PGA Tour: The WTF Championship: Notes from the Ballwasher

1).Yes, that's right! The WTF Championship, held this week at the Dye's Valley Course across the road (apparently) from TPC Sawgrass, in Ponte Vedra Beach, outside Jacksonville, Florida. The "web.com Tour Finals Championship" will climax on Sunday with the awarding of PGA Tour cards for 2013/2014 to 25 deserving players. Actually somewhat fewer than 25 as some players, S-Y Noh for instance, and Patrick Cantlay won't be playing this week, celebrating and resting respectively after sewing up their cards earlier.
 
2).All 127 participants (especially Robert Karlsson?) will be hoping to emulate Henrik Stenson - let's face it, 12 months ago, not many would have picked Stenson to "graduate" from any WTF Championships of the day, let alone keep his PGA Tour card.
 
3).He's steadily progressed these past 24 months from 230th in the world; 5 top ten finishes in the summer and autumn of the 2012 European Tour season followed, then victory in the South Africa Open lifted him to 71st.
PGA Tour top tens at Bay Hill, Houston and The Players saw Henrik enter the Scottish Open at 30th in the world and he should have won at Castle Stuart, being undone by some erratic putting before trailing in 3rd.
2nd place at Muirfield and Firestone, 3rd at Oak Hill, winner of the Deutsche Bank and now the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup - with anyone else you'd surely say the sky is the limit, but for Stenson, who knows? After the destruction of his driver and demolition of his Conway Farms locker I for one didn't give him credit for the fortitude to come out at East Lake and make the rest of the field look like also-rans.
 
4).Justin Rose is someone I have trouble warming up to, but great to see him among the first to warmly congratulate Stenson following Sunday's win. Always like the warm and fuzzys from seeing mates happy for other mates' successes, common place on the European Tour but not so much in America, Bradley and Dufner at Oak Hill excepted.
 
5).It would be nice to see Stenson walk away with the Comeback Player of the Year Award, but that is history and replaced by the "PGA Tour Courage Award" which is apparently designed to reward Erik Compton for reaching the FedEx Play-Offs on his third heart. Other awards will be dished out:
Player of the Year: To Woods presumably.
Rookie of the Year: Jordan Spieth must be a certainty.
Unsavoury Rules Incidents of the Year: Woods again, with multiple submissions.
Voluptuous Fiancee of the Year: Paulina Gretzky.
Baby-Sitter of the Year: Lindsey Vonn.
 
6).Steve Stricker attracted attention for his semi-retirement schedule, and Adam Scott echoed the less-is-more trend by only teeing it up 16 times. When Tiger was asked to comment about Stevie Williams' prediction that more PGA Tourists would play an abbreviated schedule he correctly responded with a (tired?) smirk, "I already do" - to be fair, Scott has November pretty much fully booked in Australia so he is taking part of his downtime during the PGA Tour season.
And then Phil said he could cut 25% of his 2013 events from his 2013/2014 year.
This is all very well and may work for some but, when the likes of Poulter and McDowell, Kaymer and McIlroy start to wonder why they missed out on FedEx's big bucks, they may reflect that one major reason is that they played so few events.
 
7).Woods has now accumulated $25.275M in FedEx bonus money, with the other "Cup" holders also obviously over the $10M mark.
Stricker ($8.4M) is next followed by Mickelson ($7.8M), Donald and Kuchar ($5.1M) among those looking forward to $4M or more, with Camilo, Webb Simpson, Dustin, Sergio, Rors, Zach Johnson and Nick Watney all having crossed the $3M threshhold. Adam Scott's untimely Saturday flu arguably cost him $1.5M in bonus bonanza.
 
8).None of that sort of swag on offer at Dye's Valley (sounds like a Welsh course?) and there's been considerable reflection as to how the web.com Tour Finals have eveloved. One could argue that it's become progressively less interesting as the three Tour Finals events have taken place, especially due to the fact that 15 or 20 of the "cards" on offer are already arithmetically secure. Having the leading money-winner, just say "Noh", opt not to bother to show up must be a bit of a bummer for Finchem; other old lags and young bucks assured of their "playing privileges" for next year include:
Immelman, John Peterson, MacKenzie, Cantlay, Ishikawa, Matteson, Swafford, Cauley and Slocum. Sean O'Hair with $36,000 banked should be OK but from then on things get somewhat more interesting. Rickie Barnes has $34K+ and probably at least needs to make the cut this week.
 
