PGA Tour: 2014/2015 Season, The Final Examination: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).Well done Jason Day; transformed in just one month from Nearly Man to Major Champion. Perhaps the path to Day's convincing win was first laid at St.Andrews, paved at Glen Abbey and the walk was well and truly walked at Whistling Straits.

2).Two American Slams were extinguished on Sunday:
Jordan Spieth's effort to win all three US Majors.
The possibility for Americans to win all four Majors in a year for the first time since 1982 (Stadler, Watson, Watson, Floyd).
(The only year Americans failed to win any Major was 1994 - Olazabal, Els, Price, Price.)

3).Not so sure I agree with the opinion that Whistling Straits is a great golf course; it may be a bombers' paradise (only Kuchar, Snedeker and the unranked Iwata of the PGA's Top 24 are outside the top 80 in driving distance on the PGA Tour), but is length to be the only criteria for success? The 1,000+ bunkers are about 900 too many, and the 100 remaining could certainly be redefined to restore the balance between length and accuracy.
And, for Major Championships at least, there is a distinctly Chambers Bay atmosphere on some holes which are apparently inaccessible for most spectators.
Dustin Johnson's right to a Play-Off place in 2010 was denied him because he thought a sandy area that was full of spectators and litter, and certainly not marshalled, couldn't possibly be a bunker.
How are they going to manage this at the 2020 Ryder Cup? Five years to get it sorted.

4).Jordan Spieth has rightly been acclaimed as the world's best golfer of 2015; but aren't we getting a bit carried away with all the "Number One" hoopla? Rory said it best when he referred to the "Rory Era" of a few months ago having been replaced by the "Jordan Era". But are we entering the "Jason Era"? Enough already.

5).What's the buzz in the European Press about Keith Pelley's decision for the European Tour not to sanction the 2016 edition of the "WGC-Bridgestone Invitational", given that its new date clashes with the new and improved "Alstom Open de France"?
Pelley's decision hints that all is not unanimous within the Federation of Golf Tours (or whatever it's called), but it makes perfect sense that a date change designed to suit the PGA Tour might not be fully embraced elsewhere. I wonder if Pelley suggested negotiating with "France" to host the WGC?
Regardless, GolfWorld anticipates Finchem "retaliation", possibly in the form of reduced releases to European Tour events but hopefully that won't happen.
Ramifications will certainly include even more micro-managing of the playing schedule of European Tour double-dippers.

6).The "regular season" of the PGA Tour concludes Thursday at the Donald Ross-designed Sedgefield CC in Greensboro, North Carolina, at the "Wyndham Championship". Much is on the line, not least guarantee of 2015/16 Tour cards for the 125 golfers qualifying via accumulated FedEx points for next week's "The Barclays".
Let's go through the various examination criteria one by one, and start with the sure knowledge that several "notables" won't qualify for The Barclays:
~Donaldson, Stallings (suspended), S-Y Noh, Ogilvy, McDowell, Stricker and Cabrera. But all these have some exemption for Tour play next season.
~Dubuisson & Romero will also be absent and lose their "cards" unless they retrieve them via good play in the web.com Tour Finals in September. In addition, Freddie Jac has been out for three months and will presumably be granted some sort of "Medical Exemption".

7).These notables are among those on the Barclays bubble:
~Exempt for 15/16: Tim Clark, Vijay, Luuuke, King Charl, Camilo, Toms, Choi, Els, Kaymer, Woods, Ben Crane.
~Not exempt: Overton, Ishikawa, Blixt, Brian Davis, Badds, Gonzo, Glover, Van Pelt, Garrigus, Allenby, Justin Leonard and Immelman
Full details of worst-case scenarios: http://www.pgatour.com/fedexcup/2015/08/18/playoffs-scenarios-wyndham-championship.html
Finally, there are some walking wounded. Rory has already declared himself out for The Barclays. Others nursing recent injuries include DeLaet, MacKenzie & Woodland. EDIT: Chris Kirk targetting The Barclays as he recovers from a broken bone in his hand.

8).There are a couple of Tour "status" categories worth competing for, especially those who finish the 2014/2015 season ranked 126 to 150 in FedEx points. And those ranked 126 - 200 in FedEx points will be eligible for the web.com Tour Finals.

9).All of which means that there is plenty to play for at Greensboro this week and the field is jam-packed with golfers ranked 115 on the FedEx points list and worse! Including of course Tiger Woods whose appearance has reportedly caused the Wyndham Tournament Director to order the printing of 49,000 more tickets!!

