PGA Tour: PGA Championship - Glory Days: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).Hey, Didn't we just have a Major?
Here we go again, the PGA Championship on Tillinghast's Baltusrol in Northern New Jersey. The PGA used to be known as Glory's Last Shot until the PGA Tour interfered and suggested the PGA Of America change their slogan as the FedEx Cup was really the pros' last chance at "Glory".
Yeah, yeah.
But we're in New Jersey, Springsteen's manor, so let's just celebrate four Glory Days, even though the "speedball" will be rocketing off the face of a golf club rather than from the hand of a baseball pitcher.

2).It's perhaps unrealistic to expect a repeat of the thrilling duel between Stenson and Mickelson but a great field should produce its own thrills and spills as most of the players compete in the USA for the first time in a month.
As for Henrik's and Phil's reactions to Troon:
Henrik: "It's a boyhood dream come true, and something I wanted to achieve all my life, and then it finally happened."
Phil: "It's the first time in my career that I have played that level of golf and not had it be enough to win a tournament."

3).Half a dozen golfers left Glen Abbey thinking they gifted Jhonny Vegas the Canadian Open win - happy to see Martin Laird secure his card and fleetingly stick his nose in front before treading water for his final few holes; and Kuchar & Snedeker will feel they squandered golden opportunities to wrap up their automatic Ryder Cup Team place. Kuchar, Fowler and Reed are all headed to Rio (for eleven days according to Rickie) so the guess here is that Davis Love has tipped all three the wink that their RC participation is assured.

4).After this week, the Tour visits Hartford, the Quad Cities and Greensboro and anyone out of the FedEx Top 125 points placings after that lot loses their chance at a Barclays tee-time, and possibly their Tour card for next season as well.
Including Jamie Donaldson and it's looking increasingly as if he's given up on his PGA Tour membership - whether it's his schedule, his game or both, things don't seem to have worked out for him, professionally at least, so for him this possibly really his "last shot".

5).Phil has history on his side as he looks to get right back on his horse to "defend" the PGA Championship he won at Baltusrol in 2005; he then went on to win the very next Major, at Augusta in April, 2006, so he should relish the chance to go from disappointment to a relative comfort zone.

6).Top 50 finishers among the 24 playing tomorrow who finished behind Phil that week include:
T10: Vijay, Toms
T17: Zach, Westwood
T23: Sergio
T28: Vaughn Taylor
T34: Bohn, Furyk, Freddie Jac
T40: Scott, KJ Choi
T47: Ryan Palmer, Stenson, Yang
Not much course form to go by there.

7).Baltusrol has the reputation as a bit of a tree-lined snoozer, all Par-3's and 4's except the Par-5's 17th and 18th: The 18th was the easiest hole in 2005, a reachable Par-5 but it has now been lengthened with a narrow driving area dominated by water alongside the fairway. Unless there's a following wind, only the longest/most reckless will go for the green in two, so effectively making it a lay-up off the tee, lay-up second shot, wedge, putt putt. Not guaranteed to stir too much excitement but perhaps the PGA can liven it up a tad?

8).I'm interested to see how the nouveau British contingent fares, Hatton and Johnston, Fitzpatrick (lousy form since Sweden) and Sullivan (has promised more than he's delivered this summer). And what about Willett (quiet summer for him) and Wood (beware the injured golfer?)?
Of the continental Europeans, my each-way choice is Molinari, quietly having a fine summer and perhaps the sort of golfer that will play within himself, fairways and greens, and suddenly find himself in contention.

9).It's been hot and muggy in the New York area but temps are forecast to moderate to the mid-80's most of the week, with thunderstorms possible especially on Friday and Sunday. Hopefully the modest rainfall recently has been enough to ensure we won't have a repeat of Glen Abbey's brown out.
Day, McIlroy and Spieth are Major-less this year; sounds like Day has had his practice restricted by family health concerns, but that change could be as good as a rest for him. Can't fancy Spieth but hopefully Rory will be somewhere close to his best.

10).Willett, Dustin Johnson, Stenson. Who's next in line as we seem to be enjoying a near epidemic of first-time Major winners? Answers please.
The PGA Championship may be the Fourth Major in almost every respect, but it's still more important in our review of a golfer's legacy than the FedEx and WGC action. Hope the golfers feel the same.

kwinigolfer wrote:sirb,
I think we'll see a few w/d's, but have only seen Shane hit a handful of shots so was hoping to follow him. I'll keep my eyes peeled but if you see him coming thru passport control, let me know!
Harrington's a regular at Hartford, very popular and does a great job of acknowledging that - I'd expect him to play well, especially given his recent decent form. Off with Danny Willett today, at 9.15 a.m.

