PGA Tour: Viking Classic: Notes from the Ballwasher

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1).Exciting climax to last week's John Deere Classic with Steve Stricker producing a flash of brilliance with his six-iron from a bunkered lie precariously below his feet, flushed over water to a spot in the fringe about 22 feet from the 18th hole. Putt holed and Stricker wins by one from Kyle Stanley. So Stricker becomes the first PGA Tour three-peater not named Woods since Stuart Appleby dominated Kapalua from 2004 to 2006.

2).Stricker's shot into 18 from a bunker over water followed by a holed putt was as memorable to me as Woods's six-iron from a fairway bunker across Glen Abbey's water resulting in eagle and a one-shot 2000 Canadian Open win over Grant Waite.

3).Kyle Stanley's challenge reminds one of the quality of players competing in the 2007 Walker Cup. McIlroy was first of the group to win a Major, but Dustin Johnson has four wins, Rhys Davies, Horsey and Parry have already won in Europe, and Fowler, Lovemark, Webb Simpson and Stanley have already finished runner-up on the PGA Tour. I'm betting Chris Kirk (still a ROTY outsider) will be the next to contend.

4).Utterly ridiculous scheduling by the PGA Tour this week, sending touring pros wishing to play the "opposite field" event, to the Viking Classic in Mississippi. Heat indexes will reach at least 100 degrees throught the event, and this small traditional "community" tournament, has an almost unbelievably poor field at a time when fringe touring pros would normally be chafing at the bit to play in late season quest of FedEx Play-off places or to earn valuable dollars in the race to reach the top 125th/150th places on the moneylist and job security for next year.
God (OK, Tim Finchem) only knows why this event was shifted from the Fall Series, but just reward is the appearance of Jesper Parnevik's caddie now up to 5th alternate. "Viking" manufacture superb grills but suffice to say their excellent product will be redundant this week, the pros grilling bacon for their butties on golf carts. The only European competing, Richard S.Johnson, tweeted that he used a dozen water bottles during his practice round, perhaps seven too few!

5).The same PGA Tour maroons have next week's tournament in British Columbia so Luke Donald and the rest will be crossing eight time zones (their choice/sponsor's demand, I know) to compete in the Candian Open. Lukey, incidentally, will likely be playing seven weeks out of nine through early September; I wonder if he'll roll the dice and skip a FedEx Play-Off tournament?

6).Others are in even more of a pickle and this broken record suggests Paul Casey is likely to fall two or three events short of the PGA Tour minimum, with Goosen and Oosthuizen, possibly even Garcia and Poulter also likely to struggle to get enough tournaments in unless they achieve some very high finishes before the Play-Offs.
Not difficult to understand the ambivalence of Kaymer, McIlroy and Westwood towards the PGA Tour given these circumstances.

7).Career planners advising on opportunities in golf might cast an eye over PGA Tour salaries. No silly, not the players who we all enjoy watching, but the ivory tower crew led by Timmy Commish. Flinchem "earned" $5.1M in 2009 according to Golf Digest, with their next five highest earners also taking more than a million in pay. Plus of course a mega pension plan.

8).Top nine finishers in the 2003 Open Championship: Curtis, Bjorn, Singh, Love, Woods, Brian Davis, Freddie Jacobson, Faldo, Kenny Perry. Garcia and Goosen leading a crowd tied for 10th.

9).No idea if there'll be anyone left standing in Mississippi on Sunday afternoon, but one interesting participant in the Viking Classic is local-ish lad Michael Thompson. This "rookie" struggled through his first five months but has finished 4th, 38th and 12th these past three weeks.

10).You wouldn't think there'd be a Nationwide event this week but strange things happen at Tour HQ and the geniuses have scheduled a tournament in Cincinnati featuring plenty of guys who would elevate the quaity of the Viking Classic field. GB&I's representation includes Christian, Knox, Owen and Richardson. Time for each of these boys to start climbing up the moneylist if they're to harbour realistic hopes of making the 2012 PGA Tour.

Mickelson flying now, and another good tee shot

That's not in the script, Phil. Stop it!

Time to use some of my spooking powers:

Phil

Darren

Does Phil have the presence to scare those around him with this run? I think DC would have been happy to fight of the rest but maybe not Phil?

I think DC will welcome the Match Play part of it, whoever it's against. He knows it's all on his game. If Phil shoots 62 reckon DC will just say, "Well done, sod you".

Lovely stuff from Sergio, he's done his job. Now he can start planning the second half of his season.

Anyone else puzzled by Mcilroy's interview a few moments ago. He said he will have to wait for a year then the weather is good to win the open and that he will not change his game for the sake of one round on links a year.

Very odd, he only needs to think about the game a little more and appreciate how the ground game can be used. Not like he needs to alter his swing or anything technical. He really should have stayed in School beyond 14 as his lack of intelligence really shows.

Would we agree mcilroys game is not a million miles away from phils in style and look how he embraces the conditions.

C'mon Darren!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Didn't see it Mac,
No reason for Rory to be second-guessing anything, leave that to Team England (except you Simes).