9).Europeans still in with a chance are Owen, whose eccentric finishes got him in this mess in the first place and has stopped him from "graduating" already, Knox, Karlsson etc. Very approximately this is what they need to do:
Owen: Top 25 (which he would have earned two weeks ago if he hadn't relentlessly butchered his final six holes, which he played in +8).
Knox: Top 15
Karlsson: Top 10
Siem: Top 9
Norlander: Top 9
Cejka: Top 5
Johnson: Top 5
(Cejka and Johnson have "veteran player" / "past champion" status respectively, but that won't get them in to more than one or two beleagured PGA Tournaments in 2013/2014.)
 
10).Apart from the 25 players (including Chopra) who have already earned their "cards" for next year, there are other players double-dipping in these Finals, especially guys like Levin and Goydos who are on Medical Exemption and therefore already have higher status than can be earned this week. That doesn't seem quite right to moi, and I also agree with vets like Jason Gore, Jobe, McCarron and DiMarco who feel that not offering the opportunity for at least a handful of Tour cards in Q-School is a mistake.
 
Regardless, there should still be some fascinating Golf; conditions should be soft to start with after some heavy rain, hopefully firming up as the weather improves Thursday thru the wekend.
And: Will this still be the WTF Championship this time next year? Somehow, I doubt it.

Great write-up again as usual Kwini.

Had to at the 'WTF Championship'...I mean, almost too funny really. Some of your alternative PGA awards really need to happen as well.

nbs,
Other award suggestions welcome!

I'm thinking s_r might nominate someone for the Ashley Young award?

Kwini - I saw a recent interview with Dufner, from which I conclude he has a short list for jerk of the year!

Does Dufner have a short list or should he be on it?
There it is then:
Nominations for Golf's "Jerk of the Year".

Nice writeup Kwini... 

Surprising, yet not surprising move by Noh not to return from Korea to play this week...

On one hand in his interview week before last it was obvious how homesick he was and from my understanding of the Korean culture, families remain tight with their kids well through young adulthood...

BUT... not returning could be costly...  #1 on the final money list is fully exempt and not subject to reshuffle and there's a good chance he'll lose that spot this week.  While IMO Noh is a strong candidate for a future solid PGAT career... I don't think he's so good right now that he's a lock to keep a high rank in the first reshuffle, and it can get VERY difficult for him to get starts from then on...

robo,
Impact of "reshuffle" lost on a lot of the "overseas" players methinks - however, in Noh's cae, perhaps he feels there's an even money chance he'll still be top anyway. Regardless, all the "graduates" need to have an aggressive plan to play the first few 13/14 events. Big advantage if any can qualify (long shot for the WGC, I know) for the two Asian events.

Do you know if the first six 13/14 winners will be eligible for Kapalua?

The Dye's Valley course will play soft this morning and the rough will be wet - heavy premium on accuracy off the tee, and here's hoping Russell Knox's precision from tee (1st on the PGA Tour in driving accuracy) to green (8th in gir) will stand him in good stead this week.
Of course, he still has to hole some putts but this set-up should give the Man from Inverness every possible chance of a high finish. On top of all that, he lives locally and hopefully knows every blade of Sawgrass on the course.

Balls in the air for early starters at 7.30 a.m..

kwinigolfer wrote:robo,
Impact of "reshuffle" lost on a lot of the "overseas" players methinks - however, in Noh's cae, perhaps he feels there's an even money chance he'll still be top anyway. Regardless, all the "graduates" need to have an aggressive plan to play the first few 13/14 events. Big advantage if any can qualify (long shot for the WGC, I know) for the two Asian events.

Do you know if the first six 13/14 winners will be eligible for Kapalua?

