PGA Tour: Barclay Scarred: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).Farewell to "The Barclays" as the bankers assemble at Bethpage Black prior to departing the PGA Tour scene, twelve years after assuming sponsorship of the old Westchester Classic.
Round One of next year's FedEx Cup Play-Offs will be sponsored by Northern Trust and staged at a new venue: Glen Oaks in Old Westbury, NY. Followed by:
2018: Ridgewood CC in NJ
2019: Liberty National: NJ
2020: Plainfield CC: NJ
2021: Bethpage: NY
2022: Liberty National.

2).With The Barclays going the same way as the bank's largesse at the Scottish Open, the biggest void left to be filled may be the logo on Phil's chest if the left-handed one loses his sponsorship. Reports suggest that Five Guys Burgers And Fries will now be replacing Barclays' acreage.

3).Round 2 of the Play-Offs will be next week's Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston, and that sponsorship too expires this year. Cue a week's worth of rumours about future sponsorship or the future of the tournament at all - it would be in line with the Tour's desertion of northern States if the Boston/Providence area is abandoned, but hopefully another event will replace it, though perhaps not enjoy Play-Off status.

4).Numbers 1 to 125 on the FedEx Points list qualify for this week's action. Garcia, Lowry, Cejka, Lahiri and Willett are absent so 120 pros, at last count, will take on the formidable Bethpage Black.
The 125 also retain their cards for next season, as do Messrs Duke, Marino, Cauley, Goosen, Chad Collins and Morgan Hoffmann who finished in the Top 125 in money earned - that loophole now expires permanently.

5).We described last week's Wyndham Championship in Greensboro as "career defining", and the outcome can be summarised:

In to the Top 125 and assured of full Tour Membership for 16/17: Kyle Stanley, Shawn Stefani.  
Out of the Top 125: Aussie Open winner Matt Jones (still has some status as a "Past Champion", Houston in 2014) and Whee Kim.

In to the Top 150 earning conditional status for 16/17: Stewart Cink, and Mansfield Man Greg Owen.
Out of the top 150: Will MacKenzie, Camilo Villegas - they both retain Past Champion status for their multiple Tour wins.

In to the Top 200, earning a place in next month's web.com Finals: Aussie Rhein Gibson.
Out of the Top 200: D.H.Lee who loses all Tour status.

6).Obviously the week's big winner was 21-y-o Si Woo Kim, who ran away with his first Tour win in his 30th tournament of the season. Kim is now up to #15 in FedEx Points and one more good result should earn him a place in the Tour Championship. He first "earned" his Tour card at the age of 17, but wasn't permitted by Tour rules to use it! But he's very definitely the real thing and, on early evidence, unlikely to go the way of his predecessor boy wonder namesake Kim.

7).13 golfers have now earned at least $5.3M in FedEx bonus money:
Cup winners: Woods (25M), Furyk ($15M), Stenson ($13M), Snedeker ($11.8M), Bill Haas ($11.2+M), Vijay Singh ($11.2-), Spieth ($10.9M), Horschel ($10.4M). All except Woods have already earned more cash by qualifying for this year's Play-Offs.
Others: Stricker ($8.5M), Mickelson ($8.0M), Kuchar ($5.9M), McIlroy ($5.5M), Donald ($5.3M) and all play this week.
That's a healthy retirement plan for these boys.

8).Doug Ferguson made a couple of interesting points about the future of Golf in the Olympics that I had missed.
~The course designated for Tokyo 2020, Kasumigaseki CC has 36 holes, so expanding the options for more play.
~In the clamour for some sort of Team event, tournaments run over 54 holes could represent an option that 72 holes might not. If not for the Individual Tournament, certainly for any Team Event, mostly likely mixed "doubles".

