PGA Tour: Happy New Year - TOC: Notes from the Ballwasher

1).PFC might be the initials of my beloved football club (PUP), but it also sums up the recent weather here on the West Coast of New England. So, nothing much better than to look forward to the wide open expanse of Kapalua's Plantation Course and the drop-dead gorgeous Pacific views from almost every hole.

2).Many of the Tour's leading and lesser lights seem to have had nothing better to do this "holiday" period than to rub shoulders on Florida fairways with the bloke with the bigger button (trust they'll pay their share of the $43M that such outings have reportedly cost the tax-payer so far), but hopefully we can get some Tour golf in before the nuclear option becomes reality.

3).37 golfers qualified for this week's "Sentry Tournament of Champions". Messrs Garcia, Rose and Stenson are non-runners, but 34 remain and will be richly rewarded with even the last-place finisher banking $60K-ish and a couple of owgr points.
The US golfers in the field will also be looking to start their 2018 Ryder Cup qualification in earnest. Current placings for each team's automatic selection look like this:
US: Koepka, Thomas, Spieth, Dustin, Kuchar, Fowler, Harman, Reed.
Europe: Rose, Hatton, Rahm, Fitz, Sergio, Dunners, Fleetwood, Fish.

4).(And RIP to Ryder Cuppers of years past who went to the clubhouse in the sky during 2017, among them Ken Still, John Jacobs and Tommy Horton. They join the great Roberto DiVicenzo, the legendary Simon Hobday, a pioneeer of the anchored putter - not to mention cross-handed grip - Charlie Owens, fellow Senior Tour pros Bob Brue and John Paul Cain, and multi-Major winning caddie Dave Musgrove.)

5).The 2018 season could well see the Tour's final schedule in its traditional configuration with the spectre of the PGA Championship moving forward three months from August to May, The Players returning to March, and plenty of musical chairs to be played as a result. Texas mainstays of the Tour, Colonial and the Houston Open, plus Firestone, are currently the biggest tournaments without a prospective chair when the music stops but other changes could see:
~A reshuffle of the March calendar.
~Elimination of a Play-Off tournament, probably the TPC Boston event. Which begs the question as to whether there might be another Boston-area event, or will this just be a further example of migration from the North-East and (with Firestone's possible loss) Mid-West?
~Shifting of the summer WGC from Firestone to Memphis.
~Possible shuffling of Greenbrier to the autumn (tho' not sure what that would do to the Greenbrier's life expectancy; it's always looked like one man's ego trip, and perhaps this is au revoir, if not yet goodbye).
~And: Who knows about the Washington-area stop?

robopz will figure out all the ramifications well before the PGA Tour so no further speculation here, but this will mean a lot of change for tournament directors, players and agents to assimilate, let alone us poor saps who follow the game and pay some of the bills. (And talking of bills, great to see Buffalo Bills in the NFL Play-Offs.)

6).There'll be daily speculation this year as to T.Woods's playing schedule; suffice it to say that it will be considerably less intensive than Rory's return with, what?, seven events in nine weeks.
(And did you see that another US Open Champion, Michael Campbell, is returning from retirement?)

7).Brandt Snedeker joins a long list of Pros to have dumped their caddie (or vice versa); Scott Vail has a strong Canadian connection with his father having been a top ice hockey pro for a decade, so interesting to see where he winds up.
Sneds will be busy in the next couple of months as he strives for an owgr Top 50 spot and resultant invitation to Augusta National. He has a terrific record at Torrey Pines and Pebble Beach - you'd think, based upon past history, if he doesn't do it there, he'll probably not do it anywhere.
EDIT: Just saw Doug Ferguson's report that Berger has also changed caddies, going to Lance Bennett, who worked for Kuchar until late 2015.

8).This year will see a handful of European players try their luck on the PGA Tour:
Pieters, Hatton, Fleetwood, Fisher and Noren.
While Casey will go back to double-dipping
Ian Poulter would have been in the running for Comeback Player of 2017 if such an award still existed. Wonder if he can sustain that level of play which includes 19 consecutive cuts made.
Plenty of one-time stars whose collective lights have dimmed recently will be looking (or maybe not) for a Poults-like comeback year: Luke Donald and Graeme McDowell for instance. And Nick Watney & Hunter Mahan. Not to mention Shane Lowry.

9).Andrew Johnston's taste of Tour life will sour unless he feasts on his very limited "minor medical" extension. Perversely he never seemed to have the appetite for US touring, though obviously still has the stomach.
Padraig Harrington is taking a minor medical extension and also has Past Champion status; and could take a one-time career money earnings exemption next year if all else fails.
Freddie Jac has a "major medical", whilst Cejka (also a Past Champion of course), Jaeger and Power have web.com "graduate" status.
Greg Owen - despite 2 x runner-up finishes last season he still contrived not to achieve fully exempt status - Kjeldsen, Davis, Pettersson, Chopra and Richard S.Johnson have varying degrees of ever diminishing "conditional status" while Gonzo will get into some web.com events to go with his retrieved European Tour card.

