PGA Tour: Rainy Riviera: Notes from the Ballwasher

1).We'll have another cool, wet week, this time at LA's Genesis Open played at wonderful Riviera. But there's a terrific field to grace Riviera, surely still in the top half dozen courses the Tour visits.

2).Thumbs up to Phil Mickelson for another great week at Pebble Beach - I've scarcely ever seen him play live, but love watching him on TV but, really Phil, your is pathetically wimpy!

3).Thumbs up for Paul Casey too - interesting to hear Peter Kostis saying that Casey needs to be more aggressive when in the hunt/lead on Sunday. Who knows, but Kostis should as he's been Casey's coach for ever. Whatever the answer, that's Casey's 9th runner-up finish against two wins - 54 Top Tens, so not an impressive hit rate for a man of his talents.
Up to 41st now in "career earnings" (almost $27M), and I wouldn't bet against him giving his bank account a big boost again this week.

4).I loved the track of Hagen/Snead/Phloyd/Phil Tour wins that GPB produced, from 1914 thru 2019. Must be odds on now that the elapsed time (28 yrs, 1 month) between Phil's first and latest wins will soon exceed Davis Love's, just three months longer!

5).Phil's, and Davis's durability is extraordinary - I wonder if Tiger will one day exceed it.
28 years: Love, Mickelson
22 yrs: Woods
20 yrs: Furyk
17 yrs: Kuchar
16 yrs: Howell.
A surprise from a previous generation might be Craig Stadler, who walrused his way to wins in 1980 and 2003.
I don't know what the average span might be for golfers with, say, five or more wins on Tour, but can't think it's longer than about six years, so ten years or more would usually signify a pretty sh1t hot career.

6).In fact, there are very few regulars on Tour today who won in the 90's: Furyk & Cink. Though Appleby still plays as full a schedule as his "status" allows and he had 3 x 1990's wins also.

7).TRIVIA!!!!!!!
Who is the only golfer under the age of 50, and still playing a reasonably full schedule, who played his first Major in the 1980's?????????

8).Woods will be looking for his first victory at Riviera and his 81st overall, teeing it up with Justin Thomas and Rory.
Phil is after win #45, and he goes with Xander and the struggling Spieth.
I'm hoping Casey might go one better this week, and don't overlook Dustin & Bubba. Three wins here already for Bubbs and DJ has 6 x top 4 finishes, including his 2017 win. Seeing as my three against the field has thrown up the winner the past two weeks, I'll go with these three this week. Pushing my luck.

Answers please for the Trivia in Note 7).

kwinigolfer wrote:
7).TRIVIA!!!!!!!
Who is the only golfer under the age of 50, and still playing a reasonably full schedule, who played his first Major in the 1980's?????????
.

Ernie Els?

I'm never wrong wrote:

kwinigolfer wrote:
7).TRIVIA!!!!!!!
Who is the only golfer under the age of 50, and still playing a reasonably full schedule, who played his first Major in the 1980's?????????
.

Ernie Els?

Nope!

Hmm..... Ernie has played 5 tournaments this season on the PGA Tour, is just under 50 (October 1969) and played in the 1989 Open.

“His first major in the 1980’s.”

Laura Davies?

I'm never wrong wrote:Hmm..... Ernie has played 5 tournaments this season on the PGA Tour, is just under 50 (October 1969) and played in the 1989 Open.

Ooh Dear!,    
So he did. Not in my original reference source.

Well done!

Now,
Who is the only person under the age of 50 still playing regularly on a Tour who made the cut in a 1980's Major?


Very good pedro,
But surely over 50, in so many ways.

Robert Karlsson made the cut in the 1989 Open Championship and finished T77.  He will be 50 in September.

Edit: Kwini: Wiki's list of Players with 5 or more PGATour wins also lists their winning spans:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_golfers_with_most_PGA_Tour_wins

GPB wrote:Robert Karlsson made the cut in the 1989 Open Championship and finished T77.  He will be 50 in September.

Very true

I reckon about the most underrated very good player of the past 20 years. Too many injuries, some of them quite freaky.


GPB,
I still am not sure of your criteria for the ASU 1st/2nd.
Is that just ASU, or is it any college?

GPB

I was just wondering when the last a PGATour event had the top two finishers from the same college.

Both Mickelson and Casey went to Arizona State.

I know it happened in 2008 at the Northern Trust (aka GENESIS) when Mickelson won and Jeff Quinney finished 2nd. Jeff Quinney also played college golf at ASU.

[quote="GPB"]I was just wondering when the last  a PGATour event had the top two finishers from the same college.

Both Mickelson and Casey went to Arizona State.

I know it happened in 2008 at the Northern Trust (aka GENESIS) when Mickelson won and Jeff Quinney finished 2nd.   Jeff Quinney also played college golf at ASU.[/quote


OK, Thanks.
Seems statistically improbable there haven't been other examples; have you seen that confirmed, or was it your research?

