PGA Tour: Canada Dry: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).What a fantastic weekend of golf, what dominance by Mickelson and Stenson, better ball final round of 58 I believe. Not to mention that they had the day's lowest round on Thursday, Saturday & Sunday - Stenson's 68 tied for lowest on Friday. And Well Done to Troon also - back again soon I hope.

2).Some will say they benefitted a little from the luck of the draw. So who were the (unofficial) leaders from the Thursday morning / Friday afternoon wave?
-5: Stricker
-4: McIlroy
-1: Reed, Woodland
+1: Rose, Westwood, Day, Snedeker, Thongchai

3).Part-timer Stricker now gets to add some events to his schedule if he can drag himself away from hunting camp: The PGA Championship, then the Barclays this year (and then who knows what further FedEx action he'll get?), plus The Masters and Birkdale next year. He'll be a Champions Tour player by then!
JB Holmes also qualifies for The Masters and Birkdale; Hatton, Johnston, Kjeldsen and Haas will receive exemption for Birkdale.

4).A pretty good week too for Darren Clarke as he rolled to a T30 finish. His Ryder Cup Team appears now to have five certainties: Willett, McIlroy, Stenson, Rose & Garcia, plus Rafa C-B who looks almost sure of a place.
Wood's injury w/d is a big miss by him, especially if he is unable to play in next week's PGA. Apparently Clarke has told Wood he needs to prove his fitness regardless. Sullivan and Fitzpatrick round out the "automatic" qualifying places right now but Westwood and Kjeldsen are closing in. Whilst Kaymer flattered only to deceive, as has so often been the case this summer. McDool didn't even flatter.

5).Many of last week's Open contestants will have hitched a ride on a charter jet to Toronto and this week's "RBC Canadian Open" a few miles west of the City at Glen Abbey. But the Canadian Open is another tournament to have suffered collateral damage from the compression of the Tour calendar - this week's field features a handful or two of top players, almost without exception RBC "Ambassadors".
Let's hope the respective Golf Federations & Tours will learn from this year's shambles and devise a schedule that makes sense to all Tours and doesn't unfairly penalise certain tournaments.
Though Sergio's charity gig doesn't seem to have suffered.

6).Neither of last week's Tour winners will be playing, no Stenson understandably, and no Baddeley who continued his Scott Hamilton-inspired resurgence with the Championship trophy at the "Barbasol". He defied the burden of having the worst hair on Tour, apparently combed (or not) with lard, to win for the fourth time. Badds is fun to follow and the Tour is a better place when he's playing well.

7).Badds beat young South Korean Si Woo Kim, the same Kim who first qualified for the PGA Tour, via Q-School, at the age of 17; too young to take his place on Tour! But he graduated via the 2015 web.com Tour and now, a fortnight removed from his 21st birthday, has scored his 10th Top 25 finish of this season, up to 45th in FedEx points.
Good that KJ Choi was out there following the four play-off holes with Mr.Kim, KJ the "coach" of the South Korean Olympic crew and mentor to so many of his young countrymen. Kim could surpass his namesake KT and Ben An as the best young S.Korean - hopefully he'll bring some of KJ Choi's personality to the sport.
Odd to see Baddeley with no sponsor logo on his cap - but his caddie had one, perhaps they'll share the Valspar largesse?

8).At the risk of being totally anal about the Play-Offs, and especially the fact that it's the only way for players to retain their "cards", it's worth noting that last year's points threshold for qualifying for The Barclays was 481 pts. Can't see it being any higher than 475 pts this year, possibly slightly lower.
Those who secured their cards last week include Molinari, a beardless DeLaet, Weekley and Tringale. Greg Owen and Martin Laird wasted good opportunities to pile up some points and each passing week sees their situation become more dire.

