PGA Tour: The Season So Far In Film Titles: Notes from the Ballwasher

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1).This week's WGC-Mexico sees the continuation of American economic boosts to Mexico, the owners of the previous venue having been incapable of retaining the event. Good that the WGC is leaving the States, ridiculous that it's going to a pretty much non-golfing nation, shame it doesn't honour the Argentine greats and go to Buenos Aires.

As I know nothing about the golf course, except it's a 7,250-ish, Par 71, 1920's apparently tree-lined design, which will play even shorter due to 7,500 feet altitude; and as there are very few relevant clues about golf in the Mexico City area, I'll offer some tongue-in-cheek comments. And they're "inspired" by the titles of this year's Oscar Best Film nominations. (Nothing about Faye Dunaway, Warren Beatty or even Emma Stone.)

2).Arrival: Jon Rahm.
Easy one to start with; it's been a season so far for the 20-somethings on Tour, highlighted by the fact that only four events have been won by golfers in their 30's or 40's. Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas have both taken their Tournament Wins total to 4, but the biggest new Arrival has surely been Jon Rahm with his incredible finish in San Diego. And now we have confirmation he's taking European Tour membership as well.

3).Fences: Luke List.
The early stats to see who's been swinging for the Fences show something of a change from the usual long-driving suspects, whether DJ, Bubba, JB, Rory, Finau, Woodland, Kokrak etc.
Luke List looked like a web.com lifer until clinging on to his Tour card last year. This autumn saw him play the best golf of his career and now he leads the Driving Distance stat. Top Five early doors are: List, DJ, Hagy, Loupe, Kaufman. This order will change but look for Luke to be Listing close to the top all year.

4).Hacksaw Ridge: Matt Every.
A bit of a reach this, Hackers Saw Ridge would be better, and Matt Every is the Tour's Hacker of the early season, ten tournaments played, nine missed cuts and a w/d; if he was a racehorse his trainer would have been stood down for persistent non-trying.
As it is, Every still has the best (or worst, take your pick) part of two years remaining on his Tour membership; he hasn't made a cut since last April, had a mysterious 3-month absence last summer, not his first 3-month Tour absence, and takes up a tournament place that others more deserving could better use.
Honourable Mention, and cheap shot, to Steven Bowditch who thought Hacksaw Ridge was a bar, and slept the effects of over-indulgence through two traffic light cycles whilst at (sort of) the wheel. Hope he gets himself sorted out soon.

5).Hell or High Water: Justin Thomas.
Or Sh1t or Bust: Three wins for Justin this season already, but two missed cuts and a T39 in his last three efforts.
Good that he lyfted up to PGA National to greet his mate Rickie following the Honda. Which begs the thought: What's become of the scantily dressed nymphet that Rickie paraded at The Players a couple of years ago? No sign of her at Hazeltine either. Perhaps buying pedro pizza in Scarborough?

6).Hidden Figures: Martin Kaymer, Thomas Pieters.  
I'm still not sold on the analysis that GPB posted here a fortnight ago, about the relative strengths of the European and PGA Tours. Still think right conclusion, faulty analysis.
But one Hidden Figure that came out of it was that Kaymer had a career total of 16 x Tour Top Ten finishes, all but two of them in WGC's & Majors. Well, now he has 3, following his best "regular" Tour event finish at last week's Honda: 4th!
And another Hidden Figure was highlighted by GPB teasing that perhaps Pieters "mailed it in" at the Honda, to explain his missed cut following his runner up result at Riviera. Maybe, but perhaps he was also undone by putting on Bermuda greens; not sure what they have in Antwerp, but he thrived at Riviera as he had done in winning the NCAA Championship at Riviera five years before. Course specialist!

