PGA Tour: Pebble Beach Weather at Pebble Beach: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).The US dictionary definition of rainy, cool, windy weather reads "Typical British Weather", the one exception being when it occurs on California's Monterey Peninsula when it's known as True Crosby Weather. And that's what we have this week, for the second tournament of three to be staged on great California Championship courses, after Torrey Pines and before Riviera next week. But, after rain today, there should be some clearing Friday and so far it looks like a fine weekend.

2).There are not many four-week stretches on Tour that match these three coastal Cal venues, each with a dozen memorable holes, and mostly for golfing reasons, not because they're in the middle of a sea of beer tents. Not that there's anything wrong with that, and the Pebble Beach experience is also marred - by the presence of "celebrities" we've never heard of, but the TV cameras seem to be fixated with.

3).Robert Louis Stevenson described the Pebble Beach area as "the most felicitous meeting of land and sea" in creation - the second half of that sentence: "after the Isle Of Wight" is somehow ignored - and Pebble Beach is a must-play course if you ever get the chance, to hell with the cost. In my book the short Par-3 7th hole is the best short Par-3 around (though not when the USGA sets it up for US Opens), and the second shot approaching the Par-4 8th is just breathtaking, my favourite Par-4 anywhere.

4).The "Crosby Clambake" of decades past is now known lyrically as the "AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am" and is another tournament where "course specialists" tend to do well. Not last year, though, when Mickelson missed a short putt on the 72nd hole to hand the tournament to Vaughn Taylor, the sweet-swinging journeyman who would be ranked as the most unexpected winner of the year if Jim Herman and Brian Stuard didn't tie him for the honour a few months later.
Phil has won here four times, and DJ and Snedeker twice each.
But Steve Lowery (capitalizing on a Vijay meltdown) and DA Points won here too.
Why doesn't McDowell play here more often? Apart from his US Open win, he's enjoyed a couple of top tens but only turns up once every three or four years. A real head-scratcher.

5).But McDool is not as much of a course specialist as Hideki Matsuyama - his phour phorays to Phoenix have phinished in T4, 2nd, Win, Win.
Having said which, I was very surprised that Ben An became unravelled on the back nine - he closed with fantastic golf at Wentworth when he won, was expecting more of the same.

6).The "Sleeper" pick for Phoenix should surely have been Steven Bowditch, who snoozed through two traffic light greens while trying to drive somewhere after getting paralytic with Phoenix hospitality last Thursday night.
Not to be hypocritical but: In an era when Vijay gets suspended for snorting deer antler spray, and when Bowditch admitted his "offence", why doesn't the Tour send a proper message and ground him? Not sure I understand that. Bowditch has a lifetime of problems with depression etc, and hopefully the Tour will ensure he continues to receive the treatment he seems to need. He's playing with Furyk today, so maybe Jim can provide a sympathetic ear.

7).And, talking of Furyk, he has tweaked the timing of the final Captain's "Pick" for the 2018 Ryder Cup. (EDIT: Tks GPB) He's also adjusting the points reward for winning/placing in a Major, plus he's making his final "Pick" a week earlier, presumably to give the lucky man more time to spend with his French Dictionary.

8).There's a strong field for this week's Champions Tour event in Florida, with an impressive turnout of European Ryder Cuppers: Broadhurst, Jimenez, Langer, Lyle, McGinley, Montgomerie, Olazabal, Parnevik, Price, Woosnam.

9).Talking of Langer, he's now vying with Hale Irwin for the best record in Champions Tour history:
Irwin won 45 tournaments between 1995 and 2007, in 293 events, a 15.36%age.
Langer has 30 wins so far, in 188 events, a 15.96% hit-rate. And apparently getting better with age.

10).These California courses are just the sort of venue where one might expect Shane Lowry's shot-making talent to come to the fore. This is his third trip with 21st, 41st finishes so far, and hopefully he'll back up a decent Phoenix result with a really good week.
Other European tourists include: Gonzo, Harrington, Johnston, Laird and Justin Rose.
And Luke Donald whose brother has won more prize-money than Lukey this year, caddying for the ATM known as Brendan Steele.  
Looking forward to the week, watching the Pro-Am element with gritted teeth and hoping for a sunshiny Sunday showing Pebble Beach at its best.

It does when I'm playing; just no-one in the way.


Jason Day making a bit of a mess playing the PB "second" nine first, and Beef is getting minced with a missed cut in prospect and nowhere to play next week. Wonder how long before he gets paired with Danny Berger?

Wow, thats a horror show from Day. Haven't got the coverage on yet, has he lost the rag?

I see Peyton Manning there, so has it been settled yet? Who's the best quarter back of all time? Manning or Brady?

Brady (or Joe Montana).


Very pleased to see some guy called Luke Donald climbing the leaderboard, Rose and Shane going nicely too. Seamus losing Power.

Do you remember a lad from liverpool that used to post on 606, Matt Berry who was a big Colts fan, I think he may have had a differing opinion

I would be say Brady of course, but I am biased!!

Nope, Don't remember engaging on NFL at all, a little baseball & ice hockey.
Luuuke!

