PGA Tour: Farewell to The Greenbrier?: Notes from the Ballwasher

1).The absurdly titled "A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier" takes centre stage on the PGA Tour this week, hosted by a bombastic, obese, self-infatuated, capitalist blowhard who switches political allegiances as it suits him. And the US President was at The Greenbrier resort yesterday as well.

2).The PGA Tour loves to associate itself with "military appreciation", but this could be "Taps" for the Greenbrier tournament, almost certainly for this July date. Like last week's Washington D.C. event, this is a tournament that has struggled to attract strong fields and this week is no exception, partly caused by the absence of Europeans and other "Internationals".

3).With the Tour's "regular season" winding down, Francesco Molinari's roll of the dice was richly rewarded last week as he sought to ensure he retained his playing card for next year. Let's hope he can carry this form forward to Carnoustie, and then Bridgestone & the PGA. And Paris.
Is that the first Italian win on the PGA Tour?  
And: The Tour lists his WGC-HSBC victory merely as a European Tour win.
Anyway, ironic that one of his main competitors last week was T.Woods, who Franny played in both of his only two singles Ryder Cup matches. More in September?

4).Each week sees players cross the threshold (400 FedEx pts to be sure) to secure a Top 125 position for Play-Off action. Franny did the trick last week, as did Lahiri, Ryan Palmer and Abraham Ancer - will he become Mexico's first world class golfer, at least in recent generations?
And so did Sung Kang, the subject of accusations of cheating (dropping his ball allegedly in the wrong place after hitting into a hazard last Sunday) by playing partner Joel Dahmen. Didn't see it, so no comment; suffice to say the Tour official ruled in Kang's favour rather than Dahmen who's there to protect the field. All a bit contentious.

5).With so many media types saying Furyk is bound to make Phil & Tiger Captain's Picks for Paris if they don't qualify in the automatic placings, that could put Captain Jim in a bit of a bind with other options, effectively limiting himself to two wild cards and making it appear the "Task Force" was intended for self-preservation. Lots of time, and points available, between now and selection time, but something to keep an eye on.

6).With this week likely to be the Last Post for summer Greenbrier action, hopefully it will secure an autumn place on future Tour schedules - the "Old White TPC" is a fine CB McDonald (with recent facelifts) course, concluding rather curiously with an innocuous, anti-climactic, downright ordinary, short-iron Par-3.
Plenty of pros beneath the galactico level have much to gain with a strong week:
Webb Simpson & Brian Harman will be looking to boost the Ryder Cup credentials.
Bill Haas & Brandt Snedeker are still adrift of the FedEx Play-Offs.
Kisner (course seems made for him) and Chappell have had rotten runs of form.
Charlie Howell returns to the scene of a bogeyless 72-hole (non-winning) effort of a few years ago, and will Russell Henley rebound from his disappointing final round at The Travelers where his final pair was becalmed behind slowpoke Holmes?
And Xander Schauffele returns to the site of last year's breakthrough win.
I liked Danny Lee's chances last week but he caught a metaphoric crab early and never recovered. He's won here and if he's to make any noise this summer, this'll be the place.
Lahiri is the top-ranked non-American (owgr #99) playing, and Seamus Power has yet another chance to tie up his 2018/19 Tour Card after rather fluffing his lines after a good start last week.

Kwini... I believe Toney Penna was the first Italian to win on the PGA tour. 4 wins from 1937 - 1947.

robopz wrote:Kwini... I believe Toney Penna was the first Italian to win on the PGA tour. 4 wins from 1937 - 1947.

Hadn't realised he was Italian. Sounds like he grew up in New York.


Here's the article referred to on last week's thread about Jarrod Lyle:

https://www.pgatour.com/news/2018/06/280/jarrod-lyle-loses-vision-mystery-illness.html

All pretty sad, ironically for the funniest guy on Tour.

kwinigolfer wrote:3).With the Tour's "regular season" winding down

Just read the blurb about the Greenbrier on the PGA Tour website. Only 7 weeks to the playoffs. Enjoyable read as usual Kwini.

Re 1). It must be the most absurd name of a golf tournament ever. Can’t even think of anything coming close...

pedro wrote:Re 1). It must be the most absurd name of a golf tournament ever. Can’t even think of anything coming close...

How about... DUBAI DUTY FREE IRISH OPEN HOSTED BY THE RORY FOUNDATION ???

But why this infatuation with "the Military"?
The people whose agenda this suits are the ones most likely not to serve, untimely bone spurs, bj's from Monica, that sort of thing. Gov Justice trying to shake the Samuel Peabody narrative?


