PGA Tour: I'm goin' to Carolina in my mind: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).Bubbamania is sweeping America. It may not last long but it is a breath of fresh air in this week that the Tour takes a breath of fresh air, from the stifling corporate, possibly racist, apparently misogynist, environmentally unfriendly confines of Augusta National. We're off to Carolina, to South Carolina and Hilton Head Island, home of Harbour Town Golf Links and Calibogue Sound.

2).Was this as thrilling a Masters as Schwartzel's victory in 2011? Pretty darn close I would say, certainly in respect of the fact that halfway through the back nine on Sunday there were few clear signals as to how it would all end. As ever in the Majors there were winners and there were losers.
Obvious winners like Bubba and pink PING drivers. But some smaller victories, Graeme McDowell for instance, who wanted to make the cut if only to get more "reps" as he sought to "figure this place out". Shot -5 over the weekend, good for T12.
While some secured a return visit to Augusta for instance. Most of the Top 16 will be back thanks to exemptions or being certain for the owgr Top 50 at the end of December.
Some of the eventual Top 16 were less certain, however, but they booked their passage on Sunday: Hanson, Poulter, Furyk, Na (too bad) and Garcia.

3).And some were losers; those who came close but hit an inadvertent railing (or perhaps balance assisting device on a Patron Observation Platform?), Luke, Rory, Tiger etc. And I'd say Martin Kaymer should be on that list. Started out well but seemed to fritter shots away as the week wore on.
Then there were one or two, not certain to be back, who started Round 4 in the Top 16 but fell away: Frannie Molinari, Crane (good), Jacobson, Dufner, Lawrie, Watney, O'Hair and Stenson.

4).What does Johnny Miller think about his Tiger prediction following Bay Hill?
"It wouldn't totally surprise me if he were to win 35-40 times from now. He could do it. The way he is playing right now he is going to kick butt."
Johnny Miller morphed quickly in to Gotye as the Tiger who sailed back down Magnolia Lane was more like "Somebody that I used to know".

5).Turn the clock back one year and the tournament venue following The Masters was in San Antonio and the traditional stop, on Hilton Head, had no sponsor and was funded by the Heritage Classic Foundation. RBC, sponsor of the Canadian Open, stepped up to the plate, however, the "RBC Heritage" retrieved its post-Masters date, and a top class field will compete at Pete Dye's gem, Harbour Town Golf Links. Apart from Hilton Head being one of my three favourite places in the U.S., Harbour Town is probably the most "playable" course on the pros' calendar. No silly forced carries, just a strategic navigation around one of the shorter tracks on Tour and most amateurs will shoot close to their handicap unless they insist on playing from "the tips".

6).Pete Dye designed Harbour Town in the late sixties with help from a player "consultant", feller called Nicklaus. The result is shortish holes, gorgeous set of short/medium length par 3's, some of the smallest greens on Tour, and the pros' second favourite: "Really good course to play." "You don't need length for a great golf course, it's not 7,600 yards - you have to hit golf shots there." "You have to shape the ball on almost every hole."
Sounds ideal for Bubba then. But he's not here, (though it's timely to remember that Bubba already has a US Open T5 as well as his PGA play-off loss. Not every Major course will suit him, but he'll make sure that many will.)

7).Will Luke Donald bounce back this week, scene of his 2011 play-off loss to Snedeker? His good driving at Augusta National will stand him in good stead, but his irons need to be precise and his short game 2011-esque. Brian Davis also has a decent record here, and other notable "Internationals" include Els, Immelman, Harrington, Bae, Ogilvy, Badds, and some top Swedes.

8).The Tour's southern boys are also here in force; not Bubba of course, or Dustin Johnson, but Cink (two wins), Haas, Howell, Kuchar, Simpson, Snedeker and even two-time winner Boo Weekley, etc., etc. Like Lukey, Furyk has a fine record here, as does the fastest finisher last week, Van Pelt, Badds and Ernie.