 Winners of all official events in the 2013 calendar year are invited to Kapalua.

NOH - Yes it's can be complicated for those not in tune with the way the playoff works... but bottom line it appears as though there are 29 guys he has to hope doesn't win and 3 or 4 of those need to finish out of the top spots. I suppose that's better than 50/50 odds in Noh's favor... we'll just have to see if it works out.

 
Thanks robo, Assumed that but hadn't seen it in black and white.
Still think they could use their imagination and spice that tournament up a little.
 
Swedish karma going nicely at the moment, with Robbie Karlsson out front after 6 WTF holes; only 66 holes to play then.
Edit: Or is it Stenson karma, with Ollie Wilson already at 6 under par in Scotland?

WTF award should go to Nick Dougherty, a dozen shots on 18!!

Good start for Wilson, will it last though. Can't believe the fall of these guys, remember watching Wilson at Wentworth a few years ago and was in awe of his sublime touch around the green.

Apparently Dufners comments were in interview with Howard Stern. - so I take it all back!!! But just for the record, was eventually trapped into revealing biggest jerk - and the award went to - Rory Sabattini!

Hi puligny,
Ah, Yes! I saw that - what a prat! Have followed each recently and the better to follow by far was Roary!!

Do I see Messrs Orrin and Raymond playing as pros this week?

Norlander outshining Karlsson now as Team Sweden taking Dye's Valley by the scruff of the neck. Very early days however.

Kwini. Both turned pro, and as ever interested to see how far they go?
Raymond has excelled in Am strokeplay events - many seem to think of these 2 Orrin is the better bet. Personal view - Raymond has good game to make a living, and being a local lad hope he does better than that. When he turns pro, Porteus will be strong. Got a few majors as an am lined up after winning British Am, but sure to be pro after those.

WTF Update following Round 1:
Fine starts for Karlsson, Knox and Norlander who would all qualify for PGA Tour duty next season (in two weeks) if they maintain their current positions. But too early to get too excited.

Marcel Siem enjoyed a good first round but needs much better for the weekend.

Good (6 birdies), Bad (4 bogeys) and Ugly (quadruple bogey) for Owen and he needs at least a three under par round tomorrow just to make the cut and keep his quickly evaporating chances of a Tour card alive.

Johnson and Cejka are just not good enough on a course that should suit them - have it all to do just to make the cut and get paid. web.com for them next year, barring a miracle.

And: Lots of comment about the "integrity" of the game when Aussie Ashley Hall called a penalty on himself when tied for the lead for a ball movement in the fairway that no-one else could possibly have seen.
There was an unspoken word insinuated thru'out the commentary on the matter.

Kwini, are you suggestion the commentary team oscillated?or did they just chicken out?

I am hearing Kwini suggesting that the commentators appreciated Ashley's integrity, thus expressing contempt for Tiger's ways

!
Vacillation more than oscillation I would say.
 
Lots of stress on display yesterday, unusual for the first round of anything.
But Knox played well, missed one fairway (T1) and one green (1st) - three more rounds of ball-striking like that and he'll be playing the Fry's.com in a fortnight.

kwinigolfer wrote:!
Vacillation more than oscillation I would say.

If the talk is about Tiger, then "straying" should be the correct word.

Tiger wins player of the year.

Jordan Speith wins rookie award.


No surprises then.

Lots written about what Uihlein and Koepka might do next year:
~Stay in Europe,
~Return to Florida for Q-School and the web.com with promises of a raft of PGA Tour sponsors' inviations,
~Strive to reach the Top 50 and live the best of both worlds hoping to achieve Special Tempo Membership,
~Move in with Lindsey Vonn - who knows?
 
But Marcel Siem's American dream may be over for the time being as he's torpedoed any chance he had of earning a PGA Tour card with a very poor final five (+4) holes today. Back to Europe?
 
Very untidy round of 69 (-1) from Russell Knox, but no real damage done and two more similar rounds may be enough for him to get his Card back.
Cejka's a goner though and Greg Owen probably is too, and both can look forward to a return to next year's web.com.