Joaquin Niemnan the early leader, one young hot-shot who looks as if he might be the real thing. The Internationals' Presidents Cup Team certainly hope so.

Oh the horror of ot all. A tournament doing a military tribute the week of our nation's Independence Day celebration... Can't imagine how that could possibly register as some kind of negative on anybody's radar... Or what any of that has to do with fellatio.

Nor do I understand the bizarre overly emotional fixation on Jim Justice.

But it's every week, perhaps in better disguise, discounted tickets, US flags on pins, the whole gamut. My parents would roll in their graves.

Time to celebrate peace, surely? And I'm a fan of a strong defence, that's why we pay taxes.


Another dismal start from Smylie Kaufman, one fourth place finish this season, a pair of T69's (coincidentally ), and no cuts made for almost 6 months. 79 today won't reverse that trend. Brian Davis not a helluva lot better of course.

I for one have a hell of a lot of respect for people who serve in our military and if people want to honor them I say more power to them, go for it. The people I wonder about are the ones who are bothered by it.

Hey, I don't get male sport's fixations on pink outs for breast cancer, (instead of maybe brown outs for prostate cancer instead)... But the thought of criticizing the people who think it's important never occurred to me.

Can't say is I'm entirely surprised at Smylie Kaufman falling off the planet... Go back and look at his line and it's actually him pulling a win out of his butt that's the shocker.. he's had a pretty pedestrian career otherwise. Had he not been part of that infamous SB2K group... probably nobody would ever noticed, just like they never notice the dozen or so guys who lose their games and fade off into oblivion every year.

Who doesn't have respect for servicemen & women, that's not the point - why "celebrate" them more than teachers, nurses, public "servants" of every stripe. It's nothing more than a political ruse with the Tour a willing pawn in the game.


And here's another thing!!!!
John bl00dy Daly back in the field, walking or limping, just a week after mouthing off at the USGA for not allowing him to use a cart at The Broadmoor. What a bloated t0ssp0t. Loads of talent, once, but he needs to finally grow up.

Hope you're keeping dry, robo . . . . . . .

And just saw your note about SK: Yup, but wasn't he in the final pairing at Augusta just a couple of years ago? Some talent then at least.

Silly me... I guess I see the level of sacrifice between trachers and the military as being just slightly different.

Yeah we got drenched but not so bad.

And I guess the bottom line on Smylie is... I never had any level of expectation for him, so him not doing much doesn't really register much with me.

robopz wrote:Silly me... I guess I see the level of sacrifice between trachers and the military as being just slightly different.

Agree. Teachers don’t have guns to defend themselves. (Yet.)


PS. TDDFIOHBTRF is a pretty silly name too, but somewhat less absurd.

pedro wrote:PS. TDDFIOHBTRF is a pretty silly name too, but somewhat less absurd.

I don't see how, but to each his own.

Webb Simpson helping his RC chances with a first round 61 - should he win this week, he'll leap-frog Spieth & Fowler and push them to the brink of automatic qualifying placings. Which all makes the supposed imperative for Furyk to "pick" Phil and Tiger even more intriguing.

At the arse end of the leaderboard, Daly resides in T153 out of 155 remaining runners.
Which exceeds expectations, you'd think.

robopz wrote:

pedro wrote:PS. TDDFIOHBTRF is a pretty silly name too, but somewhat less absurd.

I don't see how, but to each his own.

I get the name (although I think it's stupid) around July 4th and I get the respect for military personnel. Trouble is, jingoism is just around the corner and you have a d!ckhead as a President just now.

One of the form guys on Tour these days is Anirban Lahiri and Poona's finest has already birdied his first three holes this morning - low scoring expected again today as they chase Webby Simpson, looking to follow up his Players triumph with another "W".

Which, given he named a daughter after the title of his first tournament win, makes you wonder how he'd get this week's mouthful on the birth certificate.

61 in Round 2 for Lahiri; he may not win this but he's undoubtedly found his feet on the PGA Tour.

Cut appears to be edging inexorably from -2 to -3, which means Seamus needs to Power in with a 67 this afternoon. A tall order unless he can straighten out his driving.

http://www.golf.com/knockdown/2018/07/05/tiger-woods-phil-mickelson-10-million-match-play-event


Wouldn't it be nice if they were putting up $10M, winner takes all?
Pretty pointless exercise otherwise.

kwinigolfer wrote:Which, given he named a daughter after the title of his first tournament win, makes you wonder how he'd get this week's mouthful on the birth certificate.