9).So, who is playing this week? Defending Champ Jason Day for starters. Furyk, Hoffman, DJ, Kuchar, McDowell, Snedeker, plus tourists Fitzpatrick (could use a good result), Coetzee and KT Kim. Other Europeans include: Blixt, Cejka, Laird, Norlander, Owen, Pettersson and Jon Rahm.

10).The PGA starts at Baltusrol in nine days' time. Early betting seems to reflect US Open performance more than The Open. This is the latest from Paddy Power:
8/1: Rory, Day
9/1: DJ
10/1: Spieth
16/1: Stenson (weren't they watching?)
25/1: Scott (seems to be firing blanks), Phil (2005 PGA winner at Baltusrol), Rose (poor season so far), Bubba, Fowler (Top 4? Yer havin' a larf.)
33/1: Willett (still hungover?), Sergio, Koepka (injury doubt) and Grace (a long way off his 2015 Major form).

One thing you can bet on: Baltusrol won't be ploughed under to make way for condos or luxury homes any time soon. But that still seems to be the destiny for Glen Abbey, which makes it slightly odd that they continue to use it as the go-to venue for the RBC Canadian Open.

Nice touch, Mac, subtle as ever.

And how many tournaments has Mummy's Boy won already? Imagine he's made a lot more money also than 99% of his freshman class @ Northwestern - one of the more academically challenging uni's in North America.


Once again, Glen Abbey should be more "score-able" this morning, heat and breezes building thru'out the day. Ernie Els and Scott Pinckney opening the batting.

80 golfers made the cut, but I'm thinking all will play tomorrow given that we have 78 pros and two amateurs - so probably no MDF'ers.

Plenty of birdies this morning but no-one really going low - most promising rounds seeming to hit the buffers around the turn.
Number One not having a good Day, scratching around as he has pretty much done all week. 61st as things stand and DJ will be closing the gap from #2 to #1 still further.

Two-Ball of Fathauer and Michael Thompson (and he needs a top result) combined 13 under par, significantly better than any scores among the early starters.

Martin Laird off at 11.45 a.m. with wind picking up. Playing well though and hopefully his putter will warm up just a little. Top ten would almost sew up his status for next year.

Well done Martin Laird; should still be in the Top Ten when the leaders finish - great chance to contend on Sunday.

Silly things you notice by accident.
Two-ball of Fathauer & Thompson both had super days, but what about Wheatcroft (64) and Ernst (80).

Jarod du Toit would be the 2nd highest ranked Canadian should he go on to win tomorrow. Behind Olympian Hearn and ahead of Olympian Deleat.

All Points Bulletin for three PGATour players that haven't played in a few months and I can't find anything on why they are absent.

Bo Van Pelt - Hasn't played since Pebble Beach
Michael Putnam - Hasn't played since Zurich.
Matt Every - Hasn't played since the Players.

BVP took a Career Top 50 exemption this year.

GPB,
You could add Tim Clark to that list . . . . .

I wonder if JdT's success is a an argument for Olympic golf being for amateurs only?

Should be a perfect day for scoring at Glen Abbey; DJ needs to rediscover his short game if he's planning to win.

Yep, Timmah has been AWOL w/o an explanation along with Charlie Beljan (Houston) after playing earlier in the season.

Timmah's (dubious) streak of consecutive seasons with a 2nd place is in serious jeopardy!  Since 2005.  But it is not the current longest active streak as Mickelson has a had a 2nd place in every PGAT season since 2004, including this one.

If you count the 1979 Open Championship, Nicklaus had at least on 2nd place finish in each PGATour season from 1962 to 1985

Timmy's compadre Coetzee has just posted 28 for Glen Abbey's front nine. Well, I DID say it was a "perfect day for scoring". Another 28 would set quite the clubhouse target.

On the "old gang" thread we mentioned "Roderick Slyme"; he was always fascinated by Chris Stroud's success in late-season tournaments, always seemingly just enough to earn his card for the following year. He's a bit out of kilter these days with the earlier end to the season, but is still striving mightily. But really needs a strong finish here, and then Hartford in a fortnight's time where he lost in a play-off a few years ago. Happy hunting ground for Tim Clark as well, as it happens but doubt we'll see him.

