PGA Tour / US Open: Notes from the Ballwasher

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1).First in driving distance.
First in putts per green in regulation.
Fifth in total putts.
Eighth in greens in regulation.
That's the trick Harrison Frazar pulled last week; if he can do it again he'll win the US Open. He has serious power, more than enough for Congressional, but one would expect his short game to desert him in the end.

2).These wins have hidden bennies: Apart from sponsorship bonuses and, in this case, a 2 1/2 year Tour exemption, Frazar also qualifies for Bridgestone, the PGA Championship, Kapalua and Augusta; and probably the HSBC Champions. And to think a few months ago he wrote an SI article about packing the pro game up after 13 winless years and $9M in prizemoney.

3).Roary Sabbatini's just had two weeks off, presumably at His Majesty Tim Finchem's pleasure. Now he gets to return to the scene of Bencranegate, where in 2005 he left pedestrian Ben to his own devices and desires on the 17th green while he played the 18th without him. Expect Roary to have another fortnight's holiday, win this week or lose.

4).Who's got form here? Only four players in the field have won at Congressional, all before Rees Jones redid (read lengthened) the Blue Course: Ernie Els (1997), Sergio Garcia (2005), KJ Choi (2007) and Anthony Kim (2008). Apart from Sergio, other Europeans who have decent records at Congressional include:
Freddie Jacobson, 2nd in the 2008 AT&T; Justin Rose with a couple of top thirty AT&T finishes; Luke Donald with a 13th place in 2005; and, of course, Alex Cejka with a 9th place finish in 2008.

5).Oops, last but by no means least, a certain Lee Westwood who finished T19th (with T.Woods) at the 1997 US Open here. Others from Team GB&I who made the 1997 cut were five Ryder Cuppers, Monty, DC, Sirfaldo, Coltart and Broadhurst.
AND: The son of a moustachioed itinerant goalscorer who plied his trade for, among other more distinguished teams: Bradford Park Avenue, Southport and Stockport. Now: No Googling allowed, who was the son of a strikerman who finished 24th that year????

6).Others who have at least two top tens in the five events competitors could have played include:
Furyk, with 2 x 3rds, a 5th, and a 7th.
Allenby, with a 3rd and a 6th.
Mahan, 2nd and 6th.
Snedeker, 5th and 8th.
Els and Kim, (both languishing in abysmal form).

7).Apart from the aged Fred Funk, there is no PGA Tour winner who could be described as a local. But: Mike Fluff Cowen is a member at Congressional, and a fine golfer in his own right. That may explain Furyk's terrific record here, but Jimmy's been out of sorts this year and it's difficult to believe Fluff can help him to the winners' enclosure.

8).Been having a look at Paddy Power's prices, and my five European value bets, paying each way down to 6th, are:
11/1 Westwood
60/1 Garcia
66/1 Karlsson
70/1 Rose
200/1 Noren.
My three to beat the field would be Choi, Mahan, Westwood, not necessarily in that order! Sure Donald and Stricker are among those in superb form (and Stricker also has a good record here) but this course will be unrelenting to shorter hitters unless they hit at least 75% of the fairways; it's not just the long irons into greens, it's the strength to get out of jail.

9).Before we know it, we'll be talking about Royal St.George's and the R&A mini-money-list is now led by, yup, Harrison Frazar, followed by Goydos, Jobe, CHIII and Holmes.

10).Lastly, the Nationwiders are hard at it in Kansas, Christian and Owen hopefully putting four good rounds together and Russell Knox rediscovering his form of a few weeks ago.

I think that's six out of six for Sweden, terrific performance!
They've all got pretty good coverage here except perhaps peter Hanson who kinda snuck up on everyone (me) anyway.

Stark contrast to Australia who will be 4/7 or 3/8 depending on O'Hern's fortunes as he finishes. Steve Williams did about as well with Adam Scott as he might've done with Le Tigre.

Hope everything's OK for Casey; this is a track that an on-form Casey should eat up, would think that the golfing part of him would be bitterly disappointed at missing out on. Bloom off Justin Rose as well, so he's got himself two weeks off to prepare for Aronomink.