10).Which brings us back to Kapalua and Sentry Insurance's debut as a Tour sponsor. Dustin Johnson, Spieth and Thomas are the only previous TOC Champions returning this year and I reckon it must be even money that one of them will win again.
Regardless, Happy New Year to everyone. And mine will be a very happy one if Europe recover the Ryder Cup en Paris.

Great article as always Kwini!! This to me feels like the proper start to the PGA Tour season...

Who is everyone backing to have a breakout year!?

Cheers sirb,

Breakout year: Cantlay! Or was that last year?
In Europe: Sam Horsfield.

Great article as always kwini.

I love this tournament. The stunning ocean views are just the perfect antidote to the cold dark wet weather outside. And it’s always easy to watch a small elite field taking on a quirky course that makes them think because it plays so differently to anything else.

As sir B mentioned, this is the true curtain raiser for the season.

Cheers kwini.

Agree on Cantlay. Suri on the ET maybe?

Suri is pretty impressive for sure, but i'd add Pulkkanen and Bjork too, whilst I hope local lad Connor Syme does well.
For once the European Tour actually looks quite interesting.

Bjork for a breakout, based on what? Oh so quiet last year...

Agree regarding Cantlay but I suppose like you said Kwini it could be argued he had last year but I suppose my question is also asking who will take their game to the next level and Cantlay is the one imo

I know Koepka had a great year in 2017....but I think he has the potential to have a good a year as Thomas did in 2017!

Two players who need to re-breakthrough are Day and Rory. They were 1 and 2 at the end of 2016 and now sit at numbers 13 and 10. A lot has been made about Rory getting injured and Day seems to be ill ever other week but even when they were pretty healthy last year there wasn't any particularly impressive golf being played.

Two lower profile players who tee it up this week who I expect to have fine careers are Cameron Smith and Austin Cook.

So probably as expected Tiger will start his season at Torrey Pines and Riviera!

McLaren wrote:Two players who need to re-breakthrough are Day and Rory.  They were 1 and 2 at the end of 2016 and now sit at numbers 13 and 10.  A lot has been made about Rory getting injured and Day seems to be ill ever other week but even when they were pretty healthy last year there wasn't any particularly impressive golf being played.

I'm wondering if Rory and Day have simply lost interest. Day seems to make excuses for poor performances all the time and McIlroy has made no mistake about his lack of motivation.

sirbenson wrote:So probably as expected Tiger will start his season at Torrey Pines and Riviera!  

Not really any surprise, but it's a challenging start for EW; Torrey Pines continues to be an ever more demanding test.
And he's avoided Riviera like the plague since w/d'ing in 2006, making his moronic pre-tournament nonsense, " . . . . . to be able to play (at Riviera) . . . . is a dream come true", disingenuous even by his lofty standards. Presumably he wouldn't play Riviera either because he was playing for $$$$ appearance fees in the Middle East or he didn't think he could win (despite some very respectable finishes there). Not good enough if he doesn't get the W.  
Good results at either event would be a very credible performance. Then, presumably, Honda and Bay Hill.

Kwini

Given how often you criticise the schedule Tiger pursued over the years do you think you could have advised him of a better schedule that would have resulted in more than 79 PGAT wins?

McLaren wrote:Kwini

Given how often you criticise the schedule Tiger pursued over the years do you think you could have advised him of a better schedule that would have resulted in more than 79 PGAT wins?

Absolutely NOT!

So he pretty much nailed his schedule during his career?

McLaren wrote:So he pretty much nailed his schedule during his career?

What do you think?
Good job he didn't play more events as it turned out otherwise his body might have given out 15 years ago instead of just 10. He'd still be hogging media headlines though.

I think he probably got it right given how often he managed to win but it just seems like you often have an issue with how he picked what events to play.

There was a very big question over how often he played Mac. Seemed he was getting special treatment when not making his quota.

McLaren wrote:I think he probably got it right given how often he managed to win but it just seems like you often have an issue with how he picked what events to play.

Mac,
I don't really care, but he talks out of both sides of his mouth when he talks about his schedule - it is a reflection of his brilliance that he's won on plenty of courses that he probably wouldn't have played at all if it wasn't for the prestige of the tournaments - TPC for 2, Southern Hills, possibly Hoylake for another.

Super

Is that true about Tiger failing to meet his quota? In the healthy years did he ever fail to play the minimum amount of events required?


