PGA Tour: Last Stop Before Augusta: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).Only one spot left to be earned for The Masters now and that will go to the winner of this week's "Shell Houston Open", if not already exempt.
Paul Casey won "Houston" a few years ago, in a play-off with JB Holmes who promptly helped Casey's cause by driving into a lake. Last week he was sitting at home sh1tting bricks as one possible challenger after another fell by the wayside and Casey actually gained a ranking spot as he clung to his owgr Top Fifty avenue to Magnolia Lane. Lucky boy.

2).Although it makes for a great storyline, the last-minute entree into The Masters hasn't been especially rewarding in terms of results, but Davis Love won "New Orleans" in 1995, so gaining entry to Augusta and promptly finished runner-up to Crenshaw. Perhaps this week's winner may also find that Major glory is just a week away.

3).What do y'all make of Jimmy Walker's stroll in the San Antonio park last week, fifth win in 18 months, his most recent pair by a total of 13 strokes?
That's a career's worth for luminaries like Tom Lehman, and a career-so-far's-worth for Luke Donald. Walker was a Masters debutant last year and finished strongly to finish 8th (which he followed with Top Tens at Pinehurst and Valhalla).
He and Stenson have both sent sick notes in to Houston, but you'd think both have the right stuff for next week.

4).Another impressive performance from Jordan Spieth, once again emphasizing that few are his equal in willing the ball into the hole, Tigerlike, when in contention.

5).And what about Aaron Baddeley's Round 2 birdie on #17? His 336-yard hole-in-one with his second tee-ball (after his first was deemed unplayable) is the longest hole-out on the PGA Tour in the Shot Link era which goes back to 2003. Probably longest ever.

6).Talking about amazing feats, Freddie Jac has a current "three putt avoidance" streak of 416 holes. That amounts to 23+ x 18-hole rounds for The Swedish Seve; which saves his Tour bacon as he ranks in the bottom 10% of most "ball-striking" stats.

7).Major League Baseball begins its 6-month season this weekend; the AVERAGE salary for Major Leaguers is $4.25M. And remember, unlike golfers who have to pay caddies, travel, hospitality etc, this is a net income figure.

8).Last week's Thursday morning / Friday afternoon "wave" had to contend with a 4-stroke handicap, less than a 30% chance of making the cut due to Thursday morning high winds. This week's weather will be similarly iffy, but more democratic perhaps, as 15 mph winds and the chance of showers seems to be the order of every day, not so much of what Bonnie Raitt might sing the "Luck of the Draw", more the "Natural Law".

9).Texans came first and second in San Antonio, but I'd be surprised if that repeated itself, though could quite easily see Patrick Reed have another strong week. And wouldn't be shocked to see Houston's adopted son, Angel Cabrera come to play.

10).As I write this, the Golf world breathlessly awaits news from Camp Woods as to whether his Tigership will grace The Masters with his presence. Confirmation is also still awaited from less exalted personalities, Messrs Bjorn, Clark, Stadler, Weir, perhaps Koepka. McDowell says he's fit, Stricker will definitely be there, as will Adam Scott's broomstick putter, but the appearance of none of these will cause as much of a pleasant flutter as a surprise appearance by Amanda Dufner.

GPB,
Are you in the pgatour.com game?

http://espn.go.com/golf/masters15/story/_/id/12598860/pga-tour-secret-survey-data

Not sure why they do these surveys but, for what it's worth . . . . . .

Yes, I am in the PGATour game, and doing badly!

Two years ago I did great in the game, and finished in the top 100 globally.

Last year I did great in the Yahoo game.  Finished 120th globally.

This year, I zig when I should zag, and vice versa.

Re Kwini's link to the survey :- Bit of a loaded question methinks..."If the Masters wasn't a major, would you still play?"

GPB,
I'm on a roll, was up to 21st but have slipped a bit in recent weeks primarily due to a bad can of Valspar. But you'll still see me in the Top 50.
Until The Masters!

I'm never wrong wrote:Re Kwini's link to the survey :- Bit of a loaded question methinks..."If the Masters wasn't a major, would you still play?"

And apparently 606'ers are not the only ones who think Bubba Watson is a d!ck.

pedro wrote:

I'm never wrong wrote:Re Kwini's link to the survey :- Bit of a loaded question methinks..."If the Masters wasn't a major, would you still play?"

And apparently 606'ers are not the only ones who think Bubba Watson is a d!ck.

That was pretty funny. And we now know that no one did bother to help Allenby when he got a beating from a pimp, I mean robber, in a car park. So the results do reflect reality in some way.

Marginal improvement in the weather forecast for Thursday & Friday, not too good for the weekend.
Thunderstorms forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday so I doubt the course will play as firm and fast as they would like. Greens still lightning fast though, no doubt.

It's time we had some tee times!!

Latest forecast:
Thursday: Hot: 80% chance thunderstorms
Friday: Hot, breezier, 20% chance showers
Saturday: High 70's, 70% chance thunderstorms
Sunday: High 70's, 50% chance morning showers.

Tee times published but can't link them yet.
Donaldson and Jimmy Walker have drawn the Tiger straw - why can't they stick Woods with Past Champs?

so the 2 ball goes off first on day one at 7.45am, but then somewhere in the middle on day 2. WOuld it not be better to send it out first again the second day, or change who is the 2 ball?

kwinigolfer wrote:Tee times published but can't link them yet.
Donaldson and Jimmy Walker have drawn the Tiger straw - why can't they stick Woods with Past Champs?

In the last 10 years, they seldom pair past champs together.  An amateur is almost always paired with a past champ and this year they paired the Int'l amateurs with Past Champs from their country (or region in the case of Dominguez/Cabrera).

I remember reading an interview with Dottie Pepper and she said she got paired with LPGA Hall of Famer Louise Suggs* in the Dinah Shore.  Even though Suggs was no longer competitive, Pepper said she couldn't have asked for a better pairing.

Tee times as follows:

http://www.masters.com/pdf/Masters-GroupingsAndStartingTimes-Rd1.pdf


ben,
I can't comment on how the respective GB networks cover the action but you're spot on about coverage slowly/glacially being increased in recent years; my understanding is that the Beeb has been showing, somewhere, all the coverage that is available here, possibly more. And Sky can be sure that any commentator or pundit daring to utter something the slightest bit irreverent will be on a different assignment next year.

Locally, I'm interested in seeing how CBS tweak their coverage given Peter Oosterhuis's retirement from broadcasting in general, the 17th hole at Augusta in particular. Peter is 66 and barely increased the average age of the CBS commentary team. Time for some much younger blood, but imagine Frank Nobilo might get the gig.

I see all the doubtful starters are lining up except for Timmy Clark.
Marc Leishman apparently the final contestant to register - hopefully that means his missus is doing much better.
Weir, Koepka and Stadler all due to come under Starters Orders.

Golf Channel just said that Nobilo is going to be at Amen Corner for the telecasts

Good! Assume B-F to #17.