Rambo? Adolf?

kwinigolfer wrote:http://www.golf.com/knockdown/2018/07/05/tiger-woods-phil-mickelson-10-million-match-play-event


Wouldn't it be nice if they were putting up $10M, winner takes all?
Pretty pointless exercise otherwise.

Maybe they’ll sell it as they’d put in their own money.
But they won’t tell when they rake in 100M from selling the TV rights.

kwinigolfer wrote:http://www.golf.com/knockdown/2018/07/05/tiger-woods-phil-mickelson-10-million-match-play-event


Wouldn't it be nice if they were putting up $10M, winner takes all?
Pretty pointless exercise otherwise.

But a pointless exercise everyone will watch... $cha-ching$....

navyblueshorts wrote:..... Trouble is, jingoism is just around the corner and you have a d!ckhead as a President just now.

Ahhhh... As I suspected... A tribute to the "military" really had very little to nothing to do with the angst over this to begin with.....

robopz wrote:

navyblueshorts wrote:..... Trouble is, jingoism is just around the corner and you have a d!ckhead as a President just now.

Ahhhh... As I suspected... A tribute to the "military" really had very little to nothing to do with the angst over this to begin with.....

It does to me, robo, as the child of two service-parents (met at a base in the Middle East as it happens), and father of other "public servant".
We (GB) honour our service people but don't make a profession of it. Or a political statement (which may be what you'd want in response).
We've (GB & US) both fought stupid wars and not looked after our "veterans", but "honouring" them on every possible politically-convenient platform does no justice (or honour) to their choice of career.

Kwini... We come to this from similar directions but with an entirely different viewpoints. I'm an army brat myself. But what I see in this respect for the military, is genuine respect and not just political posturing. So sad the partisan political environment we seem to have been in for the last 30 years Jade's everything... Including something like this... Anyway... Moving on. I hope you enjoy the rest of the tournament, if you can stomach to watch it that is.

Haven't seen any action so far, but certainly hope Billy Hurley keeps up his good work. And good luck to "army brat" Lahiri.
Sure I'll tune in today after the footie.

And, very surprised that Francesco Molinari is playing next week's JDC - good for him for keeping his commitment, but is it really a smart move? Another dismal field, sad to say.

At least he’s good at golf...

https://www.golfchannel.com/article/golf-central-blog/reverse-shank-knoxs-apple-toss-so-bad/

All to play for in West Virginia, at the AMTaTG, with Kelly forgetting the Kraft wot got him a lead, as he stumbled over his final three Round 3 holes, allowing Harry Varner to share the overnight lead.

Bubba is just three shots adrift, tied with Lahiri who had a front nine nightmare with his putter. Na and last year's winner Schauffele are just one back of the lead and, given excellent scoring conditions again today you'd think all will need to go low to win this.

Further back, Webb Simpson shot 15 shots worse on Saturday than he did on Thursday so he'll struggle to help his Ryder Cup cause - if he was a racehorse, his trainer would be in for a stewards enquiry (RIP John Dunlop).

Well deserved win for Kevin Na, na na na na, smoked 'em.
Snedeker back to The Open, good to see his return to form.

All the speculation seems to be that The Greenbrier tournament will go to late summer, the next edition being the first event of 2019/2010 - which seems a long way away.

kwinigolfer wrote:All the speculation seems to be that The Greenbrier tournament will go to late summer, the next edition being the first event of 2019/2010 - which seems a long way away.

Greenbrier looks to be moving about 8 weeks later in the schedule... Yet that's two seasons away. Agree, weird.  

But all the schedule speculation supposedly ends tomorrow. I assume Greenbrier will be addressed then too.

PGA Tour schedule released... https://www.pgatour.com/company/2018/07/10/pga-tour-unveils-significantly-revamped-2018-2019-season-schedule.html

No schedule surprises from most recent discussions... Schedule will be at 46 events down from 49, but add 2 for Houston and Greenbrier moving to fall 2019-20 to make 48... and possible (but unlikely) continuation of "The National" in the fall.

