PGA Tour: Last Stop Before Augusta: Notes from the Ballwasher

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1).Only one spot left to be earned for The Masters now and that will go to the winner of this week's "Shell Houston Open", if not already exempt.
Paul Casey won "Houston" a few years ago, in a play-off with JB Holmes who promptly helped Casey's cause by driving into a lake. Last week he was sitting at home sh1tting bricks as one possible challenger after another fell by the wayside and Casey actually gained a ranking spot as he clung to his owgr Top Fifty avenue to Magnolia Lane. Lucky boy.

2).Although it makes for a great storyline, the last-minute entree into The Masters hasn't been especially rewarding in terms of results, but Davis Love won "New Orleans" in 1995, so gaining entry to Augusta and promptly finished runner-up to Crenshaw. Perhaps this week's winner may also find that Major glory is just a week away.

3).What do y'all make of Jimmy Walker's stroll in the San Antonio park last week, fifth win in 18 months, his most recent pair by a total of 13 strokes?
That's a career's worth for luminaries like Tom Lehman, and a career-so-far's-worth for Luke Donald. Walker was a Masters debutant last year and finished strongly to finish 8th (which he followed with Top Tens at Pinehurst and Valhalla).
He and Stenson have both sent sick notes in to Houston, but you'd think both have the right stuff for next week.

4).Another impressive performance from Jordan Spieth, once again emphasizing that few are his equal in willing the ball into the hole, Tigerlike, when in contention.

5).And what about Aaron Baddeley's Round 2 birdie on #17? His 336-yard hole-in-one with his second tee-ball (after his first was deemed unplayable) is the longest hole-out on the PGA Tour in the Shot Link era which goes back to 2003. Probably longest ever.

6).Talking about amazing feats, Freddie Jac has a current "three putt avoidance" streak of 416 holes. That amounts to 23+ x 18-hole rounds for The Swedish Seve; which saves his Tour bacon as he ranks in the bottom 10% of most "ball-striking" stats.

7).Major League Baseball begins its 6-month season this weekend; the AVERAGE salary for Major Leaguers is $4.25M. And remember, unlike golfers who have to pay caddies, travel, hospitality etc, this is a net income figure.

8).Last week's Thursday morning / Friday afternoon "wave" had to contend with a 4-stroke handicap, less than a 30% chance of making the cut due to Thursday morning high winds. This week's weather will be similarly iffy, but more democratic perhaps, as 15 mph winds and the chance of showers seems to be the order of every day, not so much of what Bonnie Raitt might sing the "Luck of the Draw", more the "Natural Law".

9).Texans came first and second in San Antonio, but I'd be surprised if that repeated itself, though could quite easily see Patrick Reed have another strong week. And wouldn't be shocked to see Houston's adopted son, Angel Cabrera come to play.

10).As I write this, the Golf world breathlessly awaits news from Camp Woods as to whether his Tigership will grace The Masters with his presence. Confirmation is also still awaited from less exalted personalities, Messrs Bjorn, Clark, Stadler, Weir, perhaps Koepka. McDowell says he's fit, Stricker will definitely be there, as will Adam Scott's broomstick putter, but the appearance of none of these will cause as much of a pleasant flutter as a surprise appearance by Amanda Dufner.

Good News: Cabrera is playing, not returning to Argentina in the wake of his lad's accident. Tough love.

Bad News: Add Marc Leishman to the list of Masters question marks as his missus lies in hospital with pneumonia.

Still no word on the other doubtfuls.


GPB: Snap.

McIlroy went topless on the front of Golf digests master preview

Rory Topless:

And now he is the first golfer to make the front of mens health

Rory's mens health cover shot:

But Golf Digest just can't help themselves and have gone for the topless option for May's cover shot as well.

Lexi topless on May's golf digest:

She has a manly face.

One of the best nicknames in golf is that of one of her brothers who's on the PGA Tour, Nicholas Thompson, who they call "Nitro".

And he swings at the ball as if he wants to kill it, might just as well have a machete in his hand.

Unfortunately, Lexi is as unattractive as it gets.

Just backed JB Holmes @ 66/1 for the Masters. Bit of an odd ball but figured he's a similar type to Watson and the odds will plummet if he wins in Houston even if history would be against him.

Best wishes to the Leishmans. Life without Mrs Hibbz might include more golf but none of it would be enojoyable.

True dat, Hibbz

Harrington + Westwood are +1 on the Par-5's. Same old song.

Kelvin Day -4 after 11 holes. Tied for the early lead among Team GB&I. It may not last, but must give him confidence he can play out there.

Keegan being hailed as romantic for asking his girlfriend if she would caddie for him in the par 3 by putting a not inside some green roses.

Keegs note to GF:

I don't know about anyone else but wouldn't most people partners tell them to get f***cked and carry their own clubs?

This might sound like a ridiculous thing to say about a 17 year, but is Lydia Ko the best player never to win a major?

To add to her already impressive CV she just equaled Anika's 29 under-par rounds in a row record.

Mac,
Scarcely surprising you're not married and living in a hovel with Tiger and Michael on your ceiling.

Just mentioned to Mrs kwini that Keegs surprised me with such a stylish romantic gesture.

Kelvin Day to -5 . . . . . . .

golfchannel.com reporting the news about Eldrick's adventures at Augusta National on Tuesday:

Good: Five birdies.
Bad: He shot 74.

Still no decision from Tiger . . . . . or Steiny.

Joe LaCava must be wondering where his next pay day's gonna come from.

McLaren wrote:This might sound like a ridiculous thing to say about a 17 year, but is Lydia Ko the best player never to win a major?

