PGA Tour: Georgia On My Mind: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).The PGA Tour season sputters to its conclusion this week, at the Tour Championship, in Atlanta, Georgia, at Donald Ross's East Lake design.  (Don't worry, "16/17" gets things going again in three weeks's time.)

Every golf fan has an opinion of the FedEx Play-Offs, but one thing I'd change permanently is to take the week off between "Boston" and the Beemer, then run straight from whichever city hosts the old Western Open (Philadelphia in two years' time if that makes sense to anyone but Shotrock) to Atlanta; the week off just feels as if all momentum for the thirty finalists, or at least us fans, is lost.

2).But one good thing this year is that the Tour has switched nines at East Lake; the purists were apparently not happy that the 18th hole is no longer the difficult par-3, demanding but hardly exciting, but now a Par-5 that's reachable after a super drive. Hopefully some risk/reward is included with the change.
East Lake has few enough memorable holes after all, but one is the old 6th which is played over water with a mid to long iron. Now it's the 15th and may play a more prominent part in the tournament's outcome.

3).Atlanta will be Warmlanta this week, if not exactly Hotlanta; there's no sustained "weather" in the forecast, chance of occasional shower but no strong winds, so scoring should be good.

4).And Davis LoveIII has had us all on the edge of our seats for a couple of weeks now as we all wonder who'll get his Horschel pick. Apparently Bubba and Berger, Furyk and Thomas have been with some of the USA Team at Hazeltine, a wasted trip for at least two of them but it lends credence to the idea that LoveIII is looking for an excuse to choose a Young Gun, but will fall back with Watson if both misfire.

5).Meanwhile Andrew Johnston may be targetting next year's Tour Championship as he maps out his schedule for next season, Tour card in hand. Well done to him, and interesting that the Boise Tournament Director gave a shout out to Beef as an attraction that led to record crowds.
I'm not sure that the land of Donald Drumpf and brewski thruskis is a perfect fit for Mr.Beef. Strange that he should have snapped up an endorsement for Arby's when surely Montreal's iconic Joe Beef, described as "emboldening gluttony", would have been a better match. Oh well, can't have everything.
We discussed Beef's options in last week's thread, but he's committed to the Dunhill in Scotland the week following the Ryder Cup and that clashes with the web.com Tour Championship, the fourth and final wTF event. And that means this week's wTF Round 3 is crucial to him reaching the higher echelons of the "reshuffle" priority list in getting in to 16/17 tournaments.

6).Michael Thompson, Stallings and Carballo joined Beef in earning their cards last week, while Gonzo is only about $4K from joining them. What a sweet return to the big time that would be for Mr and Mrs G.

7).The Top 25 money winners in these "finals", who are not already exempt via the web.com season-long money-list, qualify for a 16/17 Tour card and Europeans in promising position after two tournaments include:
8th: Gonzo
17th: Norlander
18th: Owen

8).It was a terrific week for another Englishman, the rather more muted, but no less ecstatic Paul Broadhurst who birdied the 18th to win the Champions Tour event at Pebble Beach, and that win puts him in a strong position for the lucrative quasi-Play-Off season finale Charles Schwab series which begins in late October.  

9).Plenty of Europeans have fattened their pension plans courtesy of the ten-year-old FedEx bonus pool.Excluding this year's hand-outs, the big winners (unofficially) have been:
$13.3M: Stenson
$5.5M:  McIlroy
$5.3M:  Donald
$3.8M:  Rose
$3.7M:  Garcia
$1.4M:  Harrington
$1.4M:  Casey
$1.1M:  Pettersson
Whilst others can look forward to at least $750K: Poulter, Laird, Jacobson, Davis, Westwood.

10).No strong feelings here as to who will ride off with the Tour Championship and/or the FedEx Cup and its $10M swag. But very interested to see if the switching of the "nines" adds some spice to the finale and obviously hoping that McIlroy flies to Hazeltine with another win under his belt, and Ray Charles's old sweet song can keep Georgia on his mind..

