PGA Tour: "Wells Fargo Championship" in Charlotte: Notes from the Ballwasher

1).The Zurich Classic of New Orleans continued it's new lease on life last weekend with a decent field, a fine leaderboard, exciting finish and a deserving winner - first-timer Jason Dufner, the third first-time winner of the season.
New Orleans was once a popular Tour stop but a change of course, continued messing around of the dates, and some awful weather resulted in progressively weaker fields and uncertainty about its future. Thankfully "Zurich" stepped in, the course has matured somewhat (looked really good last week) and fields are steadily improving. Credit also to the Tour veterans who have supported the tournament through thick and mostly thin: David Toms, Jerry Kelly and Stricker among them. Now the future is looking very bright.

2).A rare appearance from Stricker in an increasingly light schedule. He's just playing The Players and (defending at) Memorial before his return to Olympic Club for the US Open, where he contended in 1998 before finishing 5th.

3).Despite the best efforts of Ernie Els (a limp conclusion to a fine tournament) we are still to see the first "International" win on Tour this season - six runner-up finishes from those eligible for Presidents Cup selection, but nary a winner.

4).Consolation for Ernie will almost certainly be a berth in the owgr Top 60 in three weeks time and qualification for the US Open. And that will save the USGA from having to offer him an invitation, for this year at least.

5).Another good week for Luke Donald as he put Augusta and Hilton Head disappointments behind him. No doubt that Luke is one of my favourite golfers, but I see he's leaving himself open to criticism in his statement that "it would be great to have more (events) in England". "With myself, Lee, Justin Rose, Ian Poulter and others from Britain, it makes sense to me to push for another event."
No question about that but Celtic Manor is only just across the border and recent support by these players has been conspicuous by its absence, Luke's sop to Montgomerie in 2010 apart. And there's the rub for sponsors: If you build it, will they come? And the answer from "Luke, Lee, Justin Rose, Ian Poulter" and so many others (McDowell excepted) has been a resounding "No!".
Come on Luke, time to put your money (or at least your itinerary) where your mouth is.

6).Wells Fargo has come a long way from its early days running the westbound part of the Pony Express delivering express mail and banking services to California, its stagecoaches now replaced by a glittering banking empire and the successor to Wachovia, the original sponsor of the Charlotte stop on the PGA Tour. The Lone Ranger and all those who protected those mail runs would doubtless turn over in their graves had they seen the extent to which Wells Fargo has been the sinner, rather than the sinned against, these past few years, but none of the 156-strong field this week will give a monkey's about banking irregularities, taxing avoidance scandals and forced foreclosures as they tee it up at Quail Hollow for a few $mill of Wells Fargo's (or is it America's tax-payers'?) petty cash.

7).But you can't buy Tiger Woods. Oh no, no, no!
Tiger's had enough of inquisitions by the media prior to tournament play so now conducts a question/answer session via social media instead.
Read Geoff Shackleford's take on this latest snub to journalists in GolfWorld:
"It seems Team Tiger believes taking the questions you want and answering them in an edited video is the most effective way to use social media. But one of the main attractions of Twitter and Facebook - especially when it invloves the famous and admired - is the sense by participants that the interaction is genuine, spontaneous and open. 'We're probably a little bit behind with social media,' admitted (Tiger's agent Mark) Steinberg.
With this latest move, Team Tiger will continue to be so."
Sponsors must be delighted . . . . . .

8).Quail Hollow (the course, not a commentary on the first Bush's Vice President's understanding of international affairs) is an early 60's design by George Cobb redesigned by Tom Fazio in the nineties. CBS will wax orgasmic about the course, but it's not universally popular and its short par-4 eighth is a borderline ridiculous hole (though the short par-4 14th is a good 'un).
Phil Mickelson described the greens as "by far the worst-designed greens we play on Tour", and others have been equally uncharitable resulting in a somewhat disappointing field. Regardless, the PGA Championship is due here in 2017 and the tournament has the reputation as one of the best run of the year.

9).Rory, Lee, Hunter, Tiger and Phil lead the entry, but no other European-based pros are on hand, nor Scott, Els, Schwartzel, Poulter, McDowell, Garcia, Oosthuizen, Rose etc, etc. The list of Champions here includes Toms, Vijay, Furyk, Woods, McIlroy and Lucas Glover, while Mickelson has arguably the best record here among the non-winners. Some of the top pros are based in the Carolinas, but very few of them are showing much recent form and this looks a wide open event.