To add to her already impressive CV she just equaled Anika's 29 under-par rounds in a row record.

I think it's a bit silly Mac, she's an excellent player, but the top women players tend to go in regular waves of who is the top dog so to speak, a bit like tennis. Ko will probably win one this year given how good she has been, but it's too early to say she's better than Donald, Westwood, Garcia, Monty etc, partly because the depth of talent isn't as deep.

Well it looks to me like Tiger will bypass the Masters, which is a rather indictment after playing a practice round!

sirbenson wrote:Well it looks to me like Tiger will bypass the Masters, which is a rather indictment after playing a practice round!

Don't know what is taking him this long to decide though?

Has he decided though?
I'd have thought he'd be getting pressure from Nike to play.

Although how legitimate is that source? Like don't players go on auto-pilot and not really keep score during practice rounds!?

super_realist wrote:Has he decided though?
I'd have thought he'd be getting pressure from Nike to play.

He hasn't decided no, but yeah I'd say he'd be under pressure from Nike to play and the viewing figures would plummet if he doesn't play either

Tim Rosaforte ‏@TimRosaforte 56s56 seconds ago
Another sign that TW is going to play Masters; Joe LaCava working with him at Medalist Thursday. @GCMorningDrive @GolfDigest @GolfCentral

Hope he plays and is dead last.

A nice eagle hole out on Westwood's first!

What will you do SR if he wins a major again?

I've already got a potential forfeit if Lowry wins one this year, isn't it ironic that Lowry is the exact opposite of his namesakes stickmen paintings?

Do you have to become a Lowry fanboy if that happened?

yeah, but there's more chance of crapping in the queens handbag.

Golf Central ‏@GolfCentral 7m7 minutes ago
Golf Channel has confirmed that Tiger Woods is on the practice facility at Augusta National right now. Began hitting balls 10 minutes ago.

(Apologies Kwini, tell me if you don't want to turn this into a Tiger Woods watch)

Are you not brave enough to take that bet for the remainder of Lowry's career?

Don't want an indefinite bet SirB.

sirb,
Be my guest! You're on top of all this and I'm sitting here counting down the minutes to Carlisle vs Pompey!

But I DO see that Camp Eldrick is expected to announce whether or not he's good to go later today. Can't see him acquiring a quick fix between Tuesday & Friday but you never know.

I'm sure he'll be in the Grumpy Game's also ran category, with Ian Woosnam and Ben Crenshaw!

Understandable SR!

Perhaps he can tee it up with other hasbeens like Lyle and Stadler

He's just practising the inaugural tee shot. Hitting the fairway seems hard enough for him...

The Walrus is not expected to play this year.  Last year with Smalrus was supposed to be his last year.

Kwini you're right, I think Tiger Woods will most likely be in Cat C if he plays the Masters. Who'da thunk it?

!!!!

Scoring looks a little more modest than yesterday's; plenty of "minus 3's" out there but nothing any better as the early birds make the turn.
JB Holmes at -6 after 23 tournament holes with a negative "strokes gained putting". That's tough to do.

It looks like it is only a matter of time before Stefani wins

B0ll0cks, Garrigus withdraws - he was accumulating a handsome margin for worst round of the day. Rats!

Still nothing startling happening in Houston, tho' both lw1 and St.Padraig are -3 for the day.

Westwood might be able to jet over to Augusta and catch a few holes with Woods the rate he's going. Another Par-5 bogey and needs to play the last five holes at least two under par to make the cut. Very poor.

And to make matters a whole lot worse, PFC have conceded goals in the first and last minutes to get caught by Carbl00dylisle. Time for a drink.

Interesting perspective on Tiger Woods from Michael Bamberger:

http://www.golf.com/tour-and-news/tiger-woods-has-had-enough-golf-2015-masters

Although this wasn't written in this week's will he?, won't he? procrastination on Masters attendance, you can certainly see this week's tease in the context of Bamberger's wider picture. Good stuff.

Afternoon "wave" well under way and the European challenge is led by Alex Cejka and Kelvin Day.
Hands up who saw that coming.

Meanwhile, Westwood, Luiten, Kaymer off early to greet Mr.Woods on Magnolia Lane.

Interesting article kwini. But I disagree with the conclusion, no amount of pseudo psychology will convey what is actually wrong with tiger. And that is a terrible long and short game.

Expect a missed cut by quite some margin next week.

He hasn't got a brain to do any psychology on Mac. He's the manchurian golfer

I really hope 9C still has those chipping yips because ANGC will make him look REALLY stupid

So Tiger's playing the Masters, and is predictably "excited" about it.

Hope he doesn't embarrass himself (never thought I'd say that about Tiger ).

I wonder whether he will feign yet another injury when his score goes down the toilet.

Before missing a green today....Luke Guthrie had apparently hit his last 30 GIR!

Certainly didn't see that coming, cut at -4, which means Davis and Donaldson, among others, are on their way home. Late afternoon scoring was electric!

Signs of life from Victor Dubuisson as he leads the Europeans, and much, much better from Justin Rose.

Three Englishmen playing together on Saturday, Casey, Rose and Kelvin Day. Imagine Kelvin was the only one of the three who saw that possibility.

Good cuts also by Gonzo and Franny. Make the most of it!!

Austin Cook is T2nd with Mickelson.  He played in one OWGR rated tournament in the last two years, finishing T13 in the St Jude Classic in Memphis.  He is ranked 995th in the OWGR.

Anyone know why Scott Verplank was DQ'd?

1GrumpyGolfer wrote:Anyone know why Scott Verplank was DQ'd?

Signing an incorrect scorecard according to rotoworld.com