Probably that eye, and also because the 2 drives selected are hit in exactly opposite directions, equating out the wind factor.

That's how I understand it Pedro.

wTF update:
Hadn't realised Gregory Bourdy shot 67 yesterday, good for T4.
He needs to maintain that form for the next three days and he'll be in excellent shape for a Tour card.

Early bogey for Gonzo after Thursday's superb start; just making the cut will get him about 95% of the way to his card, but we know he can do much better than that!

MPB... I think others pretty much gave the same answers I would have RE the driving. IMO the 2 drive stat probably is more accurate in determining how players really stack up to each other in distance. Except for guys like Stenson who's just as apt to use his 3-wood as he is driver on any hole regardless of length.

Kwini... small point from your original post. The FedEx totals you show for the select Euro players are total FE Bonus earned, but not all of that necessarily goes into their deferred income/retirement accounts.  When Tiger first won $10 mil that all went into his deferred income account, there were rumblings from both the players but more importantly the IRS. So the following year the bonuses for the top-10 in the final FE Cup were changed to part cash and part deferred. All bonus beyond 10th place is 100% deferred. Here's the schedule on the top-10:

Place -    Total -       Cash -   Deferred
#1 - $10,000,000 - $9,000,000 - $1,000,000
#2 -   3,000,000 -  2,500,000 -    500,000
#3 -   2,000,000 -  1,550,000 -    450,000
#4 -   1,500,000 -  1,150,000 -    350,000
#5 -   1,000,000 -    650,000 -    350,000
#6 -     800,000 -    500,000 -    300,000
#7 -     700,000 -    400,000 -    300,000
#8 -     600,000 -    300,000 -    300,000
#9 -     550,000 -    250,000 -    300,000
#10 -    500,000 -    200,000 -    300,000

Yup, Aware from your previous posts of the fine print, but the technicalities are always too complex for me to explain without your instruction manual. Bonus pool swag, whether sooner or later, and just goes to show to laymen like me just some of the accrued bennies for guys that retain their Tour cards for, say, a decade.

Very happy to see Willie Mac well on his way to halfway contention, and his card, in Columbus. Camilo also showing signs of life.

Absolutely... If one can hang around long enough to obtain veteran status... they're SO set... You won't be hearing any Alan Iverson like sad sack financial stories outta them

Jason Day - Not so much a sick note, more an epidemic.

PS: That most likely means that Kevin Na will be playing with himself in Round 3, just the way everyone likes it, though it may slow the pace of play down.

..as long as playing with himself doesn't lead to playing with himself... Wonder how long that takes...

Depends if he's got the yips again . . .

Earlier Tee times tomorrow to allow for broadcast of Notre Dame Football game at 3:30 ET.

So, does the coverage clash w/Chelsea and Arsenal?

Cool Q & A with Rich Beem . . . . . . well worth the read.

EDIT:
Yikes, I'm cracking up:

http://www.pgatour.com/news/2016/09/26/rich-beem-hazeltine-ryder-cup.html

kwinigolfer wrote:Cool Q & A with Rich Beem . . . . . . well worth the read.

How about a link!

Day WD's again. Got to wonder if he is suffering from a sort of functional mental disorder?

Go time is 9.15 a.m. in Atlanta as the Tour, which has strived to avoid clashes with the NFL, brings its tee times forward to accommodate amateur American Football.

And the guys in the wTF tournament in Columbus are off at 8.35 a.m. with Mr and Mrs Gonzo hoping that Gonzalo doesn't totally collapse - a Top 50 finish, at least, will assure him of PGA Tour action in 2016/17.