9).One thing the pros, especially those living outside "the States", will have to figure out next year is the reported (most recently by the AP) probability that the 2012 pre-Masters schedule may run: Bay Hill, Houston, Texas Open, due to the very late date for The Masters (ending Sunday, April 14th). No way that the TPC San Antonio will attract those warming up for Augusta in the way that Houston has strived to do, so there will be some unusual travel itineraries being concocted.

10).The Champions Tour resumes its on-again, off-again schedule this week with a stop in Tampa. Kirk Triplett and his bucket hat make their senior circuit debut, and Mark Mouland is also in the field. So is Sandy Lyle after what may well have been his final round at The Masters, and a motley crew of TV commentators, Boring Bobby Clampett, Jacobsen, Koch, Maltbie, North and Strange among them. No Michael Vaughan though.

GPB,
He's using this year to get fully fit, didn't take his exemptions in case either:
1).He played really well, in which case he wouldn't need to have used any.
2).He had further fitness problems, in which case he'd've wasted an exemption.

So far, a wise decision.

Checking Rory's website, I see he only has 11 PGAT events scheduled going into the FE playoffs.

He probably will qualify for the Tour Championship, but it is definitely not guaranteed.

Already played 4: (Matchplay, Honda, Cadillac, Masters)
Scheduled for 7 more (Quail Hollow, Players, Memorial, USOpen, OC, Bridgestone, PGA)
plus the 4 playoff events.

he is guaranteed to play 3 Playoff events, I wonder if he will just roll the dice or will he squeeze in Wyndham or Canadian Open in the late summer.

It will be kind of funny if he has to play a fall series event to get his 15th event.

That's the Finchem hand-cuffs I sometimes refer to!!

Freddie is Jac-ing up the back nine.

15 events is not an onerous task, IMO. A player like Rory only has to play 21 events to keep membership on both USPGA and Euro Tours. That is about 40% of the weeks.

Just put the golf on for the first time this week, what is the combined weight of the two leaders you think ? Or their combined BMI ? Never heard of the Colt bloke before, possibly the fattest man I've seen on a course since one of the Stadlers.

It's worth noting that the last two-some will finish in about 3 hrs 45 minutes today.

Would you want one of them stepping across your putting line?

Stadler's not far behind, but Herron missed the cut.

Guy Boros is playing the NW tournament this week. I think he is the heaviest person ever to win and compete on the PGATour.

http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Guy+Boros/Reno+Tahoe+Open+Round+Two/1zLtnk_U_ub

Believe it or not, Colt Knost may not be the biggest guy ever to win the US Amateur.

Anyone remember Chris Patton? He won the 1989 US Amateur and he was huge guy. Went to Clemson.

I'd forgotten about him, GPB. Ginormous, sweated like a porker.

Sandy Lyle goes in to the final day on the Champions Tour in second place - a win here could transform his next few years!

kwinigolfer wrote:I'd forgotten about him, GPB. Ginormous, sweated like a porker.

Sandy Lyle goes in to the final day on the Champions Tour in second place - a win here could transform his next few years!

5 shots to make up to a steady performer. I'd love Lyle to produce the goods but Allen should end up top of the pile.

Even if Lyle "just" achieves a high (top ten) finish, he should earn a place in the next full-field event.
If he's ever going to make a proper effort to succeed on the Champions Tour, this is the sort of incremental step he has to take.
Very much odds against though.

If Lyle starts to do well on the champions tour there is no way he will give up playing the masters. Is that what we really want?

Lyle seems to be getting some underserved stick based on one horror round on the Thursday at Augusta this year. He's by no means the most uncompetitive of the past winners there. Last year he finished better than Singh and Weir, two years before that he was top 20. If he gets competitive on the Champions Tour it follows he'll hold his own at Augusta. Stadler will be the next one to pack up, anyway.

Still think there should be some sort of competitive (or not) criteria for the Masters over 55's; agree Stadler the next to go. But first things first, and Lyle has this week and next as big opportunities - I see he is playing again with Peter Senior at the Liberty Mutual Legends and one would hope for another good finish there.