10).Back to the final PGA Tour Championship and some special bennies that were handed out to the Top 15 finishers:
2016 Masters invitations to: Day, Spieth, Grace and Rose.
2016 PGA Championship invitations to these players not already assured of exemption: Grace, Koepka, Lahiri, Coetzee, Kuchar, Finau, Lingmerth, Snedeker, Steele, Henley.

And so to Greensboro, perhaps the first tournament of the "Jordan Era". Or is it already the "Jason Era"?
Hopefully the Rory Era will be back, normal service resumed.

Could be Kwini, he needs to remain patient.

Good night Vienna!

Not very good right there.
But however Woods finishes, he's playing better and should keep on playing. Is it too late to get him into the Czech tournament?

Wouldn't Sky Sports go bananas if he went in for the British Masters?
Can't see it though. One or two of the other European tournaments, maybe.

For anyone that can remember, what was up with DL3 in the majors in the early to mid 90's?

I was just having a look at his record and he had 9 PGA tour wins (and 3 further play off defeats) between 1987 and April 1995 when he registered his first top ten in a major at the Masters.  I know one major is a poor return for a player of his talent but it seems he had to make up for a pretty slow start in the majors.

Apparently DL3 is a grandfather? I wonder if a grandfather has ever won on the PGA tour before?

Is there something called a lovegrandchild??

I'm never wrong wrote:Wouldn't Sky Sports go bananas if he went in for the British Masters?
Can't see it though. One or two of the other European tournaments, maybe.

I'd like that, I'm going to be there (watching, not playing, in case any doubt)

Mac,
Possibly Woods?

You're right about Love should've, could've won Majors, Steve Jones's US Opewn, Curtis's Open both come to mind; close calls at Augusta too, but he'd be chuffed to bits to win this. If he does.

FWIW, Tiger (and Rory) has to play the Frys-com which is the week after the British Masters.

Payback for playing the Turkish exhibition a few years ago.

GPB wrote:FWIW, Tiger (and Rory) has to play the Frys-com which is the week after the British Masters.

Payback for playing the Turkish exhibition a few years ago.

I am pretty sure McIlroy's ankle will suffer a slight flare up in the lead up to the Frys.

Why should it Mac, I'd think Silverado will be a good way to get a tournament out of the way asap. He'll just be postponing the inevitable otherwise.

Woods complaining about an injured hip. Wish he'd just play himself into form and fitness; get those reps Tiger or you're not going to win anything. Says Fry's is next, then possibly Mayakoba. But really, who knows?

Another good week for Casey and what a comeback year he's had. Hope he signs up for the European Tour in the next few minutes.

FWIW, Angel Cabrera was a Grandfather when he won Greenbrier last year and Johnny Miller was a Grandfather when he won at Pebble Beach in 1994.

McLaren wrote:Apparently DL3 is a grandfather?  I wonder if a grandfather has ever won on the PGA tour before?

Cabrera?

Didn't get to see much of this competition at the weekend, but did switch on in time to see Tiger play the 11th - that was cringe-worthy. It was weird - he looked like the game was totally alien to him for a few minutes. I actually felt for him.

Bob,
Silly thing is, after butchering his way out of contention on #11 and #12, he then played 13 - 18 in four under par.
Woods should see some very positive signs from his week's work, plenty of reps had their virtue, so it would be idiotic if he didn't try and play somewhere in the next two months.

Yeah Kwini - he looked a good player for about 70 holes.  But what I mean is if you watch his 3rd shot on 11 on Sunday, he's holding the club like it's his first time ever - he looks totally wooden and there's something weird going on with his wrists and then he kind of just flicks at it with his hands and arms.  It was like he temporarily forgot how to swing.  I re-watched about 5 times because it looked so odd.  The US commentators were calling it a shank but it was what led up to the strike that was odd.

You can see it HERE (as well as some truly awful journalism)

Peter Allis was spot on when he said he doesn't have a brain.

Agreed Bob, and the fourth shot was equally bad, as if he'd temporarily forgotten how to get his ball from A to B.

kwinigolfer wrote:Agreed Bob, and the fourth shot was equally bad, as if he'd temporarily forgotten how to get his ball from A to B.

I think the 4th was a result of the 3rd - he looked (understandably) shaken - and it was a nervous chunk. Impressive though that he was able to switch it back on.

The updated Barclays field, potentially the Top 125 in FedEx points, stands at 121, with McIlroy, Garcia, Molinari and Goosen giving it a miss.
That also means that Molinari and Goosen will not be able to qualify for the second Play-Off event, the DeutscheBank Championship.