Golf Boys Crane, Fowler and Mahan, plus Cink, Furyk and Watney just some of the Americans not playing Saturday, Dustin and Bubba just scraping in.

Gallacher, Knox and Laird all missing out by one stroke for Scotland.

Do we have any idea what the forecast is to be like over the rest of the weekend?

'Morning Redrage,
21 golfers still to complete Round 2 as more "weather" blew through about 8.00 p.m. last night.

Current conditions are fair, 68F, with light breeze.
Forecast for the weekend:
Saturday: Showers developing late morning with chance of thiunder showers this afternoon. Light winds, high mid 80's.
Chance of showers Saturday night.
Sunday: Fair, light winds, chance of afternoon thunderjobs, High mid-80's.

Allegedly 1.25 inches of rain has fallen the past couple of days, so expect the course to continue to play a touch soft; sure they'll find it difficult to get the greens up to the hoped-for 14.5 on the stimpmeter.

I believe they're planning to resume play at 7.30 a.m. but have yet to see confirmation of that, Brandt Jobe the highest placed golfer affected.

hmmmmmmmmmm I am sure Rory would have preferred it to dry out and make it harder for Yang and the gang to catch him. Then again, he is shooting the lights out as it is, so maybe I am wrong about that.

Only thing is, Redrage, that the softer the course plays the longer it plays; that'll favour Rory provided he hits his fairways - he was getting kinda crooked towards the end on Friday. Straighten it out and he moves further ahead.

72 golfers make the cut, scheduled first Round 3 tee time allegedly at 9.50 a.m. Assuming they'll go off in pairs but that hasn't been confirmed yet.

Confirmed they're going off in pairs at ten-minute intervals starting at 10.00 a.m., local time. Some notable pairings:
10.30 a.m.: Luke Donald, Anthony Kim. Not sure Lukey will appreciate that distraction.
11.10: Matteo, Dustin. The short and the long of it. But who will come out on top?
12.00 p.m.: Sabbatini, Glover. Battle of the beards. Perhaps the Tour's two moodiest men?
12.40: McDowell, Kaymer. Surely one of them will show us what they're made of? My money's on Kaymer.
12.50: Ishikawa, Harrington.
1.30: Freddie Jac, Lee Westwood. A late bogey gave Lee Freddie instead of Jason Day - good thing probably provided Freddie doesn't slow down too much . . . .
1.40: Chappell, Phil
2.00: Edfors, Stenson: Swedes still in their comfort zone. Yesterday's child from Henrik so far.
3.10: Rock, Quiros: Robert Rock should be comfortable with Alvaro you'd think?
3.40: Garrigus, Garcia: Wonder if they'll talk. Commentators will focus on their length and their putting. And the length of Garrigus's putter. 19 inches I think!
3.50: Rory, Y.E.: Keep it in the short grass, Rory. Good luck!

Last group not out till almost 4pm local? That's a bit late isn't it?

It's all for TV, Davie. Egg on USGA faces if there's a weather delay.

Remember Bethpage when they left the course empty when it was dry and subsequent delays resulted in a Monday conclusion? That was all for TV, but any player outrage was limited to Poulter who diplomatically tweeted his thoughts! Same thing here, except Poulter's tweeting his good wishes to Rory from Orlando.

(Poults really needs to kick his season into gear - hoping to follow him in Hartford next Friday!)

The Edfors Stenson group is very interesting. Im sure Stenson would take a top ten..................
As for Garcia(another Moody man!), amazed if he finishes in Top 10, but hope he can hang in there, although with his horrendous attitude, i wouldn't rule out a really high score over the weekend................

Interesting what you say about Garcia's attitude .. I saw him interviewed on Sky where he said he hoped Rory wins it! Strange thing to say when he is still in with some sort of a shout himself

John,
I was going to do a "Moody Blues", Garrigus has had his moments also, certainly has come out with the most expletives when I've followed him!
Don't you think Sergio was just being magnanimous? Of course, it also deflects pressure from him - I hope Rory wins well with Sergio second!