ESPN trying hard not to let their prejudices show; Azinger and Strange especially doing a very poor job of it - great to have Andy North lending some golf expertise, rather than bias.

Darren!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tres bien monsieur Jacquelin! What a great tournament he's having, really hope he'll finish as high as possible in the top 10...

Top 4 allez to Le Masters.

Hate to see that with Phil.
Except today.

Kwini

I phil round is not complete without the odd 2 footer missed. He must be used to it by now.

That was my little sitting in that bunker and bouncing Darren's ball over it!!!!

C'mon Daren!!!!!!!!!!

ESPN is now emphasising Darren Clarke's "luck".
They just can't help themselves - the same sort of USA mentality that praises Seve "but" . . . .

Bloody infuriating.

Does DC have graphite shafted irons?

Fine tournament from Simon Dyson and Rafa.

Come on Darren!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DJ just sealed it for Darren?!?!?!

Hope so, but I kinda thought the Match Play element was good for keeping DC in the moment.

Fingers crossed for the next hour.

The Irish Open looking stronger by the minute... we could well have 4 Irish major champions in the field in two weeks time!!!

pd,
And how many from the rest of the British Isles?

Great for Ireland, fantastic, six of the last, what?, 17??

Just in case you're not paying attention, Russell Knox has a 3-shot lead after seven Nationwide holes . . . . .

AMazing!!!!!!!!!!
I'm off to the pub!!!!!!

Bloody well done, DC. What a popular winner!

Wonderful wonderful stuff . . . . . .

Second the motions.

The term, not a dry eye in the house, has never been more apt. This is the sporting moment of my lifetime.

kwinigolfer wrote:Fine tournament from Simon Dyson and Rafa.

Come on Darren!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First time I have ever seen you this animated, So you must have Irish roots then.

Hi Keizo,
No, don't think so.

Just the most thrilling moment in golf for my last 23 years, just fantastic!

TOP CLASS STUFF FROM DARREN BRILLIANT FAIRYTALE!

It's not The Open, but Scotland will win the "Chiquita Classic" unless Russell Knox steps on a banana skin, pars in for his last six holes and he can't be beat! Greg Owen should achieve a top ten and a decent result, about 22nd, for Gary Christian, all in their quest for a PGA Tour card for 2012.

kwinigolfer wrote:Hi Keizo,
No, don't think so.

Just the most thrilling moment in golf for my last 23 years, just fantastic!

Last 23 years?


Okay so what happened in 1988? We are talking about Seve here not Lyle pls!! Anyway I have always been a Darren Clarke fan, yes being one of Tigers Best friends on tour has something to do with it.

European Ryder Cup win at Muirfield Village in Sept 1987.
Better because I was there and Europe comprehensively outplayed the United States.

kwinigolfer wrote:European Ryder Cup win at Muirfield Village in Sept 1987.
Better because I was there and Europe comprehensively outplayed the United States.

Oh that, yeah that was the turning point in RC rivalry. Why is this day so special though, dont get me wrong I like Darren has he is a great guy but I never knew you to be a huge fan of his, you never gave him a chance in any of your picks

Oh and lets be honest though it was not the most thrilling final. If it was Tiger in Darren's place everyone would be saying they handed the tournament to Tiger and just collapsed as he was at the top of the board. This just shows once again that it has nothing to do with people handing it in but how who at the top can lead from the front. Darren had that sense of calmness about him. The whole event looked strangely look far too relaxed to be a major. There just seemed to be something missing everyone seemed rather nonchalant , even Sergio was not talking to his ball that much.

Monty and Westwood must be on the suicide watch as their old mate on the tour has got one in the bag.

May not have given him a chance 'cos I never thought he'd win, but once he got into the shake-up I felt confident he'd prevail.
His 69 Saturday and early birdie today were crucial, made everyone else "press", whereas he could play for pars, play the course the way it was intended. Great stuff.

WOW!!
I've been so used to Darren's hard luck stories that make this extra special........some of the iron play was just top drawer and today, his putting was spot on.
I couldn't believe that his 2nd putt at the first was travelling so fast, it could have been a 4 putt, yet he kept so calm all the way..............................
I would say that this is the most popular major win among the players in a long long time.....................

Can I predict an interview that will appear in the papers in either Monday or Tuesday in which Monty (despite claiming he won't be watching he appears to know what's going on), claiming Clarke's victory shows he can still win one.

Due to work this weekend I didn't see much of it though, but a nice win and for the first time in a few years where the "fairytale" has a happy ending.

I predict Lee Westwood will also be jolted into some urgency.
Sorry you missed it ryan, a piece of golfing history achieved in the very best way possible.

Russell Owen has won the Nationwide tournament and will be 5th in the updated money list - top 25 qualify for a 2012 PGA Tour card, so things are looking good for the boy from Inverness. Somewhere gaelgowler is beaming!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did have last years Open Sunday off. What a tense affair that was!!

And sadly the only part of the final day I saw of 2009 was the play-off. Much rather seen nothing at all. One would assume that this victory probably ensures Darren a crack at the Ryder Cup captaincy somewhere down the line as well.

