PGA Tour: Damn The Torpedoes: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).Even The Losers . . . . .
from last Tour season, which ended just ten days ago, get to play this week's Safeway Open. Well, most of them anyway; certainly all the qualifiers from the web.com season are eligible, as well as some old lags from the "Past Champion" category of player eligibility. The winner is forecast to earn 24 or 26 owgr points, just about as weak a full field as we're likely to get. Too bad as they'll have fantastic late summer weather in California's Napa Valley and play on Johnny Miller's Silverado resort's North course. Recent Open winners Zach Johnson and Phil Mickelson are there but precious few other "notables".

2).Runaway Train . . . . .
That's what the US Presidents Cup Team looked like last Thursday, Friday and Saturday. US media seems to think that's a splendid building block for future "Cup" success. Mebbe, mebbe not. Nothing wrong with fighting through a little adversity - though not as much as the Internationals inflicted upon themselves. Anyway, tough to argue with the successes of US Foursomes & Fourball teams and they certainly think they've found something. We'll see.

3).I Won't Back Down . . . . .
Take me up to the gates of hell, but this US Presidents Cup Team is suggesting that they won't back down.
This is Daniel Berger's take on the whole thing:
"Our goal from the minute we got here was to crush them (International Team, presumably) as bad as we can. I hope that we close them out today and we go out there tomorrow and beat them even worse."
Hope Thomas Bjorn is paying attention.
(Perhaps Berger is miffed that the US Davis Cup team that his old man worked on a couple of years ago got duffed up in Glasgow?)
Nice response from Tweeter Alliss: "Quite lively by young Berger, proving it's a gentleman's game and you can sympathise with your opponents."

4).Refugee . . . . .
Jhonathan Vegas needs to mind his p's and q's if he wants to continue to travel freely between his Venezuelan home and his US Tour career. He mostly came up short at the Presidents Cup but I didn't see any International embrace the occasion as heartily as Jhonny did. Good for him, but watch yourself coming and going now your country is on the White House's black list.

5).Don't Come Around Here No More . . . . .
Several golfers whose names we recognise during increasingly rare incursions to Tour leaderboards lost their full exempt status following last week's Tour Championship. Some have conditional membership or other avenues but they certainly won't be able to plan a full schedule: Crane, Ricky Barnes, Spencer Levin, Ishikawa, Zac Blair, Summerhays, Johnson Wagner, David Hearn, Ken Duke, Gonzo among them.

6).You Don't Know How It Feels . . . . .
Patrick Can'tLay finished 2017 with a succession of strong finishes and you'd think that he'll be a regular contender in 2018, if only he can stay fit. A bit of a callow youth, but one hell of a golf game and arithmetically sure to rocket up the owgr's. Smile Pat, it's not that bad.

7).It's Good To Be King . . . . .
Or at least his grandson, as Sam Saunders regained his Tour card - pretty much wrapping it up with an opening 59 at the WTF. He's had a lifetime of Tour chances, which he readily acknowledges, but also a lifetime of heavy expectations. It seems he's improved his consistency this year and I wouldn't be surprised to see him win.

8).Running Down A Dream . . . . .
Ireland's Seamus Power came to PGA Tour membership last year with few expectations, from others anyway, but quickly belied that with a couple of excellent 54-hole performances which he annihilated with dreadful fourth rounds. Fast forward to last week and he scraped through 50th of 50 qualifiers for this year's Tour. Unless he can turn those early season 54-hole efforts into 72-hole contention, he'll stayed towards the bottom of the "reshuffle" category and see his opportunities few and far between. A fast start this week would go a long way.

9).Free Fallin' . . . . .
The steepest descents by owgr Top 50 & 100 Tour golfers in 2017 have been by:
"A" Flight - from Top 50:
80 places: Furyk
56: Willett
49: Piercy
47: Bubba Watson
43: Knox

"B" Flight - from Top 100:
198 places: Patton Kizzire
177: Gamez (EDIT: s/b Fabian Gomez)
135: Ishikawa
96: Castro
88: Harris English (what on earth has become of him?)

10).Stop Draggin' My Heart Around . . . . .
Sadly, it looks as if two-time heart transplant patient Erik Compton's career could be at an end. He had suggested last year that he'd retire, but has competed unsuccessfully on the web.com circuit this year. One of golf's feelgood stories could be at an end.

The ballwasher is running dry so this thread will have to suffice for the Asian tournaments also. More of this rubbish in a fortnight.

pedro wrote:Yeah sometimes Sergios Adidas shirt looks like the top half of a track suit. And the dangling chain around his neck doesn't make it any better.