9).Bethpage Black prides itself on being a stern test for the Pros and no doubt its Par-71 (just 3 x Par-5's) will be fiercely protected. But the absent Nick Watney won with a ten-under-par total of 274 in 2012, by three strokes from Brandt Snedeker, with DJ and Sergio a shot further back.
Watney is still rehabbing injuries and Sergio's taking the week off, but you'd imagine the highly motivated Sneds and the always relaxed Dustin might play well again. Lucas Glover won the US Open here, while Johnson Wagner & Keegan Bradley played Bethpage frequently as amateurs.
Apart from that, it's difficult to have too many preconceived ideas as to how the weekend will pan out, but mostly fine (hot on Friday?) weather should ensure the course plays hard and fast.

10).Luke Donald finished T10 at the 2012 Barclays and perhaps course conditions might favour him if he can find the fairway off the tee.
After talking about Luke looking disconsolate following The Travelers, last week's 2nd place at Greensboro was a very welcome surprise. One interesting facet of his success is that he achieved it with very average, literally, stats for most criteria, but a -0.3 in strokes gained putting.
So much for stereotypes, but I imagine he'll need his putter to behave this week if Bethpage is to live up to its self-trumpeted reputation:
Bethpage "Warning: The Black Course is an extremely difficult course which we recommend only for highly skilled golfers."

Don't understand some of that logic, but still . . . . . .

Early scoring @ Bethpage is red hot, especially with Johnson's Wagner. Still a very faint chance for survival for Shane, but Wagner not helping him, not yet anyway.

Oof,
Terrible start from JB Holmes, now six over par over his last eight holes. Could he become the odd-man-out, put on ice and have to re-earn his way in to Love's good graces?

Has the Euro Ryder Qualification formulas changed much from 2014 to 2016?

Not that I can remember.

In 2014 the top 10 in the World Points list:

1 538.2 Rory McIlroy
2 389.6 Henrik Stenson
3 368.1 Sergio Garcia
4 287.4 Justin Rose
5 247.3 Martin Kaymer
6 206.3 Thomas Bjorn
7 204.8 Victor Dubuisson
8 194.5 Jamie Donaldson
9 171.8 Graeme McDowell
10 170.2 Stephen Gallacher
2778.2 Total

2016

1 364.0 Henrik Stenson
2 320.0 Rory McIlroy
3 270.5 Danny Willett
4 208.0 Sergio Garcia
5 168.6 Rafa Cabrera Bello
6 168.0 Justin Rose
7 161.6 Chris Wood
8 151.5 Andy Sullivan
9 142.7 Matthew Fitzpatrick
10 115.0 Lee Westwood
2069.8 Total

#5 RCB would not even crack the Top 10 in the 2014 Standings.

mmmm, Interesting; have to think about that one.

Meanwhile, not sure what a Valkyrie is but presumably Wagner was riding one today - in with a 64. The scores are out there, still waiting for the wind to pick up.

Bubba charging, but he probably needs a top 4 to crash the Top 8 assuming Reed and Fowler hold their positions.

A top 10 could put him ahead of Zach,

GPB... regarding Knox..... he has the option to designate the ET as his home tour anytime he wants.

The upside is he can then play any ET event anytime he wants without a competing event release. The downsides are he then becomes subject to the 15 event minimum and once he changes his home tour designation he can't change it back without special permission from the commissioner.

robopz wrote:GPB... regarding Knox..... he has the option to designate the ET as his home tour anytime he wants.

The upside is he can then play any ET event anytime he wants without a competing event release.   The downsides are he then becomes subject to the 15 event minimum and once he changes his home tour designation he can't change it back without special permission from the commissioner.

Is that just available to Euro Players or anyone that joins the EuroTour after joining the US PGATour. Or Americans like Koepka and Uihlein?

Speaking Uihlein, whats the status on his injury. He played the Lawrie Match Play after beng out for 14 weeks.

But he hasn't played since the Match Play and I don't see his name on the entry list for Switzerland or Holland.

Lowry currently projected at #100, could have changed by the time I "Send".

robopz wrote:Surprising to see Phil without a win, yet still consistent enough this year to be a Vardon contender.   I agree it's looking like a 3 man race... but Spieth is only around 11-13 shots outta the mix with potentially 13 rounds to go for the players.  

As close as the Vardon Trophy standings are, the stroke penalty that the USGA gave Dustin Johnson could be the difference. And also the difference between the PGA of America PotY.