People can say what they like about the world rankings but Casey (#10) is the only one of the leading twelve to miss the cut.

Incidentally, Rory will probably rise to Number Four in the owgr's if he should win this weekend, perhaps Three if Kaymer has a shocker, perhaps Five is Stricker or Phil come roaring through the field to a high finish.

Agree that it doesn't make sense to cut the cake so close especially given the weather fronts which constantly move through the D.C. area. But the T.V. boys always get their way. They have their number crunchers but I can't believe they get a greater audience by delaying the tee times by an hour or so.

A shameless plug but have to like 2 of my picks based on ignorance and blind allegiance: Kevin Chappell and 'the man with the golden name' Patrick Cantlay. (Would make a perfect character name if they ever film "Austin Powers #4.") Both happen to be NCAA players of the year while golfing for UCLA. Chappell in '08 and Cantlay this year.

Nice to see Stenson starting to come back around. Maybe those recent intense practice sessions with Fannie are paying early dividends. Is there a possible 'one of those' Swedish flicks in the making perhaps and certainly we can appreciate another golf film.

If Rory doesn't win, id love Garcia to............im worried about Yang though. He doesn't appear to be hitting the ball well at all but he's scoring so well..................

i wish Monty would stop talking about this as another Europe v USA. Forget about the Ryder Cup monty!!!!!

Surprised we haven't had more complaints from the "purists" here about him not carrying an iron longer than a 6

I wonde why rescue clubs are more acceptable to the "purists" than, say, a belly-putter

'Morning venice,
Hope those infernal Red Sox didn't spoil your supper and evening libations.

I saw you had most of your fantasy team still alive, nice going. Is Chappell a good guy? I watched him on TV win a N'wide event last year and he came across as pretty arrogant. I know you need some of that, but still!

Bubba setting off on quite the round: bogey, bogey, bogey, birdie, birdie. Playing a par five right now so time for an eagle, or perhaps "that rarest of birds", the albatross.

Team Sweden eight under par in Round 2, beating Germany by two for the best National effort, Northern Ireland two shots further back! England? Don't ask.

Lee and Chubby's horse (Hoof It) just about to run in the 4:25 at Royal Ascot. I wonder if Lee is taking a bathroom break to get the results

Well that's one of Chubby's stable failed badly as a betting favourite. He'll be hoping that isn't an omen

Hope it's not Chubby's and Lee's loot that made him favourite. Time to replenish the coffers Lee. Please.
I see Deacon Blues won that race - think Bill Haas and Webb Simpson are the only "Demon Deacons" to make the cut, but if that horse is a portent they haven't got anything to look forward to.

Webb Simpson -3 through 8, he seems to be finding his feet now. Keep it up, Kid!

Kwini, call 911... Webb Simpson is on fire today! -5 through 10 now.

And to think of the doom and gloom on here when Webbo opened up with thre straight bogeys on his first three Round One holes! He's showing 'em.

But he's also showing the leaders that a score is out there, and hopefully Rory that he needs to keep his foot down.

Nine pars for Lukey, eighteen straight won't get him anything other than a slightly later Sunday tee time.

Ooops... jinxed him. Maybe I should have let hm finish the round.

Yeah, there are low scores to be had... but also big scores too if Rory can't keep his long game ticking over. Looking forward to the live coverage starting at 7pm.

Most golfers within the -1 to +2 range as groups finish the (supposedly easier) front nine.
Still only Webbo better than one under, Million Dollar Streelman the only pro worse than two over.

Weather update:
"Showers and thinderstorms developing by 4.00 p.m."
Nothing on radar yet, but if there's one thing the leaders, whoever they are, don't want to have to worry about when they've been twiddling their thumbs all day is weather interference.
We'll keep a "weather eye" open.