I haven't seen one shot in the coverage from Luuuuuuke so far, yet he's 6 under for the round great stuff, not great coverage though. Spieth tappin in those 25 footers, definitely the best putter since Tiger.

That's some mighty sporty play by Jordan. Keep that touch going into Augusta.

Looks like you might get slammed Kwin. Hope you are all stocked up on Saranac.

All prepared Sr.
And amazing "strokes gained putting" for your buddy Jordan: 4.78 - if he keeps that up no-one will touch him. But can he do it??!!


Very happy to see Luke Donald enter the picture, for a Top Ten placing at least, matching Spieth's 65.
And Seamus Power got his round back on track, joining Shane in the Top 67 and a Sunday tee-time.

Should be perfect scoring, and viewing, conditions today, sunny, sixty and not much wind in the forecast.

Elsewhere, a big day yesterday on the web.com circuit for robo's and GPB's hot shot du jour, Aaron Wise.

Never mind the quality, feel the width.
So much hullabaloo about Fat John Daly joining the Champions Tour; he might have attracted the TV cameras and the requisite mob of drunken yahoos, but he's not delivered on the course; no Top Tens so far in almost a year, and just clocked up his 2nd w/d in six tournaments. Rubbish, and he'll be depending upon sponsors' invitations come next May unless he delivers some results.

Meanwhile David Toms is going all Jon Rahm, six birdies on the trot, three to go to equal Bernd.


No such fireworks yet at Pebble Beach; Jordan Spieth off just as Mahrez finishes his 90 (maybe) minute walkabout in Wales.

Can anyone beat Spieth?
Not unless he implodes, which he seems to do once every 23 years.
Lousy day so far for Team GB&I, though hopefully Power can finish strongly - all for the better of his "reshuffle" ranking.

Its not over yet, can't see Spieth not winning this, but the gap is narrowing. Decent finish for Shane top 10 at the moment, not too shabby from Shay also. Im a bit surprised by JR, is he too busy taking selfies with JT? Luuuke could do with an under par round...
Gary Woodland is a bit of an enigma, he seems to either play great or miss the cut.

Beautiful setting, dreary tournament.
Pebble Beach looks quite a bit different when it so, so green. Interesting that they've re-done the 14th green, wish they'd use the lower part of the green (right as you look at it) for a second pin-placement; sure they used to cut the hole there occasionally . . . . .

kwinigolfer wrote:Beautiful setting, dreary tournament. 

Agreed, Kwini. Nobody seems to be making a run. Spieth to par in?

Spieth now favourite for the Masters?

Don't know about Spieth for The Masters but really fancy DJ for Riviera.

Good results in the end for Shane & Shay, not bad for Lukey but not much good for Rose. Not that he'll much care. If Spieth is now favourite, about 6/1 at Paddy Power, would think that anything around 20's or 25's e.w. would be great value for JR. Still fancy King Louis though e.w..

Top 7 of the OWGR should look like this tomorrow

9.981 Jason Day
9.307 Rory McIlroy
9.113 Dustin Johnson
8.786 Henrik Stenson
8.698 Hideki Matsuyama
8.589 Jordan Spieth
5.867 Adam Scott

Jason Day is adding a tournament to his divisor next week, and Dustin could get to #1 with as little as a 4th place finish if the preliminary rating of SOF-66 holds.

Hideki and Jordan could reach #1 with a win.

Any one of the Top 6 can be number 1 after WGC Mexico.

Weird that, at this rate, Adam Scott could/will win The Masters and not move up any placings.

Almost certain the winner at Riviera will chalk up at least 60 owgr points, probably more unless there are some high value w/d's.

PS: Haven't seen robo since he ran off with Tom Brady's jersey after the Super Bowl . . . . . . . .

PD did a preliminary on Los Angeles. OWGR-66.

UFR...J-Day is not adding a tournament to his divisor next week Spieth cannot catch him but Dustin and Hideki can.

Hey all... Nice win for Jordan... And Kwini... Thanks for the pickup on Wise.... I wasn't paying attention to that one.

Hideki, Spieth and Stenson in form... JD and DJ look close, and Rory coming back in a few weeks.

Helluva nice setup for the next few months if you ask me. You could probably throw all 6 of those names in a hat and draw one, or take a guess and have as good a chance either way of picking #1 after the Masters. And that's not even taking into account guys on the come like Rahm & JT... and gasp even Sergio... who all looked poised to do some damage...

Season is shaping up really nice IMO...

Good to hear from you robo, Hope you've sold the jersey by now.

You know another player or two will shoot to form, a la Adam Scott last year, before Augusta; question is, who can sustain it, which Scott failed to do. Is success on the California coast a good indicator for Augusta? I'm looking forward to Riviera first, great field and probably now the highlight of the pre-Augusta season.
And, I wonder if some players will find the two WGC's less appealing now the Masters foreplay format has changed? Haven't heard anything yet but worth keeping an eye on.

Kwini... I'm laying low with the Brady jersey until the heat dies down... don't tell anybody...

And who knows what West Coast form means at the Masters... other than players in GOOD form going in seem to do better than most... And certainly the current top-6 (sans whatever Rory's situation is) are starting to show wins or consistent good finishes...