Dew Buster George Coetzee posts 63.

Hawaii 5-0 (Allenby) is -4 going into hole 18.

MAJ kind of giving away the senior open atm!

We seem to have it on a slight tape delay, on the tape delay network.
Hope Broadhurst wins, such an underrated pro.
McCarron seems one of the most popular guys around, but that beard ages him about 15 years.

Apologies if you are not looking at scores...MAJ is only on the par 5 14th! So maybe I am being premature and you are at the same time as Sky's coverage?

If Dustin wins today, Jason Day's #1 ranking will be vulnerable next week. Barring a great final round from Day today, Dustin will have to finish first this week and first or T2nd to have a chance next week.

However, chances are that Dustin will not hold onto the #1 ranking very long as he will be adding tournaments to his 2 year resume every week he plays. Dustin's 6 month "sabbatical" started two years ago this week so he is adding tournaments to his resume rather than replacing tournament in his resume.

Spieth cannot get to #1 next week, but can retake the #2 spot.

Rory and Henrik can get to #3 should either win next week.

What has Broadhurst done to make you think he should be rated higher than he is?

He's just been a solid pro for ages, never a star but always a dependable pro hovering below the top class. Not to mention his 100%(!) Ryder Cup record which certainly endears him to moi.

No sirb, I was following the scores on-line! On TV as well but deja vu there!!

Amazing how two matches can define a career as "under-rated"

I think he just defined his career, nicely franked those two wins.
This week in 2006 he was #49 in the owgr, one spot behind some guy called Jimenez.

Nice to see Martin Laird take the lead - now for the hard part.

Bitter sweet I should think, for Laird. Disappointment at not winning, but safely keeps his card, plays the Barclays, and perhaps he can spin this success into good results over the next month.
Not the day that Kuchar & Snedeker might have hoped for but both leapfrog Koepka into the top eight US Ryder Cup placings.

And Jhonny Vegas found that it's easier sometimes to win coming from behind than trying to hang on to a lead - like last week. Good for golf to see Vegas back in business.

Johnny Vegas gets his 2nd win. Might be a dark-horse for a podium finish in Rio.

Golf Channel reckons Rahm now has 382 FedEx points, which means he's probably 60 or 70 short of securing his Tour card for 16/17. But his Top Ten gets him into Hartford regardless and he still might hope for sponsors' free passes into the JDC and Greensboro.


Paul Broadhurst sounds as if he'll hope to play both Senior Tours next year, but he'd do himself a favour by ensuring he squeezes into the Top 30 of the Champions Tour money list, so that he retains an exemption for the full year - kinda important for planning his 2017 schedule.

Curious that Montgomerie made the cut in The Open but not in The Senior Open.

kwinigolfer wrote:
McCarron seems one of the most popular guys around, but that beard ages him about 15 years.

I watched some of the Senior Open on Sunday. How is McCarron getting away with that putting style? Looks like blatant anchor to me, holding his left hand into his chest!

I missed the finish to the Canadian Open yesterday. I saw Laird finish but then got dragged away. Catching up with the scores later I take it Wheatcroft had a bit of a car crash finish?

Regarding Broadhurst does his Senoir Open win not get him a full exemption for next year? The Sky sports commentators seemed to think so.

And finally on McCarron's putting style, I thought that as well. Do you think they are a bit more lenient with senior golfers?

Wheatcroft bogied the last two holes. On the 18th he knifed it out of a bunker into the water across the green.
I heard a snippet from the commentators - which I didn't understand - in that Broadhurst was not a member of the Seniors Tour. (Did he qualify then?). So I don't know.
As regards that putting style, "it is said" that they rest the arm/hand against their chest, and then move the arm/hand slightly away at the putting stroke, so it is not anchored. Hmmm.