10).I wrote last week about one son of the Carolinas who sadly won't be with us this week, the Legend of Willie Mac (Will MacKenzie). A postscript to his costly double bogey on the last hole at San Antonio: In last week's Nationwide tournament in Georgia he outdid himself by falling from a lead halfway through his final round, six over par the rest of the way concluding with a triple bogey on the last. Of such stuff are careers made. And lost.

Oops... maybe I poked my head in here and started posting too quickly...

Before I continue, maybe someone can answer... is this an opportunity for international participation in the discussion of golf... or is the purpose to [not so] subtly work in political opinion and back-handed compliments against the colonies? (See #6, #8 above).

Hi robo,
Just a weekly column whose original purpose (five years ago on 606), which has mostly been retained, was to provide a perspective of the PGA Tour, especially the Europeans playing in the U.S.

Some personal observations included, sometimes subjective, hopefully including every week one or two golfing items not found everyday in the British press.

Any further news of the week will be included on this thread as the week goes on.

Hope you stay, robo, all comments welcome.


Meanwhile, it's going to be HOT in Charlotte, temps in the upper 80's to around 90 with no appreciable rain in the forecast. Quail Hollow is relatively hilly so the anticipated five hour rounds are likely to become gruelling.

Yes on the weather... I was at Quail each of the last 3 years, so I know what you're saying. I actually prefer NC to home this week, but got a chance to work this upcoming very special Saturday afternoon with the Champions Tour event at my "home town" venue.

Snap! robo,
Was there two years ago on the Saturday, chose to follow Lee (and then Ross Fisher) instead of Rory (dumb move) and then Dustin Johnson - who played poorly!

Are they still playing the "Insperity" at the same course they used to play the SHO at? Thought it had a little more visual appeal than the latest Redstone course. Decent weather there also. (Lived in Dallas for a year many decades ago, when the BN was still (within walking distance for me) at Preston Trail!)

Think you ought to describe for everyone the "very special Saturday afternoon" . . . . .
(I followed Barber and Palmer at a Senior Open ten years ago and they looked like they needed oxygen then.)

Here is the link to the PGAT link on the very special Saturday afternoon.

http://www.pgatour.com/2012/s/05/01/dorman-insperity/index.html

If there is not 18 hole coverage of this exhibition, the networks should be ashamed of themselves.

I want to be there! Hopefully the weather will be good.

Yep... same course they used to play the SHO. Used to be called TPC the Woodlands, now known as The Woodlands Tournament Course. I would agree that The Woodlands has better visual appeal, but it simply became overwhelmed in the late 90s with the advances in equipment... and no way to significantly expand the length... and thankfully they resisted the urge to artificially trick it up with ridiculous agronomy... and such things.

Only bad thing was the way it moved. It wasn't exactly a "moving van in the dead of the night deal", but not far from it. The Woodlands community supported this event and kept it alive through some pretty lean times until Shell came on board. We knew it had to find a more appropriate course, and were set to build one... but a "new guy" at the HGA took the money and ran with the event to Redstone. The "angst" coupled with loss of the volunteer base killed the event for a number of years... but at least for the charities sake... they have it back up close to what it used to be before it was moved.

And as for Saturday... yes... will pass on tidbits... but probably not til Sunday.

GPB wrote:
If there is not 18 hole coverage of this exhibition, the networks should be ashamed of themselves.

I don't know what the plan is... but I can tell you there aren't even camera towers up on the front nine.

Compliments, criticism, and -- above all -- continued floating of stereotypes commonplace on this board robopz.

Mostly, however, very intelligent golf-related banter - none finer thank Kwini's write ups.

The net worth of Apple alone would shame some of the pink shaded territories still under the Empire's watch. Maybe they should have fought harder for this "colony" (love that term) - nah, the Royals would never play big for long; many are too busy following vacuous, drug-addled American celebrities instead.

Good call on Luke. I can't imagine a GB club turning him down for a 4 ball game if he so desired.

So, FIGJAM Phil doesn't like QH greens. He'll likely play them in a PGA a few years from now. Practice hard Phil.

It's Rory time. Look for him end of day Sunday.

Yes very true SR. Kwini knows how to do a thread. Half the time i have my head stuck in wiki or a dictionary trying my best to work out whats going on..Which is actually a very good thing!