Still several walking wounded currently in the field of 121 but indications so far are that all will play.

Am I looking in the right place? Jeff Overton and Will Mackenzie both have same number of points. How did they split them?

Inw,
There are fractions of points involved. Serendipitous though as Willie Mac had already stated he'd be unable to play due to recent knee surgery.
Not sure what the tie-breaker would be if two totals were exactly equal!

Aaah.
Thanks for that.

In addition to the 125 players eligible for the Playoffs, these players have should have full playing privileges exemptions available to them.


1 Seung-Yul Noh … exempt ( 2014 Zurich)
2 David Toms … May have a Top 50 Money list exemption
3 K.J. Choi … a Top 50 Money list exemption
4 Geoff Ogilvy … 2014 Barracuda
5 Graeme McDowell … 2010 US Open + 2013 Heritage
6 Ernie Els … 2012 British Open
7 Shane Lowry … 2015 Bridgestone
8 Steve Stricker … Multi year exemption for winning multiple events
9 Tiger Woods … Lifetime Exemption
10 Angel Cabrera … 2014 Greenbrier winner
11 Justin Leonard … Top 50 Money list exemption
12 Ben Crane … 2014 St Jude winner
===
14  Will MacKenzie ... Top 125 Money List
15  Charlie Beljan ... Top 125 Money List
16  Whee Kim ... Top 125 Money List
17  Blayne Barber ... Top 125 Money List
18  Jamie Donaldson ... Top 125 Money List
====
18  Brandon Grace ... Faux FE Point
19  Danny Willett ... Faux FE Points
20  Patrick Rodgers ... Faux FE Points
21  Cameron Smith ... Enough Money to be in Top 125 Money List

50 Players will get Tour Cards from WTF exemptions

===========

That makes 196 Players active players with full Playing Status next year which doesn't include players that might come off major medicals.  Bud Cauley should have WTF status in 2015-16

Thanks GPB,

Haven't seen anything official on money list (or Medical, Appleby, MacKenzie, Jacobson etc) exemptions for next year yet. Have Choi, Leonard and Toms made announcements to this effect? Is Allenby still eligible for another exemption?
And the suspended Stallings will be back at the Fry's.

Also haven't seen any official announcement on Kaymer's status.

Golf Central did a feature on Kaymer's plight last night.

Willie Mac made it through on the Money list, so he has a card.

I am pretty sure David Toms has used at least one of his all time money exemptions, and he may have used both of them.

I am sure Choi and Leonard will make their intentions known.

Not sure about the status of Appleby, Freddie Jac and Allenby.

Bud Cauley has been slumming on the Web-com for rehab starts.  I think he will be ready to go for Frys.  He was 4th (or 5th) on the WTF priority going into 2014-15, but I don't know where he will be at for 2015-16.

Hope Bud Cauley returns to full fitness. Watched him up close and personal last year and he seems a pretty good bloke. Despite his helicopter father.


Another non-runner at The Barclays: King Louis out with more back trouble.
All non-starters so far are non-Americans; now, there's a surprise!

If it wasn't for Tiger's triple bogey he would have been right in it.

kwinigolfer wrote:Woods complaining about an injured hip. Wish he'd just play himself into form and fitness; get those reps Tiger or you're not going to win anything. Says Fry's is next, then possibly Mayakoba. But really, who knows?  

Not Mayakoba... He's talking about the Bridgestone America´s Golf Cup 2-man team deal he's playing with Kuchar at Club Campestre of Mexico City the week after the Frys.com tournament.  Woods has signed a 3 year deal to play that event... future venues uncertain, but supposedly several countries vying to get the event... Colombia probably the favorite for next year.    

Also... After the 2013 Turkey event... TW reportedly signed a 3 year deal to appear in that event for 2014-2016.  Couldn't play last year due to injury, but I'd expect him to play this year... that would be 3 weeks in a row... Fry's, Mexico City, Turkey...

Then nothing announced for him in the 4 weeks between Turkey and the Hero World Challenge.   But after skipping a week, I wouldn't be surprised to see him pick up something in either Japan or Australia or even China.    The week of 12-Nov there's the ET's BMW Masters in China and Japan's Tahieiyo Master's. TW's supposedly got a course re-design deal in Beijing and was reportedly gonna be there this fall anyway.  So the BMW Masters being a rich event and deep pocket sponsor might be a possibility.  