And the white trousers look like a shell suit. Plus his sovereign rings

The holes in his jeans are from begging Elin not to leave him.

raycastleunited wrote:I'm sure Tiger is / was being paid to wear a hat every minute of the day, probably sleeps in Nike pyjamas.

What is laughable about wearing a red shirt? Don't you have any red items of clothing?

I'm talking about his preposterous superstition of wearing a red shirt on the final day, as if acts as some sort of intimidation to the others. Fortunately we'll never have to see that again.

Jon Rahm could use one of this

Ball Mark:

super_realist wrote:

raycastleunited wrote:I'm sure Tiger is / was being paid to wear a hat every minute of the day, probably sleeps in Nike pyjamas.

What is laughable about wearing a red shirt? Don't you have any red items of clothing?

I'm talking about his preposterous superstition of wearing a red shirt on the final day, as if acts as some sort of intimidation to the others. Fortunately we'll never have to see that again.

Why does it bother you so much?

Does anyone else really give a sh*t? It clearly just became a marketing ploy.

It doesn't bother me, it's just stupid, like Fowler's orange trousers or players having their initials on the back of their caps.

GPB wrote:Jon Rahm could use one of this

Ball Mark:

Lesson #1 in Golf: A putt never gets longer after having marked the ball..

super_realist wrote:It doesn't bother me, it's just stupid, like Fowler's orange trousers or players having their initials on the back of their caps.

It clearly bothers you if you think its stupid. Its just marketing.

GPB wrote:Jon Rahm could use one of this

Ball Mark:

I missed this, has Rahm been taking ball marking advice from Saltman and Dyson?

beninho wrote:

super_realist wrote:It doesn't bother me, it's just stupid, like Fowler's orange trousers or players having their initials on the back of their caps.

It clearly bothers you if you think its stupid. Its just marketing.

Agree with ben, others. It's part of his brand. Just as Fowlers and Dalys outfit are. And DeChampo's stupid hat. Etc.

Huge disparity of CIMB scores from a limited field event - -8 to +10, Grayson Murray presumably thought events in Asia were a pushover.
Rubbish from Casey too.

McLaren wrote:

GPB wrote:Jon Rahm could use one of this

Ball Mark:

I missed this, has Rahm been taking ball marking advice from Saltman and Dyson?

http://golfweek.com/2017/07/09/european-tour-jon-rahm-no-penalty-for-mis-marking-ball-at-irish-open-explanation/

Andy McFee exonerated Rahm for the mismarking (basically the same situation that resulted in a 4 shot penalty for Lexi Thompson in the ANA Insperation earlier in the year)

A couple of weeks ago, McFee DQed Jordan Spieth for one hole after Spieth picked a meaningless runaway golf ball hit by Oosthuizen.

Thems the rules of golf. (or at least their application)

Why don't the powers that be eliminate the issue by demanding that markers have to have a crescent cut out, it would stop all issues at a stroke.

I've got one made by Groove Fix and it means you can't put a foot wrong.

Super

You mean like the one in the photo GPB posted?

It's not quite the novelty crappy Christmas one, but it's a marker with a crescent notch out of it, so I'd be blatantly cheating if I didn't replace the ball in that area of the marker.

Plenty of good names contesting another 7 web.com Q-School sites; a few Aussies of some note, incl Goss, Nitties & Tighe.
And NY'ers Bard, Sluman, Sindelar & Gavin Hall.
Separating some wheat from lots of chaff.
No significant European names that I can see.

Does anyone here know the terms of Kevin Na and Pat Perez "associate membership" on the Euro Tour? Neither can mathematically make a 5 event minimum. Na has zero counting starts and Perez has only one.

Reed can still make his (needs 2 more), but he's got another baby soon to drop at home... So I dunno about that one either. Does Presidents or Ryder Cup count towards the 5?

I think the thing that bothers Super the most about tiger is he's still breathing.... :-)

robopz wrote:I think the thing that bothers Super the most about tiger is he's still breathing.... :-)

Are you sure it isn't that he is black?

Careful Mac, you might end up like MontysMerkin.

McLaren wrote:

robopz wrote:I think the thing that bothers Super the most about tiger is he's still breathing.... :-)

Are you sure it isn't that he is black?

Is super black?

McLaren wrote:

robopz wrote:I think the thing that bothers Super the most about tiger is he's still breathing.... :-)

Are you sure it isn't that he is black?

WUM...

It is so easy for people to hate Tiger Woods, there are so many reasons.

He wears a red shirt on Sundays!!! Terrible
He wears shoes which some people dont like!! Terrible.
He gives bland interviews!! Horrible
His wing is ugly!! What a bstard.
He is balding!! Nasty

He's black? No issues with that one bit, none at all.

super_realist wrote:Careful Mac, you might end up like MontysMerkin.