I would hate for that to happen to Dustin Johnson, but I would love to see the USGA receive some more controversy about that ruling.

No-one should be surprised by Sean O'Hair's good play - Shotrock's been giving him lessons.

I think Lowry has finally lost his chance at a flight to Boston. Not to mention Minneapolis.

Putt and a half from Jason Day

If Day was just average off the tee, he'd probably be winning this going away, amazing putting over the past few days.

Martin Laird spending a few (hundred thousand) dollars. Reed getting his nose out front.

Lowry has said he is desperate to get on the RC team and is putting all his eggs in one basket. RC means more to him than doing well in the FEC. Well, good on him, but unfortunately it looks like he'll have to eat these eggs himself.

It's a shame he won't have made it, but his schedule's been all to c0ck for at least a couple of years, as if he doesn't quite know what he's aiming at. Neither one thing nor the other. Too bad.

Laird +3 on the Par-3's so far today. A fine result going down the drain.

If Lowry had played Hyundai, he would be in D-Bank, all other things being equal.

Those guaranteed ~35 FEX should not have been passed up.

Correct. Indicative of his dumbf@ck schedule.
Also think that Rickie needs a red hot finish otherwise he loses his chance for an automatic RC place. Zach relieved.

Thats Adam Scott all over.

I agree re Lowry btw.

Amazing w/Adam Scott - drained two absolute snakes yesterday, yet lost more than a stroke per round putting.

Well earned win by Patrick Reed though.

Off to Bawston, leaving Shane behind . . . . . . but two compadres next year, the Irish Olympic Team also on Tour.

Show-off..

http://www.golf.com/tour-and-news/justin-rose-makes-final-putt-barclays-wearing-olympic-gold-medal

Top Five is now in the Top 9 of the OWGR.

J-Day with a 3.5 lead on DJ, and over 4 pts on Spieth and 5 pts on Stenson

Rory is falling fast but big 2.2 pt gap between him and #6 Adam Scott.

Bubba, Rickie, Reed, Rose round out the top 10.

Grillo should be about #25, O'Hair inside the Top 80.

Pieters should be about #40.

Cheers GPB,

wouldn't mind seeing a Stenson-Reed encore at the RC!

Vardon update: (if my calculations are correct in the convoluted math of the Vardon Trophy)

Mickelson has a 2 shot lead on DJ
and a 4 shot lead on J-Day.
and a 11 shot lead on Spieth
and a 16 shot lead on Adam.

GPB wrote:

robopz wrote:GPB... regarding Knox..... he has the option to designate the ET as his home tour anytime he wants.

The upside is he can then play any ET event anytime he wants without a competing event release.   The downsides are he then becomes subject to the 15 event minimum and once he changes his home tour designation he can't change it back without special permission from the commissioner.

Is that just available to Euro Players or anyone that joins the EuroTour after joining the US PGATour.  Or Americans like Koepka and Uihlein?

Speaking Uihlein, whats the status on his injury.  He played the Lawrie Match Play after beng out for 14 weeks.

But he hasn't played since the Match Play and I don't see his name on the entry list for Switzerland or Holland.

GPB... the "Home Circuit" regulations are convaluted, but basicially make it realitively easy for a foreign player to take up membership on the PGAT but makes it very difficult for players from here to go the other way.

DEFINITION: "Home circuit" is defined as the recognized professional golf tournament circuit which plays all or some portion of its schedule in the country of which the player is a citizen.

And without getting into all the regulations... let me make some examples of player situations.

Russell Knox:  I misspoke earlier, in that because of Knox's citizenship, his home circuit is already the Euro Tour, and would be regardless if he were a member there or not. So he can basically play ET events without the need for CER's.  His only requirement is he play the 15 minimum PGAT events.

Carl Pettersen: There are provisions where a foreign player who plays the PGA Tour full time can designate the PGAT as his home circuit. Carl did that even before he got his U.S. Citizenship. If Knox wanted to, he could do the same, but then to dual tour on the ET, he would need CER's in conflicting events.

