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

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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 Rory said it best when he referred to the "Rory Era" of a few months ago having been replaced by the "Jordan Era".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.

SmithersJones wrote:Interesting. I really like DC but he'd be the first to say he's not been on form lately, so that's good news.

Lately?! You mean since July 2011?

kwinigolfer wrote:

Davis Love now tied for the Greensboro lead; course he is!

Your article should've been called "The Final Exhumation."

An "Exhumation" perhaps! But hopefully not the "Final" one.

Casey, Donald, Laird all playing well this morning. It's going to be touch and go whether the cut stays at -3 or goes to -4.

Afternoon wave getting going at Greensboro and a chance for Tiger Woods to play like the Tiger Woods of old.
First round at six under and no-one, OK Davis Love, at anything better than -8 as the early birds finish their rounds.
2005-vintage Woods would shoot an afternoon 64 and put himself in pole position, others duly intimidated as they think about Round 3.
A decent round today for Woods and who knows?


Meanwhile, Brian Davis has been searching for form all year and come up empty - he's missed the Greensboro cut and can pack his bags for web.com Finals action. Should do better but, if not, it's the web.com Tour for him next year, some conditional Tour status remaining but not enough to get in many fields.


Nice to see good crowds in Denmark . . . . .

Horses for courses, plus local knowledge at Greensboro:
Halfway thru the afternoon's play, six of the top seven are local lads or have won the tournament, or both. Casey the only exception.

Course playing more difficult today with a little breeze this morning, and firmer greens this afternoon - average score Thursday a shade over 68. Today it looks to be about 70, perhaps slightly higher. Cut now could remain at -2.

Woods looks like he's got the bit between his teeth, good job he's back to a full set.

I know we've had interminable chat on here about the merits and demerits of SKY coverage and while I've always been pro-SKY I've always been anti David Livingstone. Tonight he has really p*ssed me off though. In the first 15 minutes of putting the coverage on he has made of point of saying they make no apologies for covering 9C .. basically admitting they are a-licking and he even said if you don't like it, go watch the red button. I suspect SKY have been getting some abuse on twitter and other social media for being 9C lickspittles .. but I've never quite heard them react to it like tonight

Tiger to play the weekend? Strange days indeed.

A double birdie...?

http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2015/tournamentid=2015064/news/newsid=268307.html#6F49kw07UX1HSsVv.97

This tourney is turning into the Phoenix Open of the ET...

Interesting stats from Denmark:
-Sihwan Kim 36 GIR after R2 (1st), yet MC. Wonder where his problem lies?
-Darren Clarke more birdies than pars after R2. Maybe he should be a captains pick for the next RC?

End of the road for Paul Dunne, beaten in the Q-Finals of the US Amateur, but Shotrock and I, at least, are thrilled that Derek Bard beat Jon Rahm.


Perhaps this is what pedro was referring to with his "Final Exhumation" crack: Tiger Woods in the last group for Round 3 at a PGA Tour event. Probably good for golf, if not for golf fans.

pedro wrote:A double birdie...?

http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2015/tournamentid=2015064/news/newsid=268307.html#6F49kw07UX1HSsVv.97

This tourney is turning into the Phoenix Open of the ET...

I hope he was put on the clock for that, his group must have lost a lot of ground on the group in front of them.



Kwini

I haven't had a chance to watch any of the golf this week, does Tigers swing actually look any better than the wild chop of late or is he scoring well despite hacking at the ball?

Tiger?
He's playing very much within himself, and that's when he tends to play his best. His misses haven't been wildly off-line and his short game has mostly been sharp with some very good putting.

Definitely not throwing himself at the ball off the tee, but then he doesn't really need his driver and can hit the 2-iron stingers that he loves so much. But Sedgefield is still a good test, and he's passed with flying colours so far.

Now: Will he be intimidated by being in the lead, or will the contenders intimidate him. Mental challenge rather than physical I would think for the weekend. One thing for sure is that there's a great atmosphere there.

McLaren wrote:

pedro wrote:A double birdie...?

http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2015/tournamentid=2015064/news/newsid=268307.html#6F49kw07UX1HSsVv.97

This tourney is turning into the Phoenix Open of the ET...

I hope he was put on the clock for that, his group must have lost a lot of ground on the group in front of them.  

I didn't take longer than line up a par putt! (He made birdie.)
And he knew he would MC anyway, so probably couldn't care less.
Sour grapes mac?

pedro wrote:
This tourney is turning into the Phoenix Open of the ET...

https://mobile.twitter.com/KenBrownGolf/status/635047794798161920

You're welcome Ken, you just send me a Christmas card.

Not happy to see Erik Compton withdraw from an event he's presumably highly motivated to excel in.
Anyone know the reason for his departure?
Hope he doesn't need another change of heart.

Among those missing out both on their guaranteed Tour card for next year, plus any chance to retrieve it via the web.com Tour Finals, are Major winners Ben Curtis and Trevor Immelman. Both retain "Past Champion" status, but that won't earn too many starts as Duval, Daly and Hamilton will testify. Especially sorry to see Immelman go by the board; excellent to watch, never seen anyone beat down on the ball like he does - wonder if he'll go the commentary route like his brother?