7).La La Land: Dustin Johnson.
An apparently effortless win for DJ at Riviera; apart from the LA context, does anyone look more as if they're in La La Land when they're golfing? Hoping we get another Major duel this year a la Stenson/Mickelson, and really hope Dustin is one of the protagonists, see what he's like in the crucible of Major fire, head-to-head. Pity he and Spieth weren't playing together at Chambers Bay.
DJ also has a Tigerish record as a closer, but not in Majors until last year: 13 wins, 8 2nd places, 6 3rd's. But he lost his only Play-Off.

8).Lion: Anirban Lahiri.
Good to see the Indian Lion having another good tournament, very close now to wrapping up his card for next year. Playing more US events should sharpen his game still further - some horrid short-game stats, but happy to hear Feherty trumpet Lahiri's game to an audience still unfamiliar with him. Unfortunately he's not yet in any WGC's or Majors.
And no truth to the rumour that he cancelled plans to live in Kansas. Never was.

9).Manchester By The Sea: Rory McIlroy.
Well, Manchester United All At Sea (at the beginning of the season anyway) will have to do. United fan Rory's season so far has equally been somewhat adrift, but coming out of the sick room to play in Mexico, then Bay Hill in a fortnight all being well. I've never followed Rory so delighted he's added "Hartford" to his 2017 schedule.

10).Moonlight: Jason Day.
Don't know where he's been Moonlighting, but he hasn't been working too hard on the PGA Tour recently, and now down with more sniffles. More like Daniel Sturridge than the uber-fit athlete projected in some ads. It'll be interesting to see if he defends his Bay Hill title in a fortnight's time, then the MatchPlay the following week; he can be as good as he wants to be, but not if he doesn't play.

Enjoy the WGC-Mexico - hope some of the players make it back across the wall for next week's Valspar at the very excellent Innisbrook Copperhead Course.

Yeah Kwini, I avoided the ultra bombers in my fantasy picks as thought they would lose their advantage. They're proving me wrong so far.

!!
Don't tell Mac, but Westwood has just gone double-bogey, double bogey. Not a pretty sight.

Tommy Fleetwood on the brink of Top 50 qualification for Augusta - time for him to keep his head on straight.

Lee has just had a four putt to add to those two doubles....also Brooks had a 5 putt from 6 feet (his form has been poor this year!?!)

Another double from lw1, including a 4-putt. Don't know if Billy Foster is on the bag, but I seldom see Lee managing his game that well; not many more years left in a fine career, Lee. Not too late to make it a great, Major-winning career but don't see it unless he gets a new pair of eyes on the bag, a different set of brain cells.

Super round for Molinari, decent from Kaymer. Plenty of time for Europe to dominate the best of the rest. After Dustin.

Snap, sirb!

McLaren wrote:Are you kidding me? Can't we have a little Westwood choking banter anymore?

You can if you want. However, I don't find use of the work 'choke' or 'choking' by someone who never has been, is not and never will be in a similar position to 'choke', that funny tbh. Never have done. Sorry.

pedro wrote:

Be_the_ball wrote:It lines up with one of Kwini's bugbears, hitting it in the stands and getting a nice free drop. Its technically within the rules but not within the spirit of the game, and taking the P out of the rest of the field. Not cool.

What about you navy?

Huh? FWIW, I'd agree that taking the P by deliberately hitting into stands to get a free drop is pretty low, even if it is legal.

C'mon DJ!

Rahm plenty impressive and I'm guessing he may have something to say about the world #1 making this a procession.

I wonder if the PGA can dig up an American to deny Jon Rahm rookie (crap word) of the year

Easy win made very hard Kwini! Outfield slower than a golf pro with a greens book!

Ooh...

Russell Knox outdoing Westwood, +9 on his final 7 holes. Mailing it in. Disappointing from both of 'em.

Is DJ choking Mac?

Dj's to lose at this point. Clutch pars when he needed it most. I hope to see more tournaments at this course in the future.

Good stuff from DJ, no panic when it got tight.

Hell of a bunker shot from DJ at the last!

Superb from Dustin Johnson!

super_realist wrote:Is DJ choking Mac?