Finally. Now maybe we'll get to see some action. Luke with the birdie but probably just playing out the string. Time to strike up the barby and drink some ale. Come on Rory... set the U.S. Open record score!

kwini,
Lucked out with 6 of my 7 making the cut. The only bum was Badds. Can't believe that one. I only saw Kevin Chappell once a few years ago at the Rancho Park driving range. He was there with a couple of team mates and they were having a good time and bantering with the teaching pros. Pathetic because they were launching 5 irons about the same distance as my 3 wood and with little effort. Very discouraging when a bunch of teens make you look bad and weak.

Frosty ones on the starting grid, venice.

NBC is saying Webb Simpson received a(nother) one shot penalty for his ball moving after address on the 13th hole. Anyone have confirmation of that?

That cost him New Orleans; daft if he let that happen again.

Can someone answer this question, why can they broadcast virtually every single match during the major tennis championships for two solid weeks for each of those events and we are only allowed a certain amount of television coverage amounting to less than six to eight hours per day for the major golf championships

(Not to mention 40 - 60% of the time we are not watching someone hit the ball and a good percentage of the shots are putts.) At this very moment the U.S. broadcast is showing some fluff piece they put together a few months ago that they could have shown a few hours ago when they were twiddling their thumbs.

Stenson and Day moving on moving day. Despite the name, Cantlay puts it in the hole on one for a birdie. Henley, of the 2 remaining amateurs doing very well also.

The just did a piece on American presidents playing golf. What's the history of U.K. prime ministers and golf?

Not sure PM's have a very proud sporting history venice, Ted Heath and his sailing exploits notwithstanding.

NBC TV so far at their absolute worst. The "tape delay" network. Just unwatchable.

Stenson is on course for 6 top 10s in the last 11 majors, an impressive run.

For anyone that is interested, the 606v2 chatroom is currently open (bottom of the forum home page) - for those who are online while watching the golf. There is other live sport on this evening so it will be shared with that.

I'm still not settled for the evening and flitting around between the forum, making some dinner and keeping an eye on the TV so I may or may not be in there (may just settle down with a cold one and watch the TV) - but I know some like to watch online and talk about it at the same time

RR,

Quite a stat and surprising considering his recent poor play, relatively speaking. Obviously gets psyched for the big ones.

Luke's bad stats for 3 days:

Holes #11 - 18:
Birdies: 1
Bogeys: 10
Doubles: 2

Redrage,
Of those tournaments classified as PGA Tour events, Stenson has 13 top tens;
3 in The Players
3 in WGC's
2 in The Open
2 in the PGA
1 in the US Open
2 in run of the mill Tour events.

kwinigolfer wrote:Redrage,
Of those tournaments classified as PGA Tour events, Stenson has 13 top tens;
3 in The Players
3 in WGC's
2 in The Open
2 in the PGA
1 in the US Open
2 in run of the mill Tour events.

Really impressive when most people would consider he hasn't been nearly at his peak for 2 seasons now.

Every time I mention a player they end up with a bogey! Who should I pick on next?

Redrage wrote:Every time I mention a player they end up with a bogey! Who should I pick on next?

Kuchar or Garrigus please

I can't take Garrigus seriously with that sawn-off putter.

RR,

What about nipping that upstart amateur Russell Henley in the bud just to give him a warm welcome? It's refreshing to see a U.S. Open where the players have a realistic chance at birdie or par on every single hole. The weather gods have messed with the USGA course setting committee to our benefit.

No need, he seems to be taking care of that himself... bogey, bogey start to the back 9.

Must have been your pre-curser powers. Getting ready to throw a steak on after that last birdie by our leader.

Come on Lee!

Leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Westwood and McIlroy tomorrow looking a distinct possibility. Masters '96, anyone?

Chubby's happy!!

Would a Lee / Rory pairing be good for either of them? Both of them??

I'd want to keep away from Jason Day regardless.

Wheres Monty today?

legendkillar wrote:Wheres Monty today?

Hopefully a long way away. But he was in the studio at the start...


Where's GJ?

I am liking the sense from Butch.

I cannot believe the size of Garrigus's putter and how he hasn't put his back out!!!

Day's scuppered the all ISM final group.

Why would you want to avoid him, Kwini?