Broadhurst's exemption is most likely for 12 months, but haven't seen that confirmed. He would then need to be in the Top 30 money winners to gain exemption for the entire year - currently 34th.
Will confirm, but that's the usual.

EDIT!!!!: pgatour.com also states Broadhurst's Champions Tour exemption runs through the entirety of the 2017 season - still not completely sure they have that right, but pgatour.com is usually pretty authoritative.

Putting style of Langer & McCarron a sham I reckon.

Langer also continues to anchor but get away with it. Seems the authorities are fine with anchoring on the senior tour.


Although Kuchar sort of anchors as well and gets away with it.

the Golfing Authorities need to be careful how they manage accusations of anchoring. they dont want to get to a situation like cricket have with players being cited for bending their arm.

They could just ban any way of holding the club that isn't what we all know to be the grip intended for golf. If I say the phrase "golf grip" I think we all know what I mean. Anchoring, thick grips, kuchar's anchoring to the forearm, claw etc etc can all go as far as I am concerned.

Jamie Donaldson has entered the Czech event the same week as the Wyndham, final tournament of the PGA Tour's pre-play-off season. Unless he has a top result at Baltusrol, that'll be the end of this chapter of his Tour career.

Alex Cejka first alternate for the PGA - if you spot him in the field, you'll know someone has dropped out. (Just the sort of course Cejka might do well at too.)

McLaren wrote:They could just ban any way of holding the club that isn't what we all know to be the grip intended for golf.  If I say the phrase "golf grip" I think we all know what I mean.  Anchoring, thick grips, kuchar's anchoring to the forearm, claw etc etc can all go as far as I am concerned.

Why do you even care Mac? I couldn't give a toss if someone got down and putted the ball as if their putter was a snooker cue.

The game has changed so much over the years that the game is pretty much unrecognisable from that which started hundreds of years ago.

Times change and things move on and evolve.

It would be easiest to just state a maximum length of a putter. Then you can use it as you like.

pedro wrote:It would be easiest to just state a maximum length of a putter. Then you can use it as you like.

The maximum putter length would be my preference. I don't mind Kuchar's method as I don't believe it guarantees to keep the head on the swing plane as the way anchoring does but perhaps one of you knowledgable lot could enlighten me?

Scott looks to have moved on from ban with reletive ease. Bradley and Simpson have definitely struggled but both are beginning to show a bit of improvement. Does anyone know what happened to Kevin Stadler? He said that he would probably have to give up the game (at pro-level) after the ban.

I think that as long as they allow McCarron and Langer to continue to use their version of this method it will creep back into the PGA tour.

I hear what you are saying Super about the game moving on and there are plenty of examples where new ideas and technology have improved the game such as metal woods and resin ball cores but there are others such a certain grooves on the club face which have been banned when the advantage they give has been realised.

If someone tomorrow invented a driver or an add on device which guaranteed that the club head would remain on swing plane for the entire stroke then it would be banned immediately. So why not the putter? It's the same game.

pedro wrote:It would be easiest to just state a maximum length of a putter. Then you can use it as you like.

Quite. Make it the maximum length of any club = 48" i.e. the max length of a driver. That should do it.

I still think that the rules already preclude all these odd ball putting techniques.  When the founding fathers wrote down the rules I think they knew what they meant by "stroke" and "striking the ball" but didn't realise how precisely this would need to be defined.

By strike at the ball the certainly didn't mean claw grip it or anchor a super long putter to your chest.  



Super

Things always move on in life, for example we now live in a world of $40 a barrel.  I don't even need to ask whether you support the worker in the North sea who are striking today.

You haven't a clue what they mean by stroke or striking the ball Mac.
I really don't see why you care, it's a bit like objecting to gay marriage. It doesn't affect your game in the slightest and it doesn't affect you in any way, so why do you care?
You can bet that back in the day they were using all sorts of grips before they worked out what worked best.