Kwini

I know if I made it to the top of the game the events I chose to play would be based heavily on the prestige of the event or the quality of the course.

What don't you think he was/is being dishonest about regarding his schedule?

I think the assertion was that he was rather liberal with the truth in regards to injury which led to him not quite fulfilling his quota. I remember you insinuating as much in the past too, or is that something else you've forgotten?

Remember his very strange "injury" that conveniently covered a PGA drugs ban timescale, bit like Cheech Johnsons?
He's already a pain killer junkie, who knew what else he was taking to go along with his debauched lifestyle he was living at the time. If he was stupid/arrogant enough to think he wouldn't get found out for pumping half of Florida's vacuous bimbo's, why wouldn't he be partial to a bit of Columbian marching powder or other recreational drug? The PGA would do everything to stop a scandal affecting their golden goose wouldn't they?

McLaren wrote:Super

Is that true about Tiger failing to meet his quota?  In the healthy years did he ever fail to play the minimum amount of events required?


Kwini

I know if I made it to the top of the game the events I chose to play would be based heavily on the prestige of the event or the quality of the course.

What don't you think he was/is being dishonest about regarding his schedule?

Mac,
You have such a habit of taking one word and then turning it into something quite different, not even in the same zip-code (or Thesaurus page) for your own spin. Dishonest is your word, not even close to mine.

Super

I will agree he has had the odd suspicious absence but when I think of a player missing the required number of events what comes to mind is more like the McIlroy or Kaymer situations.


kwini

I wasn't trying to twist anything but genuinely thought the phrase "he talks out of both sides of his mouth" implied some sort of dishonesty or at least an effort to avoid giving an honest answer to something.  I am sorry if I have misinterpreted what you said.  For the sake of conversation what did you mean by that phrase?

super_realist wrote:
He's already a pain killer junkie, who knew what else he was taking to go along with his debauched lifestyle he was living at the time. If he was stupid/arrogant enough to think he wouldn't get found out for pumping half of Florida's vacuous bimbo's, why wouldn't he be partial to a bit of Columbian marching powder or other recreational drug? The PGA would do everything to stop a scandal affecting their golden goose wouldn't they?

For a moment I thought I was reading the lyrics to Post Malone ft. 21 Savage...

What on earth is that Pedro?

Woods had his schedule about right, with the exception of last year's farcical start which would have been pretty daft even had he been fully fit.

As for failing to meet any published quota, if/when he did it will have been with the blessing (or at least agreement) from the bigwigs. Frankly any issue should be with them and to be honest if I was them I'd pander to his schedule, and I'd suggest that the state and value of the Tour(s?) nowadays might indicate that they were right to do so.

Roller,
No dispute with that; but Woods did/does a fine job of manipulating the narrative to suit him. Several examples down the years which is fine except he never gets called on it.

I DO think the compression of big tournaments into a 5 or 6 month period is a questionable move by the Tour, and that is a trend (especially bringing forward "season-ending" events) that was started ten or so years ago in consultation with EW.
Instead of "the players are exhausted after a long season", the reason more accurately was "get the season done as quickly as possible after the Majors so that I can globe-trot and pick up $tensofmillions in appearance/endorsement fees".

Tiger's certainly managed his career well enough! His results speak to that.

But I give Tiger, Rory, Shane, (insert any golfer here) a total free pass on how they pick and choose when and where they play. They are true mercenaries ... more power to them.

What did everyone make of Thursday's play?

Only saw a couple of hours, largely devoted to Fowler, Thomas & Spieth, but am getting a little disappointed with the condition of Kapalua, such a refreshingly different design when it was first opened. Understanding the problems they've apparently had with the Bermuda on some greens, but the course still looks a little "unfinished" in places, as if it could use a little cosmetic attention.
Nit-picking though, still a fabulous sight! Especially in January.

Not sure I understand why pro golfers get away unpenalised (what would Wenger say?) with shots into neighbouring back gardens, as Spieth and, apparently, Leishman did, perhaps others as well. Has the Tour exhausted its inventory of out-of-bounds stakes?

Spieth especially looked very rusty, tho' no surprise if he shoots himself right back into contention today. But he didn't look too happy, and wonder whether he likes being paired with his mate Thomas?

For players that are members of the PGATour, there is NO QUOTA of tournaments to play.

The 15 tournament quota is for the professionals that are playing other tours.

edited to add

For the PGATour players that play less than 15 tournaments per year, there are few perks that they lose including voting privileges.

The only year that Tiger failed to play 15 tournaments when he was "healthy" all year was 2010. But he was treatment for 2 months and butthurt for all that year.

I didn't know that GPB.

Still doesn't make sense to play a part time schedule unless you're aware you've ruined your body through being a plank.