Meanwhile, happy returns to Russell Knox as he is bang in contention for the Nationwide tournament in California - where he acquired his "status" last year. Ben Briscoe just one stroke behind.

remeber that lyle played in the open and NR'd through the first round. he shouldnt be playing in any majors if he cant manage to finish a round (his excuse was cold hands!!)

yes he did get a half decent finish a couple of years agao at augusta- however he didnt threaten the win - and that was as good a finish as he could have ever hoped to acheive, on the other hand if els or robert rock(among many others) played there best they would have threatened the win.. thats the important point

Sorry if this is a bit OT but I was not sure where else to post it. Lee westwood re-tweeted an article on the bbc loosing the Grand national

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/racing/the-last-word-aunties-fall-from-grace-is-shameful-7645899.html

At the bottom this was mentioned;

"I have it on good authority that the BBC went into the recent negotiations with the European Tour offering exactly nothing but the exposure to continue screening the Scottish Open and the BMW PGA Championship."

So it would seem it is only a matter of one/two seasons before there is only the Open on bbc sport.

Keep an eye on Sean O'Hair - known as a slow player but obviously out to beat the land speed record at Hilton Head:
5 holes played in barely half an hour, should be finished inside two hours.

This is spectacular!
Almost finished 8 holes in 45 minutes, and the 9th is two pitches and a putt!

Looks like ShotLink can't keep up!!

9 holes in 55 minutes . . . .
-1 so far, wonder how long it took him to shoot 79 on Saturday . . . .

Maybe they the PGAT should send all the players in singles, with 5 minute tee times.

Kwin - Good point! Tough Saturday for SOH, hopefully better days ahead.

That's right, GPB.
15 holes in 90 minutes for O'Hair, slowed just by a couple of double bogeys.

Luke Donald starts with a double bogey - most amateurs would struggle to do worse that double at the 1st hole. What's happening here??

O'Hair marching down the 18th fairway now, +2 for the day and destined to complete his round in about 1 hr 50 minutes.
Vaguely remember Woosnam doing something similat at Firestone once, but you can be sure this will be among the fastest three or fourPGA Tour rounds ever. Good for O'Hair, though I'm not sure what the back-nine ShotLink people are going to do for the next hour!

wow!!!!!

73 for Sean O'Hair, in approx 1 hr 51 minutes. Be interesting to see what the PGA Tour stop watch says.
Well done to him; much better to be known as the golfer with a speed record than the one who held up an Open Championship re-start because he was engrossed in his video game.

This is not F1 kwini, no points for going fastest. All I look for is people to play at a sensible pace, those that are obsessed with flying round are just as annoying as slow players.

Still, i know you just mean to point out that the pro's dont need 5 hours and I totally agree with you there.

a group at the masters plyed 5 holes in that time!!

amazing time- i feel for the caddies personally- there are gonna need a chill and a pint!

I wonder if O'Hair checked flight schedules and determined that he could catch a flight home at Noon rather than later in the day.

The second group finishing up now in a shade under 3 1/2 hrs.

Looks like a much tidier seventeen holes from Luke Donald today - pity about the first one though.

Kevin Stadler making a burly move up the leaderboard - in keeping with the wide-bodies in the lead.

Nothing better than Charlie Howell's three under par 68 in the clubhouse, and no-one better than Matt Every's snorting -3 after 14 holes on the course.

Very dry, wind picking up, level par will be a good score for the leaders.

Freddie J has gone into meltdown.

Yup, Freddie got within sight of the leaders on Saturday and has beaten a hasty retreat ever since.

Now then, looks like Brian Davis just missed a short putt on 7 that would have got him to 7th, but looks now like it's England's to lose. That is, if you count the few years Pettersson lived in England when a teenager.

Surprisingly pgatour.com still have a Swedish flag against his name, thought they'd've flagged him with the stars and stripes by now.

Four shot lead at -14, and the chasing group will do very well to reach -12.

kwinigolfer wrote:Surprisingly pgatour.com still have a Swedish flag against his name, thought they'd've flagged him with the stars and stripes by now.

Four shot lead at -14, and the chasing group will do very well to reach -12.