The next week is Dunlop Phoenix and Australian Masters...  He has a decent playing history with both these events... so both are very viable candidates.

And the week before his Hero World Challenge is the Casio World Open and the Australian Open.  

5 of the 6 events mentioned in those 3 weeks could make sense for various reasons (big check being the main one)  Only one I might doubt would be the Aus. Open as they're likely already digging deep to secure Jordan  and supposedly Rory again.

Wouldn't bank on the Mexico gig then robo, he invalided himself out of his Argentina commitment last year.
One of these days Woods is going to have to figure out which he values more:
Good Golf or big money.
He's not going to be successful if he hopscotches from one appearance fee to another.

Meanwhile, the PGA Tour confirms GPB's contention that Martin Kaymer has lost his Tour card for 2015/2016. Can't imagine he's too fussed about that, especially in an Olympic and Ryder Cup year. Wouldn't be at all surprised if others had trouble meeting their commitments next season, especially with the idiotic Bridgestone date, guaranteed to p1ss some Europeans off.

kwinigolfer wrote:Wouldn't bank on the Mexico gig then robo, he invalided himself out of his Argentina commitment last year.
One of these days Woods is going to have to figure out which he values more:
Good Golf or big money.
He's not going to be successful if he hopscotches from one appearance fee to another.

Meanwhile, the PGA Tour confirms GPB's contention that Martin Kaymer has lost his Tour card for 2015/2016. Can't imagine he's too fussed about that, especially in an Olympic and Ryder Cup year. Wouldn't be at all surprised if others had trouble meeting their commitments next season, especially with the idiotic Bridgestone date, guaranteed to p1ss some Europeans off.

Not quite sure I understand what you mean by "invalidated himself out of his Argentina commitment last year".   I mean he certainly gave up a butt load of appearance fees to take additional time to rehab his back after having come back from surgery too quickly.... but how that equates to "invalidating himself" is confusing .  But in any event.. he certainly IS playing in Mexico this year... and last month confirmed his 3 year commitment to the event through 2017.   http://www.americasgolfcup.com/en/

And as for hopscotching appearance fees....   Never faulted a guy for that, so I can't Woods either.  He needs to play... and of the 4 on his schedule so far... they all look reasonable as good work for him to me... couple million here and there for doing so is just gravy for those that can get it... but I hope he adds one or two more to the expected 4.

Thanks for the info on the Kaymer thing...  And yes the schedule will undoubtedly have issues for some dual tour players next year. But the Tour folks are not just some draconian bunch looking to gig players for messing up.  They get it, and work with these guys to come to some reasonable schedule... and my guess is next year will result in a waiver of an event from the minimum for a guy here and there if needed.   But the WGC situation is worse than it looks because its NOT only the Bridgestone date causing problems...  With Doral and the Match Play "de-coupled" next year... getting over to play both of them is harder than ever for the non dual tour guys.  And even the dual tour Euro's are going to almost have to stay stateside from Doral through the Players next year...

Maybe if the Eurotour wants control of the WGC date, maybe they should pony up some money to get the tournament.

Lets face it, There are just so many weeks during the summer.  And the Olympics basically take three weekends to have "major tournaments.

GPB wrote:Maybe if the Eurotour wants control of the WGC date, maybe they should pony up some money to get the tournament.

Lets face it, There are just so many weeks during the summer.  And the Olympics basically take three weekends to have "major tournaments.

The thing people seem to misunderstand... the WGC's are all in effect "owned" by the PGA Tour.. and yes, that's including the HSBC. The formation of the umbrella "International Federation of PGA Tours" is more just window dressing to give them validity and get them co-sanctioned on the other world tours.  I doubt there's enough money for the PGA Tour to give up that control. World wide rights are just too valuable.

And as far as the Olympics... I haven't seen it announced or read it anywhere, but I'd expect the PGAT recognizes it as a counting event towards the "home circuit" 15 event minimum next year. If that happens that will help some in that regard... but won't help replace the lost FE Points by not playing any of the WGC's of course

robo,
My word was "invalided", not "invalidated"! My criticism of Woods not playing more was in reference to working towards his avowed goals, Major wins, FedEx success.


GPB is dead right that the European Tour, and others, needs to stump up cash to get their own WGC, no argument there, but it's the PGA Tour that wants Europe's best players, so scheduling a WGC against one of Europe's top three events was never going to be popular.

The "ownership" of the WGC's suggests Greg Norman was right all along! Finchem hasn't got this calendar quire right, so hope you're correct that some flexibility is in order.

