PGA Tour: Play-Offs Round 3: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).Plenty of prizes on offer this week as Round 3 of the FedEx Cup takes place at Chicagoland's Conway Farms, the BMW Championship.
70 qualifiers will be whittled down to the 30 likely lads who'll've earned a tee-time in Atlanta's East Lake for the Tour Championship.
And those 30 will earn a minimum of $135K just for playing in Atlanta, plus they'll qualify for Augusta, Shinnecock and Carnoustie.
Can't get too excited though; Robbie Castro made it to East Lake last year and this week finds him playing the WTF's in Idaho. Spuds in.

2).Business being business, the Tour avoided last week; perfectly understandable for the Big Tour to take a break but no idea why the web.commers couldn't play.
But at least it offered amateurs a glimpse of the spotlight in the Walker Cup - suffice to say that the Americans took advantage, GB&I did not, and the Cup returned to the USofA.
Scant consolation that last time a Team conceded 19 points it contained a 3-time Major winner of the future - not sure we should expect that this time around.
Back to Hoylake in 2019 where GB&I will hope to complete a hat-trick of home wins.

3).There has still been no announcement regarding the fate of the Dell Championship at TPC Boston, though no-one, broadcaster, sponsor nor Tour did anything to dispel speculation that it's a goner, if not next year, certainly in 2019.
I've never been to TPC Boston but it's not the most attractive course as I view from my armchair - just doesn't seem to flow.
An Arnold Palmer original (which seldom suggests a classic course), it's been re-done and re-tweaked again over the past 15 years and they still don't seem to have got it right, highlighted by Justin Thomas winning partly because he was able to hit his tee shot on #12 down the 13th fairway. Great. Not sure how many others chose that route, but no coincidence that the winners of the last five Play-Off events have been elite bombers. Chicks still dig the long ball - as does the Tour.

4).Jason Day won last time at Conway Farms and he's playing this week with a different caddie - Luke Reardon, apparently a friend - as Colin Swatton takes a break. Whether enforced or just cleaning up after the hurricane is not yet clear.

5).I've no idea if Conway Farms played a different set-up in 2015, when Day won, from 2013 when Zach Johnson won and Furyk shot 59. Will this week see bombers supreme or will average-length golfers have a chance?

6).So, just 70 golfers this week after losing some "notables" as 30 were eliminated at the Dell, including: Bubba (who says he'll take a 4-month break. Which would see him free-fall down the owgr's - and perhaps lose his caddie, Ted Scott, to those posting sit's vac?), Adam Scott, Knox, and Grace. The Top Twenty in FedEx Points are undoubtedly secure but there'll be some big names falling by the wayside, Stenson, Day, Garcia, Mickelson and McIlroy among those in jeopardy.

7).Sang Moon Bae has two wins to his credit and tees it up in Asia this week after two years of military service. Expect him back on Tour at the Safeway tournament at Napa Valley's "Silverado" where he won three years ago. Good player, only two years removed from his Presidents Cup debut.

8).Meanwhile, Round 2 of the web.com Tour Finals gets underway Thursday in Boise, Idaho, where Andrew Johnston clinched his Tour card last year with a 4th place finish. He probably thought every week would be like that, but his season rolled downhill from there.
Peter Uihlein won two weeks ago and that confirms his Tour card for 17/18, along with the unfunny slowcoach known as Ben Crane. Seamus Power got off to a good start two weeks ago, tied with Hunter Mahan and they're grouped together Thursday & Friday.
Brian Davis continues his comeback from injury, and Colt Knost's return from sick bay (or partying with Anthony Kim?) adds weight to the field.

9).Justin Rose has been playing better recently and he, Stenson and Day, look the best bets outside the DJ/Thomas/Spieth favourites. Europeans still "alive" in the Cup race, along with their ranking are:
5th: Rahm
8th: Casey
17th: Rose
26th: Stenson
34th: Sergio
42nd: Molinari
47th: Poults
49th: Laird
51st: Rory
60th: Rafa

10).Haven't seen any reports yet about damage to the East Lake course in Atlanta where the Tour will head next week. The Tour has an excellent record of remediating courses where possible - hopefully this will be the case this time.
No word either from the GC of Houston which looked like a huge lake, or from Sea Island in Georgia, home of November's RSM Classic.
Perfect here, leaves turning, fairways firm and green speeds fast.
And should be good conditions, at least for Rounds 1 and 2, in Chicago for the Beemer.

SHEEEEEEEEEESH,
Is that enough E's?
Wes Bryan skated round Conway Farms in 89 minutes yesterday according to pgatour.com; shot 69 - a Sergio-type ruling would have added 25% to the length of his round.
No blame from here to Sergio, but what was the Tour thinking? And not sure anyone really thinks they got it right in the end.

In other news, I see some US players are taking busman's holidays at the Dunhill: O'Hair, Holmes, McGirt, even Brett Quigley (crumbs, wish I had his agent). Matt Every was signed up for Portugal but presumably the DEA gave him a bit of advice about customs searches.

Not sure if it has been posted elsewhere but Rory has confirmed he's playing at British Masters next week.

