PGA Tour: The Fifth Major, #Alternative Facts: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

Technical problems here at Ballwasher Controls so will post what I can and may return later:

1).Only saw the final hour of last weekend's Wells Fargo play from Eagle Point, but an exciting finish and the course looked terrific - the golfers seemed to enjoy it and they may get to return in 2021 when the Presidents Cup is staged at Quail Hollow. Super win for Brian Harman, almost a local lad, (as he also will be this week) and not much rust on DJ's game.

2).Disappointed to see the Team Europe challenge fizzle, but promising work from Molinari and Noren, while McDowell seems to be running into form. Rahm is relentless, this just in, but possibly not this week.
Another good experience too for Seamus Power - hopefully he can capitalise on his good play by stitching together four good rounds instead of two or three, perhaps at the Byron Nelson as he'll be sitting it out this week.

3).I like The Players Championship and I've grown to enjoy the course, especially the Par-5's. We'll see some changes this week, with Par-4's #6 and #7 being modified and the Par-4 12th shortened to be driveable - that's the intention anyway but reports from practice rounds suggests that player strategy will be dictated largely by the pin positions (and wind obviously). It always seemed to be a sleeper of a hole, fall asleep and bogey awaits, but the Tour clearly wanted a driveable Par-4 and now it has one, though it all looks a bit contrived to me.

4).TPC Sawgrass is a Pete Dye creation of course, the third in five weeks, and demands at least as much precision as pure power which makes wins by Woods and Jason Day all the more impressive. I still like course specialists here and McDowell (100/1 ish) & Molinari (50/1) are two who are worth looking at. And Sergio excels, with two runners up finishes as well as his 2008 win.

5).The Tour announced yesterday that the FedEx Cup sponsorship contract would be renewed for another ten years; and also announced that there are no immediate plans to revert The Players to March. Even if the key word there is "immediate", I still like this May date, though the Tour's March schedule continues to be questionable.

6).Bizarre caddie/player goings on with Willett and Tweeter Murray both changing their partnerships, in seemingly abrupt fashion. Danny Willett certainly needs something to turbo-charge his season which has been a bit of a waste so far - he's going to find it increasingly difficult to stop a rankings free-fall.

7).A couple of Major Championship qualifying dates to take note of:
US Open: owgr Top 60 as at May 22nd qualify. There's a second bite at that cherry on June 12th.
Open Championship: owgr Top 50 on May 29th.

8).The weather looks reasonably good for the week, there's extensive TV coverage, the fridge is full of brewskis, what's not to like about this week?

Shotrock wrote:And how about Vijay in the mix? Impressive and hope he can keep it up.

So long as he tweets to Tiger.

Disquieting news that Rory has scheduled an MRI on his back for Monday . . . . . . . .

Cant remember when or who but I distinctly remember Rory firing back at a reporter who questioned his need for so much gym work and how it has affected him injury wise and how he may run in to problems later on...

At the time Rory shot him down quite aggresively....it seems that he may have been better off heeding the advice. Based off the past two years his body seems to be packing up in very similar vein to Tigers...although much earlier.

Nice to see Vijay rolling back the years...I have him in 3 of my draftking lineups so heres hoping it continues.

Surprised Mickelson didn't find a sprinkler head in that bush on hole #10.

Every chance now that the cut will go to +2, which will mean a yuuuuuge field for Round 3 and almost certainly a bunch of MDF'ers on Saturday evening.

owen,
You're right about Vijay rolling back the years. And another wiping away the cobwebs is IJPoulter, top Englishman so far, tied w/McDool for to GB & NI.

GPB wrote:Surprised Mickelson didn't find a sprinkler head in that bush on hole #10.

Aah yes, I'd say Tigers found a few sprinkler heads in bushes over the years...

Interesting comments from Brandel Chamblee during the week around the "modern" golf swing and its impact on the body campared to the classic swing of the likes of Slammin Sammy & Phil.

If you haven't read it, he made the point that the modern swing with the ridged lower body against the big shoulder turn is whats causing so many lower back issues, where as the classic swing had way more moving parts and was kinder on the body, enabling the likes of Phil to play at the top level into his late 40's. While Tiger, and perhaps Rory now and possibly Jason Day have issues.

Aah Kwini, I hope you're not going all Captain Mainwaring on us, this whole Brexit thing is doing funny things to people.

super_realist wrote:Doesn't it seem amazing that a company like Taylor Made which is leaking money like Mac in front of a Doak book can pay McIlroy £100m when they are losing that much every year.