Just look for somebody who went to the same college as Tiger??

Didn't Tiger meet Notah Begay in college?

No research.  I am sure that there are other examples.  After one of the TV announcers made the remark that both Casey and Mickelson went to ASU, I remember making a mental note of back in 2008 of the Mickelson/Quinney finish.

It's certainly is not a common occurrence but I don't know how rare it is.  Robo rememered that Couples and Lietzke finished first and 2nd in Palm Springs and Lietzke and Tom Jenkins finished one-two in San Diego one year.  All three went to the Univ of Houston.

Edit: Found a few others.

David Duval and Stewart Cink finished 1-2 in the 1999 BellSouth Classic (Atlanta) (Ga Tech)
Hunter Mahan and Rickie Fowler finished 1-2 in the 2010 WMPO. (OK State)
and last year, Bubba Watson beat Kevin Kisner in the 2018 Dell Match Play (Univ of Georgia)

And going back a generation

Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf finished 1st and 2nd 6 different times, Jack won three times and Tom won three times. (Ohio State)

Wow! Good work. Haven't started looking yet.


Somewhat surprised to see the boys teeing off on time in LA at the "Genesis", cool and showery at the moment, with storms on the doorstep - hopefully they'll miss Riviera.

Apparently that's the first time the Tour has cancelled scores in such circumstances for almost 6 years.

Elsewhere:
~Adam Scott calls the rules revisions embarrassing (couldn't agree more).  
~More pros piling on the Kuchar nonsense.
~Mike Weir in 2nd place in the web.commer after declaring he'll play a full web.com schedule.
~14 strokes behind Weir is fellow Master Golfer Cabrera.

Play to resume shortly.
Rain to resume tomorrow, pretty much when Round 1 might wrap up.

A contestant on the web.com Tour today notched up a SEVENTEEN in Round 1. On a (very tricky) Par-4. Unlikely now to make the cut.

Positively Daly-esque.

Kuchar in one of the featured groups on Sky. One spectator shouted “Go Low.... especially on the gratuity “. Or something like that.

I'm never wrong wrote:Kuchar in one of the featured groups on Sky. One spectator shouted “Go Low.... especially on the gratuity “. Or something like that.

Presumably he'll go back to Mayakoba to defend his title - wonder what sort of contracts local caddies will draw up, and what sort of reception Kuchar receives?


Scoring at Riviera much better today - luck of the draw.

On the old pharts Tour:
It's good to see Sandy Lyle warming up for Augusta, tied for the first round lead (in progress) with a 63.

And: The more things change the more they stay the same: John Daly withdraws. I wonder if there's any penalty for persistent offenders (Isn't that what Ronald Stanley Fletcher was?)

Going back to robo's scoop about Riviera being elevated (apparently to humour Tiger) to a "super" invitational, the field is reduced from 144 to 120, another example of the Tour creating an elite season, now extended at the front end.

GPB reckons the all-exempt Tour should be reduced from 125 cards to 100 - self-fulfilling the way things are going. More money for fewer golfers. In Europe and the US.

WGC Mexico currently has 67 entrants. Lets make that 68 as officially CHIII is not in the field yet, but he is guaranteed a spot as a player in the FEX Top 10.

This year, WGC Mexico has a full the field with players outside the Top 50.

Near as I can tell, Ben An, Kodaira, Sneds, and "Young Tom" are top four alternates.

#58 Hadwin is in position to pass these players after a 68 in round 1 at Genesis

kwinigolfer wrote:Going back to robo's scoop about Riviera being elevated (apparently to humour Tiger) to a "super" invitational, the field is reduced from 144 to 120, another example of the Tour creating an elite season, now extended at the front end.

GPB reckons the all-exempt Tour should be reduced from 125 cards to 100 - self-fulfilling the way things are going. More money for fewer golfers. In Europe and the US.

The reason why I would like to see a Top 100 is because there are about 195 active players with Tour Cards. 195 cards into 144 player fields are like a square peg in a round hole.

I think the exempt players have a huge competitive advantage over the webbies. they get to play in almost all the events, where the lowest priority webbies are limited to about 20 events.

EuroTour is top 110
LPGA is Top 80

If top webbies get into more PGAT events, don’t you risk devaluing the web.com tour? Not that it matters in the big picture, but sponsors may think otherwise.

Wouldn’t it be worthwile revising the PGAT exemption categories in stead? 70 players (from 125 to 195) sounds a bit much.

On the other hand, fields are becoming increasingly limited, especially if there's a Top 50 exemption for Riviera which might entice double-dippers.

I don't have a problem with "125", would prefer some stabilisation.

I actually think the Invitational status is "a wash" for the webbies.

IIRC, only the top 70 players from the prior year FEX list are exempt for Invitationals. Alternates are determined by the current years FEX list.