Adam Scott / Jason Day: The Australasian Tour is their home circuit. But since few if any of their big events conflict with PGAT events it's not much a factor. But if Day or Scott wanted to designate the PGAT as their home circuit they could, but the ONLY reason to do that would be if they feel like they won't be playing a full 15 events any more. In that case they need the PGAT Home circuit designation so the 15 event minimum is lifted, or they would lose their membership (like Kaymer did). Once they turn age 45 or AND make 150 cuts (veteran status), there is no longer a 15 event minimum.

Brooks Koepka: His home circuit was the PGAT all along even though he got status on the ET before the PGAT. So when he gained his PGAT membership he had to get CER's to play ET events opposite PGAT events the same week. Same for Patrick Reed when he chose to join the ET. And it's darn hard for PGAT players to get the minimum 5 CER's they need to play the ET, unless they play 25 on the PGAT or get special dispensation from the commissioner. BUT, I have been told the PGAT does work with players to get that dispensation to a point.... for example an extra CER or two for an American ET member would likely be forthcoming... but they are not very amenable to granting more than 1 or 2 extra, so it would have been difficult for Koepka or Reed to have played 6-7 or more "regular" ET events because they likely wouldn't have gotten the extra CER's they would have needed to do so.

David Lipsky (US Citizen):  Lipsky is in his 3rd year as a Euro Tour member. Once a player has been a member of a foreign circuit for 5 years... and if he were to subsequently gain PGAT membership, then he has the option to claim the other circuit as his home circuit.  The PGAT requirement for him to keep ET home circuit status  is he must play 20 PGAT events (5 more than the standard 15 for other home circuit players).

Ryo or Hideki: Japan Tour is their home circuit... so they can play there whenever they want without CER's (subject to Japan tour rules of course).  EXCEPT Ryo is in a special situation where Major Medical rules are more important in his case right now than Home Circuit rules. In Ryo's case he get's 5 rehab starts on any other tour before he has to play the PGAT.  He has now used 2 of those starts in Japan. Since he is not eligible for the Playoffs, he can continue to play as many events in Japan as he can before the Tour starts back up with the Safeway... even if it exceeds 5. But if he's already played 5 or more in Japan, and then plays again in Japan the week of Safeway, then that start would count against his PGAT major medical allocation unless he got special dispensation from the commissioner.

The above are the basics... and covers most situations... but there ARE a lot of other possible iterations... feel free to ask if you have specifics.

EDIT: Word "or" replaced with AND in the above... A foreign "home circuit" player must have 150 cuts AND be age 45 to be exempt from the 15 minimum events requirement.

Robo: FYI, Adam Scott has made 214 cuts in his career.

Jason Day is credited with 149 made cuts, not sure if it includes 2016 Barclays, but he will have 150 cuts made by the end of the year.

GPB... thanks for the cuts info... but my intent was to illustrate how players in different situations would be affected by home circuit regulations. The names are interchangeable...

Anyone else having trouble getting access to the Golf Channel we-site? Haven't been able to use it since before the w/end.

Working now Kwini?

Not properly! When I open it I find the leaderboard from a long ago Valspar Championship, Streelman winning!
I can navigate haphazardly but keep on returning to that damn leaderboard!
It must be a Chrome thing.

I have just tried it to get DL III news conference, alas not in UK

Kwini, they did something with the GC website a few weeks ago. It's now a pain on mobile devices. They further changed the menu layout a few days ago.

pedro,
I only access via a desktop, but it's been really funky - I can only get into it via emails I receive from them . . . .

Should have noted that the only European to secure a PGA Tour card for next year via the web.com "regular season": Top 25 is Ireland's Olympian, Seamus Power.
A few others, plus some 126 - 200 on the PGA Tour FedEx pts list, will contest the four web.com Finals tournaments, starting in a fortnight. It'll be interesting to see who turns up for them.

Stenson has had an MRI on his knee but claims it isn't that serious. Never mind missing the RC what happens if Stenson finishes his season only having played 13 events?

Mac,
He could very easily tee it up this week and w/d, then tee it up at Crooked Stick and w/d. 15 tournaments. Just like that.