What makes you think TM is losing £100m a year?

[quote="Be_the_ball"]Aah Kwini, I hope you're not going all Captain Mainwaring on us, this whole Brexit thing is doing funny things to people.[/quot

Not sure I'm on the same page there, but hope I'm not on the same page as Arthur Lowe - although my Dad did his fair share of fire-watching . . . . . . #savethedockyard

On the flip side of too much gym work causing back issues...I haven't been inside a gym for 15 years and I can literally put my back out by sneezing!

82 golfers due to be in action today, and thunderstorms in the forecast. There'll be a further cut, top 70 and ties after 54 holes, the dreaded MDF.

Happy to see Noren, Rafa and Poulter the leading Euros at T5, all got something to prove and hopefully they'll move forward again today.

Storms: Please stay away.

I seem to recall Rory had some back problems as a slightly podgy teenager. Maybe he just has a long term back issue, or maybe it's a short term niggle? Certainly doesn't sound too bad if he is continuing to play and delaying scan until Monday.

raycastleunited wrote:

super_realist wrote:Doesn't it seem amazing that a company like Taylor Made which is leaking money like Mac in front of a Doak book can pay McIlroy £100m when they are losing that much every year.

What makes you think TM is losing £100m a year?

It's been widely reporting that they were costing Adidas a fortune, making big losses every year.

Billy Horschel, what a plank.

https://twitter.com/Skratch/status/863136572492832768

Every tournament director's worst nightmare: 82 golfers, storms in the forecast, Ben Crane opening the batting. What could possibly go wrong.

Brian Harman & Pat Perez were 1st and 2nd last week and are in the third group out - both comparative racehorses in terms of pace pf play. Imagine they'll be waiting on every shot.


B_t_b,
I think that is somewhat out of context, Horschel was having a laugh and a joke w/Veej on the previous hole after Vijay holed a snake from way off the green, Billy Ho bowing to Veej.
The three of them all live in the TPC area, imagine they all know each other pretty well, and Horschel just exasperated with the irony of the whole thing. That's my escape route for him anyway, he's great to follow usually.

There's something you don't see every day - and I'm not talking about a two-touch penalty:

The first three groups out all on the same hole, and it's a Par-4.
Ben Crane doing what Ben Crane does with impunity - holding up traffic, the sort of pr1ck you'd find in the fast lane of a 3-lane motorway driving with both hands on the wheel under the speed limit with half the M1 queued up behind him.

Tim Rosaforte at Golf Channel did a excellent profile on Freddie Jac and his young son's fight against a heart defect.

http://www.golfchannel.com/video/freddie-jacobsons-son-max-stronger-ever-after-heart-surgery/

kwinigolfer wrote:
B_t_b,
I think that is somewhat out of context, Horschel was having a laugh and a joke w/Veej on the previous hole after Vijay holed a snake from way off the green, Billy Ho bowing to Veej.
The three of them all live in the TPC area, imagine they all know each other pretty well, and Horschel just exasperated with the irony of the whole thing. That's my escape route for him anyway, he's great to follow usually.

Glad to hear that! I wasn't aware of the context, so thought he was just being a brat after a wrong club selection or something.

Be_the_ball wrote:Billy Horschel, what a plank.

https://twitter.com/Skratch/status/863136572492832768

What a complete and utter tosspot. I hope his caddy just left the club there. What a peni5 shelf.

super_realist wrote:

Be_the_ball wrote:Billy Horschel, what a plank.

https://twitter.com/Skratch/status/863136572492832768

What a complete and utter tosspot. I hope his caddy just left the club there. What a peni5 shelf.

SMH

Very cool GPB,
Always liked Freddie, fun to follow, always likely to do something just a little bit different.


B_t_b,
Horschel used to be a real jerk, and I don't doubt his walk-off wasn't fully appreciated by Veej & Furyk, but seriously doubt they thought it was disrespectful.

Not happy to see Westwood struggling - would think he needs to start earning owgr points pronto. He might squeeze into the US Open, but he'll plummet in the rankings unless he finds some form. Pat Perez on fire!

Jon Rahm +7 after 7 holes. Kinda shocking. Is he starting to run out of gas? Young man, and hasn't played much since Augusta, but under media scrutiny every time he plays.

Franny!

Lots of huffing and puffing but no-one raising the bar from Holmes and Stanley at -9.

Westwood makes the cut by the skin of his teeth and should be playing with Mickelson first thing on Sunday. And Rory should be out with Jason Day.

And I still think #17 is the worst hole on Tour.