Golf in the Olympics was always a bad idea . . . . . . . !

We've been saying for years that Jim Justice (Greenbrier) is a blowhard idiot. Here's proof!

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/insurance-group-sues-greenbrier-over-ace-payouts/?cid=twitter-gc-a-insurance-group-sues-greenbrier-over-ace-payouts-082415

god help West Virginia if he ever becomes Governor.

"scheduling a WGC against one of Europe's top three events was never going to be popular"


I don't get this, the bridgestone has had roughly the same date for years, surely the European tour scheduled their event against the bridgestone?

Mac - do a bit of research. Look at the PGA Tour schedule for next year to see the answer.

Mac,
Next year's Bridgestone has been moved forward so that it clashes (deliberately) with the French Open, and on its centenary too.

So, no, it might have had "the same date for years", as has the French Open, but not next year for the WGC which is caught up in a date reshuffle due to the Olympics. The PGA Tour has not similarly scheduled a clash with one of its biggest tournaments. And why should it? But not fair to compromise the European Tour and its members in this way.

I see. So what European tour event would you have moved the Bridgestone up against?

Plenty of open dates Mac, not to mention the plethora of co-sanctioned events.
But now the Bridgestone will not be recognized by the European Tour and earnings will not accrue for R2D or Ryder Cup qualification purposes.

Wow talk about a vague answer. I am sure there are some open dates, but crucially I am interested in what date you would pick for the 2016 bridgestone?

Mac,
How about Dec 3rd to Dec 6th, in Australia?

But that's not the point; the PGA Tour has reshuffled its schedule to suit itself, damn the other Federations, and damn Europe who are committed to the oldest Continental Championship on their calendar, arguably their 3rd or 4th biggest tournament.

kwinigolfer wrote:Mac,
Next year's Bridgestone has been moved forward so that it clashes (deliberately) with the French Open, and on its centenary too.

So, no, it might have had "the same date for years", as has the French Open, but not next year for the WGC which is caught up in a date reshuffle due to the Olympics. The PGA Tour has not similarly scheduled a clash with one of its biggest tournaments. And why should it? But not fair to compromise the European Tour and its members in this way.

The French Open is one of the ET's biggest events? At a level 36 for the last 2 years? Look... I realize now it's the centennial and all, but sorry, the WGC was going to have to be put up against something... I don't see how the French Open week was any more important a date to avoid than the BMW International Open or the Omega Masters. If all of a sudden the French Open became so important... then perhaps the ET needs to switch up its schedule and put something else up against the WGC.

kwinigolfer wrote:The "ownership" of the WGC's suggests Greg Norman was right all along! Finchem hasn't got this calendar quire right, so hope you're correct that some flexibility is in order.

Golf in the Olympics was always a bad idea . . . . . . . !

Well DUH... did you really expect the PGA Tour to sit back and let Greg Norman and his management company take over world premium professional golf and away from the PGA and Euro Tours? You think they should have said "Here you go Greg, how about we just surrender to you everything we've built over the last 80 years so you and your for profit company can own world golf."

 You're damn right they thwarted him... and with the full cooperation and urging of the all the worlds tours....  and IMO good thing they did.  Had the World Tour come to fruition under Greg Norman's vision...  the PGA and Euro Tour's would have likely been relegated to something not much more relevant than the Web.com and Challenge Tours are today.    

Certainly they other world Tours may not be all that thrilled about the even more dominant position the PGAT has become under Finchem's leadership (WGC's being part of that)...  OK, I get that.    But IMO the PGAT and European Tour fans alike ought to be kissing Timmy's shoes for standing up and out maneuvering Greg Norman on the world golf thing...  

And as far as golf in the Olympics... great idea as far as I'm concerned. Yeah... it's causing some scheduling issues... but IMO it's benefit to world golf will far outweigh a bunched up schedule once every 4 years.

Only two non-co-sanctioned events (plus The Open) with more prizemoney, robo, in the "regular season".
The WGC DOESN'T have "to be put up against something", it could quite easily be put up against (virtually) nothing.

As said, Dec 3rd to 6th in Australia would be ideal. But there are a dozen other dates also.

Does it matter what country the most entertaining and watchable tour is in?

who cares if it is in the UK, Asia or the USA unless you suffer from a touch of jingoism?

The European tour is peripheral in terms of the top of world golf and if the top tour places an event on the calendar that clashes with a euro tour event it is the european tours problem.

The bridgestone will clash with my clubs July medal, how dare the PGAT have failed to take note of this!