But sure he'd be allowed to post a sick note and not go through a pantomime.

WHO: No Zika Cases Among Olympics Attendees

The World Health Organization reports zero laboratory-confirmed infections stemming from the Games in Rio, noting, however, that some cases may have gone undetected.

Of the millions who descended upon Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Olympic Games, none have left Brazil with a confirmed case of Zika virus, according to the latest report from the World Health Organization (WHO). “The situation is being closely monitored; a few cases may still occur, especially given the approximately one-week incubation period of the virus,” the WHO noted....

-------
At this point they seem more concerned about Zika cases that might have been sexually transmitted during the games than they are from cases that may later be discovered to be mosquito related.

More... http://mobile.the-scientist.com/article/46901/who-no-zika-cases-among-olympics-attendees

That's very good news.
Hope Charlie Webster also makes a full recovery.
Good health.

Remember that this week's Deutsche Bank tournament runs Friday thru' Monday. Then helter-skelter (with perhaps some summer swelter?) to Crooked Stick, 900 miles to the West.

Not to mention the delayed finish has a knock on effect to the publication of the OWGR too

Golf Digest Podcast with Brit John Huggan.

Discuss Ryder Cup (Europe is not a big Happy Family), and the Olympics,

Huggan wants Keith Pelley to approach Royal Canadian Golf Association to move the Canadian Open to the European tour.

And tell them they would play the tournament the week before the US Open.

http://www.golfdigest.com/story/golf-digest-podcast-the-european-ryder-cup-team-isnt-always-one-big-happy-family

Anyone know what significance that former PGATour pros Jumbo Elliot and Jeff Hart have in common?

John Huggan's always got his own agenda to punt.

Elliott and Hart are both former O-Linemen.

Kwini

Maybe so but I accept his and the other people on the panel's idea that DC should have reached out to Knox long ago and made sure he felt involved in the set up.

Why Mac? Why is Knox any more deserving of that than anyone else, and where do you stop?

Why should DC "reach out" to anyone? The team is simple. Qualify in one of the 9 positions, or ensure you do enough to catch the eye for the Captains Picks.

Knox isn't complaining, why the eff are you?

This report from Golf Channel says that Darren Clarke hosted two Ryder Cup dinners during the Players Week

One primarily for RC Veterans (which included Danny Willett).

And the other one for Potential RC Rookies including Rafa, Weisberger, Fitzpatrick.

So it begs the question, why wasn't Knox invited to the "Rookie" Dinner.

http://www.golfchannel.com/media/darren-clarke-holds-dinners-ryder-cup-players/

Mac,
You've always got to be against something, never for something. A bit like Huggan really who creates his frequent garbage for the ever receptive US market. Like GPB.

Pity you won't accept the fact that perhaps Knox "should have reached out to" DC and the E.T. "long ago and made sure he felt involved in the set up".

I imagine you have right old barneys with your bus driver . . . . . . .

kwinigolfer wrote:Mac,
You've always got to be against something, never for something. A bit like Huggan really who creates his frequent garbage for the ever receptive US market. Like GPB.

Pity you won't accept the fact that perhaps Knox "should have reached out to" DC and the E.T. "long ago and made sure he felt involved in the set up".

I imagine you have right old barneys with your bus driver . . . . . . .

Really Kwini? The passive aggressive ad hominem insults?

!!

GPB wrote:This report from Golf Channel says that Darren Clarke hosted  two Ryder Cup dinners during the Players Week

One primarily for RC Veterans (which included Danny Willett).

And the other one for Potential RC Rookies including Rafa, Weisberger, Fitzpatrick.  

So it begs the question, why wasn't Knox invited to the "Rookie" Dinner.

http://www.golfchannel.com/media/darren-clarke-holds-dinners-ryder-cup-players/

How do you know he wasn't invited, and didn't go?

Hey - I'm just hoping the US wins the "per capita" exhibition event this year!

Maybe he didn't want to be seen eating fried chicken with Sergio.

Shotrock, who should be revelling in O'Hair coming in from the cold, instead reprising the "Never Mind The Quality, Feel The Width" mantra . . . . . . !