Dunno, In Johnny Millers world a one shot win probably counts as choking.

Pieters T5 is worth 110 Faux FEX pts to him. That gives him 416 pts which should be enough for a PGATour Card next year.

Fleetwood earns 315 Faux FEX pts. Just 14 more points will get him STM status. One match win at the Match Play will get him those 14 Faux Fex Points.

====

DJ has opened up about a ~100 pt OWGR leads on #2 J-Day and #3 Rory.

Over a 150 pt leads on Hideki (#4) , Spieth (#5) and Stenson (#6).

Fleetwood definitely in The Masters, Fish into the MatchPlay - hopefully that can springboard him into Augusta.

File for future reference: Kisner starting to play well again - well worth following on Bermuda for the next two months.

Someone mention Lee Westwood???

Robo compiled this summary of Lee Westwood's 39 OWGR rated wins.

Out of Westwood's 39 OWGR rated wins... the strongest field was a 56 in the Dubai World Championship... followed by only two more wins in strength of fields of 50 or more. After that, the field quality of his wins drops off pretty significantly.

Line on Lee Westwood's career OWGR rated wins... by winners points.

0 - 100's (majors)
0 - 80's (Players)
0 - 70's (WGC's, Playoffs, stronger invitationals)
0 - 60's (upper tier PGAT or top-tier ET events/Flagships)
3 - 50's
9 - 40's
15 - 30's
10 - 20's
2 - 10's

Played in 76 Majors & 55 WGCs, No wins

Not sure how many Players Championships and BMW-PGAs, but he hasn't won any of them either.

His biggest harvest is 60 points. Twice. By finishing 2nd in Majors. Crazy.

GPB,
So what?
No doubt this was a disappointing result, but Lee gets criticised for what he hasn't achieved much more than hundreds of long-time pros who haven't half the CV that he has.

I know Shotrock can think of a 12-time PGA Tour winner who has never had a Major Top Ten. I would be on the side that both had fine careers, Westwood arguably quite unlucky not to have won a couple of BIG ones.

kwinigolfer wrote:GPB,
So what?
No doubt this was a disappointing result, but Lee gets criticised for what he hasn't achieved much more than hundreds of long-time pros who haven't half the CV that he has.

I know Shotrock can think of a 12-time PGA Tour winner who has never had a Major Top Ten. I would be on the side that both had fine careers, Westwood arguably quite unlucky not to have won a couple of BIG ones.

Kwini, chill out. You get very defensive when there is Westwood criticism. If finishing 2nd (or Top 5) is "arguably...unlucky" then there are unlucky players in nearly every major (blowout majors excepted).

In a few years, there is going to be some advocacy for Lee Westwood as a Hall of Famer. Especially after Monty's induction from a few years ago. IMO, Westy is a poor man's Colin Montgomerie. IMO, no HoF for Westwood, but I think he will eventually get it.

No one is championing a grass roots HoF campaign for Wayne Levi. Well maybe Wayne's dog is.

Certainly not Wayne; didn't know he had a dog.

I would think that Westwood should receive HOF consideration in a few years, like Montgomerie in recognition for services for international golf - not unlike Neil Coles and CO'C. Certainly not in the next ten years, and I would say Montgomerie's induction was years premature. Would actually think their careers are pretty comparable.

I lost a lot of respect of Lee Westwood when he co-conspired with Chubby on a failed coup against the PGATour a few back.

When Chubby got his minions to boycott the Players Championship.

I feel so stupid. There I was thinking LW was a half decent golfer who has challenged around the world, won more than most and perhaps critically gained the respect and admiration of the people with whom he competes.
Now I know what a waste of space he really is, based on what - some grudge held because he didn't always bend the knee to the BIG TOUR - sorry that should be the SUPER HUMUNGUS TOUR WHICH IS THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS IN GOLF.
Get over yourself and lighten up. I know if a grudge is worth anything it's worth holding, but really!!