Backing English the Christian and Christian the English this week because there are both giving out monumental prices at the bookies..

Afternoon Sr,
No need to worry about with Phil; he's finished 5th, 7th, 35th, 3rd, 12th, 5th, 2nd, 9th in his trips to Quail Hollow.

SO'H returning to the scene of his biggest win. So far of course. Lots of guys I like to do well here usually, but none are in particularly good form. Webb Simpson to continue the good vibe from his 72nd hole chip in eagle at New Orleans?

As for the Royals, just remember we're playing them this wekend. (I'm sure you mean the KC version?)


Russell Knox still #1 alternate. Not wishing ill on anyone, but high time someone did the right thing and dropped out - Knox could play well here, his sort of course.

Nice line mysti,
Wish I'd thought of that!

I see Patrick Reed has qualified again, two outings so far this season as a non-member, $81K in the bank. Hope he attracts some more sponsor invites.

Kwin - We should make hay against the anemic Royals!

But back to golf ... I didn't realize how rich the USGA is - I doubt very few members or member clubs know this: http://www.usga-digital.com/usga/20120125?sub_id=JggDrvBjPGjv#pg18

$250 million in cash and securities -- that's some nest egg for a not-for-profit group!

Sr,
I believe that stockpile of loot is becoming quite the bone of contention among the pros, for the other Majors as well. Prizemoney seems to have been at a ceiling for a couple of years now, especially the Majors vs run-of-the-mill events. Finchem smart to have the biggest prizefund for the Players.

Given the hoo-hah from Duval, Woods and O'Meara about Ryder Cup appearance money it's amazing the various organizations have kept a lid on things.

And here's the beauty of the supply and demand model in action - Clubs throughout the United States are lining up, leaning over backwards and willing to do whatever the USGA wants to their course so they can host a "National" Open.

Are the clubs wrong in doing this? I can see the upside: Hosting an open is pretty much sure to increase demand (whether private or public) so why not accommodate the USGA's every whim for what is essentially a weekend of golf.

If I was a member at club wanting to host a US Open, I would probably resign as soon as USGA said yes.

I wouldn't want Rees Jones or any other designated sadist coming in and moving and deepening bunkers, rebuilding the greens.

I have played a couple of US Open (or equivalent) courses. I did not enjoyed the round whatsoever.

Some bad news for Westwood there with Billy Foster wrecking his knee in a football game... Problem is not only for this week at Quail Hollow, but if he'll be out for ~6 weeks as they say, means that even a US Open return could be uncertain... Meanwhile he's borrowing Freddy's caddy Cayce Kerr, but then he'll need someone else next week as Couples said he's gonna play at Sawgrass...

Though I posted this last night but will try again!

Hey Kwini, So who, out of you and your son, had Dufner as a pick?! I managed to get him e/w at 25/1. Nice!

Quick note on last week and the stories about how Hurricane Katrina allowed Pete Dye to make the course more likeable. Bit of a marmite architect is Pete but like you say, definitely feels like an event that is growing.

Similar to your note on Donald I am disappointed that Westwood wont be at the Scottish Open this year. Pretty sure he normally likes to play the week before a major. Also pretty sure that wedging in The Players this year means his pre Open schedule is busier than normal. Ah well.

and if Carter's latest blog is correct (....) then it should be no surprise if Rory fails to burn it up this week. Will keep an eye on him next week tho'!

I'm also a bit disappointed at Westwood's absence from Scottish Open - didn't he come runner up or thereabouts for the inaugural outing at Castle Stuart?

Particularly surprising was one of his Twitter comments that I saw - he confirmed he wasn't playing in response to a question, and then said it used to be much better at Loch Lomond (or at least he agreed with someone else's comment to that effect). Didn't think he had played there either for some years.

Let's hope for better weather this year anyway - bit difficult to play the course when it literally falls apart.

Morning All,
Woof, Bad news for Billy Foster, but I wonder if it's that bad for Lee Westwood? A different perspective and vibe on the bag may freshen things up a bit for him. Freddy's girlfriend caddies for him on the Champo Tour - maybe Lee should get on the Percy Thrower to her?


Hi Lairdy, I had Dufner, thought he had a really good chance last week, pity I don't see any stand out investments for Quail Hollow. As I said earlier, the guys I expect to play well here are in pretty sketchy form, Phil excepted. (PS: Iain Carter, Phil and Tiger haven't played since the Masters either, everyone needs a break! Don't fancy Rory for The Players though.)