WTF Update:
Catastrophic start for Team Sweden;
Karlsson kicked off with two double bogeys.
Norlander started well but tripled the 8th.
And Richard Johnson keeps on digging that hole for himself with an opening bogey.

I've really enjoyed the WTF Championship so far, but TV (and the PGA Tour) is having a terrible time conveying the status of golfers in the hunt for Tour cards. This could be really intriguing but even for those of us who follow it closely, it's very confusing, partly of course because of the coverage.

For Europeans, it's quite simple:
Cejka and Richard Johnson are headed back to the web.com Tour altho' they retain tenuous "status" for the PGA Tour.
Greg Owen will almost certainly join them - there's a remote chance he'll "graduate" but more likely he'll miss out by $2K or $3K.
Marcel Siem will presumably skidaddle back to Euope and I see he's signed up for "Portugal" (not a bad field).

Karlsson and Norlander took giant steps backwards in Friday afternoon's wind - they both need Top Ten finishes this weekend, so have it all to do.
Russell Knox remains in good shape, but needs to stay in the Top 15 - currently in 9th place and that would do nicely.

Clear as mud Timmy Finchem - you've got to simplify things to attract attention.

Rain delay at the WTF Championship - designed to get these rookies acclimated to the PGA Tour.
Revised tee-times have the boys off both nines, in threesomes, starting at 11.15-ish, weather of course permitting.


PS: Should have noted that Bernhard Langer has a cool four-shot lead on the Monterey Peninsula on the Champo Tour.

Ten straight pars put Knox right on the proverbial bubble, but three consecutive birds gets him to -7, and 5th alone - level par for his next 23 holes should do the job, but easier said than done.

Karlsson needs a low 60-something on Sunday and Norlander will need to nudge the fifties.

Nice birdie on #18 to help erase the memory of two messy birdies on #14 and #16 for Russell Knox and a clean round on Sunday should earn him a 2013/2014 PGA Tour card.
Karlsson is plugging along but still needs a mid-60's effort to have any chance, but Norlander looks headed to the web.com Tour for 2014.

What is it in the water in Inverness? Young Russell looks to have an old man's face, can imagine he'll look the same at 68 as he does at 28 (not that 68 is old, if you know what I mean).

Promising start for Karlsson and a wonderful start for Russell Knox. More please!

Ouch for Karlsson... feel bad for him, especially after having to resign his Euro Tour membership.

So what happened with Karlsson in the last 2 years? Another standard example of a Euro player flunking on the PGATour, (combined with an unlucky eye injury)?

pedro,
I think he made the Weir/Casey error of trying to play from injury/illness/yips - got behind the pace he needed a couple of years ago and lost his confidence.
Sure he would be able to get in to whatever E.T. event he wanted to - hope he does, the web.com's a graveyard at his age. Too good a golfer to just fade away.

Well, Knox retrieves his card with a pretty good place in the priority status, WELL DONE!!!!
Crucial that he goes straight out to the Fry's and Las Vegas and makes a couple of cuts early on and secures a decent spot for whenever the first reshuffle occurs.

Hope Karlsson goes back to Europe but he lives in Charlotte now and no idea whether he's up for the travel.

Norlander will do well on the web.com and Greg Owen will get some starts on the PGA Tour and, hopefully, do what he always does and trump shaky putting with great ball-striking on the web.com.

Not much bothered about the rest - Chopra on PGA Tour but for how long(?), Cejka and Johnson.

kwinigolfer wrote:Hope Karlsson goes back to Europe but he lives in Charlotte now and no idea whether he's up for the travel.

 What options does Karlsson have on the Euro Tour now?  Remember he resigned his membership this past Spring.  Past winner status? Sponsor exemptions... or what? I mean he can't just walk out there and tee it up on the ET... can he?

robo,
I shouldn't think he can, but not many golfers will have achieved more good will than Robbie over the past 20+ years.

Remember, he won the Tour Championship in 2010 and the O of M five years ago. Unfortunately both those exemptions seem to expire, coincidentally, this year but if I was him I'd get back on my bike and play E.T. golf these next two months and play my way back in.