I was dodging the rain to play cricket this afternoon, and stealing glances at the golf when I could! Came in from fielding just in time to see Clarke make his eagle, watched him through to about the 13th green then went out to knock off the winning runs. Came back in again to find him on the 17th green....

Delighted with the result anyway, never really expected him to do it but I can't think of a more deserving or popular winner now he has. Must be a long time since there was such an old first-time major winner?

ryan,
Think he was a cast-iron cert for RC Captaincy regardless.
DC is so popular in the States that he looks odds on to me to Captain Europe in 2017. Not so sure about 2015 though. McGinley? M-A J??

Ned,
I feel as if I missed a decade and a half of Open golf playing cricket, even played in Canterbury once. Long time ago!! An Open for the ages this one, thought the course did its bit also, never looked unfair and greens looked fab.

kwinigolfer wrote:ryan,
Think he was a cast-iron cert for RC Captaincy regardless.
DC is so popular in the States that he looks odds on to me to Captain Europe in 2017. Not so sure about 2015 though. McGinley? M-A J??

Ned,
I feel as if I missed a decade and a half of Open golf playing cricket, even played in Canterbury once. Long time ago!! An Open for the ages this one, thought the course did its bit also, never looked unfair and greens looked fab.

He probably was going to get being among the stronger of the candidates from that longer majorless period Europe had during the late 90's, early 00's, but I think that sometimes you can think yourself a shoe-in for year x, but like Sandy Lyle found out, it can soon pass by.

Ned, if I am correct Clarke is the pldest first time winner since de Vicenzo in 67; Tom Kite was also 42, but he was only about 42,6 whilst Clarke is 42,11.

http://www.pgasportsdaily.com/pga-golf/list-of-major-champions-over-40-ap.html

I missed last year's finale Kwini, wasn't too fussed about that given the lack of drama. But missed Friday through Sunday of 2009, on a cricket/drinking trip to France, of all places. Switched the radio on queuing for the ferry at Calais to find Watson had a lead with 3 to play...

Think your MAJ bet's a good one, if we assume Olazabal for next time out. Jimenez would be over 50 by his turn in that case, even by his standards he might be struggling to make the playing team then.

Looks like another rookie win at the Viking, could be the first of many for Kirk.

And I'll answer my own question... Clarke is the oldest first-time major winner since De Vicenzo at the 67 Open!

ryan,
I think that's right about first-time Major winners, DC being the oldest since Roberto.


Ned,
I wonder if M-A J would want it?
I don't agree for one moment ryan's comment that Sandy Lyle might have been a "shoe-in", though perhaps Mark James was a little fortunate to be chosen.
Still think the plan was for Lyle to have 2003, but of course 2003 never happened and then the choices got quite concertinaed, Faldo clearly too out of touch with the European Tour when he was selected, but think of the uproar if he'd've missed out!

Regardless, yes! Captain Kirk the winner. He's going to be a player!

Oops, didn't see ryan's post before I replied, he beat me to it!

The trick to being captain is to time it so that you're still well known on tour, but not competitive enough to be likely to make the team. Lyle probably should have got it in his early 40s if at all, James' would've been ideal really.

Anyone else just watched the Womens world cup final, it really was a very exciting end to the match?

One person about whom little (thankfully) has been said these past eighteen or so hours is His Extreme Excellency, Screaming Lord Finchem.

He now faces the prospect of another hugely popular Major Champion being absent from most of his PGA Tour season, it being very unlikely that DC will accept membership.

There was speculation earlier this summer that affiliate membership rules will be further amended to allow all (and not just those who have never taken Tour Membership) "International" players to play up to twelve events on Tour each season.

This would suit Kaymer and McIlroy, and you'd think it would suit Clarke and Westwood, not to mention some others (Casey and Poulter, Hanson and Karlsson, Goosen and Oosthuizen for instance).

A proviso would certainly be that anything less than full Membership would deny access to the FedEx pot of gold but that's a clear decision for each of these guys to make, and FedEx handcuffs are now seen as a double-edged sword to many non-Americans.

Kwini


I honestly have never understood why there is not some sort of super category for major winners over the last 5 years. You win a major and the two main tours grant you special status that allows you to have full membership rights but can play less events. Would it really matter if a few of the top players could really pick and choose the best events on each side of the pond?

Mac,
Don't you think it's only just become an issue? The Tour could dismiss Campbell and Cabrera for instance as not crowd attractions and just lay down the law to them.

But clearly people want to watch Rory, possibly Kaymer and Clarke etc also and Finchem can't ignore that. And he can't ignore Chubby either, though seven or eight months ago he obviously thought he could.

kwinigolfer wrote:A proviso would certainly be that anything less than full Membership would deny access to the FedEx pot of gold but that's a clear decision for each of these guys to make, and FedEx handcuffs are now seen as a double-edged sword to many non-Americans.

I think Finchem and FedEx would probably need to work together on a solution for this... As a big sponsor looking for a good returtn to their investment, FedEx would surely want to have all/as many of these popular players to be part of the whole FedEx competition framework...