What did he end up like?

beninho wrote:It is so easy for people to hate Tiger Woods, there are so many reasons.

He wears a red shirt on Sundays!!! Terrible
He wears shoes which some people dont like!! Terrible.
He gives bland interviews!! Horrible
His wing is ugly!! What a bstard.
He is balding!! Nasty

He's black? No issues with that one bit, none at all.

and the most d@mning of all reasons "He has 9 chins"

super_realist wrote:

raycastleunited wrote:I'm sure Tiger is / was being paid to wear a hat every minute of the day, probably sleeps in Nike pyjamas.

What is laughable about wearing a red shirt? Don't you have any red items of clothing?

I'm talking about his preposterous superstition of wearing a red shirt on the final day, as if acts as some sort of intimidation to the others. Fortunately we'll never have to see that again.

How can this mean anything to you? You laugh about Mac looking for reasons to be offended, but you're hunting for tiny insignificant things to get worked up about.

I've got an orange shirt, I really like the colour, it's my favourite shirt. I'll wear it if I'm going to play a special round of golf. When I go on a golf trip and play four rounds in four days I'll save the orange shirt for the final day. Now I'm playing a lot of golf, nearly every week, but I still like to wear that orange shirt on the final day, in fact I've got several. Now I'm suddenly famous, so Puma have given me lots of orange stuff to wear, but it looks good and I'm getting paid so why not. What is wrong with this?

Where did I say I was offended? I think it's STUPID, but I think lot's of things are stupid without getting offended by them.

I think Diane Abbott is stupid, but she doesn't offend me. I think adults wearing football shirts is stupid, but it doesn't offend me. I think people who wear golf gear to watch a tournament are sad, but it doesn't affect me, I think the religious are stupid, but they don't offend me.

beninho wrote:It is so easy for people to hate Tiger Woods, there are so many reasons.

He wears a red shirt on Sundays!!! Terrible
He wears shoes which some people dont like!! Terrible.
He gives bland interviews!! Horrible
His wing is ugly!! What a bstard.
He is balding!! Nasty

He's black? No issues with that one bit, none at all.

How about he's an unpleasant, boring, inarticulate, unsporting, personality bereft, miserable egomaniac who looks like he hates golf?

What is there to like about him should be the question.

McLaren wrote:

super_realist wrote:Careful Mac, you might end up like MontysMerkin.

What did he end up like?

He accused me of being racist here, and hasn't been seen again.

Did the guy that wrote Twitters terms of use write them for this site as well. You get banned for calling an apple an apple.

PS, clearly sarcasm in the last post. I am sure super can take it.

I hope he wasn't banned Mac, I certainly didn't complain to anyone. I told Monty he was out of order for making the comment and he might have gone off in a strop as a result because he wasn't able to prove his accusation, or maybe he was too embarrassed to make such a claim.

super_realist wrote:

beninho wrote:It is so easy for people to hate Tiger Woods, there are so many reasons.

He wears a red shirt on Sundays!!! Terrible
He wears shoes which some people dont like!! Terrible.
He gives bland interviews!! Horrible
His wing is ugly!! What a bstard.
He is balding!! Nasty

He's black? No issues with that one bit, none at all.

How about he's an unpleasant, boring, inarticulate, unsporting,  personality bereft, miserable egomaniac who looks like he hates golf?

What is there to like about him should be the question.

Random views on someone you have never met, soneone that is an intensely private person. You have mo real basis for your views, but you want to hold them for whatever reason.

But I dont know you, and will likely never meet you, I would say you seem an argumentative, right wing, potentially racist, low self esteem, person who hides behind a persona of saying things you wouldn't do or say in reality. I may be wrong. You also may be wrong on your views on tiger woods.

Ben, that's too easy. Apart from the right wing thing you just seem to be describing the average scotsman.

beninho wrote:

super_realist wrote:

beninho wrote:It is so easy for people to hate Tiger Woods, there are so many reasons.

He wears a red shirt on Sundays!!! Terrible
He wears shoes which some people dont like!! Terrible.
He gives bland interviews!! Horrible
His wing is ugly!! What a bstard.
He is balding!! Nasty

He's black? No issues with that one bit, none at all.

How about he's an unpleasant, boring, inarticulate, unsporting,  personality bereft, miserable egomaniac who looks like he hates golf?

What is there to like about him should be the question.

Random views on someone you have never met, soneone that is an intensely private person. You have mo real basis for your views, but you want to hold them for whatever reason.

But I dont know you, and will likely never meet you, I would say you seem an argumentative,  right wing, potentially racist, low self esteem, person who hides behind a persona of saying things you wouldn't do or say in reality. I may be wrong. You also may be wrong on your views on tiger woods.

