12	13	4	-	-
Open	29	14	9	2	3	1
PGA Champ	29	11	10	4	4	1

It is surprising to see that 18% of majors are won be players outside the top 50.

But not so surprising to see that 47% are won by those in the top 10, just not often the number 1.

Interesting info Mac. Thanks for sharing.

Love the Honda Classic, what an event! Great test!

sirb,
Is this affection related in any way to Padraig Harrington's early appearance on the leaderboard? Or Sabbatini forging ahead, two shots clear??!!

Certainly a "test"; just don't see that the course is compatible with the prevailing winds/gusts.

Splashdown #2 for Westwood, most of the "Morning wave" are halfway thru their rounds - already more golfers +4 or worse than under par.

Kwini,
Best field of the year and I like the course!! Nothing to do with PH, but hey if he decides to make the cut and compete, well I am not complaining!

It would certainly be perverse if Harrington played well on this course! Good luck to him.

When was the last over par winner on a regular event? It could happen here if scoring is like this for the week.

skiddy,
No idea but I'm sure we'll find out soon enough if the inclement weather keeps up - quite windy today and storms possible on Saturday & Sunday. Par right now is about 72 strokes.

Remarkable round from Harrington, considering what he's put us through the past few years.

And nice recovery from Sergio with three late birds.

Rory off to a grisly start.

Rory starting out as if he has a toothache.

Hadn't realised that Oosthuizen had withdrawn. Again. If he misses Doral as well he's going to struggle big-time to get 15 events in.

Didn't 8-under win this event last year or year before? This course plays hard to par. O'Hair to make another cut?

Last year PGA Nat was the "easiest" of the four Florida Swing courses - do you remember the gales and resultant waterballs at Doral that Trump thought was so great?
Looks like it's not quite so blustrous as first thing, scoring slightly better, even St.Luke under par.

All my "A" Teamers in Grumps's game are outside the cut-line. Brilliant!

Scores today were 1.25 strokes higher in the afternoon than the a.m.
Forecast for Friday is: Showers likely overnight and into the morning, still a chance later on. And the wind will still be up, 15 - 25 mph, but from a different direction. Imagine cut-line will be +3 or more likely +4.

Spare a thought for Mark Hubbard. He got in after Louis Oos' withdrawal and took the 7:15 tee time but didn't register for the event. Automatic DQ

What you mean he forgot to put his 3 quid in the competitions box?

Slightly calmer conditions at PGA National this morning and definitely better scoring.
Not sure if that's because overnight showers softened the greens, tees are up or pins are easier. Still some carnage out there, though, Patrick Reed the latest with a double bogey.

Justin Rose still asleep, +3 after two holes.

Things seem very dire for Sergio: Quote from this week after playing Riviera: "I'm not used to playing like this for this long. It's not a very nice feeling. This is about my swing. It's just terrible." He goes on ... "I feel like I would rather shoot 8 over and play well than keep hitting the ball like this and saving some sort of score."

FIGJAM Phil is confused. When hearing what Sergio said, he responded: "I would rather shoot a number, I really don't care how."

Maybe Sergio can finally get that 8 over today, and be on his way to better golf? I bet he makes the cut.

Not a great start from R-Mac, reports that he had to have smoothie for breakfast.




Shotrock

That is a pretty weird thing for sergio to say, especially when you consider that he has had much worse runs of form, and for much of his career struggled badly with his putter.

Sounds like it's p1ssing it down at the Honda; a 5% chance of rain according to the Weather Channel but a dirty great green splodge over West Palm Beach.

UPDATE! Play suspended.

Lovely sunny morning here!

No chance now of finishing Round 2 on Friday, and there's a very good chance of further disruptions over the weekend.
Good news is that Monday's forecast is fine.

Meanwhile, a nice golfchannel.com piece about Padraig Harrington:

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/will-gray/wind-breaker-harrington-channels-old-form/

Play "scheduled" to resume at 10.30 a.m. after a 2+ hr delay.

UPDATE! Looks like the wind is down, still some rain around, greens should be softer and scores should be lower!

kwinigolfer wrote:Play "scheduled" to resume at 10.30 a.m. after a 2+ hr delay.

UPDATE! Looks like the wind is down, still some rain around, greens should be softer and scores should be lower!

Played for 25 minutes and then stopped for a T-Storm in the area.

I heard that are NOT playing Lift Clean and Place.  I doubt if scores are much lower because of mud balls.

They go again at 12.30 p.m..
Radar pretty clear for a few hours, showers likely round about the time the "afternoon wave" gets underway.

15 and 17 are up there with the most boring holes on the pga tour imo. There the most common par 3s and there seems to be at least 1 on every single course (tea box, water, green with no unique feature) It shows a real lack of imagination from the designer imo

skiddy,
Completely agree. Utterly artificial. Character took the day off when Nicklaus put those holes in.

Very impressive in the Rose/Reed/Horschel group:
Reed looking to pull away from the field.
Rose getting well in a hurry after a horrendous start: 5 birds in 6 holes.
Horschel? Ah, he's the one I picked!

Cut trying to creep to +4 - will probably depend on the winds the boys face Saturday morning.

PGA National is a George and Tom Fazio design.  Nicklaus only re-designed it, in the early 1990s.

I played the course in 1987 (about 3 months prior to the PGA Championship there).  the 15th and 17th is not much different than what I remember.

Yup, I played it in about 1984 or 85; Nicklaus really defined the holes and made them much more sh1t or bust. I hate them both!
Both suit the high fade Nicklaus loved to play. I hook the bl00dy thing.

Allenby looks like he'll be playing the weekend unless he gets abducted this evening.

Three very good rounds on the trot now for Luke Donald. Promising stuff. Would think this will be one of the more important weekends of his golfing career. Since Medinah probably.

Looks like Rory & Rose will have the weekend off. Surprised times two.

I'm not far from declaring the fantasy game Stupid, Kwini. Cat A picks decimated.

I really hope this is the start of a comeback for Luke .. seems such a great guy and one of the best to watch when he's on form .. I've hated his demise the last two years.

Agreed Davie,
Can't imagine a pro I'd rather play a round with - or have a drink with. Promising signs.

Good golf from a bunch of GB&I, but Westwood's putter hasn't got the memo.

Fantastic start from Steele!

Great round from Kopeka, great fightback to make the weekend!

Kwini
Any word in the media about Tiger's next possible start, will it be the BayHill?

Hi sirb,
Nothing I've seen so far. But Bay Hill is certainly the most likely if he plans to compete at Augusta.

Should be a very interesting Saturday morning - weather permitting.

Bay Hill would be my guess. But since he found it necessary to issue a statement about his "break" it might not be until (after) the Masters.