Kwini... an update on the retirement system.  The rules have changed. Apparently it was getting too convoluted having different rules for different parts of the retirement system... so they consolidated into a more simplified scheme. My understanding is the vesting is now 100% after 5 years playing 15 events per year.... and that INCLUDES the FedEx Cup bonus money.  Contributions are still made to the "cuts" plan as well, and that portion of the plan has continued to grow "per cut" as purses have increased since the start of the FE Cup, while the FE Bonus portion has remained constant since 2008.

The 150 made cuts benchmark is still important though, as that's the floor to obtain Veteran Status for any player that doesn't have an official win.

That's a BIG change, robo!

But it sounds as if it co-opts dozens more players who may otherwise feel disenfrachised. Plus Brendan De Jonge who's fully vested whichever way you look at it - and he needs it! Wonder what's wrong there?

Was thinking back to our ruminations about "nearly men" yo-yoing between the PGA Tour and the wTF series, with Flores and Tag Ridings in the final group!

PS: Lots of chat about GB&I dentistry, but has anyone looked closely at Grayson Murray's dental deficiencies? Blimey! Nurse!!

Kwini... no kidding it's a big change.... but certainly more inclusive.

On the WTF... looks like a not ridiculously unlikely possibility the ratio of rookies to veterans coming out of the combo of the  "The 25" and Playoffs could be 50/50...  If that were to be the case, it would be more rookies than I ever remember.  A few of those might not technically be rookies, but would be functionally speaking...

Tks for yr note robo;
And however hokey the wTF's might seem, I can see at least five golfers in the Tour Championship who secured/retrieved their cards via the wTF's. Would never have believed it, but good for them!

Kevin Na finishes. Did I hear right? Two hours? Was that for 9 or 18?

Yup, he and his caddie were running some of the way. Tailed off in last place but two hours is pretty quick.

...and his best round of the week.

Birdied his final four holes, and that is pretty swift. In two ways.

First-hole-birdie for Rory - I see his response to LoveIII to "best team ever assembled" was that the US has the best US Task Force ever assembled.

What on earth is happening to DJ?

Rory's got a shout at the $10M but got to hole these birdie chances.

EAGLE!!!!!
That'll make up for a few missed putts.

8 birdies plus an eagle for The Mechanic today, ten birdies for Langer, and Montgomerie might win. Could be a good week for Europe, especially with Gonzo securing his Tour card.

I'm never wrong wrote:Kevin Na finishes. Did I hear right? Two hours? Was that for 9 or 18?

He now holds the record for fastest 18 hole round on the PGA Tour ever...

Phil blasts the course setup and questions the late RC pick. At the same time he uses the TC to test a new (old) driver..

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/phil-goes-course-setup-final-rc-pick-timing

And with DJ choking it's all back to basics before next week.

Arnold Palmer 1929-2016.

RIP Arnie

That is very sad news. Expected, but very, very sad.

Ryan Moore gets the 12th pick.

Can't argue against that; sounds as if he was also invited to Hazeltine last week but declined!

Interesting, in the aftermath of Knox saying he really had no communication with DC, that Kevins Chappell and Kisner said the same thing about LoveIII. Can't speak to everyone . . . . . .

Nobody really thought Chappell or Kisner would get a pick anyway. Even when Chappell was in a position to close out the TC, it was still about Moore, Thomas or Bubba.

But Moore is a good pick. He's not a choker*, he's a good pressure putter and seems like a nice guy. From what I've heard he may be bit of a loner though, don't know how that'll impact things. Plus he's short off the tee (especially for Hazeltine), something the Task Force stat crunchers must have noticed but obviously didn't hold against him.

*Edit: He drove it in the woods on 18 in regulation, again twice on 18 in sudden death, and almost in the water on 15 after that.

No doubt the Moore and Arnie news will overshadow Rory's win but a month ago did anyone really think Rory would be picking up the fedex winners check?

