PGA Tour: Return to Hawaii 5-9: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).Justin Thomas came to Waialae CC last year looking for his 3rd Tour win of the season, but his first career win in a "full-field" event, having scored his three previous victories in limited field tournaments, in Korea and Kapalua.
A first-round of 59, followed by three more mid-60's efforts saw him in with a 27-under par runaway from a pretty sporty leaderboard, as the six golfers following in his distance were Rose, Spieth, Kisner, Lovemark, ZJohnson & Woodland. Not bad. Perhaps he cooled off a little as spring turned into summer, but late-season wins at the PGA Championship and Dell Play-off event saw him stamp his authority on the 2016/17 season.
Future Number One? Still not quite convinced!

2).Thomas was not much more than a spectator in defence of his Kapalua title last week, as the field was trounced by World Number One, Dustin Johnson. No doubt this season will continue the debate about #1, if there really is any; sure Thomas would say there is, Spieth too. Not sure when the three will tee it up together next, Riviera possibly, and we'll hopefully have some clue by then as to whether the likes of Day and McIlroy have recaptured the competitive spirit which seemed to leave them last year.

3).I wonder how the Major venues this year will favour the top golfers: Augusta obviously, then Shinnecock, Carnoustie and Bellerive, courses that, for the most part, the under-30 set will be unfamiliar with.
Can't see either DJ or Spieth going away so anyone else will have to enjoy a career year to overtake them.

4).No news yet as to whether Waialae has done anything to 5-9 proof the course against another 50-something assault. Traditionally it's been a fairways and greens course with plenty of relatively "short" hitters amongst its champions.  

5).JJ Henry will play his 500th career Tour event this week - 2006 Ryder Cup seems a long time ago JJ. According to pgatour.com, only Stewart Cink and Charlie Howell of those under 45 have played more. And Howell has two runner-up finishes at Waialae.

6).Sony are one of the longest-running sponsors and are rewarded by the presence of Thomas & Spieth in this week's field.
But, if the field was a cricket batting line up, apart from these two "openers", you'd say there is an average "middle order" and a very long "tail". Including Luke Donald, now all the way down to 144th on the owgr's. Russell Knox has played well here but he's not done much to "trouble the scorers" recently.
If Thomas and/or Spieth are at their best, they'll probably win but both struggled at various times last week. Kevin Kisner didn't have his best week at Kapalua but has Top 5'd here the past two years and should be available somewhere between 20/1 & 25's and I fancy him each way. My one-and-done! For whatever good that does me.

Correct about Chi Chi, but given that the WH seems to have abandoned PR I wasn't sure of it's state status.
Hoping Trevor Murphy (now that's an American I'm definitely for) will be able to play in next week's webbo, tho' perhaps he'll still be on paternity leave. Just his (golfing) luck.

Kwini, I am planning to be in Vermont this summer. After a long illness, my sister passed away a few months ago, she was cremated and she wanted her ashes to be laid to rest in what she always called home, Franklin County.

It wasn't convenient for her sons (nor me) to go Vermont at that time, so we decided to postpone the burial until this summer. Two sons live in Texas and the other in California

And ~~~~sigh~~~~ on the political snark. I guess it helps you cope, but I can't imagine how. I could do the same thing why Rory and Justin should be out of the RC consideration because of Brexit. Eventually it just ceases to be funny.

606V2 Ryder cup 1 man singles GPB vs Kwini.

Home advantage to the Vermont resident and, erm, home advantage to one of our resident statesiders.

Gentlemen, name your 4 vice captains...

I think the Solheim Cup might have set the precedent of what is "Europe". Kind of a geographical thing, not economic.
But I certainly have no idea whether Campos would play for the US or Internationals.

And good to see the new Director of Homeland Security testify to the Senate that she did not know whether Norway was a predominantly white country.

Nice article by Doug Ferguson about Jim Mackay - he was born in England wasn't he?

http://www.golfchannel.com/article/doug-ferguson/mackay-still-caddie-heart-even-microphone


Don't know how others feel but I like Bones doing his on-course gig. Enjoyed the experiment a couple of years ago w/John Wood also.

I will admit that something that genuinely upsets me is how poorly my relationship with kwini turned when I started becoming more vocal about my dislike of top Euro RC players like Garcia and Poulter. I really hope that at some point our interactions could become much more friendly and dislike of certain players doesn't have to become personal.

In general on this forum a vibe has arisen whereby criticism of players is seen through the prism of RC allegiances and this might be harming the debate. I am pretty sure however that what most of us think about the pro game has little to do with the nationality of the players, meaning the direction of the conversation on here sometimes makes little sense. I wonder if we should stop mentioning perceived nationality biases and just focus on the individual traits of the player being discussed?

Mac - we are all guilty on occasions of offering views on people we don’t know, doing something we can barely understand, however we might relate our golf experiences to the elite pros. Just so long as we keep in mind that they are just opinions, and that character assassination is not to be the first port of call, we should get along fine. (I still think St Andrews Beach has too many elevated tees and greens, but Cape Kidnappers was one of the very best days I’ve had on a golf course!)
In golf, as life, there are few right and wrong answers. I can’t claim to adhere to it always, but I have always thought it better to support positively than jeer negatively. After all. How lucky are we to be able to see today’s great players so often when the likes of Hogan, Snead and Nelson were seen by so few?
Oh to have 10% of the skill the elite golfers have - even the right wing nut jobs! Hey ho!

Kizzire is probably a pompous dork because of his first name.

Not as bad as Tyrrell . . . . . .

Simply ridiculous first names such as Lee, Luke, Sergio, Rory, and Danny have no place in professional golf.

Happy to clear things up for all.

(Also, Sergio is a pea brain)

GPB wrote:Kizzire is probably a pompous dork because of his first name.

Patrick?

McLaren wrote:I will admit that something that genuinely upsets me is how poorly my relationship with kwini turned when I started becoming more vocal about my dislike of top Euro RC players like Garcia and Poulter.  I really hope that at some point our interactions could become much more friendly and dislike of certain players doesn't have to become personal.

In general on this forum a vibe has arisen whereby criticism of players is seen through the prism of RC allegiances and this might be harming the debate.  I am pretty sure however that what most of us think about the pro game has little to do with the nationality of the players, meaning the direction of the conversation on here sometimes makes little sense.  I wonder if we should stop mentioning perceived nationality biases and just focus on the individual traits of the player being discussed?

Sure it does Mac.

You're right about particular traits, to me though the Europeans seem more down to earth and "normal" than many of the American ones. They seem to have a sense of humour that many of the Yanks don't.

Very confused why Sky are showing coverage from the very first tee off time in California, with commentary from a load of Americans and Karen Stupples.

Very confused about the quality of the imagery. Don’t know whether it’s because it’s different courses, but some coverage looks shaky and faded. Other coverage fine.

It’s Featured Groups Ned.

Are the regular Golf Channel crews still on strike? That would affect your coverage as well presumably. Golf Channel web-site offers no clues and I refuse to watch the talking head coverage until live (I hope) golf starts in an hour or so's time.

EDIT: As for Wednesday evening, it seems they were still out.

Might not affect Stupples unless she walks out in sympathy.