Kwin - I highly doubt (rather know) you could give a rats a-- if any "merican" was under the media scrutiny of Joh Rahm, but your compassion is endearing. Too funny.

Nothing "funny"; just trying to figure out why Rahm looks like he hit a wall with the worst round of the day. And his worst Tour round ever by 6 strokes.
What's "merican" got to do with it?

super_realist wrote:

raycastleunited wrote:

super_realist wrote:Doesn't it seem amazing that a company like Taylor Made which is leaking money like Mac in front of a Doak book can pay McIlroy £100m when they are losing that much every year.

What makes you think TM is losing £100m a year?

It's been widely reporting that they were costing Adidas a fortune, making big losses every year.

TM is profitable. Just doesn't fit Adidas strategy: hardware requires a lot of R&D and no synergies or ability to scale the products. R&D effort developing boost technology in shoes can be applied across all sports, moveable weights in drivers no. Nike realised this too.

TM was actually doing really well until they shot themselves in the foot. Despite the silly name, RBZ was the company's most successful product ever. They then released RBZ Stage 2 for no reason because it was basically the same product in a slightly different colour, which annoyed retailers who were left with loads of obsolete stock, and golfers who paid £300 for a club which was "out of date" and on sale at half price a few months later. To make up for this they rushed out the jets speed and SLDR which were not great and just made things worse. But last year M1 and M2 proved incredibly popular, I see so many pros use them regardless of their endorsements.

I think private equity could be good for a niche business like a golf club manufacturer. They'll obviously take a lot of cost out but I imagine we will see longer product cycles and less discounting. The problem is the golf market has no long term growth prospects.

Bizarrely find myself quite wanting Poulter to win, though if I was to have to actually guess what he'll do I'd say shoot about a 74 to slip back.

Re Poults: Quite agree Digs, now he's put himself in position a win would be a fine return to form (validation?) after three years or more in the doldrums.
He said he played "boring" golf yesterday, but the only one without a bogey he was certainly doing something right, not short-siding himself for one.

Should be dry and 80's today, breezy perhaps later on. Westwood off to a scratchy start.

Imagine Poulter's a scoreboard watcher, but would probably be best if he didn't take a peek after the leaders' starts.

Lousy start from Sergio but nothing we haven't seen before this week . . . . . . . not top Spaniard at the moment though.

Come on Poults. Keep. This. Up.

Nice to see Rafa CB channeling his inner Peter Green Fleetwood Mac: Albatross!!

Whatever Poulter does over his final three holes he's done himself proud - and, barring catastrophe(s), has booked himself a return trip next year.

Short game exhibition from Si Woo....Holmes and Stanley should surely be close to a slow play penalty?

sirb,
The places JB visited, it's surprising they ever finished . . . . .

Very impressed with Poulter's weekend, hopefully this gives him a new lease on Tour life. Hoping he plays at Hartford which is a course tailor made for him.

Grayson Murray just found out that the Asians and Europeans are not that bad after all. Tosspot that he must be.

kwinigolfer wrote:
Grayson Murray just found out that the Asians and Europeans are not that bad after all. Tosspot that he must be.

Kwini, have you ever been water-skiing? I suspect not, because you would still be pulled by the boat, even if you fell.

Seriously, you need to let things go!

Let things go?

Which is just what Kip Henley did . . . . . . . as Vijay's caddie: "Please don't ask for details", he said! Didn't he used to caddie for Kevin Na? Talk about out of the frying pan . . . . . . .

And: IJP finished T2, second runner up in The Players, and still some snarking on golfchannel.com about his round.
Nevertheless, somewhere a Ferrari dealer knows where his next payment is coming from. Well done Poults, another year on Tour, whatever the rest of 'em say.

IJP was part of the story this week.

I don't know of anyone that was talking about Grayson Murray. Other than you of course.

McLaren wrote:

navyblueshorts wrote:

McLaren wrote:pea brain losing it on Thursday. What a choker.  

Nice ace on 17 for Garcia ....

It's a tricky green, with his putting stroke it would be advisable to hole the approach shot.

True that...

Be_the_ball wrote:

GPB wrote:Surprised Mickelson didn't find a sprinkler head in that bush on hole #10.

Aah yes, I'd say Tigers found a few sprinkler heads in bushes over the years...

Interesting comments from Brandel Chamblee during the week around the "modern" golf swing and its impact on the body campared to the classic swing of the likes of Slammin Sammy & Phil.