Now a pretty odd season for Rory, 3/4 of it pretty poor by his standards then a lovely little flourish at the end post Nike putter. I know Jordan would swap seasons with Rory.

pedro,
The only reasons the Kevins were significant is because they were both at one time inside the top twelve, young guys and both perfectly capable of a Horschel-like streak. Unfortunately for him, Chappell came up short and Kisner's streak was a year ago . . . . . . but still!

Hope FedEx Rory comes to play next week, much more important!

LoveIII sounds like Drumpf in extolling Ryan Moore's record:
" . . . . a great match-play player with an incredible match-play record."

Unfortunately most of that was as an amateur more than a dozen years ago. And he went 0-2 in a losing Walker Cup Team and 2-2 in a losing Palmer Cup Team. 1-1 in Palmer Cup singles, lost to Gonzo, beat Alex Noren. Beaten in the Q/Finals of the WGC MatchPlay twice, but otherwise has fared poorly there.

Ok I get it kwini, there was talking about those guys a few months ago.

US golf media going bonanza over Arnie. Maybe that'll ease the pressure on the US team a bit. Dunno.

Inspiration or distraction? Sure there'll be symbolic gestures permeating the endless ceremonials, hopefully DC can keep his Team away from the worst excesses.
US golf media especially wound up because Arnie was a co-founder of the Golf Channel which pays so many of the talking heads.

I'm pretty sure the 'paying tribute' thing during the RC will be OTT, with trumpets and violins and military meat heads stretch marching to gun salutes. His death came so close to the RC they can't help themselves orchestrating something over emotional.

Oh yes pedro, i'm sure they'll have zach johnson and co dressed up in military uniforms carrying Arnie's coffin (draped in US flag) across the 17th green, probably just as Lee Westwood is lining up a putt to retain the cup.

RIP Arnie ... met the guy a few years back and he was plenty congenial.

GREAT win for the Irishman! Keep that form into the RC and "Europe" looking stronger still.

Glad the final pick was NOT Bubba.

Looking forward to a fine exhibition this weekend. And I hope the weather cooperates. It can snow in Minnesota this time of year. I've lived it!

raycastleunited wrote:Oh yes pedro, i'm sure they'll have zach johnson and co dressed up in military uniforms carrying Arnie's coffin (draped in US flag) across the 17th green, probably just as Lee Westwood is lining up a putt to retain the cup.

  ray, that's f-king hilarious... (although we all know Westwood would have missed anyway.)

Good forecast for the matches Shotrock, but the course must be soaked, with well over 6 inches of rain in MSP this month so far.

Frost delay here this morning.

One thing that was glossed over yesterday was the way that Chappell and Moore both got to place their balls on the 18th in the first play off hole. It was forgotten quickly because Rory played a wonderful approach and then it was entirely his own fault he didn't hole the eagle putt for the win, but the drops just seemed a bit dodgy.

Fair enough Ryan Moore got relief from a sprinkler but to me it looked like he was deliberately dropping it in a place where he knew it would roll forwards and wasn't necessarily the nearest point of relief. I suppose you could say he was making the rules work to his advantage.

Kevin Chappell on the other hand I was more concerned about. Nothing to do with his actions but rather the spectator intervention to help him out. With the Ryder Cup so close are we going to see the crowd helping out team USA, kicking balls down the fairways etc?

Ray - Unless a spectator can putt, don't think "Europe" has anything to be concerned about.

As far as I know the referees will be from the ET as well. And I don't think you can BS with John Paramor.

I'm more worried about the crowd than the referees. Brookline part 2. Nothing wrong with a partisan crowd but keep it respectful, otherwise a few idiot fans can sour the whole match.

They already started the "USA, USA" and "Olé, Olé" thing yesterday during the sudden death playoff.

The thing I'm looking forward to least is not the shouts of USA, but all the "babba booey" stuff. What does that even mean?

Oh yeah, and Sky's incessant betting advert breaks are tiring too.

Both Finchem and the sponsor guy made a big fuss out of being able to provide 3 hours of ad free golf last night.