I love the way that the internet reacts when someone doesn't agree with someone else's OPINIONS as if we aren't allowed to hold them.

We all base opinions on the information that is available. On that information I've made my judgement on 9C, and I find him to be a thoroughly unpleasant person both on and off course. Got any information to the contrary?

I'm fine that you hold those opinions about me, why would I care? So why would you care about what my opinions are about 9C? Do you not hold opinions on people/celebrities/sports people/business people on which you have "limited" information? Of course you do. So don't be such a hypocrite by inferring that I shouldn't have such opinions.

PS, save me your amateur psychology too, because not only don't you know me at all, you most likely have no qualifications in psychology to make such a claim. At least I'm basing my opinion on 9C from what I see of him, you're making judgements on something you aren't even qualified to make a statement.
As for potentially racist, that's another falsehood. Give me ONE example where I've even been close to being racist.

super_realist wrote:So why would you care about what my opinions are about 9C?

I think I can answer that. It's because you ram them down our throats all the time!

I forgot to add dull boring and predictable. But that may just be your online persona from your bedsit. Im as qualified to make pointless comments on soneone I dont know as much as you are.

As davie says, youve made your points clear on tiger woods and english footbal and f1l pretty clear, yet still bang on and on, like some drunk bloke in a pub.

But you may be a nice guy really. Its all just impressions .

What's boring as **** is how far off-topic this is from Kwini's thread. Enough already.

beninho wrote:I forgot to add dull boring and predictable. But that may just be your online persona from your bedsit. Im as qualified to make pointless comments on soneone I dont know as much as you are.

As davie says, youve made your points clear on tiger woods and english footbal and f1l pretty clear, yet still bang on and on, like some drunk bloke in a pub.

But you may be a nice guy really. Its all just impressions .

Not when you're making accusations about someone.

We can all have opinions based on what we see or read, these may or may not be correct.

Anyway, good win for perez, will he have a late career purple patch like kenny perry did a few years ago?

Big cat hitting drivers.




https://twitter.com/TigerWoods/status/919669589725806592

pedro wrote:Ben, that's too easy. Apart from the right wing thing you just seem to be describing the average scotsman.

Plus obese and genetically inferior (according to wee Gordon).

McLaren wrote:Big cat hitting drivers.




https://twitter.com/TigerWoods/status/919669589725806592

Looks a bit different, especially the follow through. I'm struggling to count the number of chins as well, can't see many.

In cased you missed it, Golf Digest did a feature on Mickey Wright.

With all due respect to Annika, Kathy Whitworth, and Babe Zaharias, I believe Mickey was the best female golfer of all time.  She has rarely done interviews since she retired from golf in 1969 with 81 LPGA wins at age 34.  She added another win in 1973.

Ben Hogan said that Mickey had the best swing he ever saw, man or woman.

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/we-finally-got-mickey-wright

Tiny wee spindly legs. More mayfly than tiger.

Still, good to see more golf based activity from him. Hope he's enjoying being able to hit the ball a little bit again.

GPB wrote:In cased you missed it, Golf Digest did a feature on Mickey Wright.

With all due respect to Annika, Kathy Whitworth, and Babe Zaharias, I believe Mickey was the best female golfer of all time.  She has rarely done interviews since she retired from golf in 1969 with 81 LPGA wins at age 34.  She added another win in 1973.

Ben Hogan said that Mickey had the best swing he ever saw, man or woman.

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/we-finally-got-mickey-wright

I did see that, really good read and some great comments in there. I'm not a wider golf fan, by which I mean I'm no student of its history beyond whatever comes across my screen, so I hadn't even heard of her. Really interesting.

McLaren wrote:Big cat hitting drivers.




https://twitter.com/TigerWoods/status/919669589725806592

Looks like a club golfer.

Kuchar playing the Bridgestone Open in Japan this week, along with Ryo Ishikawa who missed the cut in the Japan Open last week.

Yuta Ikeda won the Japan Open to crash the OWGR Top 40, and nearly guaranteed to make the Top 50 at year end and a Masters Invite.

70 yr old Jumbo Ozaki is also playing the Bridgestone Open. He has played 25 OWGR tournaments in the last two years. 11 Missed Cuts and 14 WDs. He plays 10-15 OWGR tournaments per year, has not made a cut since May 2013. (53 tournaments)

super_realist wrote:

McLaren wrote:Big cat hitting drivers.




https://twitter.com/TigerWoods/status/919669589725806592

Looks like a club golfer.

A good club golfer, to be fair. Pretty outside the path on the way back and the trajectory at lift-off screams 'Slice!' for me. Still, good that he seems to be able to swing a club again although we'll see if he's competitive and whether he tries to hit the skin off it, in the same daft fashion he was doing latterly.