Plenty of intrigue over the weekend for those still striving to keep their "Card".

Should be fine for most of Saturday & Sunday; wouldn't mind a little breeze to give the golfers something to think about.

kwinigolfer wrote:Tiger?
He's playing very much within himself, and that's when he tends to play his best. His misses haven't been wildly off-line and his short game has mostly been sharp with some very good putting.

Definitely not throwing himself at the ball off the tee, but then he doesn't really need his driver and can hit the 2-iron stingers that he loves so much. But Sedgefield is still a good test, and he's passed with flying colours so far.

Now: Will he be intimidated by being in the lead, or will the contenders intimidate him. Mental challenge rather than physical I would think for the weekend. One thing for sure is that there's a great atmosphere there.

Great to see him back on top, id love to see him win it, hope I haven't put the mockers on him now

B_t_b,
Don't know if Seamus Power (Paddy's brother?) gets much ink in Ireland, but he's slowly making a name for himself on the web.com Tour and will qualify for next month's web.com Tour Finals.
(England's Greg Eason will do the same. They'll both see Brian Davis there, and most likely Gonzo.)


I like the coincidence of numbers at the head of affairs in Greensboro:
79: The number of Tour rounds played so far by Tom Hoge. And the number of Tour wins for T.Woods.

Still no word on Compton.

Confirmation of Barclays absentees:
McIlroy
Garcia (shame, you'd think a classic course would suit him)
MacKenzie (recovering from knee surgery)
Goosen
Molinari (awaiting birth of child)
plus the suspended Stallings.

So: A maximum field of 120 (Stallings may not qualify), possibly 119.

kwinigolfer wrote:B_t_b,
Don't know if Seamus Power (Paddy's brother?) gets much ink in Ireland, but he's slowly making a name for himself on the web.com Tour and will qualify for next month's web.com Tour Finals.
(England's Greg Eason will do the same. They'll both see Brian Davis there, and most likely Gonzo.)


I like the coincidence of numbers at the head of affairs in Greensboro:
79: The number of Tour rounds played so far by Tom Hoge. And the number of Tour wins for T.Woods.

Still no word on Compton.

First I've heard of him I must confess Kwini, I must check him out.. who was limey at the beach? I thought it was Davis for a while, no?

I think limeyatthebeach was banned by 606 mods for saying something to the effect of:
"I played Davis as a Junior and he was a tool then and he's still a tool. Once a tool always a tool."!!

limey lived in Ponte Vedra Beach I think, used to talk about seeing guys like Vijay & Furyk; might have been a club pro, but he certainly disappeared very abruptly!


Branden Grace with the best round on the course so far. Ernie Els joining Davis and Van Pelt, and a number of others, in missing the Play-Offs for the first time.

kwinigolfer wrote:I think limeyatthebeach was banned by 606 mods for saying something to the effect of:
"I played Davis as a Junior and he was a tool then and he's still a tool. Once a tool always a tool."!!

limey lived in Ponte Vedra Beach I think, used to talk about seeing guys like Vijay & Furyk; might have been a club pro, but he certainly disappeared very abruptly!


Branden Grace with the best round on the course so far. Ernie Els joining Davis and Van Pelt, and a number of others, in missing the Play-Offs for the first time.

Haha, not Davis so!

May have been trying to redefine self-deprecating"!


Glad to see Compton withdrew due to a bad ankle and not a faulty ticker - had he done so before the end of yesterday's play, a further 19 golfers would have made the cut. And I'd've had a full set of cuts made in Grumpy's game. You've got a lot to answer for Erik!

I wouldn't have all my entries in, but I would have had 3 more I think. But wouldn't they have all been MDF's?

Did Compton get hacked by a boy band member while playing football?

Is the guy playing with Tiger named after a sandwich?

What's the guy playing with Tom Hoge named after . . . . . . . . ?

A big Cat cat. Meow.

Aparantly the name for a cat beginning with a P is banned.

In seriousness, it is Hoge like Dodge and not Hoge like bogey (or indeed hoagie). What is it with mercans and names!

I bet his real name is Tomasz Hogatoschwechiskiwyz

Jason Gore leading the Wyndham Championship? Never saw that coming and most likely neither did he.
He'll be paired with Jonas Blixt on Sunday after both shot 62. You know how difficult it is to follow a great round with a good round? So do they, so would think it's anyone's game tomorrow.

Woods will feel he let a good round get away no doubt; very careless not to birdie #15 and a silly 3-putt at the last. Getting a bit tight Tiger? Big final round for him.
Casey just three shots off the lead.

Tiger's 3 putt on 18 was massive for this tournament. I think Blixt will get it done on Sunday, but we will see a tiger charge at some point.

To Barclays or not to Barclays? That is the question for T.Woods today.

