PGA Tour: It'll be Windy in the Windy City: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).For those who like to play their golf in the wind, the so-called "Windy City" of Chicago will be the place to be this week as the Top 70 in FedEx Points contest the BMW Championship at Conway Farms, Chicago.
A spell of perfect autumn weather will disintegrate tomorrow (Thursday) into a transitional day of hot air and high wind (no, Trump's not scheduled); thunderstorms forecast for Friday, cool and windy for Saturday. Could be nice by Sunday!

2).All the Top 70 are expected to come under starters orders for Round 1, points for everyone and a minimum of $15K for all who complete four rounds, not to mention at least $110K from the FedEx bouns pool, whether you play or not. Is it time for Louis Oosthuizen to finally win in the US?

3).Before looking ahead to the "Beemer", let's glance back at an entertaining first tournament of the web.com Tour Finals, WTF's for the uninitiated.
Sweden's Henrik Norlander won with a terrific final flourish of 62, flushing his irons in a way reminiscent of his namesake Stenson. Henrik played his College Golf in Augusta, with Patrick Reed a sometime teammate. He took home $180K and assured himself of a return to the PGA Tour where he was a fixture in 2013. Definitely one to watch for next year.

4).Others to earn enough (I'm guessing $36K across the 4 x WTF events will do it) to guarantee a PGA Tour card for '15/'16 were Michael Thompson, Japan's Iwata and born-with-a-silver-spoon-(or niblick)-in-his-mouth Sam Saunders.
Lahiri contended thru'out, but will have to go again this week while his Presidents Cup opponents play the BMW. Lahiri probably just needs to make the cut to earn his card.

5).Other international golfers who got off to a good start included Grillo, Fritsch and Brian Davis. Europeans, Gonzo and Siem, plus Greg Eason & Seamus Power, still have it all to do, as the second event gets underway Thursday in North Carolina.

6).And so to Conway Farms, a bitter sweet visit for Luke Donald who was instrumental in bringing the Beemer to his home course in 2013.  Luke is heavily involved in clinics etc during the pre-tournament festivities, but failed to qualify to play. He finished strong with a fine weekend and T4 two years ago; others in this week's field who finished well included:
1st: Zach Johnson
2nd: Watney
3rd: Furyk after shooting 59 in Round 2.
T4: Day, Mahan
T8: Matt Jones, Snedeker
T11: Moore, Sabbatini, Walker
T16: Spieth, Bradley.

7).There's sure to be a Hunter Mahan watch as he strives to finish high enough to qualify for next week's Tour Championship, so extending his run of 35 consecutive Play-Off events. This is pgatour.com's arithmetic calculation of what position players need to finish to assure qualification for next week:

http://www.pgatour.com/fedexcup/2015/09/08/bmw-championship-scenarios.html

8).The Ulsterman getting most press this week is not Rory McIlroy but David Feherty as his departure from CBS TV and recruitment by NBC TV is confirmed. NBC doesn't seem to much care for non-American commentators so Feherty looks to have become an American citizen in the nick of time. All US TV Golf commentary teams are ageing and 57-y-o Feherty is no spring chicken. Does he see himself as taking Johnny Miller's seat as "lead analyst"; can't see Miller continuing after his ceremonial return to Birkdale in 2017?

9).The 2013 Solheim Cup was one of the highlights of that golfing year, so hopefully this week's edition will live up to that example.

10).Congrats to the GB&I Walker Cup Team and their record-breaking win at Lytham last weekend.
Some team members are already signed up with agents and will be taking sponsor exemptions into upcoming tournaments before they, presumably, shift their act to Q-School.
And there they might well meet some veterans of past Walker Cup Teams whose game fell upon hard times - I see a couple of those vets are playing Round 1 of European Tour Q-School in Kelso this week.
Their American counterparts will be teeing it up at web.com Q-School early next month after preliminary contests in early September.
Good luck to all in their transition to the Pro game.

Since when is "Breaking the rules" equals "cheating".

I think we can safely say that "Secret Tour Pro" was full of excrement.

https://twitter.com/RandallMellGC/status/645988864553844737

Q:  did anyone ever delve into rumor of ALee being warned twice before of picking up putts before being condeded?

A. Europeans in post-match news conference were asked that. Pettersen said not in her match. No other Euros knew of it

So Is Herr Kaymer right now officially becoming a choker?  

- 2014 WGC - HSBC. need a birdie at the last hole to make playoff but hit  a terrible loose 3rd shot of par 5 into the creek, ended up at making 7.
- 2014 Thailand Open. Couldn't buy a putt to save his life in the final round. Made a very poor 3 putt at 16 or 17. Lost to Lee Westwood by one stroke.
- 2015 Abu Dhabi Golf Championship. The less said, the better.
- 2015 Italian Open. In the final round, Leading by 3 at the front 9 but then threw it all away after 14th hole. Had a couple of chances to make birdie to win the tournament outright but once again couldn't do anything on green. Ended up losing in the play off.

he certainly needs to get over the line quickly!

Surprising Kaymer's not playing in Germany this week - clash of sponsors perhaps? No Siem either as he's floundering, so far anyway, in the WTF series.

Still no word from Furyk as to whether he's risking his wrist in the Tour Championship.

would the field be 29 in that case Kwini?

Yes, no alternates in the tour Champ

The field was 29 last year, because Dustin Johnson was on "sabbatical".

Furyk has officially WDed.

Thanks GPB,
Next question will be the Presidents Cup. I think he'll withdraw and fingers crossed that JB Holmes gets called up.
Wonder if Furyk receives unofficial last place money - $130K, not an insignificant sum, (EDIT: Yes he will, according to golfchannel.com) plus he's guaranteed another six-figure FedEx bonus.

Lahiri has w/d'd from the WTF series, card in hand even if not necessarily the priority he'd hope for. If he plays in the WGC-HSBC (and CIMB?) he'll already have a healthy leg up in the first reshuffle.
EDIT: Allenby w/d's as well, making it all the more likely he'll use his final career earnings exemption.

$132K of unofficial money for Furyk.  Wonder if they move everyone behind him up in the tee times so #30 plays as a single rather than #15 Hideki Holmes.

Then again, Hideki probably wouldn't have to wait too much if he played as a single.

No, They're both tortoises!
Same as with the WTF's with Allenby's defection. But sure they'd rather have three twosomes instead of two threesomes. We'll know soon enough - have enjoyed the WTF's so far, certainly more than the Beemer which was a pretty dire broadcast.

Hi Kwini, how'd it going? Euro Tour Q School qualifying just down thd road from me at Collingtree Park this week, pretty torrid conditions yesterday, how anyone came in under par is beyond me!

All good, gw, Thanks! Was half expecting to see your name among the qualifying wannabes. I see "Mary"'s son is out there, with some old Tour lags, Walker Cuppers and Al Geiberger Jr, or perhaps Jr, Jr. Better weather today by the looks of it.

Well the weather has improved, but i think id have been out of it after day 1 in those conditions! I've only played Collingtree once, a 5&4 victory over home scratch player, probably my best ever away win. There's a couple of guys playing I used to come up against in scratch matches, Kyson Lloyd and Mic Forgione, good players who i never got the better of, who are struggling so it must be playing pretty tough.