I don't support the strike action in the North Sea Mac, why on earth would I? Those guys get paid more than enough for the job they do. Most of them are fairly unskilled and would be earning less than half of what they get for their off shore shifts if they were on land.
They are incredibly lucky to have jobs at the current price and in a dying environment like the North Sea. They should be doing their bit to cut costs, rather than put pressure on an already incredibly stretched sector.

knowing all that I do about you, I agree, "why on earth" would you support those workers.

In the super real world one reason might be that you are not all that further up the food chain than those people on strike, being a lowly process type worker, just entering data into software, it could easily be you who goes next? After all it is not like you are an expert with great amounts on irreplaceable technical or theoretical knowledge.

Mac,
My position in the industry is completely irrelevant, yes, I'm higher up the chain than them, and I don't just enter data into software, it is down to people like me that they even have something to drill in the first place.

THe industry is on its knees at present and the North Sea is affected more than other basins due to its maturity and outrageous costs and tax regime. Workers like these going on strike need to be more aware that they are given great benefits when the industry is going well, but that they, as I have,  have to take the cuts when things are not going well. It's the nature of the business.

It's looking after the industry in order that there is still a job for them in 12 months. What they are doing is cutting off their nose to spite their face.

You demonstrably know NOTHING about this or any other industry, given that you aren't a professional of any type.

super_realist wrote:Mac,
it is down to people like me that they even have something to drill in the first place.

You personally biodegraded all the marine life from millions of years ago?

SmithersJones wrote:

super_realist wrote:Mac,
it is down to people like me that they even have something to drill in the first place.

You personally biodegraded all the marine life from millions of years ago?

It is pretty obvious that Super thinks very highly of himself but to suggest he is responsible for a whole industries existence is taking it to a new level.

My guess is that he has a geological background in education and plays the probability game of where oil deposits are likely to be.

Along with plenty of others in plenty of companies, hence the phrase "people LIKE me".

It's a bit unfortunate that the statement does seem to imply Super makes oil though - good spot Smithers!

Given the pish poor quality of Super's critical thinking I wonder if he actually has a "background in education".

Not feeling confident on the aussie lads this week

my 4 to do well

Spieth
Reed
Grace
Grillo

SmithersJones wrote:

super_realist wrote:Mac,
it is down to people like me that they even have something to drill in the first place.

You personally biodegraded all the marine life from millions of years ago?

Where did I say that? I work in EXPLORATION which means that without those in my department and the skills and data we have available and have interpreted, the people who work offshore wouldn't have a clue where to drill, how deep, what structure, and what pressure they are dealing with. NO ONE knows for certain if there is oil to begin with, you are looking at structures and features which make it more likely and therefore this determines which areas are drilled, hence why without people like me, those people offshore wouldn't have anything to drill. Got it?

They don't drill oil, they drill WELLS. So therefore, I am not claiming, or even inferring that I personally matured the oil over millions of years, by the way oil which is "biodegraded" is useless and has no value whatsoever.

Do you really think people just drill randomly into the subsurface and hope to find oil? That's the sort of thing that the SNP and pro-independence people think.

"I am not claiming, or even inferring that I personally matured the oil over millions of years"

Don't feel pressured to back track now. If you think you matured the oil I am willing to believe you.

You wrongly inferred it Mac, I'm not going to be responsible for your poor comprehension and pre-conceived ideas of what is involved in the entire process.
You're a luddite.

If you can mature the oil so quickly why do people claim the oil is running out?

I don't mature oil you plank. Get back to your bog cleaning and bus pass loser.

hmmm, thought this was a golf forum.

Guess I was wrong.

Lights blue touch paper and creeps away...

GPB

Sorry, hard to keep the golf chat going on a Tuesday, bit too early in the week to get excited about the upcoming event and the last event now a distant memory.

Get yourself over to the entrance music thread to get some proper golf chat.