Sky,
Hadn't seen that about Lee's schedule, no point in having top events in Britain if the top Britons can't be bothered to turn up. Disappointing.


Anyone heard Lucas Glover's interviews? He must have the deepest voice in golf! He's usually well worth listening to also.

Yeah I fancy Phil to go well this week too. Might check out a price for BVP...

Found this on golf.com on Glover - link interesting divot at the end about Stricker going for 50 consecutive cuts in a row at The Players.

Staying with golfers with deep voices there is also a bit on AK's aches and pains - AK link Doesnt sound like he is bad enough to be eligible for the injury list. Nor does it sound like he'd actually entertain the idea anyway after missing so much golf recently. Hope he gets it sorted soon. He's not my favourite golfer in the world but I miss that explosive golf he's capable of.

Another interesting "divot" about Stricker's consecutive "cuts" streak is that it was terminated by the Tour last year, and then reinstated, when he withdrew from a no-cut tournament (BMW)!

I saw a little of Kim's act last year and he looked really out of sorts. But then he almost won that Shanghai exhibition that Rory won in a play-off with AK. Pretty sad to see the state of his game right now though.

Russell Knox is now in the Wells Fargo field, taking the pace of Gary Woodland who has withdrawn. Again.

Good news for Knox though, playing with Stallings and Steele, which should be a very comfortable group for him.

Got a feeling we'll see a Zach Johnson win this week, although I've probably jinxed him now based on some of my other predictions this year :P

Zach Johnson could be a good call, LD, 6th last year and improving pretty much every year there.

One player for whom Quail Hollow is a home course is Brendon de Jonge, but he just hasn't been in the greatest form. Karlsson plays there as well I believe, but same caveat.

Picking my yahoo team was very difficult but don't be surprised to see Westwood in with a good tournament, perhaps Webb Simpson and Furyk too.

But not Matt Every who has followed Woodland and withdrawn.

My usual Yahoo tactic of cross-referencing recent form and record at the venue in question has come up with a good half a dozen or more winners so far... I think it could work again with Furyk this week.

karlssonn is 260/1... might be worth a sneaky couple of quid!

Very surprised to read Lee Westwood is playing in SWEDEN! the week before the US Open.
Lee played well for a top ten finish at Olympic Club in 1998 and you'd surely think he'd fancy his chances again. Is playing nine time-zones away the ideal preparation?

Nordea will be played Wed-Sat this year, so arguably players will have an extra day, etc... Is that enough? Not sure...

I saw that then completely forgot it in the context of Lee's commitment!

pd,
More details emerging on pgatour.com of the Latin America circuit and players already destined for it.

I was just reading that kwini, surprised that Chile doesn't get to host any tournament! My initial concern with this remains though... how many of the top players (and I mean South American top players at least) will be participating in these events? We'll wait and see...

princedracula wrote:... how many of the top players (and I mean South American top players at least) will be participating in these events? We'll wait and see...

I doubt any will be playing. Why add another tournament to their divisor for a very low rated event.

Did Mike Weir/Stephen Ames ever play Canadian Tour events when he was a top player?

What does everyone make of Paul Lawrie's decision to skip the US Open and prepare instead for the BMW tournament the following week in Cologne?
Imagine he'll receive negative press here but he's not the first and he won't be the last, always more Americans avoiding The Open Championship than vice versa.
Only slightly disconsonant note is that he laments his poor play on US Open tracks so he'll stay home in an effort to earn Ryder Cup points to play . . . . . at Medinah on a classic US Open course.

im not really sure what i think of this. on a personal level it may be the right decision for him and his schedule but it reflects badly on the european tour and its depth when one of its top players doesnt think he has any kind of chance to win a major.

when the americans miss the British Open (presumabley cos they are poor at links golf) the public view it as being a snub on the importance of the tournament rather than a reflection of the individual's skill set.

kwinigolfer wrote:What does everyone make of Paul Lawrie's decision to skip the US Open and prepare instead for the BMW tournament the following week in Cologne?

Sounds like Lawrie is playing out of Kenny Perry's 2008 playbook. Perry became eligible for the British Open late, but chose to skip it and concentrate on other events on the PGAT in an attempt to make his "home town" Ryder Cup... He received a lot of criticism for it, but can't argue with the results... it worked.