But going forward... not sure what the next 7 weeks are going to tell us about who's playing the best going into the Masters, especially the WGC's. Guys who finish very high in the Match Play are obviously playing well, but first round exits don't necessarily mean players aren't. And with a new venue in Mexico... we don't know how it will favor/disfavor different types of players. But Rivera, Honda, Valspar, Bay Hill & Houston should still be decent indicators.

Seamus Power update... IIRC, at one time I had him as high as 13th in the reshuffle to take place after Los Angeles. Now he's down to 19th... And that COULD make a really big difference in the starts he gets between Honda thru Houston. Generally it seems the priority list isn't going quite as deep into the webbie category as last year. In 2016 Riviera went 13 deep into the reshuffle portion of the Webbie category AFTER SE's & Top-10's from the prior week... This year it might not even get into reshuffle Webbie category... or get just 1 or 2 in if there are some WD's...

A few weeks ago (and based on last year) I thought Seamus at #13 was "pretty safe" into Honda, Valspar, API & Houston this year, and even 18-20 would have been more likely than not for at least 3 of them, maybe all 4. But now at #19, I wouldn't be surprised to see Power fall just short of making the field in every one of the 4. Without SE's... its possible he might only get one more start in Puerto Rico until after the Masters.

Agree on Oosty e.w. for Augusta kwini. He's currently at 50/1. Big Phil (28/1) and Sneds (45/1) could also be sneakingly dangerous and worth a bet. They often do well there. Bar a few bad rounds they both seem to be in good form.

Thanks for that re Seamus Power Robo  

Daily Mail newspaper article on is on the Ball

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wir...

"...Jordan Spieth ends 13-month wait for PGA Tour title in California..."

13 month wait?

Guess they forgot Spieth's win last May at the Dean and Deluca

GPB

The Daily fail should stick to gossip, immigrant hating and photos of 16 year olds in bikini's.

Come on Mac, those are the things you buy it for . . . . . .

GPB wrote:Daily Mail newspaper article on is on the Ball

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wir...

"...Jordan Spieth ends 13-month wait for PGA Tour title in California..."

13 month wait?

Guess they forgot Spieth's win last May at the Dean and Deluca

You are talking about a publication that Wikipedia no longer accepts as a valid source of information. Enough said.

Rumours are that Mr Dean and Mr Deluca have contacted Liverpool FC for advise on how to handle the matter. Consequently observers expect Dean and Deluca to stop wrapping deli fish in the rag - in year 2043.

GPB wrote:Daily Mail newspaper article on is on the Ball

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wir...

"...Jordan Spieth ends 13-month wait for PGA Tour title in California..."

13 month wait?

Guess they forgot Spieth's win last May at the Dean and Deluca

Not surprising really. Rubbish paper and essential only interested in Wendyball.

Rickie fowler better start winning or he will be loser come #SB2k17. Good start to the year from the rest of the brat pack.

McLaren wrote:Rickie fowler better start winning or he will be loser come #SB2k17.  Good start to the year from the rest of the brat pack.

Smylie Kaufman has three Miss Cuts and T72 so far this season.

BTW, Smylie did a podcast and said he was teaming up with Harold Varner III at the Zurich team event.

GPB wrote:

Smylie Kaufman has three Miss Cuts and T72 so far this season.

Not much to smyle about..

Prognosis for Tiger doesn't look too good when he has not only withdrawn from this week's tournament, but also withdrawn from a twice-postponed news conference at the event. Someone else who probably doesn't have too much to smyle about.

Just needs a few more reps in front of the practise cam first.

kwinigolfer wrote:Prognosis for Tiger doesn't look too good when he has not only withdrawn from this week's tournament, but also withdrawn from a twice-postponed news conference at the event. Someone else who probably doesn't have too much to smyle about.

What a huge anus. How could you be "too injured" to attend the press conference of the tournament you are hosting?

super_realist wrote:

kwinigolfer wrote:Prognosis for Tiger doesn't look too good when he has not only withdrawn from this week's tournament, but also withdrawn from a twice-postponed news conference at the event. Someone else who probably doesn't have too much to smyle about.

What a huge anus. How could you be "too injured" to attend the press conference of the tournament you are hosting?

He must have read it as "press-up" in stead of "presser".

super_realist wrote:

kwinigolfer wrote:Prognosis for Tiger doesn't look too good when he has not only withdrawn from this week's tournament, but also withdrawn from a twice-postponed news conference at the event. Someone else who probably doesn't have too much to smyle about.

What a huge anus. How could you be "too injured" to attend the press conference of the tournament you are hosting?

Withdrawing is the only sensible thing for Tiger to do. If he held a press conference, you would all be laying into him for attention seeking at a tournament which he is not even playing. Leave the pressers to the players.

Assuming he is relaxing at home in Florida, it would be pretty ridiculous for him to travel all the way to LA when he's not even playing.

raycastleunited wrote:Assuming he is relaxing at home in Florida, it would be pretty ridiculous for him to travel all the way to LA when he's not even playing.

For the tournament that benefits his foundation? Yes, I think he should.

Hopefully Thomas Pieters goes well this week!

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