10/1 - 10/7 - Safeway Open - Silverado Resort and Spa (North Course) - Napa, California
10/8 - 10/14 - CIMB Classic - TPC Kuala Lumpur - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
10/15 - 10/21 - THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES - Nine Bridges - Jeju Island, Korea
10/22 - 10/28 - World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions - Sheshan International Golf Club - Shanghai, China
10/22 - 10/28 - Sanderson Farms Championship - Country Club of Jackson - Jackson, Mississippi
10/29 - 11/4 - Shriners Hospitals for Children Open - TPC Summerlin - Las Vegas, Nevada
11/5 - 11/11 - Mayakoba Golf Classic - El Camaleon Golf Club at the Mayakoba Resort - Playa del Carmen, Mexico
11/12 - 11/18 - The RSM Classic - Sea Island Resort (*Seaside Course, Plantation Course) - St. Simons Island, Georgia
BREAK - - -
12/31 - 1/6 - Sentry Tournament of Champions - Kapalua Resort (The Plantation Course) - Kapalua, Hawaii
1/7 - 1/13 - Sony Open in Hawaii - Waialae Country Club - Honolulu, Hawaii
1/14 - 1/20 - CareerBuilder Challenge - PGA WEST (*Stadium Course, Nicklaus Tournament Course); La Quinta Country Club - La Quinta, California
1/21 - 1/27 - Farmers Insurance Open - Torrey Pines Golf Course (*South Course, North Course) - San Diego, California
1/28 - 2/3 - Waste Management Phoenix Open - TPC Scottsdale (Stadium Course) - Scottsdale, Arizona
2/4 - 2/10 - AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am - *Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill Golf Course, Monterey Peninsula Country Club (Shore Course) - Pebble Beach, California
2/11 - 2/17 - Genesis Open - The Riviera Country Club - Pacific Palisades, California
2/18 - 2/24 - World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship - Club de Golf Chapultepec - Mexico City, Mexico
2/18 - 2/24 - Puerto Rico Open - Coco Beach Golf & Country Club - Rio Grande, Puerto Rico
2/25 - 3/3 - The Honda Classic - PGA National Resort & Spa (The Champion Course) - Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
3/4- 3/10 - Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard - Bay Hill Club and Lodge - Orlando, Florida
3/11- 3/17 - THE PLAYERS Championship - TPC Sawgrass (THE PLAYERS Stadium Course) - Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
3/18 - 3/24 - Valspar Championship - Innisbrook, a Salamander Golf and Spa Resort (Copperhead Course) - Palm Harbor, Florida
3/25 - 3/31 - World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play - Austin Country Club - Austin, Texas
3/25 - 3/31 - Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship - Puntacana Resort & Club (Corales Golf Course) - Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
4/1 - 4/7 - Valero Texas Open - TPC San Antonio (AT&T Oaks Course) - San Antonio, Texas
4/8 - 4/14 - Masters Tournament # - Augusta National Golf Club - Augusta, Georgia
4/15 - 4/21 - RBC Heritage - Harbour Town Golf Links - Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
4/22 - 4/28 - Zurich Classic of New Orleans - TPC Louisiana - New Orleans, Louisiana
4/29 - 5/5 - Wells Fargo Championship - Quail Hollow Club - Charlotte, North Carolina
5/6 - 5/12 - AT&T Byron Nelson - Trinity Forest Golf Club - Dallas, Texas
5/13 - 5/19 - PGA Championship # - Bethpage State Park (Black Course) - Bethpage, New York
5/20 - 5/26 - Charles Schwab Challenge - Colonial Country Club - Fort Worth, Texas
5/27 - 6/2 - the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide - Muirfield Village Golf Club - Dublin, Ohio
6/3 - 6/9 - RBC Canadian Open - Hamilton Golf & Country Club - Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
6/10 - 6/16 - U.S. Open # - Pebble Beach Golf Links - Pebble Beach, California
6/17 - 6/23 - Travelers Championship - TPC River Highlands - Cromwell, Connecticut
6/24 - 6/30 - Rocket Mortgage Classic - Detroit Golf Club - Detroit, Michigan
7/1 - 7/7 - 3M Open - TPC Twin Cities - Blaine, Minnesota
7/8 - 7/14 - John Deere Classic - TPC Deere Run - Silvis, Illinois
7/15 - 7/21 - The Open Championship # - Royal Portrush Golf Club - Portrush, Northern Ireland
7/15 - 7/21 - Barbasol Championship - Keene Trace Golf Club (Champions Trace) - Nicholasville, Kentucky
7/22 - 7/28 - World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational - TPC Southwind - Memphis, Tennessee
7/22 - 7/28 - Reno-Tahoe Tournament - Montre^ux Golf and Country Club - Reno, Nevada
7/29 - 8/4 - Wyndham Championship - Sedgefield Country Club - Greensboro, North Carolina
PLAYOFFS
8/5 - 8/11 - THE NORTHERN TRUST - Liberty National Golf Club - Jersey City, New Jersey
8/12 - 8/18 - BMW Championship - Medinah Country Club (Course No. 3) - Medinah, Illinois
8/19 - 8/25 - TOUR Championship - East Lake Golf Club - Atlanta, Georgia

Net effects of schedule change...  Players to March, PGA to May... Schedule ends before Labor Day.