That means the bottom feeder FEX 125 are NOT getting into Riviera. Players like John Huh, Ryan Blaum, Sam Saunders, and Seamus Power. These are basically the type of players that Webbies are competing against to get inside the Top 125.

Terrible field for Puerto Rico next week - opportunity missed for about 50 Tour pros in danger of losing their card. But half a dozen Seniors and a bunch more on the alternate list.
What a mess!

From Genesis to Exodus.

Indeed.
And another early exodus for King Charl, dead last overnight and the dramatic decline continues.

Meanwhile, any scuttlebutt about Sergio's disturbing "personal news" that provoked his meltdown in Saudi - DJ having a go at Angie? Don't know why faux celebrities use the woe-is-me defence on such occasions, just begging further speculation.

King Charl WD's, no surprise.

I don't get to a half dozen geezers, I see three of them, maybe four depending on which Olin Browne is playing.

Re: Sergio

Maybe Angela is seeing the light on what a Jack*$$ she married.

Blake, Bradley, Browne, Duke, Goosen, Hart, Lancaster, Uresti . . . . . . . plus another dozen in the 48+ twilight zone.

Round of the day so far from Rory, 8 under par with his 63. Would think a soft Riviera is right up his street.

Hatton gets an early start to climb the wall into Mexico.

RIP 1961 US Open Champion Gene Littler.  Age 88

Under-rated golfer.  Won 29x on PGATour and also won in Japan and Australia.

Won the Bing Crosby Pro-Am when he was an amateur (partnered with Art Wall) and won the tournament as a Pro.

Sorry to see that GPB.

Meanwhile, T.Woods goes so long without an eagle and now has three in 36 (actually fewer) holes. Right in the shake-up now. Rory slipping back but Rahm & Casey still up there.

This is getting a little like Phoenix where Fowler had a big lead and stumbled to let others back in.
Thomas is doing the same.
Rickie pulled himself together.
Can Justin?

PS: Come on Rory . . . . . .

RIOJA!

MAJ wins the Champo Tour event in a play-off.
Langer T2, Lyle & Montgomerie T6.

Come on Rory . . . . . .

Justin or JB? Carnage out there.

Compelling viewing though.
The reason I used to watch NASCAR before they started to sanitise it!

kwinigolfer wrote: RIOJA!

MAJ wins the Champo Tour event in a play-off.
Langer T2, Lyle & Montgomerie T6.
 

Chubb champion?

Agree with that Kwin. (And did you see Shiffrin yesterday in Sweden? Some second run.)

JB wins, slow play rewarded (although most of them are similarly sluggish)

Shotrock wrote:Agree with that Kwin. (And did you see Shiffrin yesterday in Sweden? Some second run.)

Different class!


ralph,
JB was the best on the day, but I agree, commentators started chatting about his pace of play early on, and it certainly can't help relatively fast players like Scott & Thomas when they're stuck with a dawdler.

I wonder if any more will give Mexico a miss after the trials and tribulations of the past ten days?

ralphjohn69 wrote:JB wins, slow play rewarded (although most of them are similarly sluggish)  :angel: :tumbleweed:

Yes slow play seems to be the main story coming out of JB win. For those who watched the event how bad was it, was it any different to what we normally see or are fans just annoyed that JT didn't win?

Not the first time we hear about JB and slow play. Last years Torrey Pines springs to mind. Just ask Noren.

5.29 for a 3 ball apparently. Not put on clock although it's reported they lost a hole to the group in front early but then stayed a hole behind. I didn't watch it, the grassy field out the back of our house had some exciting growth going on.

Scott's right though. Until TV or sponsors start pulling $$$ it'll just remain a grumble around the course, in the box and amongst fans.

When Kostis first started to go on about JB's slow "process", he also noted that they had waited on every shot - and that was about six holes in to Round 4. It probably got stretched a little but they couldn't have gone much faster regardless, like a circular traffic jam.
EDIT: I could have added that there was a lengthy delay, possibly on #7, where Holmes had a plugged ball after thinning a fairway bunker shot into the bank in front of him. Initially they couldn't find his ball, then there was a delay with ruling and they probably didn't really get properly caught up again - tough to say though, as the cameras hardly showed the group in front.

But it was compelling viewing regardless, JB outplaying Scott and Thomas, and no-one among the chasing groups (Si Woo, Rory or Leishman) quite getting close enough.  

Riviera looked fabulous!

Off to Mexico and it sounds as if JB's not climbing the wall so apparently that allows Tom Lewis to squeeze in.

What are the chances one of the golfers speaks ill of Trumps wall plans this week?

1000/1 against.


I wonder if any others will choose not to play "Mexico". So far the absentees are Rose, Day, Scott, Holmes.

McLaren wrote:What are the chances one of the golfers speaks ill of Trumps wall plans this week?

Maybe Kuchar could put his 2 cents in?