Fantastic play by DJ, and a great tournament. Well done Mexico - now lots of great courses in SA and Oz.

If they would just replace Firestone CC as host, the WGCs would start to look good. What a dull course for such a big tournament.

No point in getting defensive about Westie, I was a little shocked to find out he hadn't won a really strong SOF tournament.

puligny wrote:I feel so stupid. There I was thinking LW was a half decent golfer who has challenged around the world, won more than most and perhaps critically gained the respect and admiration of the people with whom he competes.
Now I know what a waste of space he really is, based on what - some grudge held because he didn't always bend the knee to the BIG TOUR - sorry that should be the SUPER HUMUNGUS TOUR WHICH IS THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS IN GOLF.
Get over yourself and lighten up. I know if a grudge is worth anything it's worth holding, but really!!

Fantastic play by DJ, and a great tournament. Well done Mexico - now lots of great courses in SA and Oz.

Well put .

Wayne Levi!

The most impressive thing about LW (IMO and in professional golf) is that he achieved a #1 Ranking for a time.

Pedro - Agree. I would put this course over Firestone anyday. Much more exciting and strategic.

puligny

It looks as if Lee will be playing Houston as well as the MatchPlay, then there's The Masters where, clearly, only a win will satisfy the critics.
He could use a good result in one of these events, at least, to ensure he remains in the owgr Top 60 for US Open qualification.

Interesting stat from Golf Channel:
Dustin Johnson missed 16 putts inside 10 feet this week, which ties the most by a Tour winner in the last ten years.
(Remember, last week Rickie Fowler was 57 for 57 from 7 feet and in.)

Reading around the web it would seem that this weeks event was incredibly popular with the viewer (not all that common for golf) and the pro's who played. What do the posters of v2 think made this week such a success? Can it be replicated?



Kwini/Puligny

If, as it appears, you are Westwood fans are you not even a little curious about how he has performed throughout his career and how his numbers stack up to his peers? For example he has reached number 1 yet has never one an event as strong as the Honda?

Mac,
I'm not "curious about how he (Lee) has performed throughout his career" because I know how he has performed, and anyone with just a smidgeon of interest would have a pretty good idea also. Those exact same numbers quoted by GPB have also been quoted on here before, though there's possibly another w or 2 since then.

The "Honda" reference is just moronic. You're such an Americophile, whilst being an Britophobe, that I'm surprised you haven't long since moved over here.

kwinigolfer wrote:Mac,
I'm not "curious about how he (Lee) has performed throughout his career" because I know how he has performed, and anyone with just a smidgeon of interest would have a pretty good idea also. Those exact same numbers quoted by GPB have also been quoted on here before, though there's possibly another w or 2 since then.

The "Honda" reference is just moronic. You're such an Americophile, whilst being an Britophobe, that I'm surprised you haven't long since moved over here.

Kwini, you need to be able to demonstrate you have skills or a profession to get to the US. Can you imagine Mac being granted one? or "won" as he might say.

Michael Thompson won the Honda, I would much rather have Lee Westwoods career than his.

People give Lee Westwood grief for not winning enough big event with the claim that he is not that good, but then he was won numerous events throughout the world so he cant be that bad.

Lee Westwood has had a good career he is a good player. He is not a great or exceptional, but he sure as hell isnt poor or bad.

He played consistent golf and had a spell as world number one, you dont have to win events to be world number one, I would guess you could come second in every event you play and be in with a good chance.

I dont like the extremes to describe people in sport, Westwood good player good career, same as Luke Donald, I would honestly say they are no worse than big Angel and he has 2? majors.

You nailed it ... not great or exceptional IMO.

Casey gets more than his share of criticism on this site for underperforming, but LW not so much. He gets close in lots of very competitive events, but simply doesn't win them. Draw your own conclusions. Cashes plenty of checks however.