Skydriver wrote:I'm also a bit disappointed at Westwood's absence from Scottish Open

Maybe there's something to the talk that ISM is hoping to greatly expand it's event management/operations in Europe. Seems like the Nordea might be a suitable candidate? The same conversation happened last year with the KLM when a bunch of "ISM" guys showed up en masse.

Another interesting note on Westwood's schedule. He lists the last 3 FedEx playoff events on his schedule, but not the first, The Barclays. Not sure if this is an oversight on his part or actually the plan.

Dont most players feel a little beaten up by US open layouts? It is a very poor decision to skip a major as surely playing the biggest events against the best players is why he turned pro?

I was starting to like Lawrie after he mananged to turn his game around but this is the sort of small, inwardly looking decision that quickly turns me off a person. The US open should be far more important to him than the ryder cup, which I still think is best described - and thought of by more - as an exhibition.

I cant believe any golfer in their right mind would skip a major. Absurd.

Odd decision by P Lawrie on the face of it, although I can see some logic with a defensive mindset on - better chance of more OWGR points, more prize money (presumably not an appearance fee as well, but who knows - I recall N Faldo turning up at this event a couple of years ago which I assumed must have been financially induced), increased RC qualifying odds.

I don't necessarily like it, as it seems wrong in my view for players (for Americans or anyone else) to willfully exclude themselves from majors if they've made the stringent qualification criteria, but he's in a position to make an informed decision, and it's not a chance-in-a-lifetime appearance at the prestigious US Open like it would be for quite a few others [because he's been there before].

Unusual decision by Lawrie to say the least - but Hansen skipped Congressional last year with no ill effects. One is also reminded that Lawrie played so well at another US Open lay-out, The Country Club, in the 1999 Ryder Cup.

Anyway, he posted a four-over-par 76 in another Open this morning. Not good.
EDIT: See Lawrie's score has been amended to +6 78. Even not gooder.

Much hotter stuff in Charlotte and the boys are on their way. No wind to speak of, temps rising rapidly towards 90 and scoring should be good. Chance of thunderstorms for the weekend has been added to the forecast though.

Just saw some pictures of Golf Channel's (?) Holly Sonders in the wed Pro-Am.... wow! I highly recommend a google search.

Lairdy

Don't forget your fantasy picks before you leave for the scene of the crime . . . . .

Lairdy she is ok but fake breasts are a real turn off.

Not just the false hangers Mac, the whole contrived American look is a turn off.

I agree it is a dissapointing decision by Lawrie. ultimately it boils down to how highly you rate the the Ryder cup. Personally I would rate it 5th after the majors and US open as the second major after the open, but that is purely a personal view and it is unlikely I will ever be required to make the choice!! Wouldn't agree it is an inward looking choice, he is swapping one big US tournament to give himself a better chance to get to another in his view bigger US tournament.

Anyway may be irrelevant as he is having a stinker today, no wonder though he is wearing Stephen Gallagher's pants!!!

http://www.paullawriegolf.com/blog

My one-and-done selection last week: Dufner: Won.

My one-and-done selection this week: Van Pelt: Currently last.

Brilliant.

Early scoring looks pretty good, looking forward to the TV coverage.

PS: Sometimes wonder why golfers don't send their clubs/essential luggage via courier rather than leave them to the vagaries of the airlines.

Ryder Cup makes for great viewing and it's about the only time a top professional golfer can play terribly and walk away feeling like a winner, so I can see the appeal.

That said, the two aren't mutually exclusive. Were I a captain, I would certainly like my players to be major tested, and recently.

Just a few weeks ago Delta airlines just broke my driver Kwin! The driver and I weren't really on good terms so perhaps just as well -- test drove the Cobra AMP and really like it (they always seem to work better with the demo sticker on).

What's going on with our Yanks?

Sr,
I'm submitting my sticks to US Air next month, but any damage or disappearance might be welcome!

Yanks miss Swish's bat and Gardner's speed. Station to station stuff on the basepaths without them. KC tonight for the sunshine band.

Good opportunity for SO'H to break out of his springtime doldrums . . . .

Looks like this will be plenty of low scores here.

Looks like Russell Knox hit a tree just off the tee box on #14; not a good thing to do, on a short par-4 especially. Bogey.