Also good news regarding the US players at the Dunhill. Although it does have the appeal of The Old Course plus of course Greg Kinnear....

There is no need to be a d-bag either. The comment was about Sergio taking 20-25 minutes on the last hole where the difference was a T12 or a T19th. Where is was angling the rules on a shot that he was never going to play but only did it to get a favorable drop

I typed in a utterance of disbelief and annoyance with what Sergio was doing.

Instead of focusing on the topic of what I posted, you decided to focus on the "SHEEEEEEEEEEESH"

I wasn't being a d-bag (whatever that is) I'm merely commenting it was a rather unusual turn of phrase. It's not something often heard, unless you're ordering a kebab.

Talking of kebabs:
Confirmation today that Congressional Country Club has terminated its contract to hold the DC-area tournament formerly known as the Quicken Loans, Quicken Loans's contract also having expired, leaving the Tiger Woods Foundation without an event to help fill its coffers.
EDIT: Other reports seem to suggest the Tour moved first, cancelling arrangements w/Congressional. Either way, a tournament that was launched amid loud fanfare and nationalistic (Fourth of July) breast beating looks to have hit the ultimate golfing landmine.

That potentially opens up a date on the schedule which may precipitate a shuffle and eventually be filled by a 3M-sponsored endeavour in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul area of Minnesota.

GPB wrote:The comment was about Sergio taking 20-25 minutes on the last hole where the difference was a T12 or a T19th.  

Yes. But the diffrence btw T12 and T19 was a trip to East Lake.

Kwini... A technical note re Congressional. The contracts with the venues are direct with the Tour, not the operating entity or the sponsor. So this is basically signalling there is no DC area event for next season.

Which means:
A) there is no more "National" or
B) it is being moved elsewhere or a different place on the schedule.

Probably "A"... Can't imagine a very long line of potential sponsors for a "Tiger" event right now... And I don't see the sense of the TW foundation self funding, like Houston is doing.

PS... I have nothing new on Houston sponsor either.

robo, How is the GCofH faring it looked like one of the Great Lakes last pics I saw?

The Tour doesn't seem able to make a "Mid-Atlantic" date/venue stick, does it? Too bad. Tiger Foundation potentially losing two tournaments inside a year . . . . . . . never liked that arrangement, always seemed opportunistic and not surprising they're fizzling.

Shockingly... Waters receded and GC of Houston was in great shape relatively... And it's already back open. Key was it actually went under water 3 different times in 4 days... So it got a chance to come up for a breath of air often enough it didn't drown. Plus water rose, but didn't "rage"across the course, so there were no major washouts. Lucky as hell on that one. Nearby Cypreswood, not so lucky... Major damage.

I never cared for operating entities of active players having their hand on more than one "official" event at a time. One's enough. DL3 still has Sea Island, Tiger still has Los Angeles (maybe), and of course Jack and Arnie had theirs.

And a little history... Back in the day Jack had Kings island before Memorial. Tour made him make a choice and he chose Memorial of course. Which always surprised me they let TW have two at a time (in addition to the World Challenge).

pedro wrote:

GPB wrote:The comment was about Sergio taking 20-25 minutes on the last hole where the difference was a T12 or a T19th.  

Yes. But the diffrence btw T12 and T19 was a trip to East Lake.

Then he should have played Northern Trust to help confirm that trip.

PGATour has amended its gambling policy

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/pga-tour-implementing-more-comprehensive-gambling-policy-for-2018

GPB wrote:

pedro wrote:

GPB wrote:The comment was about Sergio taking 20-25 minutes on the last hole where the difference was a T12 or a T19th.  

Yes. But the diffrence btw T12 and T19 was a trip to East Lake.

Then he should have played Northern Trust to help confirm that trip.

PGATour has amended its gambling policy

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/pga-tour-implementing-more-comprehensive-gambling-policy-for-2018

Agree re Sergio. And Stenson who got his arse bit by his own stupidity.

I wonder if that Tour "gambling policy" is an immediate dig at September's Undercover Pro:

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/undercover-tour-pro-there-is-gambling-at-bushwood-and-during-tour-events-too

Unfortunately/inevitably the Tour is one great gambling enterprise: which events to play; which to take seriously, which to bag; play hurt or sit out a few weeks and connive a medical extension. Decision-making? Or Gambling? It's really a fine line. Hardly surprising there might be a few grand on the line between friends/rivals.

Don't normally bother with that undercover pro column, but that's a great read. Very relevant points when it comes to the rush of betting vs the rush of playing top level sport, but even more so with the inherent gambling nature of golf. Unless you go out as a single to practice on your own, as an amateur you literally always compete, even if it's just a fun game with a couple of mates. Must be hard to lose that mindset when you know you're missing a cut.

NedB-H wrote:Don't normally bother with that undercover pro column, but that's a great read. Very relevant points when it comes to the rush of betting vs the rush of playing top level sport, but even more so with the inherent gambling nature of golf. Unless you go out as a single to practice on your own, as an amateur you literally always compete, even if it's just a fun game with a couple of mates. Must be hard to lose that mindset when you know you're missing a cut.