Based upon positions of others after Round 3, a solo 2nd place won't buy the ticket for him, so he needs a win or it could be a trip to Europe for his next tournament outing.

Childhood rival Jason Gore leads by two strokes at -15, with Casey three back after 3 x 66's. Someone will come out of the pack and go low, but who? Imagine the winning score will be about -18. We'll see.


Meanwhile, CNY's Derek Bard will be contesting the final of the US Amateur over 36 Olympia Field holes today. No sympathy from Shotrock or me when he also tees it up at Augusta and Oakmont next year.

kwinigolfer wrote:Confirmation of Barclays absentees:
McIlroy
Garcia (shame, you'd think a classic course would suit him)
MacKenzie (recovering from knee surgery)
Goosen
Molinari (awaiting birth of child)
plus the suspended Stallings.

So: A maximum field of 120 (Stallings may not qualify), possibly 119.

Molinari's daughter arrived earlier this week.

https://twitter.com/F_Molinari/status/634328105205821440

Followed Kaymer's group on pga tour's short tracker last night. He literally just can't make any putt these days aside from last hole. Had so many 5 - 20 foot makeable putts but can't do anything.

Barring a tremondous round from Kaymer today to get inside the Fedex Top 125, he will not be a PGATour member in 2015-16.

He has not played the requisite 15 tournaments (Wyndham is his 13th) and will lose his playing privileges for one year.

Since he has residual exemptions from his US Open and Players wins, he can reapply for Membership in the 2016-17 season.

IMO, this is not a big enough penalty.  Kaymer knew the 15 tourney rule and IMO he thought he could coast through the BMW Championship.

He will get to play 12 PGATour events in 2015-16 (like any non member) which will basically match his 2014-15 season.  So it is not much of a penalty.

Membership has it privileges.

Membership also has its obligations.

That "Something rotten in the State of Denmark" was the play by the leaders as they came down the straight today. Dear oh dear, certainly not what all the great Danish crowds deserved. But about time Horsey played to his ability again.


pyormin,
Kaymer looks very mechanical over his putts when he loses confidence, doesn't he; Westwood-esque.
But he's on the plus side (by more than a stroke per round) on the strokes-gained-putting for the week, largely due to a terrific display on Thursday.

GPB,
It's going to be interesting to see how they apply the "minimum" rule; there's a chance that Adam Scott might fall short also. He'll certainly need to make the cut at The Barclays and probably need something like a Top 40 finish to go to "Boston".
Stenson's not completely safe, only played 12 so far so not 100% to be at the Beemer. And they'll surely have to make a statement on Rory, though assume that's a formality.

Kaymer must have known the score so perhaps he's ambivalent about Tour membership - we'll see soon enough I suppose.

Wyndham is Adam's 14th event, and Barclays will be his 15th.  So I don't know where you are comparing Kaymer's plight with Adam.  Plus Adam is in the Prez Cup, and that counts as an event for the 2014-15 season.

I think Stenson is a lock for the BMW.

Yup, That's right about Scott. His arithmetic better than mine.

Nothing ridiculously low at the Wyndham. Not yet anyway.

The thing is he is hitting so well in the last few tournament but just couldn't do anything on green. As a fan, this is quite frustrating, really.

If you go to PGATour.com and click on the FedEx cup link - guess whose picture appears? Martin Kaymer. Oops.

Tiger TV has commenced.

Scott Brown with a hole in one playing with Woods. That's not how it's supposed to happen! Even par after the Par-5 5th hole suggests Woods will have his work cut out. Casey tied for the lead - he's already lost two play-offs this year. Perhaps he can bring home the win.

GPB,
Remember that Kaymer probably also thought he'd be struggling to fulfil the necessary obligation for next year; he almost always plays Paris, and is probably ambivalent about turning somersaults for PGA Tour membership. Imagine a number of double-dipping Europeans will skip the Bridgestone.

Not a great time to drop a shot there from Woods, running out of holes now. I hope he can turn it around.

Unless Tiger fancies shooting a 30 on the back nine his goose is cooked.

kwinigolfer wrote:GPB,
Remember that Kaymer probably also thought he'd be struggling to fulfil the necessary obligation for next year; he almost always plays Paris, and is probably ambivalent about turning somersaults for PGA Tour membership. Imagine a number of double-dipping Europeans will skip the Bridgestone.

Because playing ~25 events is something to onerous to accomplish?

Ok whatever.

McLaren wrote:Unless Tiger fancies shooting a 30 on the back nine his goose is cooked.

He's giving himself plenty of "looks", just needs to be patient and get one to drop. Great to see the red n black in the hunt on a sunday again.

Be_the_ball wrote:

McLaren wrote:Unless Tiger fancies shooting a 30 on the back nine his goose is cooked.

He's giving himself plenty of "looks", just needs to be patient and get one to drop. Great to see the red n black in the hunt on a sunday again.

FINALLY!

Birdie on the 9th will kick-start the crowd even if it doesn't kick-start Tiger. No-one running away with this; playing into Tiger's hands?