Paddy has been playing alright recently, just hasn't put it all together to be contending yet...He still has yet to have that amazing round with his putter this year where he makes everything

Ryan Palmer best among the early birds. He was out early yesterday, too, and was apparently pretty narked at the conditions they had to play in - ended up refusing to play his ball as only relief from standing water in the fairway was in the rough. At which stage they suspended play.
Kaymer also aggrieved that they were kept hanging around and didn't get the chance to warm up again. Good that he recovered from his miserable first few holes.

Signs of life from Justin Rose on his 36th birthday.

European Ryder Cup thoughts:
Yuuuge chance for Andy Sullivan to leap frog Chris Wood on both lists and could get close to Rafa & Rose on the World list.

Fitzpatrick not setting Baltusrol's front nine alight so Westwood & Kjeldsen, playing together today, could both get closer on the World list. And a Top finish for Kaymer could get him close to automatic qualifying positions.

Kwini,

Westwood and Kjeldson are nearly 30 pts behind Sullivan.

They will need at least a solo 4th place finish to get in their neighborhood

Kaymer needs a three way tie 2nd or better to catch Sullivan.

Barring a Fantastic weekend by any of the outsiders, the Euro Ryder Cup qualifying season is about over.

There is only three ET events that count on RC standings left after this weekend. All of them should get only the minimum OWGR points and none of them have big purses.

OWGR pts earned at the Olympics does not count.

FWIW, Fitz and Wood are playing in the Lawrie Match Play. I don't see any other contenders in the field

I know that!! Big chances for the pretenders nevertheless.
Decent round (66) today from Rustin Jose (Birthday present) and Harrington going well.

Did you see my earlier Putnam note?

Yep, saw that. M. Putnam missed the cut (his little brother Andrew made the cut)

I think you might be overstating the field quality next week. Probably around a OWGR-40 at best.

Keep it going Paddy!

Maybe (seems a bit low tho'), but much deeper than usual - not surprising as there is so much to play for for the rank and file.
Have to say, we don't look to follow the big names, much more interesting stories further down the field and among the young ones, all (I think) of whom will be there except Spieth (and Fitzpatrick!).

Terrible start by Westwood.

Well done St.Padraig

And:
Nice finish from Franny:
Birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie. Pity about what went before but nice way to close - if only there was a pizza emoji.

Could be on the south-eastern fringe of some weather coming through over the next hour or so . . . . . .

Two birdies in a row for lw1, just need another six.

Surprised they brought the golfers off when they did - but now they've brought 'em off, when do they send 'em back out again?
The line of storms affecting Baltusrol suggests only intermittent interference, but there's obviously a lead-time for resumption of play.
Translation: They'll be lucky to finish Round 3 this evening (sunset about ten past eight).

Looks like the "hour's" delay was wildly optimistic; with an 80% chance of rain, and stronger winds, Sunday, I'm spending my time cancelling Monday appointments.

Seems like whenever the USGA and PGA bring a Major to the Northeast, there is always a weather suspension.

The USGA almost completely ignores the Midwest. One US Open since 1991 in the Central Time Zone.

The PGA ignores the West Coast, no West Coast PGAs since 1998.

Virtually no chance of rain on the West Coast this time of year and here in the Midwest the summer storms usually come and go quickly.

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I see that 16 yr old (and 295th ranked) Phachara Khongwatmai is having a good tournament in Thailand.

GPB,
As does the PGA Tour, apart from TX. Just Memphis, the JDC, and a couple of opposite fielders this "regular season" - even bringing the old Western Open to Philadelphia for goodness' sake in a year or two.

Silly that they didn't start Round 3 at 7.00 a.m. given the chance of storms.

Possibility the lightning will veer away and there might be a window coming up which would make it worthwhile them sending the guys out to warm up. Otherwise they'll have a scheduling mess on their hands, (as if they don't already).

Move tee times up? Well, then the PGA would have been on tape delay. and No one really likes that.

It sounded like Faldo might have other obligations for Monday based on his body language when talking to Kerry Haig.

I think the PGA should institute a Saturday cut. Something like low 54 players and anyone within 10 shots.

Im off Mon and Tue so these delays suit me fine

Play suspended for the day (Saturday), Round 3 resumes at 7.00 a.m. Sunday. Good luck.
EDIT: Round Four commences, in same pairings (good move) at approx 8.40 a.m. Sunday.

(I hate tape delay, but dislike tournament finishing later than perhaps necessary even more.)

No word yet on condition of Baltusrol course or whether play will begin as scheduled at 7.00 a.m.

But here's a Padraig Harrington article to keep us entertained:

http://www.pga.com/pgachampionship/news/pga-championship-2008-pga-champion-padraig-harrington-turns-back-clock-saturday-baltusrol

Kwini

If Kisner shoots another 65 it could be the least watched major win ever.