Does everyone play competitively as club golfers? I very rarely play for anything when it's just a bounce game. I prefer to just keep my score.

I'll normally be playing for whoever has to get the first round in as a minimum...

I generally don't play anything other than competition. Depending on who I'm with we might have a BB4B matchplay for a few quid whilst playing the comp (£2 for each of front, back and match is the standard fayre with 50p bits and birdies) but generally not.

When on Tour (the annual weekend in Portugal or Spain) it's €5 for each of front back and match and 2 for b&b.

The rare occasion I go out for a knock with anyone I don't play for anything (including any useful practise!)

Full PGAT schedule released with a few minor surprises

Tigers "National"is still there alone with the Boston playoff event. Only real changes are the addition of the Korean CJ Cup this fall, and a 5th alternate event added in the Dominican so all the Open & WGCs are covered.

Thought I made this post last night.

Datagolf has added a really cool program to their site.

http://datagolf.ca/player-comparison-tool/

Glad to see Houston is still there, robo
I wonder if Dell has re-upped for another year @ TPC Bawston?
Suspect some edits are in store, especially if "Maria" decimates PR as expected.

Kwini: Dell is there. Schedule has been released. Rex Hoggard's twitter feed has it

GPB wrote:Kwini:  Dell is there.  Schedule has been released.  Rex Hoggard's twitter feed has it

Yes, I know! (As is "the National", and I'm not talking the band.) But hadn't seen that anywhere previously and was wondering if "Dell" is just a place-holder for another sponsor; or possibly until the Boston-area tournament is eliminated from the FedEx scene.

Kwini... Most the signals seem to be pointing to a 3 event playoff with Boston out.. EXCEPT, the first two will continue to rotate venues, in which Boston may make an occasional appearance.

There has been more chatter about the outright elimination of some events in the 2019 schedule. But reading between the lines on everything Monahan says, I'm not feeling an overall reduction of events. Some are gonna have to move to the fall or go away. But iMO others will replace those not making the move, and my guess is that points to more "Pacific rim" expansion.

Anyone listen to Rory on the No Laying Up podcast, pretty interesting. I read a golf journo say something about him not giving interviews in Chicago, yet he gave a 2 hour one on one to a podcast. Its the third time he has been on, and he comes across pretty well and likeable. Its interesting to hear some players open up and be pretty honest.

It's one of his positive attributes that probably ends up doing him a disservice. Comes across as open, honest and engaging which almost inevitably results in him saying something that journos jump on and becomes a point of negativity.

Safer (for him) but much less interesting to take the interview equivalent of the fifth (a la Woods so often).

Roller_Coaster wrote:It's one of his positive attributes that probably ends up doing him a disservice. Comes across as open, honest and engaging which almost inevitably results in him saying something that journos jump on and becomes a point of negativity.

Safer (for him) but much less interesting to take the interview equivalent of the fifth (a la Woods so often).

Unfortunately all too true... damned if they do, damned if they don't.  Spieth is another one who used to be be more forthcoming... he still talks a lot (more like rambles), but you can tell how much more guarded he is now. He even prefaces some answers in pressers with something like "I need to be careful how I answer this... "... which translates: "I'm fixing to give you some politically correct canned answer BS...."

That's why people like Poulter and Garcia* are good in this respect (love them or loathe them). At least they don't dress it up. They say what they honestly feel. Even ghastly people like Gayson Murray are better than the likes of Spieth the Redeemer and 9C in this respect, because at least they say what they think.


*cue Mac making a comment about "pea head" and "racism".

robopz wrote:Kwini... Most the signals seem to be pointing to a 3 event playoff with Boston out.. EXCEPT,  the first two will continue to rotate venues, in which Boston may make an occasional appearance.

There has been more chatter about the outright elimination of some events in the 2019 schedule. But reading between the lines on everything Monahan says, I'm not feeling an overall reduction of events.  Some are gonna have to move to the fall or go away. But iMO others will replace those not making the move, and my guess is that points to more "Pacific rim" expansion.

Thanks robo,
I hope that a Boston/RI sponsor will fill any gap if Round 2 leaves Bawston - alternating between NY/NJ and Mass would only serve to dilute the Tour's presence in the North-East even more.

I'm not a favour of necessarily limited fields in Asia/Pacific, though would love to see the full-field Aussie Open join the Tour. We'll have to wait and see!

I remember when spieth was on the nlu podcast, he was also pretty good and open. Same with matt every and justin Thomas, eddie pepperall was very honest and open. Not sold on duffner or varner.

Eddie Pepperell seems like one of the most switched-on golfers around. His blog is normally worth a read if people aren't already aware of it.

https://eddiepepperell.wordpress.com

I got tired of reading Pepperell's stuff, seemed to be searching for something in his writing.
But found the caddie relationship thing interesting and enlightening.
When we followed Rory & JP earlier this year it seemed they were disengaged with each other - plenty of others are also obviously, but any expertise that JP could have brought to the table was pretty much excluded.
Now I'll read a few more! Thanks.

Elsewhere, Scott Hend is awol from this week's WTF action in Cleveland, which is a little bit strange. Though he must be knackered.