Shotrock wrote:Tiger's certainly managed his career well enough! His results speak to that.

But I give Tiger, Rory, Shane, (insert any golfer here) a total free pass on how they pick and choose  when and where they play. They are true mercenaries ... more power to them.

I think we'd all pick and choose given playing every week isn't conducive to performances, but there's a lot of strange choices going on.

For a breakout year, I think Tony Finau could win a couple of tournaments this year, and contend for a major.

I see him a bit like the American Jon Rahm GPB, although not at that level yet.

Well, got Spieth shooting "himself right back into contention today" right-ish; he's playing Hawaii's Sony Open next week too.

Along with less than a handful from GB&I: Luke Donald, Seamus Power & Russell Knox. None of the leading "Continentals" are teeing it up, but not a bad field, probably well into the owgr 40's for the winner.

Early start in Kapalua this morning, TV coverage should begin @ 8.00 p.m., Edinburgh time.


Not sure about Tony Finau as a breakthrough player; does he have the short game to be a consistent contender? I'd say, "Not yet!".

FTR: Luke Donald just tweeted that he is playing

Sony
San Diego
Pebble Beach
Los Angeles
West Palm Beach

to open the season

All is well with the world with Feb's Golf Digest arriving with T.Woods's smiling face on the cover.

More interestingly, they have an assessment of the top 100 Courses in the world outside the USA:
Top five:
RCD
Dornoch
R.Melbourne
Muirfield
TOC

Other GB&I courses in their top 50 include:
Portrush
Turnberry
Sunningdale (Old)
Birkdale
Ballybunion
Carnoustie
RStG
N.Berwick
Kingsbarns
St.George's Hill
Sunningdale (New)
Swinley Forest
Troon
Porthcawl
Lytham

kwinigolfer wrote:All is well with the world with Feb's Golf Digest arriving with T.Woods's smiling face on the cover.

More interestingly, they have an assessment of the top 100 Courses in the world outside the USA:
Top five:
RCD
Dornoch
R.Melbourne
Muirfield
TOC

Other GB&I courses in their top 50 include:
Portrush
Turnberry
Sunningdale (Old)
Birkdale
Carnoustie
RStG
N.Berwick
Kingsbarns
St.George's Hill
Sunningdale (New)
Swinley Forest
Troon
Porthcawl
Lytham

I'm with S_R on TOC. Played it twice and, while nice for the history, it's so far off a global, non-USA top 5, that rating is quite funny. I don't think I'd even rate it close to top 5 in The Open's rota, let alone all non-US courses.

I dread the wrath this comment will garner but it needs to be said.


Navy is so far off a understanding golf course architecture it's quite funny. Which is the only sensible conclusion given the comment above.

When the Irish Open was at RCD a couple of years, I couldn't believe it was so highly rated. And GD is ranking it #1?

It seemed like the on-course reporters were saying this drive, and that approach shot was a blind shot.

And there was Heavy Knee High rough.

Blind Shots with Heavy rough are a terrible recipe for golf course.

And Yes, I know the cliche about Blind Shots (only being blind one time). Never have bought that cliche.

Ballybunion was not on the list? Every photograph I have seen of that course makes me want to play it.

Oops, Ballybunion is there at #16 - I think I'll edit that.

I couldn't believe that some stable genius had ranked Turnberry so high.

kwinigolfer wrote:Oops, Ballybunion is there at #16 - I think I'll edit that.

I couldn't believe that some stable genius had ranked Turnberry so high.

Perhaps some people think that Politics is irrelevant when evaluating a golf course?

Don't you mean, like, "Politics"?

Love seeing DJ in the lead. Abu Dhabi in a fortnight.

Is Koepka mailing it in or is his injury worse than advertised?

Bones is going to caddie for Justin Thomas next week.

kwinigolfer wrote:Oops, Ballybunion is there at #16 - I think I'll edit that.

I couldn't believe that some stable genius had ranked Turnberry so high.

I've heard that the Turnberry redevelopment is sensational Kwini. No surprise it's ranked high.

McLaren wrote:I dread the wrath this comment will garner but it needs to be said.  


Navy is so far off a understanding golf course architecture it's quite funny.  Which is the only sensible conclusion given the comment above.

Well, there's a surprise! Just for your info, I've been a pretty decent player for ~35 years and played more than enough excellent UK courses. I'm interested in design of courses and features, but not so dogmatically or anally as your good self. I'd say I have a reasonable appreciation of good and bad course features. TOC is so average, as it plays today, it's laughable.
Mac, I don't care what you think of my opinion(s). I think TOC is boring, pretty monotonous and by comparison with many more modern classics, it's showing its age. Stick it in your pipe and smoke it .

One thing is sure: TOC is pretty boring to watch on TV.