Casey, Donald, Poulter, and Westwood all been good players over the years, you dont play as long as they have if you are not good. I honestly dont think they have underperformed just think they have performed to their level. Any of them could have won a major but it just didnt fall for them at specific times, but that doesn't mean they are worse than Curtis, Hamilton, Cabrera, Walker, Glover.

Shotrock wrote:You nailed it ... not great or exceptional IMO.

Casey gets more than his share of criticism on this site for underperforming, but LW not so much. He gets close in lots of very competitive events, but simply doesn't win them. Draw your own conclusions. Cashes plenty of checks however.

Most players are not great or exceptional. Very few top class players around right now, or at any other time.

I think Westwood could have been better, but I think like a lot of players, he's a bit too keen on bladderation.

Masters Field Update

Since Jan 1, only Toto Gana ,Hudson Swafford and Jon Rahm have earned invites to the Masters.

Toto Gana won the Latino America Amateur Championship

The rest of the PGATour winners since Jan 1 already had invites to the Masters

Thomas (2), Hideki, Spieth, Johnson (2), Fowler

Tommy Fleetwood moved up to #37 with his 2nd place yesterday. He has virtually clinched a spot in the Top 50.

Jeunghun Wang has also entered the Top 50, but at #45, he is vulnerable of falling out the Top 50.

Including Fleetwood and Wang, I got the Masters field at 90 players.

Billy Payne's invite list:

To the best of my recollection, these are the Masters first timers.

All of the Amateurs (Luck, Dalke, Gregory, Gana, Hagestad)

Daniel Summerhays, Brian Stuard, William McGirt, Hurley, SiWoo Kim, Mackenzie Hughes, Hudson Swafford, Jon Rahm, Alex Noren, Tyrrel Hatton, Chris Wood, Andy Sullivan, Thomas Pieters, Tommy Fleetwood, and Jeunghun Wang

Andy Sullivan played last year and missed the cut. Chris Wood also played and did ok.

GPB,
Do you have an Adam Scott update?

PS: I think Woosie has called it a day, just there for the Dinner and free drinkies. And you're optimistically including T.Woods.

kwinigolfer wrote:GPB,
Do you have an Adam Scott update?

PS: I think Woosie has called it a day, just there for the Dinner and free drinkies. And you're optimistically including T.Woods.

Adam Scott? As in paternity leave?

Robo said Mrs Scott is due in late August.

This article on API field strength dwindling doesn't mentioned about new Diaper Duty.

http://www.golfdigest.com/story/as-the-arnold-palmer-invitational-prepares-for-life-after-arnie-the-question-of-player-support-lingers

You are probably right about Woosie though.

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/scott-may-miss-first-playoff-event-birth-child/

Scott's baby not due until late August.

I saw that article and read it as "first" WGC event.

Many media outlets, incl Irish Times, GD, ESPN, etc have reported Woosie calling it quits. Can't imagine they're alternative facts.

My tuppence on Westwood, for what it's worth, is that he has had basically two careers. In his first incarnation he seemed nerveless, won a stack of lesser European events. When he came back after his slump (say 2005 onwards? I know he won the Dunhill in 2003 but that seemed a bit of one off) he became a better player, more consistent at a high level, but seemed to lose that happy knack of getting into the winners circle on a really regular basis.

Match Play field is determined this week. Looks like they are going at least 66 deep maybe as low as #68

Stenson and Scott are OUT

Rose is thinking about not playing, according to wire reports and so is Fowler

http://www.bigstory.ap.org/article/80d7e77abf0c44139cc9c78df78bda81/4-players-could-miss-match-play-detour-masters

And who knows what Malady is going to befall Jason Day.

That's a bit of a slap in the face for Dell, but I was planning to write in my notes this week that the schedule is very tight this year, especially with the MatchPlay (obviously) starting on the Wednesday. Stenson is one of those I had in mind as he seems to like to play Tampa, BH and Houston.

Aren't Mexico Top Tenners, not otherwise eligible, allowed in this week's tournament?