PGA Tour: Presidents Cup Week/Weak: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).All PGA Tour eyes will be on a Jack Nicklaus course in South Korea this week as Team USA prepares to take on the "Internationals" in the Presidents Cup.
Just as in recent Ryder Cups the USA Team is far superior on paper than the opposition.
Unlike for recent Ryder Cups, enthusiasm for the Internationals, even in Captain Nick Price's words, can be muted and he's suggested some of his Team are ambivalent about an event they view as being loaded in one direction, with "one guy (Tour Commissioner Finchem) controlling both sides. That may be something that needs to change."
Regardless, Capt Nick has successfully lobbied for a change in the match format & scoring intended make for a closer contest - he clearly thinks this is just one improvement that is required and seems to be expressing the view of previous Captains that this is a crucial match. There will be "repercussions" if the match is once again one-sided, "This is a very, very, very important Presidents Cup."

2).Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Presidents Cup competition to Ryder Cup fans is the composition of the American Team, and some of their pairings. Chris Kirk is the only US Team Member who has not played either Ryder or Presidents Cup before; Bill Haas is the only other American playing who hasn't played Ryder Cup.

Furyk has been replaced by JB Holmes who returns to US Team action for the first time since 2008.
Schwartzel is caught a bug to go with his jet lag and not playing full practice rounds yet, Scott has ligament damage in a digit (terrific), but Oosthuizen says he's fit. SangMoon Bae was last seen being fitted for National Service fatigues, lucky boy!
And that's it. TV coverage here will be either side of midnight so most Americans will miss most of the action, at least for Thursday and Friday play. Cue "if a tree falls in a forest" funnies.

3).The 2015/2016 PGA Tour season kicks off next week in California's Napa Valley which has been blighted by earthquakes and forest fires these past few months - and that's before tournament host Johnny Miller roars in to town. Upcoming 2015 tournaments with start date:
Oct 15th: Frys.com Open, Napa, California
Oct 22nd: "Las Vegas"
Oct 29th: CIMB, Malaysia
Remember, remember the 5th of November: WGC-HSBC Champions, Shanghai. Also Sandersons Farms Championship in Mississippi, fireworks and dead chickens in equal number, no doubt.
Nov 12th: Mayakoba, Mexico
Nov 19th: McGladrey Classic, Sea Island, Georgia

4).50 PGA Tour cards were distributed following last week's web.com Tour Championship and about 30% of those went to non-Americans including Grillo, Thomas Aiken, Iwata, Lahiri and Rod Pampling.
Among Europeans, Sweden's Henrik Norlander got through comfortably while Brian Davis showed his true colours and just about squeaked through after he had comprehensively failed to take control of his own destiny.
Gonzalo F'dez lost his card following a series of mostly self-inflicted mishaps and has no "status" on next year's Tour, begging the question: Whither Gonzo?
Leicester City's Greg Eason fell short in a valiant effort (back to the web.com for him) and Marcel Siem skunked outathere with no official money and a pretty ignominious month of golf. Another year in Europe presumably for Marcel.

5).Other "Notables" who fell short include Andres Romero, Baddeley, Points, Byrd, Merrick, Herron, Vaughn Taylor, Gainey, Jhonny Vegas and Rollins - Past Champion status only for them.
While three guys I expected to enjoy prosperous Tour careers also fell short, Scott Langley, Billy Hurley (has anyone had a worse two months than him?) and Luke Guthrie. They have conditional status courtesy of finishing in 126th - 150th place in FedEx points, some consolation but probably only 15-ish starts plus sponsor freebies.
Seeing the plight of these "veterans" will doubtless cause established Tour members to have an even closer look at their schedule for '15/'16 - front-load the events you commit to if you have any sense. Next week's Frys advance "commitments" suggest many are taking that advice as the field looks strong, led by "British Masters" Casey and McIlroy who clearly got lost on their way to Woburn.

Sr,
Your "Money Talks, Bullsh1t Walks" mantra looks like it'll do Ernie Els (and Retief?) a disservice in four years' time with the Presidents Cup being sold to Australia rather than being awarded to South Africa, just when you'd think Ern and The Goose would be prime for being International captains.

Golf World is reporting that the South Africa golf gurus refused to meet Tim Finchem's (and what the hell is it got to do with him?, he asked rhetorically) demand of $25M to stage it and concocted a $29M package deal (incl 2016 World Cup) with Melbourne instead.

PGA Tour HQ may not hold ALL the cards when it comes to the Presidents Cup, but certainly has all the picture cards, trumps and wildcards. It'll be interesting/instructive to hear the South African response, as we learn the importance, or otherwise, of being Ernest.


PS: If robo's reading: Did you see that Bill Haas had John Wood caddying? The Presidents Cup loves that guy almost as much as it loves Phil!!

Kwin - Wonder why Ernie and Retief and team couldn't come up with the $ Australia evidently did? And couldn't the golfers refuse to play, captains refuse to captain if they truly did not like any deal? Sounds like it's time to exercise some free will for those truly offended.

Answer: I'm guessing they simply don't care as much as many would believe. Business as usual - money talks, BS walks!

No idea.
Given the $numbers that were being bandied about during the PC commentary you'd think $25M is pretty small beer.
But then Finchem usually keeps such things pretty close to his chest, so no idea what the movers and shakers in SA would have known about it.
Shame though; the PC could be a hot property if the 2017 edition unfolds in as exciting a fashion that this weekend's action produced.