He can be eccentric so maybe he'll go up to the Arctic Circle for some cogitation and then return to Charlotte for T'giving and Christmas. If so, web.com Tour for him and good riddance.

But I reckon he's better than that, in so many different ways.

Charlotte? What a weird place to choose to live.

super_realist wrote:Charlotte? What a weird place to choose to live.

Actually not so weird a choice for a Euro guy.  Not all of these guys have access to private jets, so being near an airport with good access to Europe is important.  That and "relatively" easy going lifestyle in Charlotte seemed to be the keys to his choice to move there. And still one of the better cost of living values remaining in the United States. Compared to Monaco... he could live like a King in Charlotte for probably 1/10th the cost.

Here's a post on his website where he talks about the decision... http://www.robertkarlsson.com/change-pace-airport-draws-european-golfer-charlotte

Charlotte's a popular place for Touring Pros who prefer to avoid Florida - decent weather, some great golf courses, inexpensive housing and a leadig transportation hub, especially for the Golf Tours.

PS: I see Karlsson's been removed from the E.T.'s Career Money List. Can understand him not being a Member, but how can they expunge his achievements? Bizarre.

I posted this elsewhere... but it might fit here...

Some interesting things came out of this playoff (interesting to me at least)....

*** I was surprised that 15 of the original web*com top-25 ended up at the bottom of the priority list (33-48). Of course it makes sense now that I think about the fact that 25 guys competing against roughly 100 others... but I hadn't considered that. My guess is there's gonna be some squawking on that point.  Not sure it's right that a seasons worth of work gets relegated to lowest priority

*** I was a bit disappointed that only 14 rookies made it out of the playoffs (compared to 23 out of web*com/Q-school last year). 9 of those were out of the original web*com top-25... 5 more out of the additional 25 added.

*** Which means that 36 veterans with at least one full year of experience on the big tour gained cards. 15 of those were 2013 PGAT Players that got their card back through the playoffs. (counting Knox as a PGAT guy). Another 5 were past veterans that were #26 plus 2013 web*com going into the playoffs. And 16 of the Web*com original top-25 were PGA Tour veterans.

robo,
Your first point is the one that resonates with me - before this week helped explain it all, I had assumed that this was just an extension of the web.com season for these guys, and priority ranking would reflect cumulative money earned. That made some sense.

Ironic that Peterson, who flunked Q-School, flunked web.com, emerges as the big WTF winner!


I've enjoyed the "Finals" process, but there's inequity there, plus a feeling that they've just reprocessed Tour retreads, which is not what the web.com circuit was designed for (but which it has become!).

kwinigolfer wrote:I've enjoyed the "Finals" process, but there's inequity there, plus a feeling that they've just reprocessed Tour retreads, which is not what the web.com circuit was designed for (but which it has become!).

I really didn't get into the playoffs until the last day.   I thought it would generate more excitement all the way though... but for me at least... I just wasn't feeling it.  It just didn't have that feel of the pressure of the old q-school... that is until the very end there...

But not sure that the Web.com is all that different than what used to happen in Q-school  Sure some "grizzled vets" get through the Web.com... but they did back in the "old days" too.  And perhaps my mention of so many veterans is a bit misleading...  Yes there are a lot of guys who got through this year with at least 1 year of PGA Tour experience, and some of them like Slocum and Durant have been around forever, and 21 of the 50 players are over 30.  But a good number of those that I called veterans are still mid to low age 20's guys who are still cutting their teeth and I'd consider still very "young" in PGA Tour years... and not quite "retreads"... at least not yet... :-)  Such as: Ben Martin, Lovemark, Danny Lee, Ryo, Troy Merritt, Bud Cauley, Noh, Knox, & Gates. Add those to the 14 true rookies... and it's not quite as bad as it might look.

I think they have to resolve the dilemma of golfers with other exemptions horning in on the Finals' places, tho' it's surely tough to tell Joe Durant (and wasn't this week just a microcosm of his career?!?), for instance that he can't qualify to play until he turns 50 in April, when the rules say he's fully entitled to.
Chad Campbell will now presumably take a "career money" exemption into next year with greater status than those who beat him! And then there are the "Medical" guys . . . .
Something for PVB to mull over, for sure.