LOST events...
The National (assumed gone)
Firestone WGC (assigned to Memphis)
Boston Playoff event (Playoffs reduced to 3 but Boston will ROTATE with NY playoff event)
 
NEW events...
Rocket Mortgage Classic - Detroit (replaces National)
3M Open - TPC Twin Cities - (takes Greenbrier spot)

MOVED events (Calendar Shift)...
Houston Open - NOT played in 2018-19, moved to Fall 2019-20
Greenbrier Classic - NOT played in 2018-19, moved to Fall 2019-20

OPPORTUNITIES: New schedule creates 4-5 openings From Labor Day through the end of September for possible new events. 2 of those spots are taken with Houston and Greenbrier... But that leaves 2-3 others for 1) very unlikely National continues... 2) More potential Asian expansion (possibly a WGC). 3) one or some of the Alternate events to take a full free-standing spot on the schedule. (but it's assumed the PGA Tour is supposed to keep up their 1998 commitment to the membership to try to keep alternate events opposite WGC's)

Thanks robo,
Glad to see Puerto Rico restored, and hope that Barbasol & Reno "stick".
But still sorry to see Boston/NYC losing an event.
There'll have to be a reconstruction of the FedEx Play-Off Points and cut-offs, so presumably that will be announced in a couple of months. Sceptical that Greenbrier is in it for the long term, but hopefully the other US (couldn't care less about the Asian stops) autumn tournaments are all keepers.

Kwini... There are still a few sponsor issues hanging that we don't know the status of yet...

Mayakoba... This fall is the last year of their 7 year deal. It's a real estate development... and I'm not sure where they are in the development cycle and/or if they still need to be sponsoring an event.

AT&T Byron Nelson... Assumed AT&T is in for the long haul as they had so much to do with the course development and all... but no firm agreement term has been announced past this past May.

Greenbrier - Sponsor agreement in effect thru 2021. My guess is the schedule change probably gave them an out if they wanted it, but since it's confirmed to be moving to fall, it appears it'll last at least it's current term...

Barbasol - It's prior announced agreement is up after this year's playing, but it just having moved to Kentucky, and being on the new schedule with the same name, seems to indicate that one is solid.

Barracuda - (Reno) May be different story. Sponsor agreement is up on that one after this summer and it's listed on the new schedule as "Reno-Tahoe Tournament" without the Barracuda name. Hmmmm...

Up for renwal in 2019 - Genesis Open, WGC Dell Match Play, Wells Fargo, BMW Championship (middle playoff event)

Only ones above that I sense "risk" are Barracuda (Reno) and Mayakoba (no bad indications, just don't have a clue)

Kwini... Playoffs going 125 players for R1... 70 for R2... and 30 for Tour Championship has been confirmed... however... PGAT is considering formats for the playoffs... Padzer didn't give any indication what that means or if anything will actually change.

Yup, still would think that there'll be some fall-out from the congestion before The Players.
Can't see Riviera having a problem, even if Genesis does an exodus, but something has to give later, only if it manifests itself in one of the WGC's moving to a post-Masters date. (Or the WGC-Match Play somehow emigrating, possibly the best solution.)
I like the schedule between The Travelers and Open, the Mid-West swing(?), even thru Kentucky.

Hope Reno and Mayakoba stay around.

Further to the comments on previous threads, I DO see the WGC's having to be reinvented if not resuscitated, but quite how without a European/South African/Aussie sponsor stepping up I've no idea!

Kwini... The issue with potential WGC sponsors elsewhere is the WGC model is different then it is in most other places. That's why the potential sponsors eventually pulled out of talks to have a South African WGC a few years back.

Bottom line is the PGA Tour owns and controls the WGC's, and they're not going to make the mistake they made with the HSBC and IMG ceeding even partial control to anybody else. So it's like, we'll take your sponsor dollars, but we'll own it and run it, and we'll profit from the sale of media rights and everything else that comes out of it.

I think with the new $2 bil international distribution agreement the PGA just signed with Discovery, more WGC's are likely in the works.. but it's more likely to be Korea or Japan, not Australia or South Africa. And the other part of the equation is the tour is still going to need to put up alternate events for the rank-and-file up against them.