If you haven't read it, he made the point that the modern swing with the ridged lower body against the big shoulder turn is whats causing so many lower back issues, where as the classic swing had way more moving parts and was kinder on the body, enabling the likes of Phil to play at the top level into his late 40's. While Tiger, and perhaps Rory now and possibly Jason Day have issues.

God, Chamblee talks bollox doesn't he? Ballesteros? Howard Clarke? Couples? Etc.... The 'reverse-C' finish of so many past players?
He's a complete muppet. All he's doing is picking golfers and then saying that as they didn't have back injuries, it must be down to the way they swung the club. There are plenty of modern players who don't have back issues, but somehow this doesn't seem to impinge on the pea that masquerades as Chamblee's brain.

Wouldn't it be good for a commentator or analyst to just say something like, everyone is different some will get back problems some wont. that's just life.

So, i try to not make random judgements on golfers based on how they come across or look. But i'm finding it hard to see any reason to like JB Holmes. He just seems annoying in so many ways. He may be the nicest guy in the world though and always give to charity.

ben,
I made the mistake of following JB Holmes (playing w/Brandon Grace who was fine) for 15 holes last year . . . . and what a miserable experience that was.

It'll be interesting to see what Rory's MRI results show today; he's in the field for Wentworth so hopefully a week's rest and he'll be good to go.

I think Chamblee is still in book hawking mode. "Anatomy of Greatness" is his latest contribution to finding the elusive golf swing.

I think some people are simply built for the long haul: Langer, Singh, Irwin.

Nice win by Kim and a fine result for Poulter. If I heard the announcers correctly (maybe not) Kind Louie has never won on the PGA tour in these United States. That's surprising.

Apart from Rafa's finish (And JB's for all the wrong reasons) the back nine proved a bit flat yesterday, no doubt the way Kim hoped it would when he made the turn.

Fair play to Poulter and Stanley, they hung around much longer than I thought they would.

However mainly massive congrats to Kim, a cool head when all around were loosing theirs. Now with a five year exemption the end of this season would be a good time to do his military service if he still has to.

Impressive by Kim.
But I also think R4 was a bit boring. Probably due to the players in the mix. Only kept watching to see if Poulter could pull it off or make a fool of himself. He did neither. Rafa made it a bit fun at the end though.

Agree with Wire and Pedro.

Not taking anything away from Kim, who played calm and solid golf, but I was hoping for a bit more action on the back 9. Nobody really put him under pressure.

I thought Louis was best placed, especially as he was playing with Kim, and when he eagled 11 I was looking forward to a tight finish, but he just frittered away his chances.

Still, wonderful driving and chipping from Kim

That happens sometimes with golf doesn't it?
Poulter said after Saturday's round that he was just intent on not making mistakes, going for the middle of the greens, hoping to make a putt or three. Didn't see any interviews w/Kim but he basically did the same. Would they have been able to change up their strategy if anyone challenged them? We'll never know!
The risk-takers were making mistakes. All resulted in a bit of a plodding 18 holes. Too bad.

Not sure the course and conditions allowed many with any modicum of sense to go pin seeking did it? Don't get me started on the stupid 17th hole....

The South Korea Gov't might be THE DECISION MAKER on whether the Players IS a Major or IS NOT a Major.

South Korea exempts any Korean Male from conscription if they win a Olympic Medal or Major (think Sang Moon Bae).

If South Korea exempts SW Kim from his Military obligation......THEN there is some credibility from a "HIGHER POWER" that the Players is a Major

navyblueshorts wrote:Not sure the course and conditions allowed many with any modicum of sense to go pin seeking did it? Don't get me started on the stupid 17th hole....

Would say that the 17th hole is a major reason why The Players can never be considered a Major. (Didn't actually think the hoopla about the "drivable Par-4" 12th was justified either.)
But: Did enjoy watching Ikeda getting his tee shot to spin back off the sleepers behind the 17th hole yesterday. That was incredible skill!!!!

I heard someone say that teh course is basically set up for whoever is the best at scrambling. And that it takes away the bombers because its not a long course and its a bit strategic. Suppose thats shown by the different list of winners from such as Freddy F and Lil Timmy C. Its purely down to who is on their game on the days.

I have no issue with the 17th, i really dont understand the hatred. Would rather see that then a lot of the par 3s you see in golf.

I also don't understand the hatred of the 17th. It's a very large green, played from a short distance, but if you miss it's a two shot penalty (unless, of course, you go JB Holmes on things). Forget the pin, fire for the middle of the green. It's certainly NOT the hardest hole to par on the PGA tour.