Perhaps one of the reasons it was difficult to get in to earlier was the GC coverage - even up to the last moment, they got Andres Gonzales' prospective status wrong, tho' clearly he knew (or his caddie had it figured out) exactly where he stood. In the end, the early projections of money needed were on the high side, by almost $10K - wonder if that affected any player strategy?

I remember attending a Ben Hogan Tour event at a local course halfway thru' the first season and realising very quickly that it wasn't what it was advertised as being - a circuit for the young guns. RW Eaks and Dick Mast on the first tee, your well-known trivia question Texan, Frank Conner, in the bar during rain delay. And Greg Owen (and add Johnson, Cejka, Gronberg as was, Chopra for other Europeans) and a bunch of second-rate Aussies show that the average age must be increasing!

kwinigolfer wrote:I think they have to resolve the dilemma of golfers with other exemptions horning in on the Finals' places, tho' it's surely tough to tell Joe Durant (and wasn't this week just a microcosm of his career?!?), for instance that he can't qualify to play until he turns 50 in April, when the rules say he's fully entitled to.
Chad Campbell will now presumably take a "career money" exemption into next year with greater status than those who beat him! And then there are the "Medical" guys . . . .
Something for PVB to mull over, for sure.

Perhaps one of the reasons it was difficult to get in to earlier was the GC coverage - even up to the last moment, they got Andres Gonzales' prospective status wrong, tho' clearly he knew (or his caddie had it figured out) exactly where he stood. In the end, the early projections of money needed were on the high side, by almost $10K - wonder if that affected any player strategy?

I remember attending a Ben Hogan Tour event at a local course halfway thru' the first season and realising very quickly that it wasn't what it was advertised as being - a circuit for the young guns. RW Eaks and Dick Mast on the first tee, your well-known trivia question Texan, Frank Conner, in the bar during rain delay. And Greg Owen (and add Johnson, Cejka, Gronberg as was, Chopra for other Europeans) and a bunch of second-rate Aussies show that the average age must be increasing!

Yeah... seems like the golfers with other exemptions playing raised some eyebrows.  And you're correct about the age thing.  If you take the top-75 on the web.com money list this year, the average age was just under 32, with the median age being right at 30.  

IMO the Web.com has so much money on it that it's now a suitable alternative to a lot of players who might never make it on the PGA Tour.   Consider you had about 50 guys who made $100k+, then add in even a minimum club, ball and clothing contract which can cover expenses... and you have lots of guys making at least a decent living.... at least better than your average club pro or insurance salesman.

Seems it was very easy for the bear to say the right thing about the ball but come the time he could rake it in from his own ball, he does nothing.

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/equipment-insider/nicklaus-unveiling-own-line-golf-balls/?cid=twitter_gc_nicklaus_golf_balls

Seems a roll back can wait till after he has made some money from the ball market.

Good field for the Tiger event

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golftalkcentral/mcilroy-poulter-among-field-in-tigers-event/?cid=twitter_gc_a_mcilroy_poulter_tiger_sherwood_093013

Yes, Too bad they (McIlroy, McDo, Poulter, Westwood) tee it up in Tigerland and not Europe. I suppose $120K minimum is too good a Christmas pressie to refuse.

Does that mean Westwood (Westwood, Westwood) ain't gonna play Sun City?

Smithers,

It looks like the Nedbank might be struggling, only Grace, Kaymer, Peter Senior(??!!) and Wiratchant confirmed as being signed up so far, according to the website:

http://www.nedbankgolfchallenge.com/default.aspx

But the dates are definitely the same so would think the answer is No!

Peter Senior? Then Mssrs. Beem, Micheel and Hamilton must be shoe-ins. And Robert Karlsson.

pedro,
Imagine Senior is there because he won the Aussie Open last year - remember he was also in the field for Bridgestone (tho' I don't believe he played). Almost surprising he's not playing Pres Cup.