Not sure I understand that; still no word here from the course, but don't think it's rained recently and forecast is not too bad for this morning.
Standing water in the fairways never bothered them Friday so perhaps they'll start promptly.
First indicator might be Leishman's score as he'll be putting out on #18.

Up and running, Par for Leishman!

kwini

He will have played all of the 3rd and 4th rounds from a tee time which doesn't reflect the fact he is in contention. Depending on how the leaders play their 3rd round Kisner should maybe have been in the last few groups.

PS, I don't like this funny groupings thing they are doing to try and get finished quicker. These guys have nothing but free time so why not do things properly even if that does mean a Tuesday finish?

Don't know about anyone else but I would be happy to watch some major action on a Monday and Tuesday evening.

The lack of coverage for the start of the third round leaders is baffling, considering it maybe delayed after an hour or two of there own coverage

It looks like Kevin Na is holding up the field. Again. If the scoring is timely, he'll finish about half an hour behind the pair in front of him. Westwood and Kjeldsen right behind Na, hope they're hitting in to him.

sirB

Not sure who covers golf in your area but just had a look and live coverage doesn't start until 2pm on Sky sports 4. Meaning we will probably miss the front 9 of Rd3. Another reason to just go with the flow and except a monday/tuesday finish?

Kwini

You are pretty good with the weather, how long before they have to stop play today? One site i looked at said thunderstorms at 12.45 NJ time and that between 1pm and 5pm it is almost guaranteed to be raining pretty hard.

Mac,
Unless it rains heavily they only have to be concerned with lightning in the area and the cells look pretty scattered at the moment; which is not to say one won't pitch its tent over Baltusrol.
Short answer is "no idea", but would think it'll be noon before there's a sustained threat. After that it's anyone's guess - the course getting flooded is probably the biggest threat.

Round of the day in progress is -6, thru 11 holes, by Charley Hull.

Taking a while to warm to Tyrrell Hatton, but he's certainly an up and comer, another superb round.

But very disappointing for Sullivan, Kjeldsen and Westwood. Time for Martin Kaymer to stand up and be counted, but poor start for him.

Lift, clean and place for Round 4? Not sure whether that just applies to balls in the fairway.

Live "leaderboard" is confusing to say the least, but it looks as if Robbie Castro and Matt Jones have kicked off Round 4.

Branden Grace going like a train - if he can birdie/eagle #18 there's someone who could have the tournament won whilst the last groups are still on the front nine.

PS: How long before Castro and Jones catch up the grounds crew behind Walker & Streb? All the elements of farce are securely in place.

Kwini

I don't get why they couldn't pull players like Kisner and Grace from the set plan and pop them later in the Rd4 draw?

Think outside the box people.

Walker and Streb seem to be treading water

Just as I say that they both 3 putt

McLaren wrote:Don't know about anyone else but I would be happy to watch some major action on a Monday and Tuesday evening.

There are a bunch of volunteers and PGAofA officials who have REAL jobs to go to on Monday.

Come on Paddy keep this going!!!

GPB wrote:

McLaren wrote:Don't know about anyone else but I would be happy to watch some major action on a Monday and Tuesday evening.

There are a bunch of volunteers and PGAofA officials who have REAL jobs to go to on Monday.

And every one of them a hero. #makeAmericagreatagain

First pair has completed Round 4 - Joost Luiten out on the course and cruising: -5 for the round after 15 holes.

Probably too late for Joost, unless he birdies in for a first-in-a-Major 62, but a couple of things to play for among the also rans:
Top 4 qualify for the 2017 Masters.
Top 15 qualify for the 2017 PGA.

So far so good with regard to the weather; unless the forecasters are telling porkies, there's every chance of a Sunday finish

Maybe golf needs that thing in cricket where the calculate a winner in the rain?

Duckworth / Lewis! Or you could even invite a Pools Panel.
Don't think it will come to that Mac.

Who's going to throw in a 62 today?

Squint cap not helping Paddy's nutter look.

Talking BS again I see Mac

SirB

Pretty much just made the comment for your amusement.

Anyway, nothing wrong with being a bit odd.

Fine finish for Padraig; he's played well at Hartford in the past and wouldn't you think he might have a chance in Rio?

Happy for Molinari, dismayed by Westwood.

Feel a bit sorry for Kisner, starts the day just a few shots out of contention but is forced to play his round outside the adrenaline building atmosphere of major back nine. He played so well and deserved the chance to test his game in the battle for a major.

-12/-13 to win, or will someone go out and shoot 65 and get to mid teens under par?

The way the course is playing I suspect the winner will come from the top 4.

Although Branden Grace is doing his best to prove me wrong

Walker, Day & Henrik all wearing black. First one of them to -14 wins!

Lovely from Adam Scott