I mentioned last night I was enjoying the US coverage... the main reason for that was that they were quite happily talking about "The Swede" leading the way, even calling his swing "typically Swedish" cos apparently there's a bit of Sorenstam in it. Polar opposite from two weeks back when whoever was covering went to great pains to highlight his American connection. Not sure what he considers himself now, I know he took citizenship but for a foreigner living in the US for a decade or more that's convenience as much as anything. Would assume if he was that fussed he'd ask pgatour.com to change the flag, but he seems a fairly laid back guy...

Yeah, Two decades now, think he moved from England to N.Carolina where he went to high school.
Think he's on the board of the Greensboro event.

Pleased to see him playing well.

He played a couple of years on the ET before going back stateside though, not sure where he'd have lived then. But yeah, I'm happy for him too... pleased to take any half-baked Euro win I can get, but he seems like a good guy even if he goes fully American.

Not sure if they have the right size tartan jacket in stock, mind...

David Livingstone is stealing my jokes.

Without wanting to spam the thread.... hole in one for Russell Knox in California! Vaults him up to a share of second, great chance for him to post a score now, out hours before the leaders thanks to them keeping the same groupings. Ben Briscoe still up there too.

Birdie, Eagle, Bogey on his first three par 3's!

Compatriot Lyle not quite so good in Tampa, but a top ten would still help him a lot!!

Disappointing Sunday so far for Brian Davis.

Talk earlier about Louis' win being a procession.
This is getting to be like a procession too.
Need some birdies, but would think it's too late to make the Swede's neck go really red.

13th for Lyle.

Completely agree with the commentators that playing Harbour Town's 14th with anything longer than an 8-iron is absurd. We want birdie chances, not pros scrambling for bogeys.

Procession grew more pedestrian as the final round went on.

Well done Carl, but the guys behind you scarcely summoned a challenge between them.

Good work by Knox and Briscoe; the Nationwide might be Russell Knox's saviour this year. Hope he doesn't need it, but one imagines he will.

Among other things, Carl Pettersson will assuredly now be qualified for all this year's Majors, next year's Masters, and August's Bridgestone International.
Good work Carl!

Only eight golfers have accumulated more owgr points this year than Pettersson and he's now comfortably inside the top 50 career money-earners on the PGA Tour.

ryder cup pedigree Kwini?
He's always been one i tip as an outside bet to qualify for previous cups... unfortunatley the alteration to the qualification system wont favour him. is it even a given that he would play for Europe? would be interesting if he qualified for both and had to pick!

The Yanks could use him!

Good job Carl, made it look pretty easy.

McIlroy back to world #1.

I think he certainly does have Ryder Cup pedigree, hend0, but for whom??!!

He doesn't appear in the qualifying rankings for either the US or European Teams.

I was thinking during yesterday's broadcast that he was playing perfect Match Play golf - up early and fairways and greens after that!

I'm sure he's not a European Tour member so not sure even whether he'd be eligible for Olazabal to select him.

Shotrock's comment prompts me to note the current top 12 (only eight qualify, then four "picks") on the US list:

Watson
Mickelson
Mahan
Bradley
Woods
Snedeker
Haas
Stricker
-------
Stanley
Wagner
Wilson
Kuchar

Kwini: as I said in the OWGR thread, Petterson has earned enough OWGR points to be 9th in the Euro World Points list and would be on the team if

1. he was eligible
2. Team was determined this week

He would be definitely a contender and potential spoiler.

hend085

If Carl had a euro tour membership the current system would actually be to his benefit as a player who accumulates more world points than Euro points.

As I have pointed out before if the top 5 from the euro list are the same top 5 as the world list those in positions 6-10 on the world list are given preference over those from 6-10 on the euro list.

so wait a minute are you lot saying he is eligable for the us team then. because he isnt a euro tour member so unless he is elegable to play for the US he cannot play in the ryder cup.

Qualification rules here

and it shows one little point - "all US players making the cut will earn points